An effective ransom

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 3-4; Psalm 6

TO CHEW ON: "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Galatians 4:4,5

Kidnapping is a crime that strikes fear into a parent's heart. Though the demands for ransom that sometimes accompany kidnappings give a glimmer of hope, the stories of abduction victims never redeemed but found dead even after ransom was paid, are chilling (10 Unsolved Ransom Kidnappings).

God is a parent whose human children were, in a sense, abducted—kidnapped by Satan. As such they (we) were in bondage, not tied up in the trunk of a car or hidden in an out-building, but prisoners to Satan and his workings in circumstances and through our enemies, captive to our default setting of sin, to our inability to keep God's law, to the curse of sin on creation, and to death.

But, praise the Lord, our kidnapping has a happy ending. The ransom paid—Jesus' death on the cross—was effective. Because of it we are or can be redeemed from:

• circumstances - Psalm 34:19-22.

• enemies - Psalm 69:18.

• the bondage and guilt of sin - Psalm 130:7,8.

• the need to keep the law - Galatians 4:5.

• And we look forward to a time when this ransom will effect the release of nature from the curse of sin (Romans 8:19-23), including death (Psalm 103:2-4).

Do we appreciate God's ransom—His Son Jesus become human for us, dying for us? Have we applied it personally to our own lives? Do we live by faith, as freed sons and daughters of the Father who has redeemed us?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus who laid down His life as a ransom for me. I no longer belong to Satan but to You. When I forget this, please remind me by Your Spirit that I am Your daughter—that You are my "Abba" - Daddy. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 6


 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Taking a principled stand

"Peter and Paul" by El Greco

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 1-2; Psalm 5

TO CHEW ON: "And I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles." Galatians 2:2

In Galatians 1, Paul told the Galatians (a collection of churches in Galatia) that he had special revelation from Jesus (Galatians 1:12). In chapter 2 he goes on to explain how, after fourteen years of ministry, he went to see the leadership in Jerusalem to explain his position.

What was his position? That Christ's work on the cross alone was sufficient for salvation. The law-keeping work of circumcision was not needed to be saved (Galatians 5:1-6).

But in Jerusalem he got push-back.  Some "false brothers" insisted Titus (a Greek) be circumcised. He and Titus resisted this (Galatians 2:3-5).

The Jerusalem leadership did eventually accept his message and ministry to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:7-9), but not without reluctance from Peter, who had started avoiding fellowship with Gentile Christians. Paul pointed out the hypocrisy of this. Peter had earlier championed freedom from dietary laws so why was he now reverting back to separating himself in a "holier-than-thou" way (Galatians 2:11-14)?

What I admire about Paul here is his principled stand and how he stuck with it no matter what others said. He wasn't swayed by "false brethren." Nor did he change his message for "those who were of reputation"—the church leadership.

There's a lot of pressure on Christian leaders to change message of Christianity these days. That pressure is coming form outside the church and within it, to soften official positions especially in the realm of sexual ethics.

Though the Bible takes a clear position on things like adultery, fornication, homosexuality and gender identity, pressure is exerted from all sides (within and without the church) for churches to move from biblical positions of calling these things sin to accepting them as normal. Will our pastors and leaders have the courage to continue to uphold what the Bible says, even when it's unpopular? What about us in the pews?

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to live first and foremost for Your approval. Help me especially to not be swayed by social pressure. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY:  Psalm 5

The Bible Project VIDEO: Galatians (Read Scripture Series)



 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The rebel within

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 7-8; Psalm 136

TO CHEW ON: "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." Romans 7:24-25

Who of us can't relate to the split personality inside each of us that Paul writes about here? Some ideas he develops in this passage:

1. The law is a mixed blessing.
What law is Paul talking about? I think we can safely assume he is referring at the very least of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). He mentions one of them ("You shall not covet") in verse 7.

Jewish readers would also probably have thought of the myriad of laws connected to their worship. These involved offerings, feast days, circumcision, refraining from certain foods etc. We know a lifetime of religiously doing such things can put one into bondage, fearing that if something is left out, it will lead to damnation, It's another way the law puts one in shackles.

Paul describes the law as the thing that revives an inner struggle (so, in a way, bad) and also "holy, just, and good" (Romans 7:12).

2. Awareness of the law awakens within us the desire to break it (Romans 7:7-12).
The very presence of a rule is a challenge to our perverse human nature to break that rule.

3. We are born in sin with a bent to rebel against God and His law.
The tendency to sin is our default setting (Romans 7:14-18). And so as Christians, our desires (wanting to obey Christ) and our actions (disobedience, because it comes naturally) often contradict each other (Romans 7:19).

4. But there is a way out of this law-awakened rebellion against God—a way to get unchained from this "body of death":

This body of death: The figure of a person chained to a corpse from which he cannot be freed, despairing of deliverance…"

It is "Through Jesus Christ our Lord":

"But despair gives way to a declaration of victory, not because the struggle ceases, but because human strength is exceeded by the power of the Holy Spirit" - Wayne Grudem, commentary notes on Romans, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1561).

As we experience what Paul is talking about, let's allow the Spirit full sway in our hearts to change our desires so that we fulfill the "law of God" (Romans 7:22) not only with our minds but with our flesh as well.

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, be alive and active in me so that I desire to obey—not rebel—God's will as expressed through His moral laws.  Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 136

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A test of family loyalty

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 21-23; Psalm 60

TO CHEW ON: “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of the city, to the gate of his city.” Deuteronomy 21:18,19


One day before the February 14th Florida school shooting, a grandmother in Everett Washington reported her grandson to the police. This was after reading disturbing entries in his journal, entries in which he talked about shooting up his school (Read CNN article.)

What a test of family loyalty! And yet, for the greater good—the good of the community and this kid— this grandma reported her grandson for short-term pain.

The test of family ties in our reading is even more extreme. Parents were to bring their stubborn, rebellious, disobedient, gluttonous, alcoholic son to the elders, not for a scolding or a fine or lockup but stoning (Deuteronomy 21:21).

We’ve been studying the SHEMA which the Israelites prayed regularly:

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” - Deuteronomy 6:5. 

Such a radical family “betrayal,” then, could be seen as part of that heart, soul and strength love for a God who hated, condemned and punished these sins.

Of course we now live in the New Testament church era. Jesus’ death on the cross has atoned for our sins of stubbornness, rebellion, disobedience, gluttony, addiction etc. It’s not that our current sin is any less serious, but that God’s holy wrath at our wrong-doing has been satisfied by Jesus’ death in our stead.

Still, I believe there is a principle for us here, seen in the singlehearted focus of the parents. Jesus in the NT also referred to the cost of following Him in Matthew 10:34-39. In that section he described how His coming into a life could have the potential to mess with relationships, especially in the family:

“‘For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or more more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worth of Me'” - Matthew 10:35-37.

Do we have this OT/NT devotion to Jesus that trumps even blood ties?


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, may my love for You be stronger than any love tie on earth. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 60

The Bible Project VIDEO: The Law (Theme series)



 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Government and you

The legislative buildings in Victoria, BC,
outlined in lights. - Photo © 2013 by V. Nesdoly

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 13:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Romans 13:1

If you listen to talk shows on radio or watch news channels on TV, you'll know that one of the favourite topics is to criticize the government. People have made careers out of it! Our practice of second-guessing political decisions and freely offering our opinions — often in strong language — has made serving as an elected official an often thankless and unattractive job.

What a different attitude toward government Paul tells Christians to take in Romans 13. Some ideas he puts forward that should impact our behaviour:

1. Governing authorities are actually "appointed by God" (Romans 13:1 - see also Daniel 4:32; Psalm 75:6-7).
Even evil governments, we ask? The footnotes in my study Bible comments:

"Paul does not suggest that God approves corrupt government, ungodly officials or unjust legislation. Sometimes, however, in punishment for the sins of a people or for other reasons known to Him, God allows evil rulers to have authority for a time, as the Old Testament prophets frequently testify" (New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1570).

2. We should be subject to authorities (Romans 13:2).
If they are there by God's permission, even appointment, they are, in effect, God's government of us. Being subject means that we obey the laws of a particular government's jurisdiction (federal, provincial or civic).

However, we can make the case for civil disobedience. If obeying the laws of the land causes us to sin, our first loyalty is to God (Esther 4:16; Daniel 3:12-18; 6:10; Matthew 2:12; Acts 5:29; Hebrews 11:23).

3. Killing done by the state — to keep order and to hand out retribution — is different from murder (Romans 13:4).
Paul talks about the government officials who "bear the sword" (and why would one bear a sword unless to kill, or as a threat to kill?) as "God's minister" and "avenger." My Bible's footnotes explain:

"The fact that God authorizes governments as His servants to use force even to the point of taking human life does not contradict the command 'You shall not murder' in Exodus 20:13. The word used in that commandment refers to criminal murder and does not include judicial taking of life or killing in war, for which the OT uses other words. The same is true of the Greek word translated "kill" or "murder' in such NT passages as Matthew 5:21" - New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1570.

4. We should obey government as a matter of good conscience toward God and not only because we're in danger of getting caught and punished if we don't, (Romans 13:5-7). This includes paying taxes without complaining (...ouch!).

In a democratic society, it's often hard to submit meekly to government as Paul tells us we should. To be fair, we need to utilize all the ways our democratic freedoms give us to get a government we can support (like vote, give feedback to our representatives, even join and support the political party of our choice). But if we really believed that our government was there by God's ordaining, and we spent as much time praying for our authorities as we do criticizing them, we'd probably find them much easier to obey.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to have an attitude toward government that pleases You. Today I bring before You Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Horgan and the mayor of my town. May Your will be done in their lives and, through them, in my country, province and city today. Amen.

***************
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Backsliding

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 4:8-31

TO CHEW ON: "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?" Galatians 4:9


In our reading today Paul continues to make his case against the Galatians returning to life under the law. What he calls a "turn again" we might label backsliding  [a relapse into bad ways or error]. We find the tendency to turn again, turn back, or backslide throughout the Bible.

Backsliding in the Bible

• Moses warned the Israelites about returning to the ways of Egypt in his Deuteronomy sermon - Deuteronomy 17:16.

• Throughout the Old Testament the prophets pleaded with the Israelites to stop their backsliding - e.g. Hosea 6:4. For them the symptom was often idol worship. Such backsliding was called a sin against God (Jeremiah 14:7) and a sin that angered God (Isaiah 1:4).

• The backslider's heart was affected. It was self-absorbed (Proverbs 14:14), stubborn (Hosea 11:7), cold (Matthew 24:12), and loveless (Revelation 2:4).

• Backsliding caused people to make nonsensical substitutions. The psalmist called it  a return to "folly" (Psalm 85:8). In Galatians 1:6 Paul called it a return to a "different gospel." In our reading he described that to which they were returning as the "weak and beggarly elements" which would put them in "bondage" (Galatians 4:9). Peter described such a return to the old as becoming "again entangled" (2 Peter 2:20).

• Backsliding made the backslider unfit for kingdom work (Luke 9:62; Hebrews 10:38).

How to keep from backsliding

We recognize that we are as apt to backslide as were the Israelites and the Galatians. What can we do to keep from going back, both into old sinful lifestyles and/or old spiritual forms and practices?

* Guard who we associate with.  Solomon was lured into backsliding by his idol-worshiping wives (1 Kings 11:4).

* Beware of the world's attractions (2 Timothy 5:10).

* Don't let success change us and tempt us to become self-sufficient (Zephaniah 1:6).

* Become rooted in God's word  (Luke 8:13).

* Fill our lives with good things (Luke 11:24-26).

* Depend on the Holy Spirit's insights (John 6:63,64,66).


PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to be aware of my own tendency to backslide in big and little ways. May my life be one of progress in Kingdom growth, not regression into faithless fear, self-direction, and independence. Amen. 

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Law-living—so yesterday

Image: Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 3:6-25

TO CHEW ON: "What purpose then does the law serve?" Galatians 3:19


Paul attempts to dissuade the Galatians from reverting back to living by the Jewish law. His argument includes some facts about the law. Embedded in those facts are ways that the law is inferior to faith.

1. The law makes us aware of sin (without giving us a way to deal, finally, with sin). I love how clearly the Amplified puts it: "It (the Law) was added—later on, after the promise, to disclose and expose to men their guilt…" - Galatians 3:19 AMP.

2. It was given by angels and Moses (while faith came through the "Seed," Jesus). The Amplified again: "…and [the Law] was ordained through angels and delivered to Israel by the hand of a mediator [Moses, the mediator between God and Israel, to be in effect] until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made" - Galatians 3:19 AMP.

3. The law was complementary to the promises of God, not contrary to them. Though it couldn't give life, it led to Jesus fulfilling it and offering His life in our stead - Galatians 3:21,22.

4. Paul pictures the law as a set of rules that has people under arrest, in jail to sin, guarded by the law, which no one could ever completely live up to:  "But the Scripture has imprisoned everyone [everything—the entire world] under sin..." Galatians 3:22 (AMP); " But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law" - Galatians 3:23 NKJV.

5. The law is also a tutor or trainer to prepare its adherents for full privileges as sons: "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ..."  Galatians 3:24

What do these things have to do with us who have never struggled with the pressure of living under the Jewish law? Some things that come to mind:

• Viewing the Galatians' struggle between law-based versus faith-based righteousness helps us understand God's plan and His gradual revealing of it.

• The contrast between law vs. faith helps us appreciate the immensity of what Christ did on the cross.

• The comparison between the two also gives us an understanding of how living by faith is better than living by law.

• We are warned of the danger of getting enslaved by any set of laws.

I love the way Paul concludes his thought, one verse beyond today's prescribed reading: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ" - Galatians 3:26.

By faith we're not guilty and helpless to change, not jailed as prisoners to a set of rules we can never fulfill, not  students under discipline and training, but have the privileges of family, called God's very sons (and daughters)!

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me understand at a life-level how Your death and resurrection has set me free from earning my salvation by fulfilling any set of law requirements. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Don't slip back into legalism

Image: Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 2:15-3:5

TO CHEW ON: "'For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.'" Galatians 2:18

It's easy for us to slip back into legalistic ways if we have been brought up under a legalistic system. Our reading today is Paul's reasoning against that.

In the first part, Paul repeats to the Galatians what he said to Peter and other apostles (Galatians 2:14-21). It is the argument he made in Jerusalem for justification (appearing pure before God—"just as if I had never sinned") by faith, not by keeping the law (Galatians 2:16).

Then he addresses the Galatians directly about their tendency to do the same thing: "O foolish Galatians! … Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 2:1,2).

I love how Leslyn Musch sums up this principle in the "Truth-In-Action Through Galatians" article in my Bible. Under the title "The Walk of Faith" she writes:

"Faith accepts God's testimony in a trusting, childlike manner and salvation as a free gift. The Law was given to lead us to Christ; thus any use of the Law as a means of earning our salvation is a distortion. By nature mankind presumes to seek salvation by works. It seems offensive to the flesh to believe we cannot. But God's word says it is an offense to Him to believe we can" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1641.

And so Paul would say to us, who feel in our heart of hearts that God loves us more and accepts us on the basis of what we do and how we live—No.

 "Tell me this one thing: did you receive God's Spirit by doing what the Law requires or by hearing the gospel and believing it? How can you be so foolish! You began by God's Spirit; do you now want to finish by your own power? " - Galatians 3:2,3 (GNT).

Let's not rebuild for ourselves and others the legalistic structures of our time—church attendance, financial giving, time spent in fasting and prayer, amount of serving and ministry we do, etc.,—as ways to gauge how well we and they are living the Christian life and how much we're pleasing God and earning His love. For it's all a gift:

"Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing" - Ephesians 2:8-10 (MSG) emphasis added.  

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for paying the complete price for my salvation. Help that my motivation for living in ways You condone arises from my love for You and the realization that Your ways are designed for my best present and future. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked GNT are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition). Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.


Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

More than just words

Detail of "Moses and the Tables of the Law" (1481-1482) 

by Cosimo Rosselli.

View entire painting and information at Art and the Bible.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 34:19-35

TO CHEW ON: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." Exodus 34:27


In the first part of Exodus 34, God warns the people about compromising with and adopting the religious practices of the idol-worshiping tribes of Canaan. In today's reading God gives specific things His people can do to guard against such syncretism and assimilation.

1. Keep the feasts and in this way remember what God has done for them in the past - Exodus 34:19,20.

2. Give God a portion of their possessions and in this way acknowledge that their stuff is really all His - Exodus 34:19,20.

3. Take off one day in seven from work as a day of rest to give life a healthy balance and remind them of their ultimate dependence on God - Exodus 34:21.

4. Obey God's instructions down to the detail. God's instructions about not offering a blood sacrifice with leaven had to do with the spiritual symbolism of blood (life) and leaven (sin). Whether they understood the connection or not, they were to follow these details that illustrated spiritual truths - Exodus 34:25

Though we don't observe the same rituals today, I would submit that doing some of these things could also be faith-building practices that might serve as preventative medicine against backsliding for us.  We too could:

• Remember our history with God, commemorating not only the Bible events (like Christmas and Easter) but remembering and retelling the stories of God at work in our lives.

• Give regularly to kingdom projects—our church, missions, the poor. Where we put our money is, after all, a good indication of what we truly value - Matthew 6:21.

• Rest one day in seven from our work. Besides giving us the needed physical break, this practice reminds us that our ultimate trust is in God for the success of our work.

• Obey God's instructions about how to live and conduct ourselves. No, we don't struggle with whether there is leaven in the house or how to handle the blood of a sacrifice.  But every day we do make choices that have spiritual implications. One area  we do this is in our family relationships, where our lifestyle is a testimony to the spiritual realm - Ephesians 5:22-6:12.

As it was for the Israelites so it is for us. Belief isn't just assent and words. We need to affirm, solidify, and protect what we say we believe with our actions.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to give You not only lip service but demonstrate my loyalty to You with my life. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Escape the grip of unhealthy tradition

Dress of a Pharisee

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 7:1-13

TO CHEW ON: " ' Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.' " Mark 7:13

You've probably heard the story of the young wife who cut the end off every roast before placing it in the oven. When her husband quizzed her about it, she said that's what her mom did. Mom said she did it because that's what her mother did. Grandma finally solved the mystery. "My roasting pan was too small," she said. "The roast didn't fit unless I cut the end off."

The religious pharisaic traditions we hear about in today's reading are just as binding and buried in history. Jesus names two: hand washing and Corban.

The ritual hand washing tradition came about when Jewish religious leaders decided it would please God if all people followed the hand washings done by the priests making the temple sacrifices. As well, "The Pharisees taught that religious defilement could be spread by touch, so they prescribed elaborate ceremonies of cleansing" - J. Lyle Story, notes on Mark, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1362.

"'Corban' means withdrawing something from its intended use as though it were an offering made to God" - Ibid.  After a person had declared Corban over his property, he could continue to use it himself for as long as he lived but couldn't transfer its use to anyone else. Thus if he changed his mind and wished to move his parents onto that piece of property or sell it for cash, the law of Corban made that impossible.

These traditions offend Jesus. Later on in the chapter He teaches about real filthiness and how to be cleansed from it (Mark 7:18-23). In our reading He scolds the leaders for not allowing the people to obey the moral law of honouring parents with their man-made tradition law of Corban.

I see at least two lessons for me—and all of us—to learn here:

1. We need to be aware of any tradition or custom that would cause us to break God's moral law. For example, does the violation of our church's (unwritten) dress code cause us to be unfriendly to those who come in dressed, say, for the beach? Jesus wants to love the world through us (John 3:16).

2. We need to be aware of any system of rules or traditions that tell us this is what one needs to do to please God. This makes our faith a system of works, not grace. Even a tradition of church attendance and Bible reading could function in this way, reassuring us we've earned God favour. But that's not how it's done^{: "}For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" - Ephesians 2:8,9.


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize the unhelpful traditions in my life and escape their hold on me. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Is sin just an opinion?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 John 3:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4

More and more our society is losing its connection to moral absolutes. Justin P. McBrayer (a Colorado professor of philosophy) writes recently in the Opinionator column of the New York Times: "What would you say if you found out that our public schools were teaching children it is not true to say that it's wrong to kill people for fun or cheat on tests? Would you be surprised?"

He goes on to describe his visit to his son's Grade 2 classroom where two definitions hung over the bulletin board:

"Fact: Something that is true about a subject and can be tested or proven.

Opinion: What someone thinks, feels or believes."

These two definitions, he points out, leave no room for things that are true even if no once can prove them and things that we believe which can also be proven, like historical facts. He found assignments where kids were asked to categorize statements as facts or opinions. When sorting statements such as  "Copying homework assignments is wrong" and "Cursing in school is inappropriate behaviour" the correct answer was that they were opinions. His conclusion:

"In summary, our public schools teach students that all claims are either facts or opinions and that all value and moral claims fall into the latter camp. The punchline: there are no moral facts. And if there are no moral facts, then there are no moral truths" - reported by Dr. Albert Mohler in "The Briefing 03-20-15," original article:  "Why Our Children Don't Think There Are Moral Facts").

This, of course, is a far cry from what the Bible teaches. Today's reading from 1 John 3 repeats the word "sin" in various forms ten times. Sin, by its very definition, assumes that moral facts (truths) exist:

[Sin - hamartia: to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to wander from the law of Gd; violate God's law.]

What is sin, according to the Bible?

• The verse we're focusing on defines sin as lawlessness or rebellion against God's law - 1 John 3:4.

• Unrestrained talk and foolishness are both called sin - Proverbs 10:19; 24:9.

• Contempt for others is sin - Proverbs 14:21.

• Whatever is not done from faith is sin - Romans 14:23.

• Failing to do something good when we have the ability/opportunity to do it is sin - James 4:17.

• All unrighteousness is sin - 1 John 5:17.

Though governing our lives by these standards may put us increasingly out of step with a world that insists God's standards are mere opinions, I'd rather find myself in the company that John describes at the beginning of the chapter: "called children of God," "like Him," full of the "hope" of seeing Him. As a result I need to line up my life with His standards of purity (1 John 3:1-3) no matter what others think of them.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me grow in my sensitivity and abhorrence to the things You consider sin and to live for the day I see You. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Law and liberty

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 119:33-48

TO CHEW ON: "And I will walk at liberty (Lit. "in a wide place")

For I seek Your precepts." Psalm 119:45

Does it not seem strange that in the middle of a psalm that is all about keeping laws, commandments, precepts, and statues, the writer talks about liberty? Don't laws keep us hedged in by boundaries thus taking our liberty away?

A brief pass through the Bible to look at other places it speaks of liberty may shed some light on this seeming contradiction.

- Psalm 107:14 talks about liberty from darkness and the shadow of death. It's a reminder that we're prisoners of our decaying disintegrating bodies.

- Isaiah 61:1 quoted by Jesus as a reference to Himself in Luke 4:18 tells us liberty comes through Jesus:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

       Because He has anointed Me

      To preach the gospel to the poor;

      He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

      To proclaim liberty to the captives

      And recovery of sight to the blind,

      To set at liberty those who are oppressed;"

With a little imagination we can relate to our lives the liberties Jesus declared. Who doesn't need liberty from disappointment, destructive habits and addictions, ignorance, and the oppression of others?

- In John 8:32 Jesus reminds us of the power of truth to set us free. And don't we remember the claims of Christ in this regard: "I am the way the truth and the life..." Freedom points back to Jesus.

- 2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us this liberty is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit and His presence in us. But we can lose it if we let our focus drift from trusting in Jesus to anything else for our liberty. As Paul warns the Galatians.

It's all a reminder that our apparent freedom when left to ourselves is not freedom at all but bondage to other things that tend toward our destruction. And we are back to our psalm writer who knew by faith that loving, studying, and adhering to all God's laws, commandments, precepts, and statues really did lead to liberty—a liberty that, hundreds of years after this psalm was written, was bought by Jesus' death and resurrection so that we, through His life in us, can live free now.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to place my will under Your dominion, for I will be captive to something or someone in any case. I want that Someone to be You. Amen.


***********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Faith graft

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 3:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh:" Galatians 3:2-3

If you had the possibility of getting a university degree either by earning it with studies or having it bestowed as an honour, which would you choose? Personally, though an honorary degree would be nice, I think I'd choose the work way, just to have the satisfaction of knowing I had earned it and was worthy of that degree. It's that way with a lot of things in life.

There's something in us humans that loves being capable. It's hard for us to accept others doing something for us. However, establishing and maintaining a relationship with God ia not in the category of something we can do for ourselves.

Earlier in Galatians, Paul has explained that we can't earn our salvation. In today's reading he goes on to say it's just as impossible to be sanctified ("made perfect in the flesh") through works.

Andrew Murray in his book Abiding In Christ, addresses our dilemma:

"A superficial acquaintance with God's plan leads to the view that while justification is God's work by faith in Christ, sanctification is our work, to be performed under the influence of the gratitude we feel for the deliverance we have experienced and by the aid of the Holy Spirit. But the earnest Christian soon finds how little gratitude can supply the power. When he thinks that more prayer will bring it, he finds that, indispensable as prayer is, it is not enough. Often the believer struggles hopelessly for years, until he listens to the teaching of the Spirit as He glorifies Christ again, and reveals Christ, our sanctification to be appropriated by faith alone."

He goes on to explain this "appropriation" as a tree graft:

"If I want a tree made wholly good I take it when young, and cutting the stem clean off on the ground, I graft it just where it emerges from the soil. I watch over every bud which the old nature could possibly put forth until the flow of sap from the old roots into the new stem is so complete that the old life has, as it were, been entirely conquered and covered by the new. Here I have a tree entirely renewed -- emblem of the Christian who has learned in entire consecration to surrender everything for Christ, and in a wholehearted faith wholly to abide in Him."

Murray suggests that if the gardener talked to the tree, this is what He would say:

"Yield now yourself entirely to this new nature with which I have invested you; repress every tendency of the old nature to give buds or sprouts; let all your sap and all your life powers rise up into this graft."

And the grafted tree would say to the Gardener:

"When you graft me, O spare not a single branch; let everything of the old self, even the smallest bud, be destroyed that I may no longer live in my own, but in that other life that was cut off and brought and put upon me, that I might be wholly new and good." (Abiding In Christ - Chapter 9 - Kindle version).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this grafted-in life that You make available through the finished work of Jesus. Help me, by faith, to live this way. Amen.

MORE: Grafting
The picture of a plant graft could also be implied by Jesus when He talks about us abiding in Him in John 15:1-8 (in fact, that is the passage on which Murray's book is based). Grafting is an interesting process. As you read this Wikipedia explanation of plant grafting, look for ways it is like our life in Christ.

"Grafting is a method of asexual plant propagation widely used in agriculture and horticulture where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another...

"In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots, and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits and is called the scion. The scion contains the desired genes to be duplicated in future production by the stock/scion plant.

"In stem grafting, a common grafting method, a shoot of a selected, desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock of another type....

"For successful grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive until the graft has taken, usually a period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular connection take place between the two tissues.

Read the whole article.

***********

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission. 

Hypocrisy Exposé

"Paul turns to the Gentiles (Acts 13)" by F. Laporta - Bible Artwork Vol. 10

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "For before certain men came from James, he (Peter) would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy."  Galatians 2:12-13

Here it seems Peter let his actions be influenced by peer pressure In spite of his championing the cause of the Gentiles in front of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:6-11) he was again distancing himself from them. While before he had been happy to eat with them, the presence of "certain men … from James" caused him to withdraw. Peter had influence and so his actions were causing others, even the encourager Barnabas, to follow suit.

Paul named Peter's actions hypocrisy.

[Hypocrisy - hypokrisis was used of play-acting, role-playing, pretending and thus acting insincerely.]

I see a double warning in Paul's exposé of Peter's hypocrisy:


1. We too can be influenced by the legalists among us, letting our actions be governed by what these 'super-spirituals' will think and say rather than by what God has revealed in the Bible. Paul's foundation is rock-solid in this regard. This incident is the setting from which he wrote his inspirational living-by-faith-not-works manifesto:

"For I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me" - Galatians 2:20  (emphasis added).

2. We can be the legalists whose emphasis on outer things causes others to act hypocritically. Let's examine our pet standards. They may come from good sources: our upbringing, denominational emphases, life experience. Still we need to ask, does the Bible support them? Or are they the type of burden Paul accused the false brethren of imposing here?

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me the wisdom to spot hypocrisy in my attitudes and that of others. Help me to live in Your freedom and not in the shadow of human-made restrictions and rules of exclusivity that change according to which group I'm with. Amen.

***********

The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

"I did the best I could"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 3:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20

Many people, if asked why God should let them into heaven when they die, respond with some version of: "I did the best I could." Even amongst us who claim to trust Jesus alone as our means to heaven, there is sometimes a sense of earning our way by being good enough.

In our focus verse from Romans, Paul squelches any possibility of that. There's a lot to explore in this one short verse.

1. It implies the need of humans to justify* themselves before God.
Way back in His unfolding revelation, God showed at least two things about Himself:
- He is personal: note His personal appearances to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and many others.
- He is demanding: shown by the giving of the ten commandments and the Mosaic law with penalties for failing to comply.

Theologian H. C. Thiessen says, in his Lectures in Systematic Theology: "The specifications of the divine commands with the announced penalty which would follow failures to obey served to arouse a conviction of guilt and fear of the consequences of sin" - p. 276.

2. It tells us that we can't be justified by keeping the law.
Though we do still take the Ten Commandments as our standard of morality, "They are repeated for our instruction as to what the will of the Lord is, but not as precepts that we are to endeavour to keep in order to become righteous. 'That would be useless,' Paul says,'by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified'" - Thiessen, p. 242.


3. It implies there is a way to be justified.
It is through Jesus. He paid the death penalty for our sin. We trust in Him alone.

"Paul declares that by the works of the law no flesh is justified in His sight. The law merely serves to reveal sin and to impel the convicted soul to flee to Christ. Jesus taught that the 'work of God' is to 'believe on Him whom He hath sent (John 6:29).


Men are not saved by 'doing the best they can' as the statement is commonly understood; but they are saved by 'doing the best they can' if thereby they mean that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:12)." - Thiessen p. 365.

No matter how "good" we are, it's not enough to save us. We are all, from the most heinous murderer to the most saintly Mother Teresa, on level ground before God and in need of Jesus' death to be justified (i.e. reconciled with God).


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus who kept the law, and then died in my stead because I can't keep it. Help me to hold my dependence on You and Your justification through Jesus always in mind. Amen.


MORE: "Welcome to the place of level ground" by Brian Doerksen



"Welcome to the place of level ground" lyrics and cord chart.

*Justify: 
1] To show to be just, right or reasonable; vindicate.
2] To declare or prove guiltless or blameless, absolve, excuse.
3] To cause to be free of grievous sin, and be reconciled with God.

Liberty

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 4:21-5:1

TO CHEW ON: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." Galatians 5:1

At the time I am writing this we are in a season of TV program finales. Last Sunday night the final episode of "Survivor" aired. Last night twitter was full of anticipation over the final episode of "Lost." I watched the ending of "Celebrity Apprentice" (oh foolish woman) -- and vowed next season I wouldn't let myself start following one of these entertaining time-wasters. Because they sure get their hooks in you so you want, no need, to see the next episode, and the next, and the next…

It's a type of bondage, what the dictionary describes as "subjection to any influence or domination." And it's the topic of our today's reading in Galatians.

The bondage that Paul is pleading with the Galatians to throw off once and for all is bondage to keeping the ceremonial law as a way of earning God's favour. The whole reason for that law is because we're under another kind of bondage -- a slavery to ourselves and our own sinful natures. Our dilemma is depicted throughout scripture.

- We show our entrapment when we sin: "His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin" (Proverbs 5:22).

- We can't change this predilection to sin on our own (Jeremiah 13:23).

- Paul articulates the pinch we're in in Romans 7. Even the rules (law) which God gave to help us understand Him and His standards work against us in that they arouse sinful passions instead of quelling them (Romans 7:5). We find ourselves, despite our best efforts, in bondage to our sinful natures so that Paul cries out in frustration "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:22-24).

Paul answers his own question in Romans 8. We get free from our sinful selves not by trying to keep laws but by walking according to the Spirit: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1-2). It is in this freedom that Paul is pleading with the Galatians to "Stand fast."

What does living in this freedom look like in everyday living? Oswald Chambers says:

"Always keep your life measured by the standards of Jesus. Bow your neck to His yoke alone, and to no other yoke whatever; and be careful to see that you never bind a yoke on others that is not placed by Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us out of the way of thinking that unless everyone sees as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God's view. There is only one liberty, the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right." (My Utmost for His Highest - May 6 reading)

As I see it, it's a life lived by a conscience formed and sharpened by the Word of God and applied by the Holy Spirit. Your thoughts?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to life under Your light yoke. May I recognize and stay away from anything that would enslave me under a different yoke. Amen.

MORE: Jason Upton sings "Freedom Reigns"

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Faith graft

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 3:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh:" Galatians 3:2-3

If you had the possibility of getting a university degree either by earning it with studies or having it bestowed as an honour, which would you choose? Personally, though an honorary degree would be nice, I think I'd choose the work way, just to have the satisfaction of knowing I had earned it and was worthy of that degree. It's that way with a lot of things in life.

There's something in us humans that loves being capable. It's hard for us to accept others doing something for us. However, establishing and maintaining a relationship with God are not in the category of things we can do for ourselves.

Earlier in Galatians, Paul has explained that we can't earn our salvation. In today's reading he goes on to say it's just as impossible to be sanctified ("made perfect in the flesh") through works.

Andrew Murray in his book Abiding In Christ, addresses our dilemma:

"A superficial acquaintance with God's plan leads to the view that while justification is God's work by faith in Christ, sanctification is our work, to be performed under the influence of the gratitude we feel for the deliverance we have experienced and by the aid of the Holy Spirit. But the earnest Christian soon finds how little gratitude can supply the power. When he thinks that more prayer will bring it, he finds that, indispensable as prayer is, it is not enough. Often the believer struggles hopelessly for years, until he listens to the teaching of the Spirit as He glorifies Christ again, and reveals Christ, our sanctification to be appropriated by faith alone."

He goes on to explain this "appropriation" as a tree graft:

"If I want a tree made wholly good I take it when young, and cutting the stem clean off on the ground, I graft it just where it emerges from the soil. I watch over every bud which the old nature could possibly put forth until the flow of sap from the old roots into the new stem is so complete that the old life has, as it were, been entirely conquered and covered by the new. Here I have a tree entirely renewed -- emblem of the Christian who has learned in entire consecration to surrender everything for Christ, and in a wholehearted faith wholly to abide in Him."

Murray suggests that if the gardener talked to the tree, this is what He would say:

"Yield now yourself entirely to this new nature with which I have invested you; repress every tendency of the old nature to give buds or sprouts; let all your sap and all your life powers rise up into this graft."

And the grafted tree would say to the Gardener:

"When you graft me, O spare not a single branch; let everything of the old self, even the smallest bud, be destroyed that I may no longer live in my own, but in that other life that was cut off and brought and put upon me, that I might be wholly new and good." (Abiding In Christ - Chapter 9 - Kindle version).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this grafted-in life that You make available through the finished work of Jesus. Help me, by faith, to live this way.

MORE: Grafting

The picture of a plant graft could also be implied by Jesus when He talks about us abiding in Him in John 15:1-8 (in fact, that is the passage on which Murray's book is based). Grafting is an interesting process. As you read this explanation of plant grafting, look for ways it is like our life in Christ.

"Grafting is a method of asexual plant propagation widely used in agriculture and horticulture where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. It is most commonly used for the propagation of trees and shrubs grown commercially.

"In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots, and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits and is called the scion. The scion contains the desired genes to be duplicated in future production by the stock/scion plant.

"In stem grafting, a common grafting method, a shoot of a selected, desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock of another type.

"In another common form called budding, a dormant side bud is grafted on the stem of another stock plant, and when it has fused successfully, it is encouraged to grow by cutting out the stem above the new bud.

"For successful grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive until the graft has taken, usually a period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular connection take place between the two tissues.

"A physical weak point often still occurs at the graft, because the structural tissue of the two distinct plants, such as wood, may not fuse.

Read the whole article.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.