Something Greater

Psalm 4 God Of My Righteousness To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.   Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, "Who will show us some good?" Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!" You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:1-8 (ESV) WHAT DO YOU THINK? How does prayer depend upon grace? Da...

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...

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...

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...

Only Human "Why do people try to gain salvation through their own merit, rather than accept God's righteousness through Jesus Christ? How strong a role does guilt play in this?" This was the question posed to me. Here is my response. From the beginning, angels and humans have inclined toward rejection of God as their ultimate Authority. God told Adam and Eve that they had for their food every plant in all the earth and every tree of the garden, except one. The serpent deceived Eve, pretending, without actually lying, to believe that God had forbade them any tree in the garden. The serpent's argument was that God's authority over them was arbitrary and unfair. The serpent opened a door into rebellion, making it appear good and delightful and wise, and Eve walked through that door. (Genesis 3:1-6) Adam was beside Eve all this time. He knew that the serpent was pretending. Adam knew that the serpent was usurping authority over God, but he also knew that t...

Prepared for Death "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Luke 2:34-35 (ESV) "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29 (ESV) "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matt 26:26-28 (ESV) Jesus was born to die, and He knew it . His death was preached by prophets centuries before His birth. He was described as a Sacrifice and a Lamb for slaughter . I believe Jesus knew His destiny even when He was still an unborn baby . Every lullaby sang by his ...

Broken, Wounded, and Hopeful | Psalm 119:166 Jeremy B lives in Israel and has a unique opportunity to explore the roots of Christianity while living in the reality of modern Jewish society. I appreciated a recent devotional he wrote. Jeremy has given me permission to reprint it here. Being in Israel on the Day of Atonement this year for the very first time left a deep impression on me, and caused me to give a lot of thought to the sacrificial system - especially its less appealing aspects. Watching some of the Orthodox slaughter chickens to provide some sort of atonement reminded me that salvation has always been a messy business and that looking deeply into it can be a shock for the faint of heart. This realization came at a time of interesting findings in the final stages of writing my thesis. Indeed, the sights and sounds of sacrifices took on a new and deeper meaning in light of a discovery I made a couple of weeks ago. This all may sound rather technical, but I wi...