James 3:1-12 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (v. 1) Often we are asked to upgrade our passwords to include an upper case letter, a lower case letter, a number, and a special character. Some time ago I found …
Author Archives: Fred
March 18 / James 2:14-26
James 2:14-26 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (v. 18) James is distinguishing between two kinds of faith, one without works and one with works. My Study Bible refers to the former, …
March 17 / James 2:1-13
James 2:1-13 Mercy triumphs over judgment. (v. 13) Because this is true we have hope of eternal life. Without mercy we are damned to hell because we, ourselves, can never pay the debt for the sins we have committed. Period. I mentioned two days ago about James’ discussions of the rich and the poor. Here …
March 16 / James 1:12-27
James 1:12-27 Hearing, speaking, doing. Each of these activities is mentioned more than once in today’s reading. Hearing is mentioned four times (vv. 19, 22, 23, 25); speaking is mentioned twice (vv. 19, 26); and doing is mentioned four times (vv. 22, 23, 25, 27). In addition, hearing precedes both speaking and doing (see especially …
March 15 / James 1:1-11
James 1:1-11 So now we have finished our first epistle, Galatians, and moved on to James. James has long been one of my favorite epistles. It has a special history for me (and Carol). On the day that I fell in love with Carol (40 years ago this coming June 1) we had about an …
March 14 / Gal. 6:11-18
Galatians 6:11-18 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. (v. 12) It took me a while to understand this verse, reading through it and thinking about it …
March 13 / Gal. 6:1-10
Galatians 6:1-10 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (v. 8) The word “corruption” in this verse can be misleading. When we think of corruption, we typically think of financial dealings – …
March 12 / Gal. 5:16-26
Galatians 5:16-26 I wondered whether Paul penned these “fruits of the Spirit” (vv. 22-23) in a particular order or if he just rattled them off in his letter. But as I imagined these fruits to be a particular ordering by him, I wondered at some reasoning behind his ordering and put together some thoughts. Love …
March 11 / Gal. 5:1-15
Galatians 5:1-15 Although there’s a lot of good material in today’s reading, I found myself hung up on this one verse: But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. (v. 11) As worded, that verse was very confusing to …
March 10 / Gal. 4:21-31
Galatians 4:21-31 In verses 22-26 Paul “equates” Hagar (and Mt. Sinai and the Law) with the “present Jerusalem” (the Judaizers and the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem) and he “equates” Isaac (God’s promise to Abraham) with the “Jerusalem above” (those of the new Christian faith). It’s a good allegory, clearly designed to encourage his readers to …