One Verse Podcast | Liberating Scripture From The Shackles Of Religion ... One Verse At A Time

Modern adoption was not like ancient adoption. It was not about giving parents to a child who had none, but was about giving honor and inheritance to a child who had done something good for the family. It was about naming a child as an heir.

Some Christians use Galatians 1:8-9 as a proof text for the bad behavior of cursing other people. But Paul was not actually cursing others in Galatians 1:8-9. He was making a joke about circumcision. This article explains more.

Did you know that many of the New Testament letters are actually dialogues between the author and a teacher he is trying to refute? This form of writing is called Epistolary Diatribe. I introduce this idea in this article, and give you several examples.

Does Paul pronounce a curse on anyone who does not love Jesus? Does this sound like Paul? Should you and I be cursing people who do not love Jesus? Would Jesus Himself do this? I say NO to all these questions in this post.

Some use 1 Corinthians 12:3 as a way to determine who is a true Christian, or who is possessed by a demon. But this is a poor understanding of 1 Corinthians 12:3 (and terrible theology!). What do you think 1 Corinthians 12:3 mean? Read my post to get my view.

In Romans 9:3, Paul writes that he wishes to be accursed from Christ for his brethren, the Jewish people. Is Paul saying that he wished he could go to hell if it would mean that his Jewish brethren would believe in Jesus and become Christians? I think not, but what do you think?

To properly understand the Gospel, we need to understand the biblical terms related to the gospel. One of these key words is the word abide. This article provides a short definition and looks at a few key texts from 1 John that use the word abide.

What is the book of Jonah all about? Is it about God’s heart for all the people of the world? Is it about how God wants you to get involved in world missions? In this final study of the book of Jonah, you will learn what the book of Jonah is all about.

Jonah 4:10-11 contain the final question of God to Jonah. But Jonah does not answer. The ending of the story is very abrupt. We will see why in the final study of Jonah next week. For now, we learn that God loves all people, even those we consider evil.

Have you ever been disgusted with God? So disgusted with how God lets evil go unchecked, and how God doesn’t seem to protect you or your family or your plans, or how God seems to bless the wicked people while not helping the righteous? Jonah was so disgusted with God that he asked God to damn him. This is what we learn from Jonah 4:9.

Is God a divine enabler? The book of Jonah says He is, which is why Jonah is so upset. As we see in Jonah 4:8, Jonah wants God to kill him, so that God will also kill the wicked and violent people of Nineveh. But this is not the way of God. God prefers to bless and forgive the people of Nineveh.

You might have heard someone say that God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice. It this true? Must God punish people for their sin? Does God punish people for sin? While it is true that God is both merciful and just, both forgiving and just, the question is How? This study of Jonah 4:7 explains more.

What is evil? Do you know evil when you see it? We all think we know what evil is, that we can recognize it, and that we are able to accurately judge between good and evil. Jonah 4:6 reveals that judging between good and evil should be left up to God.

There are lots of calls for justice in the world today. And God is a God of justice, but most Christians are not really aware of how God carries out justice. We are going to learn more about justice today as we study Jonah 4:5. Jonah wants Nineveh brought to justice, and takes steps to see if God will act.

Have you ever been angry at how God runs the world? Have you ever felt like that? I have. And Jonah did too. This is one reason the book of Jonah was written. It shows a prophet who is angry at God for how God runs the world. And we see in the book what God says to Jonah about it. This is what we learn in this study of Jonah 4:4.

Two pressing questions in the book of Jonah are why he fled to Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh, and why Jonah preferred to die instead of obey. In this study of Jonah 4:3, we finally discover the answer to both questions. And the answer is shocking. So shocking, in fact, most fail to see it. But I will point it out to you in this study.

Have you ever been angry at God? Of course you have. Life has a way of crushing us all, and when that happens, we often get angry at God about it. When you’re angry at God, what do you do? Do you try to handle it yourself? Or do you lash out at God in your anger? In this study of Jonah 4:2, w see what Jonah does, and you will find it very encouraging for your own prayer life going forward.

After Nineveh experiences a city-wide revival in response to his preaching, Jonah becomes angry at God in Jonah 4:1. What do you think about that? Have you ever thought that he should have rejoiced instead? In this study of Jonah 4:1, we see Jonah’s response, and come to understand that Jonah’s response is actually quite normal and natural. You and I might have had a similar response. Maybe we do.

What is repentance? What is evil? If you think you know, here are some harder questions: Does God ever need to repent? Does God commit evil? Jonah 3:10 seems to indicate that God does commit evil and does repent of it. Yikes! What does that mean? This is what we look at in this study.

What is repentance? How do we repent? Does God ever need to repent? It is these sorts of questions we are considering today as we look at Jonah 3:9, where the king of Nineveh expresses his hope that God will repent.