Sermons and Biblical Studies

ROMANS 13:8–14 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed (Romans 13:11). Romans 13:11 is more true today than when Paul wrote it, because we are closer to Christ’s return then he was. … Continue reading “LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS”

ROMANS 13:8–14 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8). Based on this verse, especially its reading in the King James Version (“Owe no man any thing”), some Christians have decided that the New Testament forbids all … Continue reading “CHRISTIANS IN DEBT”

ROMANS 13:6–7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor (Romans 13:7). One of the problems we face as Christians is that we are supposed to pay taxes and tithes, and yet the institutions that receive these revenues sometimes … Continue reading “WE SHOULD PAY OUR TAXES”

ROMANS 13:6–7 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing (Romans 13:6). It is a matter of conscience for the Christian to pay taxes. God has appointed government for our well-being, and government employees are to be paid. The revenue for this is … Continue reading “THE CHRISTIAN AND TAXES”

ROMANS 13:4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer (Romans 13:4). Capital punishment is a controversial issue in our society, and occasionally in … Continue reading “WHY CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?”

ROMANS 13:3–4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer (Romans 13:4). Paul here states that God has given to the civil magistrate a … Continue reading “THE QUESTION OF WARFARE”

ROMANS 13:3–4 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you (Romans 13:3). Saint Augustine viewed the institution of civil government as a result of … Continue reading “CIVIL GOVERNMENT”

ROMANS 13:1–6 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Romans 13:1). What does it mean when Paul writes that the powers that be are ordained by God? Were Hitler’s and Stalin’s governments ordained by … Continue reading “THE POWERS THAT BE”

ROMANS 13:1–6 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Romans 13:1). Romans 13 is a pivotal chapter both in Romans and in the history of theology, because in Romans 13 we find the clearest … Continue reading “THE EXERCISE OF FORCE”

1 CORINTHIANS 13 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me (1 Corinthians 13:11). There is growth in the Christian life. The final end of that growth comes when we are face … Continue reading “TRANSFORMED TO GLORY”