There is nothing that can separate those who have believed from the love of Christ. There is no charge nor condemnation that can come against God’s elect. There is no one nor any circumstance that can separate them from God’s love. The One whose love spanned sin’s chasm between humanity and a holy God, has overcome every hindrance of separation through His death and resurrection. Receiving this love, He makes us overcomers too.
Both we and creation experience an inner groaning, as in the pains of childbirth, awaiting the fulfillment of our redemption. In these last days, as sin and suffering in this world increase, so does our longing for that which the Spirit within us promises. There is coming a Day when all suffering and pain will end. We will receive resurrection bodies like Jesus and we will dwell with Him forevermore. So, may the groaning of your body remind you of this hope.
Those governed by the sin nature (“the flesh”), no matter the ceremonial precepts they affirm or the outward religious acts they perform, cannot please God. They are still guided and motivated by a carnal mind. It is their unrenewed state that makes their offerings unacceptable. God cares more for the heart than the offering. It is faith in Christ that pleases God. Those who are in the flesh must place their faith in Christ, so that they are born again spiritually. Those governed by the Spirit will live by the Spirit. It is this new Spirit-filled life that pleases God.
Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple opened with an acknowledgement that God was already present. For as the Lord had manifested His presence in the form of a cloud to Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness (Lev.16:2), so had His glorious presence filled the Temple at its dedication. Solomon’s detailed attention to the building of the Temple, its furnishings and implements, showed his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures concerning these things. The acknowledgment of the cloud as the manifest presence of the Lord in his prayer further proved his Bible knowledge. The cloud was God’s way of showing His approval of Solomon’s Temple by indwelling it with His glory. Today, the Lord indwells those whose body has become His temple through faith in Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
“Consider yourselves dead to sin.” Not toiling, nor working, but counting yourself dead to that sin which once enslaved you. And in the same breath consider yourself “alive to God.” Calling upon the Name of Jesus who paid the price for your adoption, be filled with the Spirit and walk in His power. Let Christ remove the grave clothes of your old life. Like Lazarus, arise and come forth! Put on your new clothes of righteousness in Christ Jesus and truly live!
If the sin of the one man, Adam, was sufficient to bring death to all humanity, then so much more shall the righteousness of Christ bring life. For Christ is in a sense, the second Adam. We are all born into sin by the first Adam, but only those born again by the second have received His gift of grace. The death and suffering that entered the world through Adam are plain to see. And so too, is the grace of God which was revealed in Jesus to those who believe.
This is the doctrine of justification. One way to remember this doctrine is the saying, “Just-as-if-I-never-sinned.” This is about God’s justice and our judicial position before Him. In Christ, we are justified. By faith, the righteousness of Christ is accounted unto us, while our sin is accounted unto Him. This is more than just clearing our criminal record and getting us out of jail. It is accounting unto us the status of righteousness, reconciling us to God and making possible our adoption as sons. The Judge has not only released us from prison, but has taken us home with Him to live in His house as family.
When the warrior poet David became king, he set apart musicians and singers for the worship of the Lord. As an accomplished player of the lyre and a writer of psalms, his love of music was apparent. He elevated music to a regular feature of worship. Prior to this we have little record of music’s place in Jewish worship. We know that Moses set apart priests from the tribe of Levi to serve in the temple worship and that he wrote and performed at least three worship songs (Ex. 15, Deut. 32, and Psa. 90). But David was the first to “set apart” musicians from the Levites to join their brothers in worship. God gifted them, so that they “prophesied” with musical instruments and singing. This is the highest purpose of both spoken and musical language, that it would forth-tell (“prophesy”) the Word of God. And so, believing humanity joined the angels and the stars (Job 38:7) in the heavenly chorus of praise to God.
What is “propitiation?” In the original Greek, the word is ἱλαστήριον, hilastérion. It is a sin offering put forth to satisfy and appease the wrath of God towards sin. It may also refer to the mercy seat, which was the covering of the ark, upon which the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement. Propitiation involves two parts: 1) It satisfies the offended party’s need for judgment, and 2) It reconciles the offender to the offended party. Since the “wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23), the only acceptable justice is death. Yet God, the offended party, put forth His own propitiation for us in the offering of the blood of Christ Jesus, satisfying both His holiness and His love. At the cross we see both the terrible ugliness of our sin and the awesome love of God intermingled. For God’s great love and holiness are there displayed. Those who have “received by faith” this propitiation are now completely forgiven of their sins and fully reconciled to God.
Are you easily angered or offended? If so, this is not the fault of others as you often feel, but it is your own self-disposition that perceives every word, a dig, and every look, a personal slight. Give your self-image to the Lord. Let Christ teach you of your own self. Find your identity in Him. Then, you will have His wisdom to be slow to anger. You will develop the reputation of being un-offendable. For you will have taken on the meekness of Christ. And meekness is not weakness, but strength under control. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself, but rather, it is not thinking of yourself at all. So, it is “good sense” to stop taking everything so personally. And to start living according to the unoffendable and glorious life of Christ.