Posts by Randy Livingston
Making Truth a Commodity
Jesus was brought to Pilate for judgment by the chief priests and the people. The course and outcome of this assembly though foreordained by God nonetheless reveals the willingness of men to sell the truth for gain. The chief priests wanted Jesus dead, so they lied about his teaching or doctrine. They asserted to Pilate…
Read MoreA Pattern for Worship
The church was born at the first Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ. It was at that time that Jesus “having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” sent Him to his disciples and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit”…
Read MoreFalse Teachers Bring False Messages
Near the end of Paul’s third missionary journey, he “determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost” (Acts 20:16). Nonetheless, he desired to meet with the Ephesian elders to encourage them and bolster…
Read MoreFact: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
One of the cornerstones of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that he rose bodily from the grave following his crucifixion and ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). The scriptures leave no doubt about this for us. We are told that after his…
Read MoreThe Working Clothes of Love (3)
We continue to examine Paul’s working definition of love as revealed to him by the Spirit of God and so come to a phrase that should genuinely give us pause. Perhaps, it is because this phrase strikes remarkably close to home. He writes that love “seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no…
Read MoreThe Working Clothes of Love (2)
In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul was constrained to speak on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they are to be ministered under the operation of love. That being so, it became necessary for him to spend some time showing what love looked like in its “working clothes.” He continued…
Read MoreWorking Clothes of Love (1)
The concept of love in our modern American society is so very distorted from the truth. It ranges somewhere between the Hollywood version that is nothing more than fleshly lust to the smarmy Kodak version of love we see in television commercials, e.g., a man and a woman walking their dog on the beach in…
Read MoreWe Have Received of His Spirit
Paul speaks of the most remarkable gift to the believer having reminded his audience that the world by its own wisdom could not find out God. To those who have believed the gospel, he assures them “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we…
Read MoreProphecy over Tongues
The gift of “tongues” was an important gift found in the early church and necessary for advancing the gospel among different ethnic groups. Tongues in the New Testament has reference to foreign languages unknown or unlearned by the speaker. It would be as if I were able to speak French or German without any instruction…
Read MoreOnly One Way Out of Temptation and Sin
Paul reminded the church at Corinth of the Israelites’ repeated disobedience to God in their journey through the wilderness. He warned them that they could easily fall into such careless living if they were not careful because these temptations are common to all men. While it is true that such temptations are common, it is…
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