How do we as Christians view all the worldly things at Christmas time, and resist the temptation to be apathetic to the scriptural basis for Christmas?

The rhetorical questions Paul asks speak loudly of the electing gospel articulated in verses 29-30. A major point Paul is driving home is this: "Our life in Christ must be lived from a platform of confidence in God and not from a platform of doubt in ourselves."

Christians must have and should cultivate the fear of God, and there are qualities that will inhibit the fear of The Lord. Pride, unbelief, and negligence of the word of God or hardening one's heart will separate us from The Lord, but cultivating humility, faith, and attentiveness to the word of God will enable us to fear God and avoid provoking The Lord to anger as the Israelites did in the wilderness.

Isaiah's thankless ministry is undoubtedly motivated by this vision of his glorious God and king on the throne with angels and smoke and his robe filling the temple. This vision pictures an exalted, all powerful, and glorious king, producing personal, specific confession, and personal forgiveness for Isaiah's sin. We too as Christians have seen the living a God on his throne, but what are we doing as servants of this gracious and holy king whom we have seen and has forgiven us of our sin?

A vision of God, truly seeing and apprehending him as he is by faith, leads to the fear of God, and the only and necessary response is allegiance, worship, and service of this great God. The fear of The Lord is often accompanied by and produces humility and confession.

A vision of God, truly seeing and apprehending him as he is by faith, leads to the fear of God, and the only and necessary response is allegiance, worship, and service of this great God. The fear of The Lord is often accompanied by and produces joy and gladness, trust and faith, and hope.

Salvation, a new creation, and reconciliation are all from God in Jesus Christ who became sin to atone for our sin so that God can count us as righteous. We have been given this ministry as ambassadors on behalf of Christ, taking the word of reconciliation to the world.

A symbol is a conceptualization or representation of an idea that is usually intangible or unseen. The symbol represents the accrued levels of meaning from the context and history surrounding it.

There are a few primary methods for attempting to interpret the biblical material on eschatology in the old and new testaments: Systematic Theology, Futurism, and Biblical Theology. Systematic theology is incomplete to rightly handle the biblical presentation of the "latter days" (Isaiah 2:2).

The Lord is taking away competent male leadership from Israel, replacing them with the incompetent, resulting in moral corruption and social disorder, and removing the haughty and vain sensual adornment of women who lack honor and fear of God, replacing it with harsh judgement; by war and vanity, the Lord has judged this wicked nation. Value and thank God for good and honorable leadership, and pursue wisdom and discipline in the fear of God.