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Exile and Remnant
Israel was elected by God to bear his name in the world. Everywhere they went, they were to be a representation of who God is, what he’s like, and how the people under him should live, govern, speak and act. Israelites we’re literally born as the elect, chosen people of God and his salvation. Except…
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The Stars Already Told Everyone About Jesus
Christians have long asked the question of, “What happens to those who have never heard the gospel?” Paul answered this question by quoting an old prophetic Psalm to make the point that, “The Heavens have already told everyone about Jesus.” And all God’s people said, “What?” Bible scholar Michael Heiser blends this passage with a…
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Let’s Clarify What Forgiveness Is
Since forgiveness is such a central Christian topic, I thought I’d write up a few quick pointers to help us understand it a little better. 1. Forgiveness means someone owes you a debt. Forgiveness is not an emotional conversation about sin, but a tangible one we can all see in a physical dollar bill. Consider…
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We Were Always Saved by Faith
Because of Paul’s excellent teaching on “salvation by faith,” Christians often view this doctrine as a uniquely New Testament movement. “In the Old Testament people were saved by obedience to the law, but in the New Testament we are saved by faith,” we often say. But if you pay close attention, you’ll see that this…
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Does God Really Harden Hearts Toward Him?
Paul has a rather unpopular teaching in Romans that people prefer to skip over or explain away and it goes like this: “God shows mercy and compassion on whoever he wants and hardens whoever he wants.” Paul links this teaching back to the story of Pharaoh who seemed caught up in a bit of a…
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The Lord’s Breakfast
Why do we make a big deal about eating together when we gather on Sundays? Why do we incorporate communion into it? Is it just to be cool or is there a Biblical precedent to it? In Sunday’s message, I explain how eating together connects to Jesus’ ministry and the gatherings of the early church,…
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Oh How He Loves
The first time I heard the song How He Loves at a college chapel, I was both mesmerized and skeptical. I was drawn in by the very first words and surprised that a worship song could be so poetic. Sure, like most people I was startled by the phrase, “heaven meets earth like a sloppy…
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Creation is Groaning
In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Pilgrim’s Regress, the allegorical God character is called, “the Landlord.” This is a pretty clever title as it encompasses quite a bit of theology from the book of Genesis. Having created the earth and all that it is in it, God then raised up human beings and gave them the…
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Christians in Identity Crisis
The New Testament has a lot to say about our identity as Christians, including the fact that we have been adopted into the royal heavenly family as children of God. Our relationship with God is so intimate that we refer to him as Father. Stop and reflect on that: we are “children of God.” That’s…
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New Flesh Theology
By and large, I find that most Christians find Paul’s “new flesh” theology to be more of a metaphor and not really all that applicable to real life. Sure, our old flesh of Adam and Eve is dead and we’re remade new in the new resurrection flesh of Jesus, but few seem to think or…
Jamin Bradley 