This word is related to a Greek verb, apostello, meaning “to send away, to send forth.” It is used in several senses in the New Testament. 
• Christ was God’s “apostle,” sent from heaven to reveal ...

If the New Testament places upon the Christian the obligation to “give” of his means unto God, and he neglects that responsibility, he has refused to worship his Maker, at least in that respect.

Is the gift of speaking in tongues still being given by the Holy Spirit?

Mary was a Hebrew maiden who was chosen to be the mother of Jesus Christ. Her miraculous conception was prophesied in the O.T. (Isa. 7:14). Mary was certainly worthy of honor as a godly Jewish woma...

The revelation of God has to do with the processes by which the Creator has made himself known to his rational creation. (a) Jehovah has revealed himself to humanity in the abstract features of the...

A recent news item regarding the Mormon doctrine of “proxy baptism” highlights the inconsistencies of the practice and is the subject of this week’s Penpoints.

It is not an uncommon thing that a Bible verse, which seems so simple, can be so deep and brimming with meaning. Such surely is the case with the apostle John’s tender message in 1 John 2:1-2. In this week’s Penpoints, we contemplate this thrilling passage.

This expression is found only one time in the N.T. While on the island of Patmos, the apostle John was “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10). But the adjective, kuriakos, “the Lord’s,” is a...

This book, authored by the Lord’s half-brother (Gal. 1:19), is directed to the “twelve tribes scattered abroad.” This is either Jewish Christians, or a figurative designation for “spiritual Israel”...

There have always been those who found the concept of the bodily resurrection incredible, i.e., unbelievable, and their modern counterparts are appearing increasingly—even in today’s church.

A “type” (tupos) is a prophetic, pictorial preview, which finds its fulfillment in an “antitype.” Types are grounded in historical events, but they are symbolic in import. These forms of figurative...

This word comes directly from the Greek blasphemeo, which is believed to derive from blapto (to injure) and pheme (speech), hence injurious speech.

Scripture speaks of those who blaspheme God (Ro...

The commands found in the Bible may be classified in several ways to help our understanding.

This theory attempts to reconcile the six days of creation activity (Gen. 1) with the billions of years required by evolutionary chronology. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the “days” ...

The term “body” is used in Scripture in both literal and figurative sense.

Literal user of the body
In a literal sense, the term “body” in Scripture refers to the physical “tabernacle” in which t...

From the Greek word eschatos (“last”) comes “eschatology,” a study of “last things” (e.g., the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment day, the end of the world, heaven,...

Are Bible classes, commonly called “Sunday school classes,” in harmony with the holy scriptures? Some contend they are not, and they have divided the church over this issue. Take a fresh look at this subject with a biblically based, common sense approach.

A priest is one who offers sacrifice and ministers in services pertaining thereto (cf. Heb. 5:1). This term implies recognition of sin and the need for atonement, in some fashion or another. (a) Th...

The first three Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are called SYNOPTICS (see), because they view the life of Christ from roughly the same vantagepoint. John’s account is different. His recor...

This is one of the titles of a church official who oversees a local congregation of Christ’s church in the company of fellow bishops (always a plurality of men).

“Bishop” translates the Greek ter...