How do you understand the word, "love?" In the West many people have lost all understanding of the words "love" and "hate." When you were dating, did you wonder whether you were in love? After being married for over fifty years, I know I love my wife! The title of our lesson, "God Loves Freely," describes the love of God. Seeing God's love in the Old Testament is sometimes difficult. This week we look at both a New Testament and Old Testament discussion of God's love. Let's dive into our study of the Bible and see, in different contexts, how God loves us!...
A "covenant" is an agreement. We might call it a "contract" today. For most people, love is "covenantal," meaning that we love those who love us. And we don't love those who do not love us. But is that true for God? In Matthew 5:44-46 Jesus teaches that loving only those who love us is not the goal. We read in John 3:16 that God loved the world, therefore He gave "His only Son" to save us. Jesus came to save a lot of people who had never heard of Him. Obviously, they had not agreed to love Him. Let's dive into our study of the Bible and learn more about the relationship between God's love and our love for Him!...
What is your attitude about pleasing others? Because I'm a professor, my students want to please me. Because I'm old enough that I don't have to work, I could say that I've had enough of pleasing my employer. But that is not my attitude. I want to please my students, my employer, and generally everyone else who crosses my path. Why is that true? Plenty of people simply do not care about the opinions of others. My reason is that I believe my life is better when I make the lives of others better. Is this a Biblical principle? Let's dive into our study of the Bible and learn more!...
Does God have emotions? The Old Testament often refers to how God is feeling. Do God's emotions affect His judgment? I know people whose judgment is primarily based on emotions, rather than logic, and I consider them to have inferior decision making skills. At the same time I am often blessed when people treat me with a positive emotion rather than the way logic would dictate. Genesis tells us that we are made in God's image. If that includes emotions, and I think it does, how similar are our emotions to God's emotions? Let's jump into our study of the Bible and find out!...
Do you like the idea of a God who shows wrath? I imagine that you love the idea for certain people, but never for yourself. When my mother became old, she retained a healthy body but her mind deteriorated terribly. While she was in decline, a vitamin company called her and sold her so many vitamins she could never take them all. Should someone who takes advantage of the elderly be subject to wrath? What about those who target the elderly for physical violence? If you love others, then you love justice. Let's plunge into our study of the Bible and learn about God's wrath based on love!...
Do you trust people in power? Do you think they are unjust? An old saying is that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In recent years I have witnessed a lot of injustice among people who whose jobs it was to bring justice. The same day that I am writing this I discussed with one of my fellow law professors a recent religious liberty decision that is so unjust it makes me angry. I was asked if I would file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to try to undo this injustice. We will see, but if the normal rules of review are followed, this injustice will stand. The greatest power is in the hands of God. Does He create injustice? Does He allow injustice? That is one of the main charges against God. Let's dive into our study of the Bible and see what we can learn!...
In American law we call it "negligent supervision." It means the person or company in charge of an area failed to adequately protect those within from harm. The issue arises in the workplace, in shopping centers, or wherever someone else is in charge of your surroundings. Is God guilty of negligent supervision? We have terrible evil in the world and God is the powerhouse of the universe. Does responsibility end with Him? Are we in a position to judge? What does God say about His supervision of the world and the problem of evil? Let's plunge into our study of the Bible and find out! Note that we are not going to explore the origin of evil in the universe, but only the evil infecting our world....
What do you think God's "providence" means? Our recent lessons remind me of a meat slicing machine that I observed as a young man. The machine could make impossibly thin slices. In the last few lessons we have discussed interrelated topics such as whether God is responsible for evil, whether God is just, and whether God executes judgment. These all have in common the question of how God deals with humans. This week our "slice" is whether God, consistent with His providential care, controls all that happens on earth? If He does, why doesn't He put a brake on terrible events? Why doesn't He eliminate adversity in our lives? Once again, let's plunge into our study of the Bible to see what we can learn about our God!...
Imagine a sports game in which you could not determine who were the teams or the players on the field. Much of the misunderstanding about God comes from this basic ignorance. If there is no God, then evil can rise no higher than humans who do evil. If there is a God, and God's team alone is on the field, then evil comes from God. God is at least in part evil. But if there are two teams on the field, and one is God and His team, and the other is a rival to God, then we can begin to sort out who is responsible for good, and who is responsible for evil. We can make rational decisions on whose team we support. The Bible cures our ignorance regarding these players. Let's plunge into our study of the Bible and sort this out!...
In Lesson 7 of this series we discussed how the two trees of Eden and the test of Job were agreed-upon contests between God and Satan. They had "rules of engagement." What does that mean for us? Are Satan and his fallen angels allowed to directly engage us? If so, are we in denial about this? One of my best friends in law school was a Methodist minister. It was a delight to discuss the Bible with him. Decades later he read something I wrote about those who are enemies of the gospel. I might have mentioned "demonic." He thought I had gone too far. I should not label those who disagree "enemies" or "demonic." My old friend is a very smart man, and he is not the only one to suggest caution to me. But is he in denial? How should we view the opposition? This week our study of the Bible takes us behind the curtain to reveal the true nature of the cosmic conflict. Let's dive into our study and see what the Bible teaches!...
James 3:10-11 tells us that a spring cannot produce both fresh and salt water. From that James argues that the same mouth cannot produce both blessings and curses. Is James right? Not in my experience. How about your experience? How many good people do you know who have some bad traits? How many bad people do you know who do only evil? Most people are mixed. James understands the mixture problem and argues that what is true of water should also be true of Christians. James calls for a high standard. A Godly standard. The practical difficulty is that most people view others in a "mixed" way and they also apply this "mixed" view to their understanding of God. This week we look at that issue and answer God's question, "What more could I have done?" Done to convince humans that God's character is only pure. Let's dive into our study of the Bible!...
Last week the GoBible website was down on most of Friday and Saturday. This was due to errors on my part involving the management of the site. I apologize. Readers know that I work very hard to give you confidence that the lessons will be there when you need them. Now to our new lesson.... Do you know what "justice" means? Most would answer, "Yes," but I'm doubtful about the accuracy of their answers. Right now, I'm in a debate with some very sophisticated people about "justice." They are determined to eliminate discrimination against their race, but are strong advocates for discrimination against other races. That is not justice. We are all guilty of this error to some degree or another. We want the police to ticket the annoying speeder who just passed us on the road. On the other hand, we do not want to be ticketed when we speed. The Bible says much about helping the poor and powerless in society. Is that because God favors the poor and powerless, or because those are the people that society is most likely to abuse? Let's dive into our study of the Bible and see what it says about "justice," and whether that has anything to do with love...
Are emotion and logic opposed to each other? Do you think less or more of someone who makes decisions based on emotion rather than logic? If you answer, "Yes, I think less of emotion based decisions," should decisions always be based on logic rather than emotion? The matter is complicated because being rational improves the emotional outcome for everyone. When I was growing up, my father taught me that doing something because my peers were doing it was not a sufficient reason. For many things giving in to peer pressure did not matter. But when peer pressure was opposed to doing the right thing, I generally did the right thing and I never regretted the outcome. Is the law connected to love in that same way? Meaning that if you keep the law you promote love? Let's jump into our study of the Bible and learn more!...
