Category: Romans
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Dying You Shall Die
A question arises: is the death that follows the eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil a penalty? The language used in the law—he shall surely be put to death, or the like—is not used here. The same emphatic verb doubling is used but the form of the […]
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Wages of Sin
It is interesting that Paul calls death the wage, the earned payment, of sin, not the penalty. Sin as master pays death as the wage to those who work for it, who serve it. An eye-opening metaphor. We gain death incrementally—what we accrue as we work in, for, and to sin is death. The lusts […]
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The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
One fatal tree there stands, of knowledge called,Forbidden them to taste: Knowledge forbiddenSuspicious, reasonless. Why should their LordEnvy them that? Can it be sin to know?Can it be death? Paradise Lost, Book IV Adam was given only one rule or commandment regarding food: he may eat fruit of any of the trees of the garden, […]
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For the Body
Exodus 3 and 4 recount Moses’s encounter with God at the burning bush. God tells Moses that He has heard the cry of His people and He knows their sufferings and that He has come down to deliver them from the Egyptians. He said to Moses, “‘Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you […]
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Covenant King
2 Samuel 7 is a passage we hear frequently. It is an important passage because it is God’s establishment of His covenant with David. The chapter is divided into two sections. The first section starts with the king sitting in his house and goes through the vision that God gives to Nathan the prophet. Yahweh […]
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So All Will Know
Leviticus 19 includes the phrase that Jesus quotes as the second great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God gives examples of what this means, anticipating the pharisaical question, “Who is my neighbor?” He includes the poor, the sojourner, the hired worker, the deaf, the blind, the great, the one living near you, and any […]
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The King and His Kingdom
God’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 is part of a larger Exodus pattern in David’s life. In the Exodus, Moses and Israel escaped from Pharaoh and came to a wilderness place. They were attacked by Amalekites, but they defeated them. Jethro, the Gentile priest blessed them and then the covenant was established and instructions […]
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Salvation Before Law
In Deuteronomy 6, God says, “these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” God is establishing […]
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Yea, hath God said?
The serpent could say, from a certain point of view, that he didn’t really lie to the woman. They ate the fruit and did not immediately fall over and stop breathing. Their eyes were opened and God affirms that since they have eaten, they have “become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” […]
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Creation and New Creation
Adam was created as the head of humanity. He was placed in the garden to work and keep it, that is, to serve and guard the sanctuary as a priest and to meet with God on the Sabbath day. He was blessed and given dominion and authority over all of creation. Adam’s transgression brought sin, […]