UBC Wed For Life

As we know, Abraham’s son Isaac survived God’s test of Abraham. He grew up and, just as God promised, Isaac became Abraham’s heir. He inherited Abraham’s power and estate and carried on Abraham’s legacy. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a nation. Of course, that is a promise that would take generations to come to fruition. Isaac represented the first generation in the growth of Abraham’s nation, and he in turn contributed to the fulfillment of God’s promise by having children of his own. One of his children was named Jacob. Jacob had an interesting and, what some might consider, bizarre life. Jacob knowingly lied to his father and stole his brother, Esau’s, birthright (Genesis 26:34 -28:9). That was one of the first notable things that happened in his life. Right away, we see that Jacob isn’t one of the blameless characters like Noah or Abraham who had been instrumental in the Bible’s story up to this point. From the very beginning of his story, we know he’s...

What does it mean to live a Christian lifestyle? That’s a topic that’s been broached many times on this blog. It’s unfortunate but true that many people who call themselves Christians believe that living a Christian life means cherry picking commands from the Bible to live by and then chastising others for not living in the same way. That’s not a Christian lifestyle. Yes, as Christians, we acknowledge that God gives us commands in the Bible that we are supposed to follow. However, we can’t just pick and choose the commands we want to follow. In fact, it does not benefit us at all to overemphasize the importance of adhering to the Law as written in the Old Testament. Paul addresses this: For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not bas...

Sometimes, it is easy to get a false impression of how Believers should conduct themselves in this world. The Bible is a big book and packs a lot of information. It offers instruction for virtually every aspect of our lives. At times, it can even seem like the instructions contradict each other, but usually those contradictions come from a misunderstanding of what the Bible is actually saying or a lack of context with regards to what one passage may be saying versus another. A lot of times scripture is presented in one or two verse segments to highlight a point someone wants to make. While using scripture in that way isn’t necessarily wrong, sometimes such usage can work against true understanding of what God is trying to present to us. When focusing on those one or two verses, we may miss the greater point made by all the surrounding verses. For example, let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 3:10: For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwill...

Love God above everything and love others as we love ourselves. What God wants from us can be stated pretty simply. Still, no matter how easy it is to state what God wants from us, it’s not nearly so easy to actually do what he wants. That’s evidenced by the fact that even the best of us slip and fail sometimes. God understands this, so much so, that it’s even pointed out in the Bible. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. – 1 John 1:8-10 The path of righteousness is a hard road to walk, but that doesn’t mean we can just give up and go another way. We have to be diligent, and we have to be proactive in finding the things in our path that will cause us to stumble, so that we can remove them. There are many different pitfalls, and to make m...

Perhaps nothing could speak to the importance of a person more than having a religion named after them. So what does it say about Abram, later and more commonly known as Abraham, whose name is attached to the world’s three major religions?  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are often referred to as the Abrahamic faiths because of Abraham’s significance in all three. It was Abraham’s bloodline that the Bible followed throughout its narrative, particularly in the Old Testament. What kind of person must Abraham have been for God to use him as the patriarch for His Chosen People? First and foremost, he was obedient. God gave Abraham instructions with a promise attached: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will ...