Truth Be Told: A Blog by Pastor Bill Alderson

  What is the opposite of death? For most, the answer would be life. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul answers the question by addressing resurrection, both the physical and spiritual. Resurrection cancels death, removing its sting, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, " O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ . Jesus’s physical death and resurrection were the culmination of the last two weeks of his physical life when he raised Lazarus from the dead and declared in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" Christ’s resurrection is available to anyone who believes in Him. And so, Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the f...

  “Go up to a land [ eres – earth, used to describe the promised land] flowing with milk and honey [ debash – honey, symbolizing the richness and fertility of the land]; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate [stubborn] people, and I might destroy you on the way.”                  Exodus 33:3 An essential element of the covenant God made with Abraham was the inheritance of land promised by God for Abraham and his descendants. Yet, there would be conditions regarding the possession of that land. Before Israel would occupy and possess it, pagan nations needed to be dispossessed of the land. This would not take place for more than 400 years, following Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage.       God made a covenant with Israel that they would become his own special people. He promised them an inheritance, namely a land where they could develop into a ho...

  These were famous words uttered by Martin Luther King in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, his “I Have a Dream” speech. He concluded it with: “And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’" The freedom that MLK was referencing involved the issue of his day: civil rights. The reconstruction of American society since the Civil War has been slow and painful, yet King saw hope for the future, and that hope was in God. Believers' freedom in their relationship with Christ can transform lives and set people free from their failures and shortcomings. Paul saw it clearly when he...

  Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance [ kleronomia – inheritance, possession]. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve .                      Colossians 3:23-24 Like the Old Testament usages, the words for inheritance in the New Testament primarily refer to spiritual obedience as a condition for receiving an inheritance. Becoming an heir can come through a family relationship, through faith, or some form of obedience or merit. Nearly every occurrence of kleronomos – inherit includes either the presence or absence of some work or character quality as a condition of obtaining or forfeiting the particular possession. The account of the Rich Young Ruler below provides insight: Rich Young Ruler And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher [ didaskolos – instructor, master]...