Bible in Life

Flesh vs. Spirit is often talked about as if Christians have two natures that are battling within them, the flesh (the so-called "sinful nature") and the Spirit. But this fails to pay close enough attention to Paul’s language … and how it’s shaped by the already, not yet overlap we’ve been talking about. Paul speaks of either being of the flesh or of the Spirit - both/and.  So in this episode we'l...

Temptation…who doesn’t experience it? And who doesn't at times yield to it?  We are all confronted by temptation and sin.  So here’s the question: How can Paul say we’ve died to sin? But that's what he says in Romans 6:1-2: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  In this episode we explore the tens...

Redeemed. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you are redeemed - correct? Well yes, of course.  We sing songs celebrating it.  We praise Jesus for being our redeemer.  We have verses like 1 Peter 1:18-19 8 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and sp...

Have you ever felt this tension? On the one hand, the New Testament says we a more than conquerors.  On the other hand, it says through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.  Victory now.  Suffering, weakness, and hardship now.  This tension shapes everything the New Testament says about following Jesus. And if we overemphasize either one we will not only distort everything the New T...

Leviticus 10 records a shocking and surprising story... God puts to death two priests, Nadab and Abihu, two sons of Aaron. Moses explains why God did this: approaching God is serious business. His holiness must be honored. He must not be treated as ordinary, profane. As priests, these two were supposed to model for Israel the consecration necessary for being a “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6), but...

The apostle Paul says that the Law is "holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). But he also says that Law's job is done. Why is this? What's wrong with the Law?  Paul answers that question in Romans 7-8. He tells us the Law was weak. And because the Law was weak, it was never intended to be the final answer to sin and death. In fact, in Galatians 3 Paul argues that the Law was never primary or...

Why Leviticus?  Let's be honest, Leviticus isn't the most exciting reading! Sacrifices, priests, food laws, and other rituals too. What's the value of all of this? I this episode, we reflect the purpose of Leviticus, noting that the whole book revolves around the idea of holiness. How can Israel be holy as God is holy? We discuss: -that Leviticus is like a procedures manual for the priests.  -the...

Since the Old Testament Law is still God's word for us (even though it's not God's covenant with us), how can we read it profitably? What was its original purpose? Of what benefit is it for us today? Exodus 19:4-6 comes right between the Exodus (redemption) and the giving of the covenant and the Law. It states the purpose of the the nation of Israel - and thus the Law for Israel - like this:  4 ‘Y...

One of the really important things to remember when reading the Bible is that we're not the original audience. The Bible was written for us but not to us. And this is doubly so with the Old Testament Law.  The Law was God's covenant with Israel, to form them as His holy people - a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:5-6). It is Israel's national charter. So it's not God's covenant wi...

Probably the most common thing Christ say about the Old Testament law is that it was a bunch rules that were all about works salvation. And since they couldn't keep all the rules it shows that no one can earn their salvation.  But that's a fundamental misunderstanding of the Old Testament law.  In fact, if you read it, you could never say that because that's not at all how the story goes. So to un...

Is the Old Testament Law a burden or a blessing?  Christians often denigrate the Old Testament as just a bunch of rules and rituals that people had to keep to try to earn their salvation, but they never could keep all those rules. So that's why Jesus came and set us free from the Law. Is that an accurate portrayal of what the Law was intended to do and be?  How should we approach the Old Testament...

Resurrection.  If Jesus didn't rise from the dead then He's a fraud and Christianity is a sham. So does it make any sense to believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Is there any evidence? Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation a...

On this episode we explore several questions that challenge our faith in God and Jesus. Question #1 - Why does God seem so invisible, unknown and unresponsive? Question #2 - What makes belief in Jesus the exclusive way to true life, here, now, and after death? Questions #3 - If the church has often hurt its neighbors through violence, racism, sexism etc., what does that tell us about how we should...

If Jesus is the Messiah, why don't Jews believe in Him? This has been a question since the days of the apostles … who were Jews by the way. In fact, this really is the question that lies behind Romans 9-11.  And how can a loving forgiving God condemn people for following the "wrong religion" with strong faith and morality? Are people actually condemned for "following the wrong religion"?    Book:...

On Questions of Doubt, pt. 6 ( More Questions about the Bible ), one of the the things we touched on was inspiration meaning that God supervised the writing of the Bible. In response, one listener had several questions:  If the Bible is inspired or “supervised by God” then does He still do that?  Why is Scripture complete? Why are other works (both ancient and modern texts) not considered inspired...

Prayer. If we're honest, prayer is a mixed bag. Sometimes wonderful ... incredible connection with God and God's goodness is poured out. Other times it's confusing, even frustrating. Where is God? Why doesn't He listen to me?  Miracles. It seems like they're all over the place in the Bible, but not any more. Why not? What happened?  These two topics can be very discouraging and troubling, so let's...

The Bible is central to the christian faith. Can we actually trust it? Isn't the Bible full of errors and mistakes? Has the Bible been edited and changed from when it was originally written?  Isn't the Bible written by imperfect men... so how can it be trustworthy? Can I really I trust a book that thousands of years old? These are some of the questions we explore on this episode of the Bible in Li...

Can I actually trust the Bible? That's a fair and honest question. The bible is an old book. At times it can be an odd book. Or at least a foreign book. And there are things in it that don’t make sense.  So is it really trustworthy? Some of the reasons often expressed for doubting that the Bible is trustworthy are: Why should I trust a book that thousands of years old? It’s full of contradictions....

If God is real and is who the Bible says He is, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? Often times this question arises when we’re experiencing some sort of pain or suffering … and it feels like we should curse the world as stupid rather than trust in God. This can be especially painful if we’re a praying person and we’ve prayed and prayed and the pain and suffering still persists. ...

Does God really exist or is He just a fairy tale?  In this episode, I look some of the reasons I think it's reasonable to believe God exists. There are actually a good number of reasons and there's no way I could cover them all in this one short podcast. But I do cover some of the key ones and provide a framework for how to approach the question.    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free...

What is the goal of facing our doubts? Why does that matter?  If we're someone else deal with their doubts, what should our approach be like?  Is faith blind?  What is truth?  How does faith relate to truth?  These are some of the questions I address in this episode.    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhitt...

Faith. Doubt.  The apostle Paul reminds us that "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). And sometimes walking by faith is hard. Sometimes it's confusing. Sometimes we have questions that nag at our confidence in God or Jesus of the Bible.  In this episode, I begin a new series on questions of doubt by telling my own story of doubt, a time when I really struggled to know for sure whet...

When asked about why he teaches in parables, Jesus says that He teaches in parables "so that while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them." - Mark 4:12. Doesn't Jesus want people to understand his teaching? Doesn't he want them to be forgiven?  In this episode of the Bible in Life podcas...

Love one another. Love your enemies. Love your neighbor. Are Christians supposed to love everyone? What about people who are very different than them? What about people who go against the teaching of Jesus and his apostles?  Why does Jesus commend a widow who gives away everything she has to live on? Are we supposed to give away everything? That doesn't seem responsible. What's Jesus' point? Mark...

What did Jesus mean by...? pt. 5 In this episode, we explore two very different teachings of Jesus that challenge us to examine about the proper posture of our lives in relation to ourselves and others and Jesus and God. In Matthew 23:9-10, Jesus says don't call anyone on earth father or teacher. But we all do that. Are we doing something wrong? Why shouldn't we call anyone father? Is using titles...