Bible in Life

Living As Saints What comes to mind when you hear the word "saint"? Two thousand years of church history has changed the original meaning of the word. Today, the word "saint" refers to a man or a woman who has been canonized by the Church. At a popular level they are the extra holy people, super deluxe Christians who get statues made of them. But when the authors of the New Testament used the word...

Becoming Imitators of God   Living the Christian life in not merely stopping doing "bad" things. It's not merely "thou shalt nots." It's setting aside such behaviors (because are contrary to who God is and who we are as His image bearers, and thus destructive) and replacing them with new behaviors and ways of operating. And there is so much more power in pursuing a positive than just getting rid o...

The Basic Process for Living as a Christian   What is the basic process for spiritual growth? The apostle Paul has a consistent way of describing it and in Ephesians 4:22-24 he lays it out very clearly for us: lay aside the old man, be renewed in our thoughts and beliefs, and put on the new man.  Ephesians 4:21-24   But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have...

Why Should We Live Differently? Why should we as Christians change the way we used to live? Why should we live differently than the culture around us?  Related to that... -Why does the world around us seem so confused about life?  -Why can’t they see the falsehood of their ideas when it seems obvious?  -Why do people do such rotten things to each other?  -Why should we who know Christ reject the b...

Equipping the Saints   Ephesians 4:7-16 reminds us that church is a people, not an event and not a religious organization. As such, our time, money, energy, and planning should be aimed towards growing people not growing an organization so more people come to events.  Paul describes it as equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). What does that entail? Listen to this episo...

Beautiful Oneness   Ephesians 4:4-6 lists all the ways God has made Christians one. It is a oneness Christians enter into and experience in God who experience perfect oneness between Father, Spirit, and Son. It is a oneness that transcends differences of culture, class, ethnicity, and more.  Ephesians 4:4-6   4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your call...

Walking Worthy   Ephesians 4 begins a new section in the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians 1-3, Paul describes who God has called Christians to be. In Ephesians 4-6, Paul calls Christians to live a life worthy of that calling. This is the consistent way the Bible describes Christian living. It is a response to what God has done for us in grace by which we live out who we are. We walk worthy of the c...

A People Filled with God   Ephesians 3:14-21 records Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. This prayer reminds us that the church is not first and foremost a place, event, or religious organization. It is a people... a people in whom Christ dwells and who are growing deep in the love of God. The culmination of all of this is Paul's request that they be filled with all the fulness of God.  Ephesians 3:1...

The Church - the Showcase of God's Wisdom The church is full of shortcomings and faults. Anyone who has been part of a church knows this. The apostle Paul knew this. So it's become commonplace for people to run down the church.  But, even though the apostle Paul knew how flawed the churches he planted were, he still paints a breathtaking panorama of what the church with all its shortcomings is. In...

God's Family and God's Home Ephesians 2:19-22 paints a beautiful picture of who we are in Christ. Now that we have been brought near to God through Christ, we are part of God's family and we are the very dwelling place of God. This is true for any and all that come to God through Christ.  Ephesians 2:19-22   19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with th...

Jesus Died to Make Peace Jesus didn't only die to reconcile us to God; he also died to make peace between people, even in the face of long-standing hostilities. God's plan is to unite people of all kinds together into one new humanity in Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 2:11-18   11 Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumc...

God Rescued Us! | A Reflective Walk through Ephesians 2:4-10   Ephesians 2:4-10 describes how God rescued us from the desperate plight of sin and death. And it tells us why he did it: because he's rich in mercy, full of great love, surpassing in grace, and genuinely kind.  Ephesians 2:4-10 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in...

The Desperate Plight of Life Without Christ | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians 2:1-3 Ephesians 2:1-3 provides a diagnosis of our human condition outside of Christ, and the situation is dire. Sin is not just a few bad deeds in an otherwise decent life. It is a disease that infects us to the core. It also infects cultures so that the entire human way of life is corrupt. Looking at ourselves hones...

Life and Ministry Update - July 2026   The King Arrives - Sermon, Stonehill Church  https://www.stonehill.church/media/hgfw2xb/the-king-arrives-john-12-12-19 Holy Spirit Lessons - Antioch Collective, St Louis  https://antiochcollective.churchcenter.com/channels/29603/series/93306 Why Does the Bible Say Not to Eat Pork? (Food Laws article) https://renew.org/why-does-the-bible-say-not-to-eat-pork/ A...

Everything Your Heart Desires | A Reflective Walk through Ephesians 1:15-22   Meaning. Purpose. True riches. Power. These are the things that every person longs for. In Ephesians 1:15-22, the apostle Paul prays that we would see that we have these very things in Christ.     Ephesians 1:15-22 15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love...

A Blessed Life Now, with More to Come | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 3   Ephesians 1:3-14 contains Paul's prayer of thanksgiving and praise for all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. By listening to it, we learn what Paul's idea of a blessed life is. We also see that what God has given us in Christ speaks deeply to our human longing for meaning and value and we learn that as bl...

How to Grow in Faith   A regular listener to The Listener's Commentary asked me this question: do you have any resources to help me grow in faith? Or have you discussed it on the Bible in Life podcast? This is such an important question, so I wanted to offer a few thoughts on this episode.  Faith is confidence in and loyalty to God. It is based on who God is, what he has said, and what he has prom...

Living In Christ | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 2 Ephesians 1:3-14 In Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul praises God for all that He has done for us in Christ. He refers to it as "every spiritual blessing." In doing so, he highlights that our life as Christians is lived "in Christ." In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we reflect what it means to live an in Christ life and offer three sug...

Learning Theology Must Lead to Lived Theology | A Reflective Walk Through Ephesians, pt. 1 In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we begin a reflective walk through Ephesians by reflecting on what the structure of Ephesians teaches us about the relationship between theology and practical life.    Free 30 Page eBook to help you Hear and Heed the Bible:  https://www.johnwhittaker.net   Support...

Following Jesus is Not Complicated  The Lord has been reminding me again of late that following Jesus isn’t really complicated. It’s not easy... that's true. But it’s also not confusing and complicated. I think part of the reason this has struck me of late is because of all the books and all the podcasts and all the content I encounter that it seems like we’re muddying the waters and making follow...

Giving People a Chance to Love the Bible, with special guest Matt Whitman  This episode of the Bible in Life podcast features special guest Matt Whitman of the Ten Minute Bible Hour. In a free wheeling conversation, Matt and I talk about the church and ministry and teaching people the Bible.  And Matt's new book The Lightning-Fast Field Guide to the Bible (which you can find here ).  All of this d...

What was it like to be a Jew in Jesus' day? | Real World of the Gospels, pt.  In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we wrap up our series on the real world of the gospels by exploring a few key features of Jewish belief and practice in Jesus' day. Their religious identity gave them a strong social identity. Things like circumcision, clean and unclean foods, and ritual purity marked them ou...

Money, Finance, and Making a Living in Jesus' Day | Real World of the Gospels, pt. 5 What's a denarius? What's a drachma? What's a talent? How did people people make a living and what was the local economy like in Jesus' day? In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we look at the world of money, finance, and making a living the gospels. This episode was inspired by a question emailed in from...

Where in the world was Jesus? - Geography | World of the Gospels, pt. 4   Reading the Bible is like taking a trip to a foreign country in a time machine. And one of the things that means is that, whether we like it or not, we're going to have to learn some geography.  So in this episode of the Bible in Life podcast we consider the basic geography for the life and ministry of Jesus.    Free 30 Page...

Were the Pharisees really the bad guys?   Who were the Pharisees? Ask that question in a Bible study at pretty much any church and you’re likely to hear answers like: “Hypocrites.”  “Legalists”  “Self-righteous religious leaders who opposed Jesus.”  In short, the Pharisees are the “bad guys.”  In Christian circles to describe someone as a “pharisee” is no compliment. It’s usually a way of criticiz...