2 results for tag: gift of God

Gift After Gift After Gift – Brad Jersak

We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift (John 1:16, MSG, The Message Bible). Out of his full store we have all received grace upon grace (John 1:16, NEB,The New English Bible). The first chapter of the Gospel of John presents an unequalled, beautiful and profound exploration of what, to the human mind, is “the genesis of God the Word,” made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth. Of course, God has no actual beginning, but the eternal One concedes to speak to the limitations of our human perspective and language. John draws a parallel in his New Testament genesis to the first chapter of the Old Testament Genesis, emphas...

Guest Post – “Wages or Gift?” – Steve Robinson

"The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 By Steve Robinson It's amazing how a "framework" can constrain how you understand a piece of text. For example, 2x4 is either 8 or a piece of lumber depending on whether you are a mathematician or a carpenter. The "juridical/accounting/transactional" framework always told me that St. Paul meant "Jesus paid the debt to God for our sins, and the zero balance of the ledger was our free gift from Christ."  Over the years the "substitutionary" framework (as it is usually preached) made less and less sense of "the gospel" in light ...