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Archive for January, 2026

Obedience from Faith

Posted in Baptist Catechism, Consequences, Doctrine, Faith, General, theology, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The words faith and believe are used less than 30 times in the Old Testament translation of the NASB, while faithful, faithfulness, and trust are used frequently. The Old Testament is very concrete and action oriented, so faith involves action. The New Testament more utilizes the concept and intention of faith and belief, but it is still centered on active faith (1). Habakkuk 2:4 says “live by his faith”, not ‘has faith’. Faith is not an opinion or perspective or considered truth; it is a deeply held belief that changes your actions. Your stated belief is not the point. Your practical (acted upon) belief is.

Consider Hezekiah’s faith in 2 Kings 18:3-6: “He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.” “He trusted” is in the context of all that he did to demonstrate that he was “following Him”.

The way that Hezekiah was able to do these things was by keeping the commandments of God. Obedience acceptable to God comes from a heart of faith. If someone says to you that they believe in Jesus, ask them if they are a follower of Jesus. Do they obey His Word, not just the convenient parts, but the whole? “Faith without works is dead.” (2)


Question 45: What is the duty which God requires of man?
Answer: The duty which God requires of man is the obedience that comes from faith.
 Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:11;  Romans 1:5; 16:26; 15:18.

Question 46: What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
Answer: The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law.
Rom. 2:14; 15; 5:13, 14.

  1. James 2:14-26
  2. James 2:26

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A Day is Coming

Posted in Baptist Catechism, Consequences, Faith, Forgiveness, General, Gospel, Judgment, Repentance, Salvation, Work of Jesus, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Many in the world and in the church insist that we should not talk about today’s subject. But if we do not talk to the wicked about judgment after death, by our omission we do them no service, simultaneously indicating our total lack of care for them and denial of our stated belief in God and His revealed truth.

The world does not merely omit acceptance of hell and judgment. It scoffs, denies, and rails at anyone who dares to bring it up. And far too many in and around the church declare that is unloving, “my god wouldn’t do that”, and that’s outdated, fire and brimstone preaching. The problem with these denials is simply that the Word of God, both Old and New Testament, speak incessantly of what will happen to the wicked at death and at the final judgment.

Part of the problem is a misunderstanding/refusal concerning what death is. Death in the Scripture is not annihilation. Death is separation. At physical death, the body is laid to rest in the grave (cemetery, sea, blast zone, etc). The spirit of the believer goes to heaven, while the unbeliever’s spirit proceeds to hell. In the second death, the final judgment, the spirit of the unbeliever is eternally separated from God and all that He has provided that is good.

On six separate occasions in the book of Matthew (1), Jesus declares that the “sons of the kingdom” (2), the lawless, the wicked, and the hypocrites will be cast into the judgment where “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (3) shall take place. It is a gracious kindness that He warns sinners of their just judgment. Why?

It does not have to be so. Turn away from your sin (repent) and believe in the saving sacrifice of Christ on the cross for your sins (4). For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Question 43: What shall be done to the wicked at death?
Answer: The souls of the wicked shall at death, be cast into the torments of hell, and their bodies lie in their graves till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.

Luke 16:22-24; Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:11- 15.

Question 44: What shall be done to the wicked at the Day of Judgment?
Answer: At the Day of Judgment, the bodies of the wicked, being raised out of their graves shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels forever.

Daniel 12:2; John 5:28, 29; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:14-15.

  1. Matthew 8, 13, 22, 24, and 25
  2. Sons of the Kingdom- In the immediate context, it must mean people of Israel who don’t believe, but considering that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2), many will be hangers onto the church but lacking saving faith (Matthew 7:22-23).
  3. Matthew 8:12, 13:42 & 50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30
  4. Acts 2:38, 16:31-32, Luke 24:46-47

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Joy and Sorrow

Posted in Advent, Faith, General, Hymns, Music, Poem, tagged , , , on January 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

During the Advent season, I watched a video about the Coventry Carol (1). The history is fascinating and rather odd to our ears and sensibilities. Given the context of one song among many about one subject within the wider story of Christ’s incarnation, I understand its use. But why must we persist in such a narrow interpretation in our present context?

So, I determined to write new words to go with this haunting, ancient tune, ones more broadly capturing the message and purpose of our Savior’s arrival. Try singing it along with the tune listed below (2).

When Jesus came to earth that day
Mixture of joy and pain
Birthed in a stable where they stay
Rough in a manger lain

Oh, but the joy of shepherds then
Fresh from the angels’ song
Worship the child who came to win
Sinners from all their wrong

Then came the magi with their gifts
Praise for the Infant King
Gifts were symbols, this child uplifts
All of His glory sing

Next sorrow came with Herod’s rage
Children killed cruel and cold
Then Rachel’s weeping came of age
Mothers are not consoled

A man of sorrows for our sake
Wept over suffering
Thus “a bruised reed He did not break”
Sickness and pain curing

So was the sorrow and the joy
When Jesus crucified
He suffered our sin to destroy
Rose to be glorified

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DplvC9weDro
  2. Coventry Carol Tune

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Be Seen

Posted in Faith, Forgiveness, General, Gospel, Metaphor, Work of Jesus, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

As an introduction to the Lord’s Supper in church today, my pastor read and shortly discussed the implications of Genesis 22:9-13 in light of Christ’s death on the cross. Testing and confirming Abraham’s faith is certainly a major component of this scene, but just as God was after a metaphor for Christ’s work when Moses struck the rock rather than speaking to it (1), so God was commanding a metaphor about His Son’s work through Abraham and Isaac.

“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

Notice that I included verse 14, because I read further after pastor stopped. In the NASB, which I read, there was a footnote before the last two words, “be provided”. The center notes read, “Lit. [literally] be seen” (2). I wondered, “What was seen?” They saw “a ram caught in the thicket by his horns.” (v.13) As I shared this thought after service, a brother pointed out that Abraham had earlier said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (v.8) Was he wrong, since it was a ram? No, God did provide (see) a lamb, as John the Baptist says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) But in the immediate context, God did provide a ram, which had been a lamb of course. A ram is strong, as indicated by its horns (3). The thicket involves entanglement, thorns, and suffering.

Here is the metaphor, as I saw it anew. The powerful Son of God, the same one who “will shatter kings” and “drink from the brook by the wayside” (4) in power and victory, willingly becomes caught (incarnation) in the thicket of our sinful world, so that He would be God’s provision/sacrifice for mankind. God saw to “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin” (5).

Abraham bound Isaac and placed him on an altar on the Mountains of Moriah (6), where the temple was later built, and where Christ Jesus was much later nailed to a cross. Thus, “In the mount of the Lord it will be seen,” our provision for a sin debt we could never repay, fully paid by our victorious Savior. Praise the Lord!

  1. Numbers 20:8-13
  2. It may seem very odd that the same word could be translated “provided” or “seen”, but in the immediate context of Abraham’s (and don’t forget Isaac) need and naming of the place, it is a legitimate translation (see also Deuteronomy 33:21). Conversely, when something needed is “seen”, it is at hand and provided. Also, KJV, GNV, and WYC translations render the word as “seen”.
  3. Numbers 24:8; Daniel 8:6-8
  4. Psalm 110:5,7: Drinking from the brook seems to be a metaphor for the warrior refreshing himself after victory, almost in defiance of the downed enemies.
  5. Romans 8:3
  6. Genesis 22:2; 2 Chronicles 3:1

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Future Benefits

Posted in Assurance, Baptist Catechism, Delights, Doctrine, Faith, General, Glorification, Reflection, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Why would God give a reward “to all who have loved His appearing”? It gives glory to Him. Have you begun to love His appearing? Think more about heaven and its rewards. At the moment of death, the believer will be perfected, no more sin or sinful tendencies, no pain, and bright and shinning because he/she is made like Jesus. There in His presence, you will worship without reservation or equivocation. Why should you think more about heaven and love His appearing? It glorifies God. What you think about is what you talk about, increasing your Gospel witness. As you consistently consider your forever blessings, you will live a holier life and persevere in times of trouble, because your heart is being sanctified and fortified.

The two catechism questions below seem to be talking about the same subject, life after death. In terms of entering eternal bliss, they are one and the same. However, they occur at a different time. Death occurs at the end of our earthly life; resurrection occurs at the return of Christ. Death is separation from the body to be immediately in God’s presence (1). Resurrection is union with a glorified body and the presence of Christ (2).

Again, I say, “When by His grace I shall look at His face, that will be glory, be glory for me.” (3)

Question 41: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
Answer: At death the souls of believers are made perfect in holiness, and immediately pass into glory. Their bodies rest in their graves till the resurrection.

Hebrews 12:23; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 23:43; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Isaiah 57:2; Job 19:26.

Question 42: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the Resurrection?
Answer: At the resurrection, believers are raised up in glory; they shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity.

Philippians 3:20, 21; 1 Corinthians 15:42, 43; Matthew 10:32; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

  1. 2 Corinthians 5:1-9
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 and 1.
  3. Hymn “Oh, That Will Be Glory” by Chas. H Gabriel

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Q40- Benefits

Posted in Assurance, Baptist Catechism, Doctrine, Faith, General, God Thoughts, Work of Jesus, tagged , , , on January 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Rescue from the penalty of sin is surely more than enough of a reward to precipitate worship and obedience from God’s children. But He has, is, and will give us far more: peace with God; introduction into grace; hope of glory; joy in tribulation leading to perseverance, proven character, hope, and the love of God; Christ’s righteousness; protection; assurance of eternal life; indwelling of the Holy Spirit; fellowship with Christ and believers; answered prayer. (1) He also sustains His own (Psalm 37:17) and calls us His brethren (Hebrews 2:10-12). (2)

Question 40: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
Answer: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, fellowship with Christ, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, the privilege of prayer, and perseverance therein to the end.

Romans 5:1-5; 14:17; Proverbs 4:18: 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 5:13; 1 Corinthians 1:9; John 15:7.

  1. See Scripture passages above.
  2. Though not an exhaustive list, it should be reason for thankfulness, confidence, and praise which are further benefits of His presence in our lives.

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