Award-Winning, Bestselling Christian Author
Q Was Paul mean? Paul has some harsh things to say about nonbelievers in Ephesians 4:17-19. How do you react to what he said? “I’m going to tell you something, and it comes from the Lord. Don’t live like an atheist or any other nonbeliever. They are …
Q Paul was preaching about a radical shift in the ancient Jewish religion. Essentially, the Chosen People weren’t as elite as they used to be. Now, everyone was chosen: “Here’s God’s plan that I’ve been entrusted to pass along to you. Non-Jews are …
Q LIFE APPLICATION. Paul told the Christians, “You have been saved by kindness” (Ephesians 2:5). What do you think he meant by that? And have you ever seen anyone saved by kindness? A The Greek word is more often translated as “grace.” It’s sometimes …
Q LIFE APPLICATION. Paul says God gave us “the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13) and that “God’s Spirit in us guarantees that we’re in his family and we’ve got the family inheritance waiting for us.” (1:14). How do you think people can know that God’s …
Q Paul serves up a big plate of predestination in Ephesians 1, or so it seems to many Christians. Paul says “God chose us. Even before he created the world, he decided that we should be his children” (1:4). Who do you think Paul was talking about? …
Q In a nutshell—which is where many Jews probably felt Paul belonged—Paul essentially argued in Galatians 4 that God had a two-part plan for saving people from sin. Part 1: Obey the laws of Moses until Jesus comes. Part 2: Obey the laws that the …
Q Why do you think Paul, in the book of Galatians especially, was so bitterly opposed to fellow Jewish Christians who sincerely believed that Jesus wanted people to continue to honor and obey the Jewish laws that God gave them through Moses? After …
Q Curious souls with an eye for detail might notice that just about every time Bible writers talk about going to or from Jerusalem they say they are going “up to Jerusalem” (Galatians 2:1), or they are headed home “down from Jerusalem” (Luke 10:30). …
Q Galatians is the angriest surviving letter Paul wrote. He was fed up with Jewish Christians trying to pressure non-Jews into observing all the ancient Jewish laws. Those included laws that require all men to be circumcised, and that everyone eat …
Q Paul’s advice to slaves is particularly troubling in our culture that sees slavery as thoroughly selfish on the part of the slave owner, and absolutely unjustifiable. So how can we justify cutting Paul some slack and allowing him to get by with …
Q Paul says something that might sound harsh and uncalled for: “So-called believers are frauds if they don’t take care of their own needy relatives—especially relatives in the immediate family. Frauds like that are worse than an unbeliever” (1 …
Q LIFE APPLICATION. What do you think churches today should do about Paul’s suggestion that candidates for church leadership should have all the ducks of their household lined up in a row? “I mean, come on,” Paul wrote, “If a man can’t manage his own …
