This passage speaks to the viewpoint we as Christians should have towards hardship and opposition. Unbelievers suffer because of doing wrong and all of us suffer sometimes because of the fallen state of the world. What the writer is saying here is that Christians...

The preceding verses speak of how blessed they are to be a part of all the blessings of the new covenant and contrasts it with the Old Testament as the writer has done many times in this Book. He then says the ones who did not heed His voice in the Old Testament...

Many believers have been lured away from a life of faithfulness by greed and sexual temptation (v4). Paul said in Philippians 4:11-13 He had LEARNED the secret of contentment and could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. Paul describes good...

James was the half-brother of Jesus, he was known as James the Just. He wrote this book to the Jews and is a practical book that addresses many hard issues. James says that faith is not inactive, but evidenced by a life of action, in other words faith changes the...

The “royal law” was given in Leviticus 19:18 and affirmed by Christ (Matt. 22:39): Love your neighbor as yourself. The law is royal or regal because it is decreed by the King of kings, is fit for a king, and is considered the king of laws. The phrase reflects the...

This wisdom from above comes from a heart desiring to please God, not man. The wisdom God gives has several characteristics. It is pure, meaning free of the defilements mentioned. It is peaceable, namely, peace loving, peace-practicing, and peace-yielding. It is...

Here we are told to carefully examine our motives and reasons for all we do because the Lord sure does. Our natural tendency is to justify all we do, but often we are wrong for doing this. David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24 that God would examine His heart and show...

1 Peter 1:24 is a quotation from Isaiah 40:6-8 that expresses the passing of everything away except the Word of God. All eventually goes away and disappears but not His living and abiding word. It not only will not pass away but neither do those to whom it gives...

1 Peter 2:2-3 Peter urges those who are Christians to desire the milk of the word which can either be Christ or the word of God itself. Either way we are to long for and develop an appetite for the things of God, especially for Christ and His word which teaches us...

As Christians we ought to obey the laws of the land because the Bible tells us to unless it violates Christian principles that are specifically spelled out, or our conscience based on Biblical guidelines. We are free in Christ in the sense that we have been set...