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Romans 3 What Good is the Law if I Can Never be Good Enough?

5/8/2016

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What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” Romans 3:3-4 on photo of Bee on Bush Sunflower
What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” Romans 3:3-4
Romans 3
There is a lot of sin in the world but there are many people trying to be the best person they can be. There are countless people all trying to be good people. When we look around and compare ourselves to one another we can say, “I’m pretty good. I’m way better than Hitler. I’m not as good as Mother Teresa. But then who is?” We use the law, either the Law given to Moses or the instinctive law God put on our hearts to help us understand the difference between right and wrong. The problem is being good, regardless of how good we are, cannot justify us. Good deeds do not eradicate bad ones. God is not keeping score. There is no balance to be tipped one way or the other. We cannot be good enough to earn Heaven.
So why did God give Israel His Law? What good was it? What good is there in knowing and understanding God’s law? Verses 1-8 read,
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
    and prevail when you are judged.”
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
What does all that mean? What is Paul saying? Basically this says that being entrusted with understanding the law is a big deal. Yes we are unfaithful, just as many of the Jews who received the law before us were. Our faithlessness did not make God faithless. He remains Faithful and Righteous regardless of our sin and inconstancy. Our inability to keep the law only shows how truly loving, faithful, and true The Lord is. But that does not excuse sin. In fact, it gives us all the more reason to be obedient to God because of His grace. Romans 6:12-18 in The Message reads,
That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.
15-18 So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
There is no one capable of being good enough on their own. No person can claim that. We are born with a nature, a disposition toward self-satisfaction and sin. We can’t do anything about it. Even if the only wrong thing someone ever did was have a bad thought when she was seven years old, she still had to understand that it was wrong because she came to understand that there is right and wrong in the world. She might be as good as a person can be, but she can’t be good enough, she cannot earn her way to Heaven. Verses 9-20 say it like this,
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
So is it hopeless? I mean seriously, if we can’t be good enough to ever deserve salvation, what is the point? We can’t earn it. We cannot be righteous on our own. But God loves us desperately. He made a way to eradicate all the bad stuff, to change our nature, justify us, and make us righteous. Verses 21-26 explain it.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
 
The law shows us the unattainable righteousness of God. Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God manifested or demonstrated apart from the law and puts it within our reach. All we have to do is believe. That belief is not a shallow belief that says, “Jesus sure is cool and I know He was a great teacher.” No it is a belief that Jesus is God our Savior, The Lord of the universe. It is a submission in faith that He is the Christ and we can trust Him to take charge of our lives, souls, and spirits. He is the propitiation for our sin. What does that mean? Propitiation is the atonement, the compensation, appeasement and penance for our sin. Sin has a price and that price is blood and death. God said it in Genesis 2:16-17 when he told Adam that an understanding of good and evil would mean death. He said it when He gave Israel the laws in Leviticus that sacrifices and blood were required to atone for their sins. And He said it though Paul in Romans 6:23.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Only Jesus Christ can save us, only He can justify us and make us righteous. Believer, you and I have no right to think we’re any better than the people we accuse and judge as sinners. They are lost, they don’t know the truth and love of Christ. We don’t have anything to do with our own goodness because we are not and cannot be good on our own. Verses 27-31 read,
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Trusting God for our salvation and transformation doesn’t mean the law means nothing, it has meaning and purpose. The only way to keep God’s law is through Jesus Christ. So allowing Him to be our Savior doesn’t mean tossing the law to the side, it means we keep it now, because through Christ we can. Don’t be confused, we don’t sacrifice bulls, ostracize lepers, or concern ourselves with the myriad of 613 commandments. Those laws were fulfilled, they were met in Jesus Christ. We keep the law by obeying Christ. He said it this way,
 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
Later He said it this way,
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
He explained a little about the way He loved us and what that looks like in John 15:12-17.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Reader, you cannot be good enough, no matter how good you may be. You need Jesus who loves you so much He laid His life down for you so you could be His friend. Believer, you have nothing to boast about except Jesus. You are no better than anyone else on this earth. If God compared you to the worst of the worst on your own merit, you would look the same. Are you loving people enough to tell them about Jesus? Are you loving them enough to show them how good Jesus is? Are you loving them enough to love them as Jesus loves you?
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Romans 1 The Evidence for Jesus Christ

5/6/2016

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You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16
​Romans 1
There is no shortage of evidence proving the existence of the God, nor the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, people swallow the lies and follow the liars to death. You and I, Believers, we know the truth and we can shine the light of truth into the darkness of ignorance.
Paul wrote to the believers in Rome in order to give them a firm foundation of faith, though he longed to go there and spend time with them, teaching them in person, he had been consistently prevented from traveling to Rome. Verses 1-7 read,
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
The Prophets, the Laws, and the Psalms all declare Jesus to be the Christ. They do not hide it. It is not written in riddles and mysteries unless the person reading refuses to see the truth. We know that Scripture is best understood when read with The Holy Spirit. Jesus said,
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-15).
Through the truth is clearly in front of people, they just can’t see it, they choose not to see it. God blinds their eyes so that they will come to Him by faith rather than mere knowledge. But once we choose Him by faith, those scales fall off and everything, the evidence of God, the love of the Father, the power of the Spirit, and the truth of Jesus is so clear to us. John 12:35-43 reads,
So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
    and understand with their heart, and turn,
    and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
The evidence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is obvious through the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ Resurrection cannot be denied, yet people try. They come up with a thousand crazy lies they would rather believe such as somehow over 500 people all suffered the exact same hallucination or chose to lie and be persecuted than accept the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and walked the earth for forty days before ascending to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:6). The Jewish historian Josephus is said to have written[1], “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, …When Pilate . . .condemned him to be crucified, those who had . . . come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared . . . restored to life. . . . And the tribe of Christians . . . has . . . not disappeared.”[2] Josephus was not a Christian, yet he spoke about Jesus and His resurrection.
Even if people can’t see the evidence for Christ in history and in scripture, they should be able to see Jesus as Savior in our lives. People should be able to see our love for one another and recognize who we are in Jesus Christ (John 13:34-35). Verses 8-15 read,
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Our fellowship should produce fruit. We strengthen one another, share our spiritual gifts with one another and often even release them in each other. When we live together, unified and loving, the light of Christ that shines in each of us becomes brighter, He becomes a beacon to the lost and blinded. Through our love of one another living out our faith, they can see the faith and have the chance to be healed and saved. Through edifying and teaching each other, we can teach the truth to the lost, and that is before we go out and proclaim the truth specifically to them. But Believer we are also supposed to go and tell them so they have a chance to believe. Verses 16-17 read,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
 
The consequences for unbelief are real! God’s wrath is real. I do not want to see them crushed in the harvest and spending eternity in torment but many will. We can proclaim Jesus’ righteousness, we can declare the Gospel, live by faith and snatch some of them from the fires of Hell. The Gospel is so utterly simple, so beautifully perfect that people cannot grasp it. They want it to be harder than “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). They want to earn salvation, see gods, and be the power of their own deliverance. Verses 18-23 read,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
People have created their own gods since the fall. They have forsaken The Lord and made idols, authored religions, and thought and lived inside the box of human limitations. We are born knowing that eternity is real and that there is a “higher power” because we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). But it is too simple, too plain and too exquisite for people to accept The LORD and so they trade the perfect truth for their imperfect lies. Even atheists choose themselves as god over the obvious truth of God.
Believer, we can tell them the truth! We can show them the Gospel. We can lead them to the reality they have blinded themselves to. God will not force them and neither can we but we can try and open their eyes and show them the way. God wants them to come to Him, but rather than force them, He let them live the life they choose and in so doing choose their eternity. Verses 24-34 read,
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
 
One day, we will be judged. We will either be saved by Jesus’ righteousness or condemned by our unrighteousness. So many people are choosing condemnation. So many people have chosen ignorance over truth. God is not condemning them, they condemn themselves. But we know the truth! We know how deeply God loves them and I hope we love them too, enough to let them see the love of God. We don’t do that by pointing out their depravity and hatefully judging them for their sins. God will judge them for their sin, that is not our job or right. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 reads,
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
We tell show them by our love, we tell them with love. They have not seen the truth in the scriptures. They have not seen the truth in the evidence of the creation. The have the opportunity to see the truth in our lives, lived in demonstrated faith and expressed love.


[1] Many theologians think this report was altered but do not deny he wrote about Jesus.

[2]  Josephus, Antiquities 18.63-64, cited in Yamauchi, “Jesus Outside the New Testament”, 212.
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Galatians 6 He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

4/18/2016

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Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11-28-30
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11-28-30
​Galatians 6
Verse 1 reads,
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 
Throughout Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia he told them that they are not saved by following the law and he slammed the people who were trying to convince the church to follow it. But now at the end of his letter, he talks about finding our brothers and sisters in transgression. If all things are lawful for Christians (1 Corinthians 10:23) then how could a believer be transgressing?
Remember what Paul said, just before this sentence, Galatians 5:16-18 read,
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 
He then went on to contrast the evidence of the flesh and the evidence of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19-24
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we care about each other, we will notice the evidence of a person’s life which they may be blind to. I can tell if a brother or sister is giving in to the flesh by the works of the flesh listed above. That is the transgression we catch them in and that is when we are called to restore them gently while checking ourselves against the temptation as well. Chapter 5 ends with verses 25-26 which goes with verse 1 of chapter 6.
 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 
Last night in church a woman stood up and spoke, claiming to be speaking the Holy Spirit’s words. It was very clear she was not as her words tried to sow dissension in the church and elevate herself. I was involved with praying with one woman and then another so it was not up to me to speak to her. I do believe that the pastor who has a much closer relationship to her than I do spoke to her. I trust that he as a Spirit-filled passionate follower of Christ dealt with her gently.
You see we often just can’t see the flesh in ourselves, it takes a brother or sister to say, “I can see you are going through something, I can see your fits of anger, let’s talk, let’s pray.” That’s what it took with the woman last night. A spirit of division spoke out of her and it was evident to me that she was projecting her feelings of anger and bitterness on to the church, accusing us of hating her and condemning anyone who did hate her to Hell. Life is not easy. It is not always unicorns and rainbows. Since Jesus took our burden of sin and gave us his burden instead, the enemy will try and load us down with a heavy burden. He wants us to pick up the burden that Jesus forgave and carry it. But that is why we are yoked, partnered with one another. With a yoke we walk together; we carry the burdens together. In loving one another we cannot just see a brother suffering with jealousy, hate, lust, pride or whatever his burden is and not bear it with him and restore him gently. Verses 3-5 read,
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.5 For each will have to bear his own load.
In other words, we can’t think we’re better than the brother we want to help. We can’t assume we have no sins, that the flesh isn’t working in us trying to overcome the Spirit. We lie to ourselves when we do that and set ourselves up for letting our own flesh win instead of helping our brother. Has it ever happened to you to have someone try to help restore you but they speak with arrogance as if they can’t relate to your problems at all? In the end you feel condemnation and shame instead of conviction and edification. There is no gentleness in pride. We are responsible for our own lives, our own walks. We can’t put the blame for our choices on other people, but we can lighten the load for everyone by taking gentle and loving steps beside them.
We are in this together. We all edify one another. No one in the church is above another. Christ is our head and we are His body. Some members may have functions which are more apparent or honored. Some have jobs which carry a higher responsibility but we are together in this, yoked together, edifying one another, and using our gifts for the common good. Verses 6 reads,
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
The one who is taught is just as valuable as the teacher. She has benefit to add to the edifice of the church just as much as the teacher. A yoke doesn’t work if one ox walks at a higher elevation than the other. They walk side by side. One doesn’t pull the burden and the other walk with no weight attached. They carry the load together. If the teacher never listens to the student, he will miss out on what the Holy Spirit in her is saying to him. Teaching works better as a dialogue and discussion than a monologue. The teacher who doesn’t listen and the student who doesn’t speak are in danger of sowing their secret sins and feeding the flesh. Verses 7-10 read,
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
God knows what we do in secret, fleshly or spiritually. We are not lying to Him when we secretly feed the flesh, we are lying to ourselves. It is our choice to either gratify the flesh or please the Spirit. Bearing one another’s burdens, loving one another, and loving our neighbor sow to the Spirit. Those acts of tangible love are what prove God in us, strengthen the faith of the Body and reveal Jesus to the world.
Paul ends his letter with a plea to the body to not let people convince them to take up the Satan’s yoke of the law again. Verses 11-18 read,
See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
You can be arrogant about what a good law-abiding Christian you are and race people to hell or you can boast in Christ, knowing it is He who forgave, saves, and makes you the new and holy son or daughter of God you are. You crucified the flesh! You are dead to sin and alive to the Spirit of God. There is no reason in the world for you to try and live under the law anymore. Walk nobly in the Spirit with peace (no division or anxiety) and mercy (kindness, compassion, and forgiveness). 
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Galatians 2 The Gospel of Christ or Satan, Grace or Law?

4/14/2016

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He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:9
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:9
​Galatians 2
The Gospel of Jesus Christ must be defended. The truth must remain pure, undefiled. Too many of us put up with letting little half-truths into the church for the sake of looking kind. Too often we allow people to speak perversions of the Gospel, which sound right but are not, thinking that everyone has the same foundation, maturity, or knowledge we have and can stand firm against these lies. But not everyone can, because not everyone recognizes the lies. People assume that if we, who are more mature are listening, then it must be sound and their beliefs are confused, their conviction becomes sullied because suddenly it is not the Gospel they are hearing, learning, and living, but a gospel which is filled with deceit and bad news. The gospel of works, laws, religion, and ritual is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ it is the gospel of the one speaking it, the gospel of Satan: I-theism. We cannot let just anyone teach and we cannot tolerate any lies being taught, even accidentally.
Paul was telling the church at Galatia why they should trust that he spoke the Truth to them and why he had the right to preach it to them.  He was warning them to keep false gospels out of the church. In chapter 1 he had told them about the education he had received via The Holy Spirit at the feet of Jesus and then how he had learned under Peter and James. In this chapter he continued to explain that he had spent the next fourteen years maturing, developing, and learning before finally being called by God to his ministry. Verses 1-2 read,
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.
Paul didn’t disclose who those influential people were, but simply that they were respected in the church. He went to the apostles and to these influential men and confirmed with them the revelation he had received for his ministry. Paul was an apostle had been a Christ follower for seventeen years but he didn’t presume to keep his revelation secret, he discussed it and was happy to receive the feedback of the others. Even the most mature, the highest up in the church can make a mistake, can hope they are hearing the Holy Spirit but are really hearing themselves. Sharing your revelations with others says you trust that since you all have the same Spirit, He will confirm or refute what He has spoken for all of you together. It gives the body a chance to be united and to share in the work of Christ.
Paul’s ministry was not a run-of-the-mill ministry, it was revolutionary. His ministry was for the Gentiles. For the most part, Christianity in the early church was for the Jews. It was not withheld from Gentiles but it was seen by many as a sect of Judaism. Some people did not think Christianity was ever supposed to be for the Gentile; they fought against it. Paul was ready to fight for it. Verses 3-5 read,
But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 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— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
The enemy Satan is so staunchly opposed to The Gospel of Christ that he had sent spies in, people who pretended to be Christians but were only there trying to bring the sect down. They wanted people back following the Pharisaical traditions of Judaism rather than following Christ and living in His freedom and grace. They had even managed to be among the influential of the church. Acting as if you’re good can get you pretty far in some churches but in the true church the hierarchy is not the same as the world or the false churches. In the true church, if people are paying attention and zealous for the Gospel, the frauds will be revealed. People will be known by who they become as they mature. Jesus described it by comparing wheat and tares (weeds) in Matthew 13:24-30.
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
Don’t be deceived, those well-meaning, mistaken people who teach and preach effort instead of faith, ritual instead of relationship, and law instead of love were placed in the church by the enemy. He means to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). There is nothing kind about letting them spread their seeds of deception. But they will be shown for the charlatans they are, they cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit, because He is not in them. But allowing them to spread Satan’s propaganda means they will lead many people to Hell to be burned along with them in the Harvest.
Remember we are not here to please people. We are not here to kowtow to people. We are here to glorify God, please Him and love Him by loving one another. Paul wasn’t inclined to salaaming to anyone, but he did respect the body of Christ and did love them deeply. Paul trusted God enough to know that the Spirit within each of us recognizes Himself in others. Verses 6-10 read,
And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),9 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. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
That is exactly what happened, James, Peter, and John recognized the Holy Spirit in Paul, they confirmed his ministry to the Gentiles and sent him to his important work. They knew that though different from their own, it went hand in hand with it. Each of us called to a unique ministry, yet the same mission. We are called to make disciples for Christ, but each to varying populations, places, and by differing processes.
There are times though that even those we know to be Spirit-filled, mature, and true must be corrected. We are all flawed and sometimes our flesh or fear overcomes us, sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes we sin. I’ve been on both ends of the love of Christ shared for one another. I’ve had to pull my pastor aside and say, ‘you said such and such during your sermon, but the Bible says this.’ I’ve had my Brothers and Sisters come to me and say, ‘the revelation you think is from God is not, it does not mesh with what He told us.’ Though difficult, it is love that we exercise when we say these things, it is defense of the Gospel, love for those who will be swayed, and love for the person who sinned. Verses 11-14 describe that happening between Paul and Peter.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 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?”
Paul had deep respect for Peter; he had mentored him and he was an apostle and a pillar of the church. But in love he could not let him practice hypocrisy out of fear for pleasing people over God. Peter preached grace just like Paul, because Peter preached the Gospel but he let his fear cause him to practice the legalism the Judaizers practiced. He led several people astray including Barnabas. Paul had to confront him, not to hurt him but to put him and those who followed him back on the right path.
Fear does that, it makes us want to look good in front of people. Honestly consider if you do this. Have you been out with church friends and didn’t order the drink you wanted because it would look bad. Did you pretend in front of them that wine never passed your pious lips? Maybe you gave a ride to a church friend and quickly changed the music from your favorite to the latest acceptable “Christian” music. Those little ears in the back seat are noticing your hypocrisy and learning that pretending to be one way in front of some people is more important than living authentically for Christ. What gospel is your life teaching, the I-theistic gospel of works or the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
It is not abstinence from sinning which saves us. It is not following the traditions of the church or Christian culture that redeems. It is faith in Jesus Christ, it is His blood, His work, and His love that saves. Verses 15-21 read,
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 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, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 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! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Jesus saves us, His Holy Spirit transforms us. We don’t have to pretend, we don’t have to live and teach lies. The gospel of works is the gospel Satan would have you believe and live. We died to the law! Why do we keep trying to go back to that dead thing again? We are not slaves to sin who must please Satan by working for salvation that cannot be earned. We are free in God’s grace to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we work to earn salvation then Jesus work on the cross means nothing.
Are you living the Gospel or are you living a lie? Are the people who say they are members of the body with you living the Gospel or are they living a lie? People will follow you, people will follow them. Where are you leading them?
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Galatians 1 Chosen and Saved by Jesus, No one else.

4/13/2016

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Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
​Galatians 1
I’m excited to begin reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians today. Paul’s writings are so multilayered and there is so much to glean regardless of how long you have been a Christian, how knowledgeable, or how mature you are.
You were chosen by The LORD to be His royal child and like Jesus a servant of the Gospel. God didn’t choose you, save you, and then leave you hanging, He chose you, saved you, and gave you His Word, The Truth, The Gospel. Verses 1-5 read,
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
 Paul was made an apostle, not because men chose him, but because Jesus Christ chose him. Jesus chose every apostle personally, except for Matthias and His own brother James but even they was chosen providentially. Matthias was chosen through casting lots before the Holy Spirit had come (Acts 1:26). James was called an apostle and chosen through the Holy Spirit by agreement of the rest of the apostles. Though the story is not told, he is referred to as an apostle (Galatians 1:19) and was with the apostles and the other disciples from the beginning after Jesus ascended (Acts 1:14).
You were not chosen to be a follower of Christ by your Sunday school teacher, your parents, or the person who obeyed Him and told you how to be saved, you were chosen by Jesus. He called you to follow Him, He knocked at the door of your heart and said, “Follow me, let’s hand out and be friends.”
When He did that, Jesus not only saved you in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense. He raised you from the dead (like you once were) and gave you new life. He resurrected from the dead and He resurrected you too. No one but The Lord God did that for you. His blood delivered you, His grace saved you. It was and is His will for you to be saved, to be like Jesus and glorify Him forever.
The letter is to the church in Galatia, an area in what is now Turkey where Celts settled and lived but were not often united. They were a warrior people who intermarried with the surrounding Phyrgians and Greeks, adopted the Greek culture and eventually became part of the Roman Empire. Although it was Paul who planted the church in Galatia and Paul who preached the Gospel of Christ to them, it was Jesus who chose them and Jesus who saved them. But the diverse cultures surrounding them tried to pull the new believers back out of their new lives and into their old lives.
Isn’t that what happens today? The devil cannot stand to lose a soul to the Lord, he uses old lifestyles, sages, and even pious leaders to change the Gospel into a story, a cultural choice, or a perversion that cannot save or transform. How many people try and convince believers we are fools, we are hypocrites, and we are wrong? How many others try and persuade us we are on one of many paths to a heaven? It happens to us now and it happened to the Galatians then. Verses 6-9 read,
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Have you turned to some other gospel? Does the word being taught to you, the one you are choosing to believe involve anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ as your redeemer? Does it include earning salvation through any kind of work be it charity, flagellation, or other steps? Then you are deserting Christ! Salvation does not come from being good, forgoing pleasure, living in scarcity, or rituals of baptism and communion. Salvation comes from Jesus Christ and transforms you into His righteousness by grace.
People find it so difficult to believe that the Gospel could be so simple as, “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9) that they complicate it, they pervert it with additions of laws, rituals, and traditions. There is only one command and that command is the one that encompasses the entire Word, the whole Gospel, the prophecies, the Law, and the praise of God. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
No one should tell you any differently! If someone adds conditions to salvation, if they say that there is a single other requirement than repentance, belief, and profession of Jesus as Christ then they are lying! Christianity is not just another culture, another path, or a different lifestyle. It is a relationship with Christ which gives us new life and changes us forever to live as new beings forever. We are not seen by the outside, we are known by the heart and Spirit. We do not make the changes in us, God makes them. We simply submit to His will and Lordship (That is what it means to confess Him as Lord). 1 Corinthians 5:16-21 reads,
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When we give in to all these additions, when we even let these people try and teach us or our fellow believers these perverted messages we are suddenly trying to please them. We please the world by being “kind” to these messengers from Satan. It doesn’t please God for us to listen to their lies. It hurts the church, it injures the new believers, and it forever harms the ones who might have believed the Gospel when we entertain these liars, false teachers, and perverters of truth. Verse 10 reads,
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
The world calls us haters for refusing to listen to lies. The world hurls accusations of prejudice, narrow-mindedness, and bigotry at us when we claim there is only one way to salvation. No, serving Christ means we do not serve the world. It pleases God when we love one another enough to keep the lies out of doctrine. We can’t lead the lost to Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life with lies and false gospels. We can only lead them to Him and let them answer His call by the truth.
Paul was taught the truth by The Truth Himself. Jesus spoke it to Him directly, The Holy Spirit spent time with Him before He let Paul go to any man to learn. When Paul did finally go further his spiritual education with Peter and James first. Paul was taught the unpolluted truth and years later he went on to teach the pure uncontaminated truth to much of the world. Paul described it in verses 11-24.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone ;17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
Do you trust God to be God? Refuse to let Satan in through the false teachers he sends along. Let’s dedicate ourselves to ensuring only the truth gets taught and let God teach the new believers through His Word, His Spirit, and His true children. It is important to make sure that even in the church, the people teaching are mature enough in Christ to know the truth, to have a solid foundation in it and so teach the Gospel and sound doctrine rather than lies. Letting a person without that foundation teach and preach before it is time, is how lies like “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle” and “Everything has a purpose” thrive and pervert the truth.
Paul after three years learned only with Peter and James, perhaps the two greatest leaders of the early church at the time (along with John and eventually Paul himself). New believers of course can share the Gospel, share what they have been taught and edify the church by their gifts but to let them teach before they are mature enough would be like having a high school senior teach a doctorate class. The senior needs to be the one sitting at the feet of the doctoral professor, not the other way around.
You were chosen by The Father to be saved by Jesus Christ and transformed by The Holy Spirit. The Gospel is simple and pure. There is one Truth, no other “truth” should be preached or taught. Jesus saved you by His choice and His work, not yours. Love one another, guard the Truth.
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Titus: Called to a Higher Walk, a Holy and Godly Life

4/12/2016

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Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. Philippians 3:17
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:17-21
​Titus
Believer, you are called to live a life above the life of the world. You are not alone and it is not impossible. I would venture to say that if you have the Truth within you, it would be almost impossible not to be distinctive from the world. You cannot depend on yourself to be live a higher life; if you do, you set yourself up for a pretentious and pretend walk to Hell. Verses 1-4 read,
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;
4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
 
Paul was an apostle, a man who lived a Spirit-filled life who lived in a way that proved his authority to lead, teach, and speak the Gospel of Christ because he lived the Gospel of Christ. He cared about the church and wanted to ensure that the truth stayed pure, that no corrupted versions of the gospel were taught to desecrate us or defile the Word. He called the church God’s elect. Believer, we are His elect, His chosen. We were chosen before the creation of the earth to be His children, to be blessed, and to be the ones who reflect Him and reveal Him to the world. Ephesians 1:3-6 reads,
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
You are charged to know the truth which agrees with godliness. In other words the truth of Christ doesn’t produce a life of sin, futile effort, blandness, or looking like the world, the truth of Christ manifests in a life that looks like Jesus, a life of love, goodness, and faith. The Truth makes a difference in the person who lives it. The Truth lived out allows the follower of Christ to have faith because of her hope. She doesn’t have to live by circumstance thrown back and forth by each happening, vainly wishing for a happy ending or despairing over bad news. The hope of the faithful is not wishful thinking, it is certain knowledge and comprehension of the heart in the promise of eternal life, God’s presence within her, and His love as a tangible work. It is that faith in the Truth that Jesus is the Christ that allows the faithful to live the higher life. 1 John 5:1-5 says it like this,
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
 
You don’t overcome the world and live the higher life alone, it is only because you know who Jesus is and because He has given you the Spirit of the Living God that you can. If you have been born of Jesus, meaning you believe He is Christ and love the Father by acquiescing to Him then you will live out your faith though that love which is obedience to God.
You can have faith because God never lies. He had this plan for you from the beginning. He chose you from the beginning. And He has made the way for you from the beginning. His timing is perfect. Though you wait and it seems you have waited forever, The Lord does what He does at exactly the right time, the perfect time for your benefit and His glory. He isn’t waiting for the last minute. He is waiting for precisely the right time, the moment that will have the greatest profit for the greatest good. Jesus came at exactly the right time, died at exactly the right time, and resurrected at exactly the right time. He will come again at exactly the right time. God isn’t waiting because He is unsure and you do not have to be unsure because God is waiting. God is waiting for the precise moment He has already decided on because He wants people to come to Him, to answer His call on their lives and be saved. 2 Peter 3:8-13 reads,
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Why do you live a holy life? Your godly life leads people to salvation. That is why you are called to live differently. 1 Timothy 2:3-6 says,
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time
 
What does this holy and godly life look like? How is it that the mature Christian should walk? Paul gave Titus an example of it when he gave him instructions for how to choose the elders of the church, the men who would lead, model Jesus, and serve the church. Verses 5-9 read,
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus had to choose the pastors, the elders of the church to exemplify Christ and teach the Gospel, the true, sound, and sensible doctrine and to censure those who taught anything contradictory to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They didn’t lead these lives because of their own great ability, they lived these lives because Jesus was their Lord and Savior, they had the Holy Spirit in them. God manifests Himself in us and it results in living, walking, and looking like Jesus. Read those verses again and compare them to Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-10.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
God is love. Love lived out is walking in the Spirit, manifesting Christ. To love is to be tangible Jesus to the world and the church. 1 John 4:7-12 says it this way,
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Living a godly life, a holy life, a life above the life lived by the world means we walk in God and with God in us. He perfects us. He makes it possible for us to walk the way He has called us to walk. We can’t live a godly life without God. We cannot walk in the Spirit unless He is in us. People try. People try to live by the law instead of by faith. They try and earn salvation. Anyone trying to earn salvation has got the wrong gospel. They will try and teach the wrong gospel. They’ve missed out on Jesus and instead try teaching legalism. That is what the Pharisees did. They were so sure they had it right, but for all their piety and laws they completely missed holiness, godliness, and Holy God. Paul did not mince words when it came to describing them. He hated what they were doing to the church, how they defiled the truth, and ruined her reputation. Verses 10-16 read,
 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
To tell people they ought to do good to be good, to tell people they should live up to an impossible standard that only God ever lived up to is a lie. These people told others to do good and keep laws but they weren’t doing it themselves. They had to know if they couldn’t live what they taught that no one else could either. Jesus had similar words for those teachers of the law that were just as piercing as Paul’s were. Matthew 23-12-15 reads,
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
The life lived for God results in good works because love is perfected in us. God makes us like Jesus. We can’t do that ourselves. We can’t do good to become good. We become good because God makes us the righteousness of Christ and it shows in the holy and godly life we lead, the higher walk we walk. I will leave you with Romans 3:21-31 which says,
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

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Colossians 2 It is the Work of Jesus not the Rules of Religion that Saves

2/21/2016

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For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Colossians 2:9-10
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Colossians 2:9-10
​Colossians 2
Paul was not in Colossae, he had never met many of them, but he needed them to be encouraged to mature in Christ together and conform to His image. They were inundated with people teaching them the rules of Judaism as well as myths and false teaching that were clearly not biblical. If they took these false teachings seriously they could not mature into the full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God because they would be filled with the knowledge of a false god, carefully constructed to mimic the One True God. Verses 1-5 read,
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.”
Paul encouraged the church to know God, to pursue Jesus, the Truth, the Way, and the Life and so strengthen their faith and not to adulterate the Gospel with lies.
I recently watched a film with a story which took place in 16th century England. The story was largely about the struggle between the Catholic Church at the time ruling Europe and their difficulty accepting a Protestant monarch. The Vatican’s response to anyone who did not follow what they called the one true church reminded me of the Pharisees response to the first Christians and the world’s response to Christians today. In the film, the Catholics had such an ardor for their religion they lost the ardor for Christ. As I reflected on that, I realized that many people begin with a zeal for Jesus that develops into a fervor for Christianity and then into a fanaticism for rules. It is an easy slope to slip down and one we must be rigorous about keeping clear of. If we fall off the path of following Jesus and begin following religion, we will not conform to the image of Christ, we will conform to the image of the Pharisees.
Paul did not want this to happen to the church at Colossae and he knew that it could happen because people were preaching rules rather than Christ to them. He was not with them in person, but they belonged to Christ and had the same Spirit he did. He appealed to them to let The Holy Spirit lead them and not people teaching anything other than Jesus. That does not happen by accident. It is a persistent and deliberate choice. Verses 6-10 read,
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”
Receiving Christ is not the entirety of faith; it is the first step of a walk. Accepting Jesus places us on the path to follow Him, but following Jesus means actually making Him Lord, taking steps and walking with Him, not merely calling Him Lord and standing at the foot of the path. Jesus is God, all of Him, not part of Him. In Him dwells the completeness of God and you and I have been filled in Him, Jesus our Lord!
Do you get that? The Holy Spirit is inside you. He is the fullness of God and He indwells you! He has become an elemental part of you. Indwells means to possess, inhabit, and exist within. Synonyms are: built-in, complete, connate, elemental, inborn, intrinsic, and utter. He dwells in you. It is not impossible to follow Christ because the same power that raised Him from the dead is in you! Romans 8:10-14 encourages us that we can walk with Jesus.
“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
You don’t need anything more! You have the fullness of God in you! It is He who changes you from sinful to righteous. It is not rules and rituals that change you. It is The Lord who conforms you to Christ’s image. Verses 11-15 read,
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Jesus willingly laid down His life for us. We willingly give Him the sins of our past, present and future and put our old selves to death with Him. But Jesus raised from death and with His Resurrection we are given new lives. God did that work! No work we do has anything to do with our salvation. God died on the cross, God resurrected, God chose us, God saved us. Our debt of sin is cancelled, it is erased. We can’t pay for something we do not owe! The enemy tries to throw guilt in our faces and tries to get us to think we ought to be following a long list of rules in order to make up for all that sin, but he and his minions were put to shame when Jesus rose from the dead and conquered them forever.
The enemy will keep trying to discredit us. People will accuse us of hatred and hypocrisy. They will accuse us of not doing enough pious acts. But the Law of God was fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 5:17). There is nothing more we must do to be saved. We humbly hand over our sins to Jesus, make Him Lord over us, and believe He is the Risen Christ and He does the saving (Romans 10:9). Jesus did give us some commandments; love the Lord with our whole selves (Matthew 22:37), love one another (John 13:34), take the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:19), and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). These commandments are not about being delivered, but rather about living out love. Obedience is the result of our faith (Romans 1:5). It strengthens our faith it does not create it.  Ephesians 2:4-10 reads,
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
People will do the job of the enemy and accuse us of not being Christian enough, of not following the rules of the church, and of not following the myths they believe we ought to follow if we call ourselves Christians. But we do not call ourselves Christian, Christ calls us His own! (1 John 3:1). We don’t pray to saints or angels, bow to men, or hate any people. We worship The Lord, the One True God, we obey Him, and we love His people. Don’t let the accusations of the enemy lead you to try and save yourself by your own works. Verses 16-23 reads,
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
No matter how hard you punish yourself, no matter how many rules you follow, you cannot stop the desires of the flesh. Resisting temptation makes you want to satiate those desires all the more. With every self-flagellating strike you only confirm the desire you try and beat out of yourself. With every crack of the whip you repeat the condemnation, “do not lust” and increase your craving. Why punish yourself? Jesus already took the punishment! Does His sacrifice mean nothing? When you take on the work of God and try and save yourself, you exalt yourself and minimize The Lord. Galatians 2:17-21 reads,
“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! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”
The same passage in The Message puts it this way,
“Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.
19-21 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”
Believer, are you trying to save yourself? Are you following rules and rituals to please a religion instead following Christ? Are you working hard make yourself good instead of delighting in the rest of the Lord? Go back to the gospel. Jesus saves. He, the fullness of God is in you! You do not need anything more than Him.
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John, from The Son of Thunder to The Apostle of Love

12/4/2015

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​Who was the Apostle John? As I prepare to begin reading Revelation, one of the five books of the Bible authored by this man, I thought it appropriate to read a little bit about him and get a sense of who he was. John was one of the first of the disciples to follow Jesus. Matthew 4:18-22 records it,
“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”
Jesus called James and John the Sons of Thunder. (Mark 3:17). Although no reason is given, we know Jesus named people with purpose and with a knowledge of who they were. Jesus knows each of us, exactly as who we are and who we are meant to be. (John 2:23-25). The name reveals the brothers passion and action nature which is revealed in the account of Jesus’ rejection from a Samaritan village in Luke 9:51-56.
“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.”
John was one of Jesus dearest friends, perhaps even His closest. He referred to himself in John as the disciple whom Jesus loved. (John 13:23, John 21:20). He was in the inner circle of the Apostles whom Jesus brought with Him for more private time and teaching.
Peter, James and John were the ones whom Jesus asked to stay awake with Him the night before His arrest. (Matthew 26:36-38). Jesus bared His soul to them. The three went with Jesus to the mountain top and saw Jesus shine as The Son of God. Matthew 17:1-13 records that amazing event which these three were privileged to witness.
“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,[a] with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”
That is not the only amazing disclosure Jesus entrusted to John as we will learn when we read Revelation. God gave John the vision and experience that he recorded for us in order to understand the end times and the awesome eternity in store for believers and non-believers. Revelation 1:1-3 reads,
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”
Jesus not only entrusted these great words to John, He entrusted the care of His mother to him, the only one of the apostles not to abandon Jesus as He gave up His life on the cross. John 19:25-27 reads,
“but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
John was a fisherman, and so the probability was he was not highly educated, but he had a very distinct writing style. He had the heart of a poet. His wrote in imagery and in contrasts of love and hate, dark and light. 1 John 2:7-11 is an example.
“Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
Unlike Paul’s linear and academic logic, John’s circular logic was often lyrical but no less authoritative. 1 John 2:12-14 reads,
“I am writing to you, little children,
    because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
    because you know the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God abides in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.”
John began as a fiery fisherman, a Son of Thunder but he became the Apostle of Love, a pillar of the early church who along with James, the brother of Jesus and Peter led the church in accepting Paul as an Apostle. (Galatians 2:9).  Jesus takes who we are and makes us into who we are meant to be. He took John’s fierce temper and tempered it with love. He changed him from a man who wanted to call fire out of the sky to punish the people who rejected Christ to the man who wrote to defend love and teach us to love in order bring people who rejected Christ into His great love.
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What is Fasting, Why Do We Do It, and Do We Have To?

12/1/2015

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Fasting is not my favorite subject, nor is it something I am good at doing. We are not directly commanded to fast. But it is something that we as Christians should do from time to time. We are given several examples of fasting and Jesus said, “when you fast” not if, when. (Matthew 6:17). It has a purpose and it has benefits. But it also has rules.
First let’s look at what fasting is. The word used in the Old Testament is tsom. It means to abstain from food. It occurs seventeen times in the Old Testament. But it is more than abstaining from food. Skipping meals even for a predetermined amount of time does nothing for us spiritually. The earliest biblical mention of a fast is in Judges 20:26. Judges 20:23-28 says,
“And the people of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening. And they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.”
24 So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. 25 And Benjamin went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who drew the sword. 26 Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 27 And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”
It was a terrible civil war between Benjamin and the rest of Israel. Israel had no desire to fight her own brother, but Benjamin had done some very vile things and God would not let it go undisciplined. The people prayed all day and God answered and said, “Go against them.” The day before Israel had lost 22,000 men, after they prayed they lost another 18,000 men. So once again they prayed the entire day and this time they included fasting and offerings. When they asked again, God didn’t just say go up against them, He gave them specifics and a promise, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”
So one reason we fast is to implore God for His will and favor. It is not a tool to manipulate God into giving us what we want, But to find out what God wants for us and from us.
Another purpose of fasting is repentance. We can get ourselves in some dire circumstances through our sins, especially habitual sins which can easily work their way into our lifestyle and displace The Holy Spirit. In 1 Samuel 7 Israel was in danger from the Philistines because of the idolatry they had practiced. 1 Samuel 7:3-11 says,
“And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered atMizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.”
Israel wanted out of their circumstances but the reason for the fast was not so God would destroy Philistia, it was because they earnestly wanted to be reconciled to The Lord. They trusted God would take care of the enemy for them. Once again the fast was accompanied by prayer and worship.
Another purpose of fasting is mourning. When Saul and Jonathan were killed, Israel fasted. (2 Samuel 1:11-12). But mourning doesn’t always mean fasting. David wept, prayed, and fasted for his sick son born out of his adulterous relationship with Bathseba, in order to beg God to heal him. When the child died, David got up, washed, anointed himself and went and worshipped God. He accepted God’s judgement and worshipped Him. (2 Samuel 12:16-23). Fasting does not mean God gives us what we ask for, no matter the sincerity of the fast. It means we reconcile ourselves to God’s will. David put it this way in 2 Samuel 12:22-23,
“He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Sometimes we want things very badly, but those things are not God’s will for us. In the book of Acts some men tried to manipulate God and the government by declaring a fast until Paul was killed. (Acts 23-12-15). There fast was not ordained by God. They were not seeking God’s will but their own. I doubt any of those men was able to keep his oath since Paul lived for at least three years after they swore no food or drink would pass their lips.
In The New Testament the word for fast is nésteia. It also means to abstain from food, but it is connected with religious uses, private prayer and The Day of Atonement. In Acts every mention of fasting is done when people were appointed and set apart to ministries. So we know that it is by God’s will we are selected and sanctified for service. Jesus fasted for forty days before He began His ministry. He spent that time heavy in prayer and in scripture. When tempted to give up His fast and therefore not consider the gravity of His ministry, Jesus replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4). He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 He reminded us, it is not food, provision, or pleasures which give us our lives, it is the Will of God that we live and it is by His will we worship, serve, and walk. Our own desires, don’t matter when we take pleasure in God’s desires. He replaces our old wants with His perfect ones. (Ephesians 4:17-24). We seek His desires, His will by prayer, scripture, and fasting.
But we don’t fast to make ourselves look good. We fast because we want God’s will above our own. We want to glorify God. Jesus told us how to fast. Matthew 6:16-21 reads,
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I knew a girl who amazed me with her self-control and perseverance. Every year, she fasted from all food and every liquid except water for forty days. I have no idea what the purpose of her fast was, but it made her look like a very spiritual person. It made her look great. She carried a gallon of water with her. She declined food with a statement that she was fasting. Her fast glorified her. I am not sure if it glorified God. I cannot say what went on in her spiritual life. I know a man today, who fasts regularly but I rarely know when he is fasting. He never tells. I’ve been at restaurants with him and seen him surreptitiously not eat, but still enjoy the fellowship, still laugh.  I only know he is fasting because I know him well. We are brother and sister in Christ, walking the same walk, with the same Spirit. I see his growth, I see the service and good works he does, not because he flaunts them but because his faith has clear results. The girl I knew got a lot of recognition and reward for her discipline and spiritual prowess. My friend, his treasure, his hope, and his joy are in Heaven and the results are here on earth in his walk, in the growth of the kingdom, and the love manifested.
Believer, I encourage you if you have not fasted, or if like me, you hate fasting, that you try it. That you set apart a predetermined time, forgo food and seek God’s will through prayer, scripture, repentance, and worship. See what God will do. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8).
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Philemon: The Brotherhood of Christ is a Precious and Eternal Bond

11/16/2015

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Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12-13 on photo of Red Berries by Donna Campbell
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12-13
Philemon
Christians are not perfect. Sometimes our mistakes cause problems or rifts between us and others. Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus were three such Christians. Paul cared about them and he had a lot of good to say about them. Yet, something had caused a conflict between them and their bondservant Onesimus.  Something had caused the man to run away from Philemon. Verses 1-7 read,
“Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon's Love and Faith
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.”
Paul called Philemon his fellow worker. What an honor to know that this Apostle, missionary and church planter considered him to be a partner in his work. He called Apphia his sister. And he called Archippus his fellow soldier. Again a great commendation to know Paul considered him a comrade in the fight. Paul was not giving them empty flattery. He was telling them about the good things he heard and thought of them. He was letting them know they impacted his life and the kingdom. And he prayed that their impact would be even bigger.
This is brotherhood. We notice, we care, and we acknowledge one another. We are not islands working separately, but co-workers, peers, and soldiers on a mission for The LORD all for Jesus Christ. We might be working on different aspects of the same mission, but we are working on the same mission, sharing our faith and building the Kingdom.
Brotherhood also means that we can talk about things that need to be corrected. It means we can bring up some difficult subjects with one another. We are not perfect, but we strive toward the goal and we want our brothers and sisters to be moving toward the goal as well. In Philippians 3:12-17 Paul says it this way,
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”
And now Paul had to speak to Philemon about a difficult subject. Verses 8-16 read,
“Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”
Onesimus was a bondservant to Philemon. That meant he was indentured, contracted to Philemon for a certain period of time. He had no right to leave, yet he had. Philemon could punish Onesimus however he pleased. But when Onesimus left, he found Paul, and Paul shared Jesus with him and taught him. Onesimus had been a joy and a help to Paul. Paul wanted to keep the man with him, but it would have been stealing from Philemon to do so. So he had to send him back. I’m sure Onesimus was afraid of what would happen to him when he returned to his master.
Paul basically said, “Listen, I have the authority to tell you what to do and I am not afraid to do that. But I love you and so I’m going to ask you to do the right thing. He had every expectation that Philemon would obey him and so obey Christ and accept the runaway bondservant back.
Now Onesimus who had somehow been hurt by Philemon and who had in turn hurt his master was returning but as more. He was now a brother in Christ and bonded to Philemon not just for the length of his indenturement but for eternity. This was all the more reason for forgiveness on both sides. Colossians 3:12-17 says,
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Times will come when one of us hurts another, when someone sins against us, or when someone sins in a way which will hurt the body. But we forgive each other. We are not perfect. Jesus forgave us, so we forgive one another. Paul knew Philemon well enough to know that he would accept his servant back, rejoice over their new brotherhood, forgive, and go beyond Paul’s requests. Verses 18-22 read,
“So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.”
It is an absolute joy to be a part of the body of Christ. It is beautiful to know I have brothers and sisters in so many places and that we accept one another with complete love. I have met fellow believers from all over the world. I know we pray for each other and I know we are fellow workers and soldiers for Christ. I know we are brothers and sisters in the deepest sense of the word. Even those I haven’t met, will respond to a prayer request or a praise by praying with me, praising with me, mourning with me, or singing with me.
Jesus gave us His grace. We don’t keep it to ourselves. Verses 23-25 close the letter with expressions of the love and companionship of fellow believers
“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
Believer, have you been hurt by someone in the church? Forgive him. Have you hurt someone? Go ask for forgiveness. Love one another as Jesus has loved you. (John 15:12).
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    Donna Campbell

    As I read the Bible every day, I take what God teaches me, what He says, and write it out. I then share that with you. It gives me a deeper understanding of the Word and I hope that it will encourage you as it does me, to put your love and faith into action.

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