It is impossible to go through life ignoring God’s creatures. Who can say they haven’t noticed birds, spiders, squirrels, ants, and an occasional raccoon? Those creatures are part of our divinely-planned existence, and they, like all the rest of creation, serve to arrest our attention, provoke us to ponder, and draw us into a relationship with God. They not only reveal God’s incredible power and amazing creativity, but they serve to teach us about ourselves (“Like sheep, we’ve all gone astray.”) And they even affirm moral truths that reside in every conscience. It is amazing—and tragic—that most people are not amazed by the divine display that is paraded before them all their lives.

Let’s think about this a little more…

When you think about, it is astounding that every person on the planet isn’t thinking about God constantly, and that He is not the primary subject of every conversation and communication.

People, for example, think, and they take thinking totally for granted, although no one understands how it actually occurs. Neurologists might suggest it is a combination of chemicals and electrical signals, but that is as far as they can take us. The rest is complete mystery. Add the storage of memories, language and knowledge—millions of pieces of data that have accumulated via five amazing senses, such as images that have entered the lenses of our eyes to be transmitted via electrical signals to our brains, and sounds that have traveled through the air into our ear canals that also transmit electrical signals to our brains. These, and a million other examples, only multiply all the mystery.

Although Jesus declared from His cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), He was not referring to His work of salvation. The reason we can be certain of that is because Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17, emphasis added). Clearly, Jesus’ resurrection had something to do with releasing us, in some way, from our sins. So, whatever He accomplished on the cross that had something to do with our sins, it was not everything.

So what was “it” that was finished with Jesus’ final breath? Scripture doesn’t say. It would seem reasonable to think that Jesus was referring to His suffering since one second after His final declaration, He died, and His spirit evacuated His body.

Frequently I hear or read the claim that, because Paul said in Ephesians 2:8 that we are “saved by grace,” inheriting God’s kingdom does not hinge on our obedience to Jesus’ commandments. Tragically, that is an error based on another error.

Paul actually told the Ephesians, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” Don’t remove the factor of faith from the equation of salvation. Both grace and faith are required for us to be saved.

Once upon a time, there was a great king who ruled his kingdom in truth and righteousness. But there were enemies living within his kingdom who broke his laws, and whom he discovered were plotting to overthrow his rule.

The king laughed when he heard of their plot, knowing that his enemies were no match for his armies, and because his informants knew of his enemies’ every move and intent. So, he decreed that in ten days, all of his enemies would be rounded up and executed for treason.

I’ve noticed that one thing all false-grace teachers and their disciples hold in common, and that is a history personal of plaguing guilt, guilt which they resolved by embracing their false theology. If you listen to them long enough, you will eventually hear them say something to the effect, “I tried so hard for years to live right, and my failure tormented me. I am so glad I discovered that Jesus did it all, and my salvation doesn’t depend on my performance.” Their words are a tacit admission that they believe the gospel is a license to sin. The gospel isn’t, however, a license to sin, and anyone who is honest with the New Testament knows that.

It is interesting to ponder the fact that, until relatively recently in Christian history, most believers have not owned a Bible. The ramifications of that fact are profound.

Of course, the early Christians did have limited access to what we call the Old Testament, as it was contained in a collection of scrolls in Jewish synagogues. So, the early Jewish Christians who had attended synagogue all their lives had heard portions of the Old Testament read many times.

I love encouragement. Who doesn’t?

And I hate discouragement. Who doesn’t?

Encouragers are like sunshine that warms you on a cold day.

Discouragers are like birds that poop on your windshield.

When I see that I have received an email from someone who is an encourager, I eagerly read their email. It is similar to the feeling you get when you open a box of chocolates. Solomon must have understood that, as he wrote, “Good news puts fat on the bones” (Prov. 15:30)!

Note to readers: A few weeks ago, I published a short teaching that asked the same question as the title of this article. At the end of that teaching, I asked readers for their thoughts, and some did. This article is a follow-up based, in part, on responses I received.

Who doesn’t love the story of Esther, found in a biblical book by her name? In the end, the bad guy, Haman, is hanging from the gallows he erected to execute Mordecai, and Mordecai enjoys the exaltation Haman was planning for himself. That story, annually celebrated ever since through the Jewish feast of Purim, illustrates that God is a God of justice, and that He can turn the tables on the wicked, inflicting them with what they were attempting to inflict upon the righteous.

Paul’s description of his many hardships in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 includes a list of eight “dangers” that he faced because of his “frequent journeys”:

I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26).

It is easy to see how the first seven—swelling rivers, ambushing robbers, stormy seas, foreign cities, remote wildernesses, and hostile Jews and Gentiles—could be dangers related to Paul’s frequent travels. The eighth one he lists, however—”false brethren”—is not so obvious regarding how it is related to his frequent journeys.