“But by the grace of God I am what I am,” – 1 Cor. 15:10
Here is every redeemed sinner’s eternal confession.
We are dependent on this grace moment by moment.
Tag Archives: Paul
Of Him
“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in theLord.” – 1 Cor. 1:26-31
But of Him: Jesus is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Jesus alone gets the glory.
Gal. 2:16
If I tell my children something once, that should be enough… but, of course, it’s usually not. If I tell my children something three times right in a row: its probably pretty important.
In one verse, Paul repeats himself THREE times:
“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no human being shall be justified.” – Gal. 2:16
- We are not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.
- We are justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
- By the works of the law no human being shall be justified.
If you are leaning on works, rituals, or traditions instead of faith in Jesus, you will not be justified (right with God).
Straining at Rowing
I took Mary kayaking this weekend. Typical of a 2-year old, she wanted to “do it myself!” Needless to say, we didn’t get very far and she ended up pretty frustrated. Truth be told, she was a hot mess and I apologize to anyone who was expecting a peaceful afternoon on the water, but was instead subject to a full-blown temper tantrum that I’m sure was heard far and wide.
I kept thinking: If she would just relax and let her father do the rowing, we could have fun zipping all over that lake. Instead, she huffed & puffed and sweated & cried. Instead of going somewhere, we went nowhere. Instead of fun, it was… torturous. I was reminded of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee.
“Then He saw them STRAINING AT ROWING, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.” – Mark 6:48 (NKJV) [Emphasis mine.]
“Straining” doesn’t do that Greek word justice. Basanizó literally means TORTURING.
They were literally torturing themselves by not relying on Jesus! Likewise, you and I are literally torturing ourselves by not relying on Jesus too.
Whenever we try to earn our salvation by being a “good person,” we are straining at the oars. Whenever we try to save ourselves with religious rituals, we are straining at the oars. Whenever we try to do ANY of the rowing, we will inevitably be straining at the oars.
Thinking you have anything to do with your redemption is the opposite of the gospel. Paul says that teaching telling you otherwise is not even a gospel; it is distorted and accursed, twice! (Gal. 1:7-9) Listen: we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, by His blood, through faith. Period. (Rom. 3:24-25)
We are all in a tempestuous sea. The wind is against us. No matter how furiously we strain, ROWING IN OUR OWN STRENGTH will never get us to shore. Aren’t you tired of rowing in circles? Aren’t you tired of torturing yourself? Jesus can easily step in if we would only let Him. He calms the sea, silences the wind, and gets us safely to the other side.
But we must first hand the oars over to Him.
Let God help you.
Stop Punishing Yourself
In hockey & soccer there is a penalty box. Its the area where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty for an offence. Get this: sometimes it is called the “sin bin,” or “the bad box.”
Don’t we think that when we sin we need to put ourselves in the “penalty box?” That way we can “pay for it?” Then after a little while, we get out of the penalty box, and go to God so He can forgive us? Folks, that’s the opposite of the Gospel.
Stop punishing yourself! You cannot pay for your sins & save yourself! If you could, Jesus died for nothing (Gal. 2:21).
Paul said the sin he doesn’t want to do, he keeps doing and the things that he should do, he doesn’t do: sound familiar? It should. Romans 7 is the inner-struggle each & every one of us face.
“Recognizing your weakness drives you TO GOD immediately, not AWAY FROM HIM.” – Paul Washer
Instead of thinking that God is mad at us for committing the same sin over and over, focus on His unending kindness. This is what actually leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).
The focus is not what you are doing, but rather what Jesus has already done for you! Its not about YOU, its about HIM.
If we could truly embrace this concept we could get out of our self-imposed penalty boxes and run back into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.
A Fragrance of Christ
Sorry if this is too personal, but what do you smell like?
“For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing… ” – 2 Cor. 2:15
God can sniff us out. You ever have that aroma that just makes you so happy? You breathe it in like, “Ahhhhh!” Believers stick out to him like a sweet perfume.
God can sniff out unbelievers just as easily.
Paul continues…
“… to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. (v. 16a)
It’s amazing how one smell is pleasant to one person, but stinks to another. For example, some people love the smell of Play-Doh and some can’t stand it. When we speak about the Lord Jesus Christ to the world, they bristle. He is precious life to us, but pungent death to them.
Lastly, Paul asks “who is adequate” for such a tremendous task? (v.16b)
The answer is simple: No one is adequate, sufficient, or worthy. We all fall tragically, hilariously short.
Not one to leave us hanging, Paul tells us how we can ever be adequate: Our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. 3:6). He makes us competent. He enables us.
And for that I am eternally grateful.
So, what do you smell like?
Paul’s “My” Gospel
In Romans 2:16, Paul does something curious; he calls the gospel, “my gospel.” Funny. In most other places he uses the plural possessive,”our gospel.” But here he calls it his own.
Why?
Paul doesn’t mean that he is the author of it or that he has some sort of exclusivity with it. What he is doing is taking ownership of it and (as Spurgeon says) “holding it with both hands, grasping it as his very own.” He is binding it to his heart. He’s making it personal.
I join Paul in calling the gospel of Jesus Christ mine. It is my very own. All else is vanity and lies.
This is my gospel. Is it yours?
Living in a Musical
Living in a Musical
It seems like the Apostle Paul wants us all to live in a musical.
“See then that you walk circumspectly (NIV = carefully), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation (NIV = debauchery); but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” – Eph. 5:15-21 (NKJV)
Verse 19: speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
Singing songs (making music in your hearts) to the Lord with an attitude of thanksgiving. Is this not the very definition of joy? JOY primarily manifests itself by – Singing and thanksgiving! Paul is not saying we are all in Grease or West Side Story; he is saying to submit to each other by helping, encouraging, & bearing one another’s burdens – all with an attitude of… JOY!
Our Heavenly Summer Vacation & Our Heavenly Weekend is coming!
Let me put it this way: do you remember the last day before summer vacation? Everyone is happier, lighter, and easier to get along with. Its as if everyone has a song in their hearts. They can’t wait; tomorrow’s the beginning of summer!
Or at the workplace; everyone is way happier on Fridays than on Mondays. The weekend is coming!
As believers, we have summer vacation coming; Our Heavenly Summer Break! As followers of The Way, we have our weekend coming; Our Heavenly weekend! We should live like tomorrow is that day of anticipation; because it is! Troubles don’t seem so bad. Trials don’t seem so hard. Things that usually get on your nerves, all of sudden don’t. That’s the spirit!
And if you break out in song, you can always blame Paul.
Dungeon Songs
Ever get a song stuck in your head? Of course you have! The Belle Stars’, “Iko Iko” from the movie, “Rain Man” used to get it’s catchy claws on my brain and not let go.
Well, how about after you’ve been arrested… in a dungeon… at midnight? Still got a song rattling around up there? Kind of different, huh? Well, that’s exactly what Paul and Silas were doing when they were in prison in Philippi:
“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;” (Acts 16:25)
Nowadays, songs that get stuck in my head are Christian worship songs. That may sound weird to you, but to me it isn’t. A couple of years ago I took the K-Love “30-Day Challenge” of listening to only Christian music for a month… and I never looked back. That’s not my point, my point is this: we lay up things in our heart. They can either be things of God or things not of God. When you wake up with a Christian song or a Scripture verse in your head, then this is the “song in the night” that God has given you!
“The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.” (Psalms 42:8)
Prison at midnight might not seem like a great place for singing. But in fact, it was ideal. Note that “the prisoners were listening to them.” What a witness! How many of Paul and Silas’s fellow inmates were converted that night? It’s hard to tell.
It’s also hard to tell who’s listening to you. And make no mistake, nonbelievers are listening. What are you singing? What songs are stuck in your head? God can give you songs in the night and it will be a prayer to the God of your life!
May God’s Love be with you
Re: Daily Devotion with Greg Laurie, “Songs in the Night”
The Hard Truth
My posts are generally pretty light. I believe in Jesus’s greatest commandment: Love each other as I have loved you, John 15:12. However, I don’t want to shortchange you. So, here it is, The Hard Truth:
If you are not saved, this is the best it’s gonna get. This is your heaven. So live it up. ‘Cause it’s only gonna get worse. A lot worse.
I’m talking Epic worse.
If you are saved, this is the worst it’s gonna get. This is your hell. So keep your chin up. ‘Cause it’s only gonna get better. A lot better.
I’m talking Epic better!
While you walk and breathe, it is never too late to turn back to the Father. He is anxiously waiting on the edge of the field for his child to return, Luke 15:20. But once God sanctions your heart to beat it’s last, then that’s all she wrote. Game Over. No do-overs.
Then there will be judgement. God is all about Love. But, God is also all about Justice. “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Cor. 5:10
That’s it. No candy-coated happy-go-lucky froufrou. No God is a pushover that will let me get away with being a spoiled little brat my whole life.
God “hates with a passion” those who are wicked, Psalms 11:4-7. That’s the NIV. The KJV says, “his soul hateth” the wicked. Psalms 5:4-6 says God “detests” the bloodthirsty, the deceitful, and those who tell lies. “Evil people are not welcome. The arrogant cannot stand in Your Presence. You hate all who do wrong.”
Jesus said “If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.” John 15:10. Let us never forget that we serve a Loving God but also a God of Justice. This is serious business.
Sorry for the tough love but tickling your ear doesn’t do you any favors. And you know what, I’m not sorry. So, there.
May God’s Love be with you
A Verse A Day 