Bible study: Above all things!
The First Commandment states: “You shall have no other gods.” Martin Luther’s explanation says, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” This means that anything we…
Q&A: Is it wrong to have a cross with Jesus’ body on it?
Since God forbade “graven images” in the Old Testament, is it wrong to have a cross with Jesus’ body on it? God commanded Israel, “You shall not make for yourself…
Q&A: Is our time of grace really unchangeable?
Our “time of grace” refers to the time we are alive to come to know Jesus. Is that fixed date really unchangeable? Or do our actions impact it? The answer…
Bible study: The comfort of God’s providence
God's providence means that everything happens according to God’s design (even permitting evil to work for the good of his people). It also refers to what God actually does in…
Bible study: Precious grace
The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about “cheap grace.” By cheap grace, he meant that too many preach forgiveness without repentance and grace without the cross. In other words, people…
Q&A: I know that we are saved by grace apart from works, but how can it be that easy?
I know that we are saved by grace apart from works, but that seems too easy. How can that be how it works? What is grace? Grace is God’s undeserved…
Bible study: Rewards of grace
The parable of the talents appears in a section of Scripture where Jesus is describing the end times. Though an exact value of a talent is difficult to calculate with…
Q&A: Are there degrees of glory in heaven as a reward for good works?
I’m struggling with the concept of degrees of glory in heaven as a reward for good works. Doesn’t this concept promote work-righteousness? The concept of degrees of glory in heaven…
Q&A: Do Lutherans take the Bible literally and teach millennialism?
Someone told me that Lutherans don’t take the Bible literally, which is why we don’t teach millennialism, that is, Christ’s thousand-year reign with his believers on earth, as found in…