Recent content by newnature

2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul teaches there is no condemnation for those in Christ, Jesus teaches that whoever hears and believes has passed from death into life and will not come into judgment as a condemned sinner, the believer’s appearance before Christ is for disclosure and reward, not for...

Acts 8:9-13, We get a specific episode in Samaria that concerns Simon, Simon the magician. In verse 9, There was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the...

2 Corinthians 5:10, now that the fire has spoken, you can look at rewards without turning them into fantasy, scripture uses several images and each teaches something, you must hold them reverently and avoid building a precise ledger where scripture gives pictures. The New Testament speaks of a...

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2 Corinthians 5:10, the passage that holds the title promise together, in 1 Corinthians 3:12, the building materials are listed as gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, six materials, three that endure, three that do not. Gold, silver, costly stones, they do not merely look valuable...

2 Corinthians 5:10, the issue is not only what was done, but what sword it was, not only activity, but quality, not only visible results, but hidden motives, a gift given for applause and a gift given in love may look the same in a photograph, they are not the same before God. Paul says in 1...

Romans 8:9, is already possible for those who have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them, not as a future achievement, but as a present reality that needs to be lived. Paul was not doing abstract philosophy, when he described the carnal mind and the spiritual mind, he was mapping two concrete...

2 Corinthians 5:10, from that platform, the story moves to a second image from the same world and it adds urgency, Corinth lived for contests, athletes trained, crowds gathered, judges watched from a platform to see who ran lawfully and who cut corners. Paul tells the Corinthians to run the...

2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul says in his letter to the Romans, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and that we are made right with God, freely by his grace, that is verdict language, that is foundation language, it does not rise and fall with your mood. But scripture also...

2 Corinthians 5:10, the frame is still standing, but it is black, the air still smells of smoke and the concrete underneath has not moved at all. A builder is looking at what is left, the foundation held, the house did not and he is asking the question you feel when you hear that Christians will...

Romans 6:6, Romans 8:11, the old self dying is not the end of the story, because the old self was not crucified so you could be left as an empty shell trying to be good, the old self was crucified so the new self could live. And the new self does not live by its own strength, it lives by the...

Romans 6:6, Paul gives you something to do, Romans 6:11, consider yourselves, that word in Greek is logizesthe and it does not mean feel, it does not mean hope, it does not mean try really hard to believe something you do not believe, it means reckon, count, calculate, do the math, it is...

The mystery that was revealed to Paul, a calling that transcends the individual and reaches generations, Ephesians 3:3. This truth hidden for generations is now announced as a central part of the mission of the body of Christ, it is the heart of God’s redemptive plan becoming public, Paul not...

Ephesians 3:16, this supplication reveals where the greatest spiritual battles truly occur within you, the Holy Spirit works in the invisible, in the deepest regions of the soul, where silent decisions shape entire destinies. This inner strength is not synonymous with emotional strength, much...

Romans 6:6, in Romans 6:7, freed, not improved, not enrolled in a program, not given a second chance to do better, freed, the slave market has been shut down, the auction block is empty, the papers have been torn up, the old self was a slave, the new self is free. And if you have ever felt like...