Something Greater

How Great Our Savior! "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23-24 (ESV) JUSTIFIED: dikaioo (to render just or innocent, to show or regard as as just or innocent); from dikaios (equitable in character or act, innocent or holy); from dike (right, as self-evident, justice); from deiknyo (to show) REDEMPTION: apolytrosis (the act of ransom in full, riddance or salvation); from apo ("off" or away) and lytron (something to loosen with, a redemption price, atonement); from lyo (to "loosen") Jesus Christ became our ransom, the payment in full that loosened off the sentence of death required by our sin against God. The Ransom allowed God to declare us to be innocent, equal in character to that of His Son , justified in His sight as entirely right in character and act. How great our sin, yet how great our Savior! Image provided by mo...

It's Not Okay to Lie How would you respond to someone who casually says, "It's okay to lie because all I have to do is ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive me?" Paul expected a similar question from his Roman readers: "If our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?...If through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?" Romans 3:5,8 (ESV) Paul's answer: God is Judge of the world! A judge rewards right and administers punishment for wrong . Were God to forgive sin simply because one asked for forgiveness, God would cease to be a righteous Judge. God does not forgive because people ask Him for forgiveness... He cannot unconditionally forgive sin and still remain the righteous Judge of the world. The entire world is held accountable to God for violating His Law (Romans 3...

Right In The Sight Of God Acts 4:19-22 "But Peter and John answered them, - Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. - And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old." Acts 4:19-22 (ESV) Peter and John stood before the most powerful leaders of Jerusalem, the religious supreme court of the Jewish high priest. In many ways, the religious leaders held more influence and control over the city than even the Roman Empire leaders. Determined to quickly stamp out rebellious heresy as threats to their power and position, the religious leaders were astonished and speechless by the boldness of Peter and John and the irrefutable evidence of a miraculous healing in the na...

Unswayed By The Facts "But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." Acts 4:14-18 (ESV) Peter and John, arrested and brought to trial before the Jewish religious court, spoke boldly and decisively. The high priest and the select, inner core of Jerusalem's theocracy were astonished and silent . What paralyzed these powerful men's tongues? Irrefutable, verifiable truth in the form of a beggar standing with Peter and John. The beggar had been lame from bir...

Where Thieves Break In Today I received a letter from friends who work as translators and teachers in another country. They are helping to translate the Bible into a language that has lacked anything written, not even an alphabet! Their letter described something I always find intriguing, and important . My friends were translating a verse from Matthew: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal." Matthew 6:19 (ESV) "Break in" is the English translation of the Greek word, diorysso, meaning to penetrate burglariously, from a word meaning to burrow in the ground or dig . One of my greatest passions is words, and how words develop , and the literal objects at the root of words for abstract concepts. My friends live among a people-group who understand clearly what this verse describes: "In the hot season, people sleep outside and lock the door of their house. Thieves go aroun...

Astonished and Silenced Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (ESV) BOLDNESS: parresia (all out-spokeness, frankness, bluntness, publicity, assurance); from pas (all) and rheo (to utter, speak or say); from rheo (to flow, or "run") ASTONISHED: thaumazo (to wonder or admire); from thauma (wonder); from theaomai (to look closely at, to perceive or visit) The religious leaders greatly admired the bold, out-spokenness of their speech. Notice that their wonder resulted from seeing Peter and John, rather than listening to them. It was not so much as their words of reason, but their boldness in speaking that caused others to look closely at Peter and John in wonder and admiration. The astonishment came because of the constrast between what the crowd had expected of Peter and John before they saw them preaching. Notice tha...

Joyful Despair "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of ...

Acting in Ignorance "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers." Acts 3:17 (ESV) IGNORANCE: agnoia (the quality of ignorance); from agnoeo (not to know, to ignore through disinclination); from noieo (to exercise the mind, observe, comprehend, heed); from nous (the intellect, mind, meaning); from ginosko (to know) Ignorance means to not know and to not care to know . The root of the word is to exercise the mind, to observe and attach meaning and importance to what is observed. Peter was preaching to Jews, the religious people who denied Christ's divine nature and hated His condemnation of their lifestyle. The Jewish leaders initiated His arrest and demanded His execution, and Peter blamed ignorance for their malice and violence . The Apostle Paul described ignorance as having a mind of futility : "You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, ali...

Abiding in Christ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:9-11 (ESV) ABIDE: meno (to stay) Abiding in Christ's love means depending upon what Christ gives through His love , which includes His commandments. When Jesus first sent His disciples out to go from town to town to heal and preach, He told them to find a "house of peace" and abide there, eating what they provide . They were not to go from house to house. (Luke 10:3-7) Abiding in the same house is a good illustration of abiding in Christ's love. Abiding means accepting all that Christ has done for us and given us , with an attitude of thankfulness and dependence. Christ's commandments are given in love, and He promises joy in the abiding. Abidin...