by Matthew Borgstrom | May 15, 2023 | Uncategorized
Here are a couple of excellent quotations regarding what Jesus knows and how that should affect his disciples. First, J.C. Ryle supplied some very helpful explanation regarding this truth: This perfect knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is a very solemn thought, and...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 30, 2023 | Uncategorized
In John 13:14-15, Christ commands his disciples to imitate him in order to govern their sacrificial service. So how can we ensure we don’t think too highly of ourselves that would prevent sacrificial service towards others? Here are a few questions for...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 23, 2023 | Uncategorized
In light of the necessity of Christ’s cleansing work, let’s consider what can hinder you from embracing your need for cleansing. Here are 3 interconnected hindrances: 1. Assume your assessment is authoritative instead of God’s assessment Prov. 30:12 There...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 21, 2023 | Uncategorized
Let’s begin by highlighting the main idea of v.1, which appears at the end of the verse—He loved them to the end or to the uttermost or perfectly. Who is them? They are identified in the previous clause as his own who were in the world. In this context, his own are...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 8, 2023 | Uncategorized
When Christ discloses that he loved his own to the end in John 13:1, we must understand that was neither easy nor desirable based on the qualities of the objects of his love. The Apostle Paul makes this very point in Rom. 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 3, 2023 | Uncategorized
So how is this great enemy of faith and propellent of unbelief combatted? One verse in the Proverbs makes it abundantly clear—Prov. 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. A snare is a trap, which prevents one from obeying...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 26, 2023 | Uncategorized
1.Never come to God’s word as an intellectual exercise; ie. a mere gathering of information about God (1 Cor. 1:21, 2:10-16). 2.Never come to God’s word looking for it to affirm your fullness, but instead, come to the word needy and poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3)....
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 24, 2023 | Uncategorized
In John 12:35, Jesus instructs the crowd to walk while they have the light. And presumably he is commanding them to walk in the light, since the opposite disposition at the end of the verse is walking in the darkness.Walking is a way of describing the course of one’s...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 16, 2023 | Uncategorized
In John 12:28, Jesus prays to the Father with his overarching disposition of his entire ministry–Father, glorify your name. With the exaltation of the Father in front of him, he pressed on in obedience to the Father all the way through death. Keep in mind that...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 10, 2023 | Uncategorized
In John 12, there were multitudes of people who had traveled to Jerusalem, along with residents from within, who were flocking to see Jesus. However, the motive was not worship, nor was it based on the truth of what Jesus taught or what was written of him in the OT....
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 2, 2023 | Uncategorized
Now even though John records in John 12:6, Judas’ disdain for Mary’s actions were primarily motivated by monetary greed, there is another way to engage in action towards the poor for selfish gain and that is with the motive of self-exaltation. There’s nothing wrong at...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 24, 2023 | Uncategorized
Jesus has boldly proclaimed to be the resurrection and the life in John 11:25 and even raised Lazarus from the dead to provide powerful proof of that claim, but to what extent would Jesus go to grant life to sinners? Jesus answers that in Mark 10:45 For even the Son...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 10, 2023 | Uncategorized
In John 11:40, Jesus responds to Martha’s objection by declaring that faith would unveil God’s glory in his upcoming miraculous ministry at Lazarus’ tomb. This theme was already introduced back in v.4 in order to set the stage for how the witnesses...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 25, 2023 | Uncategorized
In the end, John 11:17-35 obliterates the notion that the God of Scripture is a distant God, who may be high and exalted, but is largely uninvolved in the affairs of his people. If Jesus is the exact representation of God, then we can be certain that is not the case...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 21, 2023 | Uncategorized
Notice that Jesus does not stop at reporting Lazarus’ death to the disciples in John 11:14, but continues on in v.15—and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there. This must have been downright shocking to their ears as they are initially dealing with the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 14, 2023 | Uncategorized
What did the fullness of goodness and knowledge, that Paul highlights in 15:14, create in the Roman Christians?—that they also have this ability to set things right in one another’s minds. They are capable of influencing one another towards greater spiritual clarity...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
There’s no way to escape the fact that the promised sign of Immanuel in Isaiah 7:14 is surrounded by intense predictions of judgment for King Ahaz and the people of Judah. Sadly, the promises associated with this child would not benefit Ahaz because he refused to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 23, 2022 | Uncategorized
If Jesus is going to continue to make these lofty claims (such as John 10:30-I and the Father are one), how would God validate these claims, not only to those personally witnessing his ministry, but also to those who would read the accounts throughout the church age?...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
Despite how the Jews insinuated that Christ has been withholding the truth in John 10:24, the fact of the matter is, the more clearly he reveals his identity, the more hostility is stirred up in those who hear it. This corresponds exactly to Jesus’ response in...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 9, 2022 | Uncategorized
As Christ continues to unveil his tremendous roles in John 10, it’s necessary to explore how the Lord becomes one’s shepherd. What does it take for that relationship to be established and the abundant life from v.10 to be guaranteed? The answer to that question is the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 2, 2022 | Uncategorized
In John 10:5 and 8, Christ teaches that his sheep do not plunge themselves into strange teachings. Just to clarify—this teaching is not denying the reality of different maturity and discernment levels and seasons of growth, but instead, that if someone is attracted to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
In Mark 7:14-23, Jesus teaches that it’s the heart one is born with that defiles every person. The Bible is crystal clear about this, especially in Jer. 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? In light of that,...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 18, 2022 | Uncategorized
In shining forth the light in John 9, the healing of the blind man magnificently illustrates spiritual salvation since there is a link between this man’s blindness from birth and man’s spiritual state from birth. The Apostle Paul writes in Rom. 5 that when God’s love...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 11, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Jews certainly catch the gravity of what Jesus taught in John 8:51 and because they don’t find any truth in it, they consider it audacious he would speak such words. Reason being, Abraham was the father of the faith and kept God’s word and yet he couldn’t escape...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 4, 2022 | Uncategorized
Unlike his hearers’ responses, Jesus responds directly to their assertion in John 8:42 and the original grammar assumes both parts of the conditional statement to be untrue—If God were your father (but he’s not), then you would love me (but you don’t). This is...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 28, 2022 | Uncategorized
In John 8:31, Jesus supplies a condition which reveals one as being a true disciple. It entails continuing, abiding or remaining in Christ’s word. This isn’t just a one-time decision or a temporary receiving of God’s word. So essentially, Jesus is teaching these Jews:...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 21, 2022 | Uncategorized
It seems safe to say that Jesus is proclaiming in John 8:24, that unless one believes that he is the only Savior who can take away one’s sins, the terrible prospect of paying for one’s own sins in eternal judgment awaits. This proclamation is true to the extent that...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
In Ephesians 5:5-6, Paul’s exhortations regarding walking in the light, includes to not be deceived about God’s judgment on the darkness. It doesn’t matter what someone says they believe; if they live in darkness (sons of disobedience=those characterized by...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
There are 4 reasons, based on the character of God, that we can place wholehearted confidence in our Bibles: 1. God proactively chooses to reveal himself Surely, we do not know him to be a God who delights in hiding his truth from his people. This is one of the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 30, 2022 | Uncategorized
It’s helpful to explore how these truths Christ proclaims in John 7:37-38 relate to the Christian life on an ongoing basis. For instance, perhaps some or many of you are thinking: “I certainly don’t feel like I have rivers of living water flowing out of me all the...
