Thought Exercise on Redemptive Act

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Redemption in Ancient Israel

Author

Keywords

In Israel’s tribal society redemption was the act of a patriarch who put his own resources on the line to ransom a family member who had been driven to the margins of society by poverty, who had been ...

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What the With-God Life Looks Like

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Transformation

There is a consistent pattern in Scripture of what happens in a life that God wants to use and improve: -There is always a call. God asks an ordinary person to engage in an act of extraordinary trust...

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The Covenants of Scripture

Author

Merrill F. Unger

Keywords

Covenant

Scripture

Hebrews 13:20, Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:14-19, Genesis 3:14, Genesis 8:20-9, Genesis 9:5-6, Genesis 12:1-3, Galatians 3:16, John 8:56-58, 2 Corinthians 3:7-9, Deuteronomy 30:1-10, Deuteronomy 30:1, 2 Samuel 7:4-17, Luke 1:31-33, Acts 1:6, Revelation 19:16, Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, Hebrews 8:8-12, Galatians 3:13-20

Eternal covenant, Heb 13:20—The redemptive covenant before time began, between the Father and the Son. By this covenant we have eternal redemption, an eternal peace from the ‘God of peace’, through th...

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A Debt We Couldn’t Pay Ourselves

Author

Jerry Bridges

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 2:13-14, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 1:18-19, Psalm 49:7-8, 2 Corinthians 5:15, John 8:36

Suppose I sell you a piece of commercial property on which I am already behind in my mortgage payments. You not only pay me a fair price for the property but also pay my overdue payments. Now the prop...

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A Short History of Christian’s Fighting for Justice

Author

Justin Giboney

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Exodus 3:7–10, Isaiah 58:6–7, Luke 4:18–19, Romans 13:1–4, Psalm 72:12–14

There are also many historical examples of Christians faithfully using political means to fight for justice and righteousness. William Wilberforce: Politician and Abolitionist William Wilber...

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Living Faith Through Selfless Service

Author

Oscar A. Romero

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:4-5, 1 Samuel 17:, 1 John 12:24-25, Matthew 16:25, Psalm 116:15

Whoever seeks to avoid danger at all costs may ultimately lose the fullness of life, but the one who, out of love for Christ, dedicates themselves to serving others discovers a life that endures. Arch...

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Our Need for Forgiveness: Our Search for Wholeness

Author

Annemarie S. Kidder

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 10:22, Romans 3:23-24, Psalm 32:5, Acts 3:19, Proverbs 28:13

The practice of confession in the context of a liturgy or in a private ecclesiastical setting has declined drastically over the past fifty years, and in particular since the Protestant Reformation in ...

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Sealed With the Spirit

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:30, Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:16-17, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 John 3:24

Seal. You know the verb. You twist a jar lid to seal the pickles. You lick an envelope to seal the letter. You notarize the contract to seal the deal. Sealing declares ownership and secures contents. ...

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A Bit-Part in a Story of Redemption

Author

Kevin Blue

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 19:17, Matthew 25:40, Galatians 6:9, Luke 14:13-14, James 2:15-17

Kevin Blue has spent much of his ministry career serving the poor in inner-city Los Angeles. This reflection show how the investment in the poor can pay big dividends: Loving the poor has cost me so...

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The Christian Self-Actualization Plan

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:13-14, Matthew 16:24-25, Romans 12:4-5, Philippians 2:3-4, Ephesians 2:8-10

In her excellent book on following Jesus in the suburbs, Ashley Hales describes one of the ways in which our discipleship has been influenced by modern secular trends such as the desire for self-actua...

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Disregarding God’s Prohibitions

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:1-2, 1 John 1:9, 1 Corinthians 6:18, James 1:14-15, Matthew 5:27-28, Hebrews 13:4, Proverbs 6:32

Some years ago I had a pastoral relationship with a couple of people who were deeply in love with each other. They believed that God wanted them to get married so they could consummate their love. The...

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Meeting Face to Face with God

Author

Mike Cosper

Keywords

Israel

While many world religions worship gods in temples, Israel’s claim was unique. Theirs wasn’t simply a consecrated center for worship; it was a meeting place where the Lord of the creation actually met...

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The Problem of Forgetfulness

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

One of humanity’s problems is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness can happen at multiple levels, from a simple problem of recall to a posture of hard-heartedness and disobedience toward the command-giver. Wh...

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The Heresy of Body/Spirit Dualism

Author

Christopher West

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:31, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Colossians 1:16, Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Christianity Does Not Reject the Body The “spirit-good / body-bad” dualism that often passes for Christianity is actually an ancient gnostic error called “Manichaeism,” and it couldn’t be further from...

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God Gets His Family Back

Author

Keywords

In my lifelong study of the Bible I have looked for an overarching theme, a summary statement of what the whole sprawling book is about. I have settled on this: “God gets his family back.” From the fi...

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Good Poison

Author

A. J. Swoboda & Nijay K. Gupta

Keywords

On December 2, 1943, a German air raid in Italy sank over a dozen ships docked in port. Among them was an American vessel carrying over two thousand mustard gas bombs intended for the war. Soon, toxic...

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Someone to Blame

Author

Jerry Bridges

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 16:10, 21-22 , Genesis 37:18-28 , Isaiah 53:4-6 , John 11:49-52, Luke 23:13-25, Psalm 69:4, 7-9

The deep economic crisis that occurred in Russia soon after the collapse of communism resulted in a new wave of resentment and hostility toward Russian Jews. In times of crisis people look for a scape...

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Tearing Down and Building up in the Kingdom

Author

Barbara Brown Taylor

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 65:17-18, Jeremiah 1:9-10, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Matthew 24:1-2, Revelation 21:1-4, Psalm 46:8-10

Since Jesus isn’t attached to the same things we are, he can take the God-view, which is about more than redeeming our individual lives. God means to redeem the world, which is going to require some m...

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What is the Gospel?

Author

Carl Medearis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 1:16, Philippians 3:8-9, Colossians 1:27-28, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, John 14:6

I recently visited a missions school at a large church in Waco, Texas, and decided to try a similar test in a class-sized proportion. “Tell me,” I said to the group, “what is the gospel?” A young lady...

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Blotting out our Sins

Author

Jerry Bridges

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 1:18, Micah 7:18-19, Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:12, Colossians 2:13-14, Psalm 103:11-12

In Isaiah 43:25, God says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Here God uses two absolute terms to assure us of the complete removal...

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My Part in my Salvation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:6, Genesis 3:8–9, Hosea 11:7–9, Ephesians 2:8–9, Luke 15:4–7, Psalm 23:6

The 19th and 20th century Canadian-American pastor Harry Ironside once told a story of a new Christian who gave his testimony during a church service. Beaming with joy, the man spoke of how God had re...

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Christ’s Ministry of Reconciliation

Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Paul described his work as a ‘ministry of reconciliation’ and his gospel as a ‘message of reconciliation’. He also made it quite clear where this reconciliation comes from. God is its author, he says,...

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A Rescue Religion

Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Titus 3:5, Hebrews 7:25, Romans 5:8, John 3:17, 1 John 4:14, 1 Timothy 1:15, Luke 19:10

Christianity is a rescue religion. It declares that God has taken the initiative in Jesus Christ to rescue us from our sins. This is the main theme of the Bible. You are to give him the name Jesus, be...

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Repentance Makes Way for God’s Grace

Author

Billy Graham

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:17

Repentance is a very unpopular word. But the first sermon Jesus ever preached was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). This was God speaking through His Son. Jesus had come w...

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Repentance: A Mental Revolution

Author

Lesslie Newbigin

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:6-9 , Jonah 3:1-10, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Mark 1:14-15, Romans 12:2, Psalm 51:10-12

Lesslie Newbigin, the great missiologist and missionary, shares a powerful analogy of repentance from his days serving as a missionary in India. I remember once visiting a village in the Madras di...

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Freeing us from our Self-Centeredness

Author

John Stott

Keywords

Salvation

Scripture

Galatians 5:22-23, Luke 19:1-10, Ephesians 2:19-22, Philippians 2:12-13, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, Romans 5:10, Acts 9:1-19, Acts 2:42-47, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, Romans 5:10

‘Salvation’ is a wonderfully wide-ranging word and it would be a great mistake to think that it refers only to the forgiveness of our sins. God is as much concerned with our present and future as with...

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Meriting our Salvation

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:23, Philippians 3:9, Titus 3:5, Galatians 2:16, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9

At the core of every project of self-salvation is the staunch unwillingness to believe that God’s love and forgiveness can be unmerited. Those who would try and save themselves prefer work to rest, ef...

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The Old Testament and Atonement

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 17:11

In the OT sacrificial system, the worshipper himself would kill the animal used for the sacrifice. First they would bring the animal near, indicating their desire to be made clean and worship. Next th...

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Every Self-Salvation Project

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:3-7 , Exodus 16:14-20, Psalm 103:10-12 , Ephesians 2:8-9 , Romans 6:23

At the core of every project of self-salvation is the staunch unwillingness to believe that God’s love and forgiveness can be unmerited. Those who would try and save themselves prefer work to rest, ef...

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Luther's Overwhelming Guilt

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:28, Galatians 2:16, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Romans 4:4-5

In a way, the Reformation began in one monk's overwhelming guilt. Martin Luther was riddled with guilt and filled with anxiety because he could see that he could not live up to God's standard ...

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