Category: Character of God
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Immeasurable Worth of Every Human Being
Reflections of a Tomboy Grandma: On the Immeasurable Worth of Every Human Being, by Diane Perkins Castro — A Summary The Life-Changing Truth About Every Human Being What is the most fundamental fact of our human existence? According to Reflections of a Tomboy Grandma, it is this: Every human being is created in the image…
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Severe Mercy: When God’s Fire Heals Instead of Destroys
Many Christians were raised hearing that the wrath of God means endless punishment. The image often painted is one of divine anger that never ends and suffering that serves no purpose except retribution. But when we look carefully at Scripture, a different picture emerges. Throughout the Bible, God’s fire is often described not as destruction…
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Spoiling the Egyptians: A Pattern of Redemption
“And the LORD [Yahweh] had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” Exodus 12:36. In general, the things we own reflect who we are. One of the more intriguing moments in the Exodus story occurs just before Israel leaves…
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Infinite Punishment?
Where and when did the phrase “sin against an eternal, infinite God deserves eternal, infinite punishment” develop? Not from the Bible. The exact wording is modern, but the underlying idea developed in medieval Western theology, then was sharpened and popularized by Jonathan Edwards in the 18th century.
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Predestination Ain’t Complicated: God’s Plan Was Jesus All Along
This Ain’t About Luck — It’s About God’s Plan. Folks hear the word “predestination” and think it means God picked some people and rejected the rest before anybody was born. That idea can make God seem cold and distant. But when you read the Bible closely, you see something entirely different. Predestination ain’t about God…
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God’s Mercy and Judgment: How They Work Together – Down-to-Earth version
“For the LORD (YAHWEH) is our judge …; He will save us” Isaiah 33:22. A lot of folks wonder: How can God be loving and still judge people?” That’s a fair question. But the Bible tells us straight up: God is love.” — 1 John 4:8. So …?
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The Wrath of God Through the Eyes of Christian Universalism
For many believers, the phrase “the wrath of God” evokes images of divine anger, judgment, and everlasting punishment. In much of popular theology, wrath is understood primarily as retributive—God inflicting eternal suffering upon sinners. And little wonder as a dictionary definition of our word wrath is “forceful, often vindictive anger, punishment or vengeance as a…
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Children of God – Part 1: Paul’s Adoption Language and Creational Sonship
The Apostle Paul’s use of “adoption” language has often been interpreted as implying that human beings become God’s children only after conversion. Yet a careful reading of Paul’s letters reveals a different picture. For Paul, adoption does not create sonship out of nothing; rather, it restores, formalizes, and glorifies a relationship that already exists by…
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Parables – To invite or to exclude?
The Paradox of Parabolic Hardening: A Remedial Reading of Matthew 13:15 “For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, lest they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.”…
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John 3:16 – A Universalist Passage
John 3:16 Is a Love Story, Not a Threat Some verses in the Bible get so familiar, we stop really hearing them. John 3:16 is one of those. Most of us learned it as kids. We saw it on posters. Some folks even painted it on football helmets. “For God so loved the world…” And…