Keeping Company....inside or outside?

The Corinthian church had lots of problems, problems that the apostle Paul dealt with in his letter of 1 Corinthians.  In chapter 3, he says:

"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.  Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out to the world.  But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is a fornicator, or covetous, or idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person."

We see here a distinction being made between people who are in the circle of brotherhood, people who are considered Christian brothers or sisters and those people who are outside this circle.  He is reminding them that they cannot remove themselves from the world, from worldly people, and cannot be an influence for good if they do not associate with all kinds of people.  But he goes on to say:

"For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside?  Do you not judge those who are inside?  But those who are outside God judges.  Therefore 'put away from yourselves that wicked person.' "

He makes it clear that it is not our place to judge those who are outside.  Oh, we will notice their evil lives, but not to judge, not to condemn; God will see to that.

On the other hand, we are not to tolerate open sin among our fellow Christians.  There are a number of other passages/teachings in the New Testament that indicate that we must not accept freely those who are claiming to be Christians but are openly living in sin.  And realize that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  But those who simply live in sin with no attempt to repent, to correct their lives, but live in sin, flaunting their sin, these must not be allowed to also openly claim faithful Christianity.

The Lord has given us great instruction for practical living.  He is to be praised!

Thanks for reading.  You are important. 

....whoever believes in Him......

We are all familiar with the popular verse,  John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned...."

Believing in Jesus is the key to being saved, saved forever, for eternity.  But believing is not a casual thing.  It was not in Jesus' day.  Those who believed in Jesus then did so at the risk of great persecution and many lost their lives.  And it is not a casual thing today.  Jesus taught that we must take up our cross and follow Him.  And we know that Jesus taught that the only way to God was through Him:

"I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Belief in God and in Jesus, His Son, requires that we be passionate about it, that we truly seek Him.  Note Hebrews 11:6,

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." 

To believe in God is to "seek Him," and to do so diligently, passionately, and to keep His commandments.  When Jesus was leaving some final thoughts with His followers in Matthew28, He said:

"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..."

Jesus expected us to believe, but to believe in such a way that we keep His commandments.  He said in John 15:14,

"You are my friends if you do whatever I command you."

This is what we must do; that is, do His commandments.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Destruction Leading to Salvation

One of the themes of the whole Bible is that out of destruction comes Salvation.  In this blog we will look at some of the examples of this principle.

One of the most obvious examples is that of Noah and the ark.  God was upset with the evil that existed in the world.  In this case, He brought total destruction by the flood, but allowed 8 people to be saved, Noah, his 3 sons and all of their wives.  Just a small remnant was allowed to be saved, all being God fearing people.

David is an example of this principle.  He sinned by taking Bathsheba and having her husband killed in battle.  God was hard on this sin, causing the baby of David and Bathsheba to die.  But out of this painful story came David, a man described as one after God's own heart, one who loved and served God.

When we look at the history of the Jewish people, we see that Israel split into two parts, Judah in the South and Israel in the North.  As we read through Kings and Chronicles in the Old Testament, we see that in the North there was a total desertion of following God.  And God allowed them to be taken into captivity by Assyria.  Following that, Judah was mostly following idols, sinning against God.  But there was some turning back to God from time to time, so God remained patient for awhile.  But finally God allowed Judah to be captured by the nation of Babylon.  Out of all this destruction, God allowed some of the people of Judah to eventually return and rebuild.  Out of destruction came restoration, deliverance.

The best example of all is Jesus.  Jesus had to endure the worst kind of destruction; yet we know that out of His suffering and crucifixion came triumph and salvation.

And Paul, known then as Saul, was killing Christians.  And out of all of this evil came a powerful teacher and leader for the Lord's work. 

And then to us.  As we read in Romans 6, when we are baptized we die to sin and come forth a new creature.  Out of our own devastation comes salvation.

Thanks for reading.  Have a blessed week.

Clothe Yourself With Christ

Perhaps my favorite chapter in the New Testament is Galatians chapter 3.  Here there is a clear discussion of three basic principles that are taught throughout the Bible, that of Promise, Law and Faith.  It goes into a discussion of the Promise that was made to Abraham, one that was made way back in Genesis 12, where God told Abraham that from his seed, or relative, would come one who would bless the whole world, referring to Jesus.  This chapter 3 also talks about the Jewish Law that God gave His people at a later date, and it explains why this special Law was given.  And it compares the Law to Faith, talking about the faith that comes in following Christ.  This chapter ties the whole Bible together in one place.

Galatians 3:24:   "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."  (Thus, we as Christians are no longer under the law, the Jewish law.)

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."  This is a neat way of saying that when we were converted, we were baptized, and we put on Christ like one would put on a coat.  Christ is now a part of us; we have clothed ourselves with Him.

"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."  This is beautiful language to assure us that there is no distinction with God.  We are all His.

And finally, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."  This shows that all Christians are heirs to the promise made thousands of years ago to father Abraham, that all the world would be blessed by his seed. 

The Bible is amazing!

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love.

A Couple of Things.......

I think it is interesting to pick up little known facts from the New Testament.  So here are a couple of things that I would guess most people don't know.  That's no reflection on you because you may know these. 

The first is that Jesus walked on the earth for 40 days after His resurrection.  This is only recorded in one place, Acts chapter one.  Acts begins:

"The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

Jesus was killed, crucified, on Friday, rose from the dead on Sunday, stayed on the earth for 40 more days, then ascended to heaven as recorded at the end of Luke and the beginning of Acts.

I would suggest to you that most people are not familiar with this timetable and are not aware that Jesus spent 40 days showing Himself arisen to so many people.

A second fact that most people would not know is that Jesus, while growing up in Nazareth, moved His hometown to Capernaum when it was time to start preaching.  This is only recorded, at least in clear fashion, in Matthew chapter 4:

"Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulon and Naphtali...."

Nazareth was not a good place for Him to teach, because they knew Him as a hometown boy, a carpenter, and just couldn't believe.  But Jesus continued to live in Capernaum when He wasn't traveling about and teaching.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

When God Speaks

I have been doing some reading in 1 &2 Kings and found an interesting set of stories in Chapter 20 of 1 Kings. King Ahab, one of the worst ever kings of Israel, was challenged by Ben Haddad, king of Syria.  With some resistance verbally, Ben Haddad said he would reduce Israel to dust (I am shortening the story).  King Ahab replied, "Let not the soldier who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes his armor off."  That was a clever retort, but one that Ahab could not back up....except with God's help.  In this case, the Lord sent word to Ahab that He would deliver Syria into Israel's hands.  This happened and Israel triumphed. 

After a little time, Ben Haddad's advisors said that the God of Israel must be a god of the mountains, but not of the plains.  If they fight on the plains Syria will win.  From the story, one would conclude that God did not favor Ahab much because the king was so evil.  But God was not going to put up with being called a God of the mountains only.  So God sent word to Ahab that he would deliver him again; and he did just that.

But a problem develops.  After Ben Haddad has been utterly defeated, he puts on sackcloth and ashes as do his remaining survivors, and he sends word to Ahab asking for a treaty.  King Ahab agrees to spare Ben Haddad.  It is at this point in the story that another inside story is inserted. 

We read of a man who is the son of the prophets who approached a neighbor and said "strike me."  The man said no way. The first man put a curse on him and he was killed by a lion.  Then he asked another man to strike him.  He did....and now the man places his bloody body beside the road.  The king Ahab passes by and the man says he was in the war, was supposed to watch over a captive, his life for his life, and suddenly the man vanished.  The injured man said to the king, now what do I do?  The king said, basically, that is your problem; you created it.  This final story ends with the man saying to the king, paraphrased here, just as I did wrong in the army, you did wrong in sparing the king Ben Haddad, not following the wishes of the Lord. 

This last story seems a bit strange, but it makes the point that we are to follow the word of God no matter what.  What He commands we must do.  And God means business; He means what He says.  We know that He is the Lord, the Creator, the God of all, the one we must follow. 

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week.

All Things Work Together for Good

One of the more beautiful verses in the New Testament is in Romans 8: 28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  This is a very comforting passage, knowing that God is with us and will take care of us.  But we also have to understand that God's ways are higher than ours, and we don't always get what we want. 

We know that God doesn't promise health and comfort in this life.  Many times we have to suffer....and we often don't know why.  But a perfect example in the Bible is Paul, who had to endure a "thorn in the flesh" which apparently brought him much discomfort.  Note 2 Corinthians 12:

7or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Lord answered Paul's request by saying, "My grace is sufficient..."  Paul wanted a break and asked for it three times, but God said, "No."  Following that we see a good attitude with Paul.  He would just "delight in weaknesses.."  And this is a lesson for us.  If life gets hard, as it often does; we must realize that God knows, God cares, and it will all be okay. 

Back to Romans 8, "What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?....Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"

Then the chapter concludes with these comforting words,

 

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"All things work together for those who love the Lord...."

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!