September 27, 2017
“I gave…” Who is this that would willingly submit and give himself to such torture? Written 800 years before His coming, only the Messiah, Jesus Christ, could be its fulfillment. The prophet Isaiah was entrusted with this prophecy of the Messiah as Suffering Servant. Jesus gave His back to be scourged by the Roman soldiers. He gave His cheeks to have His beard plucked out. He gave His face to be buffeted with fists, spit upon and scorned. Yet, He spoke not a word of complaint and looked not away “like a sheep led to the slaughter” (Acts 8:32). Jesus suffered for our sins just as the Scriptures foretold. He fulfilled over 300 prophetic Scriptures concerning the Messiah in every detail. Jesus is the One who “gave Himself for our sins” (Gal. 1:4).
September 25, 2017
The Lord speaks. He has revealed Himself to us, not only through the evidence of creation, but also through communication through His prophets, like Isaiah. He declares His works, His plans and His character to us.
What can we learn from God’s revelation?
– The LORD (“Yahweh”) is the only God.
– The LORD created the heavens and the earth.
– The LORD established perfect conditions for life on earth.
– The LORD did not create in vain. His purposes will be
fulfilled.
– The LORD formed the earth as humanity’s home.
– The LORD desires recognition from His creatures that He
is the only true God and Creator.
Let us worship the LORD today! Let us shout, “LORD, You are God and there is no other!”
September 24, 2017
Americans may point to the First Amendment as the protection of free speech in our country. But it was revealed to the apostle Paul that it is actually those who are in Christ Jesus who have been given freedom of speech with God the Father. For those who are in Christ Jesus have been given both “boldness and access” to God. “Access” means that the curtain of separation between sinful man and holy God has been removed. Christ has opened up the “way” to God. We may enter into the very presence of God in Christ. Not only have we been granted an unlimited audience with God, we have been given freedom to speak all that we have on our hearts to Him. Yet, as Albert Barnes’s has noted, this “boldness is not rashness” and this confident access “is not presumption.” But we are able to approach God the Father with the freedom of being His children without fear of rejection.
September 23, 2017
What is “grace?” Someone has said it is about “mercy, not merit.” This is true, yet grace is more than mercy. For mercy only withholds punishment. But grace forgives and adopts. Grace not only withholds what we do deserve, it gives us what we don’t deserve. For grace changes our status from rebel to righteous, from criminal against God, to child of God. Grace is the basis for our salvation (“by grace you have been saved”).
What is “faith?” It is trusting in the grace of God. Faith is the hand that takes hold of God’s gift, which is Christ Jesus, who died for our sins, was buried and raised on the third day. Yet, even this “hand” is a gift, for didn’t the God of grace also give us the “hand” of faith? So, do not make too much of your faith. It’s nothing to “boast” about. Even a child has the faith to open a gift. Therefore, if you boast, boast in the grace of God, which is Christ Jesus, our Lord!
So, if grace is the basis for our salvation and faith the means by which we receive it, then where do “good works” belong? If grace is the steam engine of salvation and faith is the coal car, then good works is the caboose. For good works follow salvation, but do not have the power to accomplish it. Good works are the evidence of salvation. They are the fruit on the branch that has been grafted into the Vine, which is Christ.
September 22, 2017
What is this “redemption?” When I was young my mother would collect “Green Stamps,” which were given as a bonus at most grocery stores. She would put them in a book and when she had collected enough, she would take her filled books to the Green Stamp store and “redeem” them for some desired item, usually something for the house, like silverware or a lamp. The doctrine of redemption has a similar meaning. The Greek word translated “redemption,” literally means to “buy back,” or to “buy out from.” Christ has bought us out from slavery to sin with His own blood. Redemption emphasizes that Christ has purchased us “out from” sin’s bondage and curse, which is death.
Yet, not only have we been redeemed “in Him, we have been forgiven “in Him.” This “forgiveness of sins” was accomplished by Christ’s sacrifice, which not only satisfied God’s justice, it reconciled us to God as our Father. This is the doctrine of propitiation.
So, “in Him” we have redemption, which buys us “out from” sin. And “in Him” we have forgiveness, which brings us “into” right relationship with God. All of this is accomplished “according to the riches of His grace.”
September 21, 2017
Paul said that the Judaizers, those who insisted that Gentile believers must adhere to the Mosaic ceremonial law, “boasted” in the flesh. Yet, Paul had put away all boasting in worldly and fleshly things. He had counted all things, his Jewish resume, his desire for worldly wealth and position, as “loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7). Why? Because he knew that the works of the flesh brought only death. But receiving the grace of God through faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross brings eternal life. Therefore, Paul boasted in the cross of Christ!
Where is your boasting today?
September 20, 2017
In order to be “led by the Spirit,” we must be “filled” with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). The Spirit is given to us when we receive Christ as Savior. This is the “Spirit of adoption” (Rom. 8:14-16), which identifies us as children of God. Being adopted, filled and led, we are enabled to “walk” in the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life is under grace. But the one who strives according to self-effort, which is the flesh, is still under the law and its curse, which is death. The Spirit works from the inside-out, leading and empowering the believer, but the law is external and has no ability to energize adherence. Concerning this, the author of Hebrews wrote, ‘But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them”‘ (Heb. 10:15-16). This new covenant of grace has already come in Christ Jesus!
September 19, 2017
It is faith, not the flesh, that takes hold of true righteousness. And it is the Spirit that makes faith effective and righteousness real. For the flesh strives to earn righteousness through law-keeping, which is a rejection of the grace of Christ. Those who live by the works of the flesh cannot produce righteousness. But those who live by the Spirit are enabled to bear the fruit of the Spirit by faith in the finished work and righteousness of Christ. As Edward Mote wrote in the first stanza of his famous hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!”
September 18, 2017
The Lord spoke through Isaiah of a “precious cornerstone” that He would lay in Zion (“Jerusalem”). This coming cornerstone would have certain attributes:
1) It would be laid by God Himself.
2) It would be the foundation.
3) It would be tried (tested) and found perfect.
4) It would be precious (none other like it).
5) It would be sure (faithful, unchangeable).
6) It would inspire belief and bring rest.
This Cornerstone is Jesus. He is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself” (Eph. 2:20). On the day of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem He quoted Psalm 118:22 to His detractors saying, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone’?” (Matt.21:42).
Christ is the Cornerstone, the foundation of our faith.
September 17, 2017
If the law cannot save, what purpose does it “serve?” Paul asked this rhetorical question after making the point that the “promise” of God was given 430 years before the law of God was added. The “promise” was given to Abraham that through his “Seed” all nations would be blessed (Gen.22:18). This “Seed” is Christ. So, since faith in the “Promised Seed” is the only way of salvation, why was the law given? It was given “because of transgressions.” The promise is for salvation, but the law is “because” of sin. Paul goes on in his epistle to the Galatians to give what some have called the three “R”s of the law, which answers his question, “what purpose does the law serve?”
THREE “R”s OF THE LAW:
1) Reflect our guilty condition (Like a perfect mirror).
2) Restrain our sinful behavior (Like a prison guard).
3) Reveal our need for a Savior (Like a pedagogue).
The law is good and useful, but it cannot save. Only faith in Christ saves.