Posts with the tag “bible-study”

If you were challenged to open your Bible to an account of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, would have you have turned to Mark 1? Mark's short account of this event is often overlooked or lumped into the longer accounts. What can be gained from focusing specifically on what he recorded and developing a habit of considering texts in their context first?  Read More

Proverbs 31:6 is frequently used as a proof text for those trying to demonstrate a positive view of alcohol from Scripture. is that really how God intended for it to be used? Let's put the verse back in its context and reflect upon its meaning.   Read More

Rick Warren, a well-known denominational church leader, recently proposed that we should "go back to the first century" to discover "the church at its best." In his church though, there are "women pastors" who teach the assembled church. How did his church establish this practice, and is it really what the first century church did?   Read More

Sometimes the journey to understanding can be filled with frustration. Sometimes that frustration becomes guilt when understanding just isn't reached. How did people discover God's truth in the first century, and what can we learn from it?   Read More

The text of Matthew 5:3-12 is often described as The Beatitudes. Do you know what the word "beatitude" means? Hint: It's not just a "beautiful attitude."   Read More

2 Corinthians 6:14 reads in part, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” Is the yoking Paul has in mind in this passage marriage? Let's open up our Bibles and consider these words in their context.   Read More

For today's Q&A, someone has asked if 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 requires congregations to only use the funds they gather to help those who are already Christians. Let's open our Bibles and study!   Read More

Some professing Christians teach that Jesus was a created being, higher than the angels but with a beginning just like them. Is this right? Let's consider some passages they use to support their belief in context.   Read More

Someone reached out to us here at TFTW wanting to know the difference between the priesthoods of the Old and New Testaments. Do you know the difference? Let's open our Bibles and find out!   Read More

Have you ever looked at something and thought you knew what it was at only to find out later that you had seen it wrong? It happens all the time. If we're not careful, it can also happen when we study God's word.   Read More

The Bible is bookended by mentions of a serpent who is the enemy of man. This is no ordinary snake but, as Revelation reveals, "the devil and Satan" (Revelation 20:2). What does the Bible reveal about "that serpent of old"?   Read More

When God created man and woman and joined them in marriage, He declared "they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Two becoming one in marriage is a beautiful concept that God revisited in the New Testament. By reflecting on the New Testament, we can learn both God's original intentions for marriage and the beauty He was prefiguring when He created it.  Read More

In Hebrews 9:1-5, the author lists several items that were found in the tabernacle only to say, "Of these things we cannot now speak in detail." Why not? Let's reflect on what God might be revealing to us by withholding an inspired pen.   Read More

Have you ever had someone dismiss something you've taught directly from the Bible simply by saying, "That's not what it means to me"? Why does this happen, and why does it represent a problem when it's said about the one and only book containing God's inspired words?   Read More

Before the first Christian was martyred, he gave a defense for His faith in Jesus. But why did he start by talking about Abraham? And what can we learn from the way he and other first century Christians engaged the Old Testament?  Read More

You might have heard before that "dead men tell no tales." Well, apparently no one told the author of the book of Hebrews. No, Hebrews doesn't teach that the dead communicate directly with us. But it does say that there is a sense in which Abel and even his blood continue to speak to us. What does Abel's blood say, and what better thing does Jesus' blood say (Hebrews 12:24)?  Read More