Sin separates. Because we are born into sin, we begin this life in hostility toward God and inclined toward rebellion and sin. As soon as we are able to discern the difference between right and wrong, we head straight down the path to worship and please self, and we never look back! Sin separates us from our Creator, who has fashioned us in his image. We belong to God, and he will not allow our sinful, selfish, rebellious hearts to have the final say! Therefore, by divine grace God claims us for his own, works grace in our hearts, brings us to himself in repentance and faith in Christ, and thereby reconciles us to himself! It is then we realize how useless and vain was our previous life of sin!
Part of the joy of being reconciled to God is that he makes use of our reconciliation for his glory! One means that God uses to reconcile others to himself is our testimonies of reconciliation! We, who have been reconciled, now have a ministry of reconciliation. That is, we go about displaying a reconciled life and proclaiming God’s reconciliation through Christ to others. God uses our witness as a means to bring others to himself!
The question though is how God can perform reconciliation and remain holy and just and right. How can he receive sinners to himself and not count “their trespasses against them?” The answer is that the basis of reconciliation is found in the work of Christ on our behalf. 2 Cor 5:21 just may be the greatest verse in all Holy Writ! “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Our reconciliation with God is grounded in Christ. He took our sin and granted us his righteousness, and thereby opened the way for a holy, just God to reconcile us to himself!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Beholding Makes a Difference - 2 Cor 1-4
2 Cor 3:16-18 – “But when one turns the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Paul uses the veil that Moses wore to picture the veil that lies over every unbelieving heart. The veil is our sinful unbelief. The veil is the inability for an unbeliever to grasp spiritual truth. The veil is blindness to the glory of Christ and the Gospel. Repentance removes the veil! The result of conversion is that unbelief, inability to accept spiritual truth, and blindness to the beauty of Christ all are removed! When the veil is lifted, by grace, through the new birth, one really sees the glory of God for the first time!
Paul equates the removal of this veil with freedom because while under the veil we are enslaved to sin and darkness. However, once the veil is removed, we are truly free in the Lord! It is the Lord who brings this about. The Spirit of the Lord convicts us of sin, opens our eyes, removes the veil, and changes our hearts so that we can see with unveiled faces the beauty of the Gospel in Christ!
And that is not all! To behold the glory of God is to be changed by the glory of God! God not only frees us to look upon him, he also works within us so that we would reflect him, point to him, glorify him! It is the Spirit also who brings this change about. The more we gaze upon his glory, the more we mirror that glory! To truly see Christ is to be changed and continually changed by Christ! Beholding makes a difference!
Paul uses the veil that Moses wore to picture the veil that lies over every unbelieving heart. The veil is our sinful unbelief. The veil is the inability for an unbeliever to grasp spiritual truth. The veil is blindness to the glory of Christ and the Gospel. Repentance removes the veil! The result of conversion is that unbelief, inability to accept spiritual truth, and blindness to the beauty of Christ all are removed! When the veil is lifted, by grace, through the new birth, one really sees the glory of God for the first time!
Paul equates the removal of this veil with freedom because while under the veil we are enslaved to sin and darkness. However, once the veil is removed, we are truly free in the Lord! It is the Lord who brings this about. The Spirit of the Lord convicts us of sin, opens our eyes, removes the veil, and changes our hearts so that we can see with unveiled faces the beauty of the Gospel in Christ!
And that is not all! To behold the glory of God is to be changed by the glory of God! God not only frees us to look upon him, he also works within us so that we would reflect him, point to him, glorify him! It is the Spirit also who brings this change about. The more we gaze upon his glory, the more we mirror that glory! To truly see Christ is to be changed and continually changed by Christ! Beholding makes a difference!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Of First Importance - 1 Cor 13-16
What is primary in the life of a believer? What is the fundamental truth upon which a believer’s life is built? What is the foundation for the hope, peace, and joy that a believer possesses? What is of first importance? Paul leaves no doubt as to the answer in 1 Cor 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, is of first importance for the believer!
The Gospel is not proclaiming Jesus’ death only but that Jesus died for our sins! There was something eternally unique and eternally saving about the death of Christ. His death was more than an example of love or the murder of an innocent man. His death was payment for sin, securing salvation for all who would believe in Him. His death was for us, to save us from God’s wrath toward our sin and to cleanse us from the guilt of our sin.
Paul includes the burial of Christ in this nutshell Gospel description. This is so significant because you don’t bury living people, you bury dead people. Jesus really, actually died! To remove any doubt, he remained in the tomb three days! Since he was actually dead, then he actually defeated death! Through him we have everlasting life!
The final component is Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection announces that everything Christ said is true, and everything the Scriptures declare of him is true! The resurrection is proof positive that Jesus Christ is Messiah, that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is Savior! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is of first importance for all who believe!
The Gospel is not proclaiming Jesus’ death only but that Jesus died for our sins! There was something eternally unique and eternally saving about the death of Christ. His death was more than an example of love or the murder of an innocent man. His death was payment for sin, securing salvation for all who would believe in Him. His death was for us, to save us from God’s wrath toward our sin and to cleanse us from the guilt of our sin.
Paul includes the burial of Christ in this nutshell Gospel description. This is so significant because you don’t bury living people, you bury dead people. Jesus really, actually died! To remove any doubt, he remained in the tomb three days! Since he was actually dead, then he actually defeated death! Through him we have everlasting life!
The final component is Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection announces that everything Christ said is true, and everything the Scriptures declare of him is true! The resurrection is proof positive that Jesus Christ is Messiah, that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is Savior! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is of first importance for all who believe!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Followers of Paul or Christ - 1 Cor 9-12
Paul has urged the Corinthian believers twice in his letter to imitate him. 1 Cor 4:16 – “I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” 1 Cor 11:1 – “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” The call of Christ in the Gospel was to follow him. What is Paul saying here? Is he preaching another gospel? Is he making himself equal with Christ? Is he encouraging idolatry? How can he say, “Imitate me,” when Christ has said, “Follow me?”
Actually, Paul is not out of step with the Gospel at all in these pleas. His call for the Corinthians to imitate him is not contrary to Christ’s call for them to follow, it is one and the same. Paul’s new life of faith is a life following Christ Jesus. Paul has become a living, breathing, walking, talking example of what it means to follow Christ. So what does it mean to follow Christ? What would that look like? The Corinthians can look at Paul to find an answer to those questions.
Paul is not calling for the rise of a cult, he is calling for discipleship. He is essentially saying that his life before them is a model of true belief in Christ. He is following Christ and therefore provides an example for others to follow. Should a Corinthian believer ask, “What does it mean to follow Christ?” Another might reply, “Remember how Paul prayed? Remember how Paul loved? Remember how Paul taught others? Remember how Paul practiced humility? That is what it means to follow Christ.”
We should thank the Lord for those who model sincere, dynamic, mature faith before us. We need them. We need living portraits of faith. We need to know what it looks like. They give us real-life examples to follow as we are seeking to follow Christ!
Actually, Paul is not out of step with the Gospel at all in these pleas. His call for the Corinthians to imitate him is not contrary to Christ’s call for them to follow, it is one and the same. Paul’s new life of faith is a life following Christ Jesus. Paul has become a living, breathing, walking, talking example of what it means to follow Christ. So what does it mean to follow Christ? What would that look like? The Corinthians can look at Paul to find an answer to those questions.
Paul is not calling for the rise of a cult, he is calling for discipleship. He is essentially saying that his life before them is a model of true belief in Christ. He is following Christ and therefore provides an example for others to follow. Should a Corinthian believer ask, “What does it mean to follow Christ?” Another might reply, “Remember how Paul prayed? Remember how Paul loved? Remember how Paul taught others? Remember how Paul practiced humility? That is what it means to follow Christ.”
We should thank the Lord for those who model sincere, dynamic, mature faith before us. We need them. We need living portraits of faith. We need to know what it looks like. They give us real-life examples to follow as we are seeking to follow Christ!
Monday, May 3, 2010
And Such Were Some of You - 1 Cor 5-8
Our day of relativism and pluralism will argue vehemently that there is no set moral standard in God’s kingdom. The love of God, as defined by relativists, is the ground of God’s actions toward men. Therefore, because of his love, that is, his willingness to ignore our indulgence of sinful, self-centered pleasure, we are free to engage in any lifestyle and still take comfort in his salvation!
Nothing could be farther from the truth according to God’s timeless, infallible word! Paul warns in 1 Cor 6:9-10, “ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” The truth is that God’s love, as defined by God, is not separate from God’s holiness, which is his central attribute. To embrace and indulge a life of sinful rebellion is to reject Christ as all-sufficient. Our definition of love may have changed in this present culture, but God’s holiness has not! He is still offended by our sins and our excuses for our sins and our misrepresentation of his character to endorse our sins!
The grace of God is not a ticket to continue a life of sinful indulgence. The grace of God is a life-changing gift that conforms us to Christ and separates us from the world. As Paul continues in 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” True belief in Christ results in a change from sinful living not a happy, convenient coexistence with it!
Nothing could be farther from the truth according to God’s timeless, infallible word! Paul warns in 1 Cor 6:9-10, “ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” The truth is that God’s love, as defined by God, is not separate from God’s holiness, which is his central attribute. To embrace and indulge a life of sinful rebellion is to reject Christ as all-sufficient. Our definition of love may have changed in this present culture, but God’s holiness has not! He is still offended by our sins and our excuses for our sins and our misrepresentation of his character to endorse our sins!
The grace of God is not a ticket to continue a life of sinful indulgence. The grace of God is a life-changing gift that conforms us to Christ and separates us from the world. As Paul continues in 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” True belief in Christ results in a change from sinful living not a happy, convenient coexistence with it!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
So That No Man Could Boast - 1 Cor 1-4
The salvation of man is an act of God’s grace that is meant for the glory of God. That is, the ultimate purpose, is that God be praised for his mercy and grace by those whom he has graciously saved! That fundamental purpose becomes apparent when one sees the “why” and the “how” of salvation.
Why did God save us? Paul says in 1 Cor 1:26-29, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” God saved us not based on any good, outstanding, charming quality in us, but rather for the lack of those things. It is not because of our ability to improve God’s kingdom that he saved us! Paul pulls the rug of pride right out from under us and discloses to us that God saved us precisely because we did not have anything to offer him so that being saved by him from sheer grace we would not boast in self but boast in God!
How did God save us? Paul answers that question in the next two verses, 30-31. “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” Our salvation is entirely achieved through the work of Christ Jesus from beginning to end leaving no room for us to claim one single accomplishment as our own! As a result, the Lord receives 100% of the glory! Our boast is in him not in ourselves! To God be the glory!
Why did God save us? Paul says in 1 Cor 1:26-29, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” God saved us not based on any good, outstanding, charming quality in us, but rather for the lack of those things. It is not because of our ability to improve God’s kingdom that he saved us! Paul pulls the rug of pride right out from under us and discloses to us that God saved us precisely because we did not have anything to offer him so that being saved by him from sheer grace we would not boast in self but boast in God!
How did God save us? Paul answers that question in the next two verses, 30-31. “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” Our salvation is entirely achieved through the work of Christ Jesus from beginning to end leaving no room for us to claim one single accomplishment as our own! As a result, the Lord receives 100% of the glory! Our boast is in him not in ourselves! To God be the glory!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Mercy and Justice - 1 Kings 20-22
The mercy of the Lord is great! God is far more merciful than we define mercy, far more patient in his mercy than we comprehend mercy, and extends his mercy far beyond all expectations. Take Ahab for example! The Bible emphatically states in two passages that Ahab is the most vile and wicked of the kings of Israel. Hear carefully 1 Kings 21:25-26, “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols...” (cf 16:33) In one of his last acts of evil, Ahab takes Naboth’s property after Jezebel has him stoned to death.
Then in an unexpected, surprising turn of events, Ahab repents before the Lord for his evil deed. Even more surprising, after all his wickedness before the Lord, the Lord regards his repentance! The mercy of the Lord is great!
Mercy, however, does not override justice. God extends Ahab’s house for another generation, but he will not overlook the killing of an innocent man. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” As Ahab killed Naboth, so Ahab would soon be killed in battle.
The mercy of the Lord and the justice of the Lord function perfectly together. The mercy of the Lord shelters us from God’s full wrath against our sin. The justice of the Lord will not allow sin to reign unpunished. Mercy allows forgiveness. Justice does not allow one to sin and “get away with it!” Justice restrains us from further sin. Mercy catches us when we do sin. God is good, and God is right! His mercy is great and so is his justice.
Then in an unexpected, surprising turn of events, Ahab repents before the Lord for his evil deed. Even more surprising, after all his wickedness before the Lord, the Lord regards his repentance! The mercy of the Lord is great!
Mercy, however, does not override justice. God extends Ahab’s house for another generation, but he will not overlook the killing of an innocent man. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” As Ahab killed Naboth, so Ahab would soon be killed in battle.
The mercy of the Lord and the justice of the Lord function perfectly together. The mercy of the Lord shelters us from God’s full wrath against our sin. The justice of the Lord will not allow sin to reign unpunished. Mercy allows forgiveness. Justice does not allow one to sin and “get away with it!” Justice restrains us from further sin. Mercy catches us when we do sin. God is good, and God is right! His mercy is great and so is his justice.
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