Is the world getting better and better? Of the three main views concerning the millennium, postmillennialism is the most recent. There is no trace of anything in the first two or three centuries of the church which could be classified as postmillennialism. The early church expected the return of Christ before a millennium on earth. […]
What if the Lord came and nobody noticed? Preterism, which comes from the Latin word, praeteritus, meaning “past” or “gone by,” is a position held by a growing number of evangelicals who claim that most, if not all, biblical predictions have already been fulfilled in conjunction with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Futurism […]
Light out of darkness The phrase “the age to come” (aion mello) occurs three times in the New Testament. To what age does it refer? There are only two options: the millennium or eternity. It cannot be a reference to eternity, because one of the passages speaks of men sinning. Therefore, we understand it to […]
What is the gospel? There is a variety of ways we can answer that question. Literally. The word “gospel” (euaggelion) means “good news.” In a world of bad— often, terrible—news, how refreshing to have good news. But quite apart from world events, any honest assessment of ourselves will lead us to see that not all […]
What’s in a word? What is this word of the gospel? In a word, it’s an expression. We say, “May I have a word with you?” Of course, we mean a complete conversation and not just one word. We read in the Scriptures about the word of this salvation, the word of grace, the word […]
Benchmarks of blessing The human race has always found it helpful to know the size of things, and especially handy if one could measure by a body part—since such a measuring device is always nearby. Thus the foot, the span, and the cubit (the length of the arm from the fingertip to the elbow). There […]
Exceptional Evidence In science, the exception is often more interesting and informative than the rule. And if these cases are examined through eyes of faith, one may also see evidence of God’s knowledge and power on display. One such exception is found in the unique camouflage of the marine “carrier-shell” mollusk. Camouflage is a form […]
Display the Light in darkest times. It wasn’t a prison in our modern sense of the word. There were no television sets, no exercise periods, and no ombudsman safeguarding prisoner’s rights. There was no air conditioning on the hot summer days and no central heating for the cold winter nights. There was no cafeteria offering […]
Another Jesus. Another gospel. Another Spirit. Paul not only preached the gospel but at times had to defend it, to re-affirm it to believers so that their faith would be resting in the right object, and they would be confirmed or strong in grace unto the coming of the Lord. He wrote in Philippians 1:17, […]