Studies, reading plans and every single day within them, alongside devotionals and articles. Search by title, book of the Bible, passage or topic.
Chapter study
John 15 is spoken in motion. Jesus has just finished the Passover meal with His disciples, and John 14 ends with the words 'arise, let us go hence.' Many readers take that sentence as the close of a scene rather than…
Chapter study
Romans 8 is quoted more than it is studied. Most believers can recite verse 28 and verse 38 and have never traced the argument that makes either of them true. Paul is not writing a collection of encouraging lines. He…
Dig Deeper
Romans 8:32 He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? The argument runs from the greater to the lesser. If God has already given the…
Dig Deeper
John 15:7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. Two ifs stand in front of the promise. Read the sentence as a whole and the will in ask what you…
Dig Deeper
Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Work together, not are good. And the promise is addressed to a specific group,…
Dig Deeper
John 15:4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. The Greek verb meno means to remain, to stay, to continue in a…
Dig Deeper
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The verdict is attached to a location, not to a performance level.…
Dig Deeper
John 15:2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Two verbs. The first removes, the second cleans or prunes. Both involve a…
Dig Deeper
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. David names two items, not one. The Hebrew words are…
Verse study
μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί, κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν meinate en emoi, kago en hymin Greek Meno means to remain, dwell, or stay put; it is used throughout John's Gospel and epistles for continuous, settled relationship rather than a single…
Verse study
πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν panta sunergei eis agathon Greek Sunergei is where we get synergy. The verb does not say the ingredients are good. It says they are being worked together toward one end by someone with a…
Verse study
μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχει meizona tautes agapen oudeis echei Greek Agape here denotes love as costly commitment and action rather than mere emotion; the sentence structure sets an absolute superlative with no…
Verse study
ὅς γε τοῦ ἰδίου υἱοῦ οὐκ ἐφείσατο hos ge tou idiou huiou ouk epheisato Greek Ouk epheisato, did not spare, is the same phrasing the Greek Old Testament uses in Genesis 22:16 of Abraham not withholding Isaac. An…
Verse study
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή ego eimi he ampelos he alethine Greek Ego eimi echoes the divine self-naming of Exodus 3:14; ampelos is the ordinary word for grapevine; alethinos means genuine or real, as distinct from a…
Verse study
εἴρηκα ὑμᾶς φίλους eireka hymas philous Greek Philous comes from phileo, love marked by warm affection and companionship, distinguished from the more general agapao used elsewhere for love as command. The difference…
Verse study
οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα oute tis ktisis hetera Greek Ktisis means anything created. Since only God is uncreated, the phrase excludes everything that exists apart from God Himself. Why death and life come first Death…
Verse study
A sentence, not a feeling Katakrima is a courtroom word. Paul is not saying that believers stop feeling guilty. He is saying that the sentence which their guilt deserved has already been carried out. That distinction…
52 Week Journey
The church appears in the New Testament almost as soon as Jesus ascends, not as an afterthought but as the very thing he said he would build (Matthew 16:18). It is described with a cluster of images: a body, a…
52 Week Journey
The Old Testament prophets are often reduced to prediction, but their main work was calling God's people back to a covenant they had already been given. They confronted kings, exposed idolatry, defended the poor, and…
Verse study
χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν choris emou ou dynasthe poiein ouden Greek Choris means apart from or separated from; the double negative construction (ou... ouden) intensifies the statement to an absolute nothing.…
Verse study
οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ouch hymeis me exelexasthe, all' ego exelexamen hymas Greek Eklegomai means to select or choose out from among others; the same verb family used of God's election of…
Devotional
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. WEB…
Devotional
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, WEB Peter does not…
Devotional
Psalm 50:14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High. WEB The psalm's context is God rebuking Israel for offering ritual sacrifices while ignoring the weightier matters of covenant…
Devotional
John 13:14-15 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. WEB Jesus draws…
Devotional
Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. WEB Paul writes this right after describing how to restore someone caught in a fault, in verse 1. Bearing burdens is not abstract goodwill; it…
Devotional
2 Timothy 3:16 Every writing is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness WEB Paul writes this to Timothy about the Hebrew Scriptures Timothy…
Devotional
1 Peter 1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy; for I am holy." WEB Peter writes to believers he calls 'sojourners…
Article
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; Paul reaches for the language of dressing when he wants to describe…
Devotional
Exodus 31:3-4 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, WEB…
Devotional
Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son…
Devotional
John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. WEB Jesus draws the…
Devotional
Isaiah 55:11 so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do. WEB Isaiah compares God's word to rain…
Devotional
Mark 10:45 For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. WEB This verse answers a request from James and John for the best seats in the kingdom. Jesus corrects…
Article
1 Thessalonians 4:11 and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; Paul's ambition for the Thessalonians is strikingly…
Devotional
1 Peter 4:10 As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. WEB Peter assumes every believer has received some gift, without exception, and…
Devotional
1 Peter 4:10-11 As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. WEB Peter assumes that every believer has received something worth putting to…
Devotional
Genesis 18:25 May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do…
Devotional
1 Samuel 3:9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, Yahweh; for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. WEB Samuel hears his…
Biblical concept
A covenant is a formal bond with promises, obligations and a sign. God's covenants with Noah, Abraham, Israel and David each carry a sign or an oath, and each is initiated by God. Jeremiah 31 promises a new covenant…
Biblical concept
Jesus says he is the light of the world, and adds a promise: whoever follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Light here is both revelation and direction. In Matthew 5:14 he turns the same…
Biblical concept
The cross was a Roman method of execution, and it is the place where Jesus died. The Gospels describe the event in careful historical detail: the charge, the soldiers, the nails, the hours, the words he spoke. The New…
Biblical concept
In John 10 Jesus says he is the good shepherd, and gives one mark of it: the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He also says he knows his own and they know him, and that no one takes them out of his hand.…
Biblical concept
The incarnation is the entry of the eternal Son of God into human life as a real human being. John 1:14 states it in a single sentence: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. Philippians 2:6…
Biblical concept
Jesus says he is the true vine and his followers are branches, and that a branch bears fruit only while it stays joined to the vine. Apart from me you can do nothing is the plainest sentence in the passage. The Old…
Biblical concept
John opens his gospel by saying that the Word already was in the beginning, that the Word was with God, and that the Word was God. Three claims are made in one sentence: the Word is eternal, the Word is distinct from…
Biblical concept
John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that we have seen his glory. Two things are held together: full deity from verse 1, and real humanity here. Nothing is subtracted from either. The verb dwelt…
Christian Living
Hebrews 10:24-25 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the…
Christian Living
Matthew 28:19-20 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you…
Christian Living
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. WEB 2-corinthians 5 The decisive words are in Christ. Identity in the New…
Christian Living
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. WEB ephesians 2 Purpose follows salvation rather than earning it: the verse comes…
Christian Living
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. WEB romans 8 Paul does not say the sufferings are small. He weighs…
Bible question
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? WEB God has already spoken about his will. Read that first, because…
Bible question
John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” WEB Read three passages before any argument. One is a claim Jesus made, one is what his hearers understood by it, one is what a disciple said to his face. John 8:58…
Bible question
Psalms 68:6 God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land. WEB Hear God's answer to loneliness before any explanation of it. Psalms 68:5-6 A…
Bible question
Colossians 3:23-24 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. WEB Three passages give…
Bible question
Acts 16:30-31 and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." WEB The question in the title of this study…
Bible question
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” WEB Three sentences of stated purpose, two from Jesus and one from Paul. Read them before any explanation, and notice that each one names the…
Bible question
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. WEB This question deserves God's words before ours. Read these passages…
Bible question
Psalms 2:7 I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father. WEB The title has a history. Read where it comes from, then hear it spoken over Jesus, then hear how his…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.