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A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

We continue our study of the Book of Malachi with chapter 3. As we’ll see the Lord isn’t finished with His criticism of Israel’s behavior, and as was the case with the previous chapters some of His complaints about them could just as easily be made about us.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

In the Christian Bible, the concluding chapter in the Book of Malachi contains the final words of the Old Testament. It would be 400 years before God spoke to Israel again and then His purpose would be to announce the birth of the Messiah.

Is there anything in Scripture with regards to being a disciple and being in debt? With debt being a master of sorts, is it possible that Jesus would “give the go ahead” for someone to be a disciple while in debt? I know it’s been done and is still being done but is it right?

This is a salvation question. When we look at salvation in both the Old Testament and New Testament, a person is saved by faith: In the OT a person’s faith was based on the promised coming redeemer. In the NT, it is also based on faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Yet in your response to a question on “The Backslidden Believer“, you responded with “The Old Covenant was a conditional relationship based on obedience and a person who became disobedient was said to have turned away from the Lord.” Are you saying that those saved in the OT was based on works and not faith – somewhat confused – can you please clarify?

I was looking on the web for the beatitudes when I stumbled upon them in the Catholic Encyclopedia. I was shocked when I read there that they have substituted the word “righteousness” with “justice.” To me these are very different things. When we speak of justice we usually mean redress in a legal sense. If you commit a crime against me I desire justice, for example. But when I think of righteousness I think of a divine attribute that can only be gained via relationship and bestowal from God through Christ. (Rom 3:10 & 2 Cor 5:21.) So it seems to me that the Catholic Encyclopedia is substituting a man-to-man relationship for a man-to-God necessity. What are your thoughts on this?

Can you please explain the scripture “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house” from Acts 16:31?

Recently, I feel like I’ve lost my sense of purpose. Since I believe the Lord’s return is right around the corner, maintaining my current schedule seems pointless to me. I spend most of my time either working or studying – and it kills me to know that I could be spending this time with my family. I’ve talked to my wife about this, and she believes that I should continue doing what I have been doing, in case the end is not as close as I think. What’s your opinion?