Author Archives: Steve Hankins, Th.D.

“But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might liveContinue reading “A Higher Call”

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, becauseContinue reading “Becoming Two Peas in One Pod”

“But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”” (Galatians 2:14, ESV) One of the difficultContinue reading “Gentle Timely Confrontation”

“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewiseContinue reading “Chain Reactions”

“Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10, ESV) Sometimes in our zeal to build the church we can turn the church into an empire rather than the gathering of people who are in need. When we do this, we will fail in our effortContinue reading “The Empire or the Ekklesia”

“and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” (Galatians 2:9, ESV) In the mid-seventies, I served in the United StatesContinue reading “Lines of Demarcation”

“Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.” (Galatians 2:4–5,Continue reading “Freedom or Slavery”

“Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, inContinue reading “Further Affirmation”

“And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.” (Galatians 1:22–24, ESV) Fanny Crosby wrote a beautiful hymn thatContinue reading “To God be the Glory”

“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.” (Galatians 1:18–20, KJV) In military operations, espionage is often usedContinue reading “A United Front”