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VERSE OF THE DAY

Galatians 5:16 (New Living Translation)

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So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Galatians 5:16

New Living Translation

Living by the Spirit’s Power

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Jesus told us that the truth will guide us through the Holy Spirit

That the spirit would be sent in his place till he returned. The spirit can not be seen but can be felt and is truth the spirit is the truth we know it keeps us in line from our sinful nature to live a godly fearing life.

at does it mean to walk by the Spirit?

Walking by the Spirit means looking to Jesus for our direction. It is a daily journey of asking ourselves, “What does the Lord want me to do today? What will honor and please him?” It involves examining our lives and if we recognize the works of the flesh within us, we repent and ask for the Spirit’s help.May 3, 2021

What Does It Mean to Walk by the Spirit?

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

I’m sure you’ve heard the idea of living and walking by the Spirit before. But, what does it really mean? Why should Christians even care about walking by the Spirit? How can we live and walk by the Spirit in our everyday lives? How does walking by the Spirit transform us? I’ll give you a hint: it is one of the most important aspects of our Christianity. If we’re not living and walking by the Spirit, our Christian journey will be a lot more difficult than it needs to be. 

Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” It’s one of my favorite verses of scripture. Walking with the Spirit, or keeping in step with the Spirit, is the simple antidote to many of the struggles with sin and temptation we experience as Christians. Walking by the Spirit does not mean we won’t be tempted but the Spirit gives us the power to choose Christ rather than submitting to our temptations. If your Christian walk feels impossible, take a moment to read this article and be reminded of how submitting to the Spirit can bring so much freedom and peace into your life. 



<img loading=”lazy” width=”1000″ height=”1500″ data-pin-title=”What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? – Daily She Pursues” data-pin-description=”I’m sure you’ve heard the idea of living and walking by the Spirit before. But, what does it really mean? Why should Christians even care about walking by the Spirit? How can we live and walk by the Spirit in our everyday lives? How does walking by the Spirit transform us? I’ll give you a hint: it is one of the most important aspects of our Christianity. If we’re not living and walking by the Spirit, our Christian journey will be a lot more difficult than it needs to be. #christianblog #christianwomen #christiangirls”

Who is the Holy Spirit? Why do we need him in our lives?

Before I get into what it means to live and walk by the Spirit, I want to remind you of the significance of the Holy Spirit in our world and in our lives. We know that the Spirit was poured out to believers on the day of Pentecost. The early believers began to speak in other tongues and observers nearby heard them praising God and proclaiming the gospel in their own languages. But how did we get to Pentecost? What came before? 

God gave his people the law through Moses. The law was meant to instruct them and teach them about the character of God. However, their hearts were not in the place to obey the law and they consistently failed. The thing is though, trusting and obeying God is a huge part of one’s relationship with the Lord. 1 John 2:3 tells us that we can have certainty that we know the Lord when we keep his commandments. So, how can people who do not have hearts to love and obey the Lord change? Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Related: How to Develop a Personal Relationship with God

A New Heart and New Spirit

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV

God promised to give his people a new heart and a new spirit and put his own Spirit within them. The Spirit of God would empower them to obey the Lord. They would no longer struggle to keep the law and fail miserably all the time. Instead, the Spirit would direct their lives and their choices and empower them to obey God as they should. 

The event that took place on the day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of this prophecy spoken through Ezekiel and many others. God poured out his Spirit and began to dwell within his people. 

The Situation of Galatians

There was a very specific issue in the Roman province of Galatia that prompted Paul to write about keeping in step with the Spirit. Certain people from Jerusalem came to Galatia and told the Gentile believers that in order to be right with God, they needed to be circumcised according to the Jewish law. This was literally anthetical to the gospel. Becoming in right standing with God comes through Christ and then the Spirit enables us to live righteously. 

This is perhaps why Paul emphasizes freedom in Galatians 5. Christ set his people free from the curse of the law. The law does not bring justification, only Jesus does. Now, the question that must have risen in their minds is, “How do we make sure that we’re living righteously?” Paul’s answer is simply by the Spirit. 

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:16-17 ESV

If the Israelites couldn’t obey God without the Spirit, why do we think we can? Every aspect of our lives should be led and directed by the Spirit. It isn’t easy, I know, but there’s no other way to live. If we try to do life without the Spirit, it might appear to go well for a while but our endeavors will eventually fail. 

Related: Why “Good” People Need the Gospel

What does it even mean to walk by the Spirit?

Walking by the Spirit means following the Spirit’s lead. Stoichōmen is the Greek word translated as “let us walk in step.” It refers to marching in rank or conforming to virtue and piety. In ancient Judaism, the term “walk” referred to the way in which one conducts their life. Walking was often associated with the law. So Paul flips this around and instead of calling believers to conduct their lives according to the law, he tells them to conduct their lives according to the Spirit.

Think about being on a tour or marching in line with someone else. When you’re on a tour, you go exactly where the tour guide goes. They have experience in the area they are taking you through while you do not. The best way to avoid getting lost is to follow them closely. 

Likewise, since the Holy Spirit is God, he knows God’s ways pretty well. Sure, you can try to navigate your relationship with God without the Spirit but you would only get lost. Instead, if you follow the Spirit closely, you’ll stay on the right track. 

Related: How to Actively Pursue God

The works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit

Paul goes on to tell us about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. The works of the flesh include sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, division, envy, drunkenness, and orgies. (Galatians 5:19-21) However, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

When we walk by the Spirit, we do not end up living out the works of the flesh. Instead, the fruit of the Spirit becomes evident in our lives. Walking by the Spirit means looking to Jesus for our direction. It is a daily journey of asking ourselves, “What does the Lord want me to do today? What will honor and please him?” It involves examining our lives and if we recognize the works of the flesh within us, we repent and ask for the Spirit’s help. 

Fighting against sin and temptation is futile without the Spirit. Attempting to live a godly life without God is legalism. The Mosaic law was good but it wasn’t enough to keep people from succumbing to the works of the flesh. Likewise, you might have many methods that you’re using to help you live a godly life. Some of those methods can be good. But without the Spirit, they are worthless. Only the Spirit of God can lead us into godliness. 

Living Lives Controlled by the Holy Spirit 

I want to end with this: our lives should be ordered and controlled by the Holy Spirit. We should be wholly submitted to him. All of our decisions and choices should be led by the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord lives inside you. He teaches you how to live. But it’s important to take time to listen. Sit in prayer and spend time in the word. Listen for his still, small voice. 

Walking by the Spirit makes us more like Christ. Isn’t this our goal? We want to become like the One we behold. We cannot become more like Christ through the law, our own morality, or rules that we set up for ourselves. It has to be through the Holy Spirit, always. 

May we earnestly pray, “Spirit lead me” and commit to going wherever he leads.

◄ What Does Galatians 5:16 Mean? ►

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

As believers, we are called to live in the Spirit, to pray in the Spirit, and to walk in spirit and truth. As Christians, we are called to live a spiritual life and not to be carnal, to bear the fruit of the Spirit and not to produce our own works of the flesh, to live under grace and not under law. As disciples, we are to walk by the Spirit for in so doing, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

Scripture reminds us, in many places, that we can only walk by means of the Spirit when we place our lives under His full control. We can only walk in spirit and truth when we are led by the Holy Spirit of truth and guided by His Word of truth.

To live the spiritual life that God requires of all His children, means that we should be willing to submit to His will and authority in every situation we meet… that in all our day-by-day dealings, we remain submissive to His leadings and obedient to His corrections – that we trust His Word, listen to His voice, and depend on Him alone – not relying on our own human abilities, actions, intuition, and strength, but doing only those things that we heart

The spirit and the flesh work in opposition to each other. They lust against one another and are totally incompatible one with the other. Our regenerated human spirit and our old sinful fleshly nature will remain bitter enemies and in conflict with each other, throughout our earthly life. But through the resurrected life of Christ, we have been given the means to walk by the Spirit so that we will not carry out the desires of our old, sinful, fleshly nature.

Paul himself recognised this inner conflict that we all face, when he cried, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this dying body.” He recognised the inner turmoil that he faced in the inner core of his being – but Paul knew that the answer to overcoming the lust of the flesh was found in Jesus Christ. He alone has given us the power to overcome the desires of the flesh and it is achieved as we walk in spirit and truth – in submission to the Holy Spirit of Christ.

The flesh refers to the old sin nature, ‘the old man’ that was crucified with Christ when we trusted Him as Saviour – and we are to keep our fallen nature, that ‘old man’ nailed to the Cross and permanently disabled as we walk in spirit and truth. Only as we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit and depend on Him by grace through faith in Christ, are we able to walk by the Spirit and be enabled to live as God as intended us to live.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/galatians-5-16

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/galatians-5-16

Galatians 6

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

3 

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? zIt was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly aportrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: bDid you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by chearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? dHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by1 the flesh? 4 eDid you suffer2 so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and fworks miracles among you do so gby works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as hAbraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is ithose of faith who are jthe sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that kGod would justify3 the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, l“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

10 For all who rely on works of the law are munder a curse; for it is written, n“Cursed be everyone who does not oabide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that pno one is justified before God by the law, for q“The righteous shall live by faith.”4 12 But the law is not of faith, rather r“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ sredeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, t“Cursed is everyone who is hanged uon a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might vcome to the Gentiles, so that wwe might receive xthe promised Spirit5 through faith.

The Law and the Promise

15 yTo give a human example, brothers:6 zeven with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now athe promises were made bto Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, c“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came d430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as eto make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but fGod gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? gIt was added because of transgressions, huntil the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was iput in place through angels jby an intermediary. 20 Now kan intermediary implies more than one, but lGod is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For mif a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture nimprisoned everything under sin, so that othe promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given pto those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, qimprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, rthe law was our sguardian until Christ came, tin order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus uyou are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as vwere baptized winto Christ have xput on Christ. 28 yThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave7 nor free, zthere is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And aif you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, bheirs according to promise.

Sons and Heirs

4 

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,1 though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, cwere enslaved to the elementary principles2 of the world. 4 But dwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, eborn fof woman, born gunder the law, 5 hto redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive iadoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent jthe Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then kan heir through God.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

8 Formerly, when you ldid not know God, you mwere enslaved to those that by nature nare not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather oto be known by God, phow can you turn back again to qthe weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 rYou observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid sI may have labored over you in vain.

12 Brothers,3 tI entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. uYou did me no wrong. 13 You know it was vbecause of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you wat first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me xas an angel of God, yas Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by ztelling you the truth?4 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and anot only when I am present with you, 19 bmy little children, cfor whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ dis formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, eone by a slave woman and fone by a free woman. 23 But gthe son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while hthe son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two icovenants. jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;5 she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But kthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

l“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than those of the one who has a husband.”

28 Now you,6 brothers, mlike Isaac, nare children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh opersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, pso also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? q“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but rof the free woman.

Christ Has Set Us Free

5 

For sfreedom Christ has tset us free; ustand firm therefore, and do not submit again to va yoke of wslavery.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that xif you accept circumcision, yChrist will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that zhe is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are asevered from Christ, byou who would be justified1 by the law; cyou have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly dwait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus eneither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but fonly faith working through love.

7 gYou were running well. Who hindered you from obeying hthe truth? 8 This persuasion is not from ihim who calls you. 9 jA little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 kI have confidence in the Lord that you will ltake no other view, and mthe one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers,2 still preach3 circumcision, nwhy am I still being persecuted? In that case othe offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish pthose who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. qOnly do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love rserve one another. 14 For sthe whole law is fulfilled in one word: t“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you ubite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

16 But I say, vwalk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify wthe desires of the flesh. 17 For xthe desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, yto keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are zled by the Spirit, ayou are not under the law. 19 Now bthe works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, cdivisions, 21 envy,4 drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that dthose who do5 such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But ethe fruit of the Spirit is flove, joy, peace, patience, gkindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 hgentleness, iself-control; jagainst such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus khave crucified the flesh with its lpassions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, mlet us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 nLet us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

What does Galatians 5:16 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

In the previous passage, Paul has spoken truth to the Galatian Christians. That truth applies to all Christians, even today. His plea is for believers not to waste their freedom in Christ on serving their own flesh, and their own selfish desires. Instead, he has told those free in Christ to serve each other in love. He is describing a life of self-sacrifice lived out in response to God’s love for us (Galatians 5:13–15).

Now Paul begins to describe how to live in this way. After all, this kind of love does not come naturally. Not only do we resist giving up our own way, we often simply do not know how to love. Without the rules of the law to guide our every decision, how will we use our freedom in Christ to love each other?

Paul points to the only source of power and wisdom beyond ourselves: the Holy Spirit of God. He revealed earlier in this letter that the Spirit comes to live in the hearts of every one of God’s sons and daughters (Galatians 4:6). Now Paul tells us to use this freedom in Christ to access the power of God’s Spirit in our hearts in our everyday lives. He tells us, literally, to walk, and keep on walking, by the Spirit’s power and guidance.

Again, the picture Paul will paint is about setting aside our own power and relying on God’s. In the same way we could not fulfill the law by our own effort, Paul tells us to quit trying to serve each other in love on our own. The Spirit of God in us is available and willing to help.

Yes, this is a mysterious idea, but it’s also how free people in Christ avoid giving in to the desires of our flesh. It’s how we overcome our strong appetites to do what feels good even if that thing is sinful. In the Spirit’s power, we can say no to ourselves.

Context Summary

Galatians 5:16–26 focuses on how God’s Spirit gives those in Christ the power to serve others in love. We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead, however. When we don’t, our selfishness will lead us into all kinds of sinful lifestyles. When we live by the Spirit, on the other hand, we gain more than just being able not to live in sin. What comes out of us are a collection of powerful, positive characteristics.

Chapter Summary

Those who trust in Christ have been set free. Paul’s readers were in danger of wasting that freedom, by veering off in one of two directions. On the one hand, false teachers were pressuring them into circumcision in order to be sure of being right with God. On the other hand, freedom can also be squandered on serving only our sinful desires instead of investing it through serving others in love. God’s Spirit gives us the power to do that when we let Him lead us. Life in the Spirit bears powerful and positive fruit in a Christian’s life

Galatians 3:26-27

New Living Translation

26 For you are all children[a] of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.[b]

For you are all accepted as children of God by faith because of Christ jesus. you were all baptized into christ so you were all clothed with christ this shows that you are all children of god through faith in christ united by baptism

What Does Galatians 3:26 Mean? ►

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

There is a false teaching that all members of the human race are children of God and that all men are universal sons of the Almighty. This is not only dangerous but unscriptural, for only the regenerate are made children of God – only those that are saved by grace through faith in Christ are given the right to become sons of God: “Even to those who believe in His name – who were born not of human parentage but of the Spirit of God,” by grace, through faith.

Paul taught the Galatian believers: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” but Jesus also told us that those who do not believe in Him are “of your father.. the devil.” There are only two camps in this dispensation of grace. Saint or sinner – the former being saved by grace and eternally freed from condemnation – the latter being lost and under God’s righteous condemnation. The former made alive in Christ, citizens of heaven and at peace with God, and the latter remaining dead in their sins, prisoners of Satan and at enmity with their Creator.

To those that are born of the Spirit and washed in the blood of Christ, God is a gracious Heavenly Father, but to a Christ-rejecting sinful world, God is a righteous Judge. And when Scripture is twisted so that the love of God is divorced from the justice of God, we are left with a benevolent old man in the sky or an evil despot who dispenses fire and brimstone at His whimsical will. When a distorted gospel is preached and only certain of God’s characteristics are accentuated at the expense of the truth – the Church of God is destroyed for lack of knowledge.

When the whole counsel of God is not taught in our churches and a false gospel is the stimulus in doctrinally deficient, liberal seminaries, we feed on unwholesome manna and drink from dirty, dried-up cisterns, leaving our minds controlled by doctrines of demons and the unscriptural pronouncements of false prophets.

It is purely the mercy of God that has pronounced us children of God, through faith in Christ. And it is a miracle of mercy that has rendered us sons of God through believing on His name for salvation. Our privileged position in Christ has nothing to do with our worth or merit but is only and exclusively is founded on God’s grace that He extended towards us… in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us so that all who believe on His name may be given the right to become sons of God: “Even to those who believe in His name – who were born not of human parentage but of the Spirit of God – by grace, through faith in Him.”

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/galatians-3-26

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/galatians-3-26

What does Galatians 3:26 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

Paul concludes a thought begun in the previous verses. He has been showing that the law of Moses served a vital role in the life of Israel, but only for a temporary season. It was similar to a kind of tutor, or guardian, to the nation of Israel, steering them through the minefield of sin and its consequences without ever being able to free them from their imprisonment to sin (Galatians 3:19–25).

When Christ came, however, the guardian of the law was no longer needed. No matter what the Judaizers said to the Galatian Christians, it was not necessary for any of them to continue to follow the works of the law. True freedom from sin is now available to those who “by faith” receive the gift of Christ’s death for their sin on the cross. In fact, being “in Christ” by faith causes believers to become children of God. Paul is making a huge statement here. He is writing to non-Jewish Christians and calling them children of God, another step up from his previous description of them as Abraham’s children “by faith.”

Paul’s teaching was the Gentiles no longer needed to think of themselves as lesser members in the family of God. All who trust in Christ for salvation are full sons and daughters of God Almighty with all the rights and privileges that come with that.

Context Summary

Galatians 3:23–29 summarizes the idea that God never intended the law to be the final solution for the problem of sin. Instead, it was meant to ”guard” mankind, until the arrival of Christ. This freedom from the captivity of the law also transcends all other barriers: race, gender, wealth, health, and culture are all irrelevant to our relationship with the Savior. Anyone who belongs to Christ, by faith, is promised to be an heir.

Chapter Summary

Paul indicates the Galatian Christians are foolish for believing they need to follow the law of Moses to be right with God. He offers three specific arguments to support this. First, they received God’s Spirit in a powerful way after believing in Jesus, but before doing any works of the law. Second, Scripture itself shows God’s blessing coming by faith, and His curse coming by the law. Christ paid the price of that curse on the cross. Third, God’s covenant with Abraham is like a legal document, and it cannot be revoked

Galatians 3:26 NKJV

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

How is verse 26 connected to what was said previously? It shows the transition between law and faith. So we have the law as our tutor, right? But when faith in Jesus has come, we are no longer under a tutor. We are under faith. And this faith makes us into sons of God, not slaves of sin.

What’s interesting is this guys… last week we understand that a tutor (verses 24-25) is basically a child guardian, right? But when verse 26 talks about sons of God, this is actually talking about adult sons. So it’s like a graduation in a way from law to faith. From childhood to being adults. So if a Christian in Galatia was wanting to get back to the law, it’s like someone who wants to be a child again.

One commentary says:

As I have told you last week, it’s silly if any Christian in Galatia wanted to be justified by the law after being saved through faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s like someone wanting to return to prison after being set free.

now that Christ had come, the Galatian believers were adult sons through faith and were no longer under a Jewish slave-guardian. Why should they seek to revert to their inferior status?

One commentary says

Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 600). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

As I have told you last week, it’s silly if any Christian in Galatia wanted to be justified by the law after being saved through faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s like someone wanting to return to prison after being set free.

Imagine if you’re a Christian in Galatia. The Judaizers told you that you needed the law as well as faith in Jesus in order to be justified. But Paul has been clear in this passage hasn’t he? You are a child of God because of your faith in Jesus. It has nothing to do with the law.

Galatians 3:

Galatians 3:27 NKJV

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

As Christians, the Galatians have been baptized into Christ. They were immersed into Christ. Their old selves were crucified with Christ. And because of this, they have put on Christ. To help you understand better what it is to put on Christ, I want to illustrate it by a sports example.

Before I got into the basketball team at college, I already played basketball. It’s an enjoyable sport and I got into it. But after I entered the basketball team at Howick College, I was given a uniform. When I put on that uniform, things changed. All of a sudden I’m not just a youth who likes to play basketball during my break times. I represent Howick College now with basketball. I get to go outside the school to play against other school teams. I have put on a uniform that changed me as a student.

One commentary states:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 3:26–27

In the Roman society when a youth came of age he was given a special toga which admitted him to the full rights of the family and state and indicated he was a grown-up son.

So what does it mean to put on Christ? It means that you have a new identity as a Christian (derived from Kalisher). When you first have faith in the Lord Jesus, you have put Him on, like you have put on a brand new uniform. Things are not the same after you do. About putting Christ on, one commentary says:

When you first have faith in the Lord Jesus, you have put Him on. Things are not the same after you do. About putting Christ on, one commentary says:

“This is not a temporary condition for the sake of a certain occasion – it is a transfer of ownership, a new identity. Whatever was before I was saved has ceased to be… The same new identity is given to both Jew and Gentile who believe. That is why all believers in Jesus are called Christians – people who belong to Christ and resemble Him…” (Meno Kalisher)

Does Galatians 3:27 Teach Salvation By Water Baptism?

GEORGE IPPOLITO AUGUST 14, 2018

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

As you might have already gathered by the question presented in the title there are many who use Galatians 3:27 as a proof text to support their belief that water baptism is a necessary instrument of the salvation process, without which a person cannot be saved. While we want to hold up the importance of baptism as an ordinance instituted by the Lord Himself, we do not want to confuse its importance with saving faith. Not just because “we don’t want to” or because it doesn’t fit with a certain system of theology but because the Scripture does not teach such a doctrine. Galatians 3:27 is a great example of how people can do great injustice to the meaning of a text by avoiding a number of incredibly important hermeneutical principles.

Besides the response that will be set forth in the proceeding points, the methodology of the argument will also be very helpful. It can serve as a great framework to ensure that you do not make the serious mistake that people make when they take a text out of its context and teach false doctrine.

I. Let’s look at the immediate context.  In the verse immediately preceding Galatians 3:27, we are told, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus ” (vs. 26). So the verse in dispute (vs. 27) is immediately preceded by a verse that teaches that “faith in Christ Jesus” is the means through which people become sons and daughters of God. That’s important. That will help understand what Paul was (and was not) speaking about in verse 27; but first we ought to notice how verse twenty-six flows out from the extensive argument that he had been making in the latter portion of chapter two and just about the entirety of chapter three. Which brings us to our second point…

II. Let’s look at the context of Galatians. We will focus our examination to considering the verses leading up to Galatians 3:26-27, beginning at Galatians 2:16. Don’t forget what Paul has been arguing for – that a person is justified by faith and not by works. Watch the way in which Paul extensively argues this point leading up to the verse in question.

In Galatians 2:16 Paul wrote, “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 flesh shall be justified.” In this one verse we see how the apostle Paul accented the importance of faith three times!

Then, if we continue reading on into chapter three we see him argue the importance of faith over and over again. Here’s a sampling:

• Galatians 3:2 – “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

• Galatians 3:5-6 – “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

• Galatians 3:7 – “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”

• Galatians 3:8 – “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’”

• Galatians 3:9 – “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

• Galatians 3:11 – “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.”

• Galatians 3:14 – “that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

• Galatians 3:22 – “But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

• Galatians 3:24 – “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

So within the context of Galatians, and particularly the verses leading up to Galatians 3:27, Paul had been laboring extensively to show that a person was justified by faith. It would be strange (and incorrect) to think that after he made this point over and over and over again, he suddenly ‘threw in’, as a mere aside, an additional doctrine of salvation importance saying, ‘Oh yeah, and don’t forget, you’re actually saved by water baptism too.’ That doesn’t work. Both the immediate context and larger book context argue against it.

III. Larger Scriptural Context. With this step we are simply seeing if the larger context of Scripture argues for justification by faith or justification by baptism. The evidence overwhelmingly and indisputably supports the former – justification by faith. Rather than citing all the verses in their entirety here is a large sampling of the ‘addresses’ where those verses can be found: Jn. 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:47; Rom. 3:21-26, 28-30; 4:3, 5, 11, 16; 5:1; 9:30, 33; 10:4, 9-10; Eph. 1:13; 2:8-9; Phil. 3:9; etc.

IV. What kind of baptism is in view here? Perhaps the biggest mistake made by those who teach that a verse like Galatians 3:27 teaches salvation-by-baptism is that they assume when the word “baptism” is used the text can only be speaking of water baptism. Remember the Scripture does not only speak about water baptism, it speaks about “baptisms” (Gr. baptisimon), one of which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby He (the Holy Spirit) immerses a believer into union with Christ. John the Baptist, for example, said that while he baptized with water one was coming after him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Lk. 3:16b). The apostle Paul wrote of this baptism in 1 Corinthians 12:12,13 saying:

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

That’s the baptism that is in view in Galatians 3:27. So besides the fact that there is no mention of water in Galatians 3:27 (an important fact to note), it’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit that works coterminously with justification by faith – that’s the connection between verse 26 and 27! To be a son of God through faith in Christ Jesus (vs. 26) is to have been baptized by the Spirit into Christ – spiritually speaking (vs. 27).

QUESTION

Does Galatians 3:27 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation?





ANSWER

Groups that believe that baptism is necessary for salvation often turn to Galatians 3:27 as one of their “proof texts” for the view that baptism is necessary for salvation. In doing so they are ignoring the context of the passage as well as the overall context of Scripture to try to force their pre-conceived theological view on this passage.

In order to determine if this passage really supports baptismal regeneration, one simply needs to read the immediate context to know that it does not. The overall context of Galatians is centered on Paul’s rebuke that some of the Galatians were turning from the one true gospel to another false gospel that could not save them (Galatians 1:6-10). The false gospel they were embracing was one that mixed God’s grace with works of the law, including circumcision, as a requirement for being saved, much like those who add baptism as a requirement for salvation. Paul’s message in Galatians is very, very clear—we are justified not “by the works of the law but by faith in Christ” (Galatians 2:16). This context of justification by faith alone in Christ alone is seen throughout the first three chapters of Galatians and is reinforced in Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” This verse, along with all other passages of Scripture dealing with salvation, makes it clear that salvation is “through faith in Christ Jesus,” and since, for baptism to have any meaning at all, it must always be preceded by faith, we can know that it is faith in Christ that saves us not the baptism that follows faith. While baptism is important as a way of identifying us with Christ, it only has meaning if it comes from saving faith which always comes first.

Galatians 3:27 says, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Is there any reason from the context of this passage to assume that this is speaking of water baptism? The obvious answer is no. There is no contextual evidence on which to draw that conclusion. We know from Scripture that there is more than one type of baptism taught in the New Testament (Hebrews 6:2), so why should it be assumed this is speaking of water baptism? The question we need to answer from Scripture is, “How do we get baptized into Christ?” Or another way of asking it is “what makes a person a Christian?” Or maybe, “What is the single most important difference between a Christian and a non-Christian?” The answer to these questions is found in Romans 8:9, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.”

Scripture is very clear that the determining factor for whether or not one is a Christian is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. With that truth in mind let’s look at another passage that speaks of being “baptized” into Christ. “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all be made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). What is it that makes one a Christian? It is being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. What baptism is it that puts us into Christ or makes us a part of Christ’s body? It is the baptism “by one Spirit.” Clearly, the baptism that 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 and Galatians 3:27 are speaking of is not water baptism at all. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13-14) and are made part of Christ’s body as we are indwelt by His Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples before He left them that He would send them “another helper,” the Holy Spirit who “dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-18).

The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is what baptizes us into the body of Christ, as seen clearly in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. John the Baptist prophesied that, while he was sent to “baptize with water,” Jesus was the One who would “baptize with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33-34). It is that baptism, the point that we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that “baptizes” us into the body of Christ. Galatians 3:27 is not referring to water baptism at all. Water baptism is symbolic of what is accomplished when we are baptized into one body by one Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is what matters. When we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit as promised by Christ is when we become part of the body of Christ or are “baptized into Christ.” Those who try to force baptismal regeneration into Galatians 3:27 have no scriptural grounds for doing so.

Galatians 3:26-29 – WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED A CHILD OF GOD?

What a wonderful privilege it is to be a child of the living God! Thank God for His great love by which He allows us to be in His family. In the closing section of Galatians 3, we read about which people have the right to be called God’s children. Let’s call it “sonship in the Christ.” Note the text:

 (26) For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Let us start by pointing out some matters that are not the basis of sonship. The words of our text come immediately after Paul explained the role of the Law of Moses. For the Jews, it had served as a tutor to bring them to the Christ. Paul makes it clear that now, though, that old law is no longer in force (3:24,25). Thus, the sonship about which Paul writes is not brought about by following the old law.

Sonship is not through physical birth. The Christ is mentioned in each of the four sentences that make up the last four verses of Galatians 3. One becomes a child of God through Jesus, and that involves a spiritual birth, not a physical one (John 3:3,5). When it comes to physical matters, the context of the entire epistle to the Galatians makes it plain that receiving physical circumcision is not a factor in whether or not one is a child of God (cf. “circumcised nor uncircumcised” in Colossians 3:11).

Sonship is not based on one’s ancestry. As our text shows, in the Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek” (3:28). That, of course, does not mean that no Jew or Greek can be a child of God; it simply means that in God’s Son, there is no distinction based on one’s biological background.

Sonship is not based on one’s social status. Both slave and free could be, and were, admitted into God’s family (3:28).

Sonship is not based on one’s gender. Again, in God’s Son “there is neither male nor female” (3:28). We obviously can detect the difference between females and males, but the point here is that sonship is neither denied nor granted due to one’s gender. Do not confuse the issue in this context. Paul is not discussing the roles that males and females play in the Christ. He is not declaring that they are equal in having the right to take leadership roles in the work and worship of God’s people. No, Paul is addressing the question of “Who has the right to be called a child of God?” In that matter, brothers and sisters are equal, having come into the Christ in the same manner and being entitled to equal spiritual blessings in Him (Ephesians 1:3).

Well, if being God’s child is not predicated on any of those matters listed above, then upon what is it based? Sonship is based on location and relationship. Those who are in God’s family “are all one in Christ Jesus” (3:28). Thus, all of God’s children are in the Christ (which is the same as being in His church, 1 Timothy 3:15). The in-the-Christ people are the same as those who are identified as “Christ’s” (3:29). Again, sonship and faithful service is about location and relationship. Now let us go back a bit in our text.

Sonship comes about through Jesus: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (3:26). There is no way to bypass Him and be a child of God. As we consider “faith” in this verse, there are two aspects to it. First, in the Greek text, “faith” is preceded by an article, making it “the faith” – that is the system of faith, or gospel (1:23). So, sonship comes about via the gospel (and not the old law; 3:24,25). Second, there is the personal element of faith – a person must respond to the message of “the faith” with his own personal faith in Jesus as the Christ (Acts 16:31).

When does one’s personal faith get him into the Christ, that is, make him a child of God? “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (3:27). Scriptural immersion is the transition – it takes one from being in the darkness that is outside of the Christ and puts him into God’s Son. Since all spiritual blessings, including redemption, are in the Christ (Ephesians 1:3,7), then no one outside of Him is in God’s spiritual family. Again, the only way door into Him is via baptism.

Those who “are Christ’s” (3:29) were bought with a price – the blood of the Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18,19). Being in the Christ, they are Abraham’s spiritual seed and heirs to the promise, the promise that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s seed (3:16; Genesis 12:3; 22:18).

Let us never take for granted the privilege of being God’s children. God help us to appreciate all of the efforts made by the Godhead and humans, too, to bring about our redemption. And may we conduct ourselves in God’s family in such a way that others can see just how much that family means to us.

— Roger D. Campbell

Galatians 3:26-27: Water Baptism or Spirit Baptism

April 24, 2015 by Brian

The majority of commentators throughout history understand 3:27 to refer to water baptism. But this results in some serious difficulties. Calvin states the difficulty well: “”But the argument, that, because they have been baptized, they have put on Christ, appears weak; for how far is baptism from being efficacious in all? Is it reasonable that the grace of the Holy Spirit should be so closely linked to an external symbol? Does not the uniform doctrine of Scripture, as well as experience, appear to confute this statement?”[1] In other words, it is obvious under anyone’s theology, that not all who are water baptized are united to Christ. But this verse says, ”For as many of you as were,” or “All who were . . . .”

There are a number of ways of handling this difficulty. Peter Lombard notes a view ascribed to Augustine indicated that those who were baptized under a false confession had their sins forgiven “at the very moment of baptism.” But those sins “return immediately after baptism.” Lombard rejects this view, and he says that Augustine only reported the view. He did not hold it.[2] Lombard himself suggested two resolutions. First, it may be that only “those who are baptized in Christ” have their sins forgiven. Or, Lombard suggested, it may be that the passage refers not to those who receive the sacrament alone but also the thing which it symbolizes.[3]

This latter explanation has remained popular. It was the explanation Calvin offered: “It is customary with Paul to treat of the sacrament in two points of view. When he is dealing with hypocrites . . . he then proclaims loudly the emptiness and worthlessness of the outward symbol. . . . When, on the other hand, he addresses beleviers, who make a proper use of the symbols, he then views them in connexion with the truth—which they represent.”[4]

Another approach is to argue that baptism is one part of “the complex of initiation events describing conversion.”[5] Some make baptism an essential part of receiving the benefit. Beasley-Murray claims, “If Paul were pressed to define the relationship of the two statements in v. 26-27, I cannot see how he could preserve the force of both sentences apart from affirming that baptism is the moment of faith in which the adoption is realized . . . which is the same as saying that in baptism faith receives Christ in whom the adoption is effected.”[6] Everett Ferguson similarly states, “If a distinction is to be made between the relation of faith and baptism to the blessings described, one might say that baptism is the time at which and faith is the reason why.”[7] F. F. Bruce notes the problem with this approach: “The question arises here: if Paul makes baptism the gateway to ‘being-in-Christ’, is he not attaching soteriological efficacy to a rite which in itself is as external or ‘material’ as circumcision?”[8] For this reason commentators often make qualifying comments such as these by Moo:

It was not, in and of itself, a means of salvation or incorporation into Christ (contra, e.g., Schlier 1989: 172; cf. Betz 1979: 187-88). Faith, which Paul repeatedly highlights in this passage and in his other letters, is the only means of coming into relationship with Jesus Christ. However, baptism is more than simply a symbol of that new relationship; it is the capstone of the process by which one is converted and initiated into the church. As such, Paul can appeal to baptism as ‘shorthand’ for the entire conversion experience.[9]

The difficulty with all of these qualifications is that they seem to evade what the words of the verse actually say. The verse says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Moo says, “[Baptism] was not, in and of itself, a means of . . . incorporation into Christ (contra, e.g., Schlier . . .).” The verse says “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” But Lombard and Calvin say that is only true for those who receive the sacrament and the thing and not the sacrament alone. The qualifications are seeking to guard orthodox doctrine, but they seem to do so at the text’s expense.

But what if Paul is not referring to water baptism here? Bruce says, “It is difficult to suppose that readers would not have understood it as a statement about their initiatory baptism in water.” But is it so difficult? Both the Gospels and Acts anticipate and describe Spirit baptism.[10] The distinction between these two kinds of baptism is present in apostolic teaching. Distinction between the sacrament and the thing or the symbol and the reality, however, are later theological developments. It seems more likely for Paul’s original readers to have distinguished between water baptism and Spirit baptism than between the sacrament and the thing.

What is more, Spirit baptism makes good sense in this context. In this context baptism is the proof that “Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female” are one in Christ through faith. Water baptism cannot serve as such a proof because, as Hunn notes, “it proves only that the baptizer found [these distinctions] irrelevant.”[11] It does not provide a window into the mind of God. Spirit baptism, on the other hand, does provide such a proof. Indeed, this is Peter’s argument for accepting the Gentiles into the church. The Spirit baptized them just as he had baptized the Jews (Acts 11:15-17



). Hunn also observes that Galatians 3:23-29



and 4:3-7



follow parallel lines of argumentation. In 3:27-28 the proof of sonship is baptism into Christ. In 4:6 the proof of sonship is the reception of the Spirit. This parallel indicates that Spirit baptism is in view in 3:27.[12] Finally, 1 Corinthians 12:13



forms a close parallel to Galatians 3:27



. In both passages there is baptism into Christ. In both there is the indication that this the case whether the person is Jew or Gentile, slave or free. In 1 Corinthians 12:13



the baptism is clearly Spirit baptism: “For [in] one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” This confirms that the baptism in view in Galatians 3:27



is Spirit baptism.

To this position Schreiner objects, “Robert H. Stein shows that the attempt to separate water baptism from Spirit baptism fails to understand that water baptism is part of the complex of initiation events describing conversion.”[13] But in taking this view there is no denial that water baptism was part of “the complex of initiation events.” Nor does this view dispute that water baptism is the symbol of Spirit baptism.[14] This view simply recognizes that as many as are baptized in the Spirit are united to Christ but that not all who are baptized in water are so united.

[1] John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, trans. Willaim Pringle (1854; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), 111.

[2] Peter Lombard, The Sentences, trans. Giulio Silano (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2010), 19-20 (bk. 4, dist. 4, ch. 2, n. 4-5).

[3] Ibid., 21 (bk. 4, dist. 4, ch. 3).

[4] Calvin, 111.

[5] Thomas Schreiner, Galatians, ZECNT, 257, n. 8; cf. Douglas Moo, Galatians, BECNT, 251.

[6] G. R. Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962), 151.

[7] Everett Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 147.

[8] F. F. Bruce, Galatians, NIGTC, 185.

[9] Moo,  251.

[10] Debbie Hunn, “The Baptism of Galatians 3:27



: A Contextual Approach,” ExpTim 115 (2005): 373-74.

[11] Ibid, 373.

[12] Ibid., 374-75.

[13] Schreiner, 257, n. 8.

[14] I would dispute, however, that Spirit baptism happens at the time of water baptism. I would argue the reality precedes the symbol.

Amos 5:14-15

New Living Translation

14 

Do what is good and run from evil
    so that you may live!
Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper,
    just as you have claimed.

15 

Hate evil and love what is good;
    turn your courts into true halls of justice.

Do what is good and run from wrong doings evil and sin
    so that you may live!
Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be there to help you
    just as you have claimed. 

Hate evil and love what is good; honor in his wills
    turn your courts into true halls of justice.

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.

—Amos 5:14-15

Related Topics: God, Seek, Lord, Love, Evil, Justice, Hate, All Topics…

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

A whole bunch of folks claim that God is on their side. In reality, the important question is whether we are on God’s side! That’s determined more by what we seek and do rather than what we think and say. God longs to be with us, but he will not sacrifice his character to extend us cheap grace, a grace that does not call us to be like him. He’s looking for believers who put their character where their mouths are.

My Prayer…

Most Holy God. Your righteousness and holiness are beyond me. I know that my best efforts are only vain attempts to attain them. Yet I long, dear Father, to be more like you in every way that it is humanly possible. Let me know of your presence with me as I seek after you and your character in my life. In the name of Jesus the Righteous One I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today’s Verse are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@verseoftheday.com.

Spiritual Warfare: ‘God Helps Those Who Turn from Evil’

God’s Power for Our Battles — Sunday, August 21, 2022

Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.

— Amos 5:14-15 NLT

Today’s Prayer

Lord, many things in this world are so tempting; so very enticing. I confess that I need Your help to resist and remain pure and holy in Your sight. Many things the world calls good are actually evil. Sometimes it seems like no matter how hard I try to stay faithful and true, Lord, temptation rears its ugly head and tries to get me to fall. Give me strength and endurance to finish the race and win the crown of life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Seek Good, and Not Evil. A Commentary on Amos 5:14–15

Today’s Verse

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

– Amos 5:14-15

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

Those who hear God’s words, fear God and shun evil are blessed and loved by God, while those who follow Satan to do evil are detested by God. However, when facing all kinds of Satan’s temptations in real life, how can we cease following Satan and walk the path of fearing God and shunning evil? I read God’s words: “After God created mankind and gave them spirits, He enjoined them that if they didn’t call out to God, then they would not be able to connect with His Spirit and thus the ‘satellite television’ from heaven would not be received on earth. When God is no longer in people’s spirits there is an empty seat left open for other things, and that’s how Satan seizes the opportunity to get in. When people contact God with their hearts, Satan immediately goes into a panic and rushes to escape. Through mankind’s cries God gives them what they need, but He does not ‘reside’ within them at first. He just constantly gives them aid because of their cries and people gain hardiness from that internal strength so that Satan dare not come here to ‘play’ at its will. This way, if people constantly connect with God’s Spirit, Satan dare not come to disrupt.” God’s words show us that no matter what happens at any time, we should come before God, pray more, seek His will in everything, and take action strictly according to His words. Only thus can we be protected by Him, and not fall for Satan’s trickery or temptations.

A Final Call to Repentance – Amos 5:14-15



Kerry Lee

5 years ago

(14) Seek good and not evil
So that you may live.
And it will be so that Yahweh God of hosts will be with you
Just as you claim.
(15) Hate evil and love good
And put justice firmly in place in the gate.
Perhaps Yahweh God of hosts will be merciful,
Remnant of Joseph. ס

Just as you claim

Again we hear an explicit call to repentance in the middle of all the threats of destruction, and again we hear an echo of Deuteronomy’s “choose life.” The patriarchal traditions, the sojourn and Exodus from Egypt, and the Sinai and wilderness traditions are all pretty clearly in the background of Amos’ thoughts and language, even if he isn’t explicitly quoting anything or citing texts.

For God to be “with” one is a standard biblical way of talking about God’s good pleasure in blessing and protecting you. If God is with you, your endeavor will succeed. If he is not with you, whatever you are doing will not succeed, or else whatever success you appear to have won’t have the value that you think it will. The Israelites, especially the wealthy elite, were under the impression that God was with them. They were possibly under this impression because of their recent prosperity and relative peace, experienced during a time when the major military power in the world, Assyria, was engaged in infighting and civil war. They were mistaking material prosperity with God’s pleasure.

What Amos has been pointing out throughout this book is that their perception of prosperity is selective. They aren’t too concerned that the poor are suffering, or that their prosperity really comes from their dishonesty in rigging the system in their favor at the expense of others who cannot afford to bribe judges. In our modern world, even the cost of litigation can be prohibitive, making it difficult to get justice against a well funded opponent. Even if this isn’t bribing, the effect is the same. The wealthy have special protections in the legal system simply because they have the money to afford those protections.

This is part of the reason, I think, why Jesus spoke about how difficult it is for a wealthy person to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Material prosperity gives us a rose colored view of the world, making it difficult to see our need for forgiveness or our culpability. We are continually tempted, like the Israelites, to conflate material prosperity with God’s favor and endorsement.

But there is a critical difference between one’s claim to have the support of God and actually having the support of God. The partial blinding of wealth may be just another way that God has given you over to your own sinful desires. In other words, material prosperity can sometimes be the wrath of God, while keeping you from wealth might sometimes be the mercy of God.

So how do we make sure that whatever prosperity we have isn’t blinding us? By intentionally and continually seeking the face of God and trying to cultivate a contrite heart. The troubles of life are, in some ways, a blessing. They make you more sensitive to your need for God and to the troubles of others. When life’s troubles aren’t making you sensitive to your sinfulness, it is then that it is most critical that you be proactive in being self-critical and God-seeking. Material prosperity is one of the ways that God rewards faithfulness, but when he does it is because he considers you ready to handle the burden and obligation of wealth. He considers you faithful enough to manage his resources with wisdom and generosity, the way he would were he physically present among us.

If he has not yet blessed you with great wealth, then now is the time to practice the proactive contrition that wealth would require. Cultivate a continually penitent and self-critical heart. And I mean self-critical, not self-hating. There is a difference. Self-critical doesn’t make up things to be sorry about or feel the need to exaggerate. Self-hatred actually fails to be really self-critical because it is still looking at self through a distorting lens, but this one is colored by the hyperbolic condemnation of the enemy. Self-criticism on the other hand is ruthlessly realistic, and it is engaged in in dialogue with God in Bible study and in prayer, not alone in the dark with a box of tissues and only the whisper of the enemy as your conversation partner.

A ruthlessly realistic and proactive penitent heart is also a heart that makes real changes. It does not simply utter pious platitudes but actually changing the values by which one lives one’s life and makes decisions. Amos leads us to such a heart: seek good and not evil. Hate evil and love good. Don’t simply say “God is with me” or “God must hate me” and then do nothing. Change your mind. Change your values. Let your changed values change your behavior. How do we change our mind and heart? You cannot on your own. Only the Spirit of God can do that. But you can give the Spirit of God the opportunity to change you by approaching him with an open mind and heart in prayer and Bible study.

What can we expect from God?

Notice in verse 15 that there is no technical guarantee of mercy following the call to repentance. It says, “Perhaps Yahweh will be merciful.” Just because you try to make things right, there is no technical guarantee that God will be merciful. Once you have broken the agreement (which we all have – we all start in the place of the lawbreaker), God is not legally obligated to show you any mercy at all. This is vitally important to realize. I’ve said this before, and I fear that I may be beating a dead horse here, but you must realize that we never have God backed into a corner. He is never obligated to save you or to bless you. His salvation is always only an act of pure mercy.

Now the wonderful thing about this is that God is more perfectly merciful, more faithfully forgiving, more desirous of reconciliation with you than you can possibly imagine. While he is under no technical obligation to be merciful to you when you repent, his own unfathomably merciful character makes him absolutely reliable to forgive anything. He so desperately loves us that he gave his one and only son to make a way for our salvation, not because of anything we have done or any irreplaceable value innate within us but solely because he is perfectly merciful.

I am not attempting to correct Amos here, because I think this is exactly what Amos thought and was saying here. Seek good and not evil so that you will live! Only an incomprehensibly loving and merciful God would even utter this invitation after hundreds of years of the covenant unfaithfulness on the part of the Israelites and after generations of unreasonable hard-heartedness ignoring the series of calamities mentioned in Amos chapter 4. It wouldn’t make any sense for God to issue this call to repent through the prophet Amos only to say in the eventuality that Israel did, in fact, repent, “Well, I know I suggested that I might be merciful, but honestly now I just don’t feel like it.” This kind of God would have been inconceivable to Amos.

So what can we expect from God? We cannot expect him ever to be in our debt or to save us because we deserve to be saved, but we can expect that he will always be merciful when no one else would be, even when we would not show mercy on ourselves.

January 8, 2020

Amos 5:14-15



Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. – Amos 5:14-15

Dear Heavenly Father,

You have created and saved me by your unconditional grace.  It’s the foundation of my life.  I am safe in your love and therefore I have faith in you and your goodness.  But I see in your word here and I believe it in my heart that your righteous expectation for me is that I would honor you and your grace by championing morality, goodness, loyalty, friendship, generosity ad justice.  You want me to be all those things in my family, my work, my church, my community and my world.  When I respond to your grace with a grace influenced living, you are free to bless without embarrassing your justice.  What a wonderful thought your word puts forth!  You bless me so I will bless others and that frees you to bless me more as a testimony to your goodness. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

God is gracious and just and he blesses us with both.

2 Chronicles 15:7

New Living Translation

7 But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”

But for you be strong and full of confidence and courage for what you do will be honored and rewarded

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your awork shall be rewarded.

Breaking Into A Fresh Season With God (2 Chronicles 15:7)

January 16, 2019 Nate Holdridge



Breaking Into A Fresh Season With God (2 Chronicles 15:7) Nate Holdridge

Breaking Into A Fresh Season With God (2 Chronicles 15:7)

“But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” (2 Chronicles 15:7 ESV).

King Asa was a good and godly king. He sought the Lord when trouble came upon the land, and he experienced firsthand the power of God in battle. After a trademark victory over the massive Ethiopian army, Asa was confronted by a prophet named Azariah. He told Asa to seek the Lord. “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you,” Azariah said. He went on to describe past seasons in Israel’s history when they and their leadership wandered from God. Always, dark days followed, for “in those times there was no peace.” So, the prophet said, “Take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

Asa knew what Azariah meant. Quickly, he acted as the spiritual leader of Israel, bringing them into a fresh season of dependence upon the living God. He forged a path for Judah to seek the Lord. Perhaps, as we observe his story, our modern minds can glean a thing or two about how to seek God today.

1. Took Courage

“As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage…” (2 Chronicles 15:8 ESV).

The prophet had told him to take courage, for boldness and conviction and power were all there for the taking, but Asa had to reach out and grab them. Take courage, the prophet said. Asa did. He became bold for the task. If we desire to seek the Lord we must also take courage. Set the alarm clock to give yourself some time for prayer. Set down the remote control to give yourself time for reading. Confront the lie that you will start next week, especially if you’ve said it a thousand times before. Take courage. Grab it and let the Spirit put it in the marrow of your soul. Tackle the project. Become bold for the task of seeking your God.

2. Put Away Idols

“…and put away the detestable idols…” (2 Chronicles 15:8 ESV).

Before approaching the altar of God for worship, Asa knew there were idols in the land he had to destroy. He recognized Israel’s worship was convoluted, intermingled with the gods of the nations around them. What a picture of our modern day! When a believer sets the priorities and convictions and status symbols of the world right next to God and his word, they have introduced modern idolatry. “Little children,” John wrote, “keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). Cast out that which must be destroyed.

3. Repaired The Altar

“…and he repaired the altar of the LORD…” (2 Chronicles 15:8 ESV).

With haste, Asa then repaired the altar. For them, the altar was the place they would daily interact with God. The worshipper would come and there, at the altar, offer sacrifice and praise unto God. For the altar to be in a state of disrepair meant they couldn’t even take the first step in seeking the Lord. The thousands of beautiful gifts God had for them would remain undiscovered as long as the altar lay in a state of disuse. To me, the sacrificial altar of Israel is representative of the relationship with God the cross of Christ has enabled. Cursed for us on his tree, Jesus made the way for us to enter into countless avenues of blessing from God. When I sit to engage with God, I feel enabled to do so by the blood of Jesus.

4. Gathered People

“And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin…They were gathered at Jerusalem…They sacrificed to the LORD on that day…And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD…” (2 Chronicles 15:9–12 ESV).

Asa then rounded up the people of God for worship. They came and sacrificed and vowed to seek the LORD. They decided to be a generation which loved and pursued God. Sometimes the spiritual leader must gather. The church is to spread but is also to gather. We are to go into the highways and byways, as Jesus taught, and invite people to his great feast. We are to go into all the world with the aim of making disciples. We are to meet from house to house, spread throughout our community. But we are also to gather. We are to come together for times of praise and prayer, study and Scripture, service and generosity.

5. Removed the Queen Mother

“Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron.” (2 Chronicles 15:16 ESV).

One final, and challenging, task remained. Asa’s own mother had introduced the worship of Asherah into Judah. It was, as chronicled, a detestable image. Asa cut down that idol and removed her from her position as queen-mother. Her authority was rescinded. Sometimes, in seeking the Lord, there is a major obstacle which, though tough to deal with, must eventually be touched. It might be a sin to breakthrough or a relationship to break off, but it must go.

Asa would not always do the right thing as Israel’s king, but this was a great start to a good king’s reign. Let us emulate him and take up the boldness the Spirit has for us and allow him to revive our bodies and souls for the glory of God.

2 CHRONICLES 15:7

December 20, 2021

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.

Devotional Thoughts

By David Wilkerson

With all the talk in the church about spiritual warfare, too many Christians have not learned how to resist the enemy. In fact, few believers know how to stand up and fight, and they become real pushovers for the devil.

The book of Judges tells us, “The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years” (Judges 6:1-2). Every year at harvest time, the Midianites moved over Israel’s land with thousands of camels, sheep and cattle that ate everything in sight, leaving Israel completely impoverished. They were driven to living in dark caves and damp dens, starving, scared and helpless. Then something happened! After seven years of this, the Israelites cried out to the Lord (Judges 6:6-7).

A man named Gideon had grown weary and exasperated at the situation. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12). Gideon questioned this Angel: “Well, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? How long should we just put up with it? We’ve been told we have a God who moved for our fathers, but look at us — helpless, living in constant fear.” The Angel said, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the [enemy]” (Judges 6:16).

Gideon gathered his army but then God made a strange request: “Send home every soldier who is afraid” (Judges 7:3). In other words, God said to Gideon, “I must have men of faith and courage! All others must pray until they develop a backbone.” That thinned out the army considerably. Still, before it was all over, Gideon had an army of strong, focused, determined fighters.

Scripture commands us to stand up, be strong, and do battle: “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13, NAS). Jesus has promised us, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). God is looking for believers today who will fight their own battles with faith and courage. He says to you, “Why do you fear? You can trust me to bring victory to your life. You are stronger than you think and, remember, I’m always with you.”

What Does John 15:7 Mean? ►

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:7(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

In a few short verse the believer is called and challenged to abide in Christ.. to abide in the Vine.. to abide in His love – to abide in ME. The vine was an important symbol, which ran through Old Testament scripture.. and Israel was the one whom Isaiah described as ‘the choicest vine.’ Israel was chosen by God to be a fruitful vine, and they were expected to bring forth good fruit for His glory.. but Israel brought forth wild grapes and had to be trampled down and laid waste.

Centuries later we are introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the exact radiance of God’s glory and identified as God’s true Vine. Christ’s life becomes the perfect fulfilment of these Old Testament shadows where God the Father continues to be the heavenly Vinedresser.. tending to the true Vine, in order to bring forth the fruit of righteousness through Him. Indeed the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.. against which there is no law – fruit which is only produced in us as we abide in Christ and He in us.

As members of Christ’s Body we are one with Him.. and our mission is to do His work on earth and bring forth the fruit of righteousness. And as branches on the true Vine we are likewise one with Christ, and are reminded many times that producing the fruit of righteousness it is not through our own efforts but only we remain in HIM and as His Word abide in us. Christ spoke only those things that He heard from the Father. Christ only did those things that he heard from the Father and in everything Christ’s prayer was translated into the desire of the Father – for He prayed: Thy will not Mine be done.

We were also told that.. on condition that we abide in Christ, and His words abide in us to, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Not only will we produce fruit of righteousness but abiding is closely linked with the prayer of the righteous man.. and maintaining close fellowship with the Lord. But the words of our lips, the thoughts of our mind, the meditation of our heart and the prayers that we offer up to the Lord are to focus on Him and to be a reflection of His will and His greater purposes.

It is not by personal performance, might or merit that we are ‘fruitful.’ It is not by our own effort or strength that we produce the good works that glorify God.. for God is the one that not only plans our fruitfulness but He is also the One that causes us to be fruitful – as we abide in Him, and He in us.. which in time will be translated into rewards for those that are faithful.. at the judgement seat of Christ. We are to live and work and have our being in Christ.. as the old, egotistical self remains nailed to the cross.. and the beautiful mind of Christ is increasingly formed in us.

The Lord Himself enables us to be fruitful as we carry out the good works that He Himself has prepared for us to do. It is God Who works in us, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.. and He enables us to produce good fruit to the glory of God. But the way to be fruitful in our Christian life is to abide in Christ.. to abide in the Vine.. to abide in His love – to abide in ME and I in you. 

To abide in the true Vine and to have Him abide in us is two sides of the same coin. Only as we submit to God and allow Him to work His good work through us, are we enabled to live as He lived.. doing the will of the Father and bearing much fruit to His glory.. Indeed we know that we are God’s handiwork, and are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God Himself prepared in advance for us to do.

Christ’s abiding in us is dependent on our abiding in Him. This mutual fellowship and intimate communion is conditional upon each one of us dying to self and living for Him alone.. And when we are enabled to abide in Him and He in us we will ask whatever we wish and it will be done – because our heart will reflect the heart of Christ.. our choices will reflect the will of God and our prayers will pray into the very issues that are closest to the heart of the Lord Himself.. as in His power and might we abide in Him and He in us – to His praise and glory.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that I have been saved by grace through faith in Christ.. but I realise that my thoughts need to be aligned to Your thoughts… my heart needs to be reflecting Your heart.. my mind needs to become the very mind of Christ.. so that my prayers can say with honesty and faith.. Thy will not mine be done, as I pray into Your will.. so that whatsoever I ask may be done to honour You Thank You in Jesus name, AMEN.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-15-7

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-15-7

VERSE OF THE DAY

Psalm 90:12 (New International Version)

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Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

teach us how short our life is so that we may become wise for each day stands numbered in your book for you only know each day numbered

QUESTION

Why should we want God to teach us to number our days (Psalm 90:12)?



ANSWER

Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The request “teach us to number our days” means that we need God to reveal to us the brevity of life. That revelation will help us grow wise, and wisdom is important because the choices we make during our brief stay on earth have eternal consequences. The remainder of Psalm 90 gives details about God’s wrath against sin and about the meaning of life. Our earthly lives will not last long, and we need wisdom to prepare for what follows.

Psalm 90 was penned by Moses, a man with whom the Lord spoke “face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11; see also Numbers 12:7-8). Yet Moses wrote about the fierce anger of God against sin. He pleaded with the Lord to help humankind realize that we will all answer to God for deeds done in the body (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10). In Psalm 90:11, Moses writes, “If only we knew the power of your anger!” Moses was a man who knew God better than most mortals, yet he had experienced the sting of God’s punishment for his sin and yearned to help others avoid it (Numbers 20:12).

Jesus gave a parable that also explains what happens when we don’t “number our days.” In Luke 12:19–21 He describes a rich man who wanted only to “eat, drink, and be merry” and had no time or thought for God. The rich man believed he had years yet to enjoy his pleasures, but God required his soul that very night. If the rich man had learned to “number his days,” he would have pursued ventures that had eternal significance. We can learn from this parable that none of us know how many days we will be granted, so we must not waste them on silly, selfish pursuits that have no real value.

God’s desire for human beings is that we learn, grow, and seek wisdom (Proverbs 2). As we learn to number our days, we will share that desire. We were created to walk in fellowship with God, discovering the mysteries and delights He has scattered throughout creation. The Lord enjoys partnering with us as we pursue all He designed for us to accomplish (Psalm 37:23; Ephesians 2:10). When we live in harmony with Him, death is simply a change of address. Our enjoyment of Him continues unabated when we step from this life into eternity.

Those who have learned to number their days spend them in pursuit of wisdom, goodness, and the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). They don’t have to fear the wrath of God when their earthly lives are over. Jesus came to earth to make a way for us to be made right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21). But He won’t force His gift of eternal life on anyone (John 3:16–18). Those who never learn to number their days spend them as if this life is all there is. Psalm 90 warns them about the judgment they are destined to undergo (Hebrews 9:27). But when we learn to number our days, we see each day as a valuable gift and an opportunity to store up treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33; Revelation 22:12).

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RELATED TOPICS

Why did the people in Genesis live such long lives?

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What does it mean to dwell in the “shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1)?

Is there anything I can do to guarantee myself a long life?

Is there an age limit to how long we can live?

What Does Psalm 90:12 Mean? ►

Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Psalm 90:12(HCSB)

Verse Thoughts

Too often we think in terms of years and make plans for the far distant future, and yet we are instructed to live one day at a time and not to even worry ourselves about the needs of tomorrow, for each day has sufficient trouble of its own.

The children of Israel were given one day’s supply of manna in the wilderness in order that they might learn to trust in the sufficient provision of the Lord, Who never failed to provide for their daily needs – and we also need to learn this important lesson too.

We should not only reflect on the brevity of our time here on earth and recognise that our times are in God’s hands and that He has scheduled every day of our life to bring glory to Himself but also that we should make the best use of our time, during our brief sojourn on earth, by redeeming the time and making the most of every opportunity we have on earth.

This world is not our home for we have a heavenly citizenship and a glorious inheritance secured for us in heaven – but every day of our lives is an opportunity that God has graciously given us to use wisely and diligently for His glory, for the victorious life that has been lived wisely and well is the one that has honoured the Lord in thought, word and deed.

May the Lord teach each one of us to number our days carefully, so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts – by faith in Christ Jesus, our Saviour.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/psalm-90-12

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/psalm-90-12

What does Psalm 90:12 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

Considering God’s righteous anger and wrath (Psalm 90:11), Moses provides an example of sensible prayer. He asks God for wisdom to account for our time. Time flies, life is uncertain, and God judges sin. It is important, therefore, to value the moments and days He has given us. We cannot know what tomorrow will bring (Proverbs 27:1), so we ought to dedicate today and every day to the Lord. We must live sensibly and with a purpose, yet do so one day at a time.

We should seek divine wisdom for the best way to live throughout each day. Our prayer in the morning should be what David prayed: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!” (Psalm 143:10). Jesus set a perfect example of morning prayer that we can emulate (Mark 1:35). Surely, if we considered every 24-hour period as something valuable God has entrusted to us, we would faithfully dispense our moments in ways that honor Him (1 Corinthians 4:2).

Context Summary

Psalm 90:11–17 calls on the Lord to teach His people to number their days and gain wisdom. Moses, the author, prays for mercy and joy. Also, he asks the Lord to prosper His servants’ work. Other Scriptures emphasize God’s compassion, the joy He gives, and the blessing He pours out on those who serve Him (Psalm 100:5; Proverbs 22:4). The books of Ezra and Nehemiah demonstrate the truth that God grants these gifts to those who honor Him, even if those gifts aren’t always in the form of an easy, prosperous life.

Chapter Summary

Psalm 90, likely the oldest psalm, opens with Moses addressing God as eternal and Israel’s dwelling place, but quickly shifts to an acknowledgement of man’s brief life on earth. Our iniquity is the reason God directs His wrath at us. In most cases, a person can expect to live somewhere around 70 or 80 years, barring disease or misfortune. Short or long, life is full of toil and trouble. In view of life’s brevity, Moses asks the Lord to fill His people with wisdom. He also asks the Lord to reveal His work, demonstrate His power, grant His favor, and make Israel’s labor successful.

Hebrews 4:16

New Living Translation

16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

So let us get excited and exuberant to noticeably boldly come to the throne of God where we will receive our gifts of his mercy and Grace to honor in what we need most

Hebrews 4:16 Grace
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Hebrews 4:16 English Standard Version

16. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God invites us to draw close to Him without boundaries.  He wants us to feel safe, like children who trust Him and enjoy His presence.  He gives us permission to petition Him about anything and everything without condemnation or rejection.  Nothing is too small or too big for Him to hear and resolve.   

God allows us the certainty of approaching Him and gives us His full attention.  He desires to give us the grace and mercy that will help us live abundantly.  This mercy keeps us safe in Him when we make mistakes or bad choices and grace encourages us to move ahead in the Spirit of the Lord.  We can then move through obstacles and pass barriers of doubt or fear…

John 10:10 New King James Version

10. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The throne of grace is our place of true acceptance.  It is His power and rule that readily gives us what we need in the moment we need it. God does not pick and choose what is important enough for us to come to Him with.  What is on our heart is valuable to Him and He wants us to feel free to be vulnerable and transparent in our need and even our wants.   

As carnal beings who behave like we are in control, we make plans that will affect our lives as well as others; sometimes this effect is negative, but He is always ready to help us turn the necessary corners in order to avoid many disasters.

Proverbs 16:9 New King James Version

9. A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

God wants to sit upon the throne of our heart where He will bring us into our destiny.

God’s heart cry is to gather us up to Him and be our everything.  

Challenge:  Go to the throne of grace. Ask God for what is on your heart and believe that He wants to hear from you.   

God bless

Marni

Go on to: Hebrews 6:19 – Hope
Return to: Food for Thought
Return to: Christian Living Articles



The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God.” And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.

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What Does Hebrews 4:16 Mean? ►

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

What wonderful reassurance we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, for He is our Great High Priest, and heavenly Mediator. He is both the omnipotent God and our merciful Saviour. He is omniscient, but He is also filled with compassion and great goodness. He is both the eternal Son of God Who created the universe, but He is also the gracious Son of Man Who died and rose again so that through faith in Him we can come to the throne of grace.

This is a verse that rejoices our hearts, for this Throne of Grace is the eternal seat of the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, Whose mercy-seat has covered our sins forever. It is by His grace that the veil of the temple that separates man from God, is torn in two from top to bottom, providing access into the presence of our heavenly Father. Through Christ, we have received the gracious invitation to come boldly to God’s Throne of Grace, in time of need.

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven and we are invited to come before Him with boldness, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.”  We are not to cower anxiously before His magnificent presence. Rather, we are encouraged to come to Him and to keep on coming to His throne, without fear or doubt. We are to come to Him freely, constantly, ceaselessly, and persistently.

He is not a distant God before Whom we are to shrink or grovel. He justly deserves our reverence, praise, and thanksgiving, because He is our glorious God and everlasting Creator. There is no creature in heaven above or the earth beneath that is hidden from His penetrating gaze. In His omniscient wisdom, He knows all things. He reads the thoughts of our heart. He examines the motives of our mind. All is laid bare to His pure eyes and holy presence.

In Christ, we have been invited to enter confidently into the throne-room of heaven and boldly approach God’s Throne, that we may obtain mercy, and find the grace we need to help in time of need. But let us never allow familiarity with the gospel of God to diminish our understanding of the tremendous privilege that streams, like a flood, to each of His children. This unfathomable privilege is awarded to ALL who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb – and none are excluded.

It is not because of our own merit or worthiness that this gracious invitation has been extended to us. This God of grace and love is also a God of justice and righteousness. He is the God Whose plan of redemption dictated that ALL sin must be punished. And by His grace, Jesus took upon Himself the sin of the world, so that we could be saved by grace. Only through faith in Christ have we been justified, forgiven of sin, and covered in Christ’s perfect righteousness.

It is only because of the merit, worthiness, excellence, and virtue of Christ’s sacrificial offering of Himself upon the Cross on our behalf, that we have this amazing entitlement. Our confidence is not in ourselves. Our confidence is founded on what Christ has already done on our account. Our assurance rests on His victory cry… it is finished, for we are accepted by God, in the Beloved, through time and into eternity – accepted through the merit of God’s only begotten Son.

We are not directed to enter in the throne-room of heaven in apprehensive timidity, but to approach His universal seat of divine power and majestic glory with great boldness and confident assurance of a child approaching his beloved father, knowing that the sacrificed Lamb of God, offered by the High Priest of God for our sin, is sufficient.

In this verse we have a peep into a heavenly vision of unapproachable Deity, enthroned on His seat of mercy and grace, granting peace, pardon, forgiveness, and confident access to all who believe on His name. By grace through faith in His death, burial, and Resurrection… Christ, the Lamb of God and great, High Priest of heaven, has flung wide the golden door into the Holiest of all – to all who believe on His name.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/hebrews-4-16

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/hebrews-4-16

What does Hebrews 4:16 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

The central figure of the Christian faith is not some remote deity, a flawed spirit, or a being with no understanding of human nature. If that were the case, then prayer would be a terrifying and possibly meaningless experience. Fortunately, for the Christian, Jesus not only understands our struggles and failures (Hebrews 2:14–18), He has overcome them first-hand (Hebrews 4:15).

This verse is the conclusion of a point begun in verse 14. After encouraging Christians to complete the works God has given us (Hebrews 4:1–11), the writer reminds us that God’s word is the ultimate measuring stick for all of our thoughts, deeds, and intentions (Hebrews 4:12). Nothing is hidden or obscure to God, who is out ultimate judge (Hebrews 4:13). Verses 14 and 15 make it clear that we can maintain our faith in the face of struggles, knowing that Christ has already shown us the way. He not only experienced suffering, death, and temptation, but did it without succumbing to sin.

Knowing, then, that Christ fully understands our weaknesses and has experienced our pain, we can pray. When we come to God asking for mercy, grace, help, or forgiveness, we can be confident (Hebrews 3:6) and assured. Nobody understands our pain better than Jesus, which is why only Jesus can be our High Priest as well as the substitute for our payment of sin (Hebrews 2:18).

Context Summary

Hebrews 4:14–16 is among the most often-quoted passages in the Bible. It is also one of the clearest expressions of Christianity’s unique nature. Jesus, the Son of God, has experienced all of our struggles, temptations, and sufferings. And yet, He did so without succumbing to sin. For this reason, we can look to Him as our perfect example. We can rely on Him as our perfect substitute. We can come to Him as our only High Priest. And, we can trust in Him as our source of help and healing. Knowing that Christ fully, personally understands what it means to be human gives us confidence when we bring Him our failures and needs.

Chapter Summary

In Hebrews chapter 4, the author refines the theme of chapter 3. An entire generation of Israel lost out on their inheritance of the Promised Land due to a lack of faith. Here, the author points out that the rest promised by God is still offered, through Christ. The razor-sharp truth of the Word of God will separate what is truly spiritual from what is faithless. We should make every effort to obtain our inheritance in Christ, which is something separate from our eternal salvation. We can also be confident, knowing Jesus can uniquely sympathize with our temptations and sufferings

VERSE OF THE DAY

Psalm 103:1-2 (New Living Translation)

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A psalm of David.

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Let all that I am and all who I belong praise the Lord; with my whole heart, soul body and knowledge I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

What does Psalm 103:1 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

David calls upon his soul and all that is in him to bless the Lord. The Lord blesses us, but how can we “bless” Him? In this context, the term “bless” means “to praise with strong affection.” By calling upon his soul and all that is within him to praise the Lord, David summons his soul, mind, strength, and heart to praise Him (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 22:36–40).

David also gives a reason to praise the Lord: He is holy. He is completely separate from sin. When the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush and commissioned him to demand that Pharaoh release the Hebrews from captivity, He told Moses to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground (Exodus 3:5). The ground was holy only because God was present there. Isaiah received a revelation of the Lord’s holiness in the temple. He heard the seraphim pronounce, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3). Praising the Lord for His gracious gifts to us is appropriate, but it is also appropriate to praise Him because He is holy.

Context Summary

Psalm 103:1–5 records David commanding his entire inner being to praise the Lord and to remember all the Lord’s benefits. He credits the Lord with forgiveness of sin and healing of diseases. He says the Lord redeems the believer’s life from the realm of the dead and bestows on him steadfast love, mercy, satisfaction, and renewal.

Chapter Summary

Psalm 103 praises God for what He has done. This includes celebration of His personal influence, as well as the way God has blessed the nation of Israel. David encourages praises from himself, from the people in general, and even from the angels and hosts of heaven.

What does Psalm 103:2 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

In this verse David calls upon his soul to praise the Lord wholeheartedly because of the benefits He bestows. David is cautious not to be thankless or casual about everything God has done for him. He cautions his soul to “forget not all [God’s] benefits.” The word “benefits” suggests gracious dealings. David did not want to forget how graciously the Lord had treated him. Perhaps he had in mind the time the Lord used him to defeat Goliath (1 Samuel 17). He might have recalled the many times the Lord delivered him from hateful Saul in the wilderness (1 Samuel 19; 1 Samuel 23). He may have remembered how the Lord established him as Israel’s king (2 Samuel 5:1–5).

Moses rebuked the people of Israel for forgetting the Rock that carried them in their wilderness journey and the God who brought the nation of Israel into existence (Deuteronomy 1:31–33. The generation of Israelites that had entered Canaan eventually forgot the Lord. They “abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the people who were around them and bowed down to them” (Judges 2:12). Their failure to remember the Lord and His benefits incurred the Lord’s judgment. He gave them into the hands of plunderers and enemies (Judges 2:14). Remembering to praise the Lord for His gracious dealings with us keeps us free from undue discipline and distress.

Context Summary

Psalm 103:1–5 records David commanding his entire inner being to praise the Lord and to remember all the Lord’s benefits. He credits the Lord with forgiveness of sin and healing of diseases. He says the Lord redeems the believer’s life from the realm of the dead and bestows on him steadfast love, mercy, satisfaction, and renewal.

Chapter Summary

Psalm 103 praises God for what He has done. This includes celebration of His personal influence, as well as the way God has blessed the nation of Israel. David encourages praises from himself, from the people in general, and even from the angels and hosts of heaven

Psalm 103 – Bless the LORD, O My Soul

This psalm is simply titled A Psalm of David. We don’t know the circumstances in which it was written, but since David was a man who knew the grace and deliverance of God many times, it could have been written at many different times of his life.

However, Charles Spurgeon thought, “We should attribute it to his later years when he had a higher sense of the preciousness of pardon, because a keener sense of sin, than in his younger days. His clear sense of the frailty of life indicates his weaker years, as also does the very fulness of his praiseful gratitude.” (Charles Spurgeon)

“It is perhaps the most perfect song of pure praise to be found in the Bible…. Through centuries it has been sung by glad hearts, and today is as fresh and full of beauty as ever.” (G. Campbell Morgan)

A. Reasons to bless and honor God.

1. (1-2) Blessing God for all His benefits.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:

a. Bless the LORD: David did not mean this in the sense that a greater person bestows a blessing on a lesser person. God is infinitely greater than man, and man could never give a blessing to God. David meant this in the sense that it blesses and honors God when His creatures praise Him and thank Him appropriately.

b. Bless the LORD, O my soul: David called upon his soul to bless Yahweh. It was as if David looked at his soul and understood that it was not praising God enough. He called upon his soul to do more.

i. David understood that true worship was something deeply inward, of the soul. It is not just about outward forms or expressions, but also about something real from the soul. “Soul music is the very soul of music.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “Let others murmur, but do thou bless. Let others bless themselves and their idols, but do thou bless the Lord. Let others use only their tongues, but as for me I will cry, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul.’” (Spurgeon)

c. All that is within me, bless His holy name: David also understood that worship had to be more than superficial; it had to be offered as completely as possible. He wanted everything within to praise God. He set his heart in tune as well as setting his instruments in tune.

i. We often praise and thank God halfheartedly – or less! David called for everything within him (all that is within me) to give honor and praise to God.

ii. All that is within me: “What a rebuke to much of what passes for praise in our assemblies. We come to church, but we leave our minds at home. We hear of God’s grace, but our hearts have been hardened by a critical and carping spirit.” (Boice)

iii. “The singer addresses himself. He realizes that he has power over himself, that he is able to give or to withhold that which is due to God.” (Morgan)

iv. “The one value of these opening words is that they show us that worship is not involuntary, automatic. It calls for the coordination of all our powers…. The sanctuary is not a lounge, a place of relaxation. We should enter it with all the powers of personality arrested, arranged, dedicated. Then we may render a service of praise that is worthy and acceptable.” (Morgan)

v. Bless His holy name: “Only a holy man can delight in holy things. Holiness is the terror of unholy men; they love sin and count it liberty, but holiness is to them a slavery. If we be saints we shall bless God for his holiness.” (Spurgeon)

d. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: In the pattern of Hebrew poetry, David used repetition for emphasis. He then added an important idea – that this praise and honor to God should be given unto Him for rational reasons, not on the basis of mere emotion or excitement. True benefits are given by God unto His people, and we must not forget them. Instead, we should use the remembrance of those things as reasons to praise.

i. 2 Chronicles 32:25 describes a king who did forget God’s benefits, at least for a time: But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.

ii. “Thanksgiving cannot be sincere and hearty, unless a man bear impressed upon his mind, at the time, a quick sense of ‘benefits’ received.” (Horne)

iii. “Praise is the response of awe for God, while reflecting on what the Lord has done for the people of God throughout the history of redemption, for creation at large, for the community, and for oneself.” (VanGemeren)

2. (3-5) Blessing God who redeems.

Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

a. Who forgives all your iniquities: One of the great benefits mentioned in verse 3 is the forgiveness of all our sins. When the magnitude of our sin and the righteousness of God are understood, this forgiveness is a staggering reason for praising and honoring God.

i. This begins a series of great benefits God brings to His believing people. “He selects a few of the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love, threads them on the string of memory, and hangs them about the neck of gratitude.” (Spurgeon)

ii. Significantly, this is the benefit listed first. In David’s mind, the most important thing was to have sins forgiven, even more important than physical healing.

iii. “The profound consciousness of sin, which it was one aim of the Law to evoke, underlies the psalmist’s praise.” (Maclaren)

b. Who heals all your diseases: Another great benefit is God’s care for our bodies. He brings healing to us in this life through both natural and miraculous ways. He promises ultimate healing for all His people in the age to come.

i. Many commentators understand these diseases as spiritual in nature. Horne described this thinking: “What is pride, but lunacy? What is lust, but a leprosy? What is sloth, but a dead palsy? Perhaps there are spiritual maladies similar to all [bodily] ones.” While it is true that sin leads to spiritual illness, here David seems to refer to physical diseases.

ii. “Some suggest that David is speaking about spiritual illness, such as the burdens of sin. But that is not it. I think he really is speaking of diseases. He is saying that when we are healed, as we often are, it is God who has done it. He is the healer of the body as well as of the soul. Therefore, such health as we have been given is a sure gift from God. God should be praised for it.” (Boice)

c. Who redeems your life from destruction: Many know the powerful blessing of God’s rescue from sure destruction. Many calamities are spared the child of God, whether he knows it or not.

i. Who redeems: “Preservation from destruction, haggoel, properly, redemption of life by the kinsman; possibly looking forward, in the spirit of prophecy, to him who became partaker of our flesh and blood, that he might have the right to redeem our souls from death by dying in our stead.” (Clarke)

d. Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies: God’s greatness extends beyond sparing us from sin, disease, or trouble. Through God’s blessing, we are crowned with His great love and mercy.

e. Who satisfies your mouth with good things: The result of God’s work, both in what He saves us from and what He saves us unto, is to bring true satisfaction to our lives. This is different from mere pleasure or entertainment; God wants to bring true satisfaction to our lives from good things. This satisfaction becomes a source of strength and energy to His people (your youth is renewed like the eagle’s).

i. “It is God who gives us the ‘good things’ of this world, and who giveth us likewise an appetite and a taste to enjoy them.” (Horne)

ii. Who satisfies: “No man is ever filled to satisfaction but a believer, and only God himself can satisfy even him. Many a worldling is satiated, but not one is satisfied.” (Spurgeon)

iii. Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s: “The second line is not implying…that eagles have the power of self-renewal; only that God renews us to…the very picture of buoyant, tireless strength which Isaiah 40:30f. takes up.” (Kidner)

3. (6-7) Blessing God who is righteous.

The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.

a. The LORD executes righteousness and justice: In the previous section, David described the greatness of God in His work to the individual. Yet God also shows His greatness in bringing righteousness and justice to societies.

i. “Our own personal obligations must not absorb our song; we must also magnify the Lord for his goodness to others.” (Spurgeon)

b. He made known His ways: Another aspect of God’s greatness is His self-revelation. God could be content to hide Himself, but instead He wanted to make known His way and His acts.

4. (8-10) Blessing God who is gracious.

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

a. The LORD is merciful and gracious: In the previous lines, David described the righteousness and justice of God. Those aspects of God’s character are true, but so also are His mercy and graciousness. His anger comes, but slowly and after much mercy has been shown.

i. “All the world tastes of his sparing mercy, those who hear the gospel partake of his inviting mercy, the saints live by his saving mercy, are preserved by his upholding mercy, are cheered by his consoling mercy, and will enter heaven through his infinite and everlasting mercy.” (Spurgeon)

b. Abounding in mercy: David’s statements remind us of God’s revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus 34: The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6).

i. He will not always strive with us: “These very human terms point the contrast between God’s generosity and the heavy-handed wrath of man, who loves to keep his quarrels going (chide [strive] translates a term much used for disputes, especially at law) and to nurse his grievances.” (Kidner)

c. He has not dealt with us according to our sins: David knew the slow anger and abounding mercy of God personally. He knew that his sins (and the sins of his people) deserved much greater judgment or discipline than they had received.

i. “We ought to praise the Lord for what he has not done as well as for what he has wrought for us; even the negative side deserves our adoring gratitude.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “Why is it that God hath not dealt with us after our sins? Is it not because he hath dealt with another after our sins? Another who took our sins upon him.” (Baker, cited in Spurgeon)

5. (11-12) The greatness of God’s gracious forgiveness.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

a. For as the heavens are high above the earth: This is a description of the abounding mercy of God mentioned in verse 8. The distance from the earth to the heavens measures the greatness of His mercy toward those who fear Him. By instinct, we often think of God’s mercy as less than it really is.

i. There were three concepts of heaven in the ancient Biblical world. The first heaven is the blue sky, the atmosphere with its sun. The second heaven is the night sky, the stars and constellations. The third heaven is the place where God dwells and is enthroned. It’s interesting to wonder which of the three concepts of heaven David had in mind with this wonderful statement.

b. As far as the east is from the west: This is a description of the great forgiveness of God mentioned in verse 10. We have no idea if David knew the shape of the earth, but the Holy Spirit who inspired David to write this did, and the nature of the earth and our way of describing directions makes this statement particularly inspiring.

i. As far as the east is from the west is much greater than saying as far as the north is from the south, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. If you travel north on a globe, you begin to travel south as soon as you go over the North Pole. But if you travel east, you will continue east forever. Given the true shape of the earth, east and west never meet – and this is how far God has removed our sins from us!

ii. “As the east and the west can never meet in one point, but be for ever at the same distance from each other, so our sins and their decreed punishment are removed to an eternal distance by his mercy.” (Clarke)

iii. “God loves us, and he will love us for ever. He loves us infinitely, and he could not love us more than if we had never fallen.” (Spurgeon)

6. (13-14) Blessing God who shows great sympathy.

As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

a. The LORD pities those who fear Him: David continues to describe the abounding mercy and goodness of God. The way that a good father cares for and even pities his children in their frailty and weakness, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.

i. We think of a loving father dealing with his tired children. He does not demand more of them than they can perform, but with care takes into account their weaknesses. He comforts them and measures his expectations according to his wisdom and compassion.

ii. Spurgeon considered the many ways God may pity His children:

· He pities our childish ignorance.

· He pities our childish weakness.

· He pities our childish foolishness.

· He pities our childish naughtiness.

· He pities our childish stumbles and falls.

· He pities the pain of His children.

· He pities the child when another has wronged him.

· He pities the fears of His children.

iii. “It is in the present tense, and carries the idea of continuity: at this very moment he is now pitying them that fear him. Though he knows your trials will work for your good, yet he pities you. Though he knows that there is sin in you, which, perhaps, may require this rough discipline ere you be sanctified, yet he pities you. Though he can hear the music of heaven, the songs and glees that will ultimately come of your present sighs and griefs, yet still he pities those groans and wails of yours.” (Spurgeon)

iv. “We may lose ourselves amid the amplitudes of the lofty, wide-stretching sky, but this emblem of paternal love goes straight to our hearts. A pitying God! What can be added to that?” (Maclaren)

v. The wise reaction to this is, fear the LORD! How much better to be on the side of His pity and compassion than to be on the side of His anger or righteous judgment!

b. For He knows our frame: The pity and compassion of God toward those who fear Him are rooted in His knowledge and understanding of our inherent weakness and impermanence, our transience.

i. “The word rendered ‘frame’ is literally, ‘formation’ or ‘fashioning,’ and comes from the same root as the verb employed in Genesis 2:7 to describe man’s creation. ‘The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.’ It is also used for the potter’s action in moulding earthen vessels. (Isaiah 29:16, etc.) So, in the next clause, ‘dust’ carries on the allusion to Genesis, and the general idea conveyed is that of frailty.” (Maclaren)

ii. “In all his conduct towards us he considers the frailty of our nature, the untowardness of our circumstances, the strength and subtlety of temptation, and the sure party (till the heart is renewed) that the tempter has within us.” (Clarke)

iii. This pity and remembrance were turned to empathy at the incarnation. God Himself added humanity to His deity and experienced our frame and our dust-like weakness. What before He knew by observation, He submitted to know by experience.

B. Contrasts that display the greatness of God.

1. (15-18) The contrast between man’s moment and God’s permanence.

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

a. As for man, his days are like grass: David expanded the thought of man’s weak frame and dust-like nature. Humanity is so transient that his days are like grass and like a flower of the field that blooms one day and withers the next. When the flower is gone, virtually nothing remains – its place remembers it no more.

i. “A flower of the field; which is more exposed to winds and other violences than the flowers of the garden, which are secured by the art and care of the gardener.” (Poole)

ii. “The flower which faded in Adam, blooms anew in Christ, never to fade again.” (Horne)

b. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting: This is true of God’s mercy and of God Himself, the source of mercy. His hesed – covenant love, loyal kindness – endures from all ages to all ages. Those who fear Him receive the benefit of this everlasting mercy, as do their children’s children.

i. “God’s love does not alter with our alterings, or change with our changes. Does the mother’s love fluctuate with the moods of her sick babe?” (Meyer)

ii. “There never was a time when He did not love you. His mercy is from everlasting; nor a time when He will love you less – it is to everlasting.” (Meyer)

c. To such as keep His covenant: These promises of everlasting love and mercy are given with conditions. The promises are made to those who fear Him, to those who keep His covenant, and those who remember His commandments to do them.

2. (19) The contrast between Yahweh and all creation.

The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.

a. The LORD has established His throne in heaven: David celebrated God’s secure reign from heaven. God is enthroned in heaven, beyond the troubles and corruptions of earth. It is established, and will never be moved.

b. And His kingdom rules over all: An eternal contrast is made between the Ruler and the ruled. There is no aspect of the universe that is not under His reign.

i. “When Melancthon was extremely solicitous [worried] about the affairs of the church in his days, Luther would have him admonished in these terms, Monendus est Philippzzs ut desinat esse rector mundi, Let not Philip make himself any longer governor of the world.” (Clarkson, cited in Spurgeon)

3. (20-22) The contrast between God and His angels.

Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

a. Bless the LORD, you His angels: David began the psalm by telling his own soul to bless the Lord, but he knew the praise and honor to God should go beyond what he could give. It should extend all the way to the angels, and David boldly told them to also bless the LORD.

b. Who excel in strength, who do His word: The angels are strong and obedient, but even they should bless the LORD, giving Him praise and honor.

c. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts: The angels also make up God’s hosts: His heavenly army under His command who do His pleasure. As God’s soldiers, they should give Him the honor and praise due to Him.

d. Bless the LORD, all His works: David extended the call to honor and praise God further than the angels to all of God’s works, in all places of His dominion.

i. All His works: “His song is no solo, for all creation is singing – or will sing – with him; but his voice, like every other, has its own part to add, its own ‘benefits’ (2ff.) to celebrate, and its own access (cf. Ps. 5:3) to the attentive ear of God.” (Kidner)

ii. “Man is but little, yet, placing his hands upon the keys of the great organ of the universe, he wakes it to thunders of adoration! Redeemed man is the voice of nature, the priest in the temple of creation, the precentor in the worship of the universe.” (Spurgeon)

iii. “The ‘my’ of personal experience merges into the ‘our’ of social fellowship, thus culminates in the ‘all’ of universal consciousness.” (Morgan)

e. Bless the LORD, O my soul: David ended the psalm as he began it, with a call to his own soul to bless God, giving Him the honor and praise due to Him. After the many reasons given in Psalm 103, David had more reasons to bless the LORD at the end of the psalm.

(c) 2020 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – ewm@enduringword.com

Categories: Old Testament Psalms

What Does Psalm 103:2 Mean? ►

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

Psalm 103:2(ESV)

Verse Thoughts

The psalms so often call upon us to bless the Lord with our whole being and never to forget all the multiplied benefits of His grace and goodness that are poured down on us in such abundance, day by day. Manifold are his mercies, which are new every morning and how pleasing it is to the Father to hear the reverent praise and grateful worship that comes from a heart that truly loves Him.

To bless the Lord means to delight in HIM, with our spirit, soul and body.. To bless the Lord means to express our love for Him with a grateful heart that is rooted in a humble reverence – that only desires that He is glorified. But to bless the Lord in this way calls for obedience and a total commitment to live as unto the Lord with our inner heart, soul, mind and strength determined to live godly in Christ Jesus.

Let us bless the Lord. Let us bless our heavenly Father with every fibre of our being. Let us bless our heavenly King and glorious Saviour with all that is within us – and let us never forget ALL His benefits for He has redeemed our life from the pit, and crowned us with loving-kindness and compassion.

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He satisfies our years with good things, and renews our youth like the eagle. He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness – bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

My Prayer

How we bless and thank You heavenly Father for Your many benefits, for Your never-ending grace and unconditional love. May I sing of Your praise with my whole being, for You alone are worthy, in Jesus name I pray, AMEN.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/psalm-103-2

QUESTION

How can we “forget not His benefits” (Psalm 103:2)?



ANSWER

In Psalm 103, David praises the Lord for His abundant mercies. He tells his soul to “bless the Lord” six times (verses 1, 2, 20, 21, 22) and to “forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). Then David lists several good things that God does for His people.

For more than half of the psalm, David stirs up his heart, soul, “and all that is within” him (Psalm 103:1) to “forget not His benefits.” The original Hebrew verb translated “forget” means “to lose memory or remembrance of,” but it can also mean “ignore” or “cease to care about.” The Lord’s “benefits” represent all the good things the Lord provides to aid or promote the well-being of His children.

We bless or praise the Lord by spending time in grateful remembrance of the mercies we have received from Him. Praise is similar to one aspect of the exercise of bodybuilding. If we regularly stretch, flex, and use our muscles, we won’t lose muscle tone. Instead, we gain definition and strength. And if we get in the regular habit of giving thanks to the Lord for His blessings, we won’t forget them. If we do not give thanks, if we fail to praise the Lord, if we ignore His benefits or, worse, cease to care about them, we are sure to forget them.

What are some of the Lord’s benefits we ought to remember? David enumerates: “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! The LORD gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly” (Psalm 103:3–6, NLT). David goes on to praise the Lord’s compassion, mercy, and patience (Psalm 103:8). He recalls how God revealed His character to Moses and His mighty deeds to the children of Israel (Psalm 103:7).

In His mercy, the Lord holds back the punishment we deserve and pours out His unfailing love (Psalm 103:10–11). “The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust” (Psalm 103:13–14, NLT).

We have so much to be thankful for as God’s children. May we never forget His forgiveness: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:13–14, NLT). May we always remember that He heals us from the sin that infects us: “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isaiah 53:5, NLT).

May we forget not His benefits, including redemption from death: “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying” (Hebrews 2:14–15, NLT).

May we never ignore or cease to care about His lovingkindness and tender mercy: “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live” (Psalm 63:3–4, ESV).

A genuinely grateful heart remembers always to praise the Lord for His goodness. But forgetting His benefits—ignoring them, or ceasing to care about them—waters down our praise. In Deuteronomy, Moses warned the people that forgetting is the first step toward spiritual catastrophe: “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. . . . Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you” (Deuteronomy 4:9, 23).

When we fail to praise the Lord and forget all the good things that He provides for our well-being, we reveal a deeper heart problem. Our neglect reflects apathy and indifference, which end in spiritual death (Hebrews 2:1–3). But when we forget not His benefits—when we remember His mercy, compassion, loyal love, forgiveness, and salvation—we can’t help but have our hearts renewed and our lives lifted as we praise and bless the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:8–13 24–29, 34–36)!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Psalms 76-150, Holman Old Testament Commentary by Steven Lawson

More insights from your Bible study – Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free!

RELATED TOPICS

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What does it mean that my help comes from the Lord (Psalm 121:2)?

What does the Bible say about forgiving yourself?

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Questions about Psalms

How can we “forget not His benefits” (Psalm 103:2)?

Psalm 103:1-5 – Five Reasons to be Thankful

Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

(Psalm 103:1-5).

For today’s meditation, we will be looking at Psalm 103:1-5. Psalm 103 is one of my favorite Psalms among many. Psalm 103:1-5 gives us 5 things to be thankful and it is an excellent reminder as we approach Thanksgiving.

The first thing we are exhorted is to praise the Lord. Our hearts should always abound with thanksgiving and praises to the Lord. The Bible says:

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15).

The second exhortation is that we should not forget all His benefits toward us. By nature, we are a forgetful people. But that ought not to be so. The Bible says:

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (Psalm 100:4).

Than we are given five things to be thankful for in verse 3-5.

1. We are to be thankful for the forgiveness we have in Christ.

That is the greatest blessing. David cries out:

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1-2).

2. We are to be thankful for good health.

Good health is a blessing for God and we should never take our health for granted. God does not guarantee healing every time we get sick; but when we do get sick and recover, it is because God has healed us. Sometimes God lets us get sick for God can even use sickness for our good and for our sanctification. God works through medicine and doctors to heal us.

“O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me” (Psalm 30:2).

3. We are to be thankful for God redeeming our life from destruction.

Many times we wander astray like lost sheep and like the prodigal son. But Christ is the Good Shepherd of the sheep (John 10:11) and He cares for each of His sheep and will seek out His sheep till He finds it. Christ cares for each of His sheep not only as a group but also individually. Each of Christ’s sheep is very precious in His sight.

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses” (Psalm 107:13).

4. We are to be thankful for God’s lovingkindess and tender mercies.

God’s mercies are great. God does not give us what we deserve. His grace is unmerited and undeserved. The Bible says:

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:8-14).

5. We are to be thankful for God’s provision.

We need to be thankful for God’s providing for us all that we need such as food, clothing, and housing.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

Indeed God is very faithful and that is a cause for thanksgiving. Even “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). His mercies are new every morning and great is His Faithfulness.

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).

From the editor of http://www.georgemuller.or

Matthew 11:28

New Living Translation

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Jesus living each loving way that he does said to the people

Come to me all of you who suffer carrying heavy burden and I will give you rest easing your mind and pain

Answer: 28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.Feb 15, 2019

https://www.therogersvillereview.com › …

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE

Matthew 11:28-30

The Word of God

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• “Come” is a familiar word in scripture. “Come back to me; come and see; come follow me.” God continues to invite us, desiring what is best for us. This is the God who leads us to restful waters, who desires that work be service, not slavery. We are promised the help we need by a gentle and humble Lord to walk more lightly in life, knowing that he is with us.

• Do I hear the Lord’s invitation to me as life-giving and liberating? Where do I feel burdened or enslaved knowing the Lord desires freedom in service of him and others? I turn to the Lord for what I need to travel more lightly in life.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• This simple invitation goes straight to the heart. I spend time letting it echo within me, as I bring to Jesus all my weariness and heavy burdens, one by one.

• Learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart. One of the most popular titles for Jesus in the Gospel was that of Rabbi, teacher. Here he invites us to learn from him: he describes himself as gentle and humble. Were these the two qualities he liked most about himself, where he wants us to be most like him? I pray to be a good student of this unique teacher.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Jesus promises that when we are troubled, if we turn to him he will help us. Let us take him at his word.

• A yoke is always carried by two oxen. The reason Christ’s yoke is easy for us to carry is because he is carrying it with us, and taking most of the weight.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Jesus clearly declared that he had come to heal and lift up those who were ailing (saying that it’s the sick who need the doctor). In the past people had foreseen only a regime of punishment for waywardness.

• Basing themselves on the old punitive approach, the Pharisees had carried things further – setting up a whole system of laws and prohibitions. They had imposed a load (‘yoke’) on the people, said Jesus, and wouldn’t lift a finger to ease the load.

• The people, labouring under this kind of burden, longed for relief – and Jesus offers them rest : he is the one who has come to serve (‘humble in heart’), and is full of understanding (‘gentle’).

• Here we have a picture of what the relationship is like in the intimate family of Jesus and his adopted brothers and sisters : all of us are being raised up to be the best persons we can be.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• A yoke has traditionally been used between a pair of animals, usually oxen, to help them pull together on a load. Who is joined to me in this yoke? Surely it is Jesus himself!

• Jesus is not suggesting that we live free from any yoke. “And what is this yoke of yours that does not weary but gives rest?” asked the Jesuit Saint, Robert Bellarmine. “It is, of course, that first and greatest commandment: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.’”

•


Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Here we see Jesus as the epitome of the Beatitudes for He presents Himself as “gentle and humble in heart”. We see this in the way that throughout the Gospels Jesus is comfortable with our limitations as human beings, and also in the way Jesus invites us to face the greatness He shares with us.

• Be with Jesus for some time as He invites you to rest with these two sides of yourself which He wants you to live happily with. In doing this Jesus promises that you will find “rest for your soul”.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Do I have anything weighing on me now? Jesus promises to help, and I believe him.

• Jesus’ yoke is his New Law, to love each other as he loves us. It is easy because he gives us the strength to carry it.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• I seek quiet in my heart so that I can listen to Jesus’ invitation to lay all my heavy burdens at his feet, and so find rest. Then I bring myself to respond, by accepting this invitation, going to him and taking my burdens one by one, becoming aware of my need to find rest.

• I ask him to make my heart like unto his, gentle and humble. I thank God for the gentleness and humility I notice in my heart, and ask for more, as I pray for the grace to be like Jesus in all my relationships, both in those that are easy and in the difficult ones.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• The reign of the coming saviour king will not just bring security and welcome to any persons who feel lost and abandoned. Jesus’ kingdom also promises relief and support to those who simply feel that life has become too much for them.

• Jesus understands each of us better than we understand ourselves, his heart – gentle and humble, goes out to us.

• One day Jesus will invite his band of first followers to come apart to a quiet place and to rest a while. They will feel at ease in his presence and be rejuvenated.

• This ‘rest’ – a sense of having been accepted, banishes weariness and renews our energy. No surprise here – the Saviour Lord himself happens to be the energy-centre of the universe, the creator – the one who drills the stars.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Since Jesus uttered this glorious invitation it has been a constant support to many people. Today, as I reflect on it let me be encouraged and comforted.

• I imagine Jesus saying these words to me, now. Jesus offers me rest for my soul. This invitation opens a refreshing space in my soul, by inspiring hope that God is always with me.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Jesus invites us to come to Him just as we are. He recognises the busyness of our lives, how we labour and are overburdened and draws us into his loving and gentle presence. He wants to listen to all of our troubles, and assures us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. When we spend time with Jesus we find rest for our souls. He speaks to us in the silence of our hearts and gives us inner peace.

• We can speak with Jesus as we would with any friend, sharing our joys, our struggles, our hopes, and our fears. He never grows tired of listening to us and constantly renews us with the gift of his love. What do I want to share with him now in this time of prayer?

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• I am often weary, Lord, and my burden feels heavy on me. When I look at Christians, some of them indeed seem relaxed and easy in your company. Others appear uptight and driven, not restful people to be near.

• You are a gentle, humble presence. If I feel under pressure in prayer, something is wrong. It is a sign of your presence to me that my soul feels rested.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Sometimes we carry heavy burdens because we want to figure things out on our own, thinking there is no one to help us. I pray that people who are weighed down may hear the voice of Jesus. I pray that I may hear it too, and have the humility I need to ask for and to receive help.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• When the burden is so heavy that prayers cannot even be formed, lean on him. When you are too weary to lift your head, rest it on his shoulder, knowing that somehow your burden will be shared, lifted and eventually eased. He has said so, and he is faithful to his promises.

• Lord, let me share your work. Open my eyes to the burdens borne by others. Open my heart to the pain that cannot be shared, to the fear that cannot be spoken, to those who face darkness alone.

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Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• A yoke is a wooden or iron frame which joins two oxen for the purpose of pulling a plough or cart. Here, Jesus invites us to share the burden of our worries and fears with him, since he is only too willing to help us cope with and manage them. It is an open invitation spoken to us by Jesus who is forever “gentle and humble in heart”.

• Jesus also invites his followers to ‘shoulder his yoke’ – the challenge of Christian discipleship and witness. ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me’ (Luke 9:23). Lord, when my cross in life becomes too heavy, may I always look to you for help. May I, in turn, help others carry their crosses too.

•


Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• An old story describes Peter at the gates of heaven. The world has ended. The sheep have been separated from the goats; all the faithful are inside and Peter is preparing to close the gates. Then he sees Jesus standing outside. ‘Master’ he says, ‘what are you doing outside?’ Jesus replies, ‘I’m waiting for Judas.’ In the words of today’s reading, Jesus is calling directly to me: ‘Come to me’. Jesus will wait for me, too, beyond the end of time.

• What burdens weigh me down? Loneliness, illness, guilt, bereavement, depression, fear? What is preventing me handing these burdens to Jesus?

•


Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• After his disturbing words about the danger of missing the point of true discipleship, Jesus concludes with a gracious invitation: ‘Come to me!’ Let me listen to Jesus whisper that call to me. He uses my name; his face shows his love; the tone of his voice is one of purest welcome. I relax in this. Perhaps I may use the phrase as my mantra today.

• Those who burden the weary are the religious leaders, with their emphasis on the Law. Jesus is not proposing a lax interpretation of the Law. But he interprets the Law in the context of love. The great command, he says, is that we should love God and neighbour, because God loves us all totally. Do I find ‘rest for my soul’ in this network of love?

•


Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Most people would say that they are weary and weighed down with problems. Jesus offers himself as one who has his own burden, but is glad to shoulder my burden too.

• The yoke was originally a term for Roman oppression of the Jews. People felt crushed by Rome’s demands. Jesus promises that if I join in with him, he will not be oppressive. I ask to feel the lightness and energy that he offers me.

•


Resume Prayer

• Resume Prayer
Some thoughts on today’s scripture

• Lord, these lovely words are sometimes linked to a picture of you in pastel shades, in a montage of roses and golden light. But it takes strength and courage to remain gentle in face of false accusations and scheming enemies. It is you who are the strong one, not the screamers and war-mongers.

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Resume Prayer

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? Matthew 11:28-30 explained

• Feb 15, 2019

•

Question: Please explain Matthew 11:28-30.

Answer:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This passage of the Bible has always been viewed as Christ’s worldwide invitation and I think rightly so. There are a few things that I think we need to take a close look at as well as give some serious considerations as to what Jesus said and how that He worded His teaching.

Let’s consider just “why” Jesus said what he said in these verses of the Bible:

First of all in our society there is a “great need” for the cure for sin. Isaiah informs us that sin is outrageous and separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Then Paul tells us that all are under sin — thus the need for a cure (Romans 3:23). John alerts us that we cannot truthfully deny sin in our lives without being a liar (1 John 1:8 & 10). Paul again reports that the payment for sin is death — separation from God (Romans 6:23). Paul also advises that God is patient — but, we need to be careful here and not take advantage of His patience (1 Timothy 1:16). Last but not least Paul acquaints us with the fact that without God and Christ there is no hope for sin being cured in our lives (Ephesians 2:12-18).

Secondly, we see that Christ’s invitation is “universal” in nature — “all.” Paul tells us that God’s plan for salvation has appeared to all (Titus 2:11). Then Luke informs us that God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35).

Thirdly we understand that this divine plan of salvation that Jesus invites us into is based on a “precious promise” — “I will give you rest.” We are informed that all who come to Christ through the Father will not be cast out (John 6:37). Then John tells us that with Christ we have peace — freedom from sin (John 14:17). Paul advises that righteous living results in a divine payment (Philippians 4:17). Lastly Peter reports that the Lord is not slack in fulfilling His promise (2 Peter 3:9).

Fourthly we must comprehend that in order to partake of the Lord’s invitation involves “action” on our part — “come unto me & take my yoke” Peter tells us the we must repent — change (2 Peter 3:9). Then we are advised that we must come to God through Christ (Hebrews 7:25). Matthew informs us that we must do the will of God (Matthew 7:21). Finally John plainly tells us that we must do His commandments in order to have right to life eternal and to be able to sit down with Jesus and rest a little while (Revelation 22:14).

Unauthorized access.



In conclusion: it is beneficial, for the salvation of our soul, to recognize that life is real and earnest, and the grave is not its goal; how we live now will determine where we live in eternity! “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV).

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? Matthew 11:28-30 explained

• Feb 15,2019

Question: Please explain Matthew 11:28-30.

Answer:

28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This passage of the Bible has always been viewed as Christ’s worldwide invitation and I think rightly so. There are a few things that I think we need to take a close look at as well as give some serious considerations as to what Jesus said and how that He worded His teaching.

Let’s consider just “why” Jesus said what he said in these verses of the Bible:

First of all in our society there is a “great need” for the cure for sin. Isaiah informs us that sin is outrageous and separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Then Paul tells us that all are under sin — thus the need for a cure (Romans 3:23). John alerts us that we cannot truthfully deny sin in our lives without being a liar (1 John 1:8 & 10). Paul again reports that the payment for sin is death — separation from God (Romans 6:23). Paul also advises that God is patient — but, we need to be careful here and not take advantage of His patience (1 Timothy 1:16). Last but not least Paul acquaints us with the fact that without God and Christ there is no hope for sin being cured in our lives (Ephesians 2:12-18).

Secondly, we see that Christ’s invitation is “universal” in nature — “all.” Paul tells us that God’s plan for salvation has appeared to all (Titus 2:11). Then Luke informs us that God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35).

Thirdly we understand that this divine plan of salvation that Jesus invites us into is based on a “precious promise” — “I will give you rest.” We are informed that all who come to Christ through the Father will not be cast out (John 6:37). Then John tells us that with Christ we have peace — freedom from sin (John 14:17). Paul advises that righteous living results in a divine payment (Philippians 4:17). Lastly Peter reports that the Lord is not slack in fulfilling His promise (2 Peter 3:9).

Fourthly we must comprehend that in order to partake of the Lord’s invitation involves “action” on our part — “come unto me & take my yoke” Peter tells us the we must repent — change (2 Peter 3:9). Then we are advised that we must come to God through Christ (Hebrews 7:25). Matthew informs us that we must do the will of God (Matthew 7:21). Finally John plainly tells us that we must do His commandments in order to have right to life eternal and to be able to sit down with Jesus and rest a little while (Revelation 22:14).

Unauthorized access.



In conclusion: it is beneficial, for the salvation of our soul, to recognize that life is real and earnest, and the grave is not its goal; how we live now will determine where we live in eternity! “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV).

Matthew 11:28-30 | Come to Jesus

MATTHEW

LISTEN NOW

Let’s open the Bible now. We’re going to be in Matthew 11:28-30, and we going to look at this amazing passage of scripture that tells us who Jesus is for us. It’s such an important thing to see because we carry around so many wrong or incomplete thoughts of who Jesus is, about how he thinks about us, interacts with us, treats us, and so forth.

If you were to describe to someone who didn’t know Jesus what the heart of Jesus is like, what would you say? Well, Matthew 11:28-30 is one really good answer.

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This is God’s word.

Introduction

If you’ve been around Refuge Church for a while, you know we begin every worship service the same way.

To all who are weary and need rest;

To all who mourn and long for comfort;

To all who feel worthless and wonder if God even cares;

To all who fail and desire strength;

To all who sin and need a savior;

This church opens wide her doors with a welcome from Jesus.

Why do we say that every week? Because before we do anything else together, we want to bring our deepest needs to Jesus, and sometimes we just need someone else to call out those needs for us. I’m always moved by those words. They always speak of something going on deep inside my heart. We can think of those words as our confession that we are always needy for grace and mercy. No matter what it looks like on the outside, we come weary and heavy laden just by living in this broken world. We come in need of a rest we cannot give ourselves, longing for gentleness in a yoke only found in Jesus, an easy one where the burden is light, and the rest is eternal.

Jesus offers himself to the real us, not some future version of ourselves, not some cleaned-up image of ourselves, but just plain old us. Weary. Mournful. Depressed. Anxious. Failing. Sinful. We come to him as we are, without any pretense, without anything in our hands to offer but need, asking him to convert our longing into reality, transform sorrow into joy, remove the guilt of sin by his blood, and give new life to those barely hanging on.

These three verses we’re looking at today are perfect for people like us because they show us the kind of heart Jesus has for us. Charles Spurgeon once pointed out that in all the gospels, this is the only place that Jesus himself speaks of what his own heart is like. Gentle and lowly. Not harsh and reactionary. Not easily put out and frustrated. Not ready to strike you down. He is the most understanding person in the world. As author Dane Ortlund says, “The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.” Gentle and lowly. Gentle enough for the worst of us and lowly enough for the humblest of us. We can’t actually be too needy for Jesus. He’s not put off by our neediness. I mean, we can think ourselves too good for Jesus, but we can never be too bad for him.

So, as we continue our season of prayer and “reset” as a church, I want us to just listen to who Jesus is—what his heart is for us. So let’s listen to his heart for us, which is his heart for our city, for our neighborhood, for our workplace, for our school, for this world. As we listen, we hear three things:

1. The invitation to Jesus (v. 28)

2. The pathway of Jesus (v. 29a)

3. The promise from Jesus (vv. 29b-30)

The Invitation to Jesus (v. 28)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Come to me…” Jesus doesn’t say “work toward me.” He doesn’t say, “earn me.” He doesn’t say, “deserve me.” He says, “come to me.”

What does it mean to come to Jesus? In this verse, the word come isn’t only a command; it’s also an exclamation. Pastor Ray Ortlund puts it this way. Jesus is saying something like, “Hey guys, I’m over here!” We’re running around everywhere, going from one place to another, trying to make our life work, and we’re just not noticing the gentle and lowly Savior sitting right before our eyes offering everything we’re longing for. The truth is, Jesus isn’t hard to find. He’s made himself available. And he wants to get our attention because who he is is the one thing we most need.

“Come” is a present tense command here. Jesus isn’t asking us to come tomorrow or the next day or someday out in the future, but today. Come today. Leave your self-reliant efforts today. Leave your sins today. Leave your burdens today, and come. Rest is here right now for you. Just come. In a world that demands our learning, our doing, our working before anything else, Jesus asks only first for our coming. Our new life begins right there—just by coming to him.

Yet even still, we find a way to complicate this, don’t we? We imagine some hard conditions, some preliminary work, some qualifications or prerequisites, but Jesus asks us only to come as we are, with all that we are. If we were to write this on his behalf, I think we might be tempted to put a filter after that first phrase, wouldn’t we? How would you write it? “Come to me ____.” Now, maybe we put a filter on that for others, but often we put a filter on it for ourselves. We think we can’t possibly come to Jesus. How could we? Look at us! But who gave us the right to add to God’s word, to change God’s word? What does Jesus say? “Come to me, all…” Jesus uses a word here big enough to include every type of sinner in the world, every type of sufferer in the world, a word so big and so inclusive that everyone who has ever lived fits inside of the “all.” The gospel Jesus brings is a worldwide invitation. It has no cultural limits or national limits or even sin limits.

Here are the only qualifications: “All who labor and are heavy laden…” Other translations read “All who are weary and heavy laden.” That’s a good translation too. If you’re working yourself to death trying to fix your life (labor) or if your life is weighed down by something outside your control (heavy laden) (Ortlund), Jesus calls you to himself. Isn’t that amazing? Here’s Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things, the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power, offering himself to who? The worn out and pressed down, the weary and burdened. The needy. I mean, he could go anywhere. He could go to the powerful, the impressive, the might. But where does he go? To the needy. To the lowly. To the people who can’t figure life out and don’t know what else to do or where else to go. To the very people he must call to attention because they can’t seem to slow down enough to look his way. You and me. Us.

Here’s one amazing truth about the gospel that runs counter to every other religion: the needier you are, the more perfect you are for Jesus. There are no self-made Christians. There are only needy people who collapse at the feet of Jesus and let him lift them up.

If you are exhausted from working only to fail, from obeying only to sin again, from pushing the rock up the hill only to have it fall back on top of you, you are invited to Jesus. If you feel a heaviness on your heart that you want to be free of, sin or sorrow or anxiety or remorse or memories or uncertainties or whatever, you are invited to Jesus. The qualifications you need are weariness and weightiness. Your need is not a problem for Jesus. You are not adding some burden to him. He is there to unburden you. In fact, your burden is the very thing that delights him. He loves to care for you. You can trust him with who you really are because this passage tells us who he really is: gentle and lowly at heart.

So you can come to Jesus. And when you come to Jesus and entrust yourself into his care, he gives you something no one else can. Look again at verse 28. “Come to me…and I will give you rest.” Jesus says here something that actually only God can say. In fact, God did say it through the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament (35:21), “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” God didn’t just say something like that one time, he said it multiple times throughout the Old Testament. Here’s what Jesus is saying: he’s saying he is the God of Jeremiah, the God of the Old Testament, he is the God who promised rest and now has come to earth to accomplish the plan of salvation and give it in fullness to his people. Jesus isn’t asking you to deserve it—not way back when you first followed him or right now or ten years in the future when you still fall into sin. This entire passage rests on who Jesus is, not on us. He’s the one making promises. He’s just asking us to trust him, to come to him.

So when your life falls apart, this is a verse you can come to. When you can’t find rest anywhere else, here is Jesus your savior saying, “Come to me.” When all else fails, he never will. It’s an offer we can’t refuse. We’d be crazy to refuse it.

And as we come, Jesus never leaves us in the same place he found us. He always takes us on a journey with him, which is our second point.

The Pathway of Jesus (v. 29a)

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart…

Now, given what we just saw, this verse is a bit surprising, isn’t it? Jesus offers rest and then immediately says, “Take my yoke upon you.” He didn’t say “Take my seat” or “Take my bed” or “Take my vacation.” He said, “Take my yoke.” What’s a yoke? A yoke is an agricultural term. Farmers place a yoke on animals to use their strength to plow fields. So, wait a minute. How does this make sense? How is a yoke the natural outflow of the rest that Jesus gives?

Well, notice how he calls it his yoke. Not a yoke. Not the law’s yoke. Not some other yoke. His yoke. “Take my yoke upon you.” The yoke of Jesus is vastly different from every other yoke. In verse 30 we see his yoke is easy. It’s not heavy. It’s light.

Now, we need to get something straight right away. There is no such thing as a yoke-less life. It’s just a matter of what we’re yoked to. Coming to Jesus is not a yoke-less life. One look at the Sermon on the Mount or his parables or the Great Commission should rid us of that thought. When we come to Jesus, we come to Jesus as we are, but he changes us into who he is. The yoke we receive from him is not like the yoke of the Pharisees who demanded strict obedience to man-made laws. It’s not the yoke of the world that demands constant change and evolution of views or else. Jesus’s yoke is easy; it’s light.

Jesus’s yoke is light for at least two reasons.

First, his yoke comes along with his teaching. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” To have his yoke means you will be working, and that’s a good thing, despite how it may sound at first. Work is not a result of the Fall. God gave Adam work before he sinned. It actually is part of who we are. We’re designed this way. As commentator Dan Doriani says, “The cure for a heavy burden is not to have no burden, but a light burden, the right burden. Jesus knows the right burden. He offers rest not by inviting us to do nothing, but by leading us to the right activities.” As we move forward as a church together Jesus will call us to work. He’ll call us to do hard things for him, even suffer for him. But isn’t working with Christ even in suffering better by far than living without him?

Second, his yoke isn’t heavy because of who he is. “For I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Here is what separates Jesus from everyone else. He is gentle and lowly.

The word gentle means pleasant, mild, soothing, friendly. It’s the opposite of rough, hard, and violent. Jesus is not out to get you. His most foundational disposition is not to destroy you, but you save you; not to strike you but to comfort you; not to do violence, but to be gentle. When we go the wrong way, he gently redirects. He doesn’t shame us. He doesn’t embarrass us. He gently leads us back to himself, back to the right path, to learn afresh from him, to see him again for who he is, and to fall in love with him all over again through how he loves us.

He’s also lowly. Jesus doesn’t need to be seen as impressive. He is impressive. So lowliness doesn’t bother him. The word lowly means weak, insignificant, servile. This was not a virtue even in Jesus’s day. It was looked down upon. Who in their right mind would be this way? Well, Jesus would. At his deepest core, Jesus is a servant. He came to serve and not to be served because that’s who he is at heart. He doesn’t mind stooping down to our level, getting inside our messes, dying for our sins. His heart is not limited to what we deserve; it rejoices to serve the unworthy, the guilty, the sinful, the wayward, his children.

We were made to be with God. So when we come to Jesus and take his yoke upon us, what we actually find is the kind of life we long to live, and we find it together. He becomes not just my savior or your savior but our savior. He joins us together and he begins to use us for his glory. We start getting involved in things we never could have imagined before for his sake. He shows us how to live for him. He carries the load, but he deploys us in mission. He sends out into his fields ripe for harvest to do his work in the world. He’s patient. He’s tender. He’s open. He’s accommodating. He’s understanding. When we stumble, he picks us up. When we can’t go on, he carries us. When we doubt him, he proves himself. When we fail, we get his success. When we sin, he’s already paid the penalty.

Here’s the amazing thing: Jesus is willing to be yoked to us, and we aren’t holding him back. Even more, he’s happy to be so. He longs to be so. Nothing in him shies away from us. No sin is too great. No weakness too much. No failure too excessive. He comes down to our low place and takes us to his high place. And he doesn’t mangle us on the way. He’s gentle. He knows our frame. He knows because he’s been in the weakness of flesh. But he never sinned, so his strength is far greater than ours. He knows the path, and he will teach us.

Jesus isn’t just talking the talk. He walked the walk. He entered in. He came. Would we imagine God would get down in the field with us and pull the plow? Would we imagine Jesus would make himself nothing to bring us to the Father? Would we imagine the gentleness and lowliness of God would be enough to save us from the strength and stronghold of sin? But so it is. The gentle and lowly Jesus is our Savior. He’s offering his yoke to teach us his ways, and he’s making a promise, which is our third point.

The Promise from Jesus (vv. 29b-30)

…and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Here is the second time Jesus mentions rest. The first rest was an immediate rest from coming to him. This rest is the rest after the rest. The first rest is given, the second discovered. Yes, given also, but discovered along the way. The first is instant relief. The second is a lifelong journey. It’s the rest of a learner. The rest of the one who after receiving now serves alongside his master.

It’s not a physical rest. After all, there is a yoke involved. There is learning involved. Neither is easy. It demands something of us. Jesus doesn’t offer rest for our bodies. What he offers is rest for our souls.

Maybe we’d prefer rest for our bodies. So much of our life is driven by how our body feels. We fall asleep at night because our bodies can’t take any more. I don’t know about you, but even though I fall asleep, I’m always tired. I just got back from vacation. Hours in the car with four kids. Not easy. Laying down in my own bed for the first time in a week was like laying on clouds. My body needed it. But when my dog woke me up in the middle of the night and those thoughts that come out only in the darkness invaded my heart, it didn’t matter how my body felt. My soul needed rest. Yours does too.

Deep inside my soul, there is a need no amount of physical rest can alleviate. There are memories in my past that I don’t want to think about but from time to time they rise to the surface, reminding me that I’m not good at all. There are things I said, or things I didn’t say but should have. There are regrets that won’t fade away. There are wounds that time won’t heal. You know what I’m talking about because you have these things too.

What does Jesus have for us in the midst of that? Rest—at the deepest possible level, at the soul-ish level. Maybe we can’t live with ourselves after what we’ve done, but Jesus paid the penalty for us on the cross, and he’s not holding our sins over our heads. Maybe we can’t forget the pain of the past, but Jesus says that doesn’t have to be our future. He is preparing a place for us in our Father’s house. Maybe we can’t turn off the anxiety of another uncertain day, but Jesus says, “I’m already out there ahead of you. I know how this will end, and no matter what comes, no one can snatch you from my hands.”

We need a rest that stretches further than today. We need eternal rest. We need to know that we can’t ruin this some time out in the future. We need peace of heart—peace with God that lasts. We need a clear conscience. We need the removal of guilt. We need shame to disappear. And Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, offers it all. His salvation is total and complete, right now, for us!

Looking forward to Christ’s cross, in Jeremiah 31:34, God tells us what he thinks about his people because of Christ’s atonement. “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God is not holding our sins over our heads. Jesus’s yoke is easy. Do you see the kindness in this? In fact, the word easy means kind. Jesus is kind to us. His yoke is therefore a kind of non-yoke. It’s not burdensome. It’s easy, kind. It’s the kind of thing that we just long to do—to come under him, to be shepherded by him, to follow him.

Who doesn’t need kindness? How kind Jesus our savior is! His kindness is seen most clearly in the cross. We were weighed down by the burden of sin. We could never obey God perfectly. In fact, we ruined our shot at perfection before we even had the capacity to understand what we did.

So what then is our hope? It’s Jesus! He came to be our substitute. When Jesus lived on earth, he obeyed God perfectly. He was the one single person in all history to actually earn God’s blessing by his obedience. And what did he do with it? He went to the cross to take God’s curse for sin. He did that for you. If Christ’s cross wasn’t at the center of history, there could be no offer of rest. If Jesus didn’t know for certain he would trade his blessing for our cursing, he would have been the greatest liar in the world to offer rest like this. But he could offer rest then and he can offer rest now because the wrath of God we’re owed for our sin has been fully satisfied in Christ on the cross. He has paid it all. And by coming to him, by accepting Jesus, you are free from the penalty for your sin. All that you deserve was given to Jesus on the cross, so all that Jesus deserves is given to you. Jesus earned eternal rest, and he graciously gives it to you and me just by coming to him.

You can have peace with God! Even if all the world stands against you, you can lay down at night and sleep well because God is for you. He takes great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Once Jesus has become your Lord and Savior when those terrible memories pop up again, you can boldly apply the gospel to them. You don’t have to think about them anymore. You don’t have to keep beating yourself up. Maybe you need to apologize to someone, but because of Christ’s cross, you are at peace with God the moment you repent and come to Jesus by faith. You’re free from the past. You’re free in the present. You will be free in the future. You have rest for your soul.

That’s why Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He’s not saying life won’t be hard. There is still a cross to be carried. There will be trials. Jesus promised us that. We have battles to fight and hardships to bear and sufferings to endure. Jesus is not discounting that. What he is saying is that the comforts of the gospel outweigh them all.

Jesus offers rest we never thought possible. When we come to him, we come to the answer of our life’s pursuit. It’s him. The most loving, accessible, approachable, kind, gentle, and lowly person in the universe. He’s our Savior. He’s our Lord. He’s our rest.

Conclusion

So let me close with this. Why am I talking about this in this season that we’re in as a church? Simply this: coming to Jesus moment by moment is the only future we have together. How could it be otherwise? He’s our leader. He’s our Savior. He’s our Lord. He’s our master. He’s the one we follow. We go where ever the Lamb leads.

If we don’t receive the real Jesus in his own words, we will be harsh, unkind, and restrictive. It’s just who we naturally are. Thankfully, we are not that way here at Refuge, but let’s not think we couldn’t be.

If we continue to receive the real Jesus in his own words and keep receiving him moment by moment together, there is no end to the joy and love and peace and harmony and risk-taking and cross-bearing that we can experience together with him.

Also, next week we are celebrating new life through baptism. If you’ve never been baptized maybe this passage will compel you to come to Jesus for new life.

All he’s asking is for us to come. Just stop running everywhere else and come to him. Let’s take his yoke upon us, for he is gentle and lowly at heart. The rest we never thought possible is ours in Christ our Savior.

What does Matthew 11:28 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

Jesus has made an extraordinary claim and now He makes an extraordinary offer to all who hear Him. He claimed in the previous verse to be the only one who knows God the Father and to be able to reveal the Father to anyone He chooses (Matthew 11:25–27). Now He makes an invitation: if you’re struggling and tired, I can give you relief.

Here is the implication. Jesus’ Jewish listeners were engaged in a mighty struggle to know God the Father. Their religious leaders had placed enormous burdens on them (Matthew 23:4), and they were laboring to carry those burdens in hopes of being approved by God. Jesus has just said that He can reveal His Father to anyone, and He immediately offers rest to everyone who is weighed down.

Jesus is not talking about physical rest, necessarily. The following verse will describe it as rest for the soul. The path to the Father through Jesus is not one of weary labor and heavy work. Jesus’ earlier analogy about the path to life being narrow and “difficult” (Matthew 7:14) is entirely separate, and speaking from a different perspective. From the view of the world, following Christ means taking on difficult circumstances and giving up worldly pleasures. From the view of eternity—of salvation—following Christ means giving up the impossible task of carrying our own sin.

Christ does not say it here, but the gospel will reveal that Jesus is offering to carry the burden and do the work in order to lead those who come to Him—those who are “yoked” to Him—to the Father (Matthew 11:30; John 6:29).

Context Summary

Matthew 11:25–30 begins with Jesus’ prayer of thanks to His Father for hiding the truth from those thought to be wise by the world’s standards. Instead, the gospel has been revealed to those the unbelieving world dismisses as virtual children. Jesus declares that He and the Father know each other completely and that He can reveal the Father to anyone He chooses. He offers rest for the souls of all who are weighed down and weary if they will take on His yoke, saying that His burden is easy and light.

Chapter Summary

John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is really the Messiah. Jesus gives them a specific answer to use to reassure John and then upholds John to the crowds. John fulfills the prophecy about the one who would prepare the people for the Messiah. This generation, though, refused to hear John or Jesus, deciding John had a demon and Jesus was a glutton and drunkard. Jesus condemns the cities that refuse to repent and thanks the Father for revealing the truth to little children. He offers rest for those who are weary and burdened.

What Does Matthew 11:28 Mean? ►

Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28(MKJV)

Verse Thoughts
The heavy yoke of bondage to sin is a weighty burden we all have to carry on the treadmill of life, which causes physical weariness, spiritual fatigue, and emotional exhaustion. But Christ’s invitation to “COME – Come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden,” brings rest to the weary, comfort for the hurting, solace to the heavily laden, and rest for the soul.

Although this gracious invitation to ‘come’ in the Gospel of Matthew, is offered to all people, it was initially given by Jesus to Israel. He was born of a Jewish virgin into the Jewish race, as foretold by Jewish prophets. He was the Jewish Messiah Who was born of the royal line of Israel’s great king David. He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in fulfilment of Scripture, calling the entire nation to repent of their sin, return to the Lord, and trust HIM as Saviour.

However, this offer was made to an unresponsive and unrepentant generation, who were more interested in their temporal needs being met than their spiritual needs. Jesus presented His faultless, Messianic credentials which were authenticated by His mighty signs and wonders, but His offer was refused. He was despised by men, hated by the Jewish leaders, and rejected by those He came to save.

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Israel did not recognise the time of their visitation and Jesus reached a point in His ministry when He transferred His attention from the nation as a whole, to individuals who believed in Him. They were called to separate themselves from national Israel and follow Him.

This is possibly the pivotal point when Christ’s Messianic offer to the lost sheep of the whole house of Israel changed… to a call for individual believers to COME. This was the time Jesus stopped offering the kingdom to national Israel, began to teach in parables, and started to turn his undivided attention to believing individuals who laboured and were heavy laden… and invited them to come to Him for rest.

Jesus is the well-spring of Life and the Light that has come into the world to give hope to all who will trust on His name for salvation, and His invitation to ‘COME’ is for whosoever will. Christ alone is the One Who can heal the hurting, rescue the perishing, and save a sinner from eternal separation from our heavenly Father – for there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved.

Jesus came to show us the Father, for He is the incarnate God, and the one who has seen the Son has seen the Father. Those who know the Son, know the Father. He shines forth the radiance of the glory of God, for He is the exact image of the essence of God and upholds all things by the word of His power. He is the visible representation of the glorious, eternal, invisible God, who has invited us all to COME.

The invitation to ‘come’ is from Jesus and contains no limitations or restrictions. He will turn no one away. There is no need to stand afar off because Christ calls ALL to draw close to Him. He alone can lift the heavy yoke of bondage to sin which weighs down the burdened heart. He alone can heal the broken-hearted, rescue those that are perishing, and set the captive free from the weighty burden of sin. And His invitation is open to ALL who will believe on His name.

‘Come To Me’ is an invitation for the broken-hearted soul and burdened sinner. COME, just as you are. “Come unto Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This promise of rest that Jesus offers is a rest that He freely gives to all who will come to Him for salvation.

The rest that Christ gives, is an eternal rest beyond our understanding that can never be earned or purchased. The rest He offers, is freely available as God’s gift of grace to whosoever will COME. “Come to Me, ALL who labour and are heavy laden

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/matthew-11-28

John 8:32

New Living Translation

32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

And you will know what is true from fake knowledge of the truth and the truth will set you free

Christ Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). … The Bible has much to say about truth and directly relates it to God.Oct 24, 1997

What Does It Mean To Know the Truth?

Bringing a spiritual perspective to daily life

October 24, 1997

Christ Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). That’s a wonderful promise that can be taken seriously, especially when you feel the need for some sort of healing – whether the difficulty is injury, illness, financial hardship, a troubled relationship, or anything else. But just what does it mean to know the truth?

For something to be known, it really has to be true. You can’t know – correctly – that the earth is flat or that the sun revolves around the earth, although for centuries people thought they knew those fallacies to be accurate. They didn’t know; they believed.

The Bible has much to say about truth and directly relates it to God. In fact, the definition of truth in “Harper’s Bible Dictionary” includes the statement that “God is truth.” And this is how He is understood in Christian Science, the Science by which Jesus healed. “Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures,” written by Mary Baker Eddy, frequently uses Truth (along with Life, Love, Principle, Soul, Mind, and Spirit) as synonyms for God. Knowing the truth, then, is knowing God in some degree. Daily study and prayer to understand Him better are the best means to this end. He is and knows only good. The Bible says that God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Habakkuk 1:13). And you can find specific truths God knows about His creation, which will abolish any evil belief that is troubling you – as well as the physical effect of that belief.

Things that are true can be proved. How do you prove your (true) freedom from whatever (false) belief is bothering you? Here’s an example. Shortly after I graduated from college, I began having migraine headaches. At first I would go right to bed when an attack came, and “know the truth” until I could get to sleep. I can’t remember exactly how I prayed. I’m sure it involved claiming my exemption from pain. Pain was not something God could know or experience. It was not something I, as His likeness (see Genesis 1:26), could know or experience either. I knew that “man is not material; he is spiritual” (Science and Health, Pg. 468), and therefore that matter (flesh and disease) could make no conditions for me.

The third time I had a migraine I was again tempted to go to bed because I felt so miserable. But I decided to stay up and do some reading in Science and Health to help me realize the truth more clearly. I would no more have tried to read anything else than I would have tried to fly, but I knew that the truth from the Bible, as explained in that book, could heal me. At first it was very difficult for me to concentrate. But I soon became so engrossed in what I was reading about God’s perfect creation and His uninterrupted care for all His children, including me, that these truths permeated my thinking. When I finally put the book down, I was free. I was healed. And in the 40 or so years since, I have never had another headache of any kind.

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The spiritual truth one knows concerning any problem begins with the fact that evil can’t be factual, because God doesn’t know it. In a relationship difficulty, for instance, it would be important to know that everyone is a child of God, reflecting His nature, and that any disturbing behavior is no part of an individual’s identity as God’s child.

Your point of departure for spiritual healing may pretty much be the same – denial of evil (on the basis of its unreality in truth) and firm declarations of your oneness with God, who is good alone. But the specific spiritual facts to be known vary with each situation. We need to know that when we are earnest and steadfast in our search for the truth God will reveal it to us, and that this determines our daily experience for the better.

Anyone can pray, can know the truth. And this brings freedom. In addition, every issue of The Christian Science Journal includes a worldwide directory of Christian Science practitioners, whose sole occupation is healing through prayer.

What does John 8:32 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

The most enticing aspect of sin is the promise of freedom. Even from the first temptation, in the garden of Eden, man has assumed that defying God is a way to control his own destiny. In fact, the opposite is true. Nothing enslaves like sin—it corrupts our thinking, controls our actions, and destroys our peace. Worst of all, it separates us from God (Ephesians 2:12) and condemns us to an eternity of loneliness and shame (Matthew 8:12). Jesus, on the other hand, represents the truth—that is, Himself. This is theme Christ will return to often in His teaching (John 14:6; John 8:12). No other claims are true, and nothing but truth can really free us.

Comforting lies are never as beneficial as loving truth. Even when the truth is not what we want to hear, we can’t expect to make good decisions or correct choices when we’re operating under the control of a lie. As Christ stated earlier in this dialogue, He—alone—is the “light of the world,” the one and only means to apprehend truth. True freedom is found in forgiveness of sin and service to God, and this is only found when we accept Jesus.

Context Summary

John 8:31–59 is a passage which dovetails with John 2:13–22, where Jesus drives corrupt businessmen from the temple. These Scriptures disprove any myths that Jesus was weak, timid, passive, or soft. In this exchange with the Pharisees, Jesus pulls no punches. Jerusalem’s religious leaders, and their followers, continue to resist Jesus’ preaching. They rely on arrogance and insults, to which Jesus responds with blunt, unfiltered condemnation. This culminates in Jesus making an overt statement of His own divinity, punctuating the debate by declaring ”before Abraham was, I am!”

Chapter Summary

John chapter 8 includes the story of the adulterous woman, a well-known but controversial passage. Most scholars believe this story is authentic, but not originally found in this exact spot in Scripture. This chapter continues Jesus’ preaching during the Feast of Booths, where He once again comes into conflict with local religious leaders. Here, Christ will make His second ”I AM” statement, using the analogy of light, which is a common theme in Hebrew theology. This conversation will become more and more heated. Eventually, Jesus’ opponents are enraged enough to attempt killing Him right then and there.

QUESTION

What does it mean that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32)?





ANSWER

“The truth will set you free” is a common saying in academic circles that want to promote academic freedom and the power of learning. Many universities have this statement emblazoned on a sign near the entrance of a building. But “the truth will set you free” did not originate in academia; Jesus said it in John 8:32. In context, Jesus’ statement has nothing to do with classroom learning. In fact, John 8:32 speaks of a higher form of knowledge than is capable of being learned in a classroom.

Jesus had just finished a speech at the temple where He delineated differences between Himself and His listeners. “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:23–24). The result of Jesus’ message was that “even as he spoke, many believed in him” (verse 30). Then, in verse 31, Jesus begins to speak just to those who had believed.

“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples’” (John 8:31). True discipleship is more than intellectual assent; those who are “really” followers of Christ will “hold to” His Word. That means they will not only accept His teachings as truth, but they will also obey His teachings. Action is proof of faith (cf. James 2:17).

True disciples of Jesus believe that He speaks the truth about God and the Scriptures. They also know that He is who He claims to be. Back in verse 25, the people asked Jesus who He was, and He responded, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.” There may be a tinge of exasperation in His response; He had repeatedly made known that He was the Messiah, the one they had anticipated for many years.

Verse 32 begins with, “Then you will know the truth.” “You” refers to those who are true disciples of Jesus. True disciples will know the truth. More than that, their eyes are opened to a greater understanding of the truth (cf. 1 John 5:20).

The truth Jesus’ disciples receive brings with it freedom. Jesus continues, “And the truth will set you free” (verse 32). At that point in history, the Jews were under the rule of the Roman government. Even though Rome gave them an exceptional amount of autonomy, they were keenly aware of the Roman presence around them in the form of soldiers, governors, and empirically appointed kings. When Jesus said the truth would set them free, however, He was not talking about political freedom (though the following verses indicate that’s how the Jews took it). Jesus provides the best commentary for His own statement in verse 34. Jesus explains, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Being a slave to sin is the ultimate bondage.

The freedom Jesus offers is a spiritual freedom from the bondage of sin—that is, release from the lifestyle of habitual lawlessness. He continues with an analogy: “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever” (verse 35). The people would have understood Jesus to mean that they were not members of God’s family, despite their biological relationship to Abraham (verse 37), because they were slaves to sin. If they were to become disciples of Jesus, they would know the truth of their condition and the truth about Christ, and Jesus would set them free. Believers would be freed from their bondage and brought into the family of God.

Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6). Knowing the Truth will set one at liberty—free from sin, free from condemnation, and free from death (Romans 6:22; 8:1–2). Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18). “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16, ESV).

What Does John 8:32 Mean? ►

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32(HCSB)

Verse Thoughts

All who received the Lord Jesus as the Word of God made flesh, are given the right to become children of God, even to those that believe on His name – and certain Jews believed in Him and so Jesus explained to these believers, if you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples. He continued to explain that those who chose to abide in His word would know the truth and the truth would set them free.

There are many who truly believe in Christ as Saviour, many who have trusted Him as their Redeemer, many who have placed faith in the only begotten Son of God for their salvation. There are many who have been born from above, but not all choose to abide in the truth of His word and as a result can become prey to a different gospel, or hearken to teachings that twist or distort the truth of God’s word.

A Christian is not necessarily a disciple of Jesus, BUT disciples of Christ is certainly Christians – believers who have leaned and are continuing to learn more and more of Christ Jesus. When we obey the Word of God and learn of Christ we grow in spiritual knowledge, our spiritual understanding matures. The more we grow in our Christian life the more we develop in our freedom from the sin nature that keeps us in bondage – and that freedom in Christ sets us free to live our life in spirit and truth.

Let us abide in the Word of God so that we may learn of Christ and grow in grace, for if we truly abide in Christ and He in us we will certainly be His disciples and we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.

My Prayer

Loving Lord I want to know You more and abide in Your word and become a true learner of You… Help me Lord to learn of You and grow in grace, for I want to know the truth and to be set free from the bondage of sin – a freedom only comes as I abide in You. I ask this in Jesus name, AMEN.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-8-32

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/john-8-32

Luke 6:27

New Living Translation

Love for Enemies

27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.

But to you who are willing to pay attention and hear I say love those enemies who prosecute you and criticize you. Do good to them who dislike and hate you.

What Does Luke 6:27 Mean? ►

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Luke 6:27(NASB)

Luke 6:27 – Loving Those You’d Rather Hate





II. Attitude Toward People: Love Your Enemies (Luke 6:27)
A. Three Ways to Love Your Enemies (Luke 6:27-28)
1. Do Good (Luke 6:27)
2. Bless (Luke 6:28)
3. Pray (Luke 6:28)

A man who had reached his 100th birthday was being interviewed by a reporter. “What are you most proud of?” the reporter asked.

“Well,” said the man, “I don’t have an enemy in the world.”

“What a beautiful thought! How inspirational!” said the reporter.

“Yep,” added the man, “I outlived every last one of them.”

Is that your approach to dealing with your enemies? Is it just to avoid and ignore them, hoping that you outlive and outlast them? Maybe you secretly hope and plan and pray for bad things to happen to them.

Or maybe you take a more active stance toward your enemies and gossip about them, spread lies about them, turn them into the police when they do something wrong, and pray that God will punish them for their wicked ways. This is how most of the world operates toward enemies. We go to war with them. We plan and plot their demise. We rejoice in their failures and mourn at their successes. We write letters, make phone calls, send e-mails and muster up support among our friends. We try to get people to side with us and join the team of those who are angry at others.

That’s the way the world often behaves towards its enemies, but the church often acts in similar fashion.

Although we sing the song “They will know we are Christians by our love” most often, people know we are Christians by our hate.

Christians today are mad at the world. We’re mad about movies, the media, the militant movements…of…gays and lesbians. We’re mad about the ACLU, condoms in school, crime on the streets, and drugs in our neighborhood. We’re mad about education, the impact of society upon our children, and abortion activists.

The world views Christianity as more of an angry political activist movement than a spiritual organization devoted to handing out hope and healing to a hurting world. Too often, when the world is hurting, our response is to say, “Well, it serves them right. We warned them this would happen.”

Certainly the Bible talks about not loving the world, or the things of the world. We are commanded to come out from among them and be separate. We are called to be salt and light in a sinful world. We are called to speak out boldly with prophetic voices calling people to repentance.

But all of this must be presented with compassion and concern. Truth must be spoken in love. Like Jesus, we are to people full of grace and truth. Our culture must know us as truth-tellers, but we must be truth-tellers with tears, for it is not we who are the victims, but they. They are the ones who are enslaved to sin. They are the ones whose minds are darkened. They are the ones whose eyes are blinded. When we interact with our enemies, it must not be out of hate and spite, but out of love and compassion. This is Christ’s example and instruction.

It is the instructions of Christ on how to treat our enemies that we encounter in Luke 6:27-38. This passage falls near the beginning of one of Christ’s famous sermons in which he instructs His disciples on how to live as His followers. This sermon in Luke 6, along with the sermon in Matthew 5, 6 and 7, are the instruction manuals for Christ-followers. If you desire to follow Christ, these chapters tell you how. They contain truths that Christ practiced and lived by, and as imitators of Christ, what we also should live by. If we were going to summarize the entire sermon down into three words, they would be: “Attitude is Everything!” As we work our way through this sermon, we find that it turns our world upside down. Christ gives us some commands and some principles which are practically impossible to carry out consistently.

As I have wrestled and struggled with this text these last few weeks, I have come to the belief that in this sermon, and in the one in Matthew 5-7, Christ is not setting out another list of do’s and don’ts. Many people read this sermon and the one in Matthew, and imagine that Christ is providing His own version of the law. The sermon in Matthew really brings this out. Over and over again, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said [in the law], but I tell you…” So people think that Jesus is teaching his higher standard of the law, that He has brought his own, new law which we are to live by. The main problem with this way of thinking is that if Christ is presenting a new law to live by, it is more impossible to keep than the old law, for it’s standards are higher.

Jesus is trying to show us that law keeping is all about attitude. Attitude is everything.

Throughout history, people have imagined that they are keeping the law if they simply do what it says. If they perform the outward actions prescribed by the law, then they are doing all that is necessary. Jesus preaches this sermon to show us that keeping the law is not so much about outward actions as inner attitudes of the heart.

If you don’t murder someone, but you hate them in your heart, you might as well have murdered them. If you don’t commit adultery, but do think lustful thoughts, it is as if you did commit adultery. It’s all about the attitude and condition of our hearts. This sermon describes an attitude of the heart that expresses itself “positively when others are negative, and generously when others are selfish…It is an inner disposition, not a legal duty.”

In Luke 6:20-26, we saw that Jesus wants us to develop an attitude of trust toward God in our circumstances. Christ now moves from talking about our attitude in our circumstances to our attitude toward other people (Luke 6:27-38). Whether we are interacting with friends or enemies, Christians or non-Christians, our attitude toward other people should be to love them. None of us have problems loving the friends and family members we get along with. It’s the people, and even family members or other Christians who seem to hate us, and the people who are out to cause us harm, and the people who spread lies about us that we have trouble loving. And so it is these people that Jesus focuses on in Luke 6:27-38.

These verses provide instructions on loving those we would rather hate. Christ shows us what our attitude should be toward those we would rather hate, and how to develop and live out that attitude. This attitude Christ is stated in Luke 6:27.





Attitude Toward People: Love Your Enemies (Luke 6:27)

Luke 6:27. But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies.

The first things to consider is who are enemies are. Let’s begin with who they are not. They are not ministers ordained by God to show us our sins. When something a pastor says makes you think he’s been reading your mail, and eavesdropping on your thoughts, that is the Holy Spirit using the pastor’s words to get through to you. The pastor is not your enemy when he points out your sins any more than the Holy Spirit is, for the pastor is only doing what God wants him to.

Rulers and those in authority are not our enemies either. They have been set up by God to administer justice and keep the peace. We may not agree with everything a politician stands for, or every decision the president makes, but they are not our enemies. Nor are people whom God brings into our lives to point out our faults. Sometimes God uses other Christians to show us where we err. But as Proverbs says, wounds from a friend can be trusted. Do not hate those who lovingly and gently point our your weaknesses, but let them guide you into more Christlike living.

Finally, people who disagree with us on some of the finer points of theology are not our enemies either. We may argue with each other. We may debate. But we are not enemies if we all hold to the basic tenants of evangelical Christian doctrine (inerrancy of Scripture, the deity, humanity, sinlessness and bodily resurrection of Christ, the Trinity, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone are some of the most basic).

Just because these sorts of people are not our enemies does not mean we should not love them. We are supposed to love all these people – the pastors, and parents, and politicians, and presidents, and policemen, and those who speak with prophetic voices into our lives – but they are not our enemies.

Our enemies are those who purposefully and knowingly seek our ill-will. They have bitterness and hatered in their hearts against us. They do not seek our good, but only what is evil. It is these people we are to love.

Loving our enemies goes contrary to what feels right or normal. Loving our enemies is a challenging thing.

But understand what the word love means. It is the Greek verb agapao which is unconditional love. This means that we show love to them – no matter what – even if they remain our enemies for life.

Understand though, what loving our enemies does not mean. It doesn’t mean we support them in what they do, or agree with them, or even necessarily become good friends with them. Loving our enemies means that when they hate us, we love them in return. It means that the cycle of hate, the cycle of revenge, the cycle of retaliation stops with us. You can be angry at a person for what they do, and yet still love them. Jesus was upset at the people of Jerusalem for how they abused and murdered the prophets, and yet He still shed loving tears over the city. Jesus, as always, is our best example for how to live out such principles.

He never asks us to do something He has not already done Himself. As you read through the Gospels, notice how Jesus loves his enemies. Take Judas for example. Jesus wasn’t ignorant of who Judas was or what he was going to do, but Jesus loved Judas anyway. The next time you read through the Gospels, notice how Jesus interacts with Judas. He never slights Judas. Never has an unkind word for Him. It seems at times, that Judas gets better treatments and more special love from Jesus than some of the other disciples.





This is the same example we see from God. God loves His enemies. Maybe you’ll call me a heretic, but I believe that God loves Satan. He doesn’t love the things that Satan does. He doesn’t love the rebellion that Satan leads. He doesn’t love the horrible results of Satan’s actions. But I do believe that God loves Satan. The principles of Scripture lead to this conclusion. Furthermore, Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Two verses later, we are told that while were yet enemies of God, God reconciled us to Himself through the death of Jesus Christ.

And even here in Luke 6, if Jesus tells us to love our enemies, we can be sure that God loves His enemies. He never asks us to do something which He does not do Himself. If God can love someone as wicked as Satan, God can help us love our enemies also. Probably, the only way we can love our enemies is with the supernatural help of God. Loving our enemies is so foreign and backwards to the way our flesh operates, that only by divine help can we learn to develop an attitude of love for our enemies.

It must be stressed that the emphasis is on love. We will see as we dig more into Christ’s statements in the rest of this section that a strict, literal, legalistic interpretation and obedience to the text cannot always be carried out in a loving manner. Sometimes, you will be forced to choose between loving a person, and doing what Jesus says. For example, Jesus says in Luke 6:30 to give to everyone who asks you. Parents all know that sometimes it is unloving to give their children what they ask. This is the same way God treats us and the same way we should treat others. What if it is a drunkard or a drug addict asking you to give them money so they can feed their addiction? In that case, it might be unloving for you to give them money. Maybe you can buy them a meal instead. That would not be literally obeying Jesus, but it would still be loving, and would therefore be keeping the spirit of the text rather than the letter of the law. So love is the overriding principle that governs how and when the exhortations and illustrations of Christ are realistically carried out.

Alexander Maclaren writes, “The principle…is that love has no limits but itself. There may be resistance to wrong, and refusal of a request, if love prompts to these…We must live near Jesus to know when such limitations…come in, and to make sure of our motives.” We will see much more of this as we work our way through Christ’s sermon. He turns now from the guiding principle of loving our enemies to three exhortations on how to do this.

A. Three Exhortations on How to Love your Enemies (Luke 6:27-28)

The intriguing thing about these three exhortations is that they work both ways. They both help us develop an attitude of love for our enemies, and as we do them, they reveal an attitude of love for our enemies. Let me put it another way. You have all heard that if you’re feeling depressed, one way to cheer yourself up is to smile. The outward and physical act of smiling somehow causes an inner attitude change from depression to joy. I don’t know how it works, but it does. Sometimes we smile because we are happy, but other times, we smile in order to become happy.

Similarly, think of a Biblical principle for a loving marriage relationship. How often have we heard from couples who are getting a divorce that “they just don’t love each other any more”? What they mean is that they don’t have the feelings of love for each other any more. And what you will hear from many marriage counselors is that love isn’t a feeling, it’s a choice. And that’s true, but I’ll tell you what, it’s the feelings of love that keep a marriage exciting and keep a marriage enjoyable. The choice to love keeps a marriage together. The feelings of love keep it exciting. So although love is a choice, it is also a feeling, and I think the feelings have to be there in order for a man and wife to remain “in love” with each other.

So what are they to do if they don’t feel love anymore? The Bible teaches that if you are married and you have lost the feelings of love for your spouse, the best way to get it back is to do loving things for your spouse. The Bible calls this “doing the first works.” Sit down, and think long and hard about what you did as a couple when you were dating, and when you first got married. What dates did you go on? What enjoyable things did you do together? Then, when you have five or ten things – go do them! The action of doing loving things will eventually produce a feeling of love.

Most people say, “Well, I can’t do loving things for them, because I don’t feel love.” No, when you have fallen out of love, it works the other way. You do loving things for them, in order to fall back into love and feel love again. Feelings of love are vitally important in any marriage, but unless the actions of love continue, the feelings will wane and die.

The reason I point all this is out is because Christ is about to give us three exhortations, and three actions to perform, in order to show love to our enemies. Maybe your enemy is your spouse. Or another person here in church. Or a person on your street. Or your boss at work. Whoever your enemy is, I doubt very much that you feel love toward them. But Christ is going to give us things to do for them to help generate love. We don’t do these things simply because Christ told us to, and we’re going to follow the letter of the law. No, we do them in order to develop and reveal genuine, heart-felt love for them.

1. Do Good

The first practical way to develop love and show love to our enemies is to do good to them. Christ says at the end of Luke 6:27, do good to those who hate you.

Does this mean that we are to do good to a criminal when he tries to rob or murder us? Does this mean that we are to aid those who are out to destroy us or our family? No, it does not. Although God may love Satan, He does not aid Satan. Scripture does not require us to perform acts of kindness to an enemy which will help that enemy do more harm to us or a loved one. Our mercy to our enemy must not be so far extended as to expose us to the mercy of our enemy! We will develop this in much greater detail when we look at Luke 6:28-30. But for now, let’s just consider a few practical examples of how to do good to our enemies.

Do you have a boss you can’t stand? Show up early, stay late, work extra hard. Send him a note of appreciation. Is there a neighbor who lets his dog poop in your yard and dig in your flowers? Do they come over and seem to think you have nothing better to do than shoot the breeze? Are they loud, obnoxious, degrading and insulting? Take them a plate of cookies. Listen to them while they talk. Uplift them with your words. Jesus says to do good for our enemies. Do you have an enemy? Pray and think this week about what good you can do for them.





But the question we still need to address is why? Why does Jesus want us to do good to those who hate us? This is a question of motivation. Why would we even think of helping someone who only wants to cause us harm? Some Christians do good to their enemies out of a perverted sense of retaliation. They say that when we do good for an enemy, it brings greater judgment upon that enemy. This is completely contrary to what Christ is teaching here. How could Jesus possibly be teaching us to love our enemies by doing good to them so that greater judgment would come upon them? That’s demented. That’s like thinking, “I hate you, so I’m going to love you, so that worse things happen to you.”

Some people think that way though. And they get it from Proverbs 25:21-22: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” Many people think this has something to do with making our enemies angrier at us and somehow, our kind deeds toward them will only make things worse for them. We read this idea about heaping burning coals on their head, and we assume it refers to some sort of judgment from God upon them.

But that is not what it means at all. In the Middle East, rooms were heated by a low grill or fireplace which was centered in each room. A fire was going all the time. This was where the family meals were cooked, and family members would gather for warmth whenever the weather turned cold. Every night, they would “bank” the fire and hope it lasted until morning while they slept. If they wakened one chilly morning to a cold room because the fire had gone out, they would take a metal or clay pot to a neighbor’s home and ask for a few coals to light their fire. If the neighbor was kind and had coals to spare, the borrower would carry the kettle of coals back home in the usual Middle Eastern manner – on the head. Proverbs 25:22 is teaching that when an enemy asks for coals to heat his house, give him almost all you have. Most people, when they had a good pile of coals, would only give one or two, and keep the rest for themselves – even if it was a good friend coming for coals. The writer of this proverb says to keep one or two for yourself, and give all the rest to your enemy. In this way, you will get great reward. Imagine your enemy is having company over, and is baking some bread, but ran out of ingredients. The store is closed, so they come to ask you for a cup of flower, or an egg. Most of us, if it was an enemy, would say, “Sorry, I’m all out myself” or “Well, I only have a little bit left and I need it for my own cooking.” The writer of Proverbs 25:22 says to keep one egg for yourself, or one cup of flower for yourself, and give all the rest to your enemy!

Shocking, isn’t it? Yet this is the same thing Jesus teaches in Luke 6 (cf. also Rom 12:20-21). Do good to your enemies. Not to bring more judgment upon them, but simply to show love for them. We do not do good to our enemies so that they receive worse judgment, although some people live that way.

The opposite to this extreme is the suggestion by many that if we help those who hate us then we can turn them into our friends. President Abraham Lincoln, for example, was at a reception during the Civil War, and made a passing reference to Southerners as “erring human beings. ” This was a much softer and more gracious term than his audience would have preferred, and one woman quickly chastised him for his choice of words. In her mind, thy were enemies to be destroyed, and the sooner the better. “Why, Madam,” replied Lincoln, “do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

And that is true. We do destroy our enemies when we make them our friends. But history and personal experience reveal that very rarely do enemies become our friends when we do good to them. Very rarely does doing good for someone who hates you cause them to start loving you. Sometimes doing good for an enemies will cause them to become a friend, but hating and harming an enemy never has. So it is better to do good for them, even if they continue to hate us.

We’ve seen some of this in Iraq. The Unites States has tried to win the people of Iraq over to our side through humanitarian aid. We got rid of the oppressive dictator Saddam Hussein. We’ve dumped billions of dollars into food and reconstruction. But what have we seen? A lot of the Iraqi people still hate Americans. Very rarely does doing good for an enemy turn them into a friend. Often, they just take what we give and use it against us. But that is no reason to stop doing good to them. There is always the hope that they might become our friend. But we cannot expect it. So this is not the reason we do good to our enemies either.





So if we don’t do good to our enemies to bring more judgment on their heads, and we don’t do good to them in order to turn them into our friends, why should we do good to them? We must do good to those who hate us for one reason only. It is only by showing love to our enemies, and doing good to those who hate us that we display to them the love of God. And maybe, maybe, if we show them the love of God, they will experience something they have never experienced before, and will want more of it. And they may come to us, or they may turn to the Bible because they know we are Christians and live according to it, and they will learn of God’s infinite love for them and so be converted. We show love to our enemies because that is what God has done for us when we were His enemies, and that is how we were brought into His family, and that is how, hopefully, they can be brought into the family also.

I am convinced that one of the reasons so much evangelism fails today is because people cannot see the love and grace of God in our lives and actions. Forget showing love to our enemies for the moment, most of the time, we don’t even show love to our own brothers and sisters in Christ! I am convinced that the church as a whole would be more effective in completing the Great Commissions of making disciples of all the nations, if we were more effective at carrying out the great commandment of loving God and loving one another. “We will never be successful in carrying out the great commission until we truly implement the great commandment.” We cannot evangelize the lost until we love the saints, and we cannot love our enemies until we love other Christians, but it all begins with love. Loving God, loving one another, and loving our enemies.

David Cho, pastor of the world’s largest church in Seoul, Korea – with some 750,000 members – has an interesting rule for his congregation. He tells them that they are not allowed to witness to someone until they have performed three good deeds for them. They are actually forbidden to mention the name of Jesus until they have first helped that person fix an appliance, or brought them a meal when they were sick, or helped them construct their house. Pastor Cho believes that only after three such acts will the heart be open to the gospel.

Do you have an enemy? Love them. How do you develop this love? Do good for them. As you do good for your enemies, the amazing miracle of divine love will blossom in your heart for them. You will reveal what the love of God has done for you, and what it can do for others also. You will be like Christ to them. Then, unlike the man at the beginning of this message, you will not be so focused on outliving you enemies, but on living for them. This is what Christ has done for us and what He wants us to do for others.

A man was seen one day going in a boat on a river with a large dog, which he wished to get rid of by drowning. He succeeded in throwing the animal into the water, but the dog kept trying to get back into the boat. As the man was attempting to beat the dog from the boat, he fell overboard. Witnesses say that the man would have himself drowned if the dog had not seized him by his coat and brought him to shore. When someone tries to do you harm, do them good in return. As Paul writes in Romans 12, do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good.

Verse Thoughts

Just as true wisdom is spiritually discerned so godly love is only possible in the life of a believer, who is walking in spirit and truth. Godly love is very different from the selfish, self-seeking human love of the natural man or the carnal Christian. Godly love is a love that transcends human understanding.. a love that has died to all self-centered, human motivation.Godly love is a love that allows the supernatural love of Christ to be freely manifested within a believers life.

One of the many astonishing things that Christ taught His disciples was to love their enemies and to do good to those that hated them. Jesus called them to bless those that cursed them and to pray for those who despitefully used them. He taught that they should not return evil for evil but should exhibit godly grace and divine love.. in order to reflect the beautiful characteristics of our heavenly Father – so that men might see their good deeds and glorify His holy name.

Just as true wisdom is spiritually discerned so godly love is a divine characteristic, which is only available to the child of God, who is walking in spirit and truth. Human love is influenced by emotions, whereas divine love is a matter of the will – a will that is guided by the indwelling Spirit of God and a heart that is content to say, ‘Thy will not mine be done in my

But the supernatural love of God is an incredible weapon in the Christian’s armoury. It is a spiritual weapon of war that can only be wielded by the one who is in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is only as the love of Christ is manifested within our heart.. that we are enabled to love our enemies, to do good to those that hate us, to pray for those that despitefully use us and to return nothing but kindness to those that mock us and ridicule us – hate us and kill us.

Godly love is a divine characteristic that is outside the nature and understanding of unregenerate man. Loving our enemies and doing good to those that are unkind to us and spitefully use us can never be achieved in our own strength or self-effort. Godly love is not something that we can learn through education or develop through a training programme. The divine love of God flows from an attitude of heart that places Christ in the centre of every aspect of their life.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/luke-6-27

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/luke-6-27