Category: Spirituality

Managing Our Innate Hypocrisy. Luke 6: 39 – 49. Having spoken about believers’ relationships in community earlier, the Lord Jesus next addressed a pertinent issue to do with our own attitude in relating to others. It is a no brainer to realise that we are often blissfully blind to our

Be Merciful Just As Your Father Is Merciful. Luke 6:27 – 38. In both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the Beatitudes prefaced the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon as taught by Jesus to His disciples encapsulated broad aspects of kingdom life within the community of faith, from giving

Blessed Are The Peacemakers, Those Persecuted For Righteousness’ Sake, And The Reviled. Matthew 5: 9 – 12. The Lord Jesus is our exemplary Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6). He did not shy away from conflicts when immorality, prejudice and injustice surfaced, often putting His own life on the line against

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger And Thirst For Righteousness, The Merciful, And The Pure In Heart. Matthew 5: 6 – 8. Following from being poor in spirit, those who mourn over sin, and are meek, the fourth Beatitude, viz., Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit, Those Who Mourn And The Meek. Matthew 5: 3 – 5. The Beatitudes, the first in a sequence of teachings by Jesus, commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, epitomised His own character. In that sense, these counter-cultural redemptive qualities are beyond the

The Dual References to the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20: 1 – 17; Deuteronomy 5: 1 – 22. In the Sinai, following the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, Yahweh promulgated the Decalogue, commonly known as the Ten Commandments. He prefaced it with an emphatic missive, “I am the Lord your God, who

The Gospel Of Grace? (Part 2) Romans 7 – 8. Earlier, the Apostle Paul explicated his first two points (Rom 6:1-14; Rom 6:15-23; see Part 1 of The Gospel of Grace? dated 7 May 2017), as he anticipated objections from his readers regarding the Gospel of Grace. His third contention

The Gospel Of Grace? (Part 1) Romans 5 – 6. “Grace” appears gratuitous and contradictory in our world’s orientation towards achievement, recompense, and entitlements; not that any of these values are intrinsically immoral. Is it any wonder then that the meaning of ‘grace’ seldom enters into our thinking, and if

Life’s Two Roads. Psalm 1. Except for the anonymously written Psalms 1 and 33, King David authored the 39 others in the first Book of the Hebrew Psalter. As wisdom literature, Psalm 1 sets an uncompromising picture contrasting the righteous and the wicked individual as man’s journey towards a holy

Who Is This Man On The Cross? The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The messianic language of Matthew’s Gospel, with its 53 direct Old Testament quotes and 76 other references, oriented our focus towards Jesus, as the eternal heavenly King that the Jews expected. The challenge to these

Narratives Of The Passion (Part 3). Matthew 26 – 27; Mark 14 – 15; Luke 22 – 23; John 18 – 19. The Gospels of Mark and Matthew presented the most graphic details of the gruesome crucifixion scene at Golgotha, while Luke and John spared us most of the disturbing

Narratives Of The Passion (Part 2). Matthew 26 – 27; Mark 14 – 15; Luke 22 – 23; John 18 – 19. When the Chief priests, the elders and the scribes were apparently satisfied that they had a tight case against Jesus’ blasphemous claims, the whole Council, together with their

Narratives Of The Passion (Part I). Matthew 26 – 27; Mark 14 – 15; Luke 22 – 23; John 18 – 19. The Feast of the Unleavened Bread formed the Pharisaic conspiratorial backdrop against Jesus that led to his eventual crucifixion and resurrection. However, in hindsight, the last word belonged

No One Justified In God’s Sight (Part II). Romans 3 – 5. The Apostle Paul anticipated the view broadly held by Jewish believers at Rome, that Abraham’s justification was by his obedience and good works, rather than by his faith. If God were to justify through works, only those who

No One Justified In God’s Sight (Part 1). Romans 3 – 5. Unless we have been through some emotional and/or physical life-threatening event, and had come through it, the thought of salvation from any near-fatal incident would likely remain theoretical and detached emotionally. When we extrapolate earthy salvation beyond the