6 marks of the believer's growth in grace summary by JC Ryle

1. One mark of growth in grace, is increased HUMILITY.

https://thaishin.blog/2023/11/27/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-1-by-jc-ryle

https://thaishin.blog/2023/12/04/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-1a-by-jc-ryle

2. Another mark of growth in grace, is increased FAITH and LOVE towards our Lord Jesus Christ.

https://thaishin.blog/2024/01/07/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-2-by-jc-ryle

3. Another mark of growth in grace, is increased HOLINESS of life and conduct.

https://thaishin.blog/2024/01/24/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-3-by-jc-ryle

4. Another mark of growth in grace, is increased SPIRITUALITY of taste and mind.

https://thaishin.blog/2024/02/19/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-4-by-jc-ryle

5. Another mark of growth in grace, is increase in LOVE to others.

https://thaishin.blog/2024/03/03/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-5-by-jc-ryle

6. One more mark of growth in grace, is increased ZEAL and diligence in trying to do good to souls.

https://thaishin.blog/2024/03/24/6-marks-of-the-believers-growth-in-grace-part-6-by-jc-ryle

Source: www.jcryle.info

Sin, Guilt, Grace

Dec 17, 2009

Our God is a holy God and hates sin.  He has an absolute and highest standard of holiness that any human attempts to reach it fails. That is because human beings are by nature sinful and can never reach God's standard of holiness. God hates our sins but loves us as a person. Hence, it is necessary that a christian acknowledges and confesses his/her sins  in Christ name when he/she sin against the Holy one of Israel in thought, speech and action in order to draw closer to God.

The natural reaction to acknowledging and confessing our sins is guilt. If it lingers, it is counter productive to our spiritual growth. We need to be objective and honest to ourselves in order to detect sin in ourselves. But after acknowledging and confessing it, the goodness and grace of God should always come after that to dispel the lingering guilt. The goodness and grace of God displaces the guilt. We can experience the goodness and grace of God only if we put ourselves in Christ's shoes and feel the pain of the nails that went through his hands and feet. Only when we feel grateful to what Christ did on the cross for us will we understand the length, breadth and depth of God's love for us and constantly pin our hopes on the goodness and grace of God. And our hopes are not in vain because of the resurrection of Christ where our greatest fears of death are put to rest and we can conquer all circumstances that life throw at us. Where there is no more fear, nothing in this world can shift our loyalty from Christ.

Difference in Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew and Luke

Nov 26, 2009

Question:

Luke 3:23-37

excerpt

the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz - niv

Matthew 1: 1-16

excerpt

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, - niv

Both passages are consistent for genealogy before David. Matthew stop at Abraham but Luke went on to Adam. But both passage seems to differ for genealogy after David. There is no mention of Solomon in Luke.

Is there an error here?

Answer from Pastor Brian Ingalls:

There's a really solid answer for this on the website "gotquestions.org" which makes some good points, like this one:

Some point to these differences as evidence of errors in the Bible. However, the Jews were meticulous record keepers, especially in regard to genealogies. It is inconceivable that Matthew and Luke could build two entirely contradictory genealogies of the same lineage. Again, from David through Jesus, the genealogies are completely different. Even the reference to Shealtiel and Zerubbabel likely refer to different individuals of the same names. Matthew gives Shealtiel's father as Jeconiah while Luke gives Shealtiel's father as Neri. It would be normal for a man named Shealtiel to name his son Zerubbabel in light of the famous individuals of those names (see the books of Ezra and Nehemiah).

It was probably just a case of Matthew tracing Jesus lineage through Joseph, which would have been the legal, Jewish way of doing things.  Luke on the other hand, probably traced the lineage through Mary which was something the Greeks did occasionally, and more probably because Mary was a real mother, while Joseph (because of the virgin birth) really wasn't the father.  Both Mary and Joseph were descendants from David, so giving both genealogies was a way to show Jesus' heritage could not be challenged either way.

Here's how gotquestions explained it:

...most conservative Bible scholars assume Luke is recording Mary’s genealogy and Matthew is recording Joseph’s. Matthew is following the line of Joseph (Jesus’ legal father), through David’s son Solomon, while Luke is following the line of Mary (Jesus’ blood relative), though David’s son Nathan. There was no Greek word for “son-in-law,” and Joseph would have been considered a son of Heli through marrying Heli's daughter Mary. Through either line, Jesus is a descendant of David and therefore eligible to be the Messiah. Tracing a genealogy through the mother’s side is unusual, but so was the virgin birth. Luke’s explanation is that Jesus was the son of Joseph, “so it was thought” (Luke 3:23).