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PODCAST

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Dr. Steven R. Cook

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

religion & spirituality christianity

All Episodes

01:01:20

Angelology Part 1

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/07/15

IntroductionThe study of angels, Satan, and demons matters to the Christian because it opens our eyes to the unseen spiritual realities that shape the visible world in which we live. It helps us understand our place in God’s unfolding plan for humanity so that we may walk wisely in a fallen world. Holy angels are created spiritual beings—intelligent, powerful, immortal, and organized for divine service. They are active participants in God’s plan, protecting believers (Psa 91:11),

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01:01:05

The Spiritual Life #41 - Relating to the Holy Spirit

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/07/13

After being born again by faith alone in Christ alone, we are to continue in faith. Paul wrote, “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col 2:6). We received Jesus by faith, and after being born again, we are to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). The word “walk” translates the Greek verb peripateō (περιπατέω), which is here used as a metaphor for how we live, behave, or habitually conduct our lives. To walk by faith means we learn and apply God’s Word to our lives

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01:04:16

Learning to Walk by Faith

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/07/08

Paul wrote to Christians, “don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit” (Eph 5:18 CSB). If a believer consumes too much alcohol, it can lead to cognitive impairment and harmful behavior. But the believer who is filled with the Spirit will possess divine viewpoint and manifest the fruit of godliness, worship, and thankfulness to the Lord (Eph 5:19-20). To be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18) means to be under the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit,

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01:02:20

The Spiritual Life #40 - Relating to the Holy Spirit

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/07/06

To walk by faith is important to the spiritual life. Faith is a mental activity that relies on information. Biblically, faith is never blind. It is never an irrational leap into the unknown. Rather, it is a reasonable response that follows reliable information. Faith trusts facts. For example, none of us have personally seen the resurrected Christ, yet the record of Scripture is historically true and reliable, based on eyewitness accounts of people who walked with Jesus (Luke 1:1-4; John 20:27,

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01:06:11

The Meaning and Cost of Discipleship

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/07/01

Eternal salvation unfolds in three tenses. Phase one is justification—past tense. That’s the moment you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior. You were saved from the penalty of sin (John 3:16; Rom 5:1; 8:1). It’s instantaneous, permanent, and entirely by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9). Eternal life is a free gift from God (Rom 6:23). You didn’t earn it (Rom 4:5), you don’t maintain it (Gal 2:16), and you can’t lose it (John 10:28-29; Eph 1:13-14; 1 John 5:11-13). Phase two is

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01:04:24

The Spiritual Life #39 - Relating to the Holy Spirit

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/29

Restore Broken FellowshipAll believers sin, and there are none who attain perfection in this life (Prov 20:9; Eccl 7:20; 1 John 1:8, 10). Chafer rightly notes, “We are never wonderful saints of whom God may justly be proud: we are His little children, immature and filled with foolishness, with whom He is endlessly patient and on whom He has been pleased to set all His infinite heart of love. He is wonderful. We are not.”[1] When we commit sin, we break fellowship with the Lord. For this

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01:05:38

Jesus: Our Great Savior

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/24

Sometime in eternity past, God the Father sent God the Son into the world to fulfill a divine mission. God’s Word tells us, “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). This was the great mission: to bring salvation to everyone. This act of God was done in love, as it is written, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16), and “He loved us and sent His Son to be the

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01:05:59

The Spiritual Life #38 - Relating to the Holy Spirit

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/22

IntroductionThe Christian life is a supernatural life, made possible only by the indwelling Holy Spirit who empowers us to live in a manner pleasing to God. From the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit permanently resides in every believer (1 Cor 6:19; Eph 1:13-14), not merely as a passive presence, but as an active agent for transformation, guidance, conviction, and comfort. Yet, while the Spirit’s presence is secure, His ministry can be either encouraged or hindered depending on our

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01:04:42

The Importance of Thinking on Scripture

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/17

The Christian life is often won or lost in the arena of the mind. The believer’s greatest spiritual battles frequently take place in the quiet chambers of inner thought—unseen by others, yet intensely real. Satan, the world, and the flesh conspire to assault the believer’s thinking, seeking to distort reality, generate fear, inflame lusts, sow bitterness, and cultivate pride or despair. This is why Scripture emphasizes the mind as a primary battleground in the spiritual life. Paul exhorted the

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01:06:53

The Spiritual Life #37 - When a Christian Turns to a...

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/15

Christians are instructed, “do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness” (Rom 6:12-13a), “flee sexual immorality” (1 Cor 6:18), “he who steals must steal no longer” (Eph 4:28), “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth” (Eph 4:29), “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph 4:30), “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Th 5:19), put aside “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and

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01:02:29

The Spiritual Life #36 - When a Christian Turns to a...

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/08

The Corinthian Christians were undeniably saved, as Paul calls them saints (1 Cor 1:2) and brethren (1 Cor 3:1). Yet, they exhibited a persistent pattern of carnality, evidenced by their divisive behavior, internal conflicts, and failure to mature spiritually. Paul rebuked them for their immaturity and misguided allegiance to human leaders, which had fractured the church into competing factions (1 Cor 1:10-13). He then directly addressed their spiritual condition, describing them as “men of

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01:23:15

The Spiritual Life #35 - When a Christian Turns to a...

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/06/01

As a Christian, it is possible to have correct thinking (orthodoxy) and not live by it. James wrote, “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jam 4:17). There are times when believers know God’s Word, but because of negative volition, do not apply it. Biblically speaking, it is possible for believers to commit any sin an unbeliever can commit. For example, Aaron led the Israelites to worship an idol (Ex 32:1-6). Gideon made an ephod which became an object

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01:11:36

The Spiritual Life #34 - When a Christian Turns to a...

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/05/25

Eternal life is the free, irrevocable gift of God granted to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:16; Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8-9). It is not earned, maintained, or forfeited by works or behavior—it rests solely on Christ’s finished work and is received by faith alone (Rom 4:5; John 5:24). Discipleship, on the other hand, is the lifelong call to follow Christ through obedience, service, sacrifice, and spiritual growth (Luke 9:23; Rom 12:1-2). A believer who turns away from that call and

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01:05:39

The Spiritual Life #33 - The World & the Flesh

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/05/18

By promoting the gospel and biblical teaching, the church disrupts Satan’s domain of darkness by calling out of it a people for God. By learning God’s Word, Christians can identify worldly conversations and activities and either avoid them or seek to redirect them by interjecting biblical truth, which should never be done in hostility. When sharing God’s Word with others it’s proper to know that not everyone wants to hear God’s truth, and even though we may not agree with them, their personal

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01:07:37

The Spiritual Life #32 - Satan's World System

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/05/11

The Bible recognizes Satan’s world-system and warns us not to love it. John writes and tells the Christian, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16). We live in a fallen world, and John’s command is intended to warn us of real danger. First, John

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01:24:55

The Spiritual Life #31 - Satan's Strategies to Defeat...

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/05/04

Satan promotes uncontrolled anger. Paul wrote, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity” (Eph 4:26-27). By itself, anger is not sinful. Even God gets angry (Num 25:4; Deut 9:8, 20; Jer 4:8). Human anger is a natural response to an injustice, real or imagined. We get angry because we feel someone has wronged us, and the personal scales of justice need to be corrected. Ideally, this happens when the offender comes and

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01:14:51

The Spiritual Life #30 - Satan's Strategies to Defeat...

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/04/27

Below are some of Satan’s strategies that will disrupt the Christian’s spiritual walk with the Lord.Satan promotes sinful pride. Sinful pride tempts us to think we don’t need God, believing we can operate independently of the Lord, not obeying His Word or seeking Him in prayer. God hates pride. Pride was the sin that brought Lucifer down, as we are told of him, “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; and you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor” (Ezek 28:17 NET). The angel,

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58:37

The Spiritual Life # 29 - Satan, the World, the Flesh

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/04/20

Fallen angels are involved in the affairs of mankind. The person who operates by negative volition aligns himself with Satan and his forces. Negative volition leads to idolatry, and idolatry leads to immorality (Rom 1:18-32), both individually and nationally. The worship of idols is the worship of demons (Lev 17:7; Deut 32:17; 1 Cor 10:19-21). Demons generally led the pagan nations into idolatry, which God’s people were not to practice (Deut 18:9-14). However, when God’s people mingled with

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01:18:14

The Spiritual Life #28 - Satan, the World, the Flesh

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/04/13

Fallen angels are involved in the affairs of mankind. The person who operates by negative volition aligns himself with Satan and his forces. Negative volition leads to idolatry, and idolatry leads to immorality (Rom 1:18-32), both individually and nationally. The worship of idols is the worship of demons (Lev 17:7; Deut 32:17; 1 Cor 10:19-21). Demons generally led the pagan nations into idolatry, which God’s people were not to practice (Deut 18:9-14). However, when God’s people mingled with

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01:10:09

The Spiritual Life #27 - Satan, the World, the Flesh

Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook ·

2025/04/06

Satan’s Demonic ForcesIn addition to all that Satan is doing, he has at his disposal an army of fallen angels to help him execute his plans in the world. Of course, these fallen angels are restrained by God in what they can accomplish. Still, like people, they are given a modicum of freedom to act and to influence the affairs of this world. Angels are basically classified as either righteous or evil. The former retain their holy state and service to God and are called elect angels (1 Tim

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