John Hick’s Religious World

Introduction John Hick is eminently readable. He is a theologian who wears his heart on his sleeve. He has no time for the kind of theology which uses traditional language without making clear whether such language is to be taken literally. Hick puts his cards on the table. There is no way he will entertain …

The deep things of God – and the deep love of Christ

"'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived' — the things God has prepared for those who love him — these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).  "I …

Pure worship

Leviticus 24:1-25:24 'Pure' worship is to be offered 'continually': This is what God is looking for (1-8). 'Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place?': No-one else but Christ - He alone 'has clean hands and a pure heart', He alone 'will receive blessing from the Lord' (Psalm …

Come to Jesus, the Saviour of sinners.

Luke 5:12-32 ‘You can make me clean... I will; be clean’(12-13). Look at Christ’s death for you - Can you doubt His desire to save you? Look at His resurrection - Can you doubt His power to save you? The Lord ‘desires all people to be saved’(1 Timothy 2:4). We are saved through ‘the Gospel’ …

Leviticus 22:17-23:44

Leviticus 22:17-23:44 -  God says, ‘I am the Lord’ (22:30-33):  Let Him be ‘your God’ (23:14,22,28,40,43,).  We are to ‘worship in Spirit and in truth’ – ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day’ (John 4:24; Revelation 1:10)  When Christ died – This was the day of atonement.  We worship Him, ‘our Passover Lamb’ (22:28; Exodus …

We are sanctified by the Lord.

Leviticus 21:1-22:16 We are sanctified by the Lord (21:8,15,23; 22:9,16). It is His doing - God's call to holiness is founded in His gift of holiness: 'the Holy Spirit... has been given to us' (Romans 5:5) - 'every virtue we possess...every victory won...every thought of holiness, are His alone' (Church Hymnary, 336). When we are …

We must hear the Word of God and act on it.

Luke 4:31-5:11 ‘His Word was with power’(32). Where there are hindrances, obstructing the flow of God’s Word, we must pray that God’s Word will be heard for ‘what it really is’- ‘not the word of men but the Word of God’(1 Thessalonians 2:13). Our hearing of God’s Word is not to be a superficial thing …

The pathway to holiness – By grace, through faith, for good works

Leviticus 20:1-27 The life of holiness is not an expression of our own moral virtue. It is an expression of the holy character of God being reproduced in us: 'I am the Lord who sanctify you' (8). God wants us for Himself. This is why we must not live the world's way: 'I, the Lord, …