Daily Devotions

Wednesday, September 10

Five Golden Links in Salvation

God is at work in all the many detailed circumstances of our lives to accomplish His eternal purpose.

How much does God love us? Just let me count the many ways. Here are five to begin our quest. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

That is what God does for us out of His infinite love and grace. God foreknew. God predestined. God called. God justified. God glorified. God saves!

How does God cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose? The chain of divine action demonstrates how He accomplishes this “good.” What is this good purpose of God? God is saving a body of people who will be made like Jesus Christ.

He is not making us like gods as the cult's purpose. We will not become divine and go off and populate a planet. That nonsense is strange to the Bible.

God’s eternal purpose of redemption is that He will have a people who are loving, full of joy, peace, holiness, wisdom, patience, kindness, goodness, compassion, faithfulness, mercy, grace, etc.

God selects, predestinates, calls, justifies, and glorifies a people who will be like His Son.

The apostle Paul tells us how God does it. He “foreknew” us unto salvation. The Lord never foreordains anyone to be lost in the Scriptures. Those who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ were known ahead of time and chosen unto God (Hos. 13:5; Amos 3:2; Matt. 7:23; Jn. 10:14; Rom. 11:2; 1 Cor. 8:3; Gal. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:19). It is a divine knowledge. The salvation of every believer is known and determined in the mind of God before its actual accomplishment in time and place.

God foreknows people, and He has a purpose in saving certain people. This is the first link in the chain.

Robert Haldane said, “God foreknows what will be, by determining what shall be.” God knows all things because He is omniscient. God “sets His special love upon” a person or “elects” a person to salvation.

How much does God love us? From this passage of Scripture we can declare so much that He has elected us to salvation and will keep us in that salvation. God set His love and saving grace upon a select group of people to be like His Son Jesus Christ.

The longer I am a Christian the more I realize that my salvation is all of God, and not of man. Even my faith is of God, and the result of His working in us. He creates in us the faith that He demands (Jn. 3:3-8; 6:44, 45, 65; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29; 2 Pet. 1:2). Faith, regeneration, repentance are all intimately related to our salvation experience.

Since God is the author of my salvation it is accomplished with infinite wisdom.

Robert Haldane says in salvation “man acts no part, but is passive, and all is done by God. He is elected and predestined and called and justified and glorified by God. . . . Could anything be more consolatory to those who love God, than to be in this manner assured that the great concern of their salvation is not left in their own keeping? . . . God has taken the whole upon Himself. He has undertaken for them. There is no room, then, for chance or change. He will perfect that which concerns them.”

Paul, therefore, gives us great assurance of God’s eternal purpose in our lives in spite of our present suffering.

God has foreseen everything that will take place in relation to our salvation.

Salvation has its origin in the eternal counsels of God. God elects a chosen people to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. Are you one of those chosen of God?

Thursday, September 11

IXOUS - The Fish Symbol

You see the symbol of the fish all the time on the rear of cars, trucks, briefcases, lapel pins, entrances to houses, logos on businesses, etc. Often the symbol contains five Greek letters, IXOUS. It is pronounced “ichthus.” What does the fish represent?

Because of intense persecution of believers in the early church, when two complete strangers met they would enter into a conversation, and after a few minutes one of them would take his foot and draw an arch on the ground. It would be the top or bottom half of the fish symbol. If the other person were a Christian, he would take his foot or finger and complete the other half of the symbol of the fish. Then the other person would put the first of five Greek letters inside the fish. After writing the letter “I,” the other person would write “X,” and then the other person “O” and vice versa until the two had written the word “IXOUS” inside the fish symbol. The Greek word “IXOUS” means “fish,” and is the normal word for fish in the Gospels (Matt. 7:10; 14:17; Mark 6:38; Luke 5:6; 11:11; John 21:6, 8, 11).

However, the early Christians gave the word for “fish” an even greater meaning. It became the acronym for four of the great truths of Christianity.

I represents Iesous, which is the Greek word for “Jesus.” An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him that his fiancée Mary, “will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). To Mary on another occasion the angel said to her, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). The Hebrew form His name was Jehoshua, meaning “Yahweh saves,” “Jehovah saves.” He was named after His father in heaven. Jehovah, Jesus will save His people from their sins.

X stands for Xristos, meaning “Christ.” The word means “anointed.” Jesus is God’s “Anointed One.” “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “Messiah.” “He is Christ the Lord,” the angels said to the shepherds after Jesus was born (Luke 2:11). Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

O stands for Theos which is translated “God.” Jesus the Messiah is God (John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-20; 2:9).

U represents Uios translated “Son.” Jesus is “the Son of God.” “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3). The angel told Mary the only way to account for her pregnancy is the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

S stands for Soter, meaning “Savior.” “Today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). He is the promised “Savior of the world” (John 4:42). The idea is a deliverance, saving from disaster, rescue from a hopeless situation, breaking the chains of bondage. In deed, the Bible tells us, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone who will “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

The next time you see the sign of the fish and the letters IXOUS remember that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God, and our Savior. “Jesus” is the perfect man, incarnate of God among men, fully human and fully God. He is the “Christ,” the Anointed One of God, the Messiah. He is the unique, only begotten, eternal “Son of God.” There are children by adoption into God’s kingdom, but no one like “the Son of God.” He is our “Savior” who voluntarily went to the cross and died in our place to save us from our sins. He gives us eternal life through the power of His shed blood. Have you put your trust in Him to save you for all eternity?

Friday, September 12

Trinitarian Benediction

The apostle Paul closes Second Corinthians with a beautiful benediction in adoration of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity. This verse has been correctly called “the New Testament Trinitarian benediction.”

The apostle Paul writes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

This is the counterpart to the Old Testament benediction found in Numbers 6:24-26. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace’” (Numbers 6:22-26).

God exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet God is one. The Westminster Confession declares, “Three persons in the Godhead . . . the same in substance, equal in power and glory.”

The work of salvation is the work of the Triune God, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The members of the Godhead deliberately and willingly submit themselves to another in the work of redemption. The Son submits to the Father, even in obedience to death to die as our substitute on the cross. The Holy Spirit submits to the Father and the Son. Second Corinthians 13:14 “presents the persons of the Trinity in full form,” just as Matthew 28:19 does, also. The three Persons of the Godhead are present at the baptism of Jesus as He begins His public ministry (Matt. 3:16-17).

Paul’s benediction clearly recognizes and teaches the distinct recognition of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity. Christians have recognized this great doctrine of Biblical Christianity in all ages.

The apostle Paul reminds us that the work of salvation is the operation of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our lives. God the Son is our Mediator and Savior who gave Himself up to death for us. It is all possible because God the Father loves us and has chosen to save us by His grace. God the Holy Spirit has applied this great atoning sacrifice and love to us personally. We can now live in the sphere of this saving grace whose source and origin is the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

We praise the LORD God for “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Charles Hodge said, “It is the favor, the unmerited love and all that springs from it, of this divine person clothed in our nature, and who as the theantropos is invested with the office of Messiah, the headship over His own people and all power in heaven and earth, that the apostle invokes for all his believing readers.”

We receive divine favor when we receive “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” that has purchased and won us by His redeeming death. We now belong to the one who redeemed us. He is now our “Lord” and Master.

Jesus came to save His people as the name He bore suggests (Matt. 2:21).

The title “Christ” describes His office. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the “Anointed One,” and our long-promised Redeemer.

Lenski well said, “Each part of His name glows with grace . . .”

Moreover, not only are we blessed with “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,” but also with “the love of God.” His infinite love is the source of our redemption. Romans 5:8 tells us God manifested His love in giving His Son for us. It is also “the manifestation of that love in the pardon, sanctification, and salvation of men was conditional on the work of Christ” (Hodge). God is the source of love.

We are united to the LORD God in the bonds of the Holy Spirit. The bond of union is, of course, Jesus Christ through whom we became a member of the family of God.

“The fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” He gives to the Christian a sense of belongingness with the LORD God. We are united in one Body. The Holy Spirit has placed the believing sinner in the Body of Christ.

God redeemed us from the curse of the law that we might receive the promise of the Spirit whereby we are in a koinonia fellowship in God’s kingdom and work. We are joint partakers of the Holy Spirit. What an awesome fellowship we have with the LORD God. Jesus prayed, “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are” (John 17:11).

It is through the Spirit of God that we cry, “Abba! Father!” “Father, dear Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

Saturday, September 13

Keep on Walking by the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit suppresses the evil impulses of nature as the believer trusts Him to do so. As we cooperate with Him in the work of sanctification, He enables us to be victorious in the Christian life.

It is the responsibility of every true believer to submit his life to the control of the Holy Spirit.

In the context of a church biting, devouring, and destroying Christian fellowship, the apostle Paul admonished Christians to “walk by the spirit.” Conduct yourself under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. Let the inward impulses of the Holy Spirit continue to control your behavior.

The Spirit is the source of all good and gracious impulses in your life. He works within the believer enabling with sanctifying power. The Spirit gives us wisdom and direction and by His help and power we live and overcome the inevitable temptations, sorrows and joys in life.

The present tense of the verb “to walk” (peripatetic) indicates a continuing condition or need. Paul is encouraging the believers to keep on doing what they have been doing, i.e., “Keep on walking by the Spirit.” Keep in step; don’t fall out now.

It is the responsibility of the Christian to make the Holy Spirit the rule of his life. Live continually in and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit always continue to direct your life, and when He is guiding your life “you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

How does the Christian fulfill the “righteousness of the law” without becoming a legalist? Romans 8:4 tells us “Walk after the Spirit.” "So that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:4).

Instead of biting, devouring, and consuming one another, which is the result of fulfilling the desire of the flesh, let the Holy Spirit produce His kind of righteousness in your life.

As a believer “keep on walking” through life depending on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God for His guidance and power.

The emphasis the apostle Paul is making is this submission to the Holy Spirit is the responsibility of the individual. The Holy Spirit does not operate automatically in the Christian. We do not become robots when we believe on Christ. However, as the Christian does yield to the Spirit’s control, the promise is that he emphatically will not (ou me) carry out the desires of the flesh. Paul uses a strong double negative to reinforce this great truth. The Holy Spirit wants us to be obedient and when we do obey Him, we overcome these evil desires (vv. 19-21).

This great Biblical truth frees us from going to the extremes of liberty as license and lordship as legalism. True Christianity is neither license nor legalism. We have been set free to live Christ. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery” (5:1). The Holy Spirit frees us to live in that spiritual freedom. He frees us from the penalty and power of sin and will one day free us from the presence of sin.

The Bible teaches us that the human body is sinful. However, when the Holy Spirit is in control of the body, we live in a manner that pleases God. It is when the Holy Spirit is not in control that we live in a way that fulfills the desires of the flesh--the old nature with its sinful behavior.

We cannot win the spiritual victory by our own personal strength or will power. Once you let the Holy Spirit guide you, “then you will never satisfy the passions of the flesh.” The promise is realized in those who continually walk or live by the Spirit. Those who walk by the Spirit will definitely not (emphatic) fulfill the desires of the flesh. This is the only assurance that we will not yield to the power within us that leads to sinful behavior. You will always know who or what is in control by the works (vv. 19-21), or the fruit (v. 22-25)

Sunday, September 14

Why Pain and Suffering?

Researchers recently asked a cross-section of adults: “If you could ask God only one question and you knew He would give you the answer, what would you ask?” The majority of the people responded, “Why is there pain and suffering in the world?”

That is not a new question. It is the age old question the patriarch Job asked in the oldest book in the Bible during his earth shaking tragedy (1:13-19). If you substitute in this passage the words “Sabeans” and “Chaldeans” with "terrorists,” and tornado or hurricane for the strong wind you have the headlines in today’s news.

Job asked the same question, “Why?” seven times in chapter three. “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” (v. 11) Repeatedly, he asked “Why?” People still ask, “Why did God allow this to happen?” “Where is God?” “Why didn’t God do something?”

The Greek philosopher Epicures asked if there is a God, and if that God is good, why is there evil in our world? Epicures reasoned: “God either wishes to take away evil, and is unable; or He is able and unwitting; or He is neither willing nor able; or He is both willing and able.”

His reasoning raises other questions. Is He weak and feeble because He wishes to take away evil, but unable to do so? However, that does not answer to the real character of God.

Is He wicked because He is able and willing, but will not?

If He is weak, feeble and wicked He is not God. Then we must ask since God is not the source of evil what is its source? Since He is God and He knows the source then why does He not remove it immediately?

The prophet Habakkuk asked God, “Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do you cause me to look on wickedness?” (Hab. 1:3).

The prophet Jeremiah asked another relevant question, “Why has the way of the wicked prospered?” (12:1).

The Hebrew mind reasoned that all suffering is unjust and that God’s silence is inexcusable. In Hebrew, the word “why” is a cry of protest.

How strange that we call God on the carpet every time there is a tragedy, or crisis in our lives. We go to Him and demand that He explain Himself and He had better have a good reason that satisfies us or we will not believe in Him. Our insistence on demands from God in time of disaster borders on arrogance and spiritual infidelity.

The fact is the Lord God does not have to explain Himself to anyone simply because He is the sovereign God.

In the book of Job God is totally silent for 37 chapters. He patiently listens to Job and never says one word. Then He asked one question, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding” (38:4).

To paraphrase God, “You wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t decided to create you.” “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it” (40:2).

The Lord God is a sovereign, good God and His providence extends over all things including both good and evil. He demonstrates His sovereignty by His ability to bring good out of evil, and to use it for His glory and our good.

He is absolutely good and righteous; therefore, He can redeem that which is evil and use it for His eternal purposes.

I may not know the reason why, but the Lord knows, and that is enough.

I may not know why the Lord leads me in paths I dread, but the Lord knows and therefore I will trust and obey Him.

There is good in the world because God is good. We experience His goodness because He is the God of grace.

Monday, September 15

Pilate before the King of Kings

The King of kings was on a cross.

Let that statement sink in. The King of kings was hanging on a cross.

The troubling question for the Roman governor Pilate was, “Are You the King of the Jews?” (Matthew 27:11).

A harmony of the Gospels shows that Pilate tried four times to set Jesus free. First, he sent Jesus to Herod when he realized Jesus was from Galilee and under his political jurisdiction (Lk. 22.6-12). Second, Pilate offered to punish Jesus without putting Him to death (Lk. 23:16, 22). Third, he desperately asked the people to choose Barabbas, the insurrectionist and revolutionary in the place of Jesus (Matt. 27:20-26; Mk. 15:6-15; Jn. 18:38-40), and finally, he tried to stir the crowd’s pity by reducing Jesus to a bloody pulp by scourging Him (Jn. 19:1-5).

“Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” (Jn. 18:39-40).

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Christ?” asked Pilate.

“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” they shouted.

The turning point for the coward Pilate came when he realized a riot was starting, and he did not need any more unfavorable reports sent to Caesar in Rome. The Jewish leaders knew how to manipulate Pilate. “If You let this man go, You are no friend of Caesar” (Jn. 19:12-16). It was political blackmail.

If we are brutally honest with ourselves, we are forced to ask at what point in the pressures and demands of life do we cave in and throw in the towel. At what point are we tempted to “wash our hands” of Him? Family pressures, peer pressures on the job or at school, “politically correct” pressure from the media and authorities, economic and financial pressure make us decide for or against Christ every day.

To what extent do I love Him? Is He the one consuming passion of my life? Do I by my decisions in daily life crucify Him just as Pilate did?

Pilate wanted to place the responsibility of blame off on others. “I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your responsibility. I wash my hands of this responsibility” (cf. Matt. 27:24).

Pilate was not innocent; neither are we. “The wages of sin is death.” Pilate could not wash away the stains of Christ’s blood by a ceremonial washing. Neither can we.

Only the blood of Jesus can wash away the sins of Pilate, and Pilate refused Him.

His blood and His blood alone can cleanse us. The death of Jesus takes away all our sins.

What do the Scriptures say?

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him” (Isa. 53:5-6). “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18). “He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).

J. C. Ryle makes application of these Scriptures eloquently:

Was He scourged? It was that “through His stripes we might be healed.” Was He condemned, though innocent? It was that we might be acquitted, though guilty. Did He wear a crown of thorns? It was that we might wear the crown of glory. Was He stripped of His raiment? It was that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness. Was He mocked and reviled? It was that we might be honored and blessed. Was He reckoned a malefactor, and numbered among transgressors? It was that we might be reckoned innocent, and justified from all sin. Was He declared unable to save Himself? It was that He might be able to save others to the uttermost. Did He die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful of deaths? It was that we might live for evermore, and be exalted to the highest glory (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: St Matthew, p. 392).

Jesus Christ is the King of the universe today. He is “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). One day the King is coming and He will judge (Matt. 26:64). What He declares about you at that judgment will be determined by what you decide about Him today. You cannot be neutral about Jesus Christ. You cannot place the responsibility off on someone else. The responsibility is yours and the consequences are eternal.

Pilate wanted to be neutral before the king. People want to be neutral today, but Jesus Christ does not give us that freedom of choice. To be “neutral” is to automatically decide to crucify Jesus.

Is Jesus Christ the King of your life? Have you become His subject? You and I have the opportunity and privilege of bowing in submission to Him today, or bow before Him in terror at the judgment day. But we cannot wash our hands of Him.

Tuesday, September 16

Grace

I am convinced the most important message we can ever proclaim is the free grace of God that forgives us of all our sins and gives us a perfect relationship with God. We are justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-28; 4:5).

Let’s examine a simple acrostic of the word G-R-A-C-E.

GOD in holy love

RECONCILES ruined and rebellious sinners by His

ABUNDANT grace and

CHANGES ruined men from the inside out and gives

ETERNAL LIFE to all who believe on Jesus Christ.

GOD—is the Creator of the universe. His personal name is Jehovah or Yahweh. Most modern English translations use the name LORD, written with four small capital letters to translate the Hebrew word JHVH.

The Bible tells us He is the creator and sustainer of the universe (Gen. 1:1, 27; Psalm 14:1). He did not wind up the universe like a clock and then walk away. He is personally involved in His creation (Ps. 139).

He is holy and righteous (Isaiah 6:1; Rev. 4:8; 1 Timothy 6:15-18). The Hebrew prophet Isaiah saw Him in a vision, sitting on His throne, lofty and exalted. He heard the Seraphim chanting, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts, the whole world is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:3).

The LORD God loves His creation and is patient with mankind. He first loved us and expects us to love Him with all our heart (1 John 4:10, 19). “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 27:37; Deut. 6:5). Jesus said, “Seek first His [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

The LORD God is good to us all the time, and He alone is worthy of our praise (Rev. 4:11).

Isaiah experienced the thrice holiness of God and fell to his knees and cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa 6:5).

GOD RECONCILES and rescues rebellious ruined mankind (Isa. 1:18). We have a ruined relationship with God (Eph. 2:1). By nature, we are all rebels at heart and like sheep that have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6).

The LORD is holy and He expects us to be holy (Lev. 19:2), but our sinfulness separates us from God. The prophet wrote, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and God, and your sins have hid His face from you, so that He does not hear” (Isa. 59:2). Sin destroys our relationship with a holy God, and as a result there is a barrier between God and us. We need to be reconciled to God. “For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10).

We have all sinned and fall short of God’s expectations of us (Rom. 3:23), and the consequence of our sins is death. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). If we say we are not sinners, we only deceive ourselves and prove ourselves to be liars (1 John 1:8; Rom. 5:12).

There is a judgment day coming when we shall each stand before God and give an account of what we have chosen to do with Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:22; Matt. 25:31-36; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Acts 17:31).

GOD’S ABUNDANT GRACE accomplishes everything the sinner needs to receive a right standing before God. Jesus went to the cross and paid in full our debt to sin. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That is how much a holy God loves you! “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him” (v. 17).

How can a guilty sinner have a right relationship with God? There is only one way. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” John 14:6). “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). God reconciles the sinner to Himself through Christ (v. 18).

Jesus is the sinless Lamb of God who died for us as our substitute on the cross (John 1:29; Rom. 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18; 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21). “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. . . God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6, 8).

God has restored man’s relationship to Himself by the atoning death of His Son, Jesus Christ. We can now have peace with God because Jesus Christ died on our behalf. The wages of sin is death, and Jesus died in our place. All of our sins were credited to Jesus when He died on the cross, and all His perfect righteousness was credited to us when we repented and believed on Him as our savior.

God says, “Sinner, I can make you righteous through Jesus Christ. It is righteousness by imputation. I will credit His righteousness to you” (2 Cor. 5:21).

GOD CHANGES ruined persons from the inside out. He demands that sinful man have a new heart (2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

The Bible tells us to repent and believe on Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I tell you . . . unless you repent, you shall likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). We need a radical change in our lives. That is what repentance is. It is to be walking in sin and unbelief and to have a 180-degree change in our thinking about God and Jesus Christ. That change in our thinking will change the way we live.

Acts 4:12 tells us there is only one person who can save us. He is the same one who died for our sins on the cross. “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”

The important question becomes, what will you do with Jesus Christ? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Why your household? Because when God saves you, you will want them to believe on Christ, too.

Salvation is by the abundant, free grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). The moment you believe on Christ you receive reconciliation and peace with God (Rom. 5:1).

GOD GIVES ETERNAL LIFE to everyone who will receive His salvation as a gift. Eternal life is yours right now if you will believe on Christ. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey (believe) the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).

You can enjoy the abundant life in Christ now and eternal life in heaven with God by believing on Jesus Christ as your savior (John 1:12; Rom. 10:9-10). Moreover, you can have assurance of eternal life today (John 5:24; 1 John 5:12-13; Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:31-39; John 10:27-30).

God promises eternal life to everyone who will repent of his or her sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ alone as their savior.

Salvation is all God’s work from beginning to end that it may be by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Believe on Jesus Christ who died for you and be saved today.

Wednesday, September 17

Free Salvation

Salvation is free.

Free, but not cheap!

Your salvation is a gift freely given and received from God, but it is not cheap. It is the most expensive gift you will ever receive.

God comes and offers us free salvation. But He does not change His standard. He remains a righteous and holy God.

How could it be possible that Jesus Christ could die as a substitute for my penalty as a sinner? It is because He is the infinite God, not a sinful man that He could die for an infinite number of sinners. Because He is God He could pay the eternal punishment for all of our sins.

Second Corinthians 5:21 tells us it was not enough that He should only die and pay the penalty of our sins, but that His perfect righteousness would be counted in God's eyes as our righteousness. All of the pure righteousness of Jesus Christ is now available through Him to the believing sinner.

Based upon the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, God can now come and offer the great invitation to all sinners to come and join Him in heaven.

How do I know that this is absolute truth? Look at the empty tomb! Christ is alive! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the proof that God is eternally satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

Now you and I can take the righteousness of God and go boldly or trembling to the scales of justice and put it over against all the perfection God has demanded and that He must demand. The balance is immediately made. The Christian believer stands before God justified. God can never have anything against you and me forever.

You are justified when you trust in that perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, rather than in your own self-righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). You will never be justified in the eyes of God if you cling to your own good works.

We can sing with great profound theology: "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling." We are justified by faith alone, through grace alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

However, we are not justified by a faith that is alone. Therefore, if you really go to that cross, believing in the saving work of Christ, you will be abounding in the works of the Lord.

If our salvation is received as a free gift someone had to pay for it. Since you and I did not, who did?

The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus Christ redeemed us, not with perishable things like silver and gold, but “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19).

Our salvation is an expensive gift which we do not deserve and cannot merit! We were “redeemed” meaning to release, to purchase a release by a ransom, to deliver by the payment of a price. Our spiritual freedom was purchased with the great payment of the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, the grace that saves us is not cheap.

The blood of Jesus is “precious.” It is of great value, precious to God. The most precious thing to God is the blood of His Son Jesus.

Therefore, how precious you and I are to Him!

Thursday, September 18

No More Walls

The Jewish temple had a “no trespassing” sign that prevented all non-Jewish persons from going beyond a certain area. It was enforced on the punishment of death. The non-Jews could go only so far as the Court of the Gentiles, and the Jewish women could go only so far as the Court of the Women.

The temple was surrounded by courts that formed layers of separation from the inner shrine of the Holy of Holies. The innermost court was the Court of the Priests who constantly attended the daily sacrifices and led in the worship of Yahweh or the LORD God. Next was the Court of Israel into which only Jewish men could enter and worship. After this was the Court of the Women, which indicated, that Jewish women could go no further into the temple. The outer perimeter was the Court of the Gentiles with a five-foot barricade that went around the entire temple enclosure. At intervals on the wall separating the Jewish from the non-Jewish people were inscriptions warning that no non-Jewish persons were ever permitted to enter the Jewish enclosure upon the punishment of death.

Archaeologists found such a stone inscription in 1871 dating back to the Jewish temple. It read, “No foreigner is to enter within the banister and embankment around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his own death which follows.”

The bottom line was, “Trespassers will be killed.” In fact, the apostle Paul almost got himself killed in the temple because of false rumors that he took a Gentile into the sacred area (Acts 21:27-31).

Jesus tore down the wall. No, He did not do it with His hands. He did it with His cross. “But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13 NET). Powerful is the message of the cross. Paul goes on to describe the effects of the blood of Jesus on the wall of separation. “For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility . . . He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed . . .” (vv. 14-16 NET).

The sin barrier between man and God was removed by the death of Christ and as a result man is reconnected to God. Jesus provided the only way that man can approach God. He effectively removed the dividing walls.

It is through Christ Jesus we both [Jewish and non-Jewish] have our access in one Spirit to the Father (v. 18). The result is “you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household” (v. 19).

The cause of the perpetual hostility has been removed. Sin was dealt with at the cross. The enmity has been so completely laid aside that complete friendship follows. Where there was hostility Christ has accomplished reconciliation. We are at peace with God.

God was the offended party and he took the action to remove the enmity. It is a divine action that removes the barrier. It is not that the two sides come together as if it were voluntarily or as equals; it is the superior one bringing the other into this position of complete harmony and accord.

God made reconciliation. God the Father sent God the Son to pay our sin debt in full by dying on the cross. He bore the punishment due to us for our sins and as a result restored our fellowship with God. The cross of Jesus made a way for us to come to God by faith.

Moreover, because the way to God was restored by the death of Christ our fellowship with Jews and non-Jews has been restored if they are also in Christ. Note carefully, peace will come only as individuals are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Sin brought about hostility. Jesus removed that hostility.

Since the greater wall has been completely removed there is no need for the lesser walls of separation. They came down with the wall that separated us from God. But the veil came down only in Christ. If God has torn away the wall of separation between him and us there can never be a wall that separates others in Christ from us. In fact, the great truth of the passage is we are all members of the one body of Christ (vv. 13-18).

If we are one in Christ, then in his eyes we are one with every other believer. There are no Jews and non-Jews, slaves or free, in Christ. We are all “in him.” The wall was torn down with the thick veil in the temple that kept everyone out of his holy presence including the Jewish men. The only exception was the high priest on the Day of Atonement, and then only on that one day of the year. The veil was torn from top to bottom and we can all enter into God’s holy presence through the blood of his Son.

We have all been reconciled in “one body to God through the cross.” “So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household” (NET).

Friday, September 19

Blessings out of Sufferings

What is your response to suffering? There is no escape from intense pressures in this life, but it helps when we get God into the picture.

The apostle Peter wrote to a group of suffering Christians with words of encouragement. “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

“After you have suffered for a little,” says Peter. The suffering is temporary, in contrast and comparison to the eternal glory that is in store for the believer.

Before God blesses us there come times of trouble, distress, grief and pain. We can rejoice knowing the suffering is for a short time, but out of the suffering comes blessings that cannot be had any other way.

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Our suffering is temporary, but it produces in us character that will last thought out eternity.

God equips believers for His service through suffering. He strengthens character in the fires of pressure.

“After you have suffered for a little while,” indicates the blessings come only after we submit to the refiner’s fire. We cannot disregard the sufferings.

Who will bless us? “The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ . . .” He is faithful and consistent in the way He treats us. He is the “God of all grace.” Everything He does will be consistent with His eternal glory. Whatever He begins in His grace will lead to His glory. What He begins He will see through to completion. One day He will say, “Come to Me you blood-bought sinners. Come unto My eternal glory.”

We have been called, not just to eternal glory, but God “called you to His eternal glory in Christ.” He called you and me, sinners saved by His manifold grace, to His eternal glory. He called us to that very glory and honor in which the LORD God invests Himself forever. Yes, we who have “sinned and come short of the glory of God” are called into His holy presence dressed in His robes of righteousness.

The promise is “in Christ,” and to His glory. Everything comes through Christ. He is the atmosphere or climate of the whole Christian life.

He gives us grace to meet every situation in life (Heb. 4:16). The standing invitation is “Come unto Me all you that are weary and heavy laden.” Come you who are persecuted for righteousness sake; come you who are weary, tired, hurting; come you who are suffering for the cause of Christ; come you who are ravaged by a terrible disease. He gives out of His infinite grace. God gives us His strength to meet the demands of life.

He is the God of all grace—quickening grace, pardoning grace, cleansing grace, believing grace, sustaining grace, sovereign grace. The God of all grace, manifold grace, has a storehouse that never runs out. It is infinite, boundless, limitless, amazing grace.

Out of that constant supply of saving and sanctifying grace God does a marvelous work in us. His goal is to “perfect” us. The word for “perfect” in the original means to equip, to adjust, and to fit together, “to put into order, to mend, to make whole.” It is also used for mending of torn fishing nets, and the “setting a broken bone.” Everything that happens in our Christian life is used to conform us to Christ. Whatever God has begun He will complete in the day of Christ. God will make us just like Christ. Shall God fail in His eternal purpose? Never. And He will not in your life or mine.

You cannot be perfected except by the refiner’s fire. God uses the rod to chastise His children. Nothing but the rod will remove the foolishness in our lives. The Holy Spirit uses these fires to remove every corruption within. How is God restoring your broken nets, and setting your brokenness?

God uses stress to set up, fix firmly, to establish and strengthen the believer. “Confirm,” or “establishment” is to make solid like granite. God tempers us in the hot fires of suffering. Sufferings make us steadfast. It secures and stabilizes us and makes us mature believers. Suffering has a way of focusing our eyes on Christ, and off of ourselves. Pressures in our lives force us to rest upon the Rock of Ages. Our hope is fixed upon His blood and His righteousness. We cannot be established on the solid foundation without suffering.

Peter also prays that the suffering will produce a solid foundation for spiritual growth. Suffering also strengthens us spiritually. We gain new strength by wrapping ourselves around the Lord. He gives us strength to bear up under incredible suffering. When we depend upon God’s grace our suffering will glorify God. The Christian learns to face life with the sense that God is all he really need. Watch the Christian who has God with him.

Moreover, God strengthens His people as they undergo suffering. He gives us grace and power in time of need. As we submit to Him, He gives us the grace we need for the moment.

Saturday, September 20

Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. - Galatians 5:22-23

All those who desire to live godly lives have prayed for these fruits. We want more love, so we pray for God in increase our love. We want more patience, so we pray for patience. We all know the routine. We've all sought the gifts of the Spirit with a shopping-list mentality.

But there is a better way. Instead of seeking more of the fruits, we must seek more of the Spirit. When we think we need more love, we really need more of Jesus in us. Or, perhaps more accurately, we need Jesus to have more of us. The same goes for our joy, our peace, our patience, and so on. These are not nine individual characteristics that we can isolate and work on individually. They are interal parts of the mind of Christ. The more we abide in His Spirit, the more we will have them. When we lack certain fruits, we lack fellowship with the Spirt who gives them. The means to more fruitful is to ask for closer fellowship with the Source. When we have that, the love, joy, peace, etc., will come.

This is God's design for His people. His plan is not simply to improve us and make us better people. His plan is to inhabit us. The fruit of the Spirit is not about us and our deficiencies. It is about God and His presence in this world. If you find yourself lacking, the problem is not an isolated characteristic; it is fellowship with the personal, living God. He aims to live His life in you.

Believe it or not, you - along with other believers - are the means to display God's character in this world. If we don't display Him, He won't be seen. That's an awesome responsibility. It's also an awesome privilege. Do you lack His fruitfulness? Then you lack Him - no necessarily His salvation, but His Lordship and His fellowship. Don't just ask for love, joy or anything else. Ask for Him.

Sunday, September 21

Love

His banner over me is love. - Song of Songs 2:4

The Song of Songs is an amorous book because our God is an amorous God. Does it seem irreverent to say so? It can't be, not when we realize the most passionate kind of love could not have originated anywhere but in the passionate hear of God. It is certainly no Satan's invention, nor that of a depraved human condition. It is experienced by emotional beings made in the image of an emotional God. Our love reflects His.

Like the bridegroom in the Song of Songs, our Bridegroom, Jesus, has set His love over us as His declaration of victory. It is our identiy. We know that He loves us, and because of that, we love Him (1 John 4:19). Not only do we love Him, we love each other. It is the identifying feature of a Spirit-filled Christian. Where love is absent, so is the Spirit. Where the Spirit is absent, so is love.

So important is this characteristic that Jesus spent the major part of His last works to His disciples on the subject. In John 13-16, He first demonstrates love and then preaches on it: love and obedience, love and the Spirit, love and prayer, love and His friendship, love and joy. Then in His parting prayer, He asks this of the Father: "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:23). It is an intimate love - "I in them and you in me" - between a loving God, the beloved Son, and a love-hungry people. If there is any single mark of belief, it is love.

Does your life bear the banner of love? Are you aware of God's great love for you? Do you have great love for Him and for others? Do no be deceived: No matter how spiritually mature a believer is, it is a false spirituality if he or she is not thoroughly saturated in love. "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). There is no way around it. The Christian life is a loving life. An unloving life is not Christian. Let love, above all else, define you.

Monday, September 22

Joy

The joy of the Lord is your strength. - Nehemiah 8:10

It was a day of grief and repentance, that day the scribe Ezra read "the Book of the Law of God" in the hearing of the assembly. A generation of Israelites suddenly realized what many previous generations had forsaken - a covenant of love with the great and mighty God. And, according to Nehemiah, they wept.

Have you ever wept over your failures? It's a humbling experience, pouring our your heart over grievous sins that can't be undone. The humans heart never feels weaker than when it is faced with its undeniable shortcomings. Our humanity is shot through with sin, and there's nothing we can do about it. We're weak and helpless.

Believe it or not, that's a great place to be. God meets us inour weakness and He exalts the humble. "Blessed are those you mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). it is a blessed frailty to have no claim before God, no words with which to justify ourselves, no barganing power whatsoever. When we can accept that, we can accept His provision; and there is no greater joy than His provision. It is all we need. It takes us from weakness to strength because God's power - His very presence - is greatest when we are most visibly vulnerable. We can lay down our stressful, painful attempts at self-sufficiency, and we can accept His sufficiency instead. What greater joy is there than to realize it all falls on His shoulders and not on ours?

Do you know God's joy? Have you ever heard Him speak into your grief and say, with Nehemiah, "This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength"? The joyless Christian is bearing burdens no human is capable of bearing. The joyful Christian has come to grips with his weakness and accepted God's strength by casting all burdens on Him. Learn the art of casting those burdens; be joyful and be strong.

Tuesday, September 23

Peace

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. - Colossians 3:15

Peace is elusive. Not only is it elusive to governments in the world's hot spots of conflict, it is elusive in public and private institutions. Unfortunately, it is also elusive in churches and families. And, most unsettling to us, it is elusive in our own hearts.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, the human heart is by nature unsettled. We are restless creatures because we have separated ourselves from our created purpose. The natural dependence our first parents felt for God has been lost on us. Insecurity reigns within; and where insecurity reigns, peace doesn't.

The reason we live in a world that is in conflict is because we have hearts in conflict. We want to institute the rule of Christ in our hearts, but He must replace the reign of self - with all its fears, ambitions, passions, and false hopes - and that takes time. Human beings in such turmoil find it difficult to live in peace with others, whether it is on the job, in the church, or at home. Those who do not get along with others are invariably uncomfortable with themselves. Those who are at peace within are almost always at peace with others. Even when others rage against them - as they did with Jesus on the cross, Stephen before the Sanhedrin, and Paul from city to city - they do nothing to fuel the conflict. They have no need. They are at peace with themselves and at peace with God.

Paul says we are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. He doesn't say peace is simply to exist in our hearts. He doesn't say it is to influence our hearts periodically. It is to rule.

Take this diagnostic test: Are you in conflict with others? It is likely a reflection of the condition of your heart. Ask God to still your turbulent waters. Let Jesus rule in the deepest corners of your being. Know the depths of His peace.

Wednesday, September 24

Goodness

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. - Psalm 23:6

For something to be worthwhile in our age, it must be amazing, outstanding, remarkable, or awesome. we are so overwhelmed with superlatives that we must keep coming up with more attention-grabbing adjectives with each new season of advertising. But God often advertises Himself in refreshing simplicity. He is good. Through and through, pure and simple, He is good. He attitude toward us is good, His will toward us is good, and His works on our behalf are good. We are unaccustomed to pure forms in our world - everything is tainted with corruption - but with God, no superlative is necessary. From any angle we look at Him, we see goodness.

There's a remarkable transformation for us in His goodness. God blesses so that His people will become blessers. He gives so that we will give. He loves so we will love. He forgives so that we will forgive. His demeanor toward us is to be reflected in our demeanor toward others. It isn't just a responsibility to fulfill; it's a natural reaction. When we've been treated so well, it's natural to treat others well. His goodness takes root in us; we become good, like Him.

Most of us are busy trying to impress others with remarkable personality, amazing skills, or our outstanding achievements. God's Spirit in us, however, will not make us flashy. He will make us good.

If others do not see in us a simple, uncorreupted goodness, they do not the The Spirit of God. We forget that behind every miracle, behind every teaching, behind eeryrevelation and prophecy, there is the goodwill of God. Goodness underlies everything He does. He is a beneficent Creator, and a beneficent Creator births beneficent children. Do you bear His goodness? Demonstrate it to someone today. Show your world that God is like.

Thursday, September 25

Faithfulness

O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. - Psalm 89:8

If you were to do a biblical word study on "faithfulness," you would find something mildly surprising: The vast majority of biblical references to faithfulness are about God, not about us. God's faithfulness is an established fact in Scripture; man's is not. We are encouraged to be faithful, but we are always found wanting. God, however, is constant. His faithfulness reaches to the skies (see Psalm 36:5, 57:10, 108:4), and His love and faithfulness are semantically paired so often that they are clearly intertwined. His love is unchanging; there is nothing fickle about it - not even from generation to generation (Psalm 100:5). True faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2). It can do no other.

This is why faithfulness must be a fruit of the Spirit. It cannot be of the flesh. Humanity measures faithfulness in terms of months and years; God measures it in terms of eternity. We cannot maintain such commitment unless the power to do so is given from above. It simply is not within us to be covenant-keepers for long. Nearly every biblical covenant originates in heaven and is maintained unilaterally by the covenant-keeping God. His faithfulness alone is everlasting.

If you needed any sense of security about your salvation, there it is. God keeps you because He is faithful. He knows the fickleness of those He pursues, and He pursues us nonetheless. He knew how unstable we were before He committed to keep us.

But we cannot remain unstable, not if we're filled with His Spirit. The flesh is weak, but we no longer live according to the flesh. Never use the excuse, "I'm only human." You're a human with the Spirit of the living God dwelling within. Faithfulness is possible for us when we are wholly dependent on Him. His faithfulness surround His throne. Enthrone Him in your heart, and it will surround you, too.

Friday, September 26

Gentleness

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. - Philippians 4:5

David was gentle toward his rebellious son (2 Samuel 18:5), Jesus came into this world with a spirit of gentleness (Matthew 11:29, 21:5). Paul had a tender attitude toward the churches he had founded ( 2 Corinthians 10:1, 1Thessalonians 2:7). Throughout Scripture, we are instructed to put on gentleness as though it's a required garment. Why? Because God has been gentle with us. It's who He is, and we are to be like Him.

We may not envision God as being gentle. We read of His anger toward humanity before the ark was built; of His command for Israel to ruthlessly conquer the Canaanites; of His judgments on Israel in the prophets; and of His harsh condemnation of our sin when He laid our iniquity on a bloodied, beaten Jesus. But all this points to His absolute, uncompromising, holy purity. His heart is thoroughly gentle. When our confession and humility allow for His gentleness, He always chooses it over His judgment.

Have you felt His gentle touch? When you received mercy rather than condemnation, it was there. Every day when he feeds you, clothes you, surrounds you with air to breathe, you feel His tender provision. If there is anyone out there who loves you as you are, you have seen a reflection of His gentle nature. In Jesus, we know a gentle God.

If the fruits of the Spirit are God's display of His character through the church to a searching world, then gentleness is one of the most needed elements of that display. The world does not know of this gentle God - it portrays Him as either viciously judgmental or blandly irrelevant. It has not seen enough examples of righteous, patient, redemptive gentleness. Be one of those examples. Find a hurting person and demonstrate God's gentle touch.

Saturday, September 27

Self-Control

Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. - Proverbs 25:28

The contemporary church is plagued with problems of self-discipline. Sinful behaviors have infiltrated our congregations possibly at unprecedented levels. One reason self-control is such a problem for so many Christians is that it feels like a work of the flesh. We are told to live Spirit-filled lives, so we become passive. We have incorrectly assumed that any effort on our part is "works," a product of the flesh and a symptom of legalism. We end up with a faith without works, and as we find out, that kind of faith is dead.

Self-control is perhaps the most confusing of all the fruits of the Spirit. How can it involve the self and the Spirit at the same time? If it's self-control, how can it be Spirit-control? It can't. But contrary to popular teaching, the Bible never tells us to be controlled by the Spirit, as least not in the sense that we lose our personality and will. We are to be born of the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, inspired by the Spirit, and sealed by the Spirit. But we are not controlled by the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to have self-control.

A lack of self-control will cause us to neglect necessary disciplines like prayer, Bible study, contemplation, evangelism, and more. It will also cause us to indulge even godly desires in inappropriate ways. A lack of discipline distorts work, sexuality, entertainment, nutrition, and stewardship of time and money. If our lives were compared to an ancient city, self-indulgence would be the weakness in our walls. Erosion will eventually cause our protection to collapse and allow our enemies to raid.

A life of godly discipline is useful to God. He can accomplish much with it, because it can steward His vast resources appropriately. The uncontrolled life squanders God's treasures - spiritual and material - and invites attack. At all cost, let the Spirit empower you to learn self-control. It is the key to managing all other fruitfulness.

Sunday, September 28

Illusions

Illusions are fun because they challenge our sense of reality. We see them everywhere, from tricks in magic shows to special effects in movies, and can usually tell the difference between what is real and what is not.

But did you know that there are some deceptions which millions of people fall for every day? They are the work of the master illusionist, Satan, who is called "the father of lies" in the Bible (John 8:44). He has been tricking people into disobeying God since the beginning of time, and is an experienced deceiver. Have you fallen for any of Satan's illusions?

Illusion #1: This life is all that matters.

We can get so caught up in this life that we pay no attention to eternal realities. God says that is foolish: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Illusion #2: If it feels good, do it.

Should we care about what we do? Is there such a thing as right and wrong? God says we will reap what we sow: "Do no be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7)

Illusion #3: There is no Hell.

If you start to ponder what comes after this life, Satan may try to convince you that there is nothing to worry about. God says otherwise: "Do no fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)

Illusion #4: Everyone goes to Heaven.

Another much-believed lie is that no people will ever have to go to Hell. While it's true that Hell was created for Satan and his angels, the Bible says that those who fall under Satan's deceptions will go there as well: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41)

Illusion #5: You're not that bad.

Every time we answer one of Satan's lies, you can be sure that he has another one ready to go. Are we really bad enough to to to Hell? God's Word says: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

Illusion #6: You can earn Heaven.

Once we admit that we have sinned, the next lie we often fall for is that we have probably done enough good to overcome our faults. However, in God's eyes "we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness [good works] are like filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6)

Illusion #7: You're too bad.

Sadly, lots of people fall for this one, too. Yes, it's true that we have all messed up. But it's also true that God stands ready to help us: "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." (John 6:37)

Why does God want us to come to Him? Because He loves us. He loves you, and He loves me - not because we have earned it, but because He chooses to. God proved His love for us when He sent His only Son, Jesus, into the world because of our sins (Romans 5:8).

When Jesus died on the cross, He made the way for sinners like you and me to be brought back to God. Our sin was like a debt that needed to be paid; Jesus paid it. Our sin was like a sentence that needed to be served; Jesus served it. Our sin was like a burden that needed to be lifted; Jesus lifted it.

Now He is using messages like this to awaken people to their need for Him, to "turn them form darkness to light, and fromt he power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins" (Acts 26:18). Don't fall for Satan's illusions any more. Turn to God and put your faith in someone you can trust - Jesus Christ.

Monday, September 29

From Praise to Praise

Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. - Matthew 6:13

Many of us remember seeing our mothers or grandmothers buy dress patterns to aid in sewing. Perhaps you've done the same yourself. A pattern is a paper template from which the parts of the dress are traced onto the fabric before it is cut and stitched together at the sewing machine.

The Lord's Prayer is a pattern that allows us to trace and assemble a beautiful prayer life. Hardly any parts of life are excluded in this prayer. It covers all our needs and relationships, and it encompasses matters affecting both time on the earth and eternity.

One of the most useful observations is that the Lord's Prayer begins and end on a note of praise. Left to ourselves, we'd probably begin and end our prayers with our own needs. But Jesus taught us to begin with a respectful attitude: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." And He showed us to end with a powerful proclamation, "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

When we begin and end our prayers with praise, we keep the focus on Him, and that's the patter for joy.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall

praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy!

Merciful and mighty! God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Tuesday, September 30

Done By Me Or For Me?

Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. - Matthew 25:34

Faith is invisible. No one can look into another's heart to see whether faith is there. And yet faith is very visible. On the Last Day, Jesus will point to faith visible in the lives of believers. He will reference the works they did as outward indication of the invisible faith in their hearts. Unfortunately, some still misunderstand that salvation is something done for us, not by us.

In his preview of the Last Day, not what Jesus calls believers. They are "blessed by my Father." They stand in heaven, not because of what they have earned but for what the Father has given them. In their hands is the salvation prepared by Jesus. Even the faith that holds this salvation is not their own working but a gift from God's Holy Spirit.

Note that Jesus also uses the word inheritance. An inheritance is a gift from the donor not some wage earned by me efforts. So the kingdom of heaven is God's free gift, graciously willed to me because of what his Son has done. To make it even clearer, Jesus calls it the kingdom prepared for you, not by you. God has done all the work - planning my salvation in eternity, preparing in on Calvary, and planting faith in me to receive salvation through the power of the gospel. Would I want it any other way? What can be mre secure than a heaven guaranteed by the efforts of my gracious God?

Lord, when I stand in glory at your side, all my

praise shall be that you did it all for me. Amen.

Saturday, November 30

The Unchanging Christ: The Same Yesterday

All of my life I have heard the plea for a relevant “new Christ for a new age.”

The truth is Jesus Christ is God’s final word to men in all ages. He is relevant for every age. He is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

The same Jesus sits today “on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). He is the same person as He was when here on the earth.

When we read the words, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday” we are carried back to the long ages before He became flesh. I can point to a date, time, and place when I was born. However, Jesus did not begin to live when He was born in the flesh of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem. He simply changed His robes.

The apostle Paul tells us Jesus was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, divested Himself of His garments of glory that had been His from all eternity and clothed Himself in the garments of a common household slave in the flesh and was obedient unto death. He was God-man. He was fully God and fully human (Phil. 2:5-8).

The absolutely essential fact is He was the same in past eternity; He changes not.

I search for an absolute in an age of change; He changes not, and I therefore have security.

He came from the Father and He returned to the Father. He dwelt in the ageless past in the bosom of His eternal Father. The apostle John tells us, “in the beginning was the Word.” When everything else had a beginning He already existed and He had no beginning. His beginning had no beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (John 1:1-4).

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday . . .” His eternal existence is declared in these words, “in the beginning was the Word.” He is no vacillating whim of the age. “The Word was with God,” a distinct personality of the true and perfect deity because “the Word was God.” His personal relationship with the Father is unchangeable. He “was in the beginning with God,” and because of His resurrection and ascension, He still is in the presence of the Father in a perfect relationship.

Moreover, His understanding of man never needs to change. No one knows me like the one who made me. “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” “In Him is life.”

Where would you turn for a relevant Christ that is not found in the historic Christ? Would you, like the modern self-made cults, turn to your own making, or to some new age “enlightenment”?

God in Christ has already become one of us in order to demonstrate His love for us, and to show us what God is really like. God came and revealed Himself to sinful and disobedient rebellious men.

I don’t need a greater “light.” I only need to respond to the One true and all supreme Lord of all creation. Why should I turn to some lesser “light”? All other spiritual lights are only creepy shadows of the one who masquerades as “the angel of light,” Satan himself.

We don’t have to look afar to discover what evil lurks within the heart of man. God has fully revealed Himself (Heb. 1:1-3), and man in his stubborn rebellion cries for something greater and better like selfish, pampered, narcissistic children whining for something new.

God has spoken. He has not changed and He will not. He is the same as He was yesterday, and I find stability for my soul and eternal peace with God. Because He is the same I have eternal security of a right relationship with Him, not of my self-making, or choosing, but in His all-sufficient wisdom and grace.

Because He is the same yesterday, I know that what He has said will still remain true for you and me today. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

That great truth will not change, because our Savior changes not. His word and eternal promises remain the same throughout all eternity. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Thank God.

Bethel Lutheran Church