COV LIFE BLOG

“…There were some people [in Israel] who thought that when they were bringing a sacrifice, it was somehow doing God a favor. Now, in so doing, they’d made two mistakes: One, they’d misunderstood why God gave the sacrificial system. The reason the sacrificial system is there is because we need something! We need forgiveness. And that […]

SHARE:

Posted on: May 7, 2021 - 12:00PM

Psalm 49’s theme includes the futility of living for this world’s possessions, status, and fame, in light of the certainty of death. It is a “wisdom” psalm, similar in theme to Psalms 37 and 73. Rather than focusing directly on praise to God, the psalm gives instruction that—if we heed it—will ultimately result in praise to God. It […]

SHARE:

Posted on: April 30, 2021 - 12:00PM

[Let us] consider verses 12 through 14, the fourth part of this Psalm. And this is a challenge to the congregation: the worshipers have now declared their remembrance of what they learned about God in the midst of corporate worship in the temple. Now comes a challenge: it’s a challenge from those who were leading […]

SHARE:

Posted on: April 23, 2021 - 12:00PM

Some things in the Bible are intuitive. Many statements in Proverbs, for example, could easily be discovered by personal experience (e.g., the wringing of the nose brings forth blood, Prov. 30:33). But some things in Scripture are so mind-bending that we’d probably never believe them if God hadn’t inspired them. The relationship between God’s sovereignty and […]

SHARE:

Posted on: April 16, 2021 - 12:00PM

There’s something about this Psalm that goes beyond itself. It’s talking about God ruling and reigning, and it’s talking about Him, in the context of some victory or other that’s been won. But you and I both know as we read this Psalm that it says something beyond itself. And we are living on the […]

SHARE:

Posted on: April 9, 2021 - 6:42PM

Study the Gospel accounts of who Jesus was, what He taught, His astounding claims, the miracles He performed, and the prophecies He fulfilled. On more than one occasion He predicted His own death and resurrection (Matt. 16:21; Luke 9:22; John 2:19-22; 16:16-20, 28). His encounter with doubting Thomas shows that His purpose was to bring Thomas into […]

SHARE:

Posted on: April 2, 2021 - 5:32PM

Grace is the key to a relationship with God because He both saves us by His grace (Eph. 2:8) and sustains us by grace (2 Cor. 12:9). But grace is opposed to every human way of approaching God, and so we have to be on guard constantly so that we do not lapse into a […]

SHARE:

Posted on: March 26, 2021 - 12:00PM

In chapter 3, verses 1–9, Peter confronts the denial of the second coming head on. He says in verses 1 and 2 that he wants the believers to have a sincere and lively memory (cf. 1:13) of what the prophets predicted and what Jesus commanded. He probably has in mind prophetic words like Malachi 4:1, 2: “Behold […]

SHARE:

Posted on: March 19, 2021 - 12:00PM

The false teachers no doubt prided themselves on their spiritual insight and knowledge, but Peter compares them (2:12) to “unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge.” (There is a verse for all of you hunters to use against PETA!) Peter means that these men […]

SHARE:

Posted on: March 12, 2021 - 12:00PM

If ancient history teaches us anything, let it be this: God knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. Let us consider both statements Peter makes here, for they are vitally important truths. First, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly […]

SHARE:

Posted on: March 5, 2021 - 12:00PM