Blessed & Bearded's Biblical Blog

It has been said that "If you wish to truly learn you must teach." Over the past 8 months of teaching through the Gospel of John, I have learned the validity of this statement. Not only have I learned more on proper interpretation of scripture and theology but I have become conceived of, and had my heart ignited by, 5 point Calvinism. As tiresome and difficult as these past few months have been at times I am overwhelming grateful for it all. I often use the analogy of a gold-miner when speaking on the glories of teaching and interpreting the text. As tiresome, difficult and even discouraging as the work of gold-mining is, it is all worth it when one finds the prize of the precious metal. Likewise, as tiresome, difficult and even discouraging as the work of proper interpretation is; it is all worth it when I find even the littlest piece of truth within the scripture. Given this, I have found it to also be maddening work. I often find myself intellectually moving at neck-...

Here is a list of great resources that I know and love and commonly use in preparation for biblical studies. I highly recommend that you buy or bookmark them and pray that they are as much of a blessing to you as they have been for me. Bibles: *Please note: If you dig around on the web you are likely to find other versions of the same Bibles that I am recommending here for much cheaper. I personally recommend Amazon for good prices and timely delivery. 1) The Reformation Study Bible by R.C. Sproul. Sproul has been one of my more recent mentors and has had a huge impact on my life and theological studies. And I have loved every page in this bible. https://reformationstudybible.com/ 2) The Spurgeon Study Bible. If you love Scripture and Spurgeon then you'll definitely enjoy this bible. Simply a fantastic Bible. I do recommend the Christian Standard Bible Translation because I believe it is second only to the ESV translation and I also find it very easy to read. http://csbspurgeo...

So this is it, the final chapter and the conclusion for us before we break for 2 weeks. I’m almost certain that this is my 5th or 6th read-through of the Gospel of John and my first time teaching it all the way through; and I must say, because of this study, this has been the best year of my life bar none (tho in fairness past years have never been too special or spectral by any means but anyhow) so thank you all for your continuous support and encouragement it really does mean the most to me. Like, I said its a 2-week break. So be thinking about how this study, or myself, can improve in any way at all. Also, leaders please be ready for one of y’all to teach sometime in late May. I should have our Ephesians study planned out by the end of April at the latest so y’all should have plenty of prep time beforehand, and I will send all that info out to you when it’s ready. Anyhow, on to our study. Pray Read the text. So some scholars have attempted to argue that this chapter shouldn’t be in...

This Sunday morning at service Josh, who was filling in for our usual ministers, opened up with a story that went like this, "So I commonly check in on some of my former students. And one of them posted just the other day saying, 'I'm 2.5 years out of school. Is this all life as to offer?' Yes! Yes of course life has more to offer and the answer is Jesus." To which my reply always will be in the words of Paul Tillich, "Jesus might be the answer but what's the question?" (Tillich, Systematic Theology vol. 2) There is an entire generation of young people in America that did what we were told to do, go to High School, then a good College and get your dream job; yet hardly any of us got the job we wanted and are now under debt but the system that either lied to us or was simply so incredibly incompetent to feed us such garage. Either way, we were led down the wrong path by our elders and we're left with debt for a fancy degree that we'll proba...

John 19:35 "He who saw it has borne witness- his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe." John 20:30-31 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 21:24 "This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written about these things, and we know that his testimony is true." So John wrote this gospel to bear witness about what the Christ did for the expressed purpose of causing belief in you, reader. The implication is that you, prior to belief, have no life and are dead in sin. Therefore, having heard the testimony of John you are to have the eyes of your heart opened to the glorious, wonderful truth that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and His ministry for you and believes in ...

Talk to me about the Resurrection. What is it? And why does it matter? Jesus died for His Church/was killed by the Romans and Jews as clearly seen in the last chapter. No one could have survived what Jesus went through. The Resurrection is Jesus raising back to life in a new/eternal/spiritual body. This matters because 1) It proves Jesus as the Christ 2) It proves His divinity 3) It proves His teachings as legit/true. Practically speaking, without the Resurrection there would be no Ascension/Him returning to The Father in His new/spiritual body. In very short, this means that the Ascended Jesus 1) Intercedes for us, even this very second, to be made more like Him (sanctification) and that we endure all trials and suffering in this life and 2) for The Father to send out the Spirit to save/redeem others. Also, when we are downcast and opposed by our sin we have a friend to go to in our time of sorrow and need who understands what we’re going through more than even we do. IE Jesus Christ...

Pray Read the text.  It is worth noting that none of the 4 gospels give us a comprehensive view of what happened at Golgotha; I believe this is done to show us the depth and complexity of this historic event. That is, all 4 authors of the Gospel are telling us to dig deeper than into this event.  I recommend reading this event in the other 4 gospels located in Matthew 27, Mark 15 and Luke 23. 19:1-11 19:1-3 Why did Pilate have Jesus beaten? Pilate had no charge against Jesus. Pilate seemed to find Jesus innocent. It would seem that Pilate was trying to satisfy the Jews’ bloodlust.  So why was Jesus beaten at all? Or why did God allow such suffering to come upon Jesus if it was only necessary for Jesus to die as a sacrifice to God? It was common that Roman criminals would be beaten/flogged prior to their trail to try and get them to confess any other crimes committed. Thus, the flogging further establishes Jesus' innocence. I think Paul speaks ...