Lukewarm Church
Once again Jesus says "He who has an ear, let him hear..." to the 3 other churches that were contained in Revelation 2. But to the Church in Laodicea he tells them that he recognizes what the other churches have done, but this church was neither hot or cold (Revelation 3:16). They were lukewarm. Hot would mean having heard the word and following through. Cold would be having ignored or not yet received the word and living as you were. Being lukewarm means you heard the word and believe it, but don't act like it. That didn't make Jesus very happy. Therefore, he wanted to spit them out of his mouth. Jesus doesn't us to ride the fence. It might even be more of an insult to hear the word and believe it and not act like it than to no believe the word.
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Get Near to Jesus
There was so much power in the physical touch of Jesus as he was God in the flesh. He could touch you and heal you. He could speak to you and heal you of an ailment that has plagued you for decades. There was nothing that he couldn't heal. In Luke 6:17-19, Jesus ministered to a bunch of people. The first thing he did was he stood on a level area (verse 17). That could just be a simple way of saying so he was balanced in a place where there was not much balance to be found (mountainous or hilly area). But you can metaphorically connect it to mean when you are going to do some preaching and teaching and ministering, make sure that your life is in balance, not imbalanced. Imagine watching someone stand in an area that was unstable. You could get distracted by watching them try to keep their balance. The same way we need to keep our balance with God's word and managing what we allow in our lives from the cultures that we live in. My second point is contained in verses 18-19 which show how people from various areas knew of Jesus and wanted to hear him speak and have him heal their illnesses. Those who had unclean spirits and were troubled sought to be healed by Jesus. They wanted to be healed by him because they knew he had power. Just getting near to Jesus can be healing. You must have faith to even believe that he can heal. If they didn't believe that he could heal, would they have gotten near to him or tried to hear him speak. Get near to Jesus.
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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.
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Be, Just Be
Be, just be is my take on a directive given by Paul to the Corinthian church and the men in it. These directives can come for any number of reasons, but this one was in response to waiting for Apollos, another church leader who was to come to the Corinthian church and lead. Before Apollos arrived, Paul wrote the Corinthians a letter telling them to "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 6:13-14)." Being watchful like when Jesus wanted the disciples to stay up through the night and keep out a watchful eye. Stand firm in the faith meaning do not waiver and dilute the faith and add unto it, but stand strong in what is whole, virtuous and true. Acting like men may get taken to mean not to be effeminate, but I think here in this context it means be strong like men as men are naturally stronger than women (that's not sexist). The strength here isn't about physical strength, but emotional strength or endurance and perseverance and courage while waiting for Apollos to arrive. Lastly, let all you do be done in love. If you hold God up high first and foremost and you love and honor His word and His will, then you can love people (even unbelievers) as God loves them. So, be, just be. Be strong. Be a man. Be loving. Be like Jesus. Be, just be.
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Make a Defense
1 Peter 3:14-15 tells us that when someone attacks you for your righteousness (in being with the Lord's will) then be ready to have a defense for your faith when asked why you have hope. This does not say "make sure to argue with people" when they disagree with you. This is defend your faith with your story. Understand who Jesus is to you and who he was historically. Tell people about the work God has done in your life and tell your story. Be a witness. Show and tell them why you have hope in God and in Jesus. Share when asked.
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Faith Without Works
James 2:19-20 exposes the view points of those who claim to be Christians/Christ Followers, but they lack evidence to prove their status. Just because you known that Jesus is God in the flesh doesn't make you more of a believer than others nor does it solidify your belief either. Even the demons know that Jesus is Lord (James 2:19). Once you know Jesus is Lord then how does that play into your life? What do you do with that? Sit on it? Tell others? Serve others because you are a good person or because you serve the Lord and serve others? basically,m just because you have faith, if you do nothing with it, then what is the point (James 2:20).
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Faith, Substance and Evidence
Hebrews 11:1 is one of those verses that really describe what faith is for Christians. Faith is the "substance of things hoped for". That substance is what I hope for. This is not like hope for a new job or a better car, but we are talking about a hope in God and in our redemption to Him. "The evidence of things not seen" is the other part of faith. We have not yet seen the results. We have not seen the inner workings of what is happening as we hold on to our faith. We hope for things to happen as they relate to God's will for our lives and we have faith that they will.
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Continue With the Learning
Paul makes a great point in 2 Timothy 3:14. He says to Timothy "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it." In verses 10-13, Paul is commending Timothy for following his example as a mentor and then tells him that Christ followers will be persecuted and that evil people will continue doing what they do being deceived and deceiving others. I think that is (while it is very specific to Timothy) great encouragement to continue in the faith while others will not and try to persuade you not to. I know far too many people who have a problem with me having the faith that I have in an "invisible God." They lack faith and do not understand Jesus's life as I do. But I will continue in my learning of who God is, who Christ is and who I am with the holy spirit.
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Fight the Good Fight
I know that 1 Timothy 6 is known for its verse on the love of money being the root of all evil. Many think it is money that is evil, but the Word clearly states that it is the love of money that is evil, not the money itself. The Word also clearly states to Timothy (from Paul in verses 11-12) to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness." Doing this shows our love for God. We can learn from Paul's letter to Timothy to stay strong in the faith and not fall for worldliness.
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Paul's Guidance of Timothy
Paul tells Timothy in Chapter 4 some guiding words or advice, if you will. In verses 1-5, Paul tells Timothy about those that will depart from the faith and start believing and teaching things that are not of the faith and kind of making up their own rules, so to speak. Paul said people will forbid marriage and tell you that you cannot eat certain foods, but if you have asked God to bless it, then there is no issue with what you eat.
In verses 6-10 Paul tells Timothy to train himself up in godliness. He says that yes physical training is important, but godliness training far exceeds physical training in importance. Also, in verses 11-16, Paul basically challenges Timothy to stand up for himself as people will tell him he is too young to lead, teach and preach. He tells him to conduct himself in love and purity (godliness). He tells Timothy to practice these things and watch himself. Timothy is going to be a leader and teacher, so if he is not already doing these things, then how will others that he leads follow his example.
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Pray for the Leaders
Based on my Facebook feed, I find that in the year of an election (America is 7 months away from a new president) many people are focused what a good and bad leader. They know what the current President has done wrong and predict what the next President will do right. I wonder how many of us who are upset with the current leadership and are hopeful for the next one or love the current leadership and love or are fearful of the next leader, do you pray for any of them? It is one thing to "pray" someone isn't an idiot, but that is not prayer. Submit and humble yourself to God and unite with other Christ followers and lift up our leaders to the will of God. Sure we cannot make people make certain decisions, but if you have faith in God then you know that prayer can change things. Paul tells us 1 Timothy 2:1-2 that we are to pray for our leaders. So, before you complain about the current or possible future leadership of America or where ever you dwell, did you pray for them?
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Fruit of the Spirit
How do you know if you are walking in step with the Holy Spirit? Paul first breaks down what is not apart of the spirit in Galatians 5:19-21. He tells them sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these" are all components and examples of what it is to be living in the flesh. But in Galatians 5:22-24 Paul reveals the Fruit of the Spirit. The fruit is love (for God, others and self), peace (with God, others and self), faithfulness (in the Lord and the Word), joy (in that which is righteous), goodness (that which is in accordance with God's will), gentleness (with others), patience, self control and kindness. There are so many possible ways to live, think and operate, but if we are in the spirit, it narrows down those options
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The Cheerful Giver
As discussed in chapter 8 the amount one gives to a church or whatever should come from the heart. The old testament had a standard of 10% but God knows what you can give and what you cannot give. As a matter of fact, due to reading yesterday's text and today's text I remembered to give to my home church as I had forgotten the last 2 months. I gave what I could, not what some might say I should. As Paul says here in verse 7 "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." My Pastor Rick Warren has stated that if you feel pressure to give, then don't. It's not coming from the heart. I would agree with him as what he says is backed up by scripture (see what I did there- not every pastor gets everything right).
But before that in verse 6 Paul tells us that the point is if you give sparingly (little) in dedication to God, you will reap sparingly (little). The opposite is true where if you give bountifully (much/more than you can afford) then you will reap the same. The reaping does not have to be money, it can be, If the focus is on "how can I get more money?" then you have forgotten about the heart of Christ. Seek his will as it was entrenched in the Father's (God's).
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Grace and Giving
In verse 7 Paul goes back on the sarcastic correction angle by reminding the Corinthian Christians, who have not excelled in faith, speech, knowledge and earnestness, that they should excel in in being gracious/giving grace to others. This could also have been Paul's way of saying "well if you say you have been excelling in these areas then I will take your word for it. If you excel in grace then you are following the example of Christ. Christ was very gracious unless someone was misusing the house of the Lord and twisting the word of God. That is when Christ was known to do more than just speak out.
In the next section (2 Corinthians 8:8-14) Paul deals with the topic of giving. While the Old Testament had a standard of 10% (tithe) we see in the New Testament examples of giving what you have available to give. Dave Guzik's commentary focuses on the idea of 10% being more of an expectation and being seen like a tax rather than a giving from the heart. This is where grace can abound in giving. We give graciously and not from rule or regulation but from the heart.When we go to church is out of obligation or because we want to? When we give to the church is out of what we can or is it just what we want to give? Heart check! It matters.
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Heavenly Dwelling and Reconciliation
It is hard to read this section of text again (2 Corinthians 5:1-10). The last time I did, a friend of mine was reading it after he was diagnosed with ALS. He died within the year he was diagnosed. He knew then that his earthly body while imperfect was not his only body. It was a tent that was temporary. He knew that his Heavenly dwelling with the Father was eternal and would be painless. He was courageous and walked by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
And since Christ died for our sins we must know why that happened. He was God in the flesh and sold out for the will God too. His dying for our sins made it so we could be reconnected and reconciled with God even though we sin. We had to accept what Christ did through God's grace and minister about that reconciliation to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). We do not have to live in distance from God on earth or in Heaven.
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Paul's Final Words
Paul closes out 1 Corinthians with some points and instructions, but I want to focus on a few things that popped out to me. Specifically speaking to the men in the church Paul says in verse 13, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." That is a statement that is not just a "Hey! Be yourselves and do whatever" but Paul actually encouraging them to "act like men" and "be strong." I see that lacking in some areas in this country. Men are not acting like men. Men are not being strong in the faith. That means men have a specific role that they needed to fill then (and now) and Paul was reminding them of that role and their position.
1 Corinthians 16:14 is the second part of a very important piece of scripture. Paul says "Let all that you do be done in love." Wow. All, not most. All, not some. All, not none. All we do must be done in love. Remember we love God first and because we recognize that and loved God first, then we love people. We love them and do things that are encouraging them to things out of respect for the Lord, not just things that we personally want them to do.
1 Corinthians 16:24 tells us "My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen." When he finished the letter it was with love. We can read through the entire book of 1 Corinthians and see Paul's sarcasm and his disappointment. But instead of just making it a letter or set of letters that was only focused on what they did wrong he made sure to include his support of them to do what was done in Christ and he sent his love. How often do we have a chance to reassure people we are upset with that we love them and yet we do not? Paul did and that can be our example.
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Peace, Endurance and Adam
Romans 5:1 shows us that in Jesus there is peace. It does not bring strife and problems, but peace. Think of the problems that you have had in life. How many have been because being Christ centered was not the focus, either from you or other person/people? I know I have had plenty of situations occur and more to come that need the focus of what is Christ like. I cannot control others and their words and actions, but I do have self control through the Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit is part of that peace that exists in Christ and when we are Christ centered. The peace with God comes through our acceptance of Jesus.
In Romans 5:3-5, things get kind of tricky from an outsider perspective. To read or hear the words "rejoice in our sufferings" sounds like be glad when things go horribly wrong. But there is more to it. The secular way to look at it is the "every cloud has a silver lining" saying, but from the God perspective we know that what we experience is an opportunity for us to grow in Him if we seek His will for our lives. I wish I could tell you the plethora of times that things went horribly wrong in my finances, work life, relationships, etc and how when I changed the focused to "what does God want from me in this", it gave me clarity which through actions because of my faith in Christ led me to a better situation. Through that suffering I developed endurance for problems. That endurance keeps me from falling apart when things start to go bad. In other words I am not giving up when problems arise. That endurance has produced character which is how I present myself when I am with others. One might say, "he isn't a quitter" and that is due to the problems I have had to endure and did not give up on when I encountered them. And through that character I have developed by dealing with issues from a God's will perspective hope is produced. That way I know when issues happen I am hopeful that doing God's will and not my own will produce fruit.
Adam is the father of all mankind. But, from Adam, Eve was created and Adam followed Eve's lead to bite from the apple that the serpent tempted her to eat. Therefore, in Romans 5:12-13 Paul shows us that through Adam sin was brought into the world, but through Christ, for those who follow him, that sin is not counted against you. Before Jesus then you would basically have to be perfect and never break commands or laws or anything so that God copuld be pleased, but even that isn't done out of love but obedience and obedience does not equate to love but love brings forth obedience.When we stop "religifying" our faith we see the freedom in Christ, not the perceived shackles from the secular perspective.
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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.
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Falling Short and Being Redeemed
There are far too many verses in scripture that we know and understand when we hear them, but we do not get the full context. Romans 3:23 is one of them for me. It tells us that we all fall short of the glory of God. This verse has been used to further one's personal agenda outside of Christ. It has been used to say we all sin (which is true) but it does not tell the rest of the story. It's like saying we all fail and that's it. End of story. It can also be comforting to know that we all fail and that you are not alone when you sin as we all sin. But what about after that?
We have to understand the context that Paul was telling fellow Jews that they were not better than others. This is in line with what Christ taught to Pharisees who were hypocrites and thought they were better than others. Righteousness does not come from obeying God's laws (such as the ten commandments). Righteousness comes from doing God's will out of loving obedience. As I have stated before, in relationships (like dating and marriage) we don't keep ourselves from cheating simply because it is not the right thing to do. Look at the essence of why it wouldn't be right. We don't cheat because of love. We love the other person. We are honoring the other person and our relationship and ourselves. But, ultimately, we should not cheat because we would be sinning against God. Righteousness is through love of God which is outside the law (ten commandments).
But how do you get redeemed to God after sinning. That redemption comes from Jesus. If you accept Jesus, the redemption comes. His blood was shed so that we don;t have to be a human sacrifice for our sins. Sin causes death in at least 2 ways: spiritual and physical. Spiritually i am separated by God when I am outside His will. Physically when I sin I could die like if I were to do drugs or something like that. So, if you sin like I do on a daily basis, you are 1) not alone and 2) redeemed to God through accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior knowing that he died for your sins.
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Righteous and Unrighteousness
In today's world there is a belief that righteous and unrighteousness can be understood outside of the word of God. The infallible word of God shows us what it is to be righteous and to do righteous things as well as what it is to be in unrighteousness. In Romans 8:16-17, Paul explains to us that he is not ashamed of the Gospel (of Christ) and it brings salvation (the ticket to Heaven) for those who believe in Christ, no matter what race or ethnicity. Because of our faith that is how we are classified as righteous. We don't just believe and follow Christ and keep doing what we were doing and living as we lived before we followed Christ. Our faith in him is just the beginning, as through faith we will be driven by the Holy Spirit to do good things to honor God.
Now here comes the part that the world will disagree with. I write this in conjunction with my reading and learning not ton condemn, but to share what I have learned and show from where said learning was delivered. Unrighteousness brings about God's wrath. Those who are unrighteous bring forth that wrath because they suppress the truth. Paul goes on to tell us that even though people knew or knew of God, they did not honor God as God nor did they thank him. God gave people up to their own desires since they were not bringing honor to God anyway. So, even though something that fills your heart and mind seems brought on by God, it may not be if it isn't God honoring. You could just be getting what you wanted and there fore your path will self destruct (Romans 1:18-24).
In verses 26-31, Paul shows us what kind of characteristics in people he is referring to. He starts off with those engaged in homosexual activity. While I have heard and read differing takes on the Bible and homosexuality, none of them match up to the other sections in terms of the Bible not being opposed to homosexuality. People have said "Jesus didn't say anything about being gay." But, Jesus also didn't specifically say anything about bestiality or marrying your cousin, but no one brings that up. The world wants to normalize and feel good about homosexuality and calls our Bible antiquated while over looking the spirit of their hearts and the real reason they feel that way. Paul tells us that they were given up to hate and evil and malice and gossip and deceit. God wants you to seek Him and put Him and His word first. When we don't do that, things will fall apart.
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