1 Timothy 2:9-15

1 Timothy 2:9-15  I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.  A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.  For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.  But women will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. 

Romans 5:12-14  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned — for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.  Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. 

Acts 2:16-18  No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 

Paul's teaching is hard in our culture of equality.  Americans strive to eliminate the differences between men and women; we even teach our young women that every workplace is opened to them from being an astronaut to building homes.  We want them to have all the opportunities that men have.  I taught this to my own girls, and now I teach this to my granddaughters.  In fact, about two weeks ago, my little granddaughter, Julia, and I were looking up in the sky at an airplane, and I asked her if she would like to fly an airplane--desiring her to think of such an occupation even as a little girl of two.  She looked at me and said very deliberately, "That would be TOO dangerous."  Well, in Paul's culture people were all living within established roles.  If your dad was a fisherman, you would be a fisherman, and your kids would be fishermen, too.  Their culture was very static.  Men had a definite role, and women had a definite role, set positions in their society.  Sometimes that role was broken such as Deborah the judge and prophetess in the Old Testament.  The Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.  (Judges 4:5)  But in general, the standard, acceptable roles held fast.  

In the above passage we have Paul elaborating on the acceptable role of women in that society.  Women were to be in submission to their husbands, for their marriages were arranged by others.  Men and women did not fall in love and then marry in that culture.  In fact that kind of arrangement was very much frowned on.  Married men and women were conveniently bound, which had little to do with affection or love.  Therefore, gathering of people together to worship could be a dangerous situation.  Men and women were kept separate within the church building.  Paul did not want women to dress to kill.  Since marriages did not evolve out of strong attraction for each other, such gatherings as the church could be places of sexual promiscuity rather than a place of worship.  Women were not to show themselves off or to be highlighted in public places.  Such bold women were considered to be immoral.  Only the prostitutes drew attention to themselves by their dress and language.  Demure, holy women were not to act in such a way.  Paul forbid women to speak in the church because he felt, as in their civil society, the direction of any community was the responsibility of men.  

However, IN CHRIST, we are all SONS OF GOD:  You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  (Galatians 3:26-29)  We also find Peter on the day of Pentecost under the unction of the Holy Spirit, saying that your sons and daughters will prophesy or teach.  We are all one in Christ, positioned in the body of Christ where HE DESIRES.  We are no LONGER our own, male or female, we are his, one in him.  Should we be decorous, proper, acting as a society intends for us to act?  Yes.  Should we dress like a prostitute?  No, but neither should we dress as John the Baptist, for we would draw attention to ourselves, and not to Christ.  

All things should be done decently and in order.  We should behave ourselves, we should do what is right, we should not be outlandish or out of order.  Shall women be saved by childbirth?  No, although Bible scholars disagree, some believe Paul was speaking of elevating women spiritually from the evil state of the world.  Regardless, women are saved as all human beings through the new covenant of faith in Jesus Christ.  By Adam, a human being, sin came into the world.  But through Christ, in human flesh, salvation came to all men.  Men and women do have differing roles, but in Christ we are one.  We are all capable of being used by the Holy Spirit who is in us.  So if your inclination is to speak for Christ, speak for Christ.  If your inclination is to remain silent for Christ, remain silent.  But all things should be done in order and under HIS AUTHORITY that He might receive the praise and the glory.

1 Timothy 2:1-8

1 Timothy 2:1-8  I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.  And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle — I am telling the truth, I am not lying — and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. 

Men sometimes will believe in a nebulous, amorphous God: a power, spirit, energy, entity, beyond knowing.  For most men, if He (it) exists at all, He is an absent creator, a clock master, who placed time into existence but has now turned to other tasks, ignoring or oblivious to his handiwork.  At most God is but an abstraction, a concept that constantly evolves as man evolves.  However, in the above passage, Paul says very clearly God is REAL, and He should be prayed to, for God is interested in his creation, and He has a definite purpose for creating man.  He desires all men to be SAVED AND TO COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH that there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.  This is the truth of the Bible. 

Job longed for a mediator who could present his just cause to God.  He knew it was impossible to argue against an unknowable God, one who exists beyond man's grasp.  His case was hopeless unless there was an entity between him and God who could rightly present his "human" case.  He needed a heavenly entity that had experienced life as he had experienced it to argue his case before God.  Christ, the Son of God, is that holy one, that mediator.  Christ makes sure our requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving break through to the throne of God.  He destroyed the enemy of the air who deflected prayers and destroyed our peaceful lives.  He carries our lives into the throne room of the immortal, invisible, the only God. (Chapter 1:17)  He alone paid the ransom to deliver the dead, the slaves of sin, to God himself.  Jesus Christ places his robe of righteousness around mere men who believe in him.  His salvation has come to us.  He is our adjudicator in the throne room of God.  

Paul tells us to live peaceful lives with the authorities of this world so this wonderful message that there IS A MEDIATOR between man and God will be told.  He desires all people to know there is a propitiation for sin, and man can have an intimate relationship with ALMIGHTY God.  He desires them to know that eternal life comes through Jesus Christ, and He is the advocate that man needed for a right relationship with God.  Paul asks the Christians to PRAY for their leaders, not FIGHT THEM, as so many do today.  Why?  So the GOOD NEWS might be spread, so some might be won to Christ.  So the world will understand what TRUE PEACE (Jesus Christ) is all about.  We should pray, not argue.  We stand our ground, but we should not be disrespectful, unpeaceable.  We should contend for the truth, but we should do it in a milieu of love and peace.  All other attitudes carry the tag of the world's spirit.  As a brother in Christ reminded me this week, anything done in anger and not in Christ's love will not bear good fruit.  

Sadly, there will be disputes, there will be rumors of wars and war until the end of time, but our mission is to bring peace to a sick and raging world, a message of healing and reconciliation: JESUS CHRIST HAS COME TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM SIN AND DEGRADATION.  HE HAS COME TO BRING PEACE.  As John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, prophesied, And you, (John) my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun (Jesus Christ) will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of PEACE.” (Luke 1:77-79)  Praise his name forever.

1 Timothy 1:18-20

1 Timothy 1:18-20  Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.  Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. 

1 Corinthians 5:3-5  Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit.  And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.  When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. 

2 Timothy 2:8-13  Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.  This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.  But God’s word is not chained.  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.  Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.  If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 

The Bible indicates that we should fight the good fight to the end, endure, put on the whole armor of God, quit like men, in general be good soldiers of the cross.  Paul urges Timothy to keep his ministry on fire, to remember his call, to live a good life TO THE END.  The Lord says He will find no pleasure in those who quit.  In Matthew 13 we read a parable about the seed and the sower.  In that parable people quit for various reasons but mainly because they do not have a good root system in fertile ground, and they are easily snatched away or scorched or they wither or choke from the weeds around them.  Many left the "good news" and followed their own worldly inclinations to the detriment of their salvation.  When He gave this parable, Jesus said, "He who has ears, let him hear.”  

In this dark age of enticements and lies, I wonder how many Christians have decided to place Christ on the cross again and to follow their own inclinations.  I wonder how many kids from Christian families are now immersed in the devil's workshop, the world, when they grow up.  In today's passage Paul beseeches Timothy to remember his calling, to be true to his call, to go all the way with Jesus.  He wanted him to have ears to hear the voice of God.  Paul said although I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal, I will continue the fight, for it is worth it because salvation IN CHRIST JESUS is the reward for me and for others to whom I am responsible.  Paul knew this life was but a wisp of smoke, a temporary abiding place.  He was living his life for higher stakes than this world's temporary demands.  He was living his life for an eternal home, a place where God abides.  He was in tune with God's will for his life. 

We also must keep that in mind.  Our goal is not completely achieved here.  We are like Abraham, temporary residents: By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  (Hebrews 11:9-10)  We will all die, our flesh will give up the ghost, but that which is left is heaven bound: our spirits.  We will live with in God's righteous domain forever if we remain IN CHRIST.  BUT IF WE DISOWN HIM, HE WILL ALSO DISOWN US.  Sweet and bitter water cannot come out of the same fountain.  However, if our faith wavers, if we feel weak, if our lives just don't measure up sometimes, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.  If we have any faith at all in Christ's efficacy, his salvation power, we will continue on to heaven.  

Will He discipline us?  Yes, for He disciplines those He loves.  But, we are still in the kingdom of heaven.  God's mercies are from everlasting to everlasting.  Whosoever will, will be saved.  Therefore, child of God, continue in Christ, regardless of your weak faith or lack of strength, regardless of your circumstances.  My dad used to say, "Hang onto Jesus."  That is what it means to quit yourselves like men.  (1 Samuel 4:9)  You will not turn back, regardless of your situation or your strength.  You will hang on to Jesus.  He will still be your song, no matter how weak the song is in your heart.  God is good, so don't disown him.  Don't place him on the cross again, to rid him from your life.  That is the act of a foolish and rebellious child.  No, sing a song of faith; sing a song of affirmation: To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God.  Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.  Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.  Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.  (Psalm 25:1-7)

1 Timothy 1:12-17

1 Timothy 1:12-17  I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.  Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.  The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Hallelujah, Paul, the worst of sinners, was given abundant grace, abundant faith, abundant love.  Sometimes in our lives each of us feels Paul has to relinquish his claim that among sinners he was chief (KJV), for we feel we deserve that designation, but Paul definitely once tried to destroy the body of Christ here on earth.  His intentions were to completely eliminate Christ's church, his body.  His fierceness and zeal to destroy the church definitely placed him at the head of the line of sinners.  Therefore, Paul could say with certainty that he was the worst.  Of course he did these offensive deeds out of ignorance, but as everyone knows, ignorance of the law is no defense.  Paul was headed toward a horrific, eternal judgment of damnation, for Paul was kicking against God himself.  But God in his mercy headed Paul off at the pass.  On a road to Damascus, Jesus interrupted this head-strong man's journey by confronting him with a bright light and these words: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  (Acts 9:4)  Here we see Jesus addressing the chief of sinners in a compassionate, concerned voice.  He was asking this legalistic man, this Pharisee of the Pharisees, this faultless man in the law, "Why are you fighting me, Paul?  Why are you aligning yourself with sinners, with the wayward and the destructive?"  To emphasize the seriousness of this encounter, Jesus struck Paul blind.  Paul became totally helpless: his strength, his zeal, his independence dissipated immediately.  Paul, the man of power, the man who determined his own destiny, was now at the mercy of others.  He was no longer in charge; he was merely a disabled, helpless, washed up man, needing the hands of others to lead him to Damascus. 

But Jesus comes to all of us when our strength has failed us, when our lives are hopelessly broken, and when the help of others is needed.  Then, when we call on his name, He restores us.  Jesus said to Paul, "I will not leave you helpless, dependent.  I am going to make you a powerful witness for me.  However, I am going to require that you follow me with all your heart, mind, spirit, and soul.  You will no longer go where you wish, but where I wish.  You will no longer be a free man, a Roman citizen, but you will be my man, purchased by my blood, a citizen of heaven.  You will be my goodwill ambassador to the world.  Now, Paul, get up; your sight has been restored, not for your purposes, but for mine."  This of course is the testimony of obedient, faithful Christians.  We were once blind--we were once living our lives with all the energy that we could muster.  But then Christ interrupted our life's journey.  He intercepted us on the road to Damascus, and we heard him say to us: "Why are seeking those things that bring death?  Don't you know, I am the way the truth and the life?  I am He who brings eternal life to the lifeless, abundant life to the emaciated."  

Even though we may not think we are chief of sinners and may think we are even better than the average person, we still need Jesus and his restoration in our lives.  We need his power, his revelation, and his understanding resident in us to serve faithfully an eternal, immortal, invisible God.  We can understand God through Jesus, for He is the perfect representation of God.  Without knowing Jesus, we are as a dead man who has never lived, yet is trying to envision life, an impossible task unless he has a representation before him of that other life.  We have Jesus; we know our heavenly Father through him for He has been with the Father.  Therefore, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to save the lost, to save the dead.  He came to us to reveal God in all of his glory.  He came to us that we might know God and have fellowship with him as sons and daughters adopted into his family.  For each of us, we were really the worst of sinners, for being without God is absolute darkness, absolute hopelessness.  We were completely dead.  But praise God, the story did not stop there.  Grace and mercy were poured out to us, a lost and dying people through Jesus Christ the Lord.  Therefore, the Good News remains--CHRIST HAS COME TO SAVE SINNERS, AND EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES ON HIS NAME WILL BE SAVED AND ENTER INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD.  AMEN!

1 Timothy 1:8-11

1 Timothy 1:8-11  We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.  We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers — and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. 

Philippians 3:7-11  If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found IN HIM, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 

Whenever the Bible lists a number of sins, I always determine whether I have committed them or not.  Most of the time I consider myself quite good.  I surely haven't murdered anyone; I am not a perjurer, not a slave trader, not an adulterer (I had to slip that one in for my wife's sake), and definitely I did not kill my mother or father; so in general, I'm not too bad.  However, if I could really go down the line and find myself faultless to all the sins enumerated above, I would still not be like God.  The entanglement of sin would still be on my life.  My right living and holy thoughts would still not be completely acceptable to a holy God.  I think this fact escapes most Christians, for they are still fettered with the task of trying to be holy.  They remain under the burden of trying to please a perfect God by living their lives as perfectly as they can.  Is God pleased by right living?  Yes.  Is the law good?  Yes.  Can man obtain eternity with God by following the law?  No.  We do not enter heaven by the righteousness obtained by man or through man's best efforts.  You might as well give up trying to gain heaven through your own efforts.  You will always fall short of God's holiness: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)  If you fall short of the glory of God, if you don't have his robe of righteousness on when you enter into his presence, you will be judged harshly.  Sin does not enter God's presence without judgment.  God is righteous.  He is a just God; He always does what is right.  Therefore, He cannot allow sin to exist without eternal, peremptory judgment.  

Therefore, stop determining what sins you have committed and what sins you have not committed.  Any unrighteousness, any oblique thought that is  not Godlike, will be judged by a righteous, holy God.  Let us say you have committed sins of omission--sins that you were not even aware of.  Let us say that you failed to help someone that God wanted you to help or you really didn't treat a person like you would want to be treated by buying a valuable possession from him or her for pennies when you knew the item was worth much more.  These acts of omission are acts of unrighteousness, much like the religious men in Jesus' parable who passed by an injured man who had been robbed.  Any unrighteousness or imperfection will not enter into the kingdom of God.  

Then what hope do we have?  Paul says, he doesn't want his own righteousness, which was considered by the law to be FAULTLESS.  No, Paul wanted the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.  He knew that being IN CHRIST, he would wear the ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, that which is acceptable to God.  He then could place himself at the banqueting table of God and enter into an intimate relationship with God without fear.  Righteousness, Jesus Christ himself, came to us from God.  God sent him to earth for our salvation.  Paul says because of righteousness through faith in Christ, I obtain the resurrection from the dead.  Paul's faultless legalistic righteousness could not enter heaven's doors.  His righteousness would never purchase eternal life with God.  His righteousness would always fall short.  But IN CHRIST through faith, we are made perfect and PLEASING to our HEAVENLY FATHER.  Therefore brothers and sisters, stop counting your sins or your righteous acts; instead, live IN CHRIST and you will have the holiness you desire through faith in his finished work at the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life.

1 Timothy 1:1-7

1 Timothy 1:1-7  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work — which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Today, we have many false doctrines in and around the church.  Within the church we have some people emphasizing only part of the Word of God such as the name-it-claim-it-people.  Outside of the church, but still influencing the church, are ideas such as believing that the power of the mind and positive thinking will reveal the God inside you.  Paul was battling variant philosophies and ideas in the first century as well; some spawned from the Greek culture, others from Judaism.  In the above passage, Paul urges Timothy to rid the Ephesian church of these errant ideas, for they just promote controversies rather than God’s work — which is by faith.  Paul emphasizes that faith in Christ brings love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience, not meaningless talk. 

Today, we also need to stick to the basics.  We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We believe that Jesus Christ is God's son.  We place our faith and trust in Jesus' work at the cross and in his subsequent resurrection.  We now live eternal lives IN CHRIST JESUS.  We are imbued with the power of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.  Our lives are committed one hundred percent to God NOW.  As He empowers us, we live his life the best we can.  His will is to be expressed through us, on the mountaintop or in the valley.  We don't hold onto this life dearly, but give it to him willingly.  Our daily activities include prayer, meditation, and reading the Word.  We participate in his body, the church, as much as possible, for we are functioning members of his body here on earth.  As we go about, we live holy, transformed lives, not giving any leeway to the devil to condemn us.  Our actions and reactions reflect his light and goodness to the world, expressing his love as much as possible.  We cling to his grace, mercy, and peace as living testimonies of his life.  

If the people of the world are to see God, they must see him through us.  Philosophies, ideas, and various opinions will not clearly reveal God, only a life committed to Jesus will do that.  Paul wanted Timothy to purify the church from errant doctrines so that the true untainted gospel of peace, mercy and love could be revealed to the people of Ephesus.  We, too, need to make sure that the pure gospel of Christ is resident in us and in our churches.  We should promote the essentials of faith rather than esoteric thoughts or ideas.  The essentials might not allow us to write a book on our newfound revelation or allow us to be lifted up above our brethren, but the basics will allow us to display the peace and mercy of God to a sick and dying world lost in confusion.  The world needs Jesus and his everlasting love, not our profound ideas.

2 Corinthians 13:5

2 Corinthians 13:5  Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.  Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?  And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.  Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong.  Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.  For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.  We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.  This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority — the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.  Finally, brothers, good-by.  Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace.  And the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the saints send their greetings.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 

Paul concludes this letter with an apostle's fatherly admonition to a troubled church.  He wants the Corinthians to examine their works to see if they are IN CHRIST or not.  Are they producing the peaceable fruit of the Spirit?  He challenges all of them to live holy lives: Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong.  He desires them to aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace.  Paul as the spiritual father of the Corinthian church wanted his Corinthian children to experience all the good things that his heavenly Father has for them.  He wanted his beloved children to live in Jesus Christ's grace, to love God, and to have a daily communion with the Holy Spirit.  He desired them to be with him in eternity.  The purpose of Paul's life was to father his Gentile children, so they would make it to heaven: to finish the race of life successfully.  

Every biological father should desire the same things for his children.  His life should be so oriented that his children will desire to run the race with God all the way to the end.  As Paul, a Christian father should want his children's lives to be successful IN CHRIST.  He should want his children to  know God and to hear the Holy Spirit's voice inside of them.  He should want his children to live circumspect and holy lives.  Most of all, he should desire his children to finish this race of life successfully: to be with God for eternity.  Paul was a good spiritual father to the Gentile Corinthians. Christian fathers should be good spiritual fathers to their own biological children.  As Paul, Christian fathers need to be steadfast and consistent in their lifestyles.  If they waver, if they fall into sin, if they seek after the world and its goodies, they will lead their children into confusion.  Their children will reap the fathers' sins.  The children will experience the instability that comes from following an undisciplined life.  

Paul constantly reminded the Corinthians to follow me as I follow Christ: look at my life.  What a fearsome responsibility, but that is the natural consequence of being a father.  Young children look up to their fathers and follow them.  When children are very young, their fathers are God-like to them.  They believe everything their fathers say.  They want to be just like their fathers.  When fathers betray that trust, that reliance, they bring their children into great uncertainty, into great conflict.  The wayward father has exposed his child to the devil's wiles, and that child become the devil's workshop.  He loves to work in a confused, troubled atmosphere.  The perplexed children are now open game to be snatched and deceived.  

Therefore Christian fathers, I implore you, be all THAT YOU SHOULD BE IN CHRIST: BE A CONSISTENT example of Christ's grace and POWER.  Live your lives as if the spiritual lives of your children depend on it, for they do.  I once heard a statistic that a huge percentage of children become Christians when their fathers follow Christ, but only a minority of children will follow their mother into Christiandom if the mother is the only Christian in the home.  Fathers are definitely the leaders in the spiritual world.  They can lead their children to Christ, or they can lead their children into confusion and destruction.  In every community, in every nation, fathers are considered the warriors.  They are the ones who are expected to die for the community, the nation.  The question is, Father, what will you die for?   Are you willing to die daily to your own desires and worldliness for your children's sake?   Or will you retreat into your own pleasures and sacrifice your children on that altar of self?  It is your life to do with as you want.  Paul said, I will suffer everything for my children; I will even die for them.  Of course that is what he did.  The Bible says to every father, quit like a soldier.  Otherwise, don't turn and run, die on the battlefield.  Real fathers, real soldiers, don't turn and run.   Love, Dad (Cliff)

(Since we are at the end of 2 Corinthians, I will take a short respite.)

2 Corinthians 13:1-4

2 Corinthians 13:1-4  This will be my third visit to you.  “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”  I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time.  I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.  He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.  For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power.  Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you. 

Paul is warning the Corinthians that his position in Christ as an apostle gives him much authority in God to deal with them.  Even though Jesus seemed weak in the flesh, for he seemingly could not save himself from crucifixion, Jesus was powerful, transforming lives for eternity.  Paul is stating, so am I in Christ.  God has given me power to deal with sin and with people who sin.  In the above passage, Paul is affirming that his weakness in the flesh does not translate to weakness in the Spirit.  When the Jews dealt with Jesus by crucifying him, they thought they had gotten rid of him, that his influence on people would wain, but that wasn't true.  His dying brought a revolution to the world, old ways were put aside by many, and a new life, a new way of living, spawned in millions of people.  Paul is assuring the Corinthians that even though he seems weak, he is not, for God's power in him is transforming lives throughout the Gentile world, and he has power to deal with them and their wayward ways.   

We, who are in Christ, are also imbued with power by God, not power to hurt or to destroy, but power to restore, to heal.  God's power in us transforms us into his sons and daughters.  This is a progressive work.  As we yield to God's authority in us, we become more like Jesus.  Our light shines brighter, and we have more positive influence on the people surrounding us.  Our power is not used to judge or to criticize, our power is to love and to care.  When we are impacted with God's authority, we will use his power to reach out to a dying and sinful world.  We will try to restore and to heal the lost, to build up fellow believers.  But God is always in the driver's seat.  He alone can draw people into the fold.  He alone can bring the reality of Jesus Christ as Lord to their consciousness.  We can only be instruments of his love.  We cannot determine who will hear in their inner being and be restored.  We, in our weakness, must do our part by loving and caring.  God must do the rest.  Jesus is the bread of heaven, but not everyone will partake of him.  Not everyone will drink of his blood and die to this world.  God will be the final determiner of that.  

Paul had a special calling to father many Gentile churches.  He established these churches in Christ, and his mission was to father them into maturity. We, who have a host of witnesses around us, should live our lives in Christ by reliance upon God and the Holy Spirit within us, no matter how weak we think we are.  We should live our lives so people can see Jesus in us.  By doing so, we will have authority in other people's live.  They will allow us to speak into their lives about God's amazing mercy, grace, and love.  If they accept his call, God will transform them into new creatures.  Therefore, as Paul, we should seek to minister to others and to be spiritual fathers and mothers to those who need us.  Also as Paul, regardless of our weakness, if we trust God and allow him to use us, we will be able to say to those in need, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.

2 Corinthians 12:20-21

2 Corinthians 12:20-21  For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.  I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.  I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged. 

For most of 2 Corinthians, Paul has been defending his apostleship to the church of Corinth and his strong letters to them, especially a second letter that we do not have in the Bible.  Paul knew false prophets and licentious living were corrupting the Corinthian church.  Therefore, his concern for them was great.  He did not want his work in Corinth to come to nothing.  His letters to the Corinthians were strong and straightforward, but enveloped in love.  Yet he was still afraid that when he got to Corinth, his coming would expose great strife amongst them: quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.  He was also afraid he would find them not having repented of their licentiousness: impurity, sexual sin and debauchery.   

When the gospel of Christ is perverted in us or in a community of believers, sin flowers.  Sin takes advantage of strife.  As Christians we have to be careful when we find our spirits teeming with dissension, anger, arrogance, and disorder.  We have to be careful when we find ourselves impatient with people deserving our love and respect.  The Bible indicates we should possess the peaceable works of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), not the disrupting, corrosive spirit of the world.  When we allow sin in the door through our emotions, we allow all kinds of damage to enter our families, the church, and the world.  We allow Satan to have freewill in damaging our lives and the lives of others.  Such choices will surely lead to destruction and hopelessness outside of Christ and the power of the cross.  

Paul is also talking about licentious behavior in the church.  He is telling the Corinthians that they should repent of these kinds of sins (impurity, sexual sin and debauchery), for they are sins against the body of Christ.  All sexual sins announce infidelity to Jesus Christ to the world.  When we are "saved," we are married to Christ.  We become his bride.  We establish a covenant with him when we say yes to Jesus Christ.  Therefore, when we participate outwardly in sexual sins, we directly violate our covenant, which says we are one with him.  The children of Israel were severely chastised for this sin of whoring after other gods.  God's love towards the wayward Israelites was so great that He kept forgiving them and restoring them to himself, but finally He allowed them to be dispersed throughout the world as a punishment for their infidelity.  In the New Testament the church is described as the bride.  The bride is holy because of the work of the cross, but sexual impurity brings a lie to that work.  Sexual sin announces to the world that we are not ONE WITH CHRIST, that we do not want to keep our covenant to him.   Our "yes" to Christ becomes a "no."  

Paul beseeches the Corinthians to repent of sexual sins, for they represent separateness from Christ.  Of course, Paul knew repenting would bring holiness again to their lives, for Christ' love is so great that it covers a multitude of sins.  However, repenting means saying, "Yes," to Christ, saying to him, "I am yours.  You are mine."  Without repenting, the covenant is broken.  The covenant breaker has said overtly before the world, "I want another lover, not you."  Paul is begging the Corinthians to rid themselves of the sin in their midst, for it is dangerous to their souls.  Of course, we are found IN CHRIST only if we want to be there.  Just as in a marriage, we are found IN A MARRIAGE only if we want to be there.  Without being in Christ we are lost, under the horrible judgement of God.  “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.  If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love."  (John 15:9-19)  God's plan and perfect will is that we remain in him and He in us.  We must not fail to enter in to him, our Sabbath Rest, because of sin or unbelief.