How to Please God

Advice from Solomon and the book of Hebrews.

Ben White

 

HAVE YOU EVER PONDERED the daunting prospect of trying to please God?

Our God is omnipotent, so he doesn't need anything. And he's holy so we can never live up to his standard of morality.

How then can one possibly please God? Is it even possible?

Yes, it's possible, as you'll see, and the approach is actually pretty straightforward—though it might not be what you think. We'll take cues from Solomon and Job for an Old Testament, pre-messianic perspective and then the book of Hebrews to gain a more complete picture.

Before we dive in, though, here's the short answer:

The Nature of True Blessings

 Enrichment is more important than riches.

Jon Tyson

 

THE TRICKY THING about discussing blessings is that the word means so many different things to different people.

Many consider the word only in financial terms.

Some pastors, because of ignorance or deliberate misinterpretation of the Scriptures, teach that mountains of cash is a birthright for the child of God. Are you a believer, but are not rich? Then you do not have enough faith.

So the thinking goes.

Setting aside the charlatans for a moment, those who honestly come by their interpretation of the promises of Proverbs—that blessings are all about the material world—could be forgiven for such a shallow interpretation.

Perhaps One Reason God's People Couldn't Eat Pork

  Part III of a series on the Old Testament.

Bethany Laird

Did you know I write a monthly article just for email subscribers? It's true!

This month we're discussing how we Christians should apply the Old Testament to our lives. And yes, this includes a discussion about pork.

Here's how it starts:

 

If you, dear reader, have been with me from the beginning then you know I'm passionate about the Old Testament and the ways in which the New Covenant believer should apply it to his or her life. My first book, Do No Work, revolved around the Sabbath and the 4th commandment, but the subtext protruding from every page was this very issue of how a Christian should apply the Jewish Scriptures. Must we rest on the Sabbath? Must we observe the Sabbath on the seventh day?

Is it okay if we get tattoos? (Lev. 19:28)

Is it kosher to wear clothing made from mixed materials? (Deut. 20:11)

Would it be all right if I trimmed my beard? (Lev. 19:27) It's getting kind of scraggly.

What about cooking a goat in its mother's milk? (Exo. 23:19)

You get the point.

The Ten Commandments, originating in the Old Testament, elicit little controversy among Christians, and yet pretty much every Jesus freak I know trims his beard and eats bacon too. So why is it okay to eat pork but not to covet my neighbor's house (i.e. the 10th commandment)? Are we just picking and choosing which OT dictates to follow? Or is there some sort of rhyme or reason to Christianity's application of the Old Testament?

 

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Should Christians Read the Old Testament?

 Part II of a series on the Old Testament.

Siora Photography

Did you know I write a monthly article just for email subscribers? It's true!

This month we're discussing the merits of the Old Testament for the modern day Jesus-follower. Should we even read the OT?

Here's a snippet:

 

If it seems like I'm playing both sides of the argument it's only because this debate is much more complex and nuanced than extremists on either side would like you to believe.

I think the best approach is first to answer the question, Why Read the Old Testament? And then proceed on to, How Can We Apply it to Our Lives? Or, to put it another way, first we will establish the value of the OT on its own merit, and then talk about how we can use and understand it.

As I see it there are three reasons why Christians should read the Old Testament:

 

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What Use Is the Old Testament?

Should we unhitch the Old Testament from Christianity?

Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law, Gustave Doré

Did you know I write a monthly article just for email subscribers? It's true!

This month we're discussing the merits of the Old Testament for the modern day Jesus-follower. Is it of any use? Or are we free to discard it?

Here's how the article begins:

In 2018, North Point Community Church pastor Andy Stanley drew attention and criticism for suggesting Christians "unhitch" their faith from the Old Testament. Here's what he said:

"[New Testament] Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures. . . Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well."

In response critics came out of the woodwork like termites decrying the preacher as a heretic, among other things.

But if Stanley is on one end of the extreme, then an acquaintance of mine is on the other. He believes Christians should live according to the Torah, placing special emphasis on the Sabbath, circumcision, eating only kosher foods, and religious festivals. (Note: this person is not of Jewish heritage.)

So is Andy Stanley right about the Old Testament? Or is my gentile friend in the right? Should we Christians toss out the OT or study and try to obey all 613 commandments in the Torah?

 

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These 6 Common Sayings Actually Came from the Old Testament?

English is filled with strange idioms. Take for example “one fell swoop” which holds the meaning of “all in one go” or “in a single action.” Chances are you’ve heard the phrase and said it yourself. But do you know where it originates?

We have William Shakespeare to thank for the expression. In MacBeth, Macduff upon learning of the murder of his wife and children responds, “Oh hell-kite! … All my pretty chickens, and their dam At one fell swoop?”¹

Boston Public Library (CC)

Literature and pop culture lend to language many of the idioms we use today, and dozens of our common expressions come to us from the Holy Bible. Here are six you might not know came from the Old Testament: