Grace & Works Contrasted

In the beginning God created man in his image and likeness. What are the implications of this important truth, and how was that image twisted and distorted after the fall? What was so significant about Adam and Eve’s transgression in the first place, and how do the effects of that original sin continue to echo […]

In Genesis 3:15, God promises that one day a seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. What would happen if we began to read the rest of Scripture in the light of this promise? What would result if we stopped to consider whether subsequent Bible characters and heroes qualified to be the one […]

The story of Abraham is a record of both faith and doubt. While we’re told in Genesis 15 that “Abraham believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness,” in the very next chapter we find him agreeing with his wife Sarah to attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promises by […]

Why did God call Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac? Why would he ask a loving parent to even consider such a thing? Is this story a kind of object lesson meant to show us how much we should be willing to give up for God, or is something else being revealed in this unsettling […]

The story of Jacob and Esau raises a number of important questions. Why did God choose Jacob in favor of Esau? Was it due to some kind of foreseen virtue on Jacob’s part? In reality, that approach fails on a number of levels, since Jacob is presented throughout Genesis as a schemer, deceiver, and master-manipulator. […]

As we saw last week, difficulties arise when we attempt to read the story of Jacob and Esau as a traditional morality tale. In reality, the book of Genesis does not present Jacob as a hero to be emulated, but as a great sinner in whom God’s mysterious grace is richly on display. And as […]

Many people today think of religion as a metaphorical stairway that leads to heaven. Basically, it’s an upward path that all of us are meant to ascend by our own good works. In Genesis 28, however, Jacob encounters a great stairway between heaven and earth, but he’s not invited to climb it. Instead, God graciously […]

In Genesis 29, Jacob the deceiver is himself deceived. Though he had intended to marry Rachel, he was first tricked into marrying her older sister. Later, as she struggles with infertility, Rachel gives Jacob her maidservant to be a kind of surrogate mother. When two sons are born to her in this way, Rachel believes […]

As Jacob returns to the promised land in Genesis 32, he’s attacked in the middle of the night. As the two men struggle until the breaking of day, it slowly begins to dawn on Jacob that there’s something special about his wrestling partner. In fact, by the end of the encounter it’s revealed to Jacob […]

As mentioned on last week’s program, most commentators tend to argue that Genesis 32 is about Jacob’s refusing to let go of God until he received his desired blessing, which of course is something that all believers should strive to do as well. Or is it? On this episode the hosts continue to explore the […]

“He must kill us if he’s going to raise us to a new life. He must drive us to despair of ourselves if we’re ever going to cling to him alone.”

With the growing popularity of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement alongside a growing distrust of standard Western fare and medical advice, many Christians are rethinking their approach to food. For a Western church long known for pre-service donuts and cookies, the shift toward […]

Trypho’s question and the modern objection both boil down to the same issue: Are Christians inconsistent in how they apply Old Testament law?

John Mark Comer and New Testament scholar Scot McKnight take issue with how the gospel is often articulated in evangelical circles. Michael Horton responds to these concerns and critiques and gives his own assessment of what they call the “King Jesus Gospel.”