DOCTRINE

Words of Warning

Life is full of warnings. The Internet, TV, and billboards bombard us regularly with warnings, telling us what to think, believe, and do…

Paul’s Partners

The apostle Paul personally discipled several committed men who partnered with him in spreading the gospel. Most of them came to salvation in Christ during…

God’s Holy Mishkan

God’s revelation concerning the Israelites’ Tabernacle covers 50 chapters in the Old Testament, while His revelation about the creation of the world…

Patterning Christlikeness

Many godly men and women in the Bible serve as examples for us of how to live for Christ. They trusted God’s…

dove wings

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Most people want a stamp of affirmation when they complete a transaction. All types of affirmation exist…

Nose and mouth of Jesus

In Jesus’ Words

For many who come to faith in Jesus Christ, the phrase once saved, always saved plays an integral part in their discipleship. For others, eternal security is a false teaching…

Unconfused

Unconfused!

Paul and Peter wrote 59 percent of the New Testament’s 27 books. Paul wrote 14 (some people believe he also wrote Hebrews), and Peter wrote two…

The Mind of Christ

In Philippians 2:3–4, Paul admonished Christians to live in spiritual unity with one another. Nothing was to be done within the church through selfish ambition…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: What Is a Biblical Mystery?

A mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. It has a secret quality whose meaning is…

Spiritual Unity

The 6th-century BC Greek storyteller Aesop, whose oral tales compose the famous Aesop’s Fables, has been credited with the origin of the…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: Does God Really Know Me?

The answer to the title’s question is an unequivocal yes! God is omniscient and knows everything about your life…

To Live is Christ

An old martyr once told his executioners, “You take a life from me that I cannot keep and bestow a life upon me that I cannot lose…”

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: What Is God’s Providence?

Providence is God’s active care, control, and governance over everything in His created universe by His…

Rejoicing in Christ

If anyone had a reason to ask, “Why me?” it was the apostle Paul. No one who followed Christ suffered more for the gospel than he did…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

God is Omniscient

Omniscience means having complete and unlimited knowledge and understanding of all things. No one fits this description but God…

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

Did you know people can be disciples of just about anything? Sports teams, fitness programs, and celebrities all have…

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

People are lonely. Research studies show that today, Americans in particular have decreasing family sizes; fewer friends with…

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

It happens almost every Sunday. When a church service begins, most of us aren’t quite ready to worship…

Paul’s Triumphant Testimony

Are you prepared to die? The last words a person utters or writes when death is imminent are usually of great importance…

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

As a boy, I got a little anxious each Sunday morning when my parents stopped at a convenience store to buy mints…

Preach God’s Word!

Knowing his life would soon end, the apostle Paul fixed his attention on completing his letter to young Timothy, his protégé and son in the faith…

Just A Closer Walk With Thee

If you learned $3 million dollars in gold lay buried somewhere in your backyard, would you try to dig it up?…

Happy New Year!

Fireworks. Noisy parties. Large quantities of food and drink. That’s how many people welcome the new year. Observant Jewish people, on the other hand…

Four Important Words

In explaining that we consider Scripture the ultimate authority for life, we often use the phrase verbal, plenary inspiration. The apostle Paul said…

Kingdom Now?

​​Of all the New Testament references to Old Testament Scripture, the verse that receives the most New Testament attention is Psalm 110:1…

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

It was a scam that worked for months. In 1849, William Thompson prowled the streets of New York City looking for…

Preparation For Perilous Times

The apostle Paul was martyred during the rule of Roman Emperor Nero, an evil, diabolical man whose vicious cruelty…

God’s Guarantee to Us

One of the many Scriptures Sunday school teachers encourage their students to memorize is 2 Timothy 3:16. It is God’s guarantee to us that…

Just A Closer Walk With Thee

The late U.S. President George H. W. Bush famously hated broccoli. Some claim he mentioned the fact at least 70 times while…

Facing Perilous Times

In many of his epistles, the apostle Paul warned churches that in the last days, charlatans will emerge teaching erroneous, deceptive doctrines that cause…

Living for God

Nick Foles is an NFL quarterback. He became famous for leading the Philadelphia Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl win in 2018 and was named…

Perilous Times Predicted

People who serve Satan may not realize what they are doing. But if they distort, oppose, twist, or deny the true gospel…

How to Obtain True Wisdom

Advice is cheap. Wisdom is rare. King Solomon said, “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who…

Faithful in Service

What is the church? Many people think of it solely as a building—sometimes a great and majestic cathedral and sometimes an unadorned, small, simple structure…

Controlling Our Tongues

Eating crow is never fun. The good news is we never have to eat words we fail to speak. Words are powerful…

The Lord’s Servant

Confronting false teaching is not easy, particularly for a young minister. But it is necessary, as the apostle Paul explained to his protégé Timothy…

Strengthening Your Faith

Board game or boardroom, everyone hates being neutralized. Having our influence or effectiveness nullified by an adversary…

Remain Committed

The Christian life is not a sprint to the finish line. It’s a marathon. It requires faithful endurance from beginning to end; and to live it, we must draw on…

Courageous for Christ

Eighty percent of the people around the world today being persecuted for their faith are Christians. Many live under the constant threat of violence…

Antique fountain pen on parchment.

From the Editor Sep/Oct 2020

At sundown September 18, our Jewish friends will celebrate Rosh Hashanah. This first of the High Holy Days initiates a new year on the Jewish calendar…

Plato Versus the Bible

At first glance, Plato’s theory of forms seems to have positive traits. It attempts to satisfy the seeking heart’s cry, “There has to be more to life than this!”…

Antique fountain pen on parchment.

From the Editor Sep/Oct 2019

Over the years I’ve had many people tell me doctrine isn’t important. What matters, they say, is that you love Jesus. I’ll never dispute the importance of loving Jesus. But the apostle Paul spent…

Inside View Sep/Oct 2019

As long as we believe Jesus is the Savior of the world, does it really matter what else we believe? After all, didn’t Jesus come to save mankind from its sins, and isn’t that fact the basic essence of the Bible?…

God & Creation

We believe God is one being in three coequal, coeternal persons. This short statement expresses the Christian definition of the Trinity, or the triunity of the Godhead…

Jesus & the Word

We believe Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and was born to a virgin. The virgin birth is a crucial doctrine of the Christian faith…

The Restrainer of Evil

While establishing the church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul personally instructed believers concerning future prophecy…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: What is the sin leading to death?

The apostle John told Christians, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him…

What’s in a Name?

When Moses encountered God for the first time, he asked Him, “When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you..

The Great Deception

It’s easy to become discouraged and misled by false reports. That’s why it is so important to be able to discern between truth and error…

Antique fountain pen on parchment.

From the Editor Mar/Apr 2019

What would you do if someone asked you, “What’s the big deal about the resurrection?” That was the question a talk-show host asked a guest many years ago. The guest, a professing Christian…

The Other-Worldly War

Being a Christian has never been easy. We find ourselves at odds with the world. More often than not, our values, ethics, and morals directly conflict with those held by the majority. The reality is that…

Incontestable

Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the heartbeat of Christianity. Though most denominations have theological differences, one core truth binds the whole lot together: the belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ…

Comforting the Persecuted

The apostle Paul made a practice of visiting churches he had planted and providing pastoral care and counsel. But sometimes opposition to him and his ministry made the task impossible…

Antique fountain pen on parchment.

From the Editor Jan/Feb 2019

Both of my children came to know the Lord at age four. I’ve heard some preachers say children can’t get saved that young, but I beg to differ. It depends on the child and, of course, on God…

From Bitterness to Joy

Everybody loves a good story. God made us that way so He could instruct us in truth and illustrate it through the people whose lives are recorded in the Bible. Their stories show us, rather than tell us, how to live…

The Gold-Box Idol

During the closing period of the judges, the Israelites embraced wicked beliefs in their worship and view of God. God had confirmed Samuel as His spokesman and true prophet, but the Israelites refused to obey….

A Hearing Heart

I have many fond memories of my mother from my childhood, but there is one memory that is far from fond. I still get a knot in the pit of my stomach when I think about it. When I was around 11 years old, we were…

‘Bring Up Samuel for Me’

Disobedience to God can drastically change a person’s life. King Saul’s disobedience dramatically altered both his life and his kingship. As a consequence for transgressing into the priestly office…

Samuel’s Big Disappointment

The expectation of great potential can be exciting. It certainly is for athletes and professional sports teams, as each new season dawns. Many a manager has left training camp saying to himself…

Samuel & David

Much is written about David in the Bible. At the mention of his name, some people immediately think of the courageous teenager who slew Goliath using a slingshot and a stone. Others remember a tender young shepherd who penned Psalm 23…

Why Would God Harden a Heart?

Exodus 4:21 records a statement God made to Moses: “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will…”

O Jewish Town of Bethlehem

This Christmas season, as we gather in our churches to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and sing the carols of Christmas, we no doubt will sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” one of the most beloved hymns of all time…

A Night in the Fields

Birth announcements are exciting. Parents share the news first with family, then with close friends, and later with the community. In the first century, however, it was unthinkable to send birth announcements to the poor and to those who held lower-class occupations, like shepherds…

The Incredible Incarnation

I have some Christian friends who do not celebrate Christmas. They object to the many pagan traditions that have crept into the holiday and argue that Jesus was not even born on December 25. I don’t disagree. They are quite correct…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: What is the Unpardonable Sin?

According to Jesus, the unpardonable sin is “blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit” (Mt. 12:31). However, it is important to study the context of Matthew 12:22–32 to understand what this means…

Our Wonderful God of Christmas

For more than 50 years, Charles M. Schulz’s animated classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, has touched millions of television viewers. In it, Charlie complains, “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy…

The Tyrant Who Tried to Kill Jesus

King Herod was a complex man. He was a brilliant builder and politician, yet a ruthless and brutal tyrant. He makes a brief appearance in Scripture as the cold-blooded killer of baby boys in Bethlehem and surrounding areas…

Divine Affirmation

“Who were those people? What just happened?” Mary and Joseph may have asked themselves these questions following their brief encounter with Simeon and Anna at the Temple in Jerusalem. They had gone there to…

The Men from the East

The story of the wise men, or magi, is one of the most interesting and captivating accounts recorded in the Bible. Countless Christmas cards, carols, and plays present the story of their journey to see Jesus, the one “born King of the Jews” (Mt. 2:2)…

How Do We Know the Exodus Happened?

“The actual evidence concerning the Exodus resembles the evidence for the unicorn,” declared Pennsylvania State University Jewish Studies Professor Baruch Halpern.1 The ancient Israelites created…

God is Faithful

Paul’s concluding words in this epistle are extremely important. He revisited prominent themes of prayer, sanctification, the Lord’s faithfulness, spiritual commitment, and preparedness for the Rapture of the church…

Villain of the Ages

Many people want to know about leaders on the world scene—the men and women whose faces they see regularly online and on television. What are these people really like? Are they kind, caring, and patriotic? Or are they cold, calculating, and self-serving?

The Ultimate Con

If you had visited “Dr.” Malachi Love-Robinson in his medical offices in Florida a few years ago, you would have met a nice-looking young man sporting a white lab coat, stethoscope draped around his neck, who would have examined you with…

The Final War Against Israel

Horrifying pictures of the Holocaust of World War II continue to shock people even today. After 75 years, film footage still reminds us of Satan’s relentless and barbaric attempts to eradicate world Jewry. Throughout history, demonically inspired, hate-filled fanatics…

Consumed and Destroyed

Years ago, my boss at the office where I worked asked me about the Antichrist: “Does the Bible teach that the Antichrist will be destroyed? Or does he win in the end?” His question came following the release of The Omen in 1976, a movie that revolves around…

Church Life

The apostle Paul often addressed the church as a family. He called members brothers and sisters and encouraged them to love one another. To function properly, a church—like a family—must have structure, order, respect for its members…

Ezekiel: The Times, The Man, The Book

The prophet Ezekiel burst onto the scene during Jerusalem’s darkest days at the end of the sixth century BC. Then, as now, the Middle East was in crisis. In fact, the Middle East had been in crisis for most of the eighth and seventh centuries BC due to the…

The Divine Distribution

When God confirmed a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1), He issued a divine proclamation: He vowed to give all the land He was promising Abraham to both Abraham and his descendants forever (13:15). God bequeathed the land through…

The Best is Yet to Come

Leon Uris’s novel Exodus, about the founding of the State of Israel, captivated the world when it came out in 1958. It became an international sensation, rising quickly to number one on The New York Times best-seller list and staying there for eight months…

The Power Behind the Throne

From the time God created the world, Satan has wanted to rule it. In ancient days, one of Satan’s strongholds was the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, which dates back to around 2700 BC…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: Who are the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2?

“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose” (vv. 1–2)…

The Christian’s Life

“At the Rapture,” wrote Bible scholar John F. Walvoord, “Christians will see their loved ones who died and preceded them to heaven. It will also end their earthly problems, and they will be forever with the Lord.”1 For these reasons, the Rapture has been a…

Inside View May/Jun 2018

Nowadays, trying to discern between truth and fake news is a full-time job. Such is also the case with the distinction between Israel and the church. I believe God’s Word clearly teaches Israel is not the church, and the church is not Israel…

Five Facts You Should Know About Israel

Have you ever wondered why the Jewish people have been scattered throughout the nations of the world more consistently than any other people? Why anti–Semitism persists in rearing its ugly head repeatedly throughout history? Why Nazism specifically targeted the Jewish people for genocide in the…