PERSPICUITY: The most important doctrine you’ve never heard of Pastor Paul Naumann • Tacoma, Washington “Well, that’s your interpretation!” Sadly, this is how the conversation sometimes ends when you attempt to discuss the Bible with… PERSPICUITY
Oh sure, we add another number to the counting of years. We will call it 2014 instead of 2013, but does that really make it new?
The world still has the same problems. Our flesh is still plagued with the same sins. A succession of broken resolutions reminds us that we haven’t really changed. We truly ought to have been consumed in God’s wrath long ago.
We remember that Achan was stoned to death because he coveted and took some of the plunder of Jericho for himself (Joshua 7). We think of the man who was stoned because he gathered sticks on the Sabbath Day to build a fire to cook the manna (Numbers 15). Remember how Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5).
Are we any less sinful than they? Because of the many times we have sinned, shouldn’t we have been struck down with God’s righteous judgment? ABSOLUTELY!Happy New Year!
Many things in life seem to be unfair. Thus it is often asked: “By what measure of fairness will God condemn to everlasting punishment those who have never heard the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus?” A rebuttal question might be,
Surely the evidence and cause for such seeking exist, for “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), and “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).Seeking the Christ
The Epiphany season of the church year affords us an opportunity to see Jesus as He truly is: “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13), the One “in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
We see Jesus’ glory as the only begotten Son of God. We see it in His miracles and His teaching. We see it even in His wondrous grace
in willingly coming into the world for the likes of us. Jesus came to make the complete payment for the sins of all who had lived or ever would live.The Reason for the Season
One doesn’t have to search far to find examples of human life being devalued. The periodic acts of violence in our nation’s schools and streets are regular reminders. So too are the statistics of abuse—physical and chemical—whether self-inflicted or by others. Statistics tell a similar tale in the running record of suicides, assisted suicides, abortions, and what borders on euthanasia.
These sad and sobering realities cut a wide swath with many and varied contributing factors, but they can all be traced back to a fundamental devaluing of life.The Value of Life
(Fourth in a Series) This edifying series of chapel talks comes from the archives of our Spokesman Assistant Editor, Prof. Em. Paul R. Koch • Eau Claire, Wis. At Joppa there was a certain disciple… GOD’S OBSCURE SAINTS
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
(Isaiah 40:3-5)
In a current television talent show celebrity judges are facing away from the stage when the contestant begins to sing. When they are impressed by the voice they hear, the judges hit the button that turns them around to face the other direction.The Voice
Pastor Paul Naumann • Tacoma, Washington
No one knows the truth of that statement more fully than does a Christian.
Most people understand the principle. They keep it in mind as a salutary warning against the false and deceptive product advertising that floods the media in our day. They use it to bolster their defenses against the subtle tricks of con men on the street and scam artists on the internet.Christmas reminds us that…THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY SEEM
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5, NIV).… Christmas at “Just the Right Time”
