Although the devil is called the “father of lies” (John 8:44), he is also known as the “accuser of our brothers”. His job has always been to accuse the saints based on the correct understanding that the penalty of sin requires judgment and spiritual death. However, through Christ’s death, resurrection, and exaltation he has achieved […]

Philemon, the shortest of all Paul’s writings in the New Testament, is unfamiliar to most Christians, usually because of its brevity or because it doesn’t seem stand out like other epistles such as Romans or Ephesians. However, in this beautiful letter we find one of the most striking examples of the gospel, of law and […]

When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church at Pentecost, believers were empowered to be witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ, spreading the good news of the kingdom of God throughout the earth (Acts 1:8). And even in the face of severe persecution that broke out against the early church – intense suffering, hostility, and […]

“Where is God in all of this?” This question is often asked in the face of devastating trials, intense persecution, and horrible calamities. Even as believers we can sometimes be tempted to believe that God is distant, unconcerned, or even helpless when disaster strikes. In Acts 12 we see the early church facing such difficulties […]

An often neglected, yet absolutely essential, aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ is his ascension. We are familiar with his life, his death, and his resurrection; we are familiar with the Great Commission, Pentecost, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the early church. Yet the ascension of Jesus – that pivotal moment when the Son of Man approached the […]

The story of the young man who approaches Jesus in Mark 10:17-26 is a familiar passage of Scripture with a message just as profound today as it was 2000 years ago. Though we may be successful in every possible way – economically, socially, morally, religiously, intellectually – the question still remains: do we count all gain […]

One of the most well-known of Jesus’ parables, the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) was told in response to a lawyer’s question of how to inherit eternal life. Rather than giving him the legalistic response he was looking for – a check list of actions and individuals he was to show love to – Jesus answered the […]

John 14:12 has been one of the most widely interpreted verses in the church, especially in recent years. What exactly does Jesus mean when he says we will do greater works than he did? Are we to believe that the church today should be “outdoing” the miracles of Jesus? If his greatest work was “to give […]

One of the most profound and mysterious truths of the Christian faith is the doctrine of the incarnation – “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). That Jesus was both fully God and fully man while on this earth, and that he emptied himself of his heavenly status and not his divine […]

As we came to the conclusion of our Old Testament readings in The Daily Bible, we read the inspiring account of Nehemiah and his efforts to rebuild and reform Jerusalem. Yet, just as we have seen with the many other major characters in Scripture, Nehemiah’s life ultimately points us to the life of Jesus Christ and […]

While it is true that the name of God is absent from the book of Esther, his fingerprints are unmistakably and beautifully apparent throughout the entirety of this story. Here we find one of the most remarkable displays in all of Scripture of Providence: God’s wise, loving, and righteous care and governance of all things for the accomplishment […]

In Zechariah 12:10-13:1, God declares: “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over […]

As the Lord had graciously promised through the prophets, God’s people had finally returned from exile. Under the direction of Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, they had laid the foundation of the temple and had even begun offering sacrifices again. However, the prophet Zechariah is shown a shocking vision of the true […]

When one hears the name “Job,” it’s not long before the word “suffering” comes to mind. In some churches, when sermons are preached on Job, it’s not long before even the word “prosperity” is brought up. But it’s a rare occurrence that we ever associate Jesus Christ or the gospel with this particular book. Nevertheless Job makes […]

Evangelicals cherish the doctrine of justification by faith alone, that believers are declared “not guilty” before God based on the righteousness and merits of Christ. Yet when it comes to our sanctification – the process of our moral condition being brought into conformity with our legal standing – we are quick to abandon the gospel and instead […]