Posts by David Huffstutler

Imagine trying to give a posthumous goodbye to someone you deeply loved after that person died from murder, an accident, or an overdose from illegal drugs. Imagine slowly saying goodbye to a loved one who is dying from incurable disease. Imagine trying to formulate a goodbye to a spouse who suddenly ends your marriage by…

Out of curiosity, I looked up “gossip” in my Bible, looked up its roots in Greek, and chased down similar words in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). Since the verb “gossip” could literally mean “to whisper,” I looked up “whisper” in Proverbs to add some thoughts. Then I added some further…

1 Peter 3:21 is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament to use when teaching others about baptism. It states, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”…

Raised in Lystra (Acts 16:1–5), “from childhood” Timothy had “been acquainted with the sacred writings” (2 Tim 3:15), thanks to his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice who had “a faith that dwelt first” in them (2 Tim 1:5). Eunice was “a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek” (Acts…

Do you ever wonder if God has abandoned you? He saved you, but perhaps now you feel like He has left you on your own? Whatever our trials or troubles may be, this post is just a simple look at three passages that encourage us to trust in the faithfulness of God. We can consider…

There is no end to people seek to harm the church until our Lord comes again. We can warn them, but we have no fellowship with them (Titus 3:10–11). We see them for who they are, kindly give truth if they will listen (2 Timothy 2:24–26), but otherwise avoid them (2 Timothy 3:1–9; esp. 3:5b).…

God’s various ways of speaking in Scripture are fascinating. It is not only what God says but how He says it that captures our attention. Letters teach. Psalms have meter and form. Prophets preach. Narratives tell a story. Some books are a mix. Acts narrates but teaches with sermons. Romans teaches but has a narrative…

Have you recently used the phrase “the fullness of the blessing of Christ”? Probably not. What does it mean? And, to use it in the sense that it has in Romans 15:29, how does one come “in” it to someone else? In context, Paul has just ended the body of his letter (Romans 1:16–15:13) and…

When we learn about God and our salvation in Him, we love Him all the more and live for Him all the better. This statement captures something of the pastoral thrust of Ephesians. For three chapters (Ephesians 1–3), Paul lays out how God has saved us, united us in Christ, and his role as an…

What kinds of things should I not do because it would cause my fellow Christian to violate his conscience and sin if he did them, too? Paul gives many commands to the “strong” in Romans 14:1–15:13 (cf. Rom 15:1), telling the strong in various ways not to cause the “weak” to stumble (Rom 14:13, 15,…