Something Greater

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

Oh! How He Loves Us! "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." Philippians 2:1-2 (ESV) Paul describes the reward, or the conseqence, of being in Christ : ENCOURAGEMENT: paraklesis (imploration, hortation, solace); from parakaleo (to call near, invite, invoke); from para (near) and kaleo (to call aloud) COMFORT: paramythion (concrete consolation); from paramythia (abstract consolation); from paramytheomai (to relate near, encourage, console); from para (near) and mythos (a tale, a story of fiction, "myth") PARTICIPATION: koinonia (partnership, participation, intercourse, benefaction); from koinonos (a sharer, an associate); from koinos (common, shared by all or several, profane) AFFECTION: splanchnon (the intestine, figurative for pity or sympathy); from splen (the

What Is Sin? How did the Jews define "unrighteousness" or sin? How does society define sin? How would you define sin? How does God define sin? Paul charged the Jews with knowing precisely what defines sin: Dishonoring God (Romans 1:21) Idol worship (Romans 1:23-25) Sexual perversion (Romans 1:26-27) Unrighteousness: evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slander, hate, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, disobedience, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness. (Romans 1:29-32) The Jews knew that the Word of God included Laws: "All who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law." Romans 2:12 (ESV) Our society defines "sin" similarly, although it is not called "sin". We create laws to protect people from each other and to maintain social stability. Our human government is woefully inadequate and without integrity, but the definition of sin remains the same for o

Repent and Turn Again "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you." Acts 3:19-20 (ESV) Paul reaches the climax of his message to the Jews. He has rebuked them for their sin: they had denied, abused and murdered Jesus, the holy, righteous Ruler of all creation. He revealed the root cause of their sin: ignorance of God's message given through prophets. Now, Paul urges them to make a radical change : REPENT: metanoeo (to think differently, reconsider); from meta (accompaniment, "amid", association, succession) and noeo (to exercise the mind, observe, comprehend, heed); from nous (the intellect, the mind); from ginosko (to know absolutely) TURN AGAIN: epistrepho (to revert); from epi (superimposition, over, upon) and strepho (to twist, turn quite around, to reverse); from trope (a turn or revolution); from trepo (to