Propitiation

Did you ever wonder what the word "propitiation" means?  This Grace Notes article will help you understand what the Bible is talking about when it says that Jesus Christ is "the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

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Propitiation

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Anger - Yours and Mine

The Doctrine of Anger

Everybody gets angry. (Well, I do, anyhow, and I suppose other people do, too.)

We know that we all have sin natures with areas of strength and weakness. You may be strong where I am weak, and vice-versa. So it may be that you would never think of committing a particular sin that I might be having a great deal of trouble with.

But, in one way or another everyone has problems with anger. Sometimes the anger is a quiet, seething resentment or indignation at some large or small offense, real or imagined. Sometimes anger explodes into a rage that can turn into retaliation, violence, or murder.

When we are angry we hurt people, usually those who are closest to us. And we really hurt ourselves; an angry person is his own worst enemy, as you will see in this topical study.

But Christians can have victory over the sin of anger! This study is written to lay out what the Bible says about anger and to answer questions like the following:

• What’s the difference between sinful anger and righteous indignation?
• Does God get angry?
• What causes me to get angry, and what can I do about it?
• How can I have victory over the sin of anger?

To read/download the article: Doctrine of Anger.

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Christ and the Samaritan Woman

This article is an exposition of John 4:1-42, by Mark Perkins, Pastor, Front Range Bible Church, Colorado

To read/download the article: CHRIST AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN.

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Substitution

God’s righteousness and justice demand that he execute the sentence He has decreed upon sin. ”The soul that sinneth it shall die . . .” (Ezekiel 18:20) ”The wages of sin is death . . .” (Romans 6:23) This means that judgment must fall on every human being, because we are all sinners. However, the word of God tells of that our judgment has, in fact fallen on another person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the fact of Christ’s taking the punishment that was meant for us that is known as the doctrine of substitution.

You can see a simple example of the idea of substitution in Mark 15:7. Barabbas was guilty of several crimes, including murder and insurrection. The Roman government had already condemned him to death by crucifixion. But Barabbas never saw his cross! Because Jesus took his place on the cross. In fact, Christ was Barabbas’s substitute both physically and spiritually.

To read/download the article: SUBSTITUTION.

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The Essenes

The Essenes were a Jewish religious community which was first mentioned in history in the writings of Josephus (Antiquities, XIII, 5, 9), who mentions them as flourishing in the time of Jonathan Maccabaeus, in about 150 B.C., where he speaks of Judas, an Essene.

The Essenes were an extremely ascetic group of men in Palestine and Syria, and they are thought to have formed the first cells of organized monasticism in the Mediterranean world, setting the pattern for the various holy orders which proliferated during and after the time of Christ. It is still not clear whether the Essenes proceeded from some sect of Judaism or whether elements of Greek and other foreign philosophies had an influence in their origin. Their main colonies were near the northern end of the Dead Sea and around the town of Engedi. The study of the Dead Sea Scrolls has produced a considerable body of knowledge of the early Christian sects; and the Essenes may have been the group which produced the scrolls. The bibliography of this article provides references for further study.

To read/download the article: The Essenes.

Grace Notes Topics Library