Worldview & Culture / Christianity and Culture

  • Christmas in Time and Space

    Luke 2:1–7

    The Bible insists that the Son of God entered history at a specific point and remains united to a human nature in the person of Jesus Christ forever. This is radically different from the Hindu concept of incarnation, which says ...Read More

  • The Eye of the Beholder

    Ecclesiastes 3:11a

    Although the subject is always deeply involved in any encounter with the arts, we must recognize that there is one ultimate standard of beauty—the Lord Himself. Scripture often speaks of the “beauty of the Lord” (Ps. 27:4), and ...Read More

  • Ignorance and Hardness

    Ephesians 4:17-19

    Sin affects our entire being, including our ability to love, our capacity to reason, and our physical bodies. The longer we persist in sin, the harder it is to see and do the will of God, so we must endeavor ...Read More

  • The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

    Ephesians 2:2-3

    Paul makes a subtle shift in Ephesians 2:1–3 from “you” (the Gentile Ephesians) to “we” (Jews like Paul and the Gentiles), indicating the universality of sin. John Chrysostom writes, “All are included. It is not possible to say ...Read More

  • Final Greetings for Philemon

    Philemon 23-25

    We who profess the name of Christ must follow Him even when He gives rules we do not like. People who are tempted to commit homosexual acts may not like the call to turn from these deeds, but if they ...Read More

  • Sin’s Reality and the Ideal

    Philemon 8

    As today’s study shows, understanding the cultural background of a passage in Scripture is important to figuring out why an author says what he says. In turn, as we hope to show in future studies, knowing this historical context ...Read More

  • Joy and Comfort in Christ

    Philemon 7

    As we think about the believers in days gone by, it is always important that we acknowledge the truth about the things that they did. We do these believers no favors if we pretend that participation in ungodly systems of ...Read More

  • A New Humanity in Christ

    Colossians 3:9-11

    The image of God has not been entirely destroyed in fallen humanity, but our sense of what it means to function as we were originally designed has been severely warped. Consequently, we must learn what it means to be human ...Read More

  • Lively and Gracious Speech

    Colossians 4:6

    Jesus’ teaching in parables is an excellent illustration of the kind of speech that Paul talks about in today’s passage. His words were memorable, exciting, and attracted many to follow Him. At the same time, there was no hint ...Read More

  • Creation Ordinances

    Genesis 1-2

    In this day and age, there is a great temptation for the church in the United States to think that its mission is coextensive with the platform of one or more of the political parties in this country. Yet while ...Read More

  • Living in Exile

    Nehemiah 1:1-3

    When it comes to the “culture war,” American evangelicals often embrace one of two extremes. On the one hand, they can give up trying to influence society altogether. On the other, they might believe the nation will be saved if ...Read More

  • What Time Is It?

    Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

    Fundamentally, Scripture is concerned to answer this question: What time is it? The answer that it gives for the present era is that we are living in the last days, that period when the gospel goes forth in power to ...Read More

  • Lies and Their Consequences

    Deuteronomy 19:16-21

    The Lord, being the font of wisdom and truth, has given us fair principles for guiding His community. It is essential, therefore, for a healthy church to follow His law, showing grace to the repentant and applying discipline when professing ...Read More

  • The Ninth Commandment

    Exodus 20:16

    Slander and gossip pervade our culture, and thus it is very easy to break the ninth commandment without being aware that we are actually doing anything wrong. As those who have been called out of the darkness of sin into ...Read More

  • Spiritual Adultery

    James 4:4

    David Brainerd, missionary to Native Americans, comments, “Worldly pleasures, such as flow from greatness, riches, honors, and sensual gratifications, are infinitely worse than none” (The Life and Diary of David Brainerd). The pleasures this world has to offer, while not ...Read More