“SIX INCHES!” This was the standard rule for members of the opposite sex through most of my childhood and into my teenage years. Touching was prohibited, which left even a handshake or high five with a girl seem oddly inappropriate. The basis for this was from a passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter seven, and as far as verses that were to be memorized, it ranked right up there with John 3:16. This verse reads, “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:1,2) The reasoning that was given for this statement was that since committing fornication requires touching, Paul is saying that the best way to avoid fornication is unmarried people to keep from touching each other. But the question that a study of the text, in context, brings is, “Did Paul really say that it is good for a man not to touch a woman

The book of Deuteronomy is well known as the last book of the Pentateuch. The book itself, as stated by Hamilton is, “In relationship to the rest of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy is considered something of an oddity”. Hamilton, (p. 367) While it may be true, that the position of Deuteronomy in its place with the first books of the Bible may seem odd, we must understand a few key point that the book itself points us towards, in order to understand and believe it’s validity as part of the Pentateuch. Firstly, we can see that the book of Deuteronomy acts as a “doorway” of sorts to the rest of the old testament. While the book is not a narrative as many of the other books in the beginning of the scriptures, it makes the way for us to see the rest of the Old Testament in the correct light. We see that the book takes place during the, “two resting times are the times when God speaks (mostly through his servant Moses) definitively and extensively to his people. It is in these camping, les

Can someone who is Christian have homosexual thoughts/lusts?  They most certainly can! Every person, no matter who they are, will deal with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). This is the consequence of the fall, but there may be differences in the exact ways that it affects us (1 Cor. 6:11).   We are not given the choice on how the fall shows itself in our lives. We must realize that the fight against the temptation to sin is a fierce and seemingly endless, but the fight itself is not sin. Temptation only becomes sin when we yield to it. Even though regeneration kills the old man in Christ, we still carry the habits of that old nature (Rom. 7). No matter what these habits are, they may not just disappear when they are born again. We do not put our faith in Christ to get rid of homosexual or any other sinful desire, we do not put our faith in Christ to become morally upright, but we put our faith in Christ to gain Christ The good

How do the elements of the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 play out in the lives of Joseph and Judah? The promise of being a great nation we can see in the life of Judah. Judah would go on to bear children that would become the largest tribe of Israel. Ultimate this great nation would bring forth the Lion of Judah. God promised to bless Abraham. Joseph was blessed with the ability to interpret dreams as well the knowledge to serve the land of Egypt and ultimately preserve his family. God promised to make his name great. Joseph's name was made great in the land of Egypt when he saved the region from starvation by his interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:25) God promised Abraham he would be a blessing. Joseph was a blessing in being influential saving Egypt from famine. Judah would be a blessing as the line from which the chosen Seed would come.

How do the elements of the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 play out in the life of Jacob in Genesis? The promise of being a great nation is seen most clearly in the life of Jacob. He was the father unto those that would quite literally be called the children of Israel. The decedents of his sons would go on to make up the twelve tribes of Israel. God promised to bless Abraham. Even being the second born and not in line for the blessing and birthright of his father, we find Jacob being blessed. (Genesis 27:30) God promised to make his name great. Like his father Abraham, God did make the name of Jacob great. In a similar fashion to his grandfather, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and would forever be known. God promised Abraham he would be a blessing. Like his father before him, Jacob was a blessing to his family. Jacob blessed his children in instructing them in the ways they should continue. (Genesis 49:1) In an extended way, we see the nations blessed by Jacob throug

How do the elements of the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 play out in the life of Isaac in Genesis? We can see the element is the promises of Genesis 12:1-3 played out in Isaac's life in continuing to make Abraham a great nation. Isaac was the chosen and promised seed, and thus he was inheriting the land of his father.  He was not just passive in this but took ownership of up-keeping  the land given. Isaac is seen digging again the wells that his father had dug (Gen. 26:18). He not only received the promise but was active in his responsibility of taking care of it. God promised to bless Abraham. Isaac as the promised seed received the blessings that were given to his father, as well as being blessed himself. (Gen. 26:12) God promised to make his name great. Isaac, as the promised seed had the greatness of the name, promised to his father. God promised Abraham he would be a blessing. Isaac was a blessing as a loving husband, he stayed true to his wife Rebecca.

How do the elements of the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 play out in the life of Abraham in Genesis? We can see the element is the promises of Genesis 12:1-3 played out in Abraham’s life is not only restoring what he lost but bettering it. God promised that he would make Abraham a great nation.  We see this in an obvious way through the promised seed of Issac's, but also in the child Ishmael. Interestingly, by following God Abraham lost the nation that he was a part of, but he gains a great nation that was called his own. God promised to bless Abraham. Even though he left what he knows to follow God, he gained multiples more in his obedience that those could have been his if he had not been obedient, God promised to make his name great. Abraham left Ur as an unknown man named Abram, but God prospered His name among the nations and even gave him a new name. God promised Abraham he would be a blessing. God not only promised Abraham blessing but that he would be a bless

Life in Israel   before the institution of the monarchy  was completely different than anything that the people of Israel had ever experienced before. Up to this point, they had been under the rule of Pharaoh and grown as a nation in that way. Through the direction of God, Moses led them from that bondage and into the wilderness where they would, of their own doing, spend the next forty years. As we come upon the scriptures of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, we see the way in which the people that God had led out would have to begin to live. “In all of this Israel had the promise that God had already given them everything that they would gain. the fact that the land is something Yahweh is “giving” or “has given” to Israel (vv. 2, 3, 11, 13, 15), or that Moses already gave them (vv. 14, 15)” (Hamilton p. 19).  Hamilton mentions this certainty when he shows that the promises of God, are “ a perfect of certitude, a perfective of confidence, a perfective future—a means of expressing a vivi

While there are many principles that are given to us in the Old Testament, there are a few aspects that we should key in on and apply to the church and to ourselves. We can be tempted to see the Old Testament as something that we read through just to mark it off our yearly Bible reading plan but is there for us as well. Paul explains to the Corinthian church that events of the Old Testament, “were written down for our instruction” (1 st Corinthians 10:11). It wasn’t as if the church at the beginning stages had the entire canon that we enjoy today; their Bible was the Old Testament.  When Jesus rebukes the Pharisees by rebuking them for not reading the scriptures ( Matthew 12:3), He was speaking of the writings of Moses and the prophets. Overall the key aspects that the church of today must see is that it must rely on God in fully trusting His plan. This will result in the response of obedience to the commands of God. In speaking of the trust in the life of Abraham from his Han

Heresy has always been an issue to truth. It seems that even from the beginning of time the truth has been taken and adjusted to become dangerous. The first account that we see of this goes as far back as Genesis 3; where we find a serpent in the garden taking the truth of God and making it heretical. The early church was no stranger to this issue. One of the ways that the church came to combat these different  heresies was  “the use of various creeds”. (Gonzalez p.77) These creeds were called the symbols of the faith by the early adherents of Christianity. We learn that symbol did not mean what it means to the English speaker today, but “it meant “a means of recognition,” such as a token that a general gave to a messenger, so that the recipient could recognize a true messenger.” “Likewise, the “symbol” put together in Rome was a means whereby Christians could distinguish true believers from those who followed the various heresies circulating at the time.” (Gonzalez p.77) These

The book of Exodus has much to say to us about who God is and how He deals with His people.  There are various example of this that we can find from the life of Moses and how God deals with Him, but some of the greatest themes are seen in how God has dealt with a people that were, in many cases, prone to disobedience and complaints.  Firstly, we can see this taking place in the intervention in Moses’s life and by extension, God is intervening in the lives of the people of His promises. Moses spends years away from Egypt, fleeing not only the Egyptians that he would have been raised around, but away from the people that are his kindred.  Even if we run from the people of God, we can never outrun the plans of God.  God miraculously intervenes in the life of Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:2) and uses Moses through similar miraculous means to intervene in the lives of the Israelites. God freed the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt as He has freed Moses from his bondage

The topic of methods of evangelism can often be a ‘hot button’ topic, especially in certain religions circles. But if we are to understand the course of action that we are to take in the evangelization of the world, we must pattern our after the methods of the early church.   The church as we know it started with a group of predominantly Jewish people (Acts 3), Paul even explains to us that it was the Jewish people that first had the gospel (Romans 1:16).  If we look to this, we understand that, “Salvation indeed comes from the Jews; its source lies in a man born under the Law. But it is designed for the whole world”. (Green p.161)   We can be assured that the design of the gospel was also for the non-Jew, but as Michael Green explains, the gospel had to be ”translated”, and “Without such a task of translation the message would have been heard, perhaps, but not assimilated”. (Green p.166) This is the point that we must take in any form of evangelism in our modern day.  I’m no

The theological purposes of Genesis, chapters 1-11 are seen from two main perspectives. You begin with God in His place as creator. This is the all-important fact that will guide our understanding through the remainder of the book of Genesis. We see God as creator in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created” and this theme will follow us through the remainder of the Old Testament all the way to the Revelation of Jesus to the apostle John. In his gospel John picks up this same baton, pointing out to us that it was Christ that was in the beginning and involved in creation. In Revelation 1:8, Jesus speaking again makes clear that He was in the beginning and the end, the Almighty God. This knowledge given to us must guide our understanding throughout the rest of scripture. We are created by God, and as such are responsible to obey His commands. Which brings us closer home. The second perspective is that of rebellion and redemption. The realization that we are merely created beings

As we make our way through the midst of the Pentateuch through the third and fourth book, we need to take account of what these books teach us.   There is much to be said about the instructions of these to accounts of Israel. We end the book of Exodus seeing that God has remembered them and has rescued them from their captors. Upon leaving Egypt, we enter the writings of the book of Leviticus.   Leviticus teaches us about the worship of God. In this book we see the ways that Israel was to live before their God. The instructions that were given for their worship of the God that they served, and the details of how they were to make sacrifices to atone for their sinfulness.   It is important that we understand the importance of this book from a theological standpoint. God has set on place how He was to be worshiped, and this must not be ignored. He had also given instruction on the way to live in holiness before Him. It is mention to us that, “Those who worship a holy God will

Even though we find less narrative about that life of Solomon that we do about the lives of his predecessors, this does not subtract from the interesting character who is the last to hold the throne of the united kingdoms of Israel. When thinking of Solomon, many think of Solomon’s request for wisdom and his uses of it. Rightfully so, but often forget that, while he was a wise and  he was still a king under the same standards as his father. Deuteronomy 17:14-20, lays out the guidelines by which a king in Israel was to conduct himself. These rules, though they were not many, they were straight forward. Firstly, he is to be one that is chosen by the Lord (Deut. 17:14), which is the case in Solomon’s rule. Hamilton shows that there were even seen some similarities between the choosing of Solomon and the choosing of Joshua. He states, “Joshua will complete Moses’ unfinished work. David is disqualified from building the temple… so Solomon will complete David’s unfinished work”. (Hamil