September 23, 2017
What is “grace?” Someone has said it is about “mercy, not merit.” This is true, yet grace is more than mercy. For mercy only withholds punishment. But grace forgives and adopts. Grace not only withholds what we do deserve, it gives us what we don’t deserve. For grace changes our status from rebel to righteous, from criminal against God, to child of God. Grace is the basis for our salvation (“by grace you have been saved”).
What is “faith?” It is trusting in the grace of God. Faith is the hand that takes hold of God’s gift, which is Christ Jesus, who died for our sins, was buried and raised on the third day. Yet, even this “hand” is a gift, for didn’t the God of grace also give us the “hand” of faith? So, do not make too much of your faith. It’s nothing to “boast” about. Even a child has the faith to open a gift. Therefore, if you boast, boast in the grace of God, which is Christ Jesus, our Lord!
So, if grace is the basis for our salvation and faith the means by which we receive it, then where do “good works” belong? If grace is the steam engine of salvation and faith is the coal car, then good works is the caboose. For good works follow salvation, but do not have the power to accomplish it. Good works are the evidence of salvation. They are the fruit on the branch that has been grafted into the Vine, which is Christ.
September 22, 2017
What is this “redemption?” When I was young my mother would collect “Green Stamps,” which were given as a bonus at most grocery stores. She would put them in a book and when she had collected enough, she would take her filled books to the Green Stamp store and “redeem” them for some desired item, usually something for the house, like silverware or a lamp. The doctrine of redemption has a similar meaning. The Greek word translated “redemption,” literally means to “buy back,” or to “buy out from.” Christ has bought us out from slavery to sin with His own blood. Redemption emphasizes that Christ has purchased us “out from” sin’s bondage and curse, which is death.
Yet, not only have we been redeemed “in Him, we have been forgiven “in Him.” This “forgiveness of sins” was accomplished by Christ’s sacrifice, which not only satisfied God’s justice, it reconciled us to God as our Father. This is the doctrine of propitiation.
So, “in Him” we have redemption, which buys us “out from” sin. And “in Him” we have forgiveness, which brings us “into” right relationship with God. All of this is accomplished “according to the riches of His grace.”
September 28, 2016
The apostle Paul warned the believers in Ephesus not to go out into the world unprotected from spiritual warfare. He told them to be prepared for trouble by putting on the “whole armor of God.” There are six components to this armor, five defensive and one offensive:
1) Belt of Truth
2) Breastplate of Righteousness
3) Gospel of Peace shoes
4) Shield of Faith
5) Helmet of Salvation
6) Sword of the Spirit – which is the Word of God. Our only offensive weapon.
Have you armored up today?
September 25, 2016
Both the goal and the means of our speech are described. The goal is maturity in Christ. The means is twofold: “truth” and “love.” The mission of the Church is to make disciples who are being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). The members of the Church are to speak the unvarnished, absolute truth to one another, so that they don’t fall prey to false doctrine and worldly deception. Yet, this truth should not be delivered in a harsh, judgmental way, but in a graceful and loving way. Our speech should have the goal of “building up” the hearer (Eph. 4:29). Some consider themselves truth-tellers and others are people-pleasers, but the Word calls for us to avoid both extremes. Instead, speak the truth in love.
September 22, 2016
God’s motive for adoption is here explained. It was “in love” that God chose us before we knew Him. It was God’s love that moved Him to save us and to give us the rights of sonship through adoption (John 1:12). While the doctrines of regeneration and justification describe our salvation from sin and death (Romans 8:2), the doctrine of adoption describes our new relationship as a beloved child of God.
September 27, 2015
Not living under the influence of alcohol, but under the Spirit’s control. Two commands are given here, with the first being illustrative to help understand and emphasize the second. They are: 1) Don’t allow your mind and senses to be dulled and dissipated under the influence of alcohol by getting drunk. 2) Instead, be continuously filled with the Spirit, so that your mind and body are always being submitted to the Spirit’s influence. This “filling” is not a once in a lifetime command or need, but a continuous, moment by moment one. Not because the Spirit leaves us, for He never leaves those He has sealed. But because we must continually drink from the Spirit as from a fountain that lives within us. Remember that Christ told the woman at the well that those who asked from Him would receive “living water” that would become in them a “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). The secret of living the abundant life is continuously living according to the Spirit’s filling, rather than by our own strength.
September 26, 2015
Everything has a “seal” or a child-proof cap on it these days. Designed to insure that the right person opens it and that the wrong person can’t, these seals offer quality assurance to the purchaser. The Bible says that when we are saved that God seals us with His Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us assurance of our salvation through Christ. Yet, when we sin, especially when we sin against fellow believers, it “grieves” the Spirit. It grieves God when we have unreconciled relationships. Having reconciled us to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ, and having sealed us with His Spirit, God has given us this ministry of reconciliation. We are to love God and others. This “grief” that we feel when we are not right with someone is further evidence of the Spirit’s seal. If you feel the Spirit’s grief today, move quickly to be reconciled and to feel His joy and peace again.
September 25, 2015
Some call the pastor the minister, but this is not biblical. The members are supposed to be the ministers. The pastor is to be an equipper. When Christ established the Church, he gave the gift of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the purpose of “equipping the saints.” When the members of the modern church realize that they are the ministers, we will see a return to the world-changing effectiveness of the 1st century church.
September 23, 2015
The Church is the people, not the steeple. Paul said that we are being “built on the foundation” of the New Testament apostles and the Old Testament prophets. And that Christ Himself is the “chief cornerstone.” We are the church. Not a place, but a people. Jesus is not only its cornerstone, He is also its builder. As He told Peter, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). We are to “be” the church, while Christ “builds” it.
September 26, 2014
In a generation of course communication we are to be different. Jesus taught that our words are an expression of our heart condition, saying, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do you speak for the edification of the hearer or to benefit yourself? Do you often need to just “air it out?” Or just get things “off your chest?” Do your words flow from a spiritually renewed heart, filled with the Holy Spirit? Or are they vomited forth from the old nature? Give your heart and your tongue to Jesus. Ask Him to tame your tongue and fill your communication with blessings and beauty.