Something Greater

My Box I'm a little boy, holding a little box. On the box is a scrap of paper with a childish scrawl: My Life . I hold that box so tightly, hiding it from others, allowing only a few to peek inside and share my treasures. There are times that I am forced to open my box and share. Many days I take my box to Work and carefully open the lid to my box only a crack, sharing a bit of my strength and skill in trade for food and shelter and perhaps a bit more that I can call my Wealth. With my closest friends, or those that I wish were my closest friends, I open my box sporadically, quickly, picking out a few treasures that I think might please them. But I'm quick to guard against injury to my box. Even a critical word, or a stony glance or a surprised question will cause me to slam my box shut and I run to the nearest corner to pout or castigate myself. With my dearest partner, my lover and wife, I share much more of my box . I confront some of my fears and prides and let her...

Sainthood "To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 1:7 (ESV) There are many religions which recognize individuals as "saints" or "enlightened ones". One church reserves the term "saints" only for a member of their church regarded as "holy" who has died. The "saint" must have demonstrated "heroic virtue" or suffered martyrdom. After approval by an investigative panel, the candidate is proclaimed to be "venerable", the first step toward sainthood . The second stage is called "beatification" . It requires the candidate perform a miracle after their death and as a result of specific prayer to the candidate. This miracle proves that the person is in heaven and is able to intercede for the living. The final stage of sainthood requires one more miracle, allowing the religious leaders to ...

Scornful or Humble? "Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor." Proverbs 3:34 (ESV) SCORNERS: lis (to make mouths at, to scoff, to interpret or intercede) HUMBLE: anav (depressed in mind or circumstances, saintly); from ana (to depress) FAVOR: hen (graciousness, kindness, favor, beauty); from hanan (to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior, to favor, bestow, implore) The word for scorn is to make mouths at , to exaggerate the sound or appearance of someone for the purpose of insult or shame. Scorners of God exaggerate or twist His Words, turning His truth into a joke or example of shame , bringing others to laughter and preventing them from taking God seriously. God allows the scorner to mock...more, God returns the scornful behavior back towards the mocker, describing truths even more incredible and incomprehensible to the scornful mind. To be humble is to be depressed, to consider oneself to be without strength, influence...

Contentment in Giving How did Paul describe stewardship? Paul devoted the entire ninth chapter of 2 Corinthians to the subject of giving and generosity, ending it by describing giving to others as a gift from God: "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15 (ESV) The wonderful goodness of giving to others was a gift that exceeded Paul's ability to adequately describe . Today, I want to focus on four elements that makes giving to others a wonderful gift of God. The four elements rest upon each other, forming a triangle with four layers . Our study in God's Word today will explore this triangle, beginning at the top and digging deeper and deeper into God's Word, uncovering what lies beneath, until we see God's grace supporting it all. At the top of the triangle is cheerfulness: "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians...

Our Spiritual Sacrifice The Apostle Peter described the Christian life as being one of offering "spiritual sacrifices" : "You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5 (ESV) I find myself a bit fuzzy with what "spiritual sacrifice" looks like. After looking a a few (of the many) references to sacrifices, both in the Old and New Testaments, I'm convinced that it means this : Jesus Christ IS our spiritual sacrifice . Lifting Him up, making much of Him, speaking of Him to the world, depending upon Him and delighting in Him as our greatest Treasure are the expressions of the truest sense of "spiritual sacrifice". Giving money to charity, singing to others, spending our time and energy, cleaning the church or sharing our food with the needy is only one degree removed from actual, blood-spilling sacr...

Resurrection of the Dead Acts 4:1-12 "And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Acts 4:1-2 (ESV) The resurrection of Jesus threatened the religious leaders in Jerusalem. ANNOYED: diaponeomai (to toil through, be worried); from ponos (toil or anguish); from penes (starving or indigent); from peno (to toil for daily subsistence) The Greek word that we translate as "annoyed" means to feel threatened, as if by starvation . In what way did the resurrection of the dead threaten the religious leaders? The religious leaders arrested Peter and John and attempted to charge them with being heretics . They demanded to know by what authority Peter and John healed the crippled man: "When they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do th...

Just the facts, ma'am... What are some of the facts that support Paul's case in Romans 4 that Abraham is said to be righteous solely because of his faith in the promise of God? Let's go through the fourth chapter of Paul's letter to the Roman church, listing just the facts: Abraham had nothing to boast about. Scripture says that Abraham believed God, and that it was counted to him as righteousness. Our society distinguishes between gifts and wages. David spoke of the blessings of God granting righteous status to even one who is lawless and sinful. Righteous status was granted to Abrahm before he was circumcised. Circumcision is a sign of undeserved righteousness. The promise of power and influence over the earth was given to Abraham and his descendents did not come through keeping the law. Law-keeping requires no faith. The purpose of the law was to reveal God's wrath. Without law, there is no sin. God has the power and privilege of gra...

Passing Over Former Sins What is the meaning of the phrase, "God passed over former sins"? What value did this act of God give to the work of salvation by Christ? "Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins." Romans 3:24-25 (ESV) God's plan, the death of His Son Jesus Christ, was to show the righteousness of God. God's righteousness had been in a sense "tarnished" , or hidden, by withholding punishment for "former sins". What were the "former sins"? As Creator, God has every right to immediately punish evildoers for sin . He demonstrated His justice in casting Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and in the world-wide flood that destroyed nearly all life, and the sudden, complete destruction of Sodom and Gommorah. Yet hundreds of generations of human civilizations, ...

Doing Good Works versus Undeserved Grace How would you communicate the concept of undeserving grace to someone who is hung up with doing good works to get into heaven? How could you relate this truth from your own application in life? There are hundreds of laws, commands and parables in both the Old and New Testaments that require obedience. They can be summed up in just two: "Which is the great commandment in the Law? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) There is absolutely no doubt that the Bible teaches that people are to obey God's commands by living a life of good works. We are to treat God, and other people, with love . LOVE: agapao (to love in a social or moral sense, to have a strong personal atta...

Restoration of All Things "Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." Acts 3:21 (ESV) HEAVEN: ouranos (the sky, the abode of God, implying happiness, power, eternity); from oros (a mountain); from oro (to rise or rear) RECEIVE: dechomai (to receive, to take or accept) Jesus is physically in heaven, decribed as being in the sky, implying separated from earth and unreachable by mortal humans. Luke described Jesus as being "taken up" (Acts 1:2). Later, Luke said that Jesus had been "raised up", using a different word that means to lift or sail away (Acts 1:9). Being raised up involved being carried upward by a cloud, taken up out of sight. Angels explained to the disciples that Jesus would "come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven". RESTORING: apokatastasis (reconstitution); from apokathistemi (to reconstitute in health, home ...

Under the Dominion of Grace "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:11-14 (ESV) CONSIDER: logizomai (to take an inventory, estimate); from logos (something said or thought); from lego (to lay forth or relate or mean, rather than individual speech or simply breaking silence or an extended harangue) DEAD: nekros (dead); from nekus (a corpse) ALIVE: zao (to live) A Christian is responsible for careful consideration and logical reasoning regarding circumstances in which faith in Christ places them. A Christian is dead to sin and alive to God. This m...