For The Day Of Christ’s Return

VERSE OF THE DAY

Philippians 1:9-10 (New Living Translation)

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

I pray that your love will be abundantly given more and that you will continue to prosper and grow in faith knowledge and understanding with respect you will be made pure and blameless until the return of Christ

Philippians Chapter 1

Philippians 1 – Paul’s Love and Concern for the Philippians

A. Paul’s greeting to the Philippian Christians and his prayer for them.

1. (1-2) Address and initial greeting.

Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

a. Paul and Timothy: The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to his close friends, the Christians in Philippi, from his Roman house arrest described at the end of Acts (Acts 28:30-31) as he waited for his court appearance before Caesar (around the year A.D. 61).

b. To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi: The church in Philippi was founded by Paul some eleven years before this letter on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:11-40). This was the first church established on the continent of Europe.

c. To all: Paul addressed the letter to three groups.

· To all the saints in Christ Jesus: This means all the Christians in Philippi. All Christians are saints, but only in Christ Jesus.

· To the bishops: In a general sense, this meant those with leadership responsibilities. The ancient Greek word meant overseers and was used to describe general leadership before it came to describe a specific office recognized by some Christian traditions.

· To the deacons: Those who had recognized positions of service.

d. Grace to you and peace: Paul gave his familiar greeting of grace and peace, recognizing that these come to us only from God our Father and through the Son.

2. (3-6) Paul gives thanks for the Philippian Christians.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

a. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you: When Paul remembered what all the Philippians did for him, he was extremely thankful. He was naturally grateful to the Philippians, but more so to God who had worked such kindness through the Philippians.

i. The Philippians were extremely giving towards Paul, both when he was with them (Acts 16:15, 16:32-34) and when he was apart from them (2 Corinthians 8:1-7, 9:1-4, and 11:9).

b. Making request for you all: Paul prayed for the Philippians and he did so with joy. This was one way Paul felt he could repay the Philippians for all they did for him.

i. One might simply say that when Paul prayed for the Philippians, he became happy. It is remarkable to see that Paul’s first reference to his own feelings or frame of mind in this letter is that of joy – though he wrote from prison and a possible soon execution.

ii. “It is a glorious revelation of how life in fellowship with Christ triumphs over all adverse circumstances. The triumph, moreover, is not that of stoical indifference. It is rather the recognition of the fact that all apparently adverse conditions are made allies of the soul and ministers of victory, under the dominion of the Lord.” (Morgan)

iii. “This is Paul’s great singing letter. It was at Philippi that he had sung in prison at midnight, in the company of Silas. Now he was again in prison, this time in Rome.” (Morgan)

c. For your fellowship in the gospel: This was one reason Paul was thankful for the Philippians. The idea is that the Philippians “partnered” with Paul in his spreading of the gospel through their friendship and financial support, and they did so from the first day until now. They didn’t wait to see if Paul was a “winner” before they supported him. They got behind Paul and his ministry early.

d. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ: When Paul thought of the beginning of God’s work among the Philippians (from the first day), it was natural that he also thought of the day when that work would be complete. Paul also expressed his confidence in God’s ability to complete that work.

i. It was indeed a good work begun in the Philippians and in all believers. “The work of grace has its root in the divine goodness of the Father, it is planted by the self-denying goodness of the Son, and it is daily watered by the goodness of the Holy Sprit; it springs from good and leads to good, and so is altogether good.” (Spurgeon)

ii. Because this good work was begun, Paul was confident of its completion. God is a worker who completes His works. “Where is there an instance of God’s beginning any work and leaving it incomplete? Show me for once a world abandoned and thrown aside half formed; show me a universe cast off from the Great Potter’s wheel, with the design in outline, the clay half hardened, and the form unshapely from incompleteness.” (Spurgeon)

iii. This work in the believer will not be finally complete until the day of Jesus Christ, which in context has the idea of the second coming of Jesus and our resurrection with Him. “Holy Scripture does not regard a man as perfect when the soul is perfected, it regards his body as being a part of himself; and as the body will not rise again from the grave till the coming of the Lord Jesus, when we shall be revealed in the perfection of our manhood, even as he will be revealed, that day of the second coming is set as the day of the finished work which God hath begun.” (Spurgeon)

3. (7-8) Paul declares his affection for the Philippians.

Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

a. It is right for me to think this of you all: Paul’s thankfulness, joy, and desire to pray for the Philippians was right because they stood beside him in his trials for the gospel, and they received the same grace he did (you all are partakers with me of grace).

b. I have you in my heart: Paul was a man of towering intellect, but he was also a man of great heart, and the Philippian Christians were in his heart. He could even call God as his witness regarding his deep affection for them.

i. Adam Clarke paraphrased Paul’s idea here: “I call God to witness that I have the strongest affection for you, and that I love you with that same kind of tender concern with which Christ loved the world when he gave himself for it.”

4. (9-11) Paul’s prayer for the Philippians.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

a. This I pray, that your love may abound still more and more: The Philippians had a lot of love, and they showed it to Paul. Yet Paul didn’t hesitate to pray that their love would abound still more and more. It doesn’t matter how much love for others we have; we can still have more!

i. “That it may be like a river, perpetually fed with rain and fresh streams so that it continues to swell and increase until it fills all its banks, and floods the adjacent plains.” (Clarke)

b. That your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment: Yet, the love Paul wanted to abound in the Philippians was not “blind love.” It was love that had knowledge and all discernment; it was love that could approve the things that are excellent.

i. Paul knew the danger of an undiscerning love. He rebuked the Corinthian church that seemed to glory in their “love” and “openness” which lacked any sense of knowledge and discernment (1 Corinthians 5:1-7).

c. That you may be sincere and without offense: When we approve and receive the things that are excellent, we become sincere (speaking of inner righteousness) and without offense (speaking of outer righteousness that can be seen). Till the day of Christ means that these things become increasingly evident in our life until Jesus comes.

i. Being sincere is important, but alone it is not enough. Notorious sinners in the days of Jesus such as tax collectors were sincere, yet they still needed to repent. As well, being without offense before others is important, but alone it is not enough. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were without offense in the opinion of many. We want God to make us both sincere and without offense.

d. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness: The work of becoming sincere and without offense is really God’s work within us. It happens as we are filled with the fruits of righteousness.

i. Bearing fruit is always the result of abiding in Jesus (John 15:4-6). As we abide in Him, we receive the life and nutrients we need to naturally bear fruit to the glory and praise of God.

ii. “Every genuine follower of God has his glory in view by all that he does, says, or intends. He loves to glorify God, and he glorifies him by showing forth in his conversion the glorious working of the glorious power of the Lord.” (Clarke)

B. Paul explains his present circumstances.

1. (12-14) Paul’s imprisonment has not hindered the gospel in any way.

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

a. The things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel: Paul here answered a concern of the Philippians. He wanted them to know that God’s blessing and power were still with him, even though he was in prison. He was not out of the will of God, and God’s work still continued.

i. When Paul was with the Philippians, there were amazing examples of the sovereign power of God, culminating in a divine jail-break and their vindication before civil magistrates (Acts 16:11-40). We are not surprised that the Philippians wondered where the power of God was in Paul’s present imprisonment.

ii. We also know that all this turned out for the furtherance of the gospel because during this time he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.

iii. God didn’t waste Paul’s time during the Roman imprisonment. God never wastes our time, though we may waste it by not sensing God’s purpose for our lives at the moment.

b. The furtherance of the gospel: Paul doesn’t mention if he was being advanced, because he didn’t care about that and he assumed that the Philippians didn’t care either. Their common passion was the furtherance of the gospel, and the gospel continued to advance.

c. It has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ: The circumstances around Paul’s imprisonment and his manner in the midst of it made it clear to all observers that he was not just another prisoner, but that he was an emissary of Jesus Christ. This witness led to the conversion of many, even some of the palace guard.

i. From this we see that Paul could minister effectively and bring glory to God in less than ideal circumstances. He didn’t need everything to be easy and set in order to be fruitful.

d. Having become confident by my chains: Paul’s imprisonment gave the Christians around him – who were not imprisoned – greater confidence and boldness.

· They saw that Paul had joy in the midst of such a trial.

· They saw that God would take care of Paul in such circumstances.

· They saw that God could still use Paul even when he was imprisoned.

2. (15-18) Paul considers the motives of others in their preaching.

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.

a. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife: Paul knew that some preached because they wanted to “surpass” Paul in ministry and to promote their own name and place above Paul’s.

i. These people were glad Paul was imprisoned because they felt this gave them a competitive edge over him in what they considered to be the contest of preaching the gospel. They were motivated – at least in part – by a competitive spirit, which too often is common among preachers.

ii. Paul wasn’t so critical or cynical to believe that every other preacher had bad motives. He knew that some also preached from good will.

b. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition: Those preaching the gospel out of wrong motives are infected with selfish ambition, which makes them serve, but not sincerely.

i. Ambition isn’t necessarily bad; there is nothing wrong in wanting to be the best we can be for God. But selfish ambition is most concerned about a successful image, instead of striving for true success before God.

c. Supposing to add affliction to my chains: Those who preached Christ from the wrong motive supposed to add affliction to Paul’s chains. Their competitive hearts didn’t only want to win for themselves; they also wanted Paul to lose.

i. They wanted Paul to admit the humiliation of having to admit that others were more effective in ministry than he was. They didn’t understand that Paul honestly didn’t care about this, because he did not have a competitive spirit in ministry.

ii. A.W. Tozer wrote this powerful piece rebuking the attitude of competition that is common among those in the ministry: “Dear Lord, I refuse henceforth to compete with any of Thy servants. They have congregations larger than mine. So be it. I rejoice in their success. They have greater gifts. Very well. That is not in their power nor in mine. I am humbly grateful for their greater gifts and my smaller ones. I only pray that I may use to Thy glory such modest gifts as I possess. I will not compare myself with any, nor try to build up my self-esteem by noting where I may excel one or another in Thy holy work. I herewith make a blanket disavowal of all intrinsic worth. I am but an unprofitable servant. I gladly go to the foot of the cross and own myself the least of Thy people. If I err in my self- judgment and actually underestimate myself I do not want to know it. I purpose to pray for others and to rejoice in their prosperity as if it were my own. And indeed it is my own if it is Thine own, for what is Thine is mine, and while one plants and another waters it is Thou alone that giveth the increase.” (from The Price of Neglect, 104-105)

d. Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice: So, people preached the gospel more energetically, motivated by Paul’s imprisonment. Some were motivated in a good way and some were motivated in a bad way; yet nonetheless, they were motivated – and Paul could rejoice in that.

i. Remember that Paul’s concern here was not with the content of the gospel being preached, only with the motives of those who preached. Paul objected if he thought a false or distorted gospel was preached, even if from the best of motives (Galatians 1:6-9).

ii. Paul’s attitude went like this: “If you preach the true gospel, I don’t care what your motives are. If your motives are bad, God will deal with you – but at least the gospel is preached. But if you preach a false gospel, I don’t care how good your motives are. You are dangerous and must stop preaching your false gospel, and good motives don’t excuse your false message.”

iii. If Paul’s imprisonment could not hinder the gospel, neither could the wrong motives of some. God’s work was still getting done, and that was cause for rejoicing.

3. (19-20) Paul’s confidence in his present circumstances.

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

a. I know that this will turn out for my deliverance: Paul knew that the Lord was in control of all events, even though his imprisonment and impending trial before Caesar Nero made the situation look pretty dark.

b. Through your prayer: Paul was so confident because he knew that the Philippians prayed for him. His deliverance in the present situation was connected to the prayer of the Philippians.

i. We can hypothetically say that if the Philippians didn’t pray for Paul, then God’s deliverance for Paul would be hindered. It certainly seems that Paul thought this way, and it shows what a serious matter prayer is.

c. Through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ: However, it was not the prayer of the Philippians in and of itself that would meet Paul’s need. It was the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that came to Paul through the prayer of the Philippians. Paul’s needs were met by the Spirit of God, but this provision to Paul was brought about by the prayers of the Philippians.

d. My earnest expectation and hope: These are words of faith. Paul mightily trusted God here, and Paul first trusted God that in nothing I shall be ashamed. He believed that God would not cause him to be ashamed or that God would not turn against him in the matter.

i. Though he was in prison and awaiting trial before Caesar, Paul had the confidence that he was in the center of God’s will. He knew God was not punishing him through the adversity he experienced at the time.

e. Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death: Paul also had this trust, and admitted to the Philippians that he might not be released from this present imprisonment, but it might instead result in his martyrdom.

i. Paul lived his life not to preserve and promote himself, but to glorify Jesus Christ. If Jesus should one day decide that Paul could best glorify Him through laying down his life, then Paul would be well pleased by the opportunity.

ii. Even so, this must have hit hard on the Philippians who saw God do so many remarkable miracles of deliverance in Paul’s life among them in Philippi (Acts 16:11-40). It would have been easy for the Philippians to associate God’s glory only with being delivered from one’s problems, not in being delivered in the midst of one’s problems.

iii. It is easy for us to dictate to God how He can and cannot glorify Himself in our lives. Paul wisely left all that up to God.

4. (21-26) Paul’s lack of fear regarding death and how it affected his outlook on ministry.

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

a. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain: Paul knew that death was not a defeat to the Christian. It is merely a graduation to glory, a net gain for the Christian.

i. Paul’s death at the time would be a gain in two senses.

· First, his death for the cause of Christ would glorify Jesus, and that was gain.

· Second, to be in the immediate presence of the Lord was gain for Paul.

ii. The idea that Paul could consider death a present gain argues against the idea of “soul sleep.” This false teaching says that the believing dead are held in some sort of suspended animation until the resurrection occurs. His understanding that his death might be considered gain also argues against the idea of “purgatory” which says that the believing dead must be purified through suffering before coming into the presence of God.

iii. This also obviously showed that Paul did not fear death. Though some men may fear dying, no Christian should fear death. “When men fear death it is not certain that they are wicked, but it is quite certain that if they have faith it is in a very weak and sickly condition.” (Spurgeon)

b. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor: Paul was confident that God intended him to be fruitful. There was no doubt in Paul’s mind that this was God’s plan for him. If Paul lived, it would be a fruitful life.

i. In sad contrast, many Christians have not yet come to the place where it is a certainty that they will bear fruit for the kingdom of God with their life.

c. For I am hard pressed between the two: Knowing that his death could be a gain – both for the gospel and for him personally – Paul was torn between being with the Lord or continuing to minister to the Philippians and others.

d. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ: It is strong to say, but one must say that Paul, in some way, wanted to die. In fact, desire describes a strong longing: “He said he had a desire to depart, and the desire was a strong one. The Greek word has much force in it. He panteth, he longeth to be gone.” (Spurgeon)

i. Other men have also wanted to die.

· Some men have wished to die, gripped by the gloom and darkness that leads to suicide.

· Some have been so tired of this world and the cruelty of others that they thought death was better.

· Some have wanted to die in the crisis of some kind of suffering.

ii. Paul’s desire to depart had nothing in common with these attitudes among men. Paul probably had many motivations to depart.

· Going to heaven meant he would finally be done with sin and temptation.

· Going to heaven meant that he would see those brothers and sisters who had gone to heaven before him.

· Most of all, going to heaven meant being with Christ in a closer and better way than ever before.

iii. Having a desire to depart: “It appears to be a metaphor taken from the commander of a vessel, in a foreign port, who feels a strong desire, to set sail, and get to his own country and family; but this desire is counterbalanced by a conviction that the general interests of the voyage may be best answered by his longer stay in the port where his vessel now rides; for he is not in dock, he is not aground, but rides at anchor in the port, and may any hour weigh and be gone.” (Clarke)

iv. Paul knew that if he did depart, the journey would not be long. “The sail is spread; the soul is launched upon the deep. How long will be its voyage? How many wearying winds must beat upon the sail ere it shall be reefed in the port of peace? How often shall that soul be tossed upon the waves before it comes to the sea that knows no storm. Oh tell it, tell it everywhere; yon ship that has just departed is already at its haven. It did but spread its sail and it was there.” (Spurgeon)

e. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you: Paul understood that others still needed him; that his work was not yet done. So while allowing for the possibility of his martyrdom, he told the Philippians that he expects to be spared at this time (I know that I shall remain and continue with you).

i. Paul was confident and full of faith, yet seems short of absolute certainty. His lack of absolute certainty is a comfort to us. Even the great apostle did not have a prophet’s certainty about the future.

ii. As it happened, Paul survived this imprisonment, was set free, and was martyred later at Rome. He did come to visit the Philippians again.

f. That your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again: Paul’s friendship with the Philippians was so close that he knew that they would be rejoicing to see him again.

C. How the Philippians should act in Paul’s absence.

1. (27) Paul wanted the Philippians to work together for the cause of the gospel.

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,

a. Only let your conduct: The ancient Greek word translated “conduct” means literally, “to live as a citizen.” Paul told the Philippians to be good, patriotic citizens of the kingdom of God. This is a theme he will draw on again in Philippians.

b. I may hear of your affairs: Paul wanted the Philippians to know they were accountable before him. He would check up on them.

c. That you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind: Paul wanted to know that the Philippian church stayed together as one body, without becoming fragmented and fractionalized.

d. Striving together for the faith of the gospel: Paul wanted their unity to be put to a productive purpose, so that an increasing trust and belief in the good news of Jesus Christ would be promoted among those who already believed and among those who had yet to believe.

2. (28) Paul wants the Philippians to be bold before their adversaries.

And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

a. And not in any way terrified by your adversaries: In the ancient Greek language, terrified “is a vivid term, unique in the Greek Bible and denoting the uncontrollable stampede of startled horses.” (Martin) In the face of this kind of opposition, Paul wanted the Philippian Christians to have the same kind of boldness he had.

b. Which is to them a proof of perdition: When Christians are not in any way terrified by [their] adversaries, that in itself is proof of perdition – meaning destruction – to their adversaries.

i. Perdition (the ancient Greek word apolia) means destruction, wasting, or damnation. The word is also used in places like Philippians 3:19 and 2 Peter 2:1. Both Judas (John 17:12) and the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3) are called the son of perdition.

ii. When Christians stand strong against intimidation against the world, the flesh and the devil, it shows those spiritual enemies that their ultimate destruction is certain.

iii. When our spiritual enemies fail to make us afraid, they have failed completely because they really have no other weapon than fear and intimidation.

iv. When we fail to be not in any way terrified by our adversaries, we give “hope” and “confidence” to our spiritual enemies, even though it is a false hope and confidence because their destruction is still assured.

c. But to you of salvation: When Christians are not in any way terrified by [their] adversaries, it is also evidence of their own salvation. In the Lord, we can surprise ourselves with our boldness.

3. (29-30) Why the Philippians need not be terrified by their adversaries: the attacks and challenges they face are ordained by God.

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

a. For to you it has been granted: It was granted to the Philippians to believe in Him. In the same way this belief was granted to them, so also was the privilege to suffer for His sake.

i. The Philippians didn’t need to fear that their present trial (and Paul’s present trial) meant that God abandoned them. Their present difficulty was granted to them, not as a punishment, but as a tool in God’s hand.

b. But also to suffer for His sake: The ancient Greek word for suffer here is pasko. This word is used primarily in the sense of persecution. However, it is also used of physical sufferings not related to persecution (Acts 28:5, and Matthew 17:15), of suffering under temptation (Hebrews 2:18) and hardships in a general sense (1 Corinthians 12:26, and Galatians 3:4).

i. “Everyone cannot be trusted with suffering. All could not stand the fiery ordeal. They would speak rashly and complainingly. So the Master has to select with careful scrutiny the branches which can stand the knife.” (Meyer)

ii. “Look up and take each throb of pain, each hour of agony, as a gift. Dare to thank Him for it. Look inside the envelope of pain for the message it enfolds. It is a rough packing-case, but there is treasure in it.” (Meyer)

c. Having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me: The Philippians had the same kind of conflict Paul had among them in Philippi and the same kind that Paul faced in Rome. The conflict of the Philippians concerned the difficulty of walking right with the Lord and proclaiming the gospel when persecuted and under attack.

i. Conflict is the ancient Greek word agon, which described a place where athletic contests were held and later came to refer to the contest itself. We get our words agony and agonize from this ancient Greek word.

ii. If the Philippians had Paul’s kind of conflict, they could also have Paul’s kind of joy and fruit in the midst of it.

Categories: New Testament Paul’s Letters

Enduring Word

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What Does Philippians 1:9 Mean? ►

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

Philippians 1:9(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

Paul’s love for the body of Christ was a deep love that reflected the love he had for His Saviour and Lord. He grieved when they were slow of heart to learn, reprimanded them when they fell into sin, corrected them when they were lured into error, rejoiced with them as they grew in grace, and instructed them so they would become increasingly mature in the faith.

Paul’s great desire for the saints at Philippi was that they become rooted and grounded in the Word of truth, so that their love for God and their love for one another would continue to grow and multiply. His prayer for these brothers and sisters in Christ was that they would increase in knowledge and all discernment, as they became increasingly conformed into the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus. “And this I pray,” he wrote in the opening section of his epistle, “I pray that your love may abound still more and more, in real knowledge and in all discernment.”

The love of God is as unfathomable as it is eternal, and yet the Lord Jesus commanded us to love as He loved, and Paul prayed that love would overflow in our hearts. His difficult trials and the chains of tribulation that constrained him did not cause Paul to become bitter in his attitude towards God. Rather, he recognised that in all things, God, in His gracious-love and tender-mercy, was using them for good.

God’s love is everlasting and indestructible. His love is infinite and without measure, and however much love has been poured into our hearts from above, there is always more room for His over-abounding love. His love flows from His well-spring of life and is a never-ending source and supply of all that is needed for life and godliness.

But it was not simply an abundance of love for which Paul prayed, but that their love would abound more and more in real knowledge and discernment. He prayed that the love in their hearts would be endowed with godly wisdom, and a knowledge of the holy that is able to approve things that are excellent, so that they may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.

And so Paul was enabled to pen godly insights and instructions as to the true meaning of abounding love. Paul knew that godly wisdom and spiritual understanding have their root in the love of God and his prayer is as much for us today as it was for the Christians at Philippi. Indeed, this should also be our continuous prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ – that our love increases and abounds, as we worship our heavenly King, grow in grace, and develop a more intimate knowledge of God.

O worship the King, all glorious above. O gratefully sing His wonderful love. Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise.

O measureless might, ineffable love, while angels delight to worship above. Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of prayer and for placing me in Your family as Your child. How blessed I am to be a member of the body of Christ, and I thank You for the example that Paul the apostle set, as he lifted up the body of Christ in prayer. I pray also for my brothers and sisters in Christ, that their love may increase and multiply and that they too grow in grace and in a knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In His name I pray, AMEN.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/philippians-1-9

What does Philippians 1:9 mean?

Paul mentions love again in this letter several times (Philippians 1:16; 2:1, 2; 4:1). The “love” credited to the Philippian church is not simply a feeling of affection. It is an active, lived-out love. Paul uses the Greek word agape, meaning a selfless, sacrificial concern for the benefit of others. Based on their reputation, the love of the Philippian church was already strong. Paul prays for it to grow even more.

However, Paul is not merely concerned with love. Even though it’s a critical characteristic, it’s not the only important aspect of the Christian life. He specifically prays for two other qualities: knowledge and discernment. True, biblical love requires knowledge. We grow in love when we learn more about God’s love for us, and about how to love others. In addition, love includes discernment. Discernment helps us love better by allowing us to focus on God’s kind of love. His love is unconditional, rather than human love, which typically focuses on ourselves.

Context Summary

Philippians 1:3–11 is Paul’s expression of thanks and gratitude for the believers of Philippi. Not only have they been generous in their support of Paul, they have been faithful even when he was imprisoned. Paul claims to thank God for these Christians in all of his prayers. At the same time, Paul has high hopes that the church of Philippi will continue to mature and strengthen their relationship with Christ.

Chapter Summary

In chapter 1, Paul thanks the Philippian believers for supporting his ministry. Even when Paul was jailed, or persecuted, they had been generous and loyal. Paul encourages these Christians by explaining that all of his suffering has been for a good cause. Even better, these attempts to persecute Paul have actually caused the gospel to spread. For this, Paul is grateful. He fully expects to be released, and to see the believers of Philippi again

Love Is Not Boastful Or Self Righteous

Have you ever seen one of those cars with the extra loud muffler and thought my lord your a reckless show off driver people want to be center of attention well God knew them all as well as he says in the word for it is written in the Bible that men will become self righteous in the end times

1. 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

2.
2 Timothy 3:2
For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

In Corinthians it speaks of self center and self seeking

How do you read Corinthians 13 4 7?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

“Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude, It does not insist on its own way, It is not irritable or resentful, It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:4–7

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 is one of the most famous passages, maybe in all the Bible, certainly in First Corinthians. This description of love, of Christ-like love, and it is famous for a reason. It’s beautiful. This portrait of love is majestic, and the more you meditate on it, the more you just kind of read it and soak it in, the more beautiful it becomes. I just want to pray for these things for us, just to lead us to pray for this kind of love.

Let’s pray that the depiction of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 will mark each of our lives.

A kind of love that comes from God that is so different from even some of the misconceptions we might have about love in this world. So let’s pray for love according to God’s word in our lives, in our relationships, in the church, in the way we love the lost, those who are not in Christ around us. God, we pray for your love to be evident in us, to be a reality in us.

We want to experience a life that is saturated with your love, with love that is patient. God, make us patient, we pray. Let all of us be patient today, let all of us to be kind. We pray for kind love in our lives. May the fragrance of kindness be evident to all around us today, we pray. We pray that you would keep us, guard us from envy or boasting. God, we pray for humility.

Humble Love

We pray for humble love that is not looking to advance ourselves, but that is looking for the good of others; that is not looking to exalt our own name, but is looking to exalt your name. God, we pray that you would keep us from all envy, make us content, and keep us from all boasting. Make us humble, we pray. We know that love is not arrogant or rude. God, may we not be arrogant. May we not be rude. God, please, please, please deliver us from all pride.

Save us from ourselves, God, we pray for an end to pride in us, and God, may we not be rude in any way. In the words we say and our demeanor, and our actions, even in our thoughts, our desires. God, if they were uncovered, may they not be seen as rude. God, we pray that we would not insist our own way. They would yield to others, they would live for your way.

God, we pray that you would keep us from being irritable or resentful.

God, please, please make us as we’ve already prayed, patient and forgiving, and gracious and merciful in this way. Help us not to rejoice at wrongdoing. God, help us to rejoice with the truth. God, when we see someone has failed in this way or that way, help us not to rejoice at that, or when we see sin in this way or that way, help us not to rejoice that. And God, please help us to rejoice with truth, that which is good and right and holy.

We pray, God, that you would help us to bear all things, to believe your word, to hope in your word; what you have said, to hold fast and hope to you and to endure as a result. God, what a picture of love. We pray that you would bottle all that up and make it a reality in our minds, in our hearts, and our lives. We pray for love like 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, and we know that we have asked all these things according to your word. In Jesus name, Amen.

What does 1 Corinthians 13:4 mean?

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 is much loved the world over. Even unbelievers are attracted to Paul’s eloquent description of love in these verses. These words are often quoted at weddings or in romantic settings and featured prominently in artwork and merchandise. It’s important to remember that Paul is not writing inspirational poetry. Nor is he penning something meant to be a simple starry-eyed mantra. He is driving home a pointed message to the divided, often selfish Christians in Corinth: This is how God expects believers to treat each other. Lack of Christ-like love was at the heart of every one of the problems described in 1 Corinthians so far.

The “love” Paul speaks of in these verses is from the Greek term agape. This is a selfless love, distinguished from sexual desire—eros—and from brotherly love—phileo. These verses include 14 descriptors of agape, all of them verbs. Godly love, from a godly perspective, is defined by what Christians do or do not do. It is not primarily about feelings; nor is it mostly the words which describe them. Love is action: the choice to do or not do in relationships with all other Christians.

Love is patient. Love actively waits for others without resentment. This would include being patient in the face of being hurt or mistreated.

Love is kind. Beyond mere politeness, kindness involves acting for the good of others even when it does not benefit ourselves.

Love does not envy. Envy was alive and active in the Corinthian church, perhaps including the envy of the spiritual gifts and financial success of others. Love sets self aside and celebrates the successes of Christian brothers and sisters.

Love does not boast. Boasting is the work of self-promotion in obvious and subtle ways. Love quits that job and goes to work praising God and other believers, instead.

Love is not arrogant or “puffed up.” Arrogance involves confidence in oneself above all others and the expectation that everyone else should feel the same way. Love removes the obstacle of self from the purpose of serving others well.

Context Summary

First Corinthians 13:1–13 is one of the most loved and well-known passages in the Bible, but Paul places it after his teaching on the spiritual gifts for a specific reason. Some of the gifts may seem impressive, but if attempted without self-sacrificing love for others, they become meaningless, even destructive. Paul uses 14 verbs to describe what love does and does not do. Love is the foundation for Paul’s teaching in the following chapter on prophecy, tongues, and even orderly worship. While this section is often quoted in romantic settings, such as a wedding, the concept in mind is that of agape: a self-sacrificing, godly love.

Chapter Summary

Paul responds to the Corinthians’ over-emphasis on certain spiritual gifts by showing them that all gifts are worthless if not practiced through godly love. Paul provides 14 descriptors of love, all action verbs, all choices made out of a commitment to set self aside and serve others. Choosing to love each other in this way would solve many of the problems Paul has confronted in this letter. The spiritual gifts provide a glimpse of what is knowable, but when the perfect comes, we will know all. Love is the greatest of all the virtues

2 Timothy 3 – Perilous Times and Precious Truth

Video for 2 Timothy 3:

2 Timothy 3:1-15 – Perilous Times

2 Timothy 3:16-4:22 – Final Testimony

“As he lies in his cell, a prisoner of the Lord, Paul is still preoccupied with the future of the gospel. His mind dwells now on the evil of the times, now on the diffidence of Timothy. Timothy is so weak, and the opposition so strong.” (John Stott)

A. Perilous times mean that discernment matters.

1. (1) Perilous times in the last days.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

a. In the last days perilous times will come: The word translated perilous has the idea of troubles, difficulty, and stressful situations. This sort of atmosphere will mark the last days.

i. “The word was used in classical Greek both of dangerous wild animals and of the raging sea. Its only other New Testament occurrence is in the story of the two Gaderene demoniacs who were as savage and untamed as wild beasts and whom Matthew describes as ‘so fierce that no one could pass that way’ (Matthew 8:28).” (Stott)

ii. The characteristics Paul will describe speak not of bad times, but of bad people. “We should note what the hardness or danger of this time is in Paul’s view to be, not war, not famine or diseases, nor any of the other calamities or ills that befall the body, but the wicked and depraved ways of men.” (Calvin)

iii. “The description in this and in the following verses the Papists apply to the Protestants; the Protestants in turn apply it to the Papists; Schoettgen to the Jews; and others to heretics in general… but it is probable that the apostle had some particular age in view, in which there should appear some very essential corruption of Christianity.” (Clarke)

b. In the last days: This is a broad term in the New Testament, broad enough to where one could say that the last days began with the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17). The days of the Messiah mark the last days; yet the term is especially appropriate to the season immediately before the return of Jesus and the consummation of all things.

i. Though some think that any attention paid to the last days or Biblical prophecy is frivolous, we should be able to discern when the last days are; or at least when world conditions are like the Bible described they would be in the last days.

ii. “There are sanguine brethren who are looking forward to everything growing better and better and better, until, at last, this present age ripens into a millennium. They will not be able to sustain their hopes, for Scripture gives them no solid basis to rest upon… Apart from the second Advent of our Lord, the world is more likely to sink into a pandemonium than to rise into a millennium.” (Spurgeon)

iii. In Matthew 16:1-4, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day because they did not or would not understand the meaning of their times: Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3). It is possible that Jesus would have the same rebuke for some Christians today who are unaware of the last days and the soon return of Jesus Christ.

2. (2-5) A description of the human condition in the last days.

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

a. Men will be lovers of themselves: This is certainly characteristic of our present age, when men and women are encouraged to love themselves. People are told to love themselves unconditionally and that such self-love is the foundation for a healthy human personality.

i. We don’t need to be encouraged to love ourselves; we naturally have such a love. Neither should we be taught to hate ourselves, but as Paul said in Romans 12:3: For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. We must see ourselves as we really are – both the bad of what we are in the flesh and the glory of what we are in Jesus Christ.

ii. This love of self is the foundation for all the depravity that follows in Paul’s description: “But readers should note that lovers of themselves, which comes first, can be regarded as the source from which all the others that follow spring.” (Calvin)

iii. “It is no accident that the first of these qualities will be a life that is centred in self. The adjective used is philautos, which means self-loving. Love of self is the basic sin, from with all others flow. The moment a man makes his own will the centre of life, divine and human relationships are destroyed, obedience to God and charity to men both become impossible. The essence of Christianity is not the enthronement but the obliteration of self.” (Barclay)

iv. “‘Lovers of self’ aptly heads the list since it is the essence of all sin and the root from which all the other characteristics spring. The word is literally ‘self-lovers’ and points to the fact that the center of gravity of the natural man is self rather than God.” (Hiebert)

b. Men will be… lovers of money: The love of money is nothing new, but today people have the ability to pursue our love of money like never before.

i. In recent years newspapers featured a story about a woman named Brenda Blackman, who enjoyed some measure of success teaching a course titled How to Marry Money. The course attempts to show men and women how to marry rich, and costs $39 per person. In the course Blackman offered helpful hints, such as how to search through your prospective mate’s checkbooks to study their deposits and then assess their income levels. She built her student’s confidence by leading them in a chant several times through the lecture: “I want to be rich! I deserve to be rich! I am rich! I was born to be rich!” In one class, Blackman was asked by a woman if it was all right to settle for a man whose income was about $100,000 a year. “No way,” she replied. What if he was perfect in every other way? “If he was in his peak earning years and he was maxed out at $100,000 – forget it,” Blackman advised. When someone asked her about the place of love in such relationships, Blackman said that finding a mate with that much money is the hard part; learning to love that person is easy by comparison. “How could you not love someone who is doing all these wonderful things for you?” she said. Blackman was single as she taught these courses.

c. Men will be… boasters, proud, blasphemers: Boasting, pride, and blasphemy are nothing new; but today, they seem far more prominent than ever.

i. Boasting, pride, and blasphemy each act as if I am the most important person. Each of them say, “You don’t matter and God does not matter. All that matters is me.”

ii. Today boasting, pride, and blasphemy are apparent everywhere, especially among the celebrities that our cultures idolizes. Many people today become wealthy by calculated boasting, pride, and blasphemy.

d. Men will be… disobedient to parents: Since the mid 1960s there has been a frightening breakdown in the authority once assumed by a child towards their parents.

i. Several years ago a judge in Orlando Florida ruled that an 11-year-old boy had the right to seek a “divorce” from his parents so that he could be adopted by a foster family. But though there are few legal divorces from parents by children, it is far more common that young people simply disregard their parents.

ii. In the 1990s, a 13-year-old Los Angeles area graffiti vandal was quoted in the Los Angeles Times: “It’s like a family to belong to a crew. They watch your back, you watch theirs. You kick it everyday with them… You get friendship, love, supplies, everything.” He also says: “I’ll tag anything… Now I don’t care. Well, sort of. I wouldn’t like no one to write on my stuff. I do it to get known, to get up, regardless if people feel that I’m causing damage to property. I’d say the damage I’ve done is quite a bit. During the day I carry a screwdriver or a knife for protection. But at night I carry a gun. I have three guns. I hide them. My mom took a .38 from me. I’m getting it back.” When asked about once when he got caught, he said: “My parents sort of talked to me about it. Of course they told me, ‘Don’t do it again.’ But I’m not gonna listen, and they don’t have to know about it.”

e. Men will be… unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving: Ever since Adam, humankind has been marked by these things to one degree or another. Here, Paul said these things will be especially prevalent in the last days.

i. Unloving (translated without natural affection in the KJV) literally means, “without family love.” Paul said that the end times would be marked by an attitude of growing disregard of normal family love and obligation.

f. Men will be… slanderers: Men have always told hurtful lies about other men; but today, in media and in politics, slander has been elevated to both big business and big money.

i. In politics, candidates routinely and knowingly distort their opponent’s positions, just to make their competition look bad – and they don’t feel bad at all about the lying if it helps them get elected. In media, editors and news directors serve as prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner to innocents who are wrongly suspected – and usually refuse to apologize when they are proven to be wrong.

g. Men will be… without self control: The story of no self-control can be written across almost everything today – sex, drugs, alcohol, food, work. Whatever we do, we often do it out of control.

i. In the 1990s the Los Angeles Times published an article about Michelle, who was a successful writer and editor. She feared the day her husband might discover her secret stash of credit cards, her secret post office box or the other tricks she used to hide how much money she spent shopping for herself. “I make as much money as my husband… If I want a $500 suit from Ann Taylor, I deserve it and don’t want to be hassled about it. So the easiest thing to do is lie,” she explained. Last year, when her husband forced her to destroy one of her credit cards, Michelle went out and got a new one without telling him. “I do live in fear. If he discovers this new VISA, he’ll kill me.” A school teacher explained more: “Men just don’t understand that shopping is our drug of choice,” she joked, even while admitting that some months her salary goes exclusively to paying the minimum balance on her credit cards. “Walking through the door of South Coast Plaza is like walking though the gates of heaven. God made car trunks for women to hide shopping bags in.” A young professional named Mary explained: “Shopping is my recreation. It’s my way of pampering myself. When you walk into [a mall] and you see all the stores, it’s like something takes over and you get caught up in it.”

h. Men will be… brutal: Cruelty and brutality are nothing new in the world; but Paul wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the last days would be marked by a particular brutality.

i. A newspaper article in the 1990s described how an Oxnard man was accused of murdering his roommate after the two disagreed over the brand of beer the man had brought home. The accused man brought home Natural Light, and the murdered man wanted him to bring home Michelob. As he poured the Natural Light down the kitchen sink, he was stabbed to death.

ii. We like to think of ourselves as more advanced than previous generations; but surely more people have been murdered in our century than ever before; these are violent, brutal times.

i. Men will be… despisers of good: There just seem to be too many examples of this in modern society to pick out examples. For one example, there was a time when most people thought letting people live was good and killing them was generally a bad thing. Today, we live in a culture when the simple good of life is now despised and attacked, through abortion, through the glorifying of violence and murder, and through euthanasia.

i. On March 6, 1996, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared the United States Constitution gives every American the right to kill someone else. Essentially, the court said that if you think someone might want to die – even if they have never said so – you can kill them and no law can stop you. You can kill someone if you are a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, a family member, or a “significant other” to a person you think wants to die. From the Judge’s ruling: “When patients are no longer able to pursue liberty or happiness and do not wish to pursue life,” they can be killed. The Federal Judge directly tied his decision to the right to abortion on demand. The reasoning seems to be that if the state must allow us to kill humans in the womb, it must also allow them to kill them later.

j. Men will be… traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God: These characteristics are all about one thing: Self. Men are traitors because of self, they are headstrong because of self, they are haughty because of self, and they are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God because of self.

i. This attitude marks our current age. For example, think of national advertising slogans from the late 1990s:

· Nothing is taboo.

· Break all the rules.

· To know no boundaries.

· Relax: No rules here.

· Peel off inhibitions. Find your own road.

· We are all hedonists and want to do what feels good. That’s what makes us human.

· Living without boundaries.

· Just do it.

The message is the same: You make your own rules. You answer to no one. You are the one that matters. Your universe revolves around you.

ii. We don’t have to choose between pleasure and God. Serving God is the ultimate pleasure; Psalm 16:11 says, At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. But we do have to choose between the love of pleasure and the love of God. Living for God will give you many pleasures, but they only come as you love God first and refuse to love the pleasures themselves.

k. Having a form of godliness but denying its power: In our self-obsessed world, people feel very free to have a “salad bar” religion – they pick and choose what they want. They feel free to be very “spiritual,” but sense no obligation to be Biblical.

i. In the late 1990s it was reported that the Reverend John Canning delivered the eulogy after Leo and Hazel Gleese were slain, telling mourners that he had been so close to the couple that he could call them Mom and Dad. On Friday, six weeks later, Canning was led off to jail in handcuffs, charged with beating and strangling the 90-year-old couple. Police say the Gleeses were killed in their home January 2 after they discovered Canning had abused the power of attorney they gave him and was stealing their savings. “It’s the most despicable thing I’ve ever heard of,” said Phil Ramer, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent. “Of all people in the world you should be able to trust, it’s your pastor. They couldn’t do it in this case, and he wound up killing them.” The pastor was a suspect from the start because he waited a day to report he found the couple dead in their home. “When it takes somebody a day to report two dead bodies, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say who the suspect is,” Ramer said. The minister passed the time before reporting the deaths by spending a day at the beach and dining out with friends.

ii. A 63-year-old married woman wrote to Dear Abby to justify her adultery. She writes: “He’s also married. We meet once a week at a motel for three hours of heaven. My husband knows nothing about this, and neither does my lover’s wife. Sex with my husband is even better now, and it’s not as though I am denying my husband anything. I teach a class at church every week, but for some reason, I feel no guilt.”

iii. When we talk about the power of godliness, we often mean it in the sense of “power to give me what I want.” But this is exactly opposite of what Paul meant here. The power of godliness that men will despise in the last days is the power it should have to guide their lives; power in the sense of rightful authority – and many, many, today deny that God has the power to tell them what to do through His Word.

l. From such people turn away! The command to turn away from people described by the characteristics in this list is especially difficult in our present day.

i. People who do the things on this list are not only common today but they are often also our cultural heroes. The simple responsibility of Christians is to turn away not only these attitudes, but also from the people who do these things.

ii. Many think it is enough if they themselves are not like this, and give little heed to the company they keep. But if we spend time with people like this – either personally or by allowing us to entertain us – they will influence on us. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:33: Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

iii. From such turn away also means that Paul knew those marked by the spirit of the last days were present in Timothy’s own day. However, we should expect that they would be even more numerous and have increased power in the last days shortly before the return of Jesus.

iv. “This exhortation clearly implies that Paul did not consider the state of moral depravity just pictured as wholly a matter of the future. He was keenly aware that the evils about which he was forewarning were already at work.” (Hiebert)

3. (6-7) The strategy of the corrupt in the last days.

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

a. Those who creep into households: Paul knew that they dangers were in the world in his day and would be increasingly present in the last days before the return of Jesus. However, he seemed especially concerned that these would creep into households. It is one thing to have such evil present in the world; it is another thing to allow it into your home.

b. Make captives of gullible women: Those marked by the last days depravity Paul mentioned in the previous verses want to take others captive, and it can do this among the gullible, those who will believe or pay attention to most anything if it is packaged the right way.

i. One should know if they are indeed one of these captives that Paul mentioned, bound by the influence of this end times rejection of God and celebration of self. There is one effective way to know: walk away from any kind of worldly influence and see if there are chains that make your escape difficult. Take a week off from letting anything marked by the spirit of the last days into your household – and see if chains bind you back to those things.

ii. Paul singled out gullible women simply because in that day, women spent far more time at home than the men, and were far more exposed to any corruption that would infiltrate the household. “Also he speaks here of women rather than men, for they are more liable to be taken in by such impostors.” (Calvin)

c. Led away by various lusts: Obviously, the spirit of the last days finds its appeal to us by exciting various lusts within us. It appeals to the desire to be excited sexually, or romantically, or to have our desires for comfort or wealth or status satisfied.

d. Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth: The spirit of the last days has a certain intelligence about it; the high priests of the spirit of the last days know how to make things work and how to lead us away by various lusts. But for all their skill, for all of their marketing brilliance and knowledge, they never come to truth.

i. Indeed, the spirit of the last days has a problem with the idea of “true truth” altogether, because it believes that we each are the center of our own universe and we each create our own truth. According to the spirit of the last days there is no truth outside of ourselves, so we can learn and learn and learn, but we will never come to God’s eternal truth.

ii. “There are many professors of Christianity still who answer the above description. They hear, repeatedly hear, it may be, good sermons; but, as they seldom meditate on what they hear, they derive little profit from the ordinances of God. They have no more grace now than they had several years ago, though hearing all the while, and perhaps not wickedly departing from the Lord. They do not meditate, they do not think, they do not reduce what they hear to practice; therefore, even under the preaching of an apostle, they could not become wise to salvation.” (Clarke)

4. (8-9) An example of this sort of corrupt human condition: Jannes and Jambres, who resisted Moses.

Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

a. Jannes and Jambres: Though they were not named for us in the Exodus account, these two men are the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses before Pharaoh (Exodus 7:8-13, 7:19-23, 8:5-7, and 8:16-19).

b. Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses: These were able to work real miracles – not mere parlor tricks – but by the power of darkness and not the power of God. When Moses cast down his rod and it turned into a serpent, Jannes and Jambres could do the same. When he turned water into blood, they could do the same. When Moses brought forth a plague of frogs, Jannes and Jambres could do the same. Yet eventually they could not match God miracle-for-miracle, and their occult powers were shown to be inferior to God’s power.

i. The ability to do miracles by the power of darkness and the willingness to receive them as authentic will characterize the end times (Revelation 13:13-15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:9).

ii. Some of us are amazed by any spiritual power that is real, without carefully thinking that real power may have a demonic source instead of a Godly source. And even if a psychic or new age power seems to feel right, we must not be seduced by it because demonic powers can come masquerading as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:15).

c. Resisted Moses: The resistance of truth by Jannes and Jambres was shown by their ability to cooperate with demonic powers to do miracles. In the last days, men will also resist the truth.

d. They will progress no further: Even as Jannes and Jambres were eventually put to shame (though for a while they matched Moses “miracle for miracle”) and were eventually compelled to give reluctant glory to God, so also will the evil men of the last days. Even as Jannes and Jambres’ power had limits, so does Satan’s power, even in the last days – God is still in control.

i. This is the message of great hope in the midst of this great darkness – the spirit of the last days has an answer to it in Jesus Christ. The spirit of the last days is not stronger than the power of Jesus. The glorious truth is that we don’t have to be bound by the spirit of our times; we don’t have to be slaves to self and have our universe revolve around something as puny as our selves. There is hope, triumphant hope, in Jesus.

ii. “What is remarkable about this analogy, however, is not just that the Asian false teachers are likened to the Egyptian magicians but that Paul is thereby likening himself to Moses!” (Stott)

B. Faithfulness to God in difficulty and opposition.

1. (10-12) Persecution and following Jesus.

But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra— what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

a. But you: Paul has just described the kind of people that will threaten the earth in the last days and which Timothy must contend with in his own day. But you showed that Paul drew a clear dividing line between Timothy and those ruled by the spirit of the last days.

b. You have carefully followed: This is what made Timothy from the spirit of his age. He had carefully followed Paul’s doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions.

i. Carefully followed means that Paul did not merely teach Timothy these things in an academic sense; Timothy learned these things by carefully following Paul’s example. The best kind of Christianity is not only taught, it is also caught by seeing it lived out in other people.

ii. It all began with Timothy catching Paul’s doctrine. The reason Paul lived the way he lived was because he believed certain things. What we believe will determine how we live.

iii. Timothy caught Paul’s manner of life: There was just a certain way that Paul lived, and Timothy was around him enough to learn it and follow it.

iv. Timothy caught Paul’s purpose: Paul’s life had a purpose. It was not without direction. He was going somewhere, and that purpose had been established by God. Timothy saw that in Paul, he caught it, and he wanted to live his life that way.

v. Timothy caught Paul’s faith, longsuffering, and love: you could see in Paul that he had a faith not everyone had, and Timothy wanted to catch it. Paul was longsuffering – that is, patient with the little irritations of people and life in a special way, and he had a love that made him stand out. Remember all of these flowed forth from the doctrine – the truth – Paul held on to and Timothy carefully followed.

c. Perseverance, persecutions, afflictions: Timothy also caught these from Paul. We might think that the person who lives their life with the right doctrine, with the right manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, and love would be loved and accepted by everyone – but they are not.

i. In fact, some level of persecution is certain for people who carefully follow this kind of life: Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

ii. In our own day, Christians are being persecuted all over the world – in China, in the Muslim world, even in Russia, where a strong anti-missionary law was just passed. And we can face persecution in a social way today.

iii. Christians are persecuted for the same reason Jesus was persecuted: And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

d. Which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra: Paul reminded Timothy of the specific occasions of persecution which he endured.

· At Antioch, where Paul was kicked out of the city for preaching the gospel (Acts 13:50).

· At Iconium, where Paul was almost executed by stoning (Acts 14:5).

· At Lystra, where they actually did stone Paul and leave him for dead (Acts 14:19).

e. And out of them all the Lord delivered me: Paul remembered this as he sat in prison and waited for execution. He knew that God was completely able to deliver him again, or that He might not. Paul seemed at complete peace, leaving it in the Lord’s hands. Persecution was not going to stop Paul from following hard after Jesus Christ.

i. Persecution must not stop Christians today. We may not face much violent or even economic persecution in our culture; but there is a great deal of social persecution Christians must deal with. 1 Peter 4:4 describes the mind-set of many of those who socially persecute Christians: They think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. Does anyone think you are strange?

ii. If we are not willing to have others think us strange; if we are not willing to be rejected by some for the sake of Jesus Christ; if we are not willing to be an outcast before some people, then we can never be true followers of Jesus Christ.

2. (13-15) The course of evil men and the course of the godly.

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

a. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse: Evil men refers to the obvious, open enemies of Jesus; impostors refers to those who appear good and many think of as fine, but they are actually destructive forces among Jesus’ followers.

i. These two kinds of people (evil men and impostors) will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Paul gave us insight into how many people are effective deceivers among God’s people – they themselves are being deceived.

ii. Motives are important, but we can sometimes place too much importance on them. Much harm has been done by people who were sincerely deceived and who tried to do wrong things out of wonderful motives – and because others look at their wonderful hearts, they accept their dangerous deceptions. We can’t always go only by motives in others; we must measure them also by the truth.

b. But you must continue in the things which you have learned: This is the key point to this section, around which the rest of the section develops. The command itself is simple enough to understand. He told Timothy to abide – it’s the same ancient Greek verb as when John wrote, therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning (1 John 2:24).

i. It was as if Paul wrote this: “Timothy, you learned these things. Right now you firmly believe them. Now, you have to continue in the things which you have learned. The important thing is to abide in them, to continue in them, to never let them go.”

ii. But you: A.T. Robertson called this an “Emphatic contrast.” Timothy was to strongly set himself against the course that some other men took.

iii. Yet the words “But you” go back even further, marking a contrast to what came earlier in the letter.

· There are approved and disapproved workers – you must continue in the things which you have learned.

· There will be dangerous times and dangerous men in the last days – you must continue in the things which you have learned.

· There will be hardship and sometimes persecution as you follow the Lord – but you must continue in the things which you have learned.

c. You must continue in the things which you have learned: The plural suggests that the command is somewhat broader. The core is faithfulness to God’s word, but through the letter we see that this refers to a pattern of ministry.

i. This was all centered on God’s word, but “the things which you have learned” seems to be more than just Paul’s Bible studies; it was those, but also his pattern of ministry.

ii. This pattern of ministry doesn’t deal much with specifics, such as when to have Christian services, how long to have them, a schedule for what to do during service, and so on. The emphasis is on a pattern, a philosophy, and then Timothy was to implement that into his own situation.

d. You must continue in the things which you have learned: The rest of the passage – up until the fourth chapter – simply describes for us what this means, and why it was so important for Timothy to do this.

i. It is wonderful to see that God gives us reasons to continue – it isn’t just, “Well, that is what we do” or “We have always done it that way.” God is good enough to give us reasons.

e. And been assured of: This puts the idea in the past tense, as if this was something that Timothy was once assured of, but perhaps now he wasn’t so sure. Perhaps he wavered from time to time, so Paul called him back to this.

f. Knowing from whom you have learned them: Continue in the things you have learned, remembering who taught you those things. It was as if Paul wrote, “Remember, Timothy: you learned these things from me.” Paul was too humble to say his own name here, but it certainly seems that is what he meant.

i. There is some debate among manuscripts whether whom is singular or plural. I think the context pushes us towards the idea that it is singular; Paul here refers to his own influence on Timothy.

· Paul led him to Christ.

· Paul gave him ministry opportunity

· Paul taught him by both word and example.

· Paul laid hands on him in ordination.

· Paul guided and mentored him in the midst of ministry.

ii. So, Timothy was to remember who taught him these things, knowing from whom you have learned them. Paul’s idea included:

· Remember how I strongly and confidently I believe these things.

· Remember the love with which I believe these things.

· Remember the urgency with which I believe these things.

g. That from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures: Continue in the things you have learned, that you have received as a heritage. This truth didn’t begin with Timothy or even with Paul, but it is part of a long heritage that was passed on to Timothy.

i. From childhood means that it came to him through the influence of his grandmother and mother – Lois and Eunice, respectively. From his young childhood, they taught him.

ii. Timothy learned this starting in childhood. “The story of Mistress Elizabeth Wheatenhall, daughter of Mr. Anthony Wheatenhall, of Tenterden in Kent, late deceased, is very memorable. She being brought up by her aunt, the Lady Wheatenhall, before she was nine years old (not much above eight), could say all the New Testament by heart; yea, being asked where any words thereof were, she could presently name book, chapter, and verse.” (Trapp)

iii. Holy Scriptures: This use here referred to the Old Testament, because that is what Timothy would have learned from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.

iv. From childhood you have known: Timothy had known the word of God from his earliest years; yet see how strong the exhortation is from Paul that he continue in them! Nothing is assumed; the furthest thing from Paul’s mind is an attitude that says, “Well of course we are all founded on the Bible and we can assume that and move on to other things.” For Paul this was never assumed – not even with his trusted protégé Timothy.

h. From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures: It’s as if Paul said this: “Timothy, continue in what you received from me. But never forget that it didn’t start with me; it’s a heritage that was passed on to you. You came into contact with all this long before you ever knew me. You came into contact with this heritage through the Holy Scriptures.”

i. We’re happy to belong to the same church as Moody and Spurgeon, and Luther and Zwingli; the same church as Wesley and Whitefield, and Polycarp and Ignatius. We are part of them and they are part of us, because we are connected by our trust in the same Jesus, revealed to us by the same Holy Scriptures.

i. Which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus: Continue in the things you have learned, because of their great value. There is no wisdom greater than this in the world. Your wisdom about 20 other subjects means nothing if you are not wise for salvation.

i. This is something each generation must acquire for itself and then hold on to – the appreciation for the wisdom of the Bible, and a deliberate forsaking of any human wisdom that opposes or replaces what the Bible teaches.

ii. We don’t think for a moment that mere Bible knowledge saves; there are those who know the words of the Bible well yet are not wise for salvation. Yet those words mixed with faith do make one wise for salvation.

3. (16-17) Timothy must continue with confidence in the Holy Scriptures.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

a. All Scripture: This indicates more than the Hebrew Scriptures. If Paul meant the exact same thing here as what Timothy learned as a child, he might have said “Those Scriptures” referring back to verse 15, or he might have just repeated the exact phrase, “Holy Scriptures.”

i. Paul changed his wording here because he recognized that what God uniquely brought forth from the apostles and prophets in his time was also Scripture; it was also the God-breathed word of God. This included what he and others knew was emerging as the written form of the foundation of the apostles and prophets mentioned in Ephesians 2:20.

ii. This would fulfill the promise Jesus made that the Holy Spirit would speak to the apostles and lead them into all truth.

iii. There is no doubt that Paul thought this way – knowing that God was bringing forth a New Testament through the apostles and prophets of the first century.

· Paul commanded the public congregational reading of his letters, as would be done with the Hebrew Scriptures (Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:27).

· Paul called his own message the word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

· In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul combined a quotation from the Old Testament, and some words of Jesus recorded in Luke 10:7 and he called both of them “Scripture.”

iv. Paul wasn’t the only one who thought this way. 2 Peter 3:15b-16 indicates the same idea, especially when Peter included Paul’s writings under the heading, Scriptures.

v. All this reminds us that even in Apostolic times, they were well aware that God was bringing forth more Holy Scripture, just as Jesus promised, just as Paul described, just as Peter understood.

b. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God: Paul exhorted Timothy, “Continue in these things because the Bible comes from God and not man. It is a God-inspired book, breathed out from God Himself.”

i. This means something more than saying that God inspired the men who wrote it, though we believe that He did; God also inspired the very words they wrote. We notice it doesn’t say, “All Scripture writers are inspired by God,” even though that was true. Yet it doesn’t go far enough. The words they wrote were breathed by God.

ii. It isn’t that God breathed into the human authors. That is true, but not what Paul says here. He says that God breathed out of them His Holy Word.

iii. Some protest: “This statement doesn’t mean anything because it is self-referential. Anyone could write a book and say that it is inspired by God.” Of course it is self-referential. Of course the Bible says it is Holy Scripture. If it did not make that claim, critics would attack the lack of such a claim saying, “The Bible itself claims no inspiration.”

iv. Yet the difference is that the Bible’s claim to be Holy Scripture has been tested and proven through the centuries. Every generation gives rise to those who really believe they will put the last nails in the coffin that will bury the Bible – yet it never, never works. The Bible outlives and outworks and out-influences all of its critics. It is an anvil that has worn out many, many hammers.

v. And to the critic who claims, “Anyone could write a book and say that it is inspired by God” we simply say, please do. Write your book, give it every claim of inspiration, and let’s see how it compares to the Bible in any way you want to compare. We invite the smarter critics of the Bible to give us another Bible, something more inspired, something with more life-changing power. The great critic or professor or skeptic is surely smarter than a Galilean fisherman 2,000 years ago, having all the qualifications, all the culture, all the brainpower necessary. It should be easy for them to write something greater than the Bible.

vi. But of course this is impossible; there is no equal to the Bible and there never will be. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Lord stands forever. What can compare to the Bible? What is the chaff to the wheat?

· There is no book like it in its continuity and consistency.

· There is no book like it in its honesty.

· There is no book like it in its circulation.

· There is no book like it in its survival.

· There is no book like it in its influence and life-changing power.

c. By inspiration of God: One may easily argue that the Bible is a unique book, but it does not prove that God inspired it. For greater evidence, one can look to the phenomenon of fulfilled prophecy.

i. Peter wrote about how we can know the Scriptures are really from God and he spoke about his own certainty because he saw Jesus miraculously transfigured before his own eyes and he heard a voice from heaven say, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Yet, Peter said that we even have something more certain than a voice from heaven in knowing the Bible is from God: We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19).

ii. God’s ability to precisely predict future events in the Bible is His own way of building proof for the Bible right into the text. It proves that it was authored by Someone who not only can see the future, but Who can also shape the future.

iii. For example, there are at least 332 distinct Old Testament predictions regarding the Messiah which Jesus fulfilled perfectly (such as His birth in Bethlehem, His emergence from Egypt, His healing of the sick, His death on the cross, and so forth). Collectively, the combination of this evidence together is absolutely overwhelming.

iv. Professor Peter Stoner has calculated that the probability of any one man fulfilling eight of these prophesies is one in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 17th power); that many silver dollars would cover the state of Texas two feet deep. Stoner says that if you consider 48 of the prophecies, the odds become one in 10 to the 157th power.

d. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God: Remember that one may believe in the inspiration of the Bible in principle, but deny it in practice.

· We do this by imposing our own meaning on the text instead of letting it speak for itself.

· We do this by putting more of our self in the message than what God says.

· We do this by being more interested in our opinions when we preach than in explaining and proclaiming what God has said.

· We do this by lazy study and sloppy exposition.

· Instead, we honor God and His word by, as much as possible, simply letting the text explain and teach itself; to speak for itself.

i. “False doctrine cannot prevail long where the sacred Scriptures are read and studied. Error prevails only where the book of God is withheld from the people. The religion that fears the Bible is not the religion of God.” (Clarke)

ii. In 2005 the London Times reported that a new “teaching document” issued by the Roman Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland warns that Catholics should not take the Bible literally — that it’s not infallible. “We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in the booklet, The Gift of Scripture. So what sorts of things aren’t accurate? Creation, for one. Genesis, they note, has two different, and sometimes conflicting, creation stories and cannot be considered “historical.” Rather, the bishops say, it simply contains “historical traces.”

e. All Scripture: This tells us how much of the Bible is inspired by God. The great Greek scholar Dean Alford understood this as meaning, “Every part of Scripture.”

i. Some try to twist this – they try to make it say, “All Scripture that is inspired by God is profitable” and so on. In doing this, they put themselves in the place of highest authority, because they then will tell us what is inspired and what isn’t.

ii. They claim that the grammar is elastic enough in this statement to give the translation, “All Scripture that is inspired by God is profitable.” But this is dishonest to the text, and ignores a critical word present both in the English translation and the ancient Greek: the word and.

iii. The position of and in the text makes it clear that Paul is asserting two truths about Scripture: that it is both God-breathed and profitable; not that only the God-breathed parts are profitable.

iv. So we believe it forever: it is all inspired, andall profitable. Since it comes from a perfect God, it is perfect and without error in the original autographs; and what we have before us are extraordinarily good copies of what was originally written.

v. The reliability of our copies of what was originally written is a matter which can be decided by science and research, and though some errors have been made in copying the Scriptures through the centuries, today we have a New Testament where not more than one-one thousandth of the text is in question – and not one significant doctrine is in question. The numbers for the Old Testament are even more impressive.

vi. There is something else we can say about the Bible: It is true. And though the Bible is not a science text-book, when it does speak on matters of science as science (not in figures of speech or poetic hyperbole), it is true.

f. And is profitable: Paul exhorted, “Timothy, continue in these things because the Bible is profitable, and profitable in many ways.”

i. Profitable for doctrine: telling us what is true about God, man, the world we live in, and the world to come.

ii. Profitable for reproof and correction: with the authority to rebuke us and correct us. We are all under the authority of God’s word, and when the Bible exposes our doctrine or our conduct as wrong, we are wrong.

iii. Profitable for instruction in righteousness: it tells us how to live in true righteousness. There is perhaps here a hint of grace, because Paul knew what true righteousness was instead of the legalistic false righteousness that he depended on before his conversion.

iv. This all means something else very simple: We can understand the Bible. If the Bible could not be understood, there would be nothing profitable about it.

v. It is profitable when we understand it literally. But when we take the Bible literally, we also understand that it means that we take it as true according to its literary context. When the Bible speaks as poetry, it will use figures of speech that may not be literally true. One example is when David said, All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears in Psalm 6:6. Obviously, he spoke in poetic metaphor and he did not actually float his bed with tears. But when the Bible speaks as history, it is historically true, when it speaks in prophecy, it is prophetically true.

g. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work: Paul exhorted, “Timothy, continue in these things because the Bible makes you complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

i. Complete doesn’t mean that the whole Christian life is about reading the Bible, or that the only important thing in good ministry is good Bible teaching.

ii. Complete means the Bible leads me into everything I need. If I will be both a hearer and a doer of the word, I will be complete as a Christian, thoroughly equipped for every good work. This reminds us that we are not in the business of building sermon appreciation societies, but in equipping the saints for the work of ministry.

iii. So, I don’t ignore prayer, or worship, or evangelism, or good works to a needy world – because the Bible itself tells me to do such things. If I will be both a hearer and a doer of the word, I will be complete.

h. That the man of God may be complete: When we come to the Bible and let God speak to us, it changes us – it makes us complete and transforms us.

i. One way the Bible transforms us is through our understanding. Romans 12:2 says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When we let the Bible guide our thinking, our minds are renewed and transformed, so we begin to actually think like God thinks.

ii. But there is another level by which the Bible transforms us: by a spiritual work, a spiritual blessing which God works in us as we come to the Bible and let Him speak to us. This is a spiritual work that goes beyond our intellectual understanding. With great spiritual power beyond our intellect:

· The Bible gives us eternal life (1 Peter 1:23).

· The Bible spiritually cleanses us (Ephesians 5:26).

· The Bible gives us power against demonic spirits (Ephesians 6:17).

· The Bible brings spiritual power to heal our bodies (Matthew 8:16).

· The Bible brings us spiritual strength (Psalm 119:28).

· The Bible has the power to spiritually build faith in us (Romans 10:17).

iii. Because of this spiritual level on which the Word of God operates, we don’t have to understand it all to have it be effectively working in our lives. Many people get discouraged because they feel they don’t get much when they read the Bible on their own and so they give up. We must work to understand the Bible the best we can, and read it thoughtfully and carefully, but it benefits us spiritually even when we don’t understand it all intellectually.

iv. A critic once wrote a letter to a magazine saying, “Over the years, I suppose I’ve gone to church more than 1,000 times, and I can’t remember the specific content of even one sermon over those many years. What good was it to go to church 1,000 times?” The next week, someone wrote back: “Over the past many years, I have eaten more than 1,000 meals prepared by my wife. I cannot remember the specific menu of any of those meals. But they nourished me along the way, and without them, I would be a much different man!” The Bible will do its spiritual work in us, if we will let it.

v. Paul began the chapter warning Timothy about dangerous times. Some Christians are swept away by these perilous times and some others go into hiding. Neither option is right for us. We are to stand strong and stay on the Word of God.

Categories: New Testament Paul’s Letters

Enduring Word

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What does 2 Timothy 3:2 mean?

Paul begins an extensive list—some 19 traits in all—of attributes found in evil people. Both these behaviors, and those who persist in them, are to be avoided. Verse 2 includes the first eight attributes.

First, people will be selfish, rather than serving others.

Second, evil people will be obsessed with wealth. Material things are not evil in and of themselves, but the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).

Third, these people will be “proud,” meaning they are preoccupied with people noticing them and their actions. This is related to concepts such as arrogance, but puts the expectation on others. A “proud” person not only thinks highly of themselves, they expect other people to demonstrate approval.

Fourth, such people will be “arrogant.” This is from the Greek word hyperēphanoi, literally meaning “putting one’s self above others.” This term seems to refer more to one’s state of mind, while the idea of “selfishness” involves a similar problem, but in deeds.

Fifth, these evil people will be “abusive.” The Greek word used here refers to speaking slander or evil of others: blasphēmoi.

Sixth, these wicked ones would break the commandment to honor one’s parents (Exodus 20:12). This is a common thread in the lives of those who despise authority. Children who do not respect their parents typically do not respect anyone. Those who do not honor their parents, in this context, have problems beyond simple family conflict.

Seventh, they will be “ungrateful” or unthankful. This closely relates to the ideas of selfishness and arrogance; those who are ungrateful typically feel entitled to certain things—rather than being thankful when they receive, they are angry when they do not.

Eighth, these depraved people will be “unholy,” not truly desiring to live according to God’s truth. God is described in the Bible as “holy,” which means “set apart” (Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 6:3). In contrast, these evil people are unholy, immersed in the fallen world. This echoes an illustration Paul used in 2 Timothy 2:20–21.

Context Summary

Second Timothy 3:1–9 is Paul’s extensive list of godless traits, which will characterize false teachers and unbelievers. In verses 2 through 5, Paul will list nineteen separate qualities which are to be condemned. Among these are selfishness, arrogance, slander, hedonism, and denial of the truth of God. According to Paul, despite the apparent success of these false teachers, they will eventually be seen for what they are, and punished. Timothy, like other believers, should steer clear of such people.

Chapter Summary

Paul introduces himself, then recaps Timothy’s path to becoming a minister. He reminds Timothy of how his family brought him up in the faith, and then how Timothy served faithfully with Paul in the past. Paul then focuses on two primary ideas. First, that Timothy’s background in the faith should give him the courage to stand fast against hard times. Second, that Timothy should use that courage to defend the truth of the gospel message. Paul will use these points and examples as the foundation for the rest of his letter

Do Good With God

VERSE OF THE DAY

John 3:20-21 (New Living Translation)

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All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

All who do evil despise the light and Go against God refusing to go near and close for they fear exposure of their sins. But those who do right in God come to the light so they can show that they are doing right in Gods eyes. God sees all sin’s weather we are good or evil he knows all regardless.

What Jesus Did! ‘Doing What God Wants’ — John 3:20-21

Sunday, February 20, 2022

[Concluding his talk with Nicodemus, Jesus said,] “All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

— John 3:20-21 NLT

Key Thought

A life dedicated to God comes to his light. A person living this kind of life doesn’t fear judgment or rejection or truth. Any tendency and temptation toward sinfulness — whether it is falsehood, dishonesty, greed, sexual sin, or … — can be overcome through God’s grace when those seeking righteousness come to the light. So the question you and I face each day is very simple: Do I gladly come to the light to let God show me his grace in ways that allow me to see my sinfulness, shallowness, and selfishness and to be transformed? My desire to open my life to the light of God’s truth and holiness reveals my desire to do what is right. My reluctance reveals how the power of sin has come into my life and my heart.

Today’s Prayer

Almighty Father, God of holiness and grace, search me and try me and convict me of my sin. I want to be holy and blameless, not just by your gift of grace, but also through the sanctifying power of your Spirit at work to transform me to be more and more like Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

What Is Real Faith?

by David C. Pack

Why are most people trapped by fears and worries? Because they lack faith! But what is faith? Is it positive thinking? A feeling? One’s church affiliation? The belief that Jesus died for your sins? Confidence? Hope? Or is it something far more? Why do millions misunderstand this subject? Here is the Bible answer!

The Bible states that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6). This is an incredible statement—yet, it is in the Bible! Take it for exactly what it says. Just think! Anything a person does, in attempting to be Christian, means absolutely nothing, if he lacks faith. For without faith, he has no hope—no possibility of pleasing God. Any who are not pleasing God are Christians in vain. That is serious! Consider yourself. Do you have real faith? Is it sufficient for salvation? Can you know? You can! This booklet will explain how.A Lack of Real FaithThrough the years, people have often asked, “Mr. Pack, I lack faith. I do not feel the presence of God or His power in my life. How can I have more faith?”What about you? Do you lack faith to know that God is with you? To overcome sin and guilt? To be healed of disease? To believe all things in His Word? Do you lack faith that “all things [will] work together for good” if you love God (Rom. 8:28)? To believe God will work out injustices you have received? To believe God will provide for you? To believe that you can endure severe trials and persecution? Or that God will deliver you from them? Do you lack faith to see the soon-coming kingdom of God more clearly and that you can be in it?The Bible says that you need not lack faith in any of these areas! You CAN develop real faith. However, the Bible says that most people, in the age preceding Christ’s Return, will not have sufficient faith to confidently claim any of these or other promises from God’s Word!Faith Found When Christ Comes?This world is in trouble. Problems are escalating everywhere on a planet cut off from God. The Return of Christ—to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6) and set up the Kingdom of God—is imminent.

When speaking of our time—the last generation before His Return—Christ asked, “When the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Think of the incredible implications of this question! Is it possible that true faith could be completely gone from earth at Christ’s Second Coming? Christ was able to look forward, into our time, and know that conditions would exist allowing this to be true—almost! (To learn more about HOW God’s Kingdom will come, read our booklet How God’s Kingdom Will Come – The Untold Story!)An article titled “Know Your Bible? Many Christians Don’t,” by reporter Wendy Griffith, discusses the issue of people’s ignorance of the Bible. Here is what she wrote:“It’s clear that many Americans—including Christians don’t know their Bible. Just look at the numbers from a recent study:More than 60 percent of Americans can’t name either half of the Ten Commandments or the four Gospels of the New Testament.Some 80 percent including ‘born again’ Christians believe that ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is a direct quote from the Bible.”What a shame! What a terrible indictment of the most blessed nation on earth. And it is the single greatest reason why so little genuine faith is to be found.But Christ said that He would build His Church and He promised that it would never be destroyed (Matt. 16:18). His Church—God’s true Church—is where people do have true faith according to the Bible definition. Therefore, the presence of God’s true people on earth will ensure that at least a few people will be found to have faith when Christ returns. (Read our free booklet Where Is God’s Church?)

Notice Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” We must establish another important point relating to the life of all true Christians. Real faith comes from the Spirit of God—it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. No one can have it—or even be a true Christian—without God’s Spirit.But what is faith? Surely God would not state that those lacking faith cannot possibly please Him—and then withhold the real definition of faith from all who seek to know it. Before examining what the Bible says about real faith, one must examine what people think it is.Various CounterfeitsThere are several common ideas about faith. If you doubt this, then merely ask a half-dozen people to explain it—to precisely define it for you. Be prepared for just as many different ideas—probably all of them wrong.I have known many people who believed that faith is an intangible “feeling” that cannot be defined. It is often thought to be personal, mysterious and unique to each person. This feeling usually has no definition, structure, or clear purpose and, inevitably, is whatever people want or need it to be. In other words, for almost every person, there is a different description and definition of faith. It is strange how many people view faith this way, yet the Bible has never said anything of the sort.Others believe that faith is some kind of “positive thinking.” It is as though as long as people take an optimistic view and remain upbeat about events and circumstances, they are demonstrating faith. The Bible nowhere describes faith with the words positive or optimistic—though these are certainly good qualities of mind.

Other views of faith are that it is hope or confidence. Neither is true! Hebrews 10:35does say that confidence is important. Notice: “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward.” While this passage reveals that confidence is vital for Christians, confidence alone is not faith. Regarding faith being hope, I Corinthians 13:13 states, “And now abides faith, hope, charity [love], these three; but the greatest of these is charity [love].” If faith and hope are the same thing, why are they listed separately? Why does God refer to them as “these three”? When mentioned with love, shouldn’t He have said, “these two”? Obviously then, faith is different from hope.Still others believe that one’s faith is the equivalent of the church denomination or affiliation they attend. This description of faith is seriously flawed and unscriptural. Notice Ephesians 4:4-5: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism…” If faith is a church denomination, and there are well over 2,000 different churches in the United States alone, then there cannot be just “one faith.” Of course, this idea would also make the apostle Paul wrong. He should have written that there are “thousands of faiths.”Bear in mind that you have just seen in your Bible that there is only one kind of faith! We will soon explore whether the Bible precisely defines that one kind of faith or leaves it up to individuals to guess its meaning.The last and perhaps most common idea is that faith is any general belief that Jesus died for your sins. As with the idea that faith is a feeling, the extent of people’s “personal” belief in the sacrifice of Christ becomes the deciding factor in how each professing Christian chooses to define it. Certainly we will see that the true definition of faith does include this important belief. There is no doubt that if someone does not believe the most basic understanding that Christ died for his or her sins, this person does not have saving faith. Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God, and if someone doubts Christ died for his sins, he certainly is not pleasing God and will not be saved!Believing that Christ died for your sins is a direction—an avenue—of faith, but not what faith is!What Faith IsIt is now time for the most fundamental question in this booklet. Does the Bible give an exact definition of faith? Since it says there is one faith, does it, in fact, give one definition of that faith? Is there a place where the Bible says, “Faith is…” and a precise definition follows? If so, where is it, and whatdoes it say?Hebrews 11 has often been called the “faith” chapter. It describes many of God’s greatest servants and how their faith enabled them to perform great acts and miracles, or to endure severe trials. This long chapter is very inspiring, and all who want to have real faith should periodically read it. It contains the word faith two dozen times. Verse 2says, “For by it [faith] the elders [these Bible figures] obtained a good report.”How could they have obtained a “good report” unless they understood faith? Now for God’s definition in verse 1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Did you notice that faith involves “evidence” of things “not seen”? The marginal rendering of “substance” is “assurance.” Faith involves an ASSURANCE “of things hoped for.” But, if something is hoped for, that something has not yet been received. Therefore, where faith is involved, there is an ASSURANCE that it will be received!But how can evidence be related to something that is not seen? Do we not rather think of evidence as involving things that are seen?In a courtroom, evidence is what can be proven. It involves facts visible to a jury. In other words, evidence only involves things that can be seen or demonstrated. How then can faith involve evidence that is invisible—not seen?Faith involves evidence in the following way. Real faith, in any promise made by God, is actually the evidence. It is the belief that is the evidence. If God promises to do something, it is impossible for Him to lie (Heb. 6:18). Your evidence that He will perform it is the very unwavering faith that you hold. Do you understand this? Remember, Hebrews 11:1 said, “faith is…the evidence.” If you have true Christian faith, you do not need to search for the evidence—you already possess it!The Doctrine of FaithWe have read the biblical definition of faith, but faith is also a doctrine. Notice: “The principles of the doctrine of Christ…of faith toward God…” (Heb. 6:1). Faith is always exercised toward God, but it is Christ who makes this possible.Faith is something Christ teaches—this is why the Bible calls it “the doctrine of Christ.” By now, you realize that faith is important for all Christians to understand. You need not be confused about it, though people around you may be. We must eliminate the misunderstanding and deception about faith.Perhaps when Christ returns, He will find real faith in you!For every doctrine of God, there are endless ideas that people conjure up about it. The Bible explains what God says and thinks about His doctrines. If a doctrine comes from and belongs to God, we ought to examine what HE says about it. You should never be concerned with the opinions of people. The balance of this booklet will explain the Bible’s true teaching about the doctrine of faith toward God. Prepare to be surprised!Not the Five SensesAlmost everyone believes that faith involves feelings. But physical feelings merely come from the human senses and have nothing whatsoever to do with what God promises—or faith!Human beings accept knowledge that they have received through the five senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. These senses all involve physicalinformation—physical knowledge. The mind receives and processes this information in order to draw conclusions about circumstances, things and events taking place around it. Faith is spiritual, not physical. It is a confident assurance, which comes from the Spirit of God in the mind of a converted human being.So many today lack the strength—the POWER—to believe that God will perform the promises contained in His Word. He seems far away, vague and ethereal to billions of human beings caught up in a materialistic world. The vast majority do not have time for God. There seems to be no room for prayer, Bible study, fasting and meditation. All these things draw us closer to God. Most give up trying to do them, and then wonder why they have no faith! This leaves them forced to rely solely on their five senses for guidance. Most people feel that anything derived from a source other than these is not to be trusted.No one would ever wish to lose his or her physical sight. Certainly no one would ever consider driving a car if he were blind. Now, consider the following verse: “FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, not by sight” (II Cor. 5:7). Practicing true faith means learning to disregard what you see. Literally, sight does not count in relation to what God has promised to do or when He will do it.This verse reveals that Christians do not walk by what they see!Think of this example in the following way. Just as you would never consider driving a car WITHOUT SIGHT, a Christian is not permitted to walk through life BY SIGHT! This is not a principle that people learn overnight. The very concept of this kind of spiritual understanding is foreign—COMPLETELY ALIEN—to human thinking. Unlearning the wrong idea of faith requires a lifetime of practice.Prayer, study, fasting and meditation are spiritual activities. God is Spirit and Christ explained, regarding Christians, “They that worship Him [the Father] must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Of course, people who do not KNOW the truth of all the other doctrines of God, though they may know the truth about faith, cannot possibly worship God “in truth.” They may strive to worship God “in spirit” but it is impossible to worship Him in truth if they are doing it in ignorance of many crucial Bible truths. However, for our purposes here, at least all who read this booklet will no longer be unaware of the truth about the doctrine of FAITH—and how it relates to worshipping God in spirit.Many wonder why they are never healed—or why their prayers are not answered. They wonder why they are not blessed or are not receiving deliverance from God when it is needed. They lack faith, which comes from the Spirit of God. If they had faith, they would have evidence—assurance—confidence—that they would be healed, blessed, delivered or receive answers to their prayers! They would KNOW that these things were coming, in advance of their arrival.Christ Had Real FaithWe have already seen that faith is a fruit of God’s Spirit. Obviously, Christ had tremendous faith. Filled with God’s Spirit, and possessing it from conception, Christ was the most converted Person who ever lived. It gave Him tremendous understanding of the importance of the power of God’s Spirit. This is why He said, “I can of Mine own Self do nothing” (John 5:30)! He knew that “the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works” (John 14:10).It was through the power of God’s Spirit in Him that Christ accomplished everything that He did. He understood completely that it was only the presence of the Spirit of God in Him that allowed Him to perform miracles. He perfectly exercised the fruit of faith present in Him because of the Holy Spirit. No doubt, God gave Him the additional gift of faith (I Cor. 12:1, 7-9) that He would need to endure all He was to face through His sacrifice as Savior of the world.Christ went on to say in John 14, “He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (vs. 12). All the apostles, evangelists and others (including even deacons) performed mighty miracles after Christ’s Resurrection and the start of the New Testament Church. The Bible records this. Furthermore, these greater works will be done at the time the kingdom of God is established on Earth. Through the power of real faith, ordinary people can do amazing things!But can you have the same kind of faith that Christ had—or that the apostles had? Do Christians today have a different kind of faith?The Faith OF ChristWhat kind of faith does God expect you to have? Most people think that they must “work up” faith through human effort. They see it as something from within that they can WILL themselves into possessing. This is terribly wrong and the Bible plainly says so. Do you realize that you can have the exact same faith that Christ possessed? You not only can—you MUST!Notice: “Knowing that a man is not justified…but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ” (Gal. 2:16). This is an extremely important verse. It differentiates two vital points. First, it states that “we believe[d] in Jesus Christ”—this is something we do. Second, it is the faith OF Christ—Christ’s actual faith in us—that justifies us (makes us righteous). Most people never get this understanding straight. Faith starts with human belief, but must quickly move to the real faith OF Christ, which enters a person at the moment of baptism and conversion with the receiving of God’s Holy Spirit.The Bible describes a certain temporaryhuman faith that many people have. In the New Testament, when Christ healed people, none of them were converted. Yet, He sometimes told them, “your faith has made you whole” (Matt. 9:22) or “according to your faith be it unto you” (vs. 29). These people lacked God’s Spirit but they did have a temporary human faith that allowed Christ to heal them.It is this growth FROM human faith TO the faith of Christ that Paul referred to when he said, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith [human] to faith [of Christ in us]” (Rom. 1:17). If there was not human faith and the faith of Christ in us, how else could people go “from faith to faith”? If one is in a room, that person cannot go to a different room and still be in the same room. Do you see this point? It is the same with faith. Human faith is like a small room, which true Christians must leave to enter the great room of Christ’s faith working in them.Human faith wavers continually and goes up and down according to how one feels at any given moment in time. It is much like a rollercoaster. When events seem positive or look good, human faith is up. When things look bad and the outcome of a matter appears gloomy, human faith disappears in an instant. God’s faith is permanent and does not waver. He requires that all who come to Him in prayer, with requests, do “not waver.” He considers all who waver to be unstable in everything they do, and says that they will receive nothing from Him (Jms. 1:6-8).The Bible Contains PromisesEvery time you demonstrate faith in God, it involves a specific promise. A promise can involve healing, answers to prayer, receiving blessings (Jms. 1:4-8), deliverance in a trial, guidance in a difficult decision and, most importantly, receiving salvation. In every instance, faith involves claiming a specific promise made by God. We will see the importance of searching His Word to find those promises.Consider! Paul recorded, “Above all, taking the SHIELD of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph. 6:16). Now notice: “Every word of God is pure: He is a SHIELD unto them that put their trust in Him. Add you not unto His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar” (Prov. 30:5-6).When put together, these two verses show that God, through faith, becomes a shield to all who trust in exactly what the Bible says. To doubt His Word, or to alter it in any way, is to call God a LIAR! That is serious! Understand. When God makes a promise, He keeps it. Human beings may break their promises, but God does not. If He tells you that He will do something for you, if you meet certain conditions, He will perform His promise. You have faith as an assurance that He will. So, browbeating yourself into faith is silly. It suggests that you doubt God will do His part after you have done yours. Faith is relaxed. It is calm. It is sure. Where most people might have great doubt, the person led by faith is confident that God is guiding the final outcome of matters.When you claim a promise, expect it to be carried out by God. Do not try to figure out when or how He will do it. I have learned two things about answered prayer. First, God always answers my prayers, if I seek His Will, but second, He almost never answers them in the way that I expect. This is why walking by faith cannot include sight. “Looking” for God to answer prayer a certain way or in a certain timeframe is a waste of energy. Besides, it is far more important that God answers our prayers and fulfills His promises, than HOW He does it! And He always knows the best time and way to do it anyway.Always Seek God’s WillNo promise of God can be claimed unless you have learned what the promise is. God promises some things and does not promise others. Therefore, the only way to know whether He has made a particular promise or not is to continually study His Word.In any matter, always ask yourself, “What does the Bible say?”Paul wrote, “Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). Proving involves study. Study involves effort. Then, knowledge of God’s promises brings confidence to those who pray about them. God is eager to bless people, but He cannot do this if people are ignorant of what He is willing to do. Paul also wrote, “Wherefore be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). Let’s face it. It is terribly “unwise” for people to live in ignorance of God’s promises. Why? Because they cut themselves off from so much that He is willing to do for them! Therefore, you do not have to wonder about God’s will. His Word tells you His will on every single important aspect of life. (Take a moment to read II Timothy 3:14-17.) But this is not the only condition regarding faith.Faith Has Other ConditionsAs we have seen, most people believe that the only kind of “faith” needed for salvation is to “just believe.” It is popular to recite, “if you shall confess with your mouth…and believe in your heart…you shall be saved” and “for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9, 13). But is this all there is to receiving salvation? Can it really be this easy? If so, then the Bible should be two verses long. The rest of it becomes unnecessary and can be thrown out!It is amazing how millions of people are content to accept outright twisting of the Bible in order to practice a “Christianity” of their own devising. Peter wrote, “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Pet. 1:20), and this is true of every other Bible doctrine (Isa. 28:9-10). All the scriptures pertaining to any matter must be taken together in order to have the complete picture. Seizing “pet verses,” and taking them out of context, leads to deception, confusion and outright ignorance.What about law, sin, grace, faith and works? How do these work together? Do they bring any requirements to those who practice true faith? Is faith alone sufficient for everything? Or do Christians have to obey God? Are there any works attached to salvation? Most people believe the answers to the last two questions are “no.” They want to believe that Christ “died for their sins,” and that they are saved by “faith alone” without doing anything about sin in their lives. Human nature does not want to obey God (Rom. 8:7). Yet Paul taught, “Not the HEARERS of the law are just before God, but the DOERS of the law shall be justified” (Rom. 2:13).If the law is done away, then nobody can be guilty of sin. But Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned…” How is this possible if there is no law to be kept? Several things must be carefully considered. I John 3:4 states, “sin is the transgression of the law.” All professing Christians are certainly willing to acknowledge that Christ “died for their sins,” but they continue with the assumption that, because Christ died for past sins, they no longer need to worry about future ones. This is a ridiculous argument. Yet it has effectively swallowed hundreds of millions of professing Christians for nearly 2,000 years.Now consider Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” People love to quote this verse. It is also common for people to quote Romans 3:20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight…” Few are willing to read the very next phrase in Romans, which says, “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” We could ask: What would be the purpose of having any law except for keeping it? Would its only purpose be to demonstrate that people may freely break it without worrying because Christ “died for their sins?”The purpose of the law has never been to forgive sin or bring justification. (No law could do this.) This is what the blood of Christ is for—and it is why mankind needs a Savior. The purpose of the law is to point out sin!Consider the prison systems in most countries of the world. Convicted criminals are sometimes pardoned or their sentences are commuted. Others are released from prison early through what’s called “shock probation.” Are these people pardoned and released with the idea that they can re-enter society and repeat the EXACT SAME CRIMESthat put them in prison? Of course not!The very idea is absurd. The police would simply re-arrest them and incarcerate them again—probably with a stronger sentence! How is it that Christians can believe that the judgment of the great God of the universe then somehow requires less justice with HisLaw than do physical, civil authorities with theirs? It insults God to suggest that He would give His Son for people’s spiritualcrimes (sins), only to see them continue in the very things that required Christ’s death.What pitiful human logic!To believe the deception that forgiveness, through Christ’s blood, permits people to freely break the law is hypocrisy. It not only insults God, and the intelligence of His Master Plan, it ignores the following extensive series of verses in James 2. These plain verses explain how law, sin, faith and works fit together.Consider this longer passage carefully: “What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?…Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone…I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils [demons] also believe, and tremble. But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? See you how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?…You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (vs. 14, 17-22, 24).Like the demons, many people do believeGod exists. However, most of these same people do not tremble at the existence of God—which even demons do!Remember, we must never “add to God’s Word,” because “every word of it is pure.” God says what He means and means what He says. The above verses do not teach that works save us. They do teach that faith must be accompanied by works. This is what Paul meant when he asked, “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? GOD FORBID” (Rom. 6:15).What about grace, faith and works? How do they work together? Notice again: “Shall we continue in sin [transgressing the law], that grace may abound? GOD FORBID. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1-2). The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is obvious. We cannot. Finally, notice how the Bible asks, “Do we then make void the law through faith?” It answers its own question. “GOD FORBID: yes, we ESTABLISH THE LAW” (Rom. 3:31). The ministers of this world may permit people to break God’s Law—usually because they want their congregation to pay them a salary—but GOD FORBIDS law-breaking!The devil will not obey God’s Law because he hates it. Neither will “his ministers” (II Cor. 11:13-15). They deliberately ignore these verses and many others. They deceive people who seem to willingly accept their shallow arguments—arguments that are ignorant of the PLAIN TRUTH of Scripture.Paul taught that God’s Law is holy, just, goodand spiritual (Rom. 7:12, 14). It endures forever (Psa. 111:7-8) and is perfect (Psa. 19:7). James calls the Ten Commandments “the royal law…of liberty” (Jms. 2:8-12). Christ said it will never be done away (Matt. 5:17-19). Deceiving impostors teach that Christians must focus on “just having love,” while ignoring plain scriptures like Romans 13:10, which says, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Also see I John 5:1-3.) No wonder the apostle John said that any who claim to “know Him [Christ], and keeps not the commandments, is a LIAR, and the truth is not in him” (I John 2:4).Strong words! I have known many people who claimed to know Christ but did not keep the commandments. We now see how God views them.It takes faith in Christ for the Christian to be able to keep God’s Law. Recall that Christ said that He could of His own self do “nothing,” and that the Father did the works in Him. Christ kept the Law perfectly, and a Christian “follow[s] His steps” (I Pet. 2:21).Christ Taught Law-keepingWith God’s help, you will be able to keep the commandments. Do not ever allow anyone to tell you otherwise.Jesus never taught that people should just “believe on Him” to receive salvation. When a young rich man asked Him what he must do to have “eternal life”—receive salvation—Christ told him, “If you will enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS.”Hearing this, the disciples were shocked. They did not understand how this was possible, and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Christ answered, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:17, 25-26). You cannot keep God’s Law, but CHRIST IN YOU CAN—if you have true, living faith!God gives His Spirit only to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). Obedience to God is preceded by repentance and baptism, with the Holy Spirit being given at this point, upon one’s repentance of having broken God’s Law (Acts 2:38).Christ said, “Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men” (Mark 7:7-8). Did you realize that it is possible to worship Christ in vain—that it is possible to think about Him, talk about Him and even use His name often and still do all of this IN VAIN!Notice: “Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven [“of,” not “in,” heaven]; but He that DOES the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Remember, it is the DOERS of the law that will be justified.The “Fight of Faith”Paul told Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (I Tim. 6:12). Faith is more than a battle. It is a war that all Christians wage throughout their lives! And it is not an easy war, won by victory in a single battle. It involves many battles.The apostle Jude tells all Christians, “You should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The next verse warns of “certain men” who had “crept in unawares” into the early New Testament Church, diluting it with false teachings, which destroys the Church’s foundation—that of holding to the true doctrines of the Bible. The meaning of real faith also became corrupted in the minds of many at that time. Sadly, history shows that people have always been willing to let deceivers reduce Christianity to little more than “just believing.” Do not fall for this.We have discussed how Christians must keep God’s Law, while they are at the same time justified by the faith OF Christ. The Book of Revelation records, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS of God, and the FAITH ofJESUS” (14:12).There is a reason why this verse joins patience, commandment keeping and the faith of Christ. They are inseparable. Christians are able to keep the commandments, but only through the faith of Jesus. It takes patience to do this throughout a lifetime. Yet this is exactly what true Christians—saints—must continually do.“Living by Faith”There is an Old Testament verse that is so important that it is repeated twice in the New Testament. Habakkuk 2:4 says, “the just shall live by his faith.” This is a powerful statement about faith as a WAY OF LIFE! It is the faith of each person (notice the singular word “his”) that guides individuals through life. This verse is cited to show that God has always taught that His true servants must have real faith. Faith has never been merely a New Testament requirement for salvation. Some of the greatest examples of faith are found throughout the Old Testament. Actually, every one of the examples found in the “faith chapter” (Heb. 11) lived in Old Testament times. This did not keep them from being “witnesses” (12:1) to the awesome power of properly understood faith.Hebrews 10:38 (also Rom. 1:17) repeats Habakkuk almost verbatim: “Now the just shall live by faith.” Take note that the definition of faith follows immediately on the heels of this verse, in Hebrews 11:1. Again, God could not require people to live by faith and then not tell them what it is! Then, in the very same verse 38, God continues, “but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”Where faith is lacking, God is not pleased!Faith is not merely something you only exercise during life’s moments of crisis. It is not just something to consider when “things aren’t going well.” In other words, faith is not just for the “bad times”—it is full–time! Grasp this vital point. Faith is completely inseparable from the entire spiritual understanding through which you are to confront all the issues you face in the Christian “walk” (II Cor. 5:7).All people on earth will be sorely tested in the years that lie just ahead. Make no mistake! Without real faith no one will survive the terrible calamities prophesied to occur just prior to Christ’s soon-coming Return. Operating on human steam or ingenuity will not be sufficient to survive the great crisis coming at the close of this age! Complete faith in all of God’s promises will be required—and necessary.A Personal ExampleIt will not be easy to follow and practice God’s truths and believe His promises. Almost 45 years of doing this have taught me this lesson—deeply! God will test your faith—and the devil will tempt you to abandon it. Have no doubt of this. I have also learned that God will always deliver, no matter how dark circumstances seem.I grew up in a comfortable home. Then God called me at age 17 and the real trials began. By age 23, I was married and had an infant son of less than four months old. My wife had nearly died in childbirth and had lost her milk because of it. She could not nurse our son. During this brief period, I did not have a full-time job in the ministry. I had lost my salary. I was unemployed and we were struggling with significant debt from our college years. We were living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Even the heater in our car had ceased to function and it was late November. Space does not permit me to describe all of the trials we were facing at just that one time. Our faith was being sorely tested! I will never forget one particular moment my wife and I shared. We were, quite literally, down to our last dime. There was almost no gas in the car or food in the house. Our baby was crying and we had nothing to feed him. I had a single dime in my pocket. I pulled it out and held it up to the light over our kitchen table. My wife and I determined that we would trust God to provide for us.He did!That evening (I remember it was a Thursday night), my wife was able to teach two flute lessons and was paid a total of seven dollars. She immediately bought milk for the baby. I received a job the next morning (Friday), and my boss offered to advance me a paycheck the first day I arrived. God had answered our prayers and left us with a faith-building experience that we have never forgotten. We have recalled it often, when times were difficult. We still draw strength from God’s intervention when we needed it—and numerous other similar interventions in our life!Every day of our lives has not been “sunny.” I have had to face many obstacles in my almost 45 years in the ministry. This very Work is a work of faith. God never fails to provide for our needs. The hindrance of accusers, slanderers, liars and outright enemies has, at times, been an almost daily way of life for us. God has never failed us.In the end, He always defeats evil people who seek to overthrow His purpose. He has always protected and delivered my wife and me through “thick and thin.” I am confidently assured—I have FAITH—that He will continue to do this. You can also develop confident assurance—faith—that God will always deliver you.Typically, people think of faith as something they work up or express toward God so that He will do something for them. Actually, the real case is often exactly the opposite! Many times, faith is something that God gives to a person so that he will have the strength to do something for God—usually to fulfill His overall purpose. I have seen this occur in my life over and over again.If you ask God, He will do the same for you. Sometimes you must exercise the fruit of faith, and sometimes you may need to ask for the gift of faith, in order to face the most severe trials or most difficult decisions in your life.The Bible lists nine separate fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and nine different giftsof the Spirit (I Cor. 12:1, 7-10). Faith is the only quality of spiritual character that is mentioned in both lists. It is both a fruit and a gift of the Spirit. God often chooses to grant an extra amount of faith to certain people—as a gift—because in some way it is necessary in the fulfillment of His purpose.Remember, even the very Spirit of God is given to us (Acts 2:38). The opportunity to learn to exercise the fruit of faith also starts with a gift—the faith-containing Holy Spirit. God will give you the very same faith that was once in Jesus Christ.“Where is Your Faith?”The books of Matthew and Luke record an important parallel account regarding faith. Christ and His disciples were in a boat when a tremendous storm arose. The disciples became terribly frightened, while Christ was “asleep.” This account reflects the dramatic difference between the faith that Christ had and the FEAR that governs the thinking of most human beings. Notice that the accounts records that they “awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish” (Matt. 8:25). The disciples actually thought they were about to die. They lacked even basic human confidence that, with Christ in the boat, this could not happen.Christ’s response is instructive for all alive today. He asked two separate questions—with one found in each gospel account. Let’s connect them. In Matthew, Christ asked the disciples, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (vs. 26). Now let’s review Luke’s account. Here Christ was a little more blunt with His disciples when He asked them, “Where is your faith?” (8:25). Of course, the disciples were not converted at this point. Lacking the Holy Spirit, they were not able to develop real godly faith. Apparently, however, they did not even have any temporary human faith at the time. However, Christ’s towering questions remain for ALL PEOPLE—Why are you fearful?—and where is your faith?Just as these same disciples went on to learn and practice great faith in their own lives (their writings record that they also taught its meaning to many others), so must God’s true servants today answer these questions in their own lives. This booklet now asks you: WHY ARE YOU FEARFUL? And WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?We began with Hebrews 11:6 stating, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” God wants you to learn to rely on Him—to trust Him completely in EVERYTHING! You really do not have a choice if you want to please Him. Like any human father, God does not want you to fret, worry and agonize over your needs. In numerous places throughout His Word, He promises to provide for you in all circumstances. He will always take care of you. Do not doubt! Believe God! Trust Him! Wait on Him! Expect Him to keep all of His promises—and He will! Faith is your evidence!Relaxed FaithIn his booklet What is FAITH?, Herbert W. Armstrong explained the relaxed, even serene, attitude of fully trusting God to work out any matter, including salvation:“And let us remember, FAITH is the GIFT OF GOD.“So many think that everything else that comes from God is His gift, but the FAITHrequired to receive these things is something we ourselves must somehow work up, or strain and strive for. But we have to just relax and TRUST GOD, even for the FAITH by which we receive everything else! (Eph. 2:8.)“In Revelation 14:12 is a description of the true Church…Those in this Church have the FAITH OF JESUS. Notice, the FAITH OF JESUS! It is not just our faith in HIM, but His faith—the very faith with which He performed His miracles—placed in us and acting in us.“How can you get it? Draw closer to God. Get to know God. Surrender all the way to HIM, and do His will. And then PRAY. You get to know Him in PRAYER. We are too close to the material things. Through PRAYER, much more prayer, you can come closer to GOD and the spiritual things. And what a happy, joyousexperience it is, once you have really done it!”

Building Bridges to the Kingdom

Accept One Another

VERSE OF THE DAY

Romans 15:7 (New Living Translation)

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Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

Therefore accept one another as who you are each of you as Jesus Christ has accepted you as his so honor will be God’s Glory

How do you accept one another?

Here are five strategies for learning to accept others:

1. Don’t try to control the feelings of others. …

2. Allow others to be different. …

3. Give thoughtful advice. …

4. Don’t be quick to judge. …

5. Try not to compare.

Oct 21, 2016

https://www.conovercompany.com › …

Empathy – Accept Others For Who They Are – The Conover Company

Yet Jesus also said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another” (John 13:34).Sep 26, 2020

https://romesentinel.com › stories › j…

‘Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another’ | Daily …

What does it mean to accept one another in the Bible?

In our churches and our relationships, we’ve got to make sure that people experience acceptance. We show this by including them and accepting them as they are. Accepting includes making others feel they belong. Those who confess “I belong to Jesus” know that they have been accepted by Christ.Nov 18, 2017

https://todaydevotional.com › accept…

Accepting One Another – Today Daily Devotional

What does it mean to accept someone?

1 : able or willing to accept something or someone : inclined to regard something or someone with acceptance rather than with hostility or fear —often + of I had become more accepting of death as an inevitable and natural part of life …— Nigel Farndalem.

https://www.merriam-webster.com › …

Accepting Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster

A Passage To Ponder: Romans 15:7

This week I’m preaching in a meeting at Wellandport, Ontario, Canada. Last night a lady walked out of the building, shook my hand and wistfully commented, “I wish more people could have been here to have heard that sermon.”

The building was almost full. But I believe she was commenting more on the importance of the message preached than the messenger who delivered it. Or the number who attended.

Our theme this week has been “Building Better Relationships.” Last night we discussed our relationship in the church family and talked about “Accepting One Another.”

In a section where Paul discusses various relationships in the Christian’s life he exhorts, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Rom 15:7).

The word “accept” in this text means “to receive.” “To take as one’s companion; to take by the hand and lead.” “To grant access to one’s heart; to take into friendship.”

To accept our brother and sister in Christ is not just to begrudgingly put up with them. It is not just to belong to the same church, but having nothing to do with them. It is to welcome them; to extend to them the right hand of fellowship; to extend to them the same prerogatives and privileges you would to others in the same relationship.

While we should accept everyone that belongs to God’s Family, let’s consider some that we might tend to exclude.

(1) Accept the Weak in the Faith (Rom. 14:1).

We are all in a different place in our spiritual journey. For various reasons, some are weaker than others. Paul speaks of those who believed it was wrong to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. While it was neither right or wrong, they were entrusted to be accepting of brethren whose scruples would not permit it.

Today there are a host of issues that brethren may feel differently about. Those stronger in the faith should not disparage the weak. Or be insensitive to their feelings. Or do anything to wound their conscience. Accept them.

(2) Accept Others who are different from us. (Gal. 3:26-29)

We are all one in Christ. The church is composed of people from varying racial, ethnic and social groups. There is no place for racism in the Body of Christ. Or exclusion. Or elitism.

(3) Accept Restored Christians (Gal 6:1-2)

Those who have fallen away should be restored with the attitude of meekness. And restored in the same way in the immoral of Corinth was to be received when he repented (2 Cor 2:3-8). Kindness, compassion, and comfort. Accept them

(4) Accept New Christians.

Those who have recently obeyed the gospel are just beginning their journey of faith. They have a lot to learn. Changes to make. And growing spiritually that will take time. Rejoice in their obedience. Be charitable with their mistakes. And be patient with their growth.

(5) Accept Transfers.

We live in a very mobile society. People move from one part of the country to another. Or to another country. Customs vary. Accents are different. Traditions are diverse. The specifics and order of scriptural worship are not the same everywhere. Let’s learn to accept one another regardless of the differences. And remember that we are more alike than we are different.

The text reminds us that we accept one another because Christ has accepted us. We have been welcomed into a relationship with Him. Forgiven of our sins. And made an heir of salvation. Thus, we need to accept one another.

Accepting one another is the mark of a healthy spiritual family. We all share a common faith, are joined by a common love, and sustained by a common hope. This understanding greatly aids in fostering unity in the Body of Christ.

Sometimes accepting one another is difficult and demanding, but it can be accomplished when we follow the dictates of Scripture in Romans 14 and 15.

Avoid passing judgment on a weaker brother.
Commit yourself to live for Christ.
Control your attitudes and emotions with love.
Edify everyone you can.
Privately hold to your personal convictions.
Treasure people like Jesus did.

Dissension, discord, and disunity do not glorify God. Accept one another.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

What does Romans 15:7 mean?

Paul has prayed for the unity and harmony of the church in Rome. Now he instructs them one more time to welcome each other as Christ has welcomed them. This is not merely a nice-sounding phrase to tack on the wall. Paul is commanding believers to fully accept and include other Christians in community with themselves, including those who disagree strongly about what is and is not permitted (Romans 14:1–2; 14:20–21). He is commanding them to set their Christ-won freedoms aside, if necessary, to build up the church (Romans 14:13).

Why would they do this? In the end, it is all to add to God’s glory. Put negatively, a refusal to welcome Christians who disagree with my convictions will keep me from participating in bringing glory to God. It will keep me from achieving the very purpose of my life. Acting as if my own convictions are beyond doubt—as if I were infallible or beyond reproach—makes it difficult for me to appreciate God’s holiness and majesty, let alone my own role in the body of Christ.

Context Summary

Romans 15:1–7 concludes Paul’s teaching on how Christians with strong faith, those who understand their freedom from the law, should live with those of weaker faith. All Christians must please each other and not themselves. After all, Christ didn’t come to please Himself. With God’s help and encouragement, everyone in the church can live together in harmony and glorify God with one, unified voice, as they serve each other ahead of themselves. They must welcome each other as Christ has welcomed them.

Chapter Summary

Romans 15 begins with Paul’s encouragement to those strong in faith: to please other Christians before themselves so the church can be unified. Christ came to fulfill God’s promises to Israel and about the Gentiles. Paul is satisfied with the faith and practice of the Roman Christians. His work of taking the gospel to unreached regions of Gentiles in his part of the world is completed, and he longs to come see them. First, he must deliver financial aid to Jerusalem, a trip about which he asks them to pray along with him.

Journey The Grace Of The Lord Jesus Christ

VERSE OF THE DAY

2 Corinthians 13:14 (New Living Translation)

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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

May the elegance, charm and good manners of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the teachings of the Holy Spirit remain and be with you always, one and all.

What does 2 Corinthians 13:13 mean?

Paul is closing out his long letter to the Corinthians in his usual style. With an affectionate tone, he is delivering a series of quick commands, reminders, and now greetings. He says simply, “All the saints greet you.”

The New Testament applies the word “saints” to all Christians, not just the especially holy ones. Any person who has been saved by grace through faith is a “saint” according to the New Testament. The believers Paul has in mind here are those in the region of Macedonia, where he is staying at the time of this writing. This would include the churches in the towns of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.Context Summary
Second Corinthians 13:11–14 contains Paul’s closing farewell to the Corinthians. He urges them to rejoice, to strive for restoration, and to comfort and encourage each other in like-minded unity. He assures them that the God of love and peace will be with them, reminds them to greet each other with a holy kiss, and offers greetings from believers in other churches. Finally, Paul offers a prayer of specific blessing for them from each of the three members of the Trinity.Chapter Summary
The final chapter of Paul’s letter begins with a harsh warning. Nobody living in unrepentant sin when Paul arrives will be spared Paul’s discipline. All will learn that Christ speaks through Paul—because Christ will deal powerfully with their sinfulness despite Paul’s own weakness. Paul urges them to examine themselves and verify that Christ is in them and, by extension, that he is a true apostle. He prays for their restoration and hopes they will repent of all sin before he arrives so that he will not have to be severe in the use of his authority.

What Does 2 Corinthians 13:14 Mean? ►

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:14(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

As Paul draws his second, lengthy epistle to the Corinthian Christians to a close, he reiterates his earlier exhortations to seek after unity within the Body of Christ, to be of good comfort to one another, and to remain encouraged in the truth of the glorious gospel of God.

As Paul prepares to bid these beloved believers at Corinth farewell for the last time, he entreats them towards godly conduct… beseeching them to live together in brotherly peace and to maintain godly harmony.

Paul instructs them to remain united together with one mind… before committing them into the Lord’s safe-keeping with a beautiful benediction that has become beloved by generations of believers: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God, the Holy Spirit, be with you all.”

It was Aaron who sought God’s favour and protection over the people of Israel with the well-loved benediction “The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” while it was Paul who bestowed an equally beloved blessing on the Church, by commending them into the safe-keeping of the triune Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Paul’s blessing to the Christian Church has become beloved by generations of godly saints. Indeed, it is often prayed as a parting benediction before brothers and sisters in Christ depart from a time of Christian fellowship and it is often prayed as a beautiful blessing over those for whom we care deeply: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with YOU.”

The hallmark of the Triune Godhead is seen within this gracious petition. It is the love of the Father-heart of God that sent His only begotten Son into the world to be the sacrifice for the sin of humanity – so that whosoever believes on HIM would not perish, but have everlasting life. It was the love that streamed from the Father-heart of God for a fallen race of sinners, that caused Him to give His only begotten Son of His love to be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and to die for our sin so that we might live and be clothed in His righteousness.

It is the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit Who has been sent by the Father to commune with us as our Comforter and Guide – our Shield and Defender. He guards us from the evil one and guides us into all truth. He prompts us in our worship and empowers us in our witness. He enables us to carry out the good works that God has prepared for us to do, and He graciously bestows on us spiritual gifts which are used for God’s glory. It is the Holy Spirit Who counsels and comforts us and is always there for us, no matter what difficulties or dangers we may have to face – and it is the Holy Spirit that points us to Christ, our God and Saviour.

And it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we have been saved… for He set aside His glorious majesty to become one of us and to take upon His sinless body the punishment that we deserve for the sin we have committed. It is by grace that sinners, deserving of death and hell, have become blood-bought children of God and received an eternal citizenship in heaven.

It is by grace that Christ, Who although He was rich, became poor on our account so that we, through His poverty, we might become richly blessed. It is by the marvellous grace of our great and loving Kinsman-Redeemer that our sins are forever forgiven. And it is by His grace that we have passed from death to life.

It is by the grace of Christ, the eternal Lamb of God, that we have been purged, cleansed, forgiven, redeemed, and reconciled with the Father. It is by grace – through our faith in Jesus that we have been given eternal life and an everlasting inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you ALL – Hallelujah – what a Saviour.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/2-corinthians-13-14

God’s Holy Fire: ‘Intimate Friendship’

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

— 2 Corinthians 13:14 MESSAGE

Key Thought

While most translations of this verse say “fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” I find the phrase “the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit” to be powerful and exciting. We are brought into close fellowship with God and each other through “the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit.” Think about the implications of this concept. Our fellowship with one another and our connections to each other are based on our being drawn together through our shared friendship of the Spirit. As we are drawn into the intimate friendship of the Spirit of God, we find ourselves drawn nearer and closer to each other.

Today’s Prayer

Almighty God, I want to be drawn near to you. I thank you for the extravagant grace of my being able even to say such a thing. You are holy and majestic, yet you want me to come close to you. Thank you for inviting me into such an intimate friendship through the Holy Spirit as I commit to being in a close relationship with other believers who yearn to be drawn near to you. In Jesus’ name, I thank you for this grace. Amen.

This morning we reach those dramatic two words, “The End.” We have come to the last of our studies in Second Corinthians and this concludes our series on the Corinthian Epistles. I am scheduled to speak next Sunday, but I am going to speak on another subject. I am going to address the subject, “Are We In The Last Days?” Many people are asking that question, so bring your survival kit with you and we will head for the hills right after the meeting is ended!

This has been a rich time of study together. We have seen that the conditions at Corinth were so like conditions in California today. In fact, if Peninsula Bible Church had all the troubles that Corinth had, I would have given up on it a long time ago. But Paul has not given up on Corinth. How patiently he has worked with this church. His letters, and the visits he made, and those of his associates, span a period of from one to three years. All that time he labored to try to correct the things that were wrong, to bring that church to an effective, impacting ministry there in that great commercial city.

But now as we come to the close of this Corinthian letter, Paul has said about all that he can say. Most of the church has repented and changed its attitude toward him, and he has rejoiced over that. But there is a handful of people there who are still following the false teachers who had come in, and there are still some who are living in licentiousness and open immorality. The apostle has already told them that there is nothing left except public exposure when he comes, and when he comes, he says, he is going to do this with them. Now, before he does come, he faces them with one final question which he hopes will change their attitude and make them clear up their difficulties. This question is found in Chapter 13, Verse 5.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5-6 RSV)

Is Jesus Christ in you? Paul exhorts every individual in the church to ask himself that question. This, of course, is because all wrong behavior leads at last to that question. Somewhere, somehow, when we are out-of-line with Christian standards we have to ask ourselves, “Am I a true Christian or am I a counterfeit? Have I been born again or am I only putting up a front?” Those of us who are Christians ought to ask ourselves that occasionally. It is a good idea to examine yourself, that is what the apostle says, especially if there is any kind of wrong behavior involved.

Some of you read a couple of weeks or so ago an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about Eldridge Cleaver, in which he made some statements and referred to some attitudes and behavior on his part that are inconsistent with the Christian profession. Now many people are asking: “Is Eldridge Cleaver really a Christian.” That immediately becomes moot when there is behavior that is not in line with the Christian position. Others ask it, and as the apostle makes clear here, it is a good thing to ask it of yourself. My prayer for Eldridge is that he is asking this question about himself right now: “Am I a Christian? Have I really been changed? Is Jesus Christ living in me?”

Now the very fact that the apostle could ask a question like that indicates that is what marks true Christianity. A Christian, of course, is not simply one who joins a Christian church. Many people feel that is the criterion, but it is not. There are millions of church members in this country today who are not Christians. Nor does adhering to a certain moral standard in your life, or the fact that you consistently read the Bible make you a Christian. The thing that really marks it is if Jesus Christ is living in you. A true Christian is someone in whom Christ dwells. And the person in whom Christ dwells will have certain inescapable evidence of that fact given to him or her. That is what Paul is suggesting we ask ourselves. Do we have the evidence that Jesus Christ lives in us? Has a fundamental change occurred at the very depths of our being? It is actually the question, of course, “Are you really born again?” That is a term that has fallen into wrong use these days. Many people who merely change their actions for a little while are said to be “born again.” People are using that term about everything today. But this is the question that Paul is asking, “Are you truly and permanently different because Jesus Christ has come to live within you?”

You may be asking, “How can I know that?” Well, the answer is found in several places in Scripture. For instance, Scripture speaks of an “inner” witness. In Romans Paul says, “God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God,” (Romans 8:16). That is one way you know. There is an inner testimony, a feeling, a sense within produced by the Spirit of God who dwells within that you are part of the great family of God. If we are really born again this will be a mark that we have occasionally borne to our hearts, the “witness of the Spirit that we are the children of God.” Scripture suggests that this will sometimes take the form of a sense of identity with God as a Father. Our spirits will occasionally want to cry out, “Abba, Father.” That is an intimate term for father. We no longer see God as our judge waiting to condemn us, we see him as a loving Father who is concerned for us, whose arms are around us and who loves us deeply.

I had the joy of pointing my barber to Christ a year or so ago. This past week, while I was having my hair cut, he was telling me about the changes that have occurred in his life because he has become a Christian. (One of the great changes is that he gives me free haircuts! That is an almost infallible mark that he has been born again, especially when haircuts are running $7.00 or $8.00 today!) He told me how confident he feels within, and that many of his friends have been noticing this. They have been telling him, “You are so confident. Where do you get that feeling?” (Some of them have actually been accusing him of conceit because of his sense of confidence.) He told me, “They don’t understand what I feel within, but I’m confident because,” (and this is the way he put it), “I have a deep sense that Daddy is with me all the time.” That is the witness of the Spirit. So one of the chief marks that we are Christians is that Christ is in us.

Scripture also speaks of a sense of “inner peace.” In Romans 5 the apostle says, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1). The sense of conflict with God is ended; the war is over, we are conscious that the problem of our evil, our sin no longer troubles God. The work of Christ has satisfied his justice, therefore we have a sense of peace. We have a sense of destiny. We are going to go to heaven when we die. That is settled and sure not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ has done. Now that peace is a mark of the witness of the Spirit that Jesus Christ is in us.

Scripture speaks also of new desires that are born in the heart of a new Christian. First Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” One of the marks of born again believers is that they have a deep and sudden thirst for the Word of God, a hunger to be fed, to know the truth of God. This ought to continue all our lives.

The Bible is a fascinating book. It speaks with tremendous interest to the things that are essential to our knowledge. There should be a hunger to know it. This week I saw a video tape of a woman Bible teacher telling the story of her conversion. Though she had been a church member all her life, and had read the Bible from time to time, it really was not a very interesting book to her. But the moment she was born again she had a tremendous hunger to know the Word of God. She haunted church services everywhere, she went to every meeting she could because she could not get enough of Bible study. That is one of the marks that Christ is in you. Even as a much older Christian I find that there are times in my experience when I am under pressure, feeling bored, or whatever, that the only thing that will speak to me is to read one of the Psalms. How that ministers to my heart. Now the Spirit of God creates that hunger, and, if Christ is in you, this will be one of the marks of it. Because you understand that what Christ did, he did for you, a fundamental change has already occurred in your life. The Spirit of God has entered and released to you the life of Jesus so that it is literally true that Jesus Christ lives in you. That is what Paul says he wants these Corinthians to ask themselves, “Does Christ live in you? Have you been transferred from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God by faith in Jesus Christ?”

Now this inner change will also produce an outward change, which is not all subjective. We can answer the question, “Is Jesus Christ in you?” by observing our conduct, because the inner change will produce a different attitude toward our behavior. One of the striking things about new Christians is that they invariably begin to manifest a totally different attitude toward things they once thought OK. Some of them had been living in sexual immorality, perhaps, indulging in regular or frequent acts of fornication or involved with sexual perversion of some sort, and had accepted these things, as they are widely accepted today, as being OK. But when they were born again, they suddenly saw these things as injurious and hateful. They no longer wanted to have a part in them. They may have struggled in that, but their desire was now different. In some of the more open and blatant forms of evil, such as attitudes about lying or drunkenness or stealing, you find immediately that your attitude is changed. That is because Christ lives in you, and light can have no part with darkness. Christ cannot have part with Belial. Even your attitude toward your own selfishness changes. You see how selfish you have been. It looks ugly and distasteful in your eyes and you want to be free from it.

It is right here that problems arise in the Christian life. There are many people who truly have been born again who, in the initial years of their Christian experience, did change, but later on, as Christianity became more old hat to them, as it lost its newness and its freshness, they began to drift back into old patterns that are wrong. Under the pressure of their peers or their circumstances, they allowed themselves to get involved again in things that they once had forsaken as Christians. When that happens, it raises the question we have been asking, “Are you really a Christian? Were you born again? Has the change occurred?” Because it is also true that many people who think, for one reason or another, they have become Christians, who feel that because they went through a certain experience or had a certain feeling at a given time, who have never really surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus and seen him as rightful Lord of their lives, they too can get back into things they once left; they too can give way. There is no difference in their behavior from somebody who is genuine Christian but has slid back into this. So the question, “Are you really a Christian?” is raised at that point.

This is what Paul is doing. “Examine yourself,” he says. “Others who are watching you cannot answer that question. They do not know whether something you have been doing is only temporary or if it is real with you. They cannot tell, but you can.”

Here is the issue: The question you have to ask at that point is, “How do you feel about this behavior?” Are you glad to get back to it? Do you see it as something that represented a kind of religious kick you were on, but you are glad to get back where you can be “normal” and live like everybody else, or do you hate yourself for doing it? That will tell the story. How do you feel about it? Do you justify it? Do you want to go on with it, or do you inwardly hate yourself, and wish you were free from it? Are you sorry you went back to it and long to be freed again by the power of Jesus Christ? That is the question Paul is asking the Corinthians.

I hope every one of us will occasionally ask ourselves the same question. Are we holding to our faith? Our behavior tells the story. If we really believe what we are told to believe, we are going to be different. What you think about yourself tells the story of what you are going to do; that governs how you act. We all know that instinctively. Have you ever said to yourself or to somebody else, “Who do you think you are anyhow, doing this sort of thing?” That is a revelation that you instinctively know that it is what people think themselves to be that will govern and control their behavior. So this question here is the most important one you can ask yourself: “Are you really Christian? Who do you think you are? Have you been changed? Who are you — really?”

The answer to that question, Paul says, will also answer the question that these Corinthians were asking about him, for they were asking, “Is Paul really an apostle? Has he failed us as an apostle of Christ? Are these other men who came in and taught us different things right? Is Paul the phony apostle?” Now Paul says, “When you answer the question about yourself, you will have the answer to the one about me. If you find that you are real Christians then you will also know that I am a real apostle.” Listen to the way he puts it. Verse 6:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed. But we pray God that you may not do wrong — not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. What we pray for is your improvement. (2 Corinthians 13:6-9 RSV)

Paul explains that he is not looking for an opportunity to come and demonstrate his authority as an apostle by judging them; he takes no delight in flexing his apostolic muscle. He would be quite happy if they would judge themselves and stop their evil behavior, leaving nothing for him to do when he comes but to rejoice with them. In fact, he says, “I would be quite willing to let you go on thinking that we are kind of weak as an apostle, that we do not really amount to very much, that we are only a paper tiger, as long as your behavior changes in line with who you really are.” What he wants is their moral improvement, not an opportunity to personally exhibit what a true apostle he is. Verse 10 he says something which is very important:

I write this while I am away from you, in order that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. (2 Corinthians 13:10 RSV)

That is a principle that is often forgotten today. The apostle makes clear that true authority in the church, even beginning with the apostles, is not intended to destroy people or tear them down; it is to build them up. In other words, apostolic power is not to boss people with. It is not given so that somebody can lord it over the brothers. Everywhere in the Word of God we are warned against that idea of leadership.

Yet as I travel around I find many churches where one man is ensconced as the pastor. His concept of that role is that he is in authority in the church. He alone can pronounce on doctrine; he alone has the right to determine who is going to exercise spiritual gifts in the congregation; he alone is the final, authoritative teacher. But Scripture warns against that. It warns against “lording” it over the brethren, bossing them and regulating the intimate details of their lives. Paul makes clear that that is not the kind of authority even he, as an apostle, has. It is not a totalitarian control over all the details of someone’s life.

Just this week I heard an account of a church where certain elders hold this idea of having command authority over others. These elders were concerned about a certain couple who lived in the same apartment building with them. They felt that the wife was not submissive to her husband, so they told her that in order to demonstrate a proper attitude of submission, she had to get written permission from them for a whole year to even leave the building. She said that once her mother got very sick but she could not leave the house until she had gotten written permission from these elders. They did not happen to be home so it created a very serious emergency.

Now that is the kind of authority that is everywhere condemned in the Word of God. Even the apostle said his authority is given to build people up, to encourage them, to support them, to restore them and renew them. If discipline is called for, it is a last resort. Note how reluctant he is to bring this about, how long he gives them to correct conditions. When he does move, he says, it will be in line with what the Lord has said in Matthew 18. He will move step-by-step, looking to God, not to the congregation, to bring pressure on the individual, and that the discipline will cease immediately upon repentance of the person involved. So we have a clear word here from Paul about what the church ought to be like. Especially it depends, he says, on the answer to that all-important question, “Does Jesus Christ live in you or not?” Paul’s last word is an appeal for mutual support among the brethren. Verse 11:

Finally, brethren. farewell. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:11-14 RSV)

It is wonderful that this last word is a word of peace. The apostle sees beyond all the fragmentation in Corinth to the basic unity of the church. God created that unity. It is there even though there is divisiveness, quarreling, jealousy and division in the assembly. Christians belong to each other. They are part of the family of God and they ought to act that way, he says. Beyond the rebellion he sees the grace and the power of God which is able to heal these breaches and restore people even to the point where they are able to give a holy kiss to one another. That was the standard greeting of that day. (We have lost that today, although when I was in Poland I noticed that they still retain that. Today we have substituted a handshake, but I am happy to see hugs coming back in again. Hugs are a much warmer and more accurate expression of Christian love and acceptance, one with another.)

The apostle is urging this upon these Christians: “Change your ways. If Jesus Christ is in you, you can do it.” That is his point. You cannot go on living like everybody else if Jesus Christ lives in you. This is the fundamental reason why there must be a difference in Christians.

I was driving down the freeway the other day and a car cut in front of me, almost driving me off the road, then it cut in ahead of the car ahead of me. I noticed a bumper sticker on it that said, “The difference in me is Jesus.” Well, I was not much impressed, and neither is the world impressed when they look at us and see us behaving just like everyone else. We are not to behave that way in our personal lives because Christ is in us. We are not to behave in our corporate life that way because Christ is among us. We are to be friendly, loving, open, forgiving, not condemnatory, narrow and bitter. We are different because Christ is among us. Notice how the apostle closes. What a beautiful greeting this is. It is the clearest reference to the Trinity that there is in the New Testament:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship [or commonality] of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14 RSV)

What a gracious word from this great apostle as he closes this letter to the church at Corinth. History does not tell us what happened in the church there, whether it was able to recover and obey this word or not. But Paul has done his best. He has left with us a tremendous testimony as to what constitutes Christianity at work in a pagan world. We are called to live in Corinthian conditions today, here in California especially. I hope and pray that these letters to the Corinthian church will mean much to us, that we too will obey the word of the apostle and recognize that, when Jesus Christ is among us, we cannot be the same kind of people. This is the issue. May God grant that we will understand this more thoroughly in days to come.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, that you are among us. You have sent us out into this world. As you yourself said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and make disciples of the nations. Lo, I am with you even unto the end of the age.” We may not have reached the end of the age yet, Lord Jesus, but we thank you that you are among us and that you constitute us, therefore, the Body of Christ. Your presence makes that true. We pray that we may behave as men and women, boys and girls in whom Jesus Christ lives. For we pray in your name, Amen.

Who am I — Really?

JUNE 01, 1980

AUTHOR: RAY C. STEDMAN

Message transcript and recording © 1980 by Ray Stedman Ministries, owner of sole copyright by assignment from the author. For permission to use this content, please review RayStedman.org/permissions. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved.

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What does 2 Corinthians 13:14 mean?

Here concludes a long letter to the church at Corinth with Paul’s blessing. This is the only one of his benedictions to specifically reference all three members of the Trinity. He describes each member of the Godhead as the source of one aspect of his prayer of blessing for them.

First, Paul prays for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with them. The grace of God is possible only through faith in Christ and because of Christ’s substitution for us in His death for our sin on the cross. Paul identifies Christ as the Lord.

Next, he prays for the love of God for the Corinthians. God’s love for the world is what motivated Him to send Christ to earth to make His grace and forgiveness for sin possible (John 3:16).

Finally, Paul prays for the fellowship of the Spirit to be with them. Every person who comes to faith in Christ receives God’s Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:21–22). The Spirit makes it possible for Christians to communicate with the Father and to be in relationship with Him while we wait to be with Him physically in the glory of eternity (Romans 8:23–27).

Paul prays for this for “you all,” meaning every Christian in Corinth who reads—or hears as others read—this letter. His prayer and hope is they will set aside divisions, repent of sin, and be united together as one family in Christ.

Context Summary

Second Corinthians 13:11–14 contains Paul’s closing farewell to the Corinthians. He urges them to rejoice, to strive for restoration, and to comfort and encourage each other in like-minded unity. He assures them that the God of love and peace will be with them, reminds them to greet each other with a holy kiss, and offers greetings from believers in other churches. Finally, Paul offers a prayer of specific blessing for them from each of the three members of the Trinity.

Chapter Summary

The final chapter of Paul’s letter begins with a harsh warning. Nobody living in unrepentant sin when Paul arrives will be spared Paul’s discipline. All will learn that Christ speaks through Paul—because Christ will deal powerfully with their sinfulness despite Paul’s own weakness. Paul urges them to examine themselves and verify that Christ is in them and, by extension, that he is a true apostle. He prays for their restoration and hopes they will repent of all sin before he arrives so that he will not have to be severe in the use of his authority

God Judges His Own

Romans 14:4

Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

you cannot judge the servants of someone else there on madter decides if thet are doinf right or weong and the lords servants will be right cause the lord is able to make them right for the only judge is God himself he shall judge his own

Romans Chapter 4

Romans 4 – Abraham and David Demonstrate Righteousness Apart from Works

A. Abraham is declared righteous through faith.

1. (1-3) Abraham was not justified by works, but declared righteous through faith.

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

a. What then shall we say: In building on the thought begun in Romans 3:31 Paul asks the question, “Does the idea of justification through faith, apart from the works of the law, make what God did in the Old Testament irrelevant?”

b. What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found: In answering that question, Paul looks at Abraham, who was the most esteemed man among the Jewish people of his day – even greater than the “George Washington” of the American people.

c. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about: If anyone could be justified by works, they would have something to boast about. Nevertheless such boasting is nothing before God (but not before God).

i. This boasting is nothing before God because even if works could justify a man, he would in some way still fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

ii. This boasting is nothing because before God, every pretense is stripped away and it is evident that no one can really be justified by works.

d. For what does the Scripture say? The Old Testament does not say Abraham was declared righteous because of his works. Instead, Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

i. Paul makes it clear: Abraham’s righteousness did not come from performing good works, but from belief in God. It was a righteousness obtained through faith.

ii. Generally, the Jewish teachers of Paul’s day believed that Abraham was justified by his works, by keeping the law. Ancient passages from the rabbis say: “We find that Abraham our father had performed the whole Law before it was given” and “Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord.” The rabbis argued that Abraham kept the law perfectly before it was given, keeping it by intuition or anticipation.

iii. The Apostle Paul does not say that Abraham was made righteous in all of his doings, but God accounted Abraham as righteous. Our justification is not God making us perfectly righteous, but counting us as perfectly righteous. After we are counted righteous, then God begins making us truly righteous, culminating at our resurrection.

iv. “Counted is logizomai. It was used in early secular documents; ‘put down to one’s account, let my revenues be placed on deposit at the storehouse; I now give orders generally with regard to all payments actually made or credited to the government.’ Thus, God put to Abraham’s account, placed on deposit for him, credited to him, righteousness… Abraham possessed righteousness in the same manner as a person would possess a sum of money placed in his account in a bank.” (Wuest)

v. Genesis 15:6 does not tell us how other men accounted Abraham. Instead, it tells us how God accounted him. “Moses [in Genesis] does not, indeed, tell us what men thought of him [Abraham], but how he was accounted before the tribunal of God.” (Calvin)

vi. Remember that righteousness is also more than the absence of evil and guilt. It is a positive good, meaning that God does not only declare us innocent, but righteous.

2. (4-5) A distinction made between grace and works.

Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

a. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace: The idea of grace stands opposite to the principle of works; grace has to do with receiving the freely given gift of God, works has to do with earning our merit before God.

i. Wuest on charis, the ancient Greek word translated grace: “Signified in classical authors a favor done out of the spontaneous generosity of the heart without any expectation or return. Of course, this favor was always done to one’s friend, never to an enemy… But when charis comes into the New Testament, it takes an infinite leap forward, for the favor God did at Calvary was for those who hated Him.”

b. Not counted as grace but as debt: A system of works seeks to put God in debt to us, making God owe us His favor because of our good behavior. In works-thinking, God owes us salvation or blessing because of our good works.

i. God isn’t praising laziness here. “The antithesis is not simply between the worker and the non-worker but between the worker and person who does not work but believes.” (Murray)

c. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness: Righteousness can never be accounted to the one who approaches God on the principle of works. Instead it is given to the one who believes on Him who justifies the ungodly.

d. Him who justifies the ungodly: This is who God justifies – the ungodly. We might expect God would only justify a godly man but because of what Jesus did on the cross, God can justify the ungodly.

i. It isn’t as if God is happy with our ungodly condition. We are not justified because of our ungodliness, but despite our ungodliness.

ii. Morris quoting Denney: “The paradoxical phrase, Him that justifieth the ungodly, does not suggest that justification is a fiction, whether legal or of any other sort, but that it is a miracle.”

e. Faith is accounted for righteousness: Just as Abraham, so our faith is accounted for righteousness. This was not some special arrangement for Abraham alone. We can enter into this relationship with God also.

i. By this we understand that there are not two ways of salvation – saved by works through law-keeping in the Old Testament and saved by grace through faith in the New Testament. Everyone who has ever been saved – Old or New Testament – is saved by grace through faith, through their relationship of a trusting love with God. Because of the New Covenant we have benefits of salvation that Old Testament saints did not have but we do not have a different manner of salvation.

3. (6-8) David and the blessedness of justification through faith.

Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

a. Just as David also describes: King David of the Old Testament knew what it was like to be a guilty sinner. He knew the seriousness of sin and how good it is to be truly forgiven. He knew the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. If David were judged on works alone, the righteous God must condemn him; nevertheless he knew by experience that blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.

i. “No sinner, and try he ever so hard, can possibly carry his own sins away and come back cleansed of guilt. No amount of money, no science, no inventive skill, no armies of millions, nor any other earthly power can carry away from the sinner one little sin and its guilt. Once it is committed, every sin and its guilt cling to the sinner as close as does his own shadow, cling to all eternity unless God carries them away.” (Lenski)

b. To whom God imputes righteousness apart from works… blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin: David agrees with Abraham regarding the idea of an imputed righteousness, a goodness that is given, not earned.

i. “Our adversaries the papists oppose the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us; they cavil at the very word… and yet the apostle useth the word ten times in this chapter.” (Poole)

c. Blessed is the man: In the Psalm quoted (Psalm 32:1-2), David speaks of the blessedness, not of the one who is justified through works, but of the one who is cleansed through imputation. This is centered on what God places upon us (the righteousness of Jesus), not on what we do for God.

4. (9-12) Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised; therefore he was not counted righteous because he was circumcised.

Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

a. Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? If we are counted righteous by God because of faith, not because of circumcision (or any other ritual), then the blessedness mentioned in Romans 4:7 can be given to the uncircumcised Gentiles by faith.

b. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Abraham was counted as righteous in Genesis 15:6. He did not receive the covenant of circumcision until Genesis 17, which was at least 14 years later. Therefore his righteousness wasn’t based on circumcision, but on faith.

c. The faith which he had while still uncircumcised: In fact, Abraham, the father of all those who believe, was declared righteous while he was still uncircumcised! Therefore, how could anyone then say (as some did in Paul’s day) that Gentiles must be circumcised before God would declare them righteous?

i. For the Jewish people of Paul’s day, the significance of circumcision was more than social. It was the entry point for a life lived under the Law of Moses: And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law (Galatians 5:3).

d. That he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised… who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised: The Jews of Paul’s day thought circumcision meant they were the true descendants of Abraham. Paul insists that to have Abraham as your father, you must walk in the steps of the faith that Abraham walked in.

i. “Our father Abraham” is an important phrase, one that the ancient Jews jealously guarded. They did not allow a circumcised Gentile convert to Judaism refer to Abraham as “our father” in the synagogue. A Gentile convert had to call Abraham “your father” and only natural born Jews could call Abraham “our father.” Paul throws out that distinction, and says that through faith, all can say, “our father Abraham.”

ii. It must have been a shock for the Jewish readers of this letter to see that Paul called Abraham the father of uncircumcised people! Faith, not circumcision, is the vital link to Abraham. It is far more important to have Abraham’s faith (and the righteousness imputed to him because of it) than it is to have Abraham’s circumcision.

iii. William Barclay explains that the Jewish teachers of Paul’s day had a saying: “What is written of Abraham is also written of his children,” meaning that promises given to Abraham extend to his descendants. Paul heartily agreed with this principle, and extended the principle of being justified by faith to all Abraham’s spiritual descendants, those who believe, who also walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham.

5. (13-15) God’s promise to Abraham was based on the principle of faith, not law or works.

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

a. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law: Since all God’s dealings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob happened before the giving of the Mosaic Law, we can’t say they were based on the law. Instead, they are based on God’s declaration of Abraham’s righteousness through faith.

i. “Faith is the ground of God’s blessing. Abraham was a blessed man, indeed, but he became heir of the world on another principle entirely – simple faith.” (Newell)

b. For the promise… through the righteousness of faith: The law cannot bring us into the blessings of God’s promises. This is not because the law is bad, but because we are unable to keep it.

c. Because the law brings about wrath: Our inability to keep the law (our transgression) means that it becomes essentially a vehicle of God’s wrath towards us, especially if we regard it as the principle by which we are justified and relate to God.

d. Where there is no law there is no transgression: How can Paul say this? Because “Transgression is the right word for overstepping a line, and this for breaking a clearly defined commandment” (Morris). Where there is no line, there is no actual transgression.

i. There is sin that is not the “crossing the line” of the Law of Moses. The root of sin isn’t in breaking the law, but in breaking trust with God; with denying His loving, caring purpose in every command He gives. Before Adam sinned he broke trust with God – therefore God’s plan of redemption is centered on a relationship of trusting love – faith – instead of law-keeping. When we center our relationship with God on law-keeping instead of trusting love, we go against His whole plan.

B. Following Abraham’s example.

1. (16) Justification according to grace, through faith.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

a. It is of faith that it might be according to grace: Faith is related to grace in the same way works is related to law. Grace and law are principles, and faith and works are the means by which we pursue those principles for our relationship with God.

i. To speak technically, we are not saved by faith. We are saved by God’s grace, and grace is appropriated by faith.

b. It is of faith: Salvation is of faith and nothing else. We can only receive salvation by the principle of grace through faith. Grace can’t be gained through works, whether they be past works, present works, or promised works. This is because by definition grace is given without regard to anything in the one who receives it.

i. “Grace and faith are congruous, and will draw together in the same chariot, but grace and merit are contrary the one to the other and pull opposite ways, and therefore God has not chosen to yoke them together.” (Spurgeon)

c. So that the promise might be sure to all the seed: The promise can only be sure if it is according to grace. If law is the basis of our salvation, then our salvation depends on our performance in keeping the law – and no one can keep the law good enough to be saved by it. A law-promise of salvation can never be sure.

i. If the promise “were of the law, it would be unsure and uncertain, because of man’s weakness, who is not able to perform it.” (Poole)

d. But also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all: If our relationship with God is according to grace (not circumcision or law-keeping), then that relationship is for those who are of the faith of Abraham, even if they are not of his lineage.

i. A Gentile could say, “I am not a Jew, I am not of the law; but I am of the faith of Abraham,” and he would be just as saved as a Jewish believer in Jesus would be.

e. The father of us all: The fulfillment of the promise in Genesis 17:4-5 is found not only in Abraham’s descendants through Isaac, but especially in his role as being the father of us all who believe – and those believers come from every nation under heaven.

2. (17-18) The life-giving power of the God Abraham believed in.

(As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed; God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

a. So that he became the father of many nations: Even as it took a supernatural life-giving work to make Abraham the physical father of many nations, it also took a supernatural life-giving work to make him the spiritual father of many nations.

b. Who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as if they did: These works of God demonstrate His ability to count things that are not (such as our righteousness) as if they were (as in counting us righteous).

i. If God could call the dead womb of Sarah to life, he can call those who are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) to new life in Jesus.

ii. “I’m greatly comforted when God speaks about me as righteous, justified, glorified, holy, pure, and saintly. God can talk about such things before they exist, because He knows they will exist.” (Smith)

c. Contrary to hope, in hope believed: This life-giving power was accomplished in Abraham as he believed. The power was evident naturally and spiritually.

i. Abraham’s example also helps us to understand the nature of faith. The conception of Abraham’s son Isaac was a miracle, but it was not an immaculate conception. Abraham’s faith did not mean that he did nothing and just waited for God to create a child in Sarah’s womb. Abraham and Sarah had marital relations and trusted God for a miraculous result. This shows us that faith does not mean doing nothing, but doing everything with trust and reliance on God.

ii. “All true believers, like Abraham, obey. Obedience is faith in action. You are to walk in the steps of the faith of father Abraham. His faith did not sit still, it took steps; and you must take these steps also by obeying God because you believe him. That faith which has no works with it is a dead faith, and will justify no one.” (Spurgeon)

iii. “Sense corrects imagination, reason corrects sense, but faith corrects both. It will not be, saith sense; it cannot be, saith reason; it both can and will be, saith faith, for I have a promise for it.” (Trapp)

3. (19-22) The character of Abraham’s faith.

And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

a. Not being weak in faith: Abraham’s faith was strong but it was also strengthened. He was strengthened in faith.

i. The idea seems to be that Abraham was strengthened in his faith; but Paul could also mean that Abraham was strengthened by his faith – certainly both were true.

ii. How we need to be strengthened in faith! “Dear brother, little faith will save thee if it be true faith, but there are many reasons why you should seek an increase of it.” (Spurgeon)

iii. Spurgeon knew that ministers and preachers especially needed to be strengthened in faith. He sometimes shared his own struggles in this area from the pulpit, but wanted to make it clear that his struggles in faith should never be indulged: “Whenever, dear hearers, you catch any of us who are teachers doubting and fearing, do not pity us, but scold us. We have no right to be in Doubting Castle. Pray do not visit us there. Follow us as far as we follow Christ, but if we get into the horrible Slough of Despond, come and pull us out by the hair of our heads if necessary, but do not fall into it yourselves.” (Spurgeon)

iv. “I do not think we shall have many conversions unless we expect God to bless the word, and feel certain that he will do so. We must not wonder and be astonished if we hear of a dozen or two conversions, but let the astonishment be that thousands are not converted when they hear such divine truth, and when we ask the Holy Spirit to attend it with divine energy. God will bless us in proportion to our faith. It is the rule of his kingdom – ‘According to your faith so be it unto you.’ O God, give thy ministers more faith! Let us believe thee firmly!” (Spurgeon)

b. He did not consider his own body, already dead: Abraham, in faith, did not look to circumstances (his own body and the deadness of Sarah’s womb) but he looked at the promise of God.

i. In Romans 4:19, there is textual uncertainty as to if we should read he considered his body as good as dead or if we should read he did not consider his own body. Either is possible, though the second seems to be a better choice.

c. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief: His faith did not waver; and it gave glory to God. Though it was a huge challenge, Abraham remained steadfast in faith.

i. “When there is no contest, it is true, no one, as I have said, denies that God can do all things; but as soon as anything comes in the way to impede the course of God’s promise, we cast down God’s power from its eminence.” (Calvin)

d. Being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform: Abraham’s faith came because he had been fully convinced of God’s ability to perform what He has promised.

i. Is your God too small? The God of Abraham was able to perform what He had promised, and Abraham was fully convinced of this.

ii. Some people don’t come to Jesus or don’t go further with Him because they are not fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. They think, “It is fine for them but it won’t work for me.” This thinking is a devilish attack on faith, and must be rejected.

e. Able to perform: This kind of faith sees the work of God done. It sees the work of God done in the immediate (Isaac was born in fulfillment of the promise) and in the eternal (accounted to him for righteousness).

4. (23-25) Abraham’s justification and our own.

Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

a. It was not written for his sake alone: It wasn’t only for Abraham’s benefit that God declared him righteous through faith; he is an example that we are invited to follow – it is also for us. Paul’s confidence is glorious: It shall be imputed to us who believe; this wasn’t just for Abraham, but for us also.

b. Who believe in Him who raised up Jesus: When we talk about faith and saving faith in Jesus, it is important to emphasize that we mean believing that His work on the cross (delivered up because of our offenses) and triumph over sin and death (raised because of our justification) is what saves us. There are many false-faiths that can never save, and only faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross and through the empty tomb can save us.

· Faith in the historical events of the life of Jesus will not save.

· Faith in the beauty of Jesus’ life will not save.

· Faith in the accuracy or goodness of Jesus’ teaching will not save.

· Faith in the deity of Jesus and in His Lordship will not save.

· Only faith in what the real Jesus did for us on the cross will save.

c. Raised because of our justification: The resurrection has an essential place in our redemption because it demonstrates God the Father’s perfect satisfaction with the Son’s work on the cross. It proves that what Jesus did on the cross was in fact a perfect sacrifice made by One who remained perfect, even though bearing the sin of the world.

i. Delivered up because of our offenses: The ancient Greek word translated delivered (paradidomi) was used of casting people into prison or delivering them to justice. “Here it speaks of the judicial act of God the Father delivering God the Son to the justice that required the payment of the penalty for human sin.” (Wuest)

ii. “Jesus’ resurrection always includes his sacrificial death but it brings out the all-sufficiency of his death. If death had held him, he would have failed; since he was raised from death, his sacrifice sufficed, God set his seal upon it by raising him up.” (Lenski)

iii. “Christ did meritoriously work our justification and salvation by his death and passion, but the efficacy and perfection thereof with respect to us depend on his resurrection… This one verse is an abridgement of the whole gospel.” (Poole)

iv. In this chapter, Paul clearly demonstrated that in no way does the Old Testament contradict the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. Instead the gospel is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, and Abraham – justified through faith – is our pattern.

Categories: New Testament Paul’s Letters

Enduring Word

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What does Romans 4:14 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]

Paul is discussing God’s promises to Abraham and his offspring, the Jewish people. These were given by God in Genesis 12:1–3. Those promises, Paul has written, amount to Israel being heirs of the world. Now Paul shows that this inheritance will not come by following the law. First and foremost, those promises were given centuries before the law existed. Paul writes that if the inheritance is to be given to those who follow the law, then faith does not matter. Worse, the promises of God don’t matter—because not all of Abraham’s descendants had the law!

In other words, Paul has already shown that nobody can keep the law. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:10; 3:23). So if God’s promises to Israel are only for those able to follow the law, those promises will not be given. When law is a requirement for salvation, faith serves no purpose.

Context Summary

Romans 4:13–25 continues to focus on the faith of Abraham. God made promises to Abraham and his descendants, promises which Abraham believed. Those promises can’t be received by keeping the law, but only by faith. God promised Abraham a son with Sarah, and Abraham continued to believe that promise would be kept even as it became less and less likely in human terms. We, too, can be counted as righteous by faith in Jesus’ death for our sins and God’s resurrection of Him for our justification.

Chapter Summary

Romans 4 is all about the faith of Abraham. God declared Abraham righteous because of his faith, not because of his works. A declaration of righteousness was God’s gift, not a payment. This righteousness is available to everyone, circumcised or not. God declared Abraham righteous many years before he was circumcised, making him the spiritual father of all who believe, whether circumcised or not, whether Jew or Gentile. God’s promises to Abraham and his offspring can’t be received by keeping the law, only by faith. Abraham’s faith in God’s promise of a son with Sarah did not waver even as he grew older. God will declare us righteous, as well, if by faith we believe in the God who delivered Jesus to die for our sins and raised Him back to life for our justification

Rejoice In The Lord Always

VERSE OF THE DAY

Philippians 4:4 (New Living Translation)

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Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

Always be glad in the Lord he rejoices in you’ve glad and rejoice in him for again I say rejoice

Everything was created because God gets enjoyment out of it. He wanted to love it. God loves every rock, every plant, every animal, every star, and every human being.

As Psalm 149:4 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people”.

God takes pleasure in you all the time. Why? He created you. He’s your heavenly Father.

What Does Philippians 4:4 Mean? ►

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Philippians 4:4(NASB)

Verse Thoughts

We are called to rejoice in the Lord, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks to the Lord our God, for the joy of the Lord is our health and strength, and His mercy endures forevermore. We are exhorted to rejoice in the Lord and to take refuge in Him, for He has done wonderful things for all who have trusted in the name of His dearly beloved Son.

In the knowledge of what God has done for us, through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ – shouldn’t we be joyful, with exceeding great joy? Should we not lift up our voices in an everlasting song of praise? We who once were dead in trespasses and sins have been justified and are being transformed into the very image and likeness of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

In Christ there is sanctification, glorification, and a joint heir-ship with the Son of the most High God. By His goodness and grace we have been seated in heavenly places in Christ – to His praise and glory, forever and ever.

True joy and genuine happiness is a gift of grace from our heavenly Father, for genuine joy and true happiness is a heavenly grace we receive from the Spirit of God, as we walk in spirit and truth and live in newness of life. Joy is a fruit that the Lord produces within our heart, but it is something that the world can know nothing about.

The Joy of the Lord is a precious fruit and a spiritual grace that is given to us from above. The joy of the Lord is our strength in times of weakness and protection in times of danger. However, unsaved men and women know nothing of true, heavenly joy, which is a characteristic of the Christian Church, that is ours by grace. Those who are dead in their sins do not have access to God’s spiritual graces, for joy is both a gift of God to the justified and a fruit of the Spirit in the sanctified man.

Such heavenly joy can be maintained in the midst of all afflictions and distresses, for the joy of the Lord is our everlasting hope and strength. Such divine rejoicing should not be hindered or quenched by the scheming strategies of the wicked one. Satan delights to use adversity to hatch-out doubts and fears in the imagination of our hearts, and these can become barriers that make us question God’s faithfulness, distort His character, and cause our faith to falter. But joy in the Lord is a great spiritual weapon that can help to dispel Satan’s devious lies and cause his wicked accusations to evaporate like the morning mist. The length, breadth, depth, and height, of this continual rejoicing in the Lord, should resound to the farthest extremity of His promises and plans – His governance and character. The surpassing intimate fellowship into which we have been warmly invited, as children of the Father and joint-heirs with Christ, should rejoice our heart always and gladden our soul through time and into eternity.

Let us rejoice in the Lord always – and again I will say, LET US REJOICE – for He is a great and awesome God, and a great King above all gods!

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/philippians-4-4

On December 7, 2015, 7:53 am

Philippians Chapter 4

Philippians 4 – Peace and Joy in All Circumstances

A. Instructions to specific saints.

1. (1) A general exhortation: in light of your destiny in Christ, stand fast.

Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

a. Therefore: This links together what Paul wrote here with what he wrote before. Because of the promise of resurrection (Philippians 3:21), the Philippians had all the more reason to stand fast in the Lord.

b. My joy and crown: Paul used the ancient Greek word for crown that described the crown given to an athlete who had won the race. It was a crown of achievement (a stephanos); not the crown that was given to a king (a diadema). The Philippians, as they stand fast in the Lord, were Paul’s trophy.

c. So stand fast in the Lord, beloved: We can only stand fast when we are in the Lord; any other place is not a secure place to stand.

2. (2) Instructions to Euodia and Syntyche.

I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

a. Euodia and… Syntyche: Apparently these two women were the source of some sort of quarrel in the church. Instead of taking sides or trying to solve their problem, Paul simply told them to be of the same mind in the Lord.

b. To be of the same mind in the Lord: Whatever the dispute was about, Euodia and Syntyche had forgotten that they have a greater common ground in Jesus Christ. They forgot that everything else was less important than that common ground.

3. (3) Instructions to the true companion.

And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

a. I urge you also, true companion: Whoever this was, Paul instructed them to help these women who labored with me in the gospel. The true companion was supposed to help these women to reconcile and come to one mind in the Lord.

i. These women who labored with me in the gospel is a telling phrase. These two women, Euodia and Syntyche, were faithful workers with Paul in the work of the gospel. Yet, they had a falling out with each other. Paul knew that this unfortunate dispute needed to be cleared up.

b. With Clement also: There was a notable Clement in the early church who was the leader of the church in Rome and wrote two preserved letters to the church in Corinth. Yet we don’t know if this is the same Clement. It was a common name in the Roman world.

i. We can contrast the brief mention of Euodia and Syntyche with the brief mention of Clement. If you had to have your whole life summed up in one sentence, would you like it to be summed up like Clement or like Euodia and Syntyche?

c. And the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life: There were others in Philippi who also helped Paul. They had the greatest honor in the world: to have their names in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15).

B. More instruction on walking the walk.

1. (4) Paul repeats a major theme of the letter.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

a. Rejoice: Despite the circumstance from which it was written, joy is all over the letter to the Philippians. Examples of this are in Philippians 1:4, 1:18, 1:25, 2:2, 2:16, 2:17, 2:18, 2:28, 3:1, 3:3, and 4:1.

i. “I am glad that we do not know what the quarrel was about; I am usually thankful for ignorance on such subjects; – but as a cure for disagreements, the apostle says, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’ People who are very happy, especially those who are very happy in the Lord, are not apt either to give offense or to take offense. Their minds are so sweetly occupied with higher things, that they are not easily distracted by the little troubles which naturally arise among such imperfect creatures as we are. Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord.” (Spurgeon)

b. Rejoice in the Lord always: Again, Paul’s joy wasn’t based in a sunny optimism or positive mental attitude as much as it was the confidence that God was in control. It really was a joy in the Lord.

i. “What a gracious God we serve, who makes delight to be a duty, and who commands us to rejoice! Should we not at once be obedient to such a command as this? It is intended that we should be happy.” (Spurgeon)

2. (5) Show a gentle disposition to all men.

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

a. Let your gentleness be known: Paul used an interesting ancient Greek word (epieikeia) that is translated gentleness here. Other translations of the Bible translate epieikeia as patience, softness, the patient mind, modesty, forbearance, the forbearing spirit, or magnanimity.

i. “The word epieikes is of very extensive signification; it means the same as epieikeia, mildness, patience, yieldingness, gentleness, clemency, moderation, unwillingness to litigate or contend; but moderation is expressive enough as a general term.” (Clarke)

ii. A good example of this quality is when Jesus showed gentleness with the woman who was taken in adultery in a set-up and brought to Jesus. He knew how to show a holy gentleness to her.

iii. This word describes the heart of a person who will let the Lord fight his battles. He knows that vengeance is Mine, says the Lord (Romans 12:19). It describes a person who is really free to let go of His anxieties and all the things that cause him stress, because he knows that the Lord will take up his cause.

b. Be known to all men: The sphere is broad. We show this gentleness to all men, not just to whom we please.

c. The Lord is at hand: When we live with the awareness of Jesus’ soon return, it makes it all the more easy to rejoice in the Lord and to show gentleness to all men. We know that Jesus will settle every wrong at His return, and we can trust Him to make things right in our falling-apart world.

3. (6) A living prayer life.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

a. Be anxious for nothing: This is a command, not an option. Undue care is an intrusion into an arena that belongs to God alone. It makes us the father of the household instead of being a child.

b. But in everything by prayer and supplication: Paul wrote that everything is the proper subject of prayer. There are not some areas of our lives that are of no concern to God.

c. Prayer and supplication: These two aspects of prayer are similar, but distinct. Prayer is a broader word that can mean all of our communication with God, but supplication directly asks God to do something.

i. Many of our prayers go unanswered because we do not ask God for anything. Here God invites us simply to let your requests be made known. He wants to know.

d. Be made known: God already knows our requests before we pray them; yet He will often wait for our participation through prayer before granting that which we request.

e. With thanksgiving: This guards against a whining, complaining spirit before God when we let our requests be made known. We really can be anxious for nothing, pray about everything, and be thankful for anything.

4. (7) The promise of peace.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

a. And the peace of God: The Bible describes three great aspects of peace that relate to God.

· Peace from God: Paul continually used this as an introduction to his letters; it reminds us that our peace comes to us as a gift from God.

· Peace with God: This describes a relationship that we enter into with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

· The peace of God: This is the peace spoken of in Philippians 4:7. It is beyond “all mind”; that is, beyond our power of thinking.

i. “What is God’s peace? The unruffled serenity of the infinitely-happy God, the eternal composure of the absolutely well-contented God.” (Spurgeon)

b. Which surpasses all understanding: It isn’t that it is senseless and therefore impossible to understand, but that it is beyond our ability to understand and to explain – therefore it must be experienced.

i. This peace doesn’t just surpass the understanding of the worldly man; it surpasses all understanding. Even the godly man can not comprehend this peace.

c. Guard your hearts and minds: The word guard speaks of a military action. This is something that the peace of God does for us; it is a peace that is on guard over our heart and mind.

i. “Shall keep them as in a strong place or a castle.” (Clarke)

ii. When people seem to “lose” their heart or mind, it often is connected to an absence of the peace of God in their life. The peace of God then does not act as a guard for their hearts and minds.

5. (8) The right place to put our minds.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

a. Whatever things are true: Paul’s list of things on which we should meditate translates well from the Greek to the English; there is no great need for elaboration upon each item.

b. Noble… just… pure… lovely… good report… virtue… praiseworthy: These, Paul would say, are the fruit and the food of the mind that is guarded by the peace of God. When we put these good things into our mind, they stay in our mind and then come forth from us.

c. Meditate on these things: Much of the Christian life comes down to the mind. Romans 12:2 speaks of the essential place of being transformed by the renewing of your mind and 2 Corinthians 10:5 speaks of the importance of casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. What we choose to meditate on matters.

i. What Paul describes here is a practical way to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

6. (9) A return to the idea of following Paul’s example.

The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

a. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do: Paul had the integrity to present himself as an example of all these things to the Philippians. He really could say, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.”

b. And the God of peace will be with you: If the Philippians did as Paul had instructed, not only would they have had the peace of God, but the God of peace would have also been with them.

C. Paul comments on the giving of the Philippians.

1. (10-14) Paul’s perspective on the gift from the Philippians.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress.

a. Your care for me has flourished again: This refers to the financial support brought by Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25). Paul didn’t want to imply that the Philippians didn’t care before, only that before they lacked opportunity. When they had the opportunity, then their care for Paul flourished again.

b. Not that I speak in regard to need: Paul reminded the Philippians that his thankfulness for the Philippians’ giving wasn’t because he was needy (though he was in fact in need), but because it was good for them to be givers.

c. I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: This was how Paul could say that his thankfulness was not based upon his own need. Even though Paul was in need, he was content where he was at – even in his Roman imprisonment.

i. I have learned: Paul had to learn contentment; it isn’t natural to mankind.

ii. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: Paul reminds us that his contentment was not only theoretical. He actually lived this. Paul had been financially well-off; he had been financially in need.

iii. Paul knew how to be abased. “See here the state to which God permitted his chief apostle to be reduced! And see how powerfully the grace of Christ supported him under the whole! How few of those who are called Christian ministers or Christian men have learned this important lesson! When want or affliction comes, their complaints are loud and frequent; and they are soon at the end of their patience.” (Clarke)

iv. Paul also knew how to abound. “There are a great many men that know a little how to be abased, that do not know at all how to abound. When they are put down into the pit with Joseph, they look up and see the starry promise, and they hope for an escape. But when they are put on the top of a pinnacle, their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall.” (Spurgeon)

d. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me: This refers to Paul’s ability to be content in all things. To achieve this contentment, he needed the strength of Jesus Christ.

i. Unfortunately, many people take this verse out of context and use it to reinforce a “triumphalist” or “super-Christian” mentality, instead of seeing that the strength of Jesus in Paul’s life was evident in his ability to be content when he did suffer need.

ii. We must always also put this precious statement of faith in connection with John 15:5: for without Me you can do nothing. With Jesus we can do all things, without Him we can’t do anything.

e. Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress: In speaking about his ability to be content, Paul did not want to give the impression that the Philippians had somehow done something wrong in supporting Paul. But there was a real sense in which the giving of the Philippians was better for them than it was for Paul (you have done well). Godly giving actually does more good for the giver than for the one who receives.

2. (15-18) Thanks for the past and present giving of the Philippians.

Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

a. The beginning of the gospel: This refers to Paul’s pioneering missionary efforts in Europe, recorded in Acts 16 and following.

b. No church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only: The Philippians were the only ones to support Paul during this particular period. Paul especially remembered how they supported him when he was in Thessalonica.

i. “Probably the gift does not come to very much, if estimated in Roman coin; but he makes a great deal of it, and sits down to write a letter of thanks abounding in rich expressions like these.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “While labouring to plant the church there, he was supported partly by working with his hands, 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9; and partly by the contributions sent him from Philippi. Even the Thessalonians had contributed little to his maintenance: this is not spoken to their credit.” (Clarke)

c. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account: Paul wasn’t so much interested in the gift on his own behalf, but in the fruit that abounds to your account. Their giving increased the fruit in their account before God.

i. “It is not the actual gift put into Paul’s hands which has brought him joy, but the giving and the meaning of that giving. It is the truest index to the abiding reality of his work.” (Kennedy)

ii. This reflects one of the most important principles regarding giving in the Scriptures: that we are never the poorer for having given. God will never be our debtor, and we can never out-give God.

d. A sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God: Paul described the gift of the Philippians in terms that remind us of sacrifices in the Old Testament (Genesis 8:21, Exodus 29:18, 29:25, and 29:41). Our giving to God’s work is similar to Old Testament sacrifices, which also cost the person bringing the sacrifice a lot. Bulls and rams did not come cheaply in that day.

i. Ephesians 5:2 uses the same terminology in reference to Jesus’ sacrifice for us; our sacrifices are likewise pleasing to God as a sweet-smelling aroma.

ii. In 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, Paul boasted about the Philippians as an example of the right kind of giving. He describes how they gave willingly, out of their own need, and they gave after first having given themselves to the Lord.

3. (19) Paul declares a promise to the Philippians regarding their own financial needs.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

a. My God shall supply all your need: We shouldn’t think that the Philippians were wealthy benefactors of Paul who could easily spare the money. As Paul described them in 2 Corinthians 8, it is plain that their giving was sacrificial. This promise meant something to them!

i. “He says to them, ‘You have helped me; but my God shall supply you. You have helped me in one of my needs-my need of clothing and of food: I have other needs in which you could not help me; but my God shall supply all your need. You have helped me, some of you, out of your deep poverty, taking from your scanty store; but my God shall supply all your need out of his riches in glory.’” (Spurgeon)

b. Shall supply all your need: The promise is to supply all your need; but it is all your need (not a promise to go beyond needs) In this, the promise is both broad and yet restricted.

c. According to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus: This is a staggering measure of giving. Since there is no lack in God’s riches in glory, we should anticipate that there would be no lack in God’s supply.

i. “The rewarding will not be merely from His wealth, but also in a manner that befits His wealth – on a scale worthy of His wealth.” (Martin)

ii. Spurgeon thought that this verse was a great illustration of that wonderful miracle in 2 Kings 4:1-7, where Elisha told the widow to gather empty vessels, set them out, and pour forth the oil from the one small vessel of oil she had into the empty vessels. She filled and filled and miraculously filled until every empty vessel was full.

· All our need is like the empty vessels.

· God is the one who fills the empty vessels.

· According to His riches in glory describes the style in which God fills the empty vessels – the oil keeps flowing until every available vessel is filled.

· By Christ Jesus describes the how God meets our needs – our empty vessels are filled by Jesus in all His glory.

d. All your need: We also notice that this promise was made to the Philippians – those who had surrendered their finances and material possessions to God’s service, and who knew how to give with the right kind of heart.

i. This promise simply expresses what Jesus said in Luke 6:38: Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

D. Conclusion to the letter.

1. (20) A brief doxology.

Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

a. Be glory forever and ever: It is wrong to think of this as an unthinking comment made by Paul in the way that we throw off comments like “glory to God” or “praise the Lord” in our Christian culture. Paul genuinely wanted God to be glorified and was willing to be used in whatever way God saw fit to glorify Himself (Philippians 1:20).

b. Amen: This was a word borrowed from Hebrew meaning, “So be it.” It is an expression of confident and joyful affirmation.

2. (21-22) Mutual greetings expressed.

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.

a. Greet every saint: Paul did not here give specific greetings to individuals as he did in other letters. Rather, he greeted every saint in Christ Jesus. This also is another example of the fact that the title saint applies to all Christians, not just to an elite few.

b. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household: This special greeting is evidence that Paul was still used by God during his Roman imprisonment, when the gospel extended even into the household of Caesar.

i. Those who are of Caesar’s household: “By this he designates the functionaries and servants and slaves of the Emperor’s household, with whom Paul, as a prisoner for several years, undoubtedly came in contact on several occasions.” (Muller)

ii. “Nero was at this time emperor of Rome: a more worthless, cruel, and diabolic wretch never disgraced the name or form of man; yet in his family there were Christians: but whether this relates to the members of the imperial family, or to guards, or courtiers, or to servants, we cannot tell.” (Clarke)

3. (23) Final words.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

a. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all: Paul did not say this to simply fill up space at the end of his letter. To him, the Christian life begins and ends with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so it was appropriate that his letters began and ended with grace also.

b. Amen: This was a fitting word of affirmation. Paul knew that what he wrote to the Philippians was worthy to be agreed with, so he added the final word of agreement – Amen.

Categories: New Testament Paul’s Letters

Enduring Word

What does Philippians 4:4 mean?

Paul returns again to the theme of joy in this verse. This time, he strongly emphasizes that such an attitude should be constant, not temporary. This echoes the words of Philippians 3:1, to “rejoice in the Lord,” a phrase Paul also uses in Philippians 4:10 regarding his own actions. Believers find their joy and hope in God. Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) and is important for every believer.

Paul seems especially focused on the idea that rejoicing is to take place at all times. We often forget that Paul wrote these words while a prisoner in Rome. He had been wrongfully arrested for some time, shipwrecked on the way there, bitten by a snake, and left under house arrest for two years (Acts 27:39–8:16). He had every reason to complain, yet focused on rejoicing. Both his teaching and example provide an amazing model. Every believer should seek to rejoice in the Lord despite difficult situations, just as Paul did.

Context Summary

Philippians 4:2–9 is Paul’s appeal to the Philippian Christians regarding how they handle disagreements within the church. Paul is particularly concerned with an argument between two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Paul’s advice is to focus on our ability to rejoice in our fellowship with Christ. The result of that emphasis ought to be an attitude of ”reasonableness,” seen by all people. With a proper focus on positive things, we can experience peace through the power of God.

Chapter Summary

Paul specifically asks two Christian women, Euodia and Syntyche, to settle their personal dispute. Other Christians are encouraged to act as reasonable, Christ-filled people. Paul notes that his experiences have taught him to be content with whatever material blessings he has. This reliance on the power of Christ not only allows believers to be content, it produces peace in our relationships to other Christians. This also requires a deliberate choice to set our attention on positive things. Paul extends sincere thanks to the Philippians for their generous support

Teach Me In Your Way

VERSE OF THE DAY

Psalm 143:10 (New Living Translation)

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Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Teach me in your honor to walk in your will, for you are my God the high priest of all people. May your gracious Spirit lead me ahead on a righteous path.

What Does Psalm 143:10 Mean? ►

Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Psalm 143:10(NASB)

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Verse Thoughts

In Psalm 143, David laments his circumstances and feels that every step he takes is under attack from his enemies, who are persecuting his soul. He feels that his life is being pounded and pulverised into the ground. He complains that he is being forced to be entombed in dark places, like those that are already in the grave, and he cries out for the Lord to hear his supplication and to answer him, because God is faithful and righteous.

David pleads his own wretchedness and implores God’s goodness to direct and govern his ways. “My spirit is overwhelmed within me,” he cries, “My heart is appalled within me. But I remember the days of old. I meditate on all Your doings. I muse on the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You – my soul longs for You, as a parched land longs for water.”

As with so many of David’s prayers and petitions, these verses feed the hungry soul, restore the fainting spirit, minister to those that feel overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, and encourage a believer’ heart. In his distress, David entreats the listening ear of his faithful Saviour, and we need to do the same. He cried out for mercy, as the enemy sought to crush his soul in death’s deep darkness – and we should similarly cry to the Lord in our distresses.

David’s spirit is faint, his heart dismayed. His soul is as dry as a thirsty desert where there is no water, and yet he starts to recall the days of old. He meditates on the past goodness of God and remembers the wonders of His handiwork, which encourages his fainting heart. David is a man of faith who knows that God is mindful of man and Who has promised to care for His people. However, like us, David often found himself crying out in desperation to the Lord, in times of deep distress and danger.

David always found that his dark nights of distress and discouragement were displaced by mornings of joyous praises, which enlivened his heart to seek God’s perfect will, and so David acknowledges his dependence upon God, and petitions the Lord for direction – entreating the Spirit of enlightenment to guide him onto level ground, where he may walk without fear or danger. “Teach me to do Your will,” he prays, “for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

The distress that David is going through often translates into the deep darkness that floods into our heart, as the Accuser of our soul seeks to destroy our testimony, shipwreck our lives, drown us in sorrow, and batter us with bitter whirlwinds that whip up the tides of discontent.

But those that confess knowledge of God’s will and are obedient to His Word, have the sufficient grace to weather the most raging storm and to water the most arid of dusty deserts. God’s grace is sufficient and He is faithful. He has promised that He will not allow us to be tested more than we are able, but in the power of His Holy Spirit, will always hear our prayers and give us a way to overcome in all things.

Like David, we all need guidance from the Lord and we all need His Spirit to teach us His ways and guide us into all truth. We also need to stand on His faithful promises and be comforted that He is the righteous Judge of all. Like David, we should foster a teachable spirit and be ready to call out to Him in times of trouble, as well as rejoice in times of blessing. And as we read in Psalm 143 we should confess our faith in Him and ask for the Holy Spirit to lead us, “on a level land.”

Like the Psalmist, we should call out to God for deliverance from our enemies, rely on His restoration when attacked, and depend on His sufficient grace to help in time of need. We should be ready and willing to admit our weaknesses and combine humility of heart with a soul that trusts in the Lord with our whole being, and does not rely on our own understanding. May we acknowledge Him in ALL things, knowing that He will teach us His will and lead us in His paths of perfect peace.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/psalm-143-10

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

—Psalm 143:10

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

We want the Spirit to be at work in us to make us like Jesus. For this to happen, we must open our hearts to the will of God. There are no greater words God wants to hear than “teach me to do your will.” That is what it means for him to be God, to have control over our lives and our wills. This is a key part of loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. As we open ourselves to the Father in this way, the Holy Spirit puts us on God’s level ground!

My Prayer…

Almighty God, I want you to truly be God in my life. I renounce any attempt on my part to try to manipulate or use your grace and kindness for my benefit. I submit my will to yours. But Holy Father, I confess that I struggle at times with my own selfish and evil desires that lead me astray. Please forgive me when my heart is cold and my ears are deaf to your will. Please, take control of my life today and may the Spirit lead me on your level ground. Through Jesus my Lord, and in his name, I ask you to assert your will as God in my life. Amen.

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

David Guzik

On December 21, 2015, 11:19 pm

Psalm 143

Psalm 143 – Hope for the Persecuted Soul

Video for Psalm 143:

Psalm 143 – Hope for the Persecuted Soul

The title of this psalm is simply A Psalm of David. It is another cry to God from a time of crisis and affliction because of David’s many enemies. It is numbered among the seven Penitential Psalms – songs of confession and humility before God. Psalm 143 does not seem to belong to this group as much as the others do (Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, and 130), but Psalm 143:2 is a strong and clear statement about the unrighteousness of mankind.

It was a custom in the early church to sing these psalms on Ash Wednesday, the Wednesday six weeks before Easter.

A. Pleading for God’s help in a time of crisis.

1. (1-2) Pleading for God to hear.

Hear my prayer, O LORD,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no one living is righteous.

a. Hear my prayer, O LORD: This psalm describes David in another crisis. Because his life was filled with so much activity and danger, it is impossible to link this psalm to any one particular point of crisis. It could be from the time before David was recognized as king, living as a fugitive from King Saul, or it could be from David’s time as king, particularly when his son Absalom led a rebellion against him.

i. In this crisis, David knew that he must cry out to God and that God must hear him, or he would be lost. For David, prayer was not merely a self-improvement exercise that was good for him whether God heard him or not; prayer was a real plea made to a real God who could be appealed unto to hear, to answer, and to help.

b. Give ear to my supplications: This is the same idea as hear my prayer in the previous line. David used the familiar Hebrew poetic form of parallelism, repeating the same idea in different words for the purpose of emphasis.

c. In Your faithfulness answer me, and in Your righteousness: David appealed to the faithfulness and righteousness of God in his request. He asked God to act consistently with those attributes and to answer David.

i. David knew something of the character and nature of God, and this shaped his prayer life. He could never ask God to be unfaithful or unrighteous. Yet he could ask God to act according to His character, and David did boldly make his request on that basis.

ii. In Your righteousness: “Even the sterner attributes of God are upon the side of the man who humbly trusts, and turns his trust into prayer.” (Spurgeon)

d. Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous: David understood that if God were to deal with him only on the basis of His righteousness, it could mean judgment and ruin for David. So he asked God to deal with him on the basis of mercy (do not enter into judgment) and understood that he appealed to God because the LORD is righteous, not because David was righteous.

i. We may consider David’s thoughts as such: “LORD, I know that You are righteous and I am not. Yet I come to You as Your servant, asking You to act on my behalf because of Your mercy and Your righteousness, not on my supposed righteousness.”

ii. In saying in Your sight no one living is righteous, David seemed to anticipate the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10 (quoting Isaiah), There is none righteous, no not one; and Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. “Luther called this psalm one of the ‘Pauline Psalms’ (see also Psalm 32; Psalm 51; Psalm 130).” (VanGemeren)

iii. When David said this, he wasn’t thinking of others, as in “LORD, they – the whole world – are unrighteous.” Instead he thought about himself, as in “LORD, no one living is righteous, and I am certainly numbered among them.”

iv. “How contrary is this spirit to the confession of innocence in several psalms (Psalm 7:3-5)! Both expressions are valid, depending on the context in which one finds himself. The confession of innocence is appropriate when one is insulted and persecuted for righteousness’s sake, and the confession of guilt is proper when confronted with one’s own frailties.” (VanGemeren)

v. “His peril has forced home the penitent conviction of his sin, and therefore he must first have matters set right between him and God by Divine forgiveness.” (Maclaren)

2. (3-4) The nature of the crisis.

For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has made me dwell in darkness,
Like those who have long been dead.
Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is distressed.

a. For the enemy has persecuted my soul: In his wide and amazing life, David knew suffering of many kinds. Here he spoke of the persecution and suffering of his soul. Perhaps there was also a physical or material aspect to his misery, but that is not in view. David ached and cried out to God out of soul-misery.

b. He has crushed my life to the ground: David went on to describe his sense of soul-misery.

· His life felt crushed…to the ground.

· He felt that he lived in darkness as would be true of those long…dead.

· He felt his spirit to be overwhelmed within himself.

· He felt his heart to be distressed.

i. Collectively, this is a powerful picture of the deep misery of a soul. Worse for David, he felt this was pressed upon him by his enemy. This wasn’t because David was of a melancholy or depressive nature; such misery is of its own character. This was something brought upon David by his adversary.

ii. This makes us think of the times when others caused great misery for David, misery that surely extended to the depths of his soul. For many years he lived as a fugitive from King Saul, having to forsake all because a wicked man persecuted him without cause. David also experienced deep misery when his son Absalom rebelled and deposed him as king. David knew what it was like to have great soul-misery inflicted upon him by another person.

iii. Dwell in darkness: “Literally, in dark places. This may be understood of David’s taking refuge in caves and dens of the earth.” (Clarke)

c. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is distressed: David spoke long before the greater Son of David, but these words could also be in the mouth of Jesus, especially in His Gethsemane agony. In Gethsemane, before His betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus said: My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death (Matthew 26:38).

i. “Such words our Lord Jesus might have used: in this the Head is like the members, and the members are as the Head.” (Spurgeon)

3. (5-6) The workings of the soul.

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah

a. I remember the days of old: In this dark season of his soul, David considered the days of old when things were not so bad. He probably thought of early days of innocence and freshness in his life and his life with God.

i. There were probably mixed emotions within David as he remembered the days of old. If he thought of the joy, the simplicity, and the goodness of how God met him and blessed him as an anonymous (even somewhat despised) shepherd boy, it would bring a warm smile to his face. Yet it would also cause him some pain to consider how far away all that seemed in his present misery of soul.

ii. There are times when it is good for us to remember the days of old. We can remember the sweet and good times of our early life with God, and it blesses us. We can also remember the days of old before our own time, thinking of the great things God has done among His people in days past. Even if remembering the days of old fills us with a measure of sadness to think of how distant those better days may seem, we can use those memories to restore our hope.

iii. “When we see nothing new which can cheer us, let us think upon old things. We once had merry days, days of deliverance, and joy and thanksgiving; why not again?” (Spurgeon)

b. I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands: David’s consideration of the days of old was not only a nostalgic longing for the past. It was a remembrance of God’s great works. David didn’t remember his past as much as he remembered the LORD’s past works.

i. For David, what made the past worth remembering was the work of the LORD. He thought carefully about what God had done; meditate and muse are words that speak of deep thought.

c. I spread out my hands to You: Thinking deeply about what God did with His hands made David respond with his hands, spreading them out before God in prayer and praise. David praised God for what He had done in the days of old, and he prayed that God might draw close to him now.

i. This posture of prayer and praise was genuine hope for David in the midst of his misery of soul. “‘I stretch forth my hands unto thee,’ as if I were in hope thou wouldst take me by the hand and draw me to thee.” (Baker, cited in Spurgeon)

d. My soul longs for You like a thirsty land: Thankfully, the ache in David’s soul did not drive him away from God. It drove David to God in prayer, praise, and deep longing. His persecuted soul (Psalm 143:3) sought after God with the intensity of thirst.

i. “While we recite this verse, let us not be unmindful of Him whose hands were often stretched forth in prayer for his people, and whose soul thirsted after our salvation, even then, when he felt extremity of bodily thirst on the cross.” (Horne)

B. The plea presented again

1. (7) The need for a quick answer.

Answer me speedily, O LORD;
My spirit fails!
Do not hide Your face from me,
Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.

a. Answer me speedily: David felt that his failing spirit could not last long without God’s answer and intervention. Many a saint has felt as David did, feeling an urgency to hear God’s answer.

i. Experience had taught David that God always did things at just the right time, but the present crisis made him cry out, “Answer me speedily, O LORD.”

b. Do not hide Your face from me: David knew what it was like to enjoy the sense of God’s favor and blessing. To feel that God might hide His face drove David into despair, so he pleaded to see the light of God’s countenance.

i. Much later, the Apostle Paul wrote: If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). When we live with the belief that God is for us, we are confident in the face of any adversary. Yet if we sense that God may hide His face from us, we feel weak before any adversary.

ii. Sadly, David’s words do not connect with the daily experience of many who think of themselves as followers of God. The spiritually insensitive man cares little about God’s favor and blessing. He lives only occasionally aware of a break in communion with God. David was not such a man.

c. Lest I be like those who go down into the pit: David considered this to be the worst imaginable fate: to leave the land of the living and go to the pit of the grave. He felt that he could not go on without a continued sense of the favor and blessing of God.

2. (8) The need for loving guidance.

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.

a. Cause me to hear: David needed to hear a good word from God, and asked that he would be caused to hear it. Perhaps David wondered if God was speaking and he somehow failed to hear, so he prayed, “Cause me to hear.” This is a good prayer for all to pray.

i. “He who made the ear will cause us to hear, he who is love itself will have the kindness to bring his lovingkindness before our minds.” (Spurgeon)

b. Your lovingkindness in the morning: David needed to hear something of God’s great mercy, His lovingkindness – His hesed. He needed to hear this early in the day, in the morning, so we would have assurance and know how to walk during the day.

i. The ancient Hebrew word here translated lovingkindness is hesed. For centuries it was translated with words like mercy, kindness, and love. In 1927, a scholar named Nelson Glueck (among others) argued that the real idea behind hesed was “covenant loyalty” and not so much love or mercy. However, many disagreed and there is no good reason for changing the long-held understanding of hesed and taking it as a word that mainly emphasizes covenant loyalty (see R. Laird Harris on hesed in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament).

ii. Spurgeon on lovingkindness (hesed): “Lovingkindness is one of the sweetest words in our language. Kindness has much in it that is most precious, but lovingkindness is doubly dear; it is the cream of kindness.”

iii. “He is beginning to look ahead and seek direction. The phrase, in the morning, is already a token of this by its admission that the night is not endless.” (Kidner)

c. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk: David confessed that he didn’t know the way, and that he needed God to cause him to know the way. He didn’t only need the love of God – he also needed the guidance of God. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk is a wonderful prayer for all to pray.

d. For in You do I trust…for I lift up my soul to You: David appealed to God on the basis of his trust and surrender to God. It was as if David prayed, “LORD, I am genuinely depending on you. Please don’t let me down; speak to me and guide me.”

i. “If the soul will not rise of itself we must lift it, lift it up unto God.” (Spurgeon)

3. (9) The need for deliverance from wicked men.

Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies;
In You I take shelter.

a. Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies: David’s enemies had persecuted his soul (Psalm 143:3). He prayed not only for God’s encouragement, but also for His defense against these enemies.

b. In You I take shelter: This was a beautiful statement of faith. David would not take shelter in sinful pleasures, in the distractions of entertainment, in positive thinking, in self-reliance, in bitterness, or in vengeance. David was determined to take shelter in the LORD.

i. “The blessedness of contrite trust is that it nestles the closer to God, the more it feels its unworthiness. The child hides its face on the mother’s bosom when it has done wrong.” (Maclaren)

4. (10) The need to do God’s good will.

Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.

a. Teach me to do Your will: David could say, “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness” and “Cause me to know the way in which I should walk” (Psalm 143:8). Yet he did not say, “Cause me to do Your will.” In all his reliance upon God, he knew that God would not obey for him. Rather, the loving God would teach David to do His will. He would lead David in the land of uprightness.

i. “The psalmist does not say, ‘Lord, help me to talk about thy will,’ though it is a very proper thing to talk about, and a very profitable thing to hear about. But still doing is better than talking.” (Spurgeon)

ii. Spurgeon also described how the believer should do the will of God: thoughtfully, immediately, cheerfully, constantly, universally, spiritually, and intensely.

iii. The next line, Your Spirit is good, connects this teaching work of God with the presence of His Spirit. “Moreover the Lord has a way of teaching us by his own Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks in secret whispers to those who are able to hear him. It is not every professing Christian that has the visitations of the Spirit of God in personal monitions, but there are saints who hear a voice behind them saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’ God guides us with his eye as well as by his word.” (Spurgeon)

b. For You are my God: It was appropriate for David to expect God to teach him. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will teach the willing servant to do His will, a demonstration of the goodness of God’s Spirit.

i. We should know what David knew – that Your Spirit is good. We should know it even more than David did, in light of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is part of the New Covenant. A believer has no reason to fail to yield to the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.

ii. John Trapp noted this from Cyril of Alexandria (A.D. 378-444): “Cyril gathereth from this text, that the good Spirit is God, because none is good but God.”

5. (11-12) The need for revival and rescue.

Revive me, O LORD, for Your name’s sake!
For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
In Your mercy cut off my enemies,
And destroy all those who afflict my soul;
For I am Your servant.

a. Revive me, O LORD: David prayed for revival, for a renewal of life and vitality. Yet he prayed this not for his own benefit or reputation, but for Your name’s sake – the sake of the LORD’s name and reputation.

i. A genuine concern for the sake of God’s name is a necessary aspect of true revival – and not for the name or the advancement of any man or woman of God. Many prayers for revival are actually self-interested, praying “Lord, let me be known for a great work of revival.”

b. For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble: David knew that his rescue would bring glory to God, so he could pray for deliverance on that basis. He could ask God to destroy all those who afflict my soul, leaving vengeance to God against those who persecuted his soul.

i. Bring my soul out of trouble: “I can bring it in, but thou only canst bring it out.” (Trapp)

c. In Your mercy cut off my enemies…for I am Your servant: David appealed to God on the basis of His name, His righteousness, and His mercy – yet also on the basis of his relationship with God as His servant. David understood that the servant has obligations to the Master; yet, the Master also has obligations to the servant.

i. “For God is pledged to His servant as surely as His servant is pledged to Him.” (Kidner)

ii. David asked God to deal with his enemies; but before that, he asked God to deal with him. He knew that his own low or uninspired or undirected walk with God was a greater danger than any enemy.

Enduring Word

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Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

— Psalm 143:10 NIV

Key Thought

As in this psalm, we cry out to God because we are aware of enemies who are set to attack us and of our personal sins that so easily entangle us in evil. On our own, we have no personal power to stand up under the weight of these two realities. So, our hearts cry out to God asking for him to teach us to do his will and for the Spirit to guide us to the place where we can walk on solid (or level) ground and live the life that pleases God. Rather than giving up in circumstances that seem insurmountable, we cry out to our Father in heaven and trust that the Holy Spirit brings his answer and his power into our lives and brings God’s blessing and God’s deliverance.

Today’s Prayer

O Father, through your good Spirit, please teach me to do your will and to live the life you want me to live in my world — to live to honor the Father just as you did. May your good Spirit lead me on level ground. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Perfect In Relationship To Christ Jesus

VERSE OF THE DAY

Colossians 1:28 (New Living Translation)

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So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.

So we continue to tell people about Christ. We use all wisdom to counsel every person and teach every person. We are trying to bring everyone before God as people who have grown to be spiritually mature in Christ. Unless we come as one in Christ there is no relationship in Christ Jesus

What Does Colossians 1:28 Mean? ►

We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Colossians 1:28(HCSB)

Verse Thoughts

While incarcerated in prison, Paul lifted up his heart in earnest prayer for the Colossian Christians – for spiritual intelligence, practical obedience, moral excellence, and that Christ may be crowned Lord of all in their lives. He prayed that they might become complete in Him and attain spiritual maturity.

He reminds us that Christ is our Saviour Who died to redeem us from the punishment of sin and rose again to live in us, saving us from the power of sin in our lives. He reminds us that Christ is the Creator Who was, and is, and is to come, that all things exist for Him, and that all things are held together by Him.

Paul also reminds us that Christ is the head of the Church, beloved of the Father, and in Whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And he reminds us that we are positioned in Christ and one with Him, and that God’s goal for all his children, is that we become just like Christ.

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Despite being in prison, it was Paul’s delight to preach and proclaim the glorious gospel of grace and the wonderful truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. As God’s chosen apostle to the Gentiles, he wanted to warn us to live godly in Christ Jesus, to admonish us to grow in grace, to encourage us to walk in spirit and truth, and to teach us the unsearchable riches of God.

Paul knew that God’s grace had been bestowed in great measure upon the Church so that we might become spiritually mature, practically obedient, and morally excellent, and his desire was that we walk in humble submission and utter dependence upon our God.

May we take heed to Paul’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit. May we seek to walk circumspectly and live humbly before our God. May we all come together in the unity in our faith, through a knowledge of God’s Son.

May we all mature in the Lord, with every passing day so that we measure up to the full and complete stature and standard of Christ Jesus, our Saviour, for His praise and glory.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/colossians-1-28

Colossians Chapter 1

Colossians 1 – The Greatness of Jesus Christ

A. Greeting and giving of thanks.

1. (1-2) Paul greets the Christians in Colosse.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

a. Paul: According to the custom of writing letters in that day, the author’s name is given first. Therefore the author was Paul; he wrote the letter while in Roman custody (Colossians 4:3, 4:10, and 4:18), probably from Rome and around A.D. 63.

i. Paul probably wrote the letter because of the visit of Epaphras from Colosse (Colossians 1:7). It is likely that Paul himself had never visited the city (Colossians 2:1).

b. An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God: Paul was qualified to write this letter of instruction to the Colossians, though he had never met them personally, because he was an apostle.

i. “The literal meaning of apostolos is ‘one sent’; but at its deepest level it denotes an authorized spokesman for God, one commissioned and empowered to act as his representative.” (Vaughan)

ii. And Timothy our brother: Timothy was an honored companion of Paul, but he was not an apostle. “Though Timothy is here joined in the salutation, yet he has never been understood as having any part in composing this epistle. He has been considered as the amanuensis or scribe of the apostle.” (Clarke)

c. To the saints and faithful brethren: When Paul addressed the saints, he did not separate some Christians from others in the Colossian church. Every true Christian is a saint. However, Paul may make a distinction with the phrase faithful brethren. He may refer to those who haven’t embraced the false teaching that concerned Paul so much in this letter.

d. Who are in Colosse: The city of Colosse was probably the smallest and least important city that Paul ever wrote to. It might surprise us that Paul would turn his attention to the Christians in Colosse at a time when he had so many other concerns. Yet he apparently thought the situation in Colosse was important enough for apostolic attention.

i. Paul wrote because there were problems among the Christians in Colosse, but the doctrinal problem – sometimes described as “The Colossian Heresy” – is difficult to precisely describe. It probably was a corruption of Christianity with elements of mystical and legalistic Judaism perhaps combined with early Gnosticism.

ii. The first century religious environment was much like our own. It was a time of religious mixing, with people borrowing a little from this religion and a little from that religion. The only difference was that in the first century, one joined a group who did the borrowing. In our modern culture one does the borrowing one’s self.

iii. Whatever the problem was precisely, Paul dwelt on the solution: a better understanding of Jesus. Knowing the real Jesus helps us to stay away from the counterfeit, no matter how it comes packaged.

e. In Colosse: The city of Colosse is not even mentioned in the Book of Acts. All our Biblical information about the church there comes from this letter and a few allusions in the letter to Philemon.

i. From these sources we learn that Epaphras was responsible for bringing the gospel to the Colossians (Colossians 1:6-7). He was a native of the city (Colossians 4:12), and also got the message out to neighboring towns in the Lycus Valley like Hierapolis and Laodicea (Colossians 4:13).

ii. Perhaps Epaphras heard the gospel himself when Paul was in Ephesus. As Paul taught in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord (Acts 19:10). It would not be surprising if some people from Colosse heard the gospel at that time.

iii. Historically, Colosse was a prosperous city, and famous (along with other cities in its region) for its fabric dyes. Yet by Paul’s time the glory it had as a city was on the decline.

iv. Adam Clarke adds an interesting comment: “That this city perished by an earthquake, a short time after the date of this epistle, we have the testimony of Eusebius.” Tacitus also mentioned this earthquake, which happened around A.D. 60.

f. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ: Paul’s greeting was familiar but heartfelt. “Grace is God’s unconditioned goodwill toward men and women which is decisively expressed in the saving work of Christ.” (Bruce)

i. This letter – full of love and concern, written to a church Paul had neither planted nor visited – shows the power of Christian love. Paul didn’t need to see or meet or directly know these Christians in order to love them and be concerned for them.

2. (3) Paul’s habit of prayer for the Colossians.

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

a. Praying always for you: Though he had never met most of them, the Christians of Colosse were on Paul’s prayer list. He prayed for them not only often, but always.

b. We give thanks: When Paul did pray for the Colossians, he did it full of gratitude. Perhaps those who pray the most end up having the most reasons to thank God.

3. (4-8) Why Paul was thankful.

Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

a. Since we heard: Paul was thankful for their faith in Christ Jesus and their love for all the saints. Genuine faith in Jesus will always have a true love for God’s people as a companion.

b. Because of the hope: Paul was thankful for the hope laid up for them in heaven. He was thankful when he considered the destiny of the Colossian Christians.

i. We notice the familiar triad of faith, hope, and love. These were not merely theological ideas to Paul; they dominated his thinking as a Christian.

c. Which you heard before in the word of the truth: Paul was thankful that their eternal destiny was affected by the truth of the gospel, brought by Epaphras (as you also learned from Epaphras).

i. Epaphras is described as a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf. This doesn’t mean that Epaphras was superior to the other Christians in Colosse. The word minister does not mean “superior”; it means “one who serves.”

d. And is bringing forth fruit: Paul was thankful that the gospel was bringing forth fruit over all the world, even while Paul was in a Roman prison.

i. The phrase “in all the world” was “A legitimate hyperbole, for the gospel was spreading all over the Roman Empire.” (Robertson)

ii. “The doctrine of the Gospel is represented as a traveller, whose object it is to visit the whole habitable earth… So rapid is this traveller in his course, that he had already gone nearly through the whole of the countries under the Roman dominion, and will travel on until he has proclaimed his message to every people, and kindred, and nation, and tongue.” (Clarke)

B. How Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians.

1. (9-11) Paul petitions God on behalf of the Colossians.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

a. To ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will: First, Paul prayed that they would have a knowledge of His will, informed by a true spiritual understanding. To know God and what He requires of us is our first responsibility.

i. “If you read this epistle through, you will observe that Paul frequently alludes to knowledge and wisdom. To the point in which he judged the church to be deficient he turned his prayerful attention. He would not have them ignorant. He knew that spiritual ignorance is the constant source of error, instability, and sorrow; and therefore he desired that they might be soundly taught in the things of God.” (Spurgeon)

b. That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him: Second, Paul prayed that they would live according to the same knowledge they received, living out a walk worthy of the Lord.

i. This is a familiar pattern, repeated over and over again in the New Testament. Our walk is based on our knowledge of God and our understanding of His will.

c. Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. This is how we can be fully pleasing to God and how we can have a worthy walk.

i. This is an echo of Jesus’ thought in John 15:7-8: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

ii. “‘Fruitful in every good work.’ Here is room and range enough – in ‘every good work.’ Have you the ability to preach the gospel? Preach it! Does a little child need comforting? Comfort it! Can you stand up and vindicate a glorious truth before thousands? Do it! Does a poor saint need a bit of dinner from your table? Send it to her. Let works of obedience, testimony, zeal, charity, piety, and philanthropy all be found in your life. Do not select big things as your special line, but glorify the Lord also in the littles – ‘fruitful in every good work.’” (Spurgeon)

d. Strengthened with all might: As we walk worthy of the Lord, His strength is there to help us meet all of life’s challenges, and to endure and overcome problems with circumstances (patience) and people (longsuffering) with joy.

2. (12-14) Paul’s specific thanks to the Father.

Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

a. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us: In the divine administration, the Father is mentioned in connection with the broad sweep of His plan of redemption. He is the Person of the Trinity who initiates the plan of the ages.

b. To be partakers of the inheritance of the saints: It is the Father who qualifies us, not our own works. We gain this as an inheritance, instead of earning it as a wage.

c. He has delivered us from the power of darkness: Christians have been delivered from Satan’s domain. The word has the idea of a rescue by a sovereign power.

i. Another place where this same phrase for power of darkness is used is in Luke 22:53, where Jesus spoke of the darkness surrounding His arrest and passion in the same terms. “These words refer to the sinister forces marshaled against him for decisive combat in the spiritual realm.” (Bruce)

ii. The power of darkness may be seen in its effects, and for those who have been delivered… from the power of darkness these effects should be less and less evident in the life.

· The power of darkness lulls us to sleep.

· The power of darkness is skilled at concealment.

· The power of darkness afflicts and depresses man.

· The power of darkness can fascinate us.

· The power of darkness emboldens some men.

iii. “Beloved, we still are tempted by Satan, but we are not under his power; we have to fight with him, but we are not his slaves. He is not our king; he has no rights over us; we do not obey him; we will not listen to his temptations.” (Spurgeon)

d. And conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love: According to Barclay, the word we translate conveyed had a special significance in the ancient world. When one empire conquered another, the custom was to take the population of the defeated empire and transfer it completely to the conqueror’s land. It is in this sense that Paul says we have been conveyed into God’s kingdom. Everything we have and everything we are now belongs to Him.

i. The Son of His love is a Hebraic way of saying “God’s dear Son.”

e. In whom we have redemption through His blood: Redemption has the idea of release by a legal ransom. The price for our release was paid by the blood of Jesus.

i. This is one reason why pleading the blood of Jesus – in the right sense, not in a magical or superstitious sense – has such great significance in spiritual warfare. It shows the “receipt” of our lawful purchase as redeemed people.

ii. One of the great sticky questions of theology is to whom was the price paid? Some say it was to God that the ransom price was paid, but we were prisoners of Satan’s kingdom. Others say it was to Satan that the ransom price was paid, but what does God owe to Satan? This question probably simply extends the metaphor too far.

f. The forgiveness of sins: The word translated forgiveness is the ancient Greek word aphesis, most literally rendered “a sending away.” Our sin and guilt is sent away because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

i. “It thus speaks of the removal of our sins from us, so that they are no longer barriers that separate us from God.” (Vaughan)

3. (15-20) Paul’s meditation on the person and work of Jesus.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

a. He is: Paul started out thanking the Father for His plan of redemption (Colossians 1:12). He couldn’t do that without also thinking of the Son, who is the great Redeemer.

i. Most scholars think that Colossians 1:15-20 came from a poem or a hymn in the early Church that described what Christians believed about Jesus. This is entirely possible, but can’t be proven one way or another.

b. He is the image of the invisible God: The word translated image (the ancient Greek word eikon) expressed two ideas.

· Likeness, as in the image on a coin or the reflection in a mirror.

· Manifestation, with the sense that God is fully revealed in Jesus.

i. If Paul meant that Jesus was merely similar to the Father, he would have used the ancient Greek word homoioma, which speaks merely of similar appearance. The stronger word used here proves that Paul knew that Jesus is God just as God the Father is God. It means that “Jesus is the very stamp of God the Father.” (Robertson)

ii. “God is invisible, which does not merely mean that He cannot be seen by our bodily eye, but that He is unknowable. In the exalted Christ the unknowable God becomes known.” (Peake)

iii. According to Barclay, the ancient Jewish philosopher Philo equated the eikon of God with the Logos. Paul used this important and meaningful word with great purpose.

c. The firstborn over all creation: Firstborn (the ancient Greek word prototokos) can describe either priority in time or supremacy in rank. As Paul used it here, he probably had both ideas in mind, with Jesus being before all created things and Jesus being of a supremely different order than all created things.

i. Firstborn is also used of Jesus in Colossians 1:18, Romans 8:29, Hebrews 1:6, and Revelation 1:5.

ii. In no way does the title firstborn indicate that Jesus is less than God. In fact, the ancient Rabbis called Yawhew Himself “Firstborn of the World” (Rabbi Bechai, cited in Lightfoot). Ancient rabbis used firstborn as a Messianic title: “God said, As I made Jacob a first-born (Exodus 4:22), so also will I make king Messiah a first-born (Psalm 89:27).” (R. Nathan in Shemoth Rabba, cited in Lightfoot)

iii. “The use of this word does not show what Arius argued: that Paul regarded Christ as a creature like ‘all creation’… It is rather the comparative (superlative) force of protos that is used.” (Robertson)

iv. Bishop Lightfoot, a noted Greek scholar, on the use of both eikon (image) and prototokos (firstborn): “As the Person of Christ was the Divine response alike to the philosophical questionings of the Alexandrian Jew and to the patriotic hopes of the Palestinian, these two currents of thought meet in the term prototokos as applied to our Lord, who is both the true Logos and the true Messiah.” (Lightfoot)

v. “Prototokos in its primary sense expresses temporal priority, and then, on account of the privileges of the firstborn, it gains the further sense of dominion… Whether the word retains anything of its original meaning here is doubtful.” (Peake)

d. For by Him all things were created: There is no doubt that Jesus is the author of all creation. He Himself is not a created being. When we behold the wonder and the glory of the world Jesus created, we worship and honor Him all the more.

i. Comets have vapor trails up to 10,000 miles long. If you could capture all that vapor, and put it in a bottle, the amount of vapor actually present in the bottle would take up less than 1 cubic inch of space.

ii. Saturn’s rings are 500,000 miles in circumference, but only about a foot thick.

iii. If the sun were the size of a beachball and put on top of the Empire State Building, the nearest group of stars would be as far away as Australia is to the Empire State Building.

iv. The earth travels around the sun about eight times the speed of a bullet fired from a gun.

v. There are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on the entire earth.

vi. A single human chromosome contains twenty billion bits of information. How much information is that? If written in ordinary books, in ordinary language, it would take about four thousand volumes.

vii. According to Greek scholar A.T. Robertson, all things were created has the idea of “stand created” or “remain created.” Robertson adds: “The permanence of the universe rests, then, on Christ far more than on gravity. It is a Christ-centric universe.”

e. Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: As will be demonstrated in the rest of the letter, the Colossian Heresy seemed taken with an elaborate angelology, which effectively placed angels as mediators between God and man. Paul emphasized that whatever ranks of spirit beings there may be, Jesus created them all and they all ultimately answer to Him.

f. He is before all things… who is the beginning: Centuries after Paul, a dangerous (yet popular) teacher named Arius claimed that Jesus was not truly God and that there was a time when He did not exist. Paul rightly understood and insisted that Jesus is before all things and is Himself the beginning.

i. “As all creation necessarily exists in time, and had a commencement, and there was an infinite duration in which it did not exist, whatever was before or prior to that must be no part of creation; and the Being who existed prior to creation, and before all things-all existence of every kind, must be the unoriginated and eternal God: but Paul says, Jesus Christ was before all things; ergo, the apostle conceived Jesus Christ to be truly, and essentially God.” (Clarke)

g. In Him all things consist: The idea that Jesus is both the unifying principle and the personal sustainer of all creation.

i. “Hence, God, as the Preserver, is as necessary to the continuance of all things, as God the Creator was to their original production. But this preserving or continuing power is here ascribed to Christ.” (Clarke)

h. Head of the body, the church: This describes Jesus’ relationship to the church. Here, head probably refers to Jesus’ role as source of the church, even as we refer to the head of a river.

i. That in all things He may have the preeminence: This is a fitting summary of the verses found in Colossians 1:15-18.

i. Adam Clarke on Colossians 1:16-17: “Now, allowing St. Paul to have understood the terms which he used, he must have considered Jesus Christ as being truly and properly God… Unless there be some secret way of understanding the 16th and 17th verses, which God has nowhere revealed, taken in their sober and rational sense and meaning they must forever settle this very important point.”

j. Fullness: This translates the ancient Greek word pleroma, and was really just another way to say that Jesus is truly God.

i. The word fullness was “a recognized technical term in theology, denoting the totality of the Divine powers and attributes.” (Lightfoot, cited in Robertson)

ii. According to Vincent, pleroma was used by the Gnostic teachers in a technical sense, to express the sum-total of divine powers and attributes “Christ may have been ranked with these inferior images of the divine by the Colossian teachers. Hence the significance of the assertion that the totality of the divine dwells in Him.” (Vincent)

iii. “The Gnostics distributed the divine powers among various aeons. Paul gathers them all up in Christ, a full and flat statement of the deity of Christ.” (Robertson)

k. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell: The ancient Greek word for dwell is here used in the sense of a permanent dwelling. There is an entirely different word used for the sense of a temporary dwelling place. Paul wanted to emphasize the idea that Jesus was not temporarily God, but is permanently God.

i. “Two mighty words; ‘fullness’a substantial, comprehensive, expressive word in itself, and ‘all,’ a great little word including everything. When combined in the expression, ‘all fullness,’ we have before us a superlative wealth of meaning.” (Spurgeon)

ii. Once it pleased the Father to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10); now it pleases the Father that in Him all the fullness of God should dwell.

iii. “Thus the phrase in Him should all the fullness dwell gathers into a grand climax the previous statements – image of God, first-born of all creation, Creator, the eternally preexistent, the Head of the Church, the victor over death, first in all things. On this summit we pause, looking like John, from Christ in His fullness of deity to the exhibition of that divine fullness in redemption consummated in heaven.” (Vincent)

iv. The fullness is in Jesus Christ. Not in a church; not in a priesthood; not in a building; not in a sacrament; not in the saints; not in a method or a program, but in Jesus Christ Himself. It is in Him as a “distribution point” – so that those who wanted more of God and all that He is can find it in Jesus Christ.

l. And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself: Jesus’ atoning work is full and broad. Yet we should not take Colossians 1:20 as an endorsement of universalism.

m. Through the blood of the cross: Again we notice where the peace was made. We don’t make our own peace with God, but Jesus made peace for us through His work on the cross.

i. However, we should not regard the blood of the cross in a superstitious manner. It is not a magical potion, nor is it the literal blood of Jesus, literally applied that saves or cleanses us. If that were so, then His Roman executioners, splattered with His blood, would have been automatically saved, and the actual number of molecules of Jesus’ literal blood would limit the number of people who could be saved. The blood of the cross speaks to us of the real, physical death of Jesus Christ in our place, on our behalf, before God. That literal death in our place, and the literal judgment He bore on our behalf, is what saves us.

4. (21-23) How the greatness of Jesus’ work touches the lives of the Colossians.

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

a. Who once were alienated: The ancient Greek word translated alienated (apellotriomenous) is literally “transferred to another owner.” This transfer of ownership, from God to Satan and self, affected us in both mind and behavior.

i. Belonging to the race of Adam, we are born alienated from God. Then as individuals, we each choose to accept and embrace that alienation with our wicked works.

ii. Once were alienated: This means that in Jesus we are no longer alienated. The difference between a believer and a non-believer isn’t merely forgiveness; there is a complete change of status.

b. Yet now He has reconciled: God’s answer to the problem of alienation is reconciliation, initiated by His work on the cross (reconciled in the body of His flesh through death). In the work of reconciliation, God didn’t meet us halfway. God meets us all the way and invites us to accept it.

i. One may use two different ways of understanding human need and God’s salvation.

· We can see God as the judge, and we are guilty before Him. Therefore, we need forgiveness and justification.

· We can see God as our friend, and we have damaged our relationship with Him. Therefore, we need reconciliation.

ii. Both of these are true; neither one should be promoted at the expense of the other.

iii. The phrase body of His flesh is redundant. Paul wanted to emphasize that this happened because of something that happened to a real man on a real cross.

c. To present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight: This is the result of God’s work of reconciliation. Taken together, these words show that in Jesus we are pure and can’t even be justly accused of impurity.

i. The idea of presenting us holy and blameless before God may recall the terminology used when priests inspected potential sacrifices. We are presented to God as a living sacrifice.

ii. A desire to be saved means a desire to be made holy, and blameless, and above reproach; not merely a desire to escape the fires of hell on our own terms.

d. If indeed you continue in the faith: Those truly reconciled must truly persevere. Paul’s main focus is continuing in the truth of the gospel (continue in the faith… not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard). It is important for Christians to continue in godly conduct, but we are not saved by our godly conduct. So it is even more important for Christians to continue in the truth of the gospel because we are saved by grace through faith.

i. “If the gospel teaches the final perseverance of the saints, it teaches at the same time that the saints are those who finally persevere – in Christ. Continuance is the test of reality.” (Bruce)

C. What Paul did for the Colossians.

1. (24) Paul suffers for their sake.

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,

a. I now rejoice in my sufferings for you: Paul wrote this from a Roman jail. He was able to see that his sufferings worked something good for others, so he could say that his sufferings were for the Colossians and other Christians.

b. And fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ: This word afflictions is never used for the suffering of Jesus on the cross. Most commentators see this as a reference to the affliction Jesus endured in ministry. These afflictions are not yet complete, and in this sense Jesus still “suffers” as He ministers through His people.

i. “Paul attaches no atoning value whatever to his own sufferings for the church.” (Robertson)

ii. “The term ‘afflictions of Christ’ is never associated with the redemptive suffering of Jesus upon the cross. It speaks, rather, of those ministerial sufferings which Paul bears because he represents Jesus Christ.” (Lane)

c. For the sake of His body, which is the church: Paul did not suffer for himself in the way that an ascetic might. Instead he suffered for the sake of the body of Christ.

i. Ascetics focus on their holiness, on their spiritual growth, and on their perfection. Paul followed in the footsteps of Jesus and was an others-centered person. Paul found holiness, spiritual growth, and maturity when he pursued these things for others.

2. (25-26) Paul is a servant of the church, revealing the mystery of God that was once hidden.

Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

a. Of which I became a minister: Paul was a minister – that is, a servant of the body of Christ, the church. He did not take this position on his own initiative, but according to the stewardship from God. God put Paul into this position, he did not put himself.

b. The word of God, the mystery which has been hidden: In the Biblical sense, a mystery is not a riddle. It is a truth that can only be known by revelation and not by intuition. Now it can be known, because it now has been revealed to His saints.

i. Hidden from ages and generations: This reminds us that there are aspects to God’s plan that were not clearly revealed in the Old Testament. The specific mystery Paul refers to here deals with many aspects of the work of Jesus in His people, but especially the plan of the church, to make one body out of Jew and Gentile, taken from the “trunk” of Israel, yet not Israel.

ii. “The mystery is this: that God had designed to grant the Gentiles the same privileges with the Jews, and make them his people who were not his people. That this in what Paul means by the mystery, see Eph 3:3, etc.” (Clarke)

3. (27) Part of the mystery: that Jesus would actually indwell believers.

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

a. This mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you: The wonder and glory of the abiding, indwelling Jesus was not clearly revealed in the Old Testament, especially that He would abide in the Gentiles. Therefore, this aspect of the work of Jesus in His people was a mystery that wasn’t revealed until the time of Jesus and the apostles.

i. “This is the crowning wonder to Paul that God had included the Gentiles in his redemptive grace.” (Robertson)

ii. This means that God is revealed to us in Jesus. Classic theologians use the Latin term deus absconditus to refer to the “hidden God,” the God than cannot be clearly seen or known. The Latin theological term deus revelatus refers to the “revealed God.” In Jesus, the deus absconditus has become the deus revelatus.

b. Christ in you, the hope of glory: This is the Christian’s hope of glory. It isn’t our own hard work or devotion to God, or the power of our own spirituality. Instead, it is the abiding presence of Jesus: Christ in you.

4. (28-29) Paul’s motto for apostolic ministry.

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

a. Him we preach: This was the focus of Paul’s preaching. He didn’t preach himself, or his opinions, or even lots and lots of entertaining stories. He preached Jesus.

b. Warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom: Paul wanted the whole gospel for the whole world. He wouldn’t hold back in either area – it was for every man, and he presented it in all wisdom.

i. Some translate the word warning as “counseling.” The ancient Greek verb nouthetountes means, “To impart understanding,” “to lay on the mind or the heart.” The stress is on influencing not only the intellect, but also the will and disposition. It describes a basic means of education.

ii. The work of warning – or helping to impart understanding – was a passion for Paul in ministry (Acts 20:31). It is also the job of church leaders (1 Thessalonians 5:12) and of the church body in general (Colossians 3:16), providing that they are able to admonish others (Romans 15:14).

c. That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: The goal of Paul’s ministry was to bring people to maturity in Christ, and not to dependence upon himself.

i. “Therefore, the aim of this epistle, and, indeed, of all apostolic work is admonishing and teaching every man toward the realization of perfection in Christ, because that issues in the perfecting of the whole Church.” (Morgan)

ii. This work was for every man. In contrast, the false teachers at Colosse “believed the way of salvation to be so involved that it could be understood only by a select few who made up sort of a spiritual aristocracy.” (Vaughan)

d. Striving according to His working which works in me mightily: Paul’s work was empowered by God’s mighty strength. But God’s strength in Paul’s life didn’t mean that he did nothing. He worked hard according to His working.

i. “The word ‘struggling’ [striving], whose root can mean ‘to compete in the games’, carries, as of then in Paul, the idea of athletic contest: Paul does not go about his work half-heartedly, hoping vaguely that grace will fill in the gaps which he is too lazy to work at himself.” (Wright)

Categories: New Testament Paul’s Letters

What does Colossians 1:28 mean?

In this verse, Paul notes four ways he communicates Christ. First, the idea of proclaiming involved communicating to a large audience, similar to an announcement made to a city or village.

Second, Paul notes he communicated Christ through “warning.” This word in Greek is nouthetountes, which can also be translated “counseling.” This refers to the use of the gospel and biblical teaching to help people with problem areas in life. Third, Paul communicated through teaching or instruction, offering information to help others know the gospel and understand a Christian worldview.

Fourth, Paul was not content with only converting people to Christ; he also desired maturity. Ephesians 4:12–14 notes a goal of church leaders is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Context Summary

Colossians 1:24–29 completes this passage with an emphasis on Paul’s work as a minister. According to Paul, his suffering is a service he offers for the sake of Christ, on behalf of the other believers. Paul’s work for the sake for the church is just that: work. He is striving, fighting, and ”toiling” on behalf of his faith. All the same, Paul recognizes that anything he accomplishes is only through the power given through Christ.

Chapter Summary

In chapter 1, Paul introduces himself, along with his co-author Timothy. As he often does, Paul gives thanks for what he hears about the faith of the believers in Colossae. Paul includes a prayer for their growth and spiritual strength. The letter then transitions to praise of Jesus, describing Him as absolutely supreme. All created things were made through, by, and for Him. And, since it was His sacrifice which saved us from sin, we can have confidence in our eternal destiny

	The Deceit Of The Hu… on The Human Heart
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