Posts
God Loves Through Human Love: How Grace Breeds Generosity
What is “grace”? Some people today define “grace” as “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” Others gloss it as “unconditional gift” or “undeserved favor.” Still others prefer to see it as God’s favorable disposition toward his people. However, the word grace in...
by David E. Briones Text
The Greco-Roman Context of the Jewish World
Ever feel like you’re missing something when you read the New Testament? I’ll never forget feeling that way the first time I read through the Bible from...
by David E. Briones Text
Dressed in His Righteousness Alone: What Is Justification by Faith?
I’ll never forget meeting up with a mentor of mine at Starbucks shortly after becoming a Christian. We regularly met there to read and study the Bible. One day, a person walked by and was elated to find Christians. But...
by David E. Briones Text
A Far Greater Imagination
Do you remember a song that John Lennon wrote called “Imagine”? It’s a utopian song about imagining a world without heaven or hell, countries or wars, private possessions, greed, or hunger, and especially without religion. For Lennon, imagining these things...
by David E. Briones Text
Already, Not Yet
My wife and I have been married for sixteen years, but I can remember our engagement like it was yesterday. It was an unnecessarily long engagement — a year and seven days, to be precise. Yet I have no one to blame...
by David E. Briones Text
A Brief History of the Apocrypha
Jesus and the New Testament authors never directly quote the Apocrypha. Neither do they introduce it with labels that would suggest inspiration, such as “as it is written” or “as the Scripture says.” Many echoes and allusions have been detected...
by David E. Briones Text
Paul’s Theology of Friendship
A comparison between Paul and Aristotle on friendship may seem futile, at first glance. Paul doesn’t use the words “friend” or “friendship” in his writings. He only describes friendship conceptually. But even then, he lacks the philosophical precision of Aristotle....
by David E. Briones Text
Hermeneutics and the Heart
I teach biblical hermeneutics—how to study the Bible—at Reformation Bible College. I enjoy teaching all of the subjects assigned to me, but hermeneutics is certainly one of my favorites. I especially enjoy the first couple of class sessions. We spend...
by David E. Briones Text
A Life Worthy of the Gospel of Christ
In Philippians 1:27, Paul exhorts the community to do one thing in his absence: “Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” In this way, Paul says, your worthy lifestyle will be a “clear sign . ....
by David E. Briones Text
Should Protestants Read the Apocrypha?
Should Protestants read the Apocrypha? I imagine that this question will elicit one of two responses from Protestants. Some will yell out, “Absolutely not!” and cringe with anti-Roman Catholic sentiment, while the majority will have a perplexed look on their...
