Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness form God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:20-23 NIV
This short section in Romans 3 points us to Chirst as the one to put our faith in, who provides righteousness from God to us. Following the law does not make us righteous. The law is a guide, a plumb line, a tool that we can use to shed light on, to show us, and to make us aware of our sin. The law does not make us righteous or provide forgiveness of sin.
Jesus is the righeousness from God to what the Law and Prophets testify. Jesus is apart from the Law, but he does not abolish the Law, but rather fulfills the Law. Jesus is the perfect one, that God planned from the beginning to effect our redemption from sin through.
For Jesus to provide our redemption, we must by faith, a gift in itself, believe in what He did for us. It is through faith that so many blessings accrue. In Romans chapter 4, we read that Abraham was justified by faith. In Hebrews we will read of the role of faith in biblical leaders.
Our section today closes with the statement that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Quite a take home message for those who might consider works as a means to righteousness. It is not by works that we are saved. Good works that we do should be done in response to what God has done for us through His Son, our Lord, Jesus.
How do you understand that you are saved from sin?
How do you understand that you have received the gift of eternal life?
If your understanding includes anything besides faith in Jesus Christ, please talk to a Christian leader or pastor; it is by grace through faith that we are saved, apart from works...
Pray for a clear understanding of the gospel message.
In Christ,
David P
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Faith And Righteousness
I've been writing until I'm blue in the face (that's a mixed metaphor, for those of you who keep track of such things) about the difference between Old Testament righteousness and the new Covenant introduced through Christ's death and resurrection. To reiterate, Old Testament righteousness was found through obeying the Law as described in Deuteronomy 6:25. Paul updates that in Romans 3:21-22:
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
The word "faith" occurs over 250 times in the Bible, but only 15 times in the Old Testament, and even in those instances, weren't referring to a faith in God except in a couple of instances:
Adam and Eve didn't need faith, they lived with God. The Patriarchs had regular communication with the Lord, the people of Israel had a visible representation of the Lord in front of them as they wandered through the desert, God spoke directly to the kings and the people through the prophets, and Jesus was a man in flesh that the people could hear and talk to. However, with Jesus' ascension, the era of man communicating directly with God was over, and it was over for one very simple reason--there was no reason for that to continue.
God promised to send his Son as the ultimate sacrifice for us. He did that, and as such, everything we will ever need to know about Christianity has happened before human eyes and been recorded. Every promise made in the Bible (except for those dealing with the End Times) has occurred, so we shouldn't need proof anymore. That which happened already doesn't require proof. What it does require of us is faith, in that we take to heart the promises that God has made to us and understand that nothing has happened in the past 2,000 years to make those promises change. Our salvation won't be achieved through obedience of the Law, indeed, it won't be achieved through anything we'll ever do. It will be because we have faith and believe.
It's a tough thing to relinquish control, and that's what Paul was telling the Romans to do. Obedience through the Law means that YOU have to follow the Law, and if YOU don't, YOU won't be saved. In the Age of Grace, that's all been done for us, and I won't speak for the rest of you, but that works plenty well for me.
Scott
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Grace is Sufficient (Dec 3)
But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
God's grace is defined in my dictionary as; the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God,or a state of sanctification by God. Notice here that it is God's grace given to us, not something that we have worked for, earned or in fact even deserve.
We read that God's grace is sufficient for us. God has done the work for our salvation, our redemption, our eternal life through the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. His grace makes up for our weaknesses.
In reading Paul's writings, we are clearly pointed to the source of his strength, courage, wisdom, delight, and his passion. Paul was chosen by the Lord to carry out a mission and Paul accepted the challenges, hardships, persecution, and pains of that work with rejoicing. Even when Paul boasts about his stoning, imprisonments, shipwrecks, whippings, spending time in the open sea, and other trials; we sense a joy, a peace, a contentedness he received by doing the Lord's work. As we read Paul's writings, consider that Paul was following Gods will as closely as humanly possible.
Paul in his weakness, found strength in the Lord's grace. He is an example for us. Sometimes, people get on the wrong path as a result of their weakness. Instead of turning to the Lord's grace, they turn to other potentially harmful sources of comfort; drugs, alcohol, lusts, overeating might serve as examples of such other sources.
Consider where you turn when there are difficult challenges and trials, do you turn to potentially harmful sources of comfort, or do you turn to the Lord in prayer to ask for strength, grace, courage and energy to plod on?
Where do you look for power in your challenges?
Pray to ask the Lord for His abundant grace in your trials and challenges.
In Christ,
David P
2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
God's grace is defined in my dictionary as; the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God,or a state of sanctification by God. Notice here that it is God's grace given to us, not something that we have worked for, earned or in fact even deserve.
We read that God's grace is sufficient for us. God has done the work for our salvation, our redemption, our eternal life through the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. His grace makes up for our weaknesses.
In reading Paul's writings, we are clearly pointed to the source of his strength, courage, wisdom, delight, and his passion. Paul was chosen by the Lord to carry out a mission and Paul accepted the challenges, hardships, persecution, and pains of that work with rejoicing. Even when Paul boasts about his stoning, imprisonments, shipwrecks, whippings, spending time in the open sea, and other trials; we sense a joy, a peace, a contentedness he received by doing the Lord's work. As we read Paul's writings, consider that Paul was following Gods will as closely as humanly possible.
Paul in his weakness, found strength in the Lord's grace. He is an example for us. Sometimes, people get on the wrong path as a result of their weakness. Instead of turning to the Lord's grace, they turn to other potentially harmful sources of comfort; drugs, alcohol, lusts, overeating might serve as examples of such other sources.
Consider where you turn when there are difficult challenges and trials, do you turn to potentially harmful sources of comfort, or do you turn to the Lord in prayer to ask for strength, grace, courage and energy to plod on?
Where do you look for power in your challenges?
Pray to ask the Lord for His abundant grace in your trials and challenges.
In Christ,
David P
Friday, December 2, 2011
Cheerful Giving
David chose 2 Corinthians 9:6 to write about, I'll use 9:7:
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
By a mile, when pressed for any kind of stewardship verse, this is my go-to, because it clearly tells us what and how to give back to the Lord. I see three distinct points that God, through Paul, is telling us about our giving.
First, the Old Testament laws about tithing have been removed. Since tithing, as well as the rest of the law, was as much about obedience and observance as anything else, the Age of Grace made the mechanistic giving obsolete. Each man was to determine on his own what to give--he could give less than 10%, he could give MORE, and it wouldn't matter either way. Harken back to Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:3-7. God wasn't disappointed with Cain because of what he gave, but because he didn't give the best that he had to offer. Similarly, Ananais and Sapphira weren't punished in Acts 5 because they didn't give enough, but because they didn't follow through with what they had promised. Whatever we give to the Lord, if it's the best we can offer, it's sufficient--the amount is completely irrelevant.
Second, obligatory giving, like the sacrifices, were no longer necessary. As such, giving in a rote fashion and doing so because one feels forced isn't the spirit in which God wants us to give. It's probably better if we keep our money if that's the best attitude we can manage. In addition, if we're under no compulsion to give, we should never give grudgingly or reluctantly, because we're not required to do so in the first place.
The last point should be the easiest. In my neighborhood, I made a promise ages ago to buy from every kid that comes to the door, as long as they're selling food. I won't buy wrapping paper, wreaths or stuff like that, but there's not a food catalog where I can't find something. I used to do it for quid pro quo reasons when my daughters were younger, but I still maintain it. I'm happy to help the causes, there's a pretty good chance I know the kid anyway, and it makes me feel good. I also instituted a new rule about five years ago to put a dollar into every Salvation Army bucket I walk past in the Christmas season, but it has to be manned. I know the money goes to a good cause, and it makes me happy. Giving should ALWAYS make us feel happy, and Christian giving should make us even more happy, since we understand that we're only giving back to the Lord that which he gave us in the first place.
I've done my share of fundraising in the past for numerous causes where strings would be attached. Almost all of these intentions were good, and I never doubted the intentions of the giver, but if it goes to the Lord's work, should we really attach strings? I've heard one person suggest that this kind of giving isn't really giving (i.e., a surrender of your cash) as much as directing. Having been guilty of directing gifts myself, my only defense would be that this is always for gifts over and above my normal giving. In the end, none of this really matter. Just as the Lord richly and freely gives to us, so should we be just as generous in giving back to him.
Scott
Sowing and Reaping (Dec 2)
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV
Often this passage is used during stewardship campaigns to motivate, encourage and promote more generous giving, with hope of a more effective campaign and a greater response to the appeal.
I would like to take a different view of the verse. I would like us to look at our lives, our daily activities, how we spend our time and where we receive blessing in our daily walk. Hopefully we will see how this verse applies to our individual lives. If we look at time given to an activity as an aspect of sowing, then we might see that in areas of our life where we give time, we also receive blessing, or reap in abundance.
How do we spend time during our "average day?" If we look at the activities we receive our greatest blessing from, we probably will notice that those activities are the activities we spend the greatest time in. For example, consider people who appear to have an exceptional talent for a sport, craft, hobby or other activity. After considering the exceptional talent or gift in that person's life, I suspect if one could look into that person's daily schedule, much time would be devoted to that sport, craft, hobby or other activity.
Reflect on your life; in what areas do you excel? How much time do you devote to those areas? Are there any areas of your life that you wish to improve? Consider spending more time on those activities.
Pray to sow and reap in abundance.
Pray for the Spirit to guide you to spend more time on areas of your life that have eternal value.
In Christ,
David P
2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV
Often this passage is used during stewardship campaigns to motivate, encourage and promote more generous giving, with hope of a more effective campaign and a greater response to the appeal.
I would like to take a different view of the verse. I would like us to look at our lives, our daily activities, how we spend our time and where we receive blessing in our daily walk. Hopefully we will see how this verse applies to our individual lives. If we look at time given to an activity as an aspect of sowing, then we might see that in areas of our life where we give time, we also receive blessing, or reap in abundance.
How do we spend time during our "average day?" If we look at the activities we receive our greatest blessing from, we probably will notice that those activities are the activities we spend the greatest time in. For example, consider people who appear to have an exceptional talent for a sport, craft, hobby or other activity. After considering the exceptional talent or gift in that person's life, I suspect if one could look into that person's daily schedule, much time would be devoted to that sport, craft, hobby or other activity.
Reflect on your life; in what areas do you excel? How much time do you devote to those areas? Are there any areas of your life that you wish to improve? Consider spending more time on those activities.
Pray to sow and reap in abundance.
Pray for the Spirit to guide you to spend more time on areas of your life that have eternal value.
In Christ,
David P
Thursday, December 1, 2011
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 states:
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.
Some things in Christianity might be difficult to understand, others may be difficult to live. These particular passages are neither--they are clear, direct, and tell us exactly how we should live our lives. There's no gray area, no scratching of our heads and asking "Huh?"--it's right there.
And really, what is there to add to it? Who among us doesn't feel that twinge from our conscience when we know we're doing something wrong, who among us hasn't at some point deluded ourselves by saying "Well, God will understand, and besides, I'm forgiven anyway, so...." Yes, we are forgiven, but that doesn't give us carte blanche to intentionally and with full knowledge commit sin.
That's the core of these verses. We know wickedness when we see it, we can recognize a false god when we see one, and we certainly know better than to listen to an unbeliever and say to ourselves "Hmm, maybe he's onto something." Paul's audience knew that their former ways of worshiping the pantheon of Greek gods was wrong and needed to be stopped, and Paul was reminding them that idol worship wasn't just a matter of custom, but of eternal import. The words to those early Christians were to ignore the clearly wrong things that were in their midst and to stop mingling with unbelievers. They were a new people, a forgiven people, and needed to begin living that way.
In the modern age, these reminders are just as timely. For those of us raised as Christians, we know the difference between Godly and ungodly, and one of our primary duties is demonstrating what those differences are to non-Christians as we come across them, and do it in love and kindness. We need to train our children to follow in our footsteps, and always pray for guidance and diligence from the Holy Spirit to keep us on the right path. Just because we know the way doesn't mean that we stay on it. As we begin this final month of our year-long journey through the Bible, we should always be reminding ourselves that while some things are complicated, most aren't. We didn't read the Bible to merely increase our knowledge, but to change our ways. The verses highlighted today are pretty good first steps to tell how well we've been internalizing the words.
Scott
Fix eyes (Dec 1)
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
To fix or focus our eyes on something gives us direction, a target. The bible speaks much about eyes. In Proverbs 17:24, we read that a discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth. Also we read in Proverbs 27:20, that Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man. Jesus opened blind eyes to see. And in Psalm 116:8 we read that the Lord delivers souls from death, eyes from tears, and feet from stumbling.
In the world, there is much competition for our eyes attention. Advertisers purchase television commercials, magazine ads, roadside billboards and other more creative media such as skywriting in order to get messages to us. This commercial communication then tells us what to buy, to do, to wear to; be in style, accepted by others, and to be more likable, appealing or secure today.
Those communications tomorrow will tell us differently what buy, to do, or to wear; again with hopes of appealing to us to open up our time, wallets, and life to purchase an item discussed in the ad. In an attempt to make the message more efficient, advertisers spend much on data, information and other material to focus the message to a targeted audience.
The Lord has a message of salvation by baptism for cleansing and of belief in Jesus death for our sin and resurrection for eternal life. Jesus message is an unchanging message; targeted to all and is a message that carries security, peace, love and other fruits of the Spirit.
Remember as Hebrews 12:2 states, that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Where are you fixing your eyes?
Where should you be fixing your eyes?
Pray for the Spirit to guide you to fix your eyes on Jesus.
In Christ,
David P
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
To fix or focus our eyes on something gives us direction, a target. The bible speaks much about eyes. In Proverbs 17:24, we read that a discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth. Also we read in Proverbs 27:20, that Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man. Jesus opened blind eyes to see. And in Psalm 116:8 we read that the Lord delivers souls from death, eyes from tears, and feet from stumbling.
In the world, there is much competition for our eyes attention. Advertisers purchase television commercials, magazine ads, roadside billboards and other more creative media such as skywriting in order to get messages to us. This commercial communication then tells us what to buy, to do, to wear to; be in style, accepted by others, and to be more likable, appealing or secure today.
Those communications tomorrow will tell us differently what buy, to do, or to wear; again with hopes of appealing to us to open up our time, wallets, and life to purchase an item discussed in the ad. In an attempt to make the message more efficient, advertisers spend much on data, information and other material to focus the message to a targeted audience.
The Lord has a message of salvation by baptism for cleansing and of belief in Jesus death for our sin and resurrection for eternal life. Jesus message is an unchanging message; targeted to all and is a message that carries security, peace, love and other fruits of the Spirit.
Remember as Hebrews 12:2 states, that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Where are you fixing your eyes?
Where should you be fixing your eyes?
Pray for the Spirit to guide you to fix your eyes on Jesus.
In Christ,
David P
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