Paul’s Surprising Revelation

Paul laments in his writings over his lack of success at overcoming the flesh. In some letters, he records that he feels utterly hopeless and he criticizes his own moral fiber.

He struggles with putting on the mind of Christ and realizes the wretchedness of his humanity. He fought with our need to be holy, and his inability to reach this level of desired consecration to God (Romans 7:19-24).

His conclusion is surprising (Romans 7:25). He was thrilled to realize that we do not have to suffer under the weight of condemnation any longer. On Calvary’s Cross, Christ already set us all free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2). 

Paul calls the Galatians foolish for trying to perfect their life in their own self effort. He reminds them that we could not save our self and we cannot perfect our self either (Galatians 3:1-3).

Just as the Son could do nothing of Himself, we too are nothing without Christ in us (John 5:19, 15:5). The only effort we need to make in order to walk in the reality of this victory is to totally surrendering control of our life to God.

In doing this, we successfully enter His rest (Hebrews 4:3), cease from our striving and simplify our life. We eliminate the busyness that pervades each day and we slow down our pace.

We dedicate time in our schedule to serve God with our entire being, with all of our affections, thoughts, choices and emotions.

We give God the glory, which is due to His name; and we walk in paths of righteousness for His name's sake (Psalm 23:3). We refuse to hide our light under a basket, but we allow it to shine for the world to see (Matthew 5:14-16).

Prayer:

Father God, You exalted Jesus with a name above all other names. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-10). You designed us to be buried with Him through baptism into His death.

In the same way in which You raised Him from the dead through Your glory, You raise us too in order for us to live a new life through You. We are no longer slaves to sin, because You set us free from sin’s power when we died with Christ on Calvary’s cross (Romans 6:4-7).

Thought for the Day:

Just as God the Father, Son and Spirit are united as one, Jesus died so we can share in this same unity of oneness with our triune God. - 1 Corinthians 6:17

Why We Need Jesus

As we view the Ten Commandments, we realize that we break the heart of God in sin whenever we worship anyone or thing other than Him, use His name as a curse word, disregard Sunday as a day to worship the Lord, disobey our parents, murder, have physical relations with someone to which we are not married, steal, lie or covet what belongs to someone else (Matthew 5-7).

Jesus taught us the nuances of some of these commandments when He stated that anger is as vile as murder, and lusting as sinful as adultery. He even said that when we belittle one another we are in danger of going to hell (Matthew 5:22-28).

Paul goes into even more detail when in Galatians 5:19:21 he list as sins: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft, rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23); hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

He also stated that whatever we think, say or do that is not coming from faith is a sin (Romans 14:22-23). John tells us that all wrong doing is sin (1 John 5:17). James says that when we know the right thing to do and we omit doing it, we are sinning (James 4:17).

Under the law, Saints had to keep every word of the law or be cursed to an eternity in hell (Galatians 3:10). Reading these lists may cause us to feel condemnation from Satan; but thankfully, if we stop doing them, we are free from condemnation (Roman 8:1).

That is why we need Jesus as our Savior. He is the blameless Lamb of God who takes away our sins (John 1:29). With his dual nature as God and man, He could do what we could never do. He lived in sinless perfection.

Now, Christ lives in us with this same divine power and nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through His sacrifice on Calvary's cross, He exchanged our sin for His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

By faith in God's saving grace, we receive His Spirit to cleanse our spirit from Adam's sin and our own (Galatians 3:13-14). God's Spirit also gives us both the desire and the power to live in holy communion with God at all times (Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:12-13).

Prayer:

Father God, while we were still lost in our sin, You loved us (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:1). Even though we do not deserve it, You faithfully forgive us for every sin from which we repent and turn away (1 John 1:9). You condemn no one, but we condemn our self by refusing to believe in Jesus (John 3:16-18).

Remind us that You know that the rewards of sin are actually wages that we have to pay for partaking in this destructive behavior. Teach us that we reap what we sow, and You want to spare us from the degradation and suffering caused by sin.

Thank You for desiring instead that no one will ever perish in hell, but that everyone who truly repents and surrenders their life to You will enjoy eternity with you in Heaven (2 Peter 3:9).

Thought for the Day:

The sins listed for us in the Bible are there to help us to realize that without Christ we can do nothing. - Philippians 3:14; Galatians 3:24

Admitting Faults

"I was wrong" is the hardest sentence in the English language to say. Due to perceived, as well as legitimate wounds in our past, we are afraid to admit that we have faults.

We think that we have to be perfect in order to be loved; and that we must earn the love, which we need, by making other people happy and proud of us.

We fear rejection so much that we will make excuses or lie to cover up our faults and mistakes. We wear masks so that people do not know who we really are.

If we admit that we did something inappropriate, we may fall into the black hole of condemnation and shame, which nips at our toes and plots ways to swallow us whole.

If we agree that we are wrong, we will topple over the edge of the dark abyss of shame, and we will be trapped, hopeless, useless and totally rejected forever.

In order to escape the bottomless pit of shame, we either do our best to become invisible, or fight tooth and nail to retain some semblance of order in our life, or hide behind a wall of pride and arrogance.

Bullies are motivated from their fear and insecurity. They surround themselves with controllable people who have qualities, which they feel they lack. When they hurt others, they feel powerful and in control of at least one part of their life.

Once we come to Christ for forgiveness, He exposes Satan's lies and frees us from the evil task master of shame. Then we no longer experience the devil's condemnation (Romans 8:1).

If we could be perfect, Christ would not have suffered that horrendous crucifixion. Through His sacrifice, we enter His rest and are able to breathe unhindered by stress, fear and insecurities.

If one person abandons us, or turns against us, we have a whole family of Believers who will love us for who we are, even with all of our faults, insecurities and over-reactions (Ephesians 4:32).

Prayer:

Father God, often another person's wounds expose our wounds and weaknesses, and we fear rejection. Therefore, we walk away from them, before they get a chance to reject us. We dispose of them from our life, rather than working out our issues together.

Help us to look deeper, beneath the surface of a person's words and actions, to see the real person, which they are hiding behind their false facade. Remind us to show mercy and grace to everyone, and not to reject someone just because they are wounded.

Thought for the Day:

Make allowances for one another's faults and idiosyncrasies; so, that if someone offends you, you can forgive them time and time again, as you help to strengthen them to feel secure through God's love within you. 

- Matthew 18:21-22; Colossians 3:13