An Idea Borrowed

Years ago on a radio program someone shared that they read a chapter in Proverbs every day. Since there are 31 chapters and the longest month has 31 days it allows you to read through Proverbs on a regular basis. I use it as the launch pad for my personal worship time and branch out from there. On this blog I will try to share some of the insights I have in the Word. I will try to organize them in the archive by reference.

Monday, January 11, 2016

This Tree Does Not Grow in Brooklyn

(Proverbs 11:30 KJV)  The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

The  “tree (6086) of life (2425b)” is an interesting phrase.  In the Hebrew there is disagreement on the correct word for “life” but the thrust is the same.  In the English it occurs in three books of the Bible.  It is at the beginning of Genesis, the first book, Revelation, the last book, and Proverbs in between.

In Genesis it is the tree in the Garden of Eden that is being denied to the rebellious Adam and Eve.  That same tree is growing in John’s vision and is related to eternal life.  In between we have references to how our actions and attitudes put us in contact with that tree.

So?  We accept the fact that salvation is through faith and grace.  That is God’s gift because we cannot possibly earn our salvation.  That being said we see an litany of examples that demand a life of righteousness.  Don’t ignore either clear teaching. 

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