1 Corinthians 16:10-14 Stand Firm, Be Strong!

1 Corinthians 16:10-14  If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, No one, then, should refuse to accept him.  Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me.  I am expecting him along with the brothers.  Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers.  He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.  Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  Do everything in love.

In today's verses, Paul addresses the men in Corinth as brothers, connected spiritually in a familial way by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Of course, by mentioning  brothers he implies sisters, for all Christians are part of God's family and members of the body of Christ.  Our eternal relationships with believers should be stronger than our temporary biological ties.  The concept of love in the body of Christ extends far beyond our understanding of love in the flesh.  Remember God loved us with no thought of reciprocity, for while we were yet sinners, Jesus yielded his life on the cross.  In his teaching, Jesus asked us to love the sinner with a love that goes beyond this world's understanding.  The people of the world will hardly ever love their enemies or those who abuse them; probably never would they die for them.  This sacrificial love that would die for another is contrary to human nature and is the love of Christ.  We should express this love in the family of God.  We should love with an everlasting love or as Paul says, we should Do everything in love.  In the wayward and chaotic Corinthian church, their immature love troubled Paul.  Consequently, he says to the church, If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you.  He wants them to treat Timothy as a true brother, as one should treat all of God's family.  How sad that Paul has to encourage the Corinthians to treat Timothy well, showing his concern for their lack of growth in the Lord.  Paul addresses their weaknesses at the beginning of this letter: I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind ght.  My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.  What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ."  (1 Corinthians 1:10-12) aOf course, in church history a lack of unity has played out thousands of times, with much sorrow and pain in its wake.  Rather than loving as eternal brothers and sisters IN CHRIST, we succumb to fleshly quarrels and dissension, loving as the world loves, not as God loves.  Some in the Corinthian church must have sought doctrinal soundness, so they disputed who they should follow, believe.  By being so much focused on doctrinal purity or the right leader to follow, they lost sight of Christ, they lost the essence of Christianity: the world will know us by our love.  

Paul wanted the church to treat Timothy with respect and gentleness because 

he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.  Timothy was younger than Paul and without the credentials of Paul: being a Pharisee without fault in following the law.  The Corinthians should still unreservedly respect Timothy as a leader in the church.  As Paul says, No one, then, should refuse to accept him.  Paul and Timothy's mission is the same: to preach the gospel to all who will hear.  For Paul, there is no division in this ministry.  In fact, Paul argues the preeminence of the Word over the individuals who proclaim the gospel: 

Is Christ divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?  Were you baptized into the name of Paul?  I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.  (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.  (1 Corinthians 1:13-17)  For Paul, preaching the word was the reason for his existence: nothing else was important to him.  Also, he did not want anyone to claim that Paul's superior intellect or experience gave him a position of superiority or acclaim over others.  He emphasizes that his teachings did not come from the wisdom or knowledge of a mere man, but from the power and influence of the Holy Spirit within him.  Consequently, he could say with assurance that he preached 

not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.  He wanted the Corinthians to understand that his teachings came by the Holy Spirit's unction.  They were not his words, but God's words.  Similarly, he wanted them to recognize Timothy as teaching God's words and not his own words.  Therefore, they should accept him completely with love and tenderness as a minister of the gospel.

Paul moves toward the conclusion of his letter with the admonition to stand strong in the Lord: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  Paul's life is one of standing steadfast in the Lord regardless of the temptations or difficulties in life.  He encourages the Corinthians not to be ashamed of Christ or to be fearful of their circumstances.  Corinth was a wicked city with over a thousand prostitutes, called priestesses, working out of the temple of Aphrodite.  This sexual licentiousness was everywhere in Corinth.  To stand strong and firm in the faith in such a sinful place surely seemed difficult to the church.  Sin was practiced openly throughout society and even crept into religion.  In fact, some of this evil had entered into the Corinthian church where a case of incest is mentioned.  Paul says they must stand strong in their belief in Christ, for only Jesus offers real life.  Without him they are dead in their trespasses and sins, facing eternal death.  As Paul wrote to the Romans, 

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”  (Romans 1:16-17)  To remain firm in their faith, the Corinthians could not waver or hesitate.  Without unabashed faith in Jesus and his works, the Corinthians would fail to be the brilliant light of Christ's redemption in Corinth.  We who live today also live in a sinful world.  Our electronic media constantly presents the attractiveness of living fleshly lives.  Too often we find the sinful nature of mankind lifted up in our media, even glorified, much as with the priestesses in Corinth.  This sinful way of life can become our religion, our pastime, our relaxation.  If we are not careful, we will be pacified by viewing

 sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  (Galatians 6:19-21)  We can become so exposed to this manner of living that we are inured to the deadliness and bondage of sin.  Paul warned the Corinthians, be on your guard.  We also should be warned, Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men (and women) of courage; be strong.  Today is a day to stand firm in your faith, to love with God's love.  Blessings to you!

1 Corinthians 16:1-9 God Loves Cheerful Givers!

1 Corinthians 16:1-9  Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.  On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.  Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.  If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.  After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you — for I will be going through Macedonia.  Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.  I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.  But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

As Paul finishes this letter to the Corinthians, he encourages them to save up money according to their income to send to Jerusalem for the care of the poor.  The Christians in Jerusalem experienced difficult and dangerous times because of their faith in Jesus the Messiah.  Along with verbal and physical persecution came the loss of their means to support themselves.  Ostracism from the Jewish society represented a trying experience for anyone who claimed the name of Jesus.  The Jewish governing elite had killed Jesus to get rid of him permanently; however, to their amazement, his followers continued to propagate Christ's message that all who believe in him would have eternal life.  Because of the adverse consequences for Christians in Jerusalem, Paul tells the churches to save up money to help the believers there and to make plans for trusted men to carry the money to Jerusalem.  In these Gentile churches, Paul implemented a centuries-old method of helping the poor.  The Jewish people saw Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, as concerned with the poor.  In fact, one could judge his own standing with God by what he did for the poor and for the disenfranchised such as the immigrants.  

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.  (Proverb 14:31)  A generous and cheerful giver portrayed God's nature within the Jewish culture.  When instructing the Israelites, God emphasized careful concern for the poor.  

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.  Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.  Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing.  He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.  Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.  There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.  (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)  If God demanded this kind of treatment of the poor under the constrictions of the law, how much more should we Christians who are free in Christ reveal God's love and generosity to the poor and the disenfranchised among us.

We who are baptized with the Holy Spirit should have ears that are sensitive to the voice of God.  Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 1:4-5)  We who are saved have the Holy Spirit within us, but do we have ears sensitized to his voice?  Are we hearing what God is saying to us about the poor?  When Jesus was questioned about whether He was the Christ, He responded: “I did tell you, but you do not believe.  The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  (John 10:25-30)  Jesus emphatically said, My sheep listen to my voice.  We are to hear that He cares for those who have needs, who lack food, sanitation, housing.  He tells the rich young man to sell all he has and give it to the poor.  He praises the poor widow for her faith in giving all.  He tells us to invite the poor to banquets, gatherings.  He tells us not to store up our wealth for ourselves.  In Proverbs 14:31, we read: Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.  Who are the righteous?  Those who hear the voice of God and follow his royal commands:  Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and equally as important: love your neighbor as yourself.  John said, they will know us by our love.  When we abandon the less fortunate, we are abandoning love.  When we look down on others because they are not as hard working or as astute in their living choices as we are, we must be careful not to demean God's involvement in our lives.  Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil.  Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.  (James 4:13-17)  What good are you to do in your lives?  Live as close as you can to God's image.  Be his caretaker and caregiver to others when no one else is around.  Love people, for they were made in his image.  Hear the voice of God: listen and obey. 

Paul encouraged the churches he founded to love others and to show that love by their actions.  People that they will never know, talk to, or see would benefit from their loving behavior.  He asks the Corinthians to minister to the body of Christ in Judea.  But for most of us, we do not need to send money far away to minister to the poor in the body of Christ, for they often are our fellow church members.  They may be even part of our families or close acquaintances.  They are among us, but sometimes our insensitivities are so great that our ears have become deaf to their cries of pain and our eyes are blind to their needs.  We almost have to be run over by the proverbial Mack truck before we understand the problems of those around us.  As Christians with the power of the Holy Spirit in us, with the voice of God speaking to us, we ought not deceive ourselves by saying all is fine with our world.  If we fail to respond to the desperate, the hurting, the poor, who are we?  We are no better than people of the world who think only of themselves.  James says it very well: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.  (James 1:22-25)  Love your neighbor as yourself is God's commandment for us.  Do not merely listen to the words of God, but do what He says.  Do not let a closed billfold or a shut purse get in the way of you serving God with your whole heart.  Store up money for the poor, so when you see a problem, you can help that person in God's name.  Open your eyes to those who have needs, and God will bless you in this life and in the life to come.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  (2 Corinthians 9:7)  Amen.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Stand Firm in the Lord!

1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 

As we reach the end of Corinthians 15, Paul encourages us to stand firm in the truth of the resurrection, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He capsulated this good news in his earlier statement:  So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.  As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.  (45-49)  Paul wants the Corinthians to give themselves fully to the work of the Lord, with an understanding that their labor will not be in vain for they will experience the resurrection as new creatures made eternal by the hands of God.  As with them, we who are IN CHRIST will be resurrected.  Our simple faith in Jesus and his works gives us the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit within us.  If Paul were with us, he would tell us, Let nothing move you.  Let nothing move us from the truth of the resurrection and the reality of the eternal God living in us.  The Bible refers to us as temples of God, for He abides in us.  When we gather as the body of Christ, we do not have to call out to him to meet with us because every born-again believer possesses the Spirit of God.  As we walk through the doors of any sanctuary, we bring the Spirit of God with us into that room.  In that dwelling, with the fulness of God, believers can exercise every spiritual gift, speak revelations from God, all for the glory of the Lord.  With resurrection power in us, we who are in Christ do not serve a God of fortuitous happenstance, or a God of chance by the whim of man's creation.  We are not those who when we gather together, we might imagine He is there with us, or we might feel He is not in our midst.  We do not have to hope that by chance He might come to us or by some alignment of the stars, he might favor us by his presence.  As we read in the Bible, God said, "For I the Lord do not change."  (Malachi 3:6)  

Yet people doubt God when they meet problems.  The children of Israel faced uncertainty in the wilderness when they ran out of water.  They tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?"  (Exodus 17:2)  They complained to Moses that he led them out to the desert to die, for they knew the wilderness was too barren for survival.  They lost the strength to proceed and probably did not have enough strength to make it back to Egypt.  Consequently, they threatened Moses, God's messenger, finding him at fault for deceiving them into believing God would provide.  But God said, in this place called Massah, they tempted him with their unbelief.  Even though they knew the constancy of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night, they believed God had led them to a place to die.  They failed to believe in a God of goodness, his protection.  They chose to believe in a God of abandonment and disaster.  They lost their identity as God's chosen people and lost faith in Moses and his God.  In today's world, as Christians, we must hold onto the eternal truth that we are new creatures.  Seeing how the Children of Israel tempted God and his leading in their lives, as Christians we must believe in God's intimate involvement with our lives.  Christianity is not a mystical idea that God is out there someplace, perhaps hidden in the stars, abiding on another planet somewhere in space, or maybe floating around in the air above us.  We also must reject the foolish idea that some drug or sentient experience will bring us closer to God.  In some religions the followers chew or ingest substances to make contact with the spiritual world.  These activities lead to demonic religions.  Once we accept Christ, we believe God is with us in every circumstance of life.  God abides with us and molds us into his likeness.  Jesus said, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  (John 14:16-18.  We must hold to these truths with childlike faith, not trying to find God through empirical evidence or some experience the flesh can detect through the senses.  No, faith is the coin of the realm.  Faith in the Creator who made all things through his Word is the substance that puts us in contact with God, opening the door to eternal life.  With that coin you enter into the kingdom of God, into his presence, ever known as a child of God.  

Paul worked diligently to convince the Corinthians of the foundational truth of the resurrection.  In the last few weeks, we have written many words elucidating Paul's message about the resurrection.  But Paul's teaching and our words will not be enough if you do not believe in your hearts that Christ arose and we too will rise from the dead.  Paul says, If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  (1 Corinthians 15:32)  We might as well satisfy every desire and need of the fleshly heart, for tomorrow, we die permanently.  Our footprints will fade away into eternity.  But, if the resurrection is true, if Christ really returned in bodily form, revealing the truth of eternity, then we should take Paul's admonition to heart: Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  Our labor is not in vain then, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)  Our hope of eternity is in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit who is in us, who will resurrect us to Glory.  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.  (1 John 5:12, KJV)  When we feel ourselves in the wilderness, when we can see little around us that will sustain our lives, we look within ourselves and know that God is with us.  He has not left us.  He is perfecting the work that He started in us.  If you are struggling today, close your eyes and ask God to heal your difficulty.  Ask him to heal the weaknesses within you: the unbelief, the uncertainties, the anxiety, the fear, the hysteria, and the like.  Do you ask, "Where are you God?"  Then know that He is saying, "I am with you.  I am in you.  I have given you an ear to hear me."  Make a bigger space for him in your heart.  Rid yourself of those things that clutter up the room where He desires to abide and remove the noise that so easily overwhelms his voice.  Allow him to speak to you.  Hear his loving words, "My son, my daughter, I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Cast your cares upon me.  Someday you will be resurrected to be with me eternally."  He will always be your Abba Father.  Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.

1 Corinthians 15:50-56 Death, Where Is Your Victory?

1 Corinthians 15:50-56  I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?”  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We who are alive when Christ returns will be like him, for we will all be changed from perishable to imperishable in the twinkling of an eye.  Our old selves will fall and our new heavenly beings shall rise to be with him forevermore.  A believer's hope is not to stay in this garment of flesh, but that the new creature within us will be manifested quickly, completely, so all creation will know we are the sons and daughters of God, adopted into his family.  That is our ultimate hope.  Someday, we will understand completely, “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?”  Oh the joy of fully knowing the Father, our Abba Father!  In his eternal existence will be our lasting inheritance.  When Jesus was preparing his disciples for his death, He told them, I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  (John 14:2-3)  At his ascension, Jesus blessed the disciples and his followers, bringing great joy to their hearts: When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.  Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.  (Luke 24:50-53)  No wonder they went to the temple and continually praised God.  Because of Christ's ascension, they knew they were eternal beings, loved and accepted by the Father God.  Jesus had won eternal life for them; indeed, the perishable would be swallowed up by the imperishable.  Jesus Christ had completed God's plan for life everlasting for them.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  They now understood that Jesus' love for them was so great that He would either meet them again at their demise or in the air at his second coming.  Jesus blessed them as He ascended, much as a person leaving on a train, looking back at his loved ones, would say, "I love you; I will see you again."  That person's desire is that his loved ones remember his fervent, steadfast affection for them.  He wants those he is leaving to understand that his heart, his thoughts, will never be absent from them.

Of course our fleshly bodies, these earthly shells, are perishable: we get old, we die.  As the Bible says, All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.  (1 Peter 1:24)  We are here today, and gone tomorrow.  For a few generations, we are remembered, but eventually all that we are and all we have been is swallowed up by time.  Our imprint on Earth disappears.  We earthlings are definitely perishable, dust-material.  But this reality is not true in the kingdom of God.  Our spirits are not perishable--we will live on in eternity.   In God's eternal kingdom, we who have trusted in Christ's work are the beloved treasures of our heavenly Father.  In his kingdom, we are precious, always remembered, always loved.  We know GOD IS LOVE, and we know God loves his Son.  Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to him!”  (Mark 9:7)   Because of God's love for his Son, we who are found IN CHRIST JESUS are also loved dearly.  Through Jesus' work, God transformed us into new creatures, born-again sons and daughters, possessing the nature and attributes of God himself.  Whosoever believes in Jesus Christ will not be perishable, but eternal, imperishable.  God considers us as so precious that He knows the hairs on our heads.  All creation is under his inventory, nothing escapes from his purview, his knowledge.  Even when a sparrow falls to the earth, he knows.  God is omniscient, magnificent, mighty, all powerful.  We who are found IN CHRIST because of faith in his works are special to God because He redeemed us at a great cost.  As new creatures, we have the privilege of coming boldly before the throne of the everlasting God with our concerns and with our love for him, for we are not perishable, but eternal, living before his face.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4:16)   For sure, Christ' work has won the victory over sin and death for everyone who walks in that freedom.

We are no longer forced to live with the fear of death, for we no longer abide under the auspices of sin.  Definitely, the sting of death is sin.  Obviously, we live in the flesh, and the flesh is inclined to sin.  But Christ set us free from sin and death when He broke the power of sin, which is the law.  The law reveals the nature of man and condemns man for not being perfect, as God is perfect.  Only Jesus Christ was perfect, able to satisfy fully the law's demands.  Because He was and is perfect, He became the perfect sacrifice for man's imperfections.  Jesus destroyed the law's authority over himself, for He fulfilled the law.  Anyone who places total trust in Christ's work has fulfilled the law through Christ's atoning sacrifice; consequently, the law becomes invalid, impotent, in that person's existence.  The law no longer has any authority over that person.  He or she will not face death because of violating God's perfect law, for Jesus has broken the power of sin by fulfilling the law.  James relates a circumstance that most of us fall into in our relationships.  We tend to favor people that we consider acceptable, attractive, over those we consider not very acceptable or attractive.  If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.”  If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.  (James 2:9-11)  These verses show how sensitive the seismograph of law-breaking really is.  Looking at this clearly, we will understand how easily and readily we fail God's perfection meter.  Outside of Christ, if we fail to fulfill the law in one point, our protection from God's judgment falls at our feet in shambles.  Under that circumstance, we are open to the consequence of sin which is death.  Preferring one person over another can cause just as much death as being a murderer.  How can we escape this perishable condition?  Only by taking on the imperishable: Christ Jesus, the perfect propitiation for our sins.  He alone has broken the condemnatory power of the law.  He alone represents our saving grace for all our sins, even those we do not recognize as quickly as others.  God bless you today as you walk in victory through Christ our Lord!