The Old Testament is filled with recurring themes and figures that point us toward Jesus, and that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of. Within the religious and social life of God’s people, there were three essential roles that all in some way foreshadowed Christ. One of those was the role, or office, of the prophet. So let’s look at...

Christians talk a lot about the importance of discipleship. But what does this word actually mean?  Discipleship is a process that takes place both formally and informally to effect spiritual maturity as people follow Jesus.  Informal discipleship, as passages like Deuteronomy 6:4-9 suggest, happens everywhere, in every arena of life. Growing in our faith and deepening our walk with...

One of the many ways the New Testament describes the church is as the bride of Christ. But what exactly does this mean? The bride of Christ is  best understood as the universal, capital C church, which is made up of all believers from all people groups across all time. As Christ’s bride, the church faithfully waits for the...

You’ve probably heard a person, after having a really profound and life-altering experience, or maybe a really great nap, describing themselves as feeling like a new person. This is because we, as people, tend to exaggerate. But despite our being prone to exaggeration, there really is one experience that makes us a new person.  When a person places faith...

What happens when we are saved by Jesus? Most often Christians will talk about the forgiveness of sins that comes from our faith in Jesus. And that is definitely true but as we’ll see, there is much more to our salvation than our sins being forgiven. At the heart of our salvation is our union with Christ. One of...

We live in an increasingly divided world. Whether politics, entertainment, or diet choices, it seems like if we’re given two options, we’ll split into three groups. But how should the church look different from the world?  Christ’s desire for the church is that we be united as one in Him by the gospel, reflecting the oneness of our trinitarian...