Author: David Ellis

Don: Last week we discussed four instances of people born into different faiths and cultures. It raises the question: Did God orchestrate that we would have different religions in order to lead us to Him by making us confront their anomalies? Are the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) more valid than Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism,…

Don: It is a key theme of the New Testament that faith connects Man to God: For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to…

Don: What effect do our senses of sight, sound, smell and touch have on faith? Scripture has many references that suggest the senses have some effect: O taste and see that the Lord is good…. (Psalms 34:8) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17) “Things which eye has…

Don: Faith is often mentioned alongside grace. works, and will; as well as alongside two sort-of subsidiary words: belief and hope. Metaphorically, we are on a sea of life which is sometimes tumultuous, stormy, violent, and always unpredictable. It is comparatively quieter and safer to remain on land. But the grass seems greener on the…

Jay: Last week we ended with a mention of the incident where Jesus walked on the water. Matthew, alone among the Gospels, recounts that Peter tried to walk on the water too: Immediately He [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the…

Jay: Last week, we began to delve into the relationship between faith, grace, and “works”. These three verses address each in turn (emphasis added): Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,…

Jay: Does faith come from within us, or externally, from God? In either case, what is our responsibility for maintaining it? Is faith without works dead, as James said? Does faith naturally result in good works, or must they be striven for? Was Rahab’s placing of the scarlet cord in her window her “work” that…

Jay: To put the story of Rahab in context, note that Joshua had been sweeping unopposed through the Promised Land, wiping out whole communities and cities, before he ever got to Rahab’s home town of Jericho. He sent inept spies into Jericho ahead of his attack, but they were immediately detected and hunted. Rahab hid…

Don: In the story of the Barren Fig Tree we have been discussing, Jesus taught that with enough faith and no doubt, not only could a fig tree be instantly withered but even an entire mountain might be thrown into the sea. According to the Book of Hebrews, God gives each of us a measure…