1 John 3: Lawlessness and Righteousness

Lawlessness and Righteousness

When you stay entrenched in your sin and do not cease to remove from your lifestyle (intentionally) then that is what we be known as lawlessness. For instance, if the will of God is in you and you continue to get drunk and sleep with different people, then that would be an example of lawlessness. In 1 John 3:4-10, John is telling the reader specific ways of how to look at lawlessness. It can be harder for us to understand as it appears that the text is saying you can never sin. While we should do what we can and also rely on God's strength to not sin, the text is specifically speaking about intentional and continual sin that is seen as a regular part of your life. No apologies for it. I have sins such as that. The text further explains that when you have sins like that you do not know the Father (God). What sin is still in your life?

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

2 Peter 3: Unstable Twist vs. Stability

Unstable Twist vs. Stability

When reading through 2 Peter 3, I saw verses 16-17 and shook my head and gave an affirmative "mmmhmm" which signified my solidarity with what was written. Here was have Peter (yes that Peter) writing about the letters that Paul had written. Peter says that some things Paul wrote/writes are hard to understand and those that do not understand them and those that are unstable (not solid in their faith) will use them and twist the meanings to mean what they want them to say. He continues on and warns them to not get carried away (figuratively) with the lawlessness of the ignorant and unstable who twist the words of Paul as they have done with other scriptures. When I communicate with other be they believers or not, I see the same issue. People will use scripture to fuel their own sin and validate its existence in their life. We need to be careful not to fall prey as those people do and not let them whisk us away with them into those lifestyles and areas of thinking.

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Galatians 4: Slaves and Sons

Slaves and Sons

Being under the law instead of under grace makes you a slave. A slave to the law. As I stated before, when it came to the law, you basically had to be perfect. There is no grace in the law. It is just the law. Either you broke it or kept it. There is no "well just this time" or "if you do it one more time" kind of warnings or grace. It was the law, so there was no space for grace. In verse 7 we understand that we are no longer slaves (under the law) but we are sons (daughters and offspring) of God and therefore heirs to the kingdom. In verses 21-31, Paul breaks down the difference between the slave son (law) from Hagar and the son of a promise from Sarah (grace through Jesus) and which one was blessed. 

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Galatians 3: Law or Grace

Law or Grace

In Galatians 3:10 we read " For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” That means, if you are not accepting of Christ and his sacrifice then you are under the law. The law basically requires perfection. Christ does not require perfection but obedience to or submission to God's will through Christ. You can either be forgiven or keep striving for perfection. As I have stated before, you can be married and honor your spouse because you are married, or you can honor your spouse and your marriage because you love you spouse. As with Christ, it is not about religion but a relationship. As with marriage, it is not about the title of marriage but the honoring of the one you are with which represents that relationship. Christ has redeemed us by dying in our place and dying for our sins. The law was cursed and Christ became that curse for us (Galatians 3:13). Talk about total sacrifice.

 
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Galatians 2: Christ Lives Through Me

Christ Lives Through Me

We have to understand, as Paul tells the Galatian church, that it is not us who are just so great, but it is God working through us. Paul said that he died with Christ. His statement was answering a question that he would have been asked from the Galatians. His point in saying that he died with Christ was that he died to the rules of the law when Christ died in his place. Christ died in all of our place. He died for our sins. So, when Paul says "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me", he is saying that because he accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior, it is now the Spirit of God that lives through us and guides us (Galatians 2:20).

In verse 21, Paul validates what he stated before. Paul is showing the church that the law cannot save them, but only the grace of God through Christ. Paul says, "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." Paul's point is to say that the law cannot save someone for if it could, the Christ's sacrificial death was wasted.

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

1 Corinthians 10: Temptation and Idolatry

Temptation and Idolatry

Paul wanted to warn the Corinthian Christians against idolatry. He is still on the point of eating food that has been offered to idols. Paul saw that as a temptation and idol worship. Of course it is. If you eat something offered to a god and not God, that is idolatry. The temptation comes from that when the desire is to do that which God would not honor. As natural as you may feel it is, which it may very well be, giving into that is still temptation.We must remember 1 Corinthians 10:13 as rely on that to pull away when we are tempted.

1 Corinthians 10:21 shows us that Paul was trying to keep people from having a dual partnership with demons and with God. You cannot drink from a cup or eat of food offered to demons and still be on God's side. that would not honor God. As much as people might have said "Paul leave us alone, it is not hurting anybody", they would have been sadly mistaken. I hear many people in these days say that certain things are natural or no big deal and "mind your own business", but being that Paul built that church and believers were getting it wrong, he had to say something.

Lastly, 1 Corinthians 10:23 has been used out of context numerous times. I have heard it used to validate someone's sinful behavior while only quoting the "all things are lawful" part while completely ignoring the context of the chapter and of this letter to the Corinthians. It wasn't about "how bad is it" it is about "how good is it." Paul points out "not all things build up" which means not all things that are allowable as your own personal rights as humans are able to build you up as Christians. Our rights under Christ are what matters most.

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Romans 7: Released from the Law

Released from the Law

Since we have committed ourselves to following Christ and have accepted him as our Lord and Savior, we are no longer bound to the expected rigid perfection of the law. The Law is not about grace or love, it is about complete or incomplete. It is about did you or did you not. While we are free of the law, we are not free to sin as we did prior to following Christ.

The example Paul uses to describe this idea is marriage and widows and being an adulteress. The old way of living has to die to us in other words we have to become widows so to speak to our old way of living. And we cannot be linked to the old way while trying to be with the brand new similarly to a woman who is married cannot be with another man until her husband is deceased or she would be an adulteress. It is one or the other, not both. One leads to death and the other redemption with God (Romans 7:1-6).

Paul also recognizes that he wants to do the right thing in his mind, but his body want to do the wrong thing. Paul knows that the flesh wants to do the wrong thing and it is the Holy Spirit that leads us to do what is right in regards to loving God. For all those who think they can just be good people and that is all it is, then why can't good people be good all the time? If they themselves possess that ability then they should never get it wrong and no one should ever be upset with them because they are always doing the right thing. Since I (Kingman) am not a good person I know that I need the Holy Spirit to guide me to do what is godly as apart from the Holy Spirit my flesh also wants to say thing and do things that I know are not of God (Romans 7:7-25).

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Romans 4: Works vs. Faith

Works vs. Faith

There was a belief that works provided salvation more so than faith. But as Paul has explained in Romans 4, by Abraham's example, his actions (such as circumcision) came from his faith in God. People (Pharisees and religious leaders) had things twisted. Paul explains to them that it was not Abraham's circumcision that made him faithful to God, but his faith in God is what led to him to be circumcised.

The same goes with us. It is not our works that will save us and give us salvation. We are blessed to have Jesus save us from the death of our sins so that we could be redeemed to God (Romans 4:7-8), before him people had to have faith in God as is. God had not sent Jesus yet so Abraham could not follow Jesus as the disciples could or as you and I can. But that still did not keep Abraham from having faith in God who came to later in human form as Jesus.

You can go to church every day of the week. You can feed every homeless person. You can care for every orphan and widow and  visit the sick, but without faith in God those works do not symbolize anything about the Kingdom of Heaven. As we will read later in James 2:26, faith without works is dead as the body is dead apart from the spirit.

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Romans 2: God's Righteous Judgment and the Law

God's Righteous Judgment and the Law

It is all too easy to hear what someone has done or see what someone is doing and judge them for it. Not just judge the action, but judge the person as a whole. I know it is hard to stop doing for some or even many of us, but it happens. We hear that someone got a DUI, we judge them and call them a drunk. We see people who get into trouble and label them thugs. We judge all the time and it seems like people can never shake that label that we place on them. But, God has not labeled people thugs and drunks. God's righteous judgment is not based on following rules. That is the earthly way of thinking. We follow God's laws based on our love for him.

In Romans 1 we read about the types of people and the characteristics that will bring on God's wrath. For Paul's audience, they have had heard what he said and read what he wrote and found themselves to be very proud that they were not those people who were gossips, prideful, homosexual, heartless and ruthless. But, Paul seeks to set them straight by pointing out that the same ones who are proud to not be "like the others" are just like the others. Paul says in Romans 2:1, "For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things." If you know the law and do not keep it, then you have no right to tell someone else that they are wrong for not keeping it. If I stood before the judge for a speeding ticket and that same judge tried to maximize my fine and give me jail time while having a speeding issues of his/her own, then I would not respect that judge because they too know the law and have to uphold it while holding me in contempt for my mistake or bad decision. This is what the Pharisees did. They knew the law and help people to that standard while over looking their own failures.

We know in Romans 2:11 that God shows no partiality when it comes to nationality, race or color of skin or nation of origin. We also must know that if you have sinned without the law (God's law of love Him and loving others and being redeemed through Christ) then you die without the law. And if you sin under the law, you will be judged under the law (Romans 2:12).

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Acts 2: Peter's Sermon at Pentecost

Peter's Sermon at Pentecost

We read in Acts 1 that about 120 people were gathered, praying together to find a replacement for Judas. They were led by God to select Matthias. On the day of Pentecost (a feast celebrating Moses being given the Law) they were gathered (same theme as Acts 1) and were able to speak in tongues and interpret (tongues is the ability to speak in another language given via the holy spirit for the purpose of spreading the gospel to other's who do not speak your language).

In verses 12-13, people were amazed and others who saw this were thinking that those speaking in tongues were drunk. The disciple Peter gave a sermon as as response to the naysayers. He addressed their gossip and gave them truth and perspective saying that it was only the 3rd hour of the day (too early to be drunk and approx 9am). And then Peter gave them scripture. He gave them truth in Acts 2:17-21 from Joel 2:28-32 quoting why people should not be naysayers and gossipers when it was the Lord at work.

Once again we see that when people will gossip and cut you down and denigrate you when they do not understand the Lord's work in your life. They will chalk up your being infused with the Holy Spirit to you just being naturally outgoing or to you trying to gain something from others. We must be prepared for that when we are doing God's work and people tell us that we are not and try to cut us down. Be ready with a defense of truth and not defensiveness and emotion.

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!   

Mark 3:4 and 3:35- God's Will Above All

God's Will Above All

Here we are on the Sabbath and the Pharisees are trying to hold the law over Jesus and show him what he is doing is wrong according to the law. Jesus, as always, was far more focused on not what the law was, but what would be pleasing to God. A man with a withered hand had come into the synagogue on the Sabbath. The Pharisees looked at Jesus to see if he would break the Sabbath by doing "work." Jesus asked them if it was lawful to good or harm, save a life or kill on the Sabbath. No one had an answer and Jesus took the man's hand and healed him.

It was not about how man saw it, but how God will see it.

Later, in Mark 31-35, Jesus explains to us, that our relation to one another is not based in genes and DNA, but in relation to the will of God. Jesus was told that his mother and brothers were outside. He looked around at the people in front of him and referred to them as his mother, sisters and brothers as long as they were doing the will of God. One could speculate he said that because he knew that there were followers that did not think he was in his right mind (verse 20-21). People thought that Jesus was possessed by a demon. 

Jesus was so focused on doing the will of God, that it made no matter what people said about him or to him. the will of God was primary. And doing that will of God is what keeps us in relation to Jesus.

 
PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE THIS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, ETC. THANKS.

Matthew 22:40- The Most Important Commandments

Matthew 22:40 "The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” commentary- The Pharisees (religious leaders) did not believe Jesus was the messiah or even a prophet so they constantly tried to ask him trick questions in order to trap him and say he was wrong in hope to discredit him. They asked him which of the commandments was the most important. In asking this they were thinking that whichever commandment he picked would then almost nullify the others or at least create a ranking order therefore depreciating the value of the other Mosaic commandments. When he told them how important it was to love God with all your heart and mind he also followed up with loving others as yourself.

When you have lost your way in life and don't know which decision to make, a lot of times our decisions on how to handle people and relationships and our own path is going to be based on these two commandments. If you look at the other 8 commandments found in Exodus 20:1-17, then you can see how love for others and love for God is the primary focus of the Christian walk. If you love God and love others (as yourself) you would not lie to people, or covet what they have (appreciate what you have instead). You would not murder, nor dishonor your father and mother. You would not use the Lord's name in vain (use His name inappropriately) nor would you steal. You would not make an idol of to worship nor would you have another god before God (notice the difference between little g and big G).

No matter what you do in life, love for God and love for people are your priorities if you follow Christ.