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.

Question: How does one know what his Gifts are?

So, a question was received, asking how one knows what his "gifts" are? The question was accompanied by an article that emphasized the importance of each of us using the "spiritual gifts" that God has given us, each doing that to the benefit of those around us. The point is well made that 1) our gifts, whatever they are, come from God, and 2) when we use our gifts, others benefit.

From what I see in the Bible, when discussing gifts, it is necessary to study the subject in context. For example, the article relates 1Corinthians 12 to us quite a bit. It is important to recognize that in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church he was dealing with a problem that existed in that church at that time. We get lessons from it, but we have to consider the context. We see in studying chapters 12 through 14 that they were having a special and significant problem with this matter of gifts--they were arguing and dividing over it. In chapter 12, Paul emphasizes unity--don't divide; God is not divided; the church should not be either. In chapter 13, he emphasizes love; that is more important than gifts. And in chapter 14, he points out that there are some speaking in tongues (languages), but there was no one to interpret, so no benefit received.

Looking at gifts in the Bible, we must first recognize that there were, at that time, miraculous gifts being given, like the ability to heal, to prophesy, to speak in unknown languages. We don't have that today. A previous blog entry dealt with that. But we all have certain gifts and abilities, all given by God. And so, that brings us back to the original question: how do we know what our gifts are?

I'm sure that this can be answered in many ways, but I go to two passages in the Bible that I feel shed good light on this. First, 1Cor. 13 says that "love never fails.......And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." The other passage is Romans 12. I can't record all of Romans 12 here, but be sure and read every word. Verse 6 says, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them...."

Any discussion of gifts should reference the teaching of Jesus regarding the talents (Mathew 25:14). One man was given 5 talents to use to the master's benefit, another was given 2, and the third was given 1, "to each according to his own ability". Jesus' teaching was clear, that we need to use our "talents," whatever we are given, to God's glory here on earth.

And in conclusion, it seems to me that the question is not, "how do we know what our 'gifts' are?" but rather, "How do we best use what we have been given to His glory." If this does not completely answer the question, then "get back at me." And thanks for asking....and thanks for reading!

God Calls All People

One of the major themes that runs through the Bible is the matter of Jew versus Gentile. This was a key problem in the time of Christ. Looking back quickly into the history, the Lord gave a special law to the Jews (also called Hebrews or Israelites), the Law of Moses. His purpose in doing this would seem to be the development of a blood line leading to the birth of His Son, Jesus. Genesis 12 shows the promise being made to Abraham that a savior would eventually come from his family. This special privilege/position of the Jews caused them to feel superiority over other peoples, especially noted in the New Testament.

Jesus, of course, was a Jew, and He loved His own people. But Jesus was very critical of the Jewish leaders who had become hypocritical, following their traditions but not the Law itself. Matthew 15 is a good place to read of the criticism of Jesus for these leaders: :"Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your traditions....Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

But all through the Old Testament and the New Testament, there is a central theme of, yes, the Jews are special to God, but there is a Kingdom coming that will last forever and it will be for all people. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said to His disciples: "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." In the book of Acts, we read that Jesus leaves the earth, ascending into heaven, and it is left to the apostles to carry on. The gospel is given to the Jews first, Acts 2-7. But beginning in Acts 8, and especially chapters 10 and 11, we see the gospel is taken to all.

In Galatians 3, for example, vs 27 starts, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." God wants every one of us to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Well, enough for now. I received a question regarding gifts; How do we know what our gifts are? We'll deal with that in the next entry, Lord willing. See you then!

Inheritance

This is a nice subject. We all know the value of inheritance. We have all seen the cases of people who received an inheritance or won the lottery, then proceeded to squander it all, and in many cases, have their lives completely ruined by all of the pressure. Still, we believe that we would be different, that we would be able to handle it. And given the opportunity, most of us would take the inheritance with glee. It is a natural thing, to want to be an heir.

Our Lord understands this desire to be an heir. But He goes much further with this. He knows that it isn't the goods of this world that really matter, or the little bit of time on this earth. Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:19, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." God knows and taught us what is important.

But our Lord did more than just teach us; He made us heirs of what is important. We became heirs by "adoption," Ephesians 1:5. And in Galatians 4, he is saying that we were at one time under bondage to this world, slaves; but in 4:7, he says, "..you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." If then we are followers of Christ, we become heirs of all that God has promised His children, including a beautiful life forever with Him in heaven. And for sure, being an heir of God beats being an heir of this world's goods.

So your rich uncle dies, and you go to the reading of the will, and you are wondering: did he leave me a lot of stuff, and was I good to him. Being an heir of God is kind of like this, too. Two things must happen: one is God's grace, and He wants us to be saved, gave us His Son and all the wonderful blessings to follow. The other is, we must have been true followers, not just lip service or left-over service. We know God has done His part. The rest is up to us (read Ephesians 4 and Galatians 4). Let's follow Him! Thanks for reading.