In Matthew 12:1-14 the Pharisees try to trip Jesus up for his so-called Sabbath violations. In his response, Jesus exposes – yet again – the Pharisees for the professional legalists and hypocrites they are. Here we have helpful insights into not only the perpetuity of the Sabbath institution, but alsoContinue Reading
What are we praying in the 6th petition of the Lord’s Prayer when we ask: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13)? To find out, click here and listen. In Belgic Confession Article 29 we confess that it is the duty of every ChristianContinue Reading
Want to learn how to pray in a way that pleases God? Jesus teaches his disciples in Matthew 6 in the middle of his sermon on the mount. Listen to the sermons on Christ’s words here. What does it mean to be a part of the one apostolic church ofContinue Reading
Is Christ’s command in Matthew 5:38-42 to forsake retaliation normative for Christians in all spheres of life? If so, then what does one do with the New Testament affirmation of the God-ordained legitimacy of civil government that bears the sword? How, then, does a Christian know when to turn theContinue Reading
In Matthew 5:33-48, Jesus – as the one greater than Moses – contrasts his spiritual kingdom with the earthly geopolitical kingdom of Israel in the Promised Land, governed by the laws of the Mosaic (Old) covenant. What is most striking about Christ’s words here is that he overturns God’s commandsContinue Reading
In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus calls his disciples to forsake lust for purity as the way of the kingdom of heaven. ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adulteryContinue Reading
The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day believed that they had kept the 6th commandment by not committing the gross external act of murder. In keeping with the penetrating and disorienting nature of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount so far, in Matthew 5: 21-26 Jesus proclaims that anger in theContinue Reading
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus declares that his disciples are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The saltiness and luminosity of the church is derived from the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. To replace or twist the preaching of justification of sinnersContinue Reading
According to Jesus in the beatitudes in Matthew 5:9-12, peacemaking is a befitting of the children of God who have become participants in the life of the kingdom of heaven by grace alone through faith alone. Another distinguishing characteristic of the disciples of Christ living out the kingdom of heavenContinue Reading