The Gift

The book of Romans, Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome, is a beautiful letter. While there are many sections that could be discussed, I am choosing the passage in Romans 5, beginning with verse 6; it says, "...in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die." We are like this. We might risk our life to help someone; we might even give our life for a loved one. But we would never, ever give our life for someone who was treating us badly, beating us, spitting on us, lying about us and plotting our death.

Note the next verse, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He didn't die for good people or for people whom knew and loved; He died for the "ungodly." The fifth chapter of Romans continues, describing His death as a gift to us; and what a gift it was.

All of this is followed by the discussion in Romans 6 of God's grace. The writer begins chapter 6 by saying: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" The reader should note that all of this is written to Christians, people who have been baptized into Christ, not to people who should become Christians.

In summary, we should appreciate the free gift of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Following that, we should, once we have become Christians, live like it. Don't trust the grace of God to save us by just sinning more and more so that God can send more grace. We must act like Christians and live for Him.

Have a good week.....and come back next week when God's Word will speak again.

The Way

When we look at the New Testament, it is interesting to look at the names that were used to refer to Christians. For example, Acts 11:26 says "the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." So here they are referenced as disciples, but then called Christians.

Throughout the NT, we see the use of the term "church." "Church" in the original language simply meant congregation or gathering. It could have been a gathering of people for any purpose, but as used in the Bible, it is a gathering, or group, of Christians who worshiped and worked together as a group.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Then, over in Acts 9:2 we see the expression "the Way"used to refer to this Christian movement: Paul was persecuting Christians before he became one, and was looking for "any who were of the Way."

And just as Jesus said He was "the Way," we are of the Way, the group of Christians, soldiers marching on to victory; not in this life necessarily, but in the life to come, following Jesus who paved "the Way" for us to enjoy life eternal. And He proved that there really is a life eternal by first being resurrected, as witnessed by many.

Hey, thanks for reading! See you next week, posted on Sunday or thereabouts.

Denominational thinking

This will have some similarity to another article posted some time ago, but this is needed in a world of denominational thinking. People tend to go to the "church of your choice" and take the attitude that we are "all going to the same place, just getting there in different ways." That is not healthy thinking and not Biblical either.

What the Bible teaches, over and over, is that we are to be simply "Christians." Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, "....I will build my church." He didn't say "churches", just church. And He never allowed for denominations. If you read John chapter 17, you will see that Jesus, right before He left this earth, prayed that his followers would "be one." Jesus left the earth never having established His church. He prepared the way, then left the development of the church in the hands of the apostles. He told them in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

But what man does is divide; denomination means divided. 1 Corinthians 1:11-17 talks about the tendency to divide in Corinth. Some were trying to be Paul Christians, some Apollos Christians, some Cephas Christians, some Christ Christians. To paraphrase, he is just saying here, 'No, just be Christians.' We need to learn this lesson, to think in simple terms, and to follow the Bible pattern.

Now, with all of this said, I have chosen to worship and work with a group of "just Christians," people who are committed to avoid the denominational trap. This is what I see in the Bible. But I will conclude by saying that this isn't always popular with our friends and family, people who will often be disappointed that we aren't in their denomination. But to just follow the Bible, to be just Christians has to be the better way; it is God's way, as clearly stated in the Bible, God's Word.

Great Chapter of the Bible

There are a lot of important, perhaps most important, chapters in the Bible, but I would suggest that the 2nd chapter of Acts is pivotal. The Old Testament teaches over and over (note Joel 2, Isaiah 2, and Daniel 2 among other places) that there is a Kingdom coming that will never end; a Kingdom greater than all others, brought by a Messiah. In the first chapter of Mark, the first quote of Jesus is, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

And while Jesus did fulfill, He did not build His church during His lifetime. He simply laid the groundwork for the Apostles to go forth after He left the earth. He told them to wait in Jerusalem and he would send the Holy Spirit to them with power.

And in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit comes with power on the Apostles. They receive it as tongues of fire on them, and they begin speaking in tongues (languages). It is at this point that the whole Bible changes gears, starts a new direction. Right here in this chapter we see people being baptized, becoming Christians, comprising a church--the Jerusalem church. They meet together, eat together, worship together, and soon will be going into all the world to spread the good news. The rest of the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, follows this progression.

From these examples of conversion and service to God, we can learn and do likewise. The book of Acts is very educational and inspirational. It motivates us and it gives us a clear pattern to follow. Thanks for reading! See you next week.