OFFRE D'UNE DURÉE LIMITÉE. Obtenez 3 mois à 0,99 $/mois. Profiter de l'offre.
Page de couverture de Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Auteur(s): Dr. Steven R. Cook
Écouter gratuitement

À propos de cet audio

Dr. Steven R. Cook is the founder of Thinking on Scripture, a platform that has attracted over one million visitors. Steven is a Christian educator who has taught undergraduate theology at Tyndale Theological Seminary and recently joined the faculty of Chafer Theological Seminary. He is a Protestant, traditional dispensationalist, and a traditional Free Grace Bible teacher. His studies in the original languages of Scripture, ancient history, and systematic theology have been the foundation for his teaching and writing ministry. Steven has written several Christian books, dozens of articles on Christian theology, and recorded more than fifteen hundred hours of audio and video messages. He hosts a weekly Bible study at his home in Arlington, Texas, where he records most of the Bible lessons for his podcast and YouTube channel. Steven’s ministry activity is freelance and entirely voluntary, and he appreciates donations to help with ministry expenses. Since 2004, he has served as a full-time Case Manager with a local nonprofit agency dedicated to assisting poor, elderly, and disabled members of the community.

Copyright 2013 Steven Cook. All rights reserved. Christianisme Pastorale et évangélisme Sciences sociales Spiritualité
Épisodes
  • The Spiritual Life #55 - Suffering as a Means of Spiritual Growth

    The Spiritual Life #55 - Suffering as a Means of Spiritual Growth
    Nov 2 2025
    Scripture identifies two main forms of suffering that promote spiritual growth: corrective suffering, which restores the disobedient to fellowship, and perfective suffering, which refines the obedient toward greater maturity in Christ. Corrective suffering arises from divine discipline when believers deviate from God’s will and wander into disobedience. Such discipline is the measured response of a loving Father who seeks to restore His children to fellowship and fruitfulness. Israel’s history provides a vivid backdrop to this principle. When the nation violated the Mosaic covenant, God responded with covenant curses designed to bring them back to Himself (Deut 28:15–68). Hosea depicts God hedging up Israel’s path with thorns, frustrating her sinful pursuits so that she might return to Him (Hos 2:6–7). The author of Hebrews interprets such experiences as evidence of divine love: “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb 12:6). According to Warren Wiersbe: "Chastening is the evidence of the Father’s love. Satan wants us to believe that the difficulties of life are proof that God does not love us, but just the opposite is true. Sometimes God’s chastening is seen in His rebukes from the Word or from circumstances. At other times He shows His love by punishing us with some physical suffering. Whatever the experience, we can be sure that His chastening hand is controlled by His loving heart. The Father does not want us to be pampered babies; He wants us to become mature adult sons and daughters who can be trusted with the responsibilities of life."[1] Divine correction is not rejection but affirmation of sonship. Paul also recognized this principle at work in the Corinthian church, where some believers suffered weakness, sickness, and even premature death because of their irreverence and selfishness at the Lord’s Table (1 Cor 11:30–32). Even kings were not exempt, as seen in Solomon’s later years when God raised up adversaries against him after his heart was turned away to idols (1 Kgs 11:14, 23–25). Corrective suffering, therefore, functions as God’s gracious intervention to arrest further decline and restore obedience. It is the shepherd’s rod that redirects the straying sheep. Yet this discipline, though loving in design, can be resisted if the believer hardens his heart. Still, the intention remains clear: corrective suffering seeks to break the power of rebellion, humble the soul, and lead God’s child back into the blessing of fellowship with Him. Perfective suffering, by contrast, is not punitive but refining. It does not arise from disobedience but from God’s sovereign intention to deepen faith, expand endurance, and produce spiritual maturity. When a believer is walking faithfully with the Lord, obeying His Word, God may still permit suffering in order to shape character, purify motives, and equip His servant for greater usefulness. Job exemplifies this reality. Though declared blameless and upright, Job was permitted to endure severe affliction under Satan’s hand, yet through the ordeal he came to a fuller appreciation of God’s majesty, confessing at the end, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5). Job’s knowledge of God had grown because of what he’d learned through his sufferings. Paul’s thorn in the flesh illustrates this same category. Though he prayed repeatedly for its removal, God left it in place to keep him humble and dependent, declaring, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Rather than crushing Paul, this suffering became the very platform by which God’s strength was displayed through his weakness. Perfective suffering, then, is a divine gift, the furnace in which faith is purified and the believer is transformed into greater conformity to Christ. While suffering in Scripture may be manifold, the categories of corrective and perfective suffering provide a helpful lens for understanding God’s purposes. In both, His love and sovereignty are evident. Corrective suffering restores us when we stray, and perfective suffering strengthens us as we obey, with the unifying aim that we be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:28–29). The Integration of Blessings, Trials, and Sufferings In God’s perfect plan, blessings, trials, and sufferings are divinely orchestrated means for advancing the believer toward spiritual maturity. Blessing manifests the very essence of God’s goodness and generosity, cultivating gratitude, humility, and faithful stewardship in the believer’s life (Jam 1:17; 1 Tim 6:17–18; 1 Pet 4:10). Trials test faith under pressure, refining endurance and strengthening spiritual stability (Jam 1:2–4; 1 Pet 1:6–7). Sufferings train the soul to be dependent upon divine grace (1 Pet 5:10; 2 Cor 12:9). Each is a facet of divine ...
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 3 min
  • The Spiritual Life #54 - Suffering as a Means of Spiritual Growth

    The Spiritual Life #54 - Suffering as a Means of Spiritual Growth
    Oct 26 2025
    Suffering as a Means of Spiritual Growth Sufferings (pathēma) encompass a broader category that includes pain, hardship, or affliction resulting from life in a fallen world, the hostility of others, or divine discipline. The word pathēma derives from paschō, meaning “to experience, suffer, endure…affliction.”[1] The word is frequently used in the New Testament to describe the sufferings of Christ as well as those of His followers (Phil 3:10). Peter wrote, “After you have suffered [paschō] for a little while, the God of all grace…will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet 5:10). Suffering may come through persecution for righteousness (2 Tim 3:12), through physical weakness or limitation (2 Cor 12:7–9), or simply through the general consequences of living in a sin-cursed world (Rom 8:18–22). While trials test faith, sufferings train the soul through endurance, humility, and dependence upon God’s sustaining grace. Paul’s personal afflictions illustrate this reality well. Though he pleaded three times for relief from his “thorn in the flesh,” the Lord replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor 12:8–9). Likewise, Joseph’s prolonged suffering in Egypt, though marked by injustice and hardship, became the means by which God shaped his character and positioned him for blessing and service (Gen 37–50). The Hebrew counterpart to pathēma is עָנָה (ʿānâ), which means to “be bowed down, afflicted…be put down or become low.”[2] It is often used to describe the suffering of God’s people under pressure (Ex 1:11–12; Deut 8:2–3) or the self-humbling that accompanies dependence upon the Lord (Lev 16:29, 31; cf. Jam 4:6; 1 Pet 5:6). Both pathēma andʿānâ express the spiritual principle that God uses adversity not to crush His people but to conform them to His character. Through suffering rightly endured, believers are drawn into closer fellowship with Christ, as Paul wrote, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings [pathēma]” (Phil 3:10). Categories of Suffering Scripture presents several categories of suffering in the believer’s life, each serving distinct purposes within God’s sovereign plan. Some suffering comes because of righteousness, as Paul wrote, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). Peter echoes this when he states, “Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed” (1 Pet 3:14). To suffer for righteousness means God permits evil men to persecute the believer who is walking in His will (John 15:18–19; 2 Tim 3:12). Yet God blesses by supplying grace sufficient in the moment (2 Cor 12:9), and future reward at the judgment seat of Christ where faithful endurance will be recognized (1 Cor 3:12–15; 2 Cor 5:10). At times, suffering comes for the sake of testimony, advancing the gospel and glorifying God. Paul wrote, “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel” (Phil 1:12). The “circumstances” Paul refers to are his imprisonment in Rome, which placed him under house arrest while awaiting trial before Caesar (Acts 28:16, 30).[3] There is also the category of shared suffering with Christ, as Paul longed “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil 3:10). These forms of suffering reveal God’s sovereign use of adversity for His glory and the believer’s growth. Apart from these, Scripture identifies two main forms of suffering that promote spiritual growth: corrective suffering, which restores the disobedient to fellowship, and perfective suffering, which refines the obedient toward greater maturity in Christ. Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div. [1] Moisés Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 666. [2] Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 776. [3] This was likely during his first Roman imprisonment (around A.D. 60–62). Though restricted, Paul was permitted to receive visitors and to preach and teach from his rented quarters (Acts 28:30–31). Paul had been falsely accused in Jerusalem, arrested, and after a series of hearings before Jewish and Roman authorities—including Felix, Festus, and Agrippa—he exercised his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:11–12). This led to his voyage to Rome, where he endured shipwreck and eventually arrived under guard (Acts 27–28). Humanly speaking, imprisonment might have looked like a setback. His chains gave him opportunity to share Christ with the Praetorian Guard (Phil 1:13), Rome’s elite soldiers, and word spread even into ...
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 7 min
  • The Spiritual Life #53 - Trials and Suffering as a Means of Growth

    The Spiritual Life #53 - Trials and Suffering as a Means of Growth
    Oct 19 2025

    Trials and Suffering as a Means of Growth

    A mature Christian is one whose faith has been tested and refined through the experiences of trials and suffering. Yet it is not the mere experience of testing or hardship that produces maturity, but the believer’s faith response to it (2 Cor 5:7; Heb 10:38). God, in His sovereign wisdom, tailors each situation to the unique needs of His children. For example, Jonah needed only three days in the great fish to learn humility and obedience (Jon 1:17; 3:1–10), while Nebuchadnezzar required seven years of suffering before confessing that “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind” and that “He is able to humble those who walk in pride” (Dan 4:34, 37). Whether brief or prolonged, God’s purpose in affliction is refinement, not ruin. Through suffering He burns away the dross of weak character and refines the golden qualities He wants to see in us. As He said of Israel, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isa 48:10). Constable notes, “The difficult times that Israel had been through were fires of refining (‘furnace of affliction’), not fires of destruction.”[1] God’s affliction is not to destroy, but to transform. And He refines us so that when He looks into the smelter’s pot, He sees His own reflection, for then we will bear those qualities that mirror His character; qualities which bring Him glory and honor. However, God’s furnace of refinement never brings us to a place of total purity, but only begins a process that is perfected when He brings us home to heaven; for then, and only then, will we be free from all the impurities of sin. To understand how God employs adversity for spiritual growth, Scripture distinguishes between trials (peirasmos, πειρασμός), the testing that demonstrates and refines faith, and suffering (pathēma, πάθημα), the affliction that trains the soul through endurance and dependence on divine grace.

    Trials (peirasmos) refer primarily to tests of faith—circumstances designed by God to reveal and refine the believer’s trust in Him. The term can mean either “testing” or “temptation,” depending on the context, and must be discerned by whether the source is God or Satan. James wrote, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials [peirasmos], knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam 1:2–4). Trials are opportunities for spiritual growth, intended to prove and develop faith much like gold refined by fire (1 Pet 1:6–7). God never tempts His children to sin (Jam 1:13); rather, He tests them to strengthen spiritual maturity and endurance.

    Abraham’s experience in offering Isaac exemplifies a divine trial. His faith was tested, not to destroy him, but to demonstrate that his trust in God had grown strong and mature (Gen 22:1–12; Heb 11:17–19; cf. Rom 4:19–21). Similarly, Job’s ordeal serves as another example of peirasmos in the broader sense of testing. Though afflicted by Satan, the trial was permitted by God to prove Job’s integrity and to bring him to deeper understanding and humility before the Lord (Job 1:6–12; 42:1–6). The Hebrew counterpart to peirasmos is the verb נָסָה (nāsāh), meaning “to test” or “to prove.” It conveys the idea of examining something to reveal its quality or genuineness, much like peirasmos in Greek. For instance, “God tested (nāsāh) Abraham” (Gen 22:1), the same event later referenced in Hebrews 11:17 with peirazō, showing that both words share the same essential meaning. Whether in Hebrew or Greek, the concept emphasizes that divine testing is not punitive but pedagogical, meant to produce steadfast faith and experiential knowledge of God’s faithfulness (Deut 8:2; 1 Pet 1:7).

    Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.

    [1] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Is 48:10.
    Voir plus Voir moins
    1 h et 1 min
Pas encore de commentaire