God chose Israel from among the nations as God’s own firstborn. As firstborn, Israel was tasked with blessing the nations through their obedience to God (as a light among the nations) and the promises made to Abraham.
God equipped Israel with gifts in order that they might become that light and prepare the nations for their blessings. While Paul does not offer a systematic account of these gifts and their number, he does offer a doxological list in Romans 9:4-5 along with an earlier reference to the God’s gift of Scripture to Israel in Romans 3:1-2.
These gifts were unique to Israel but intended to bless the nations. Ultimately, these gifts were also extended to the nations as they were incorporated (grafted into, Paul’s language in Romans 11) into Israel.
The gifts Paul identifies (and it is not necessarily a comprehensive list, nor is it one of priority or sequence) are:
This video both defines the Rule of Faith and describes its relation to reading the Bible theologically as part of a common faith among disciples of Jesus.
I refer to Paul Blower’s article several times in this video. You may access that article here.
The article was originally published as “The Regula Fidei and the Narrative Character of Early Christian Faith,” Pro Ecclesia 6, no. 2 (Spring 1997): 199-238.
This sermon, which begins at the 30 minute mark, provides an exposition of John 13:31-35 in the context of Jesus’s “table talk” (farewell discourse) with his disciples.
This rudimentary presentation for one of my online classes (an introduction to theology course) provides a basic understanding of the Five Solas of the Reformation.
What is the meaning of the five solas–sola fidei, sola Deo gloria, sola Scriptura, sola gratia, and sola Christus–in relation to late medieval theology? The video also offers a brief comparison between Lutheran (Luther) and Reformed (Zwingli) theology.
In January, 2021, Bammel Road Church of Christ in Houston, TX, asked me to share my understanding of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 with them. This is the ZOOM video for January 17, 2021.
The presentation affirms the use of both male and female gifts as long as the assembly is decently ordered and prioritizes the building up of the body (or, edification).
I prepared this rudimentary video for one of my online classes at Lipscomb University. It introduces listeners to the broad differences between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholic Christianity.
As an introduction, generalizations abound to which there are exceptions and often a continuum of sorts. Consequently, listen to this as a typology for the two positions rather than a box that confines them. The traditions are broader and deeper than I can possibly represent in a brief video for introductory students.
God led Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness to Sinai where God dwelt upon the earth. The purpose of the Exodus was not only liberation from slavery but encounter with God at Sinai whey they would become the covenant people of God.
At Sinai, God moved to dwell in the midst of Israel by filling the newly completed tabernacle with God’s glory and presence. Dwelling with Israel, God moved the place of God’s own rest from Sinai to the tabernacle and thus moved with Israel through the wilderness and into the promised land. Carrying God’s presence with them in the symbol of the ark of the covenant, Israel entered the land as their inheritance.
Their inheritance entailed the renewal of humanity. A new humanity—liberated from imperial oppression—now dwelt in a new Eden where God would rest in the land and give rest to the land.
This new Eden was a theocracy, and covenant people of God were designed to fill the land with peace, justice, righteousness, and joy. It was a place where Israel, representing all humanity as a priestly royal nation, would be a light to the nations and invite them to hear the word of the Lord so that they, too, might flourish like a tree by running water. Like Eden, this was a land where God ruled and in which God rested, and God tasked Israel, like humanity in the beginning, to fill the land with God’s imagers and God’s glory. Israel became a co-ruler with God and a priest among the nations.
Sadly, as in Eden with Adam and Eve, Israel became dissatisfied with God’s theocratic arrangement. Israel embraced a detour as they decided to choose their own king like the nations rather than calling the nations into the light and life of God’s way.
This detour empowered oppressive and self-interested structures. Rather than living before God in communities led by people whom God raised up as needed, they decided to give power to a system of hereditary monarchs. Though God would ultimately redeem the monarchy through reestablishing a divine theocracy through the work of King Jesus, the history Israel’s monarchy became another degenerative spiral into idolatry, just like the spiral described in Genesis 3-11.
In response to a dear friend’s question about listening to the Spirit and discernment.
I wish listening to the Spirit was a mechanical process that always had a clear outcome. Unfortunately, we human beings are the ones who still do the “listening,” and our listening is complicated by our own interests, biases, and fears. Just as our sanctification is a process (as we grow more into the likeness of Christ) that never ends until we are glorified with Christ, the same is true of listening to the Spirit–it is a process of sanctification itself. And, often it is a process of communal sanctification.
Discernment comes through prayerful listening to God and each other, searching the Scriptures, and communal relationships in the bond of love. It is not easy, and it is complicated. Sanctification is never easy.
Ultimately, it seems to me, we make the best communal decision we can with the right heart and trust in God’s future for the community. We listen, and then we do the right thing as far as we are able to see (discern) it.
We might also remember that the Spirit works slowly with some and more quickly with others due to any number of factors, and it is not expected everyone will be on the same page all along the process. Sanctification is not automatic, and it is often slow (like years of integrating churches and ending slavery) and always hard.
I trust God is gracious with the process even I as I don’t think we are promised uniformity or even consensus when thinking through difficult and complicated questions that are deeply embedded in our historic cultural practices.
I was invited to visit the Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas, but due to COVID I could not. I was diagnosed the day I was supposed to get on the plane to fly to Dallas. Consequently, I addressed the church through Zoom on the topic while experiencing some of the effects of COVID.
This lesson was delivered at the Bammel Church of Christ in Houston, Texas, on November 20, 2022. The lesson begins at minute 51 through minute 77 (1:17). The lesson follows the reading of Psalm 66
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Biblical Texts, Theodrama | Tagged: Abrahamic Promise, Adoption, Covenants, Glory, Liturgy, Messiah, Promise, Scripture, Temple, Torah | 
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Posted by John Mark Hicks