Because the early Christians were accused falsely of all sorts of outrageous behavior, Peter urged his readers in I Peter 2:11-25 to be especially careful to live such honorable lives that even their enemies would end up glorifying God. This calling was especially difficult, because they often found themselves in unfair situations that they were powerless to change, in which they suffered unjustly. Amazingly, God called them and calls us to endure unjust suffering and gave us the highest motivation for doing so: Christ already endured unjust suffering for us.
The rejection of Jesus by many Israelites is God‘s plan for the salvation of the nations, and even of Israel itself.
In the earlier parables, Jesus left people wondering what he meant. In the latter parables, Jesus was often very direct. For example, in Matthew...
Although the church in Smyrna may not have looked like much on the surface, Jesus’ evaluation of it was wholly positive. He did not...