Growing In Grace

I talk about the gospel - a lot! And there are countless reasons why I put such a great emphasis on this central truth. I have written about this before (http://trevorbinkley.blogspot.com/2012/12/things-of-first-importance-why-i-make.html) and today I want to write about it again. There are so many passages that could be referenced to support the centrality and importance of the gospel, but let's look at the passage referenced in the title of this post: 1 Peter 1:10-12  Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to l

Most Christians wholeheartedly agree with the old adage, "Let Scripture interpret Scripture." Most agree that instead of looking for an interpretation that is foreign to the text, we should first and foremost seek to understand how the original author uses the word that we are trying to interpret. Based on the author's established usage, we should then go about seeking to understand the passage being studied.  Using this Scripture to interpret Scripture principle can also help to untangle some of the symbolism in the book of Revelation. In this post we will seek to understand what John's intended symbolism was for his 7 uses of "lampstand" in the book of Revelation (1:12, 1:13, 1:20(2x); 2:1, 2:5; 11:4).  Revelation 1:12-13 - "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

"In public discourse, the challenge is not to stifle robust debate, but rather to make sure that it is real debate. The first obligation for Christians is to listen carefully to opponents and if they are not willing to do so, then Christians should simply be silent. To engage in a war of words is to encourage in a symbolic voiolence that is fundamentally at odds with the gospel. - James Davison Hunter "To Change the World" (emphasis added) This is something that I have thought about quite a bit over the past few months. As someone that keeps up a blog and loves posting quotes and questions, I read this and was challenged as it made me ask myself the question, "Why do I post what I post?" Most of what I post are things that have ministered to or exhorted me and so I like to pass them along. Other times they are things that I have worked and thought through and I am trying to help others to do the same. But alas, there are other times when I have used quotes,

When church gets out do you find yourself thinking about those areas of your life that you need to improve? Or do you leave pondering the gospel of grace, and the glory of God in Christ's work in our place? Certainly we may leave with both of these things on our minds, but which one did the pastor emphasize the most? A dear friend of mine who is a truck driver told me when I got my commercial drivers license that the best thing I could do to drive straight was to look as far down the road as I could. Even when driving through curves I should anticipate where we are heading and keep my eyes fixed there. The reason is that if we look down right in front of the bus or truck to keep ourselves between the stripes we actually make things worse. We end up looking back and forth and over-correct back and forth. Though it is completely counter intuitive, trying to look close to stay between the lines makes doing so very difficult. This principle holds true for us in our Christian walks to

The more I study the Bible the more I realize the depths of the treasures that it holds. We will never be able to exhaust it's riches, but we must press on and dig deeper throughout our lives. This word study is another one that shocked me because I had always understood the promise made to Abraham a certain way. I grew up hearing it taught a certain way, and never thought to question it. In fact, in some circles questioning the interpretation that I was taught was taboo (borderline heretical in others). However, if we truly believe the Bible is the Word of God, infallible and authoritative, then we must allow it to change even our most deeply held understandings of things if they can be proven to be untenable. This is one of those beliefs that is often bound up with so much emotion, so I would just ask that you let the Bible speak for itself and then draw your conclusions. Perhaps this will challenge a long held belief, but if this is what the Bible truly says then that belief m

There are two main words that the NT authors use from which we get our English word temple. The BDAG (probably the most highly recognized Greek lexicon) gives us these definitions:      1) naos is used 45 times in the NT and is defined as: a place or structure specifically associated with or set apart for a deity, who is frequently perceived to be using it as a dwelling, temple.      2) hieron is used 71 times and is defined as: sanctuary, temple. (In every instance both the NASB and the ESV translate it only as temple.) Though it might be a little overly simplistic to say it this way, the general difference between the two is that hieron is used to speak of the temple as a structure, whereas naos carries with it the additional connotation of dwelling place of God. With this foundation laid fist we will look at how Paul uses these two words in the New Testament. Only in 1 Corinthians 9:13 does Paul use hieron saying, "13 Do you not know that those who are employed in th

I have wanted to write on this subject for a while now, but I realize that there are lots of emotional responses that are bound up with hearing about "Replacement" theology. I remember the first time I heard about "Replacement" theology, a well known Bible teacher was booming about it's dangers and how we must support Israel in their pursuit to reclaim the land "that God gave them." At the time, I was far too young in the Lord to understand the full argument that was being made and all that comes with it, and I assumed that no Bible teacher would ever paint a picture of fellow believers that portrayed them to believe something they don't. I was completely naive to the fact that everyone has certain theological positions, and while propagating them, they have a tendency to misrepresent and caricature the other side of the argument. In this post I want to share with you why I believe that those who teach against "Replacement" theology hav

According to The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Pragmatism is "an approach to philosophy, primarily held by American philosophers, which holds that the truth or meaning of a statement is to be measured by its practical consequences." In other words, something is considered to be true and meaningful if it works, and if it works well then it is good. Many of you are probably wondering, "Why should I care?" The reason why we need to be familiar with this philosophy is because it has infiltrated the church today, and the consequences are frightening. To show how this has changed the church we can take a look at the difference between the First and Second Great Awakenings. The First was focused on the preaching of justification by faith alone, the sovereignty of God, and other key doctrines. The Second Great Awakening however, lost the emphasis on doctrine (teaching about God) and instead focused its attention on using techniques that 'worke

Have you ever met a Christian somewhere and began chatting with them? Did you have a feeling of joy as you realize that this is another person that has been captivated by the grace of God in Christ? They say there is a special bond between a pair of brothers or sisters, and in moments like the one I just described we get a far clearer understanding of why Christians have used brother and sister language. But have you ever been in one of these situations and then the person says something that causes you to instantly hold your breath? Maybe you even get a lump in your throat and that feeling of camaraderie is instantly gone? I ask this question because if you have been a Christian for any time at all I imagine that you have had many such instances, and some of the feelings and reactions are incredibly justified. For instance I once had a conversation where the person knew lots of biblical truth but when pressed, their understanding of Christianity was boiled down to the statement &quo