Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

The meaning of ransom is deliverance from an old situation into a new situation by a price. For example, a prisoner of war would be delivered from that situation into whatever situation the purchaser desired. Here we are told (1) what the readers were ransomed from, (2) the price that was paid, (3) what happened to Jesus and (4) the outcome of the ransom being paid. What were they ransomed from? They were ransomed ‘from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers’. The readers were Gentiles and so we have here a summary of their pagan lifestyle before they were converted. When the ways are described as futile, Peter does not mean that they were unnecessary because those ways would have included everyday activities such as work. Rather, he is highlighting what the purpose was of their actions. They took them nowhere important ultimately. Instead, they were kept in spiritual darkness. And that is the way people are today unless they know that they have been ransomed. This is a startl...

As we have noticed previously, Paul divides the list of spiritual pieces of armour into two groups. The first group were pieces designed to be worn continually and they are the belt, the breastplate, and the sandals. They depicted conviction about God’s truth, wearing the righteousness of Jesus, and possessing the state of reconciliation with God. The second group of pieces were items to be used on specific occasions and they are the shield, the helmet, and the sword, and a soldier would take hold of them when he needed them. Paul describes them as the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (the word of God).   The shield Paul’s readers would have known what a Roman soldier’s shield looked like and they would see the meaning of the illustration clearly. We may not know. So here is a summary of the benefits of the shield. It was large (48 inches by 30 inches) and was designed to deflect or douse any fiery darts thrown at the soldier. It was usually mad...

Have you ever checked to see how often Adam is mentioned in the Bible? I was surprised to discover that in the ESV his name appears only twice in the Old Testament after Genesis 5; once in a genealogy in 1 Chronicles and once in the Book of Hosea. He is described but not mentioned by name in some passages such as Psalm 8. In the New Testament, Paul mentions Adam’s name twice in Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Timothy 2. He is mentioned in a genealogy in Luke and in a genealogical reference in Jude. Jesus does not mention him by name although he does refer to what was said about Adam and Eve concerning marriage. Yet the fewness of the references does not indicate that he is unimportant. No doubt there are several reasons for thinking about Adam. Perhaps if we were to conduct a survey of our thoughts about him, we might be surprised at the opinions expressed. Some would be curious about whether he became a true believer after his fall. How did he respond to the divine announcement of a ...

Peter wants his readers to have a vibrant faith as part of holy living. What is necessary for such a lifestyle? Peter mentions four details: (1) recognise a relationship (obedient children); (2) recognise a danger (previous passions); (3) the character of God (holy); and (4) consistency (all your conduct).   The relationship of being God’s children commenced at conversion. It involves a privilege and a responsibility. The privilege is a very high one; indeed, it is the highest privilege that God could give to us. When the Lord forgave us, he did not have to adopt us into his family.  It has been pointed out that justification restores us to God’s favour as servants. As sinners, we had disobeyed God and deserved to be punished. In his mercy, he sent Jesus to live the life that we should have lived and to pay the penalty for our failure to do so. His life of obedience is reckoned to our account. If God had not done more, we would have remained servants.  That would be a won...

A soldier requires appropriate footwear. That was also the case with ancient armies as well. They would have worn strong sandals that would have protected their feet. The sandals also had thongs which were wrapped round their legs to which they could attach grooves to protect their legs. Those sandals would have metal studs on their soles which prevented the soldiers from slipping when attacking or defending a position. We can see that Paul highlights two features of the soldier’s footwear. One is readiness and the other is that it is connected to the gospel of peace. He begins with the outcome because that is where the Christians are as they fight the enemy. But in trying to appreciate what Paul means by this description, we will begin with the source and aim to identify what occurs when it is appropriated. The source is the gospel.   The gospel of peace There is a sense in which the declaration of the gospel is like a recruitment drive by Jesus as he sends out his witnesses to fi...

People may regard this question as daft. Some may regard it as a form of escapism, a reluctance to accept that the reality of life on earth is all that there is, with no future after we die. In contrast, others would respond by asking, who would not want to go to heaven? I suppose it depends on what we imagine heaven to be. After all, if someone asks us, Do you want to go to such a place?, we might think, ‘Well, it depends on which locations in that place the questioner has in mind, and also how long he expects me to be there.’ So how can we find out about heaven? The Bible claims to tell us. I want to suggest four biblical reasons about wanting to be in heaven and we can ask ourselves if we like them. If we do, we will get there; but if we don’t like them, maybe we should assess ourselves about our destiny. But we can begin by making a few comments about is meant by heaven.   What is meant by heaven? There are different ways of answering that question. For example, we use the word...

Peter has summarised the condition of his readers – they were rejoicing in the prospect of glory despite undergoing severe persecution. Their faith in God’s power was protecting them. Indeed, their trials were the divine means of maintaining and strengthening their faith.  We might be surprised at this focus on faith. Yet we should remember that faith is what links us with God. Faith is not merely an opinion about God, it is a divine grace from God which enables us to view reality in a different way from others. Faith knows that Jesus reigns; other people do not see that. Faith knows that the Holy Spirit indwells us, but if you made that claim to an unbeliever with an x-ray machine he would tell you that he could not see the Holy Spirit inside you. Yet faith goes up and down. Peter’s readers were strong in faith at the time of writing. But he knew that faith could diminish in some ways, so he provides practical guidance for how they can maintain a healthy faith, if we want to descr...

The gospel is good news. In it, we see God providing the information that we need to hear, and that we need to respond to for our own benefit. The gospel brings to us the possibility of a change of identity and a change of destiny. So we can think about that aspect briefly before considering the question, Why should we think about the judgement seat?   The Gospel and its Blessings We live in the information age. Life is made up of knowing so much. We can even know through our phones if one of our friends is geographically close by. Yet the availability of information is causing concerns because the constancy of it is preventing people from having time to make priorities. What is the most important piece of information that we have received? It is the gospel. In it, God speaks to us clearly about how we can be saved from his judgement.    What does the gospel say? It speaks about the divine initiative. God engages in many initiatives in his providence. One obvious initiati...