Romans 1:14-17 Not Ashamed of the Gospel!

Romans 1:14-17  I am obligated both to Greeks and Non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.  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.”  

The above scripture sends the clear message that righteousness exists in God alone and has come to us through faith from first to last.  Faith in what?  Faith in Jesus Christ and his works.  As we will read later in this letter, But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  (Romans 3:21-24)  We who are alive in Christ have his holy name written across our lives.  We no longer face the judgment of eternal death, for we have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  Now we are his and He is ours.  And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  (1 John 5:11-12)  Christ's righteousness covers every part of our lives: every action, thought, and wayward inclination from the beginning of our lives to the ending.  We who are alive to God by faith rest in Christ's work and not our works.  Jesus through his life, death, and resurrection satisfied our need for right standing with God.  On the cross, when Christ's work was completed, done, He said, IT IS FINISHED!  (John 19:30)  Yet, how many of us walk around, trying to complete a work that is FINISHED?  How many of us lead lives of condemnation rather than joy?  Our flesh says: there must be something that I can add to God's work.  Maybe, I should be better today, try harder to be like God.  Maybe if I love better and keep my thoughts within the guardrails of God's thoughts by thinking pure thoughts, I will be more pleasing to God.  Surely, I will please God more and reveal him to the world more clearly if I do good works for him.  These are all good ideas, fine goals, but nothing completes or adds to the work of righteousness that Jesus performed on the cross.  He alone satisfies God.  In every mili-second, Jesus is righteous, completely focused on God, and dedicated to his will.  If you think you line up with God in the way you live your life, think about your thoughts when you pray to him.  Remember, He is the Almighty God, the Creator.  Your life exists only because of him.  He knows every thought that goes through your mind.  Does your mind wander when your pray?  Do you mingle thoughts in your prayers: my knees are hurting; I wonder what I am going to fix for dinner; I do not know if this prayer is going anywhere; maybe I should read the Bible more; and so on.  Would you want anyone addressing you this way if you could read his or her mind?  No, that kind of prayer escapes the definition of holiness or a relationship that is right with God at ALL TIMES.  But, who is right at all times?  Only Jesus!

The gospel is simple but necessary for all people.  The whole Bible leads us to the conclusion that the world needs a Savior.  God had a plan: But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  (Galatians 4:4-5)  Without God's intimate involvement in their lives, people live the life of Adam, often a destructive life because of the needs of the self.  Cultures, societies, and whole nations have literally disappeared over the centuries because of the self-willed nature of man.  We live in a world where the last tree on an island has been cut down because of a selfish need.  Islands have been depopulated because of such an attitude.  Today we are consuming the natural resources of this planet so fast we do not know what to do with all the garbage accumulated by our excesses.  We are doing what the Bible says: if there is no God, no intimate Savior: eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.  This is the mantra: get as much out of life as you can; live for today for tomorrow you die.  Jesus came for a sick and dying world.  A world that will never find peace.  A world that will destroy itself.  Paul had a mission that he could not set down.  He was driven to bring the world a rescue message, a deliverance, redemption, and eternal life.  I am obligated both to Greeks and Non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.  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.  Paul did not live in a time when a few men would have nuclear power in their hands, enough power to destroy every living thing on this planet.  Peter might have been talking about this age when he wrote:  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.  (2 Peter 3:10)  A day in God's dominion is like a thousand years.  Is this day of destruction a twenty-four hour day or is it longer?  Will men destroy their environment or will God destroy the environment?  What we know now is that we have the capabilities to destroy our earth without God's help, and over the millenniums, we have done a pretty good job of destroying our environment slowly.  Man's self-willed, Adamic behavior is destructive and leads to death, but praise God, Jesus brings life, eternal life, to all who put their trust in him.

Today, after partaking of this breakfast, give yourself a chance to praise God.  Be encouraged.  What a wonderful Savior we have!  He has brought us into the very presence of the eternal God.  We are forever pleasing to the Father because of Christ's work on the cross.  Our names are written down in the eternal ledger: The Lamb's Book of Life.  We have nothing to fear, not even our biological death.  Our faith in God and his works through Christ brings us into an existence of peace and joy, an inheritance of adopted sons and daughters in the household of the Eternal One.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.  (Galatians 4:6-7)  Despite our position of grace, we may sometimes fail to manifest God in our lives, but our constant drive is to do better for God's sake with Christ's light and love motivating our actions.  We want him to be praised.  We want him to be glorified.  We want our lives to be an illustration of God's goodness, love, patience, and caring.  Of course, we strive to do better as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.  But we do not work for our salvation, for Jesus won that victory at the cross.  We serve because we love Jesus, not out of obligation or fear but in great thankfulness.  We love being with him, hearing his voice.  He has never left us, even when the pain of this world presses in upon us, and the tears will not stop.  He is there.  He constantly speaks to us: "My child, my little one, I am here.  I am with you, and I will never leave or abandon you."  His words comfort us when we view this world that holds nothing for us.  Our inheritance is IN GOD.   Regardless, as Paul says, though the world is not my home,  I am obligated to tell the good news of Christ and his redemption to the whole world.  Let us also share the responsibility to carry the gospel of salvation and reveal Christ to a needy world.  Our prayer for you is Paul's prayer for the Romans: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15:13)  

Romans 1:8-13 A Missionary Heart!

Romans 1:8-13  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.  God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.  I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong — that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. 

In the above passage, we see the heart of Paul the apostle, the missionary, as he expresses a desire to go to Rome to impart to them some spiritual gift to make them strong in the Lord.  They are new creatures born of the Spirit, alive to God; yet, they needed help to survive in this world.  They required the bread of life and living water to help them travel through life's wilderness.  A man of the Spirit, called by God just as Moses was called by God, Paul carried a commission to spread the Good News to the world.  As with all the prophets, he could not help but speak for the Lord.  A fire burned in his soul to work for the Lord, a mission given to him by Jesus to tell the world that eternal life came through faith in his work on the cross.  Paul desired for all the world to know eternal life came to all who would believe in Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave.  Paul knew the man Jesus of Nazareth performed many miracles and wonders that only God's Son could have done.  Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.  (Acts 2:22)  The fire and the joy in Paul's heart was to tell the world they could be changed from God's enemies to his friends, from sinfulness to holiness.  This message drove him night and day as he prayed for the Spirit of God to keep him in tune with God's will for his life.  The Spirit was alive in him with this message of deliverance to such a degree that he relates how he prays he would be able to come to them.  What he heard in his ears from the Holy Spirit, he wanted to broadcast to the whole world.  He was compelled by the Spirit of God to travel to other places, including Rome.  As the prophet Joel proclaimed, 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.  (Acts 2:17-18)   Paul's life fulfilled this prophecy by his inclination to interact with God twenty-four hours a day.  His statement of praying for the Romans seems somewhat redundant: constantly I remember you in prayers at all times.  But it isn't: day and night he was involved with God.  If God gives old men dreams, He surely never leaves us, even in the night; for Christ said, And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  (Matthew 28:20)   

What message do we carry to the world to alleviate hopelessness, darkness, blindness, and pain?  What message will give finite man hope for the future?   We see this message of deliverance in the story of the crippled man that Peter and John met at the temple gate.  One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer — at three in the afternoon.  Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.  When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.  Peter looked straight at him, as did John.  Then Peter said, “Look at us!”  So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.  Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  (Acts3:1-6)  We have the story, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.  There is no other answer for mankind.  Paul knew this.  No one will walk eternally unless he or she has an eternal God and Jesus Christ his son as Savior.  No one can put off the veil of flesh by his or her own efforts.  As Jesus told Nicodemus, You must be born again.  (John 3:7)  All believers need the abiding Holy Spirit to express the will of God at all times, just as Paul was sensitive to the voice and will of God in his life.  Man's natural nature, Adam's nature, opposes God's authority.  When Moses tells the people what God wants of them, he says, we will no longer have every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes.  (Deuteronomy 12:8)  He understood mankind's basic nature was to decide what is right, what should be done, what is best for "me" in every situation.  By following their own desires, people estrange themselves from God's authority.  They shun the first of two royal commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  (Matthew 22:37)  At best, we place God in second place rather than becoming intimately involved with him at all times.  If God is at a distance, people can shelve him in their minds as an afterthought, someone to consider in a convenient place, such as a church service or maybe on a nature walk.  In those cases, we are as idol worshippers, going someplace to find our god.  But as Paul and all the disciples knew, we are not idol worshippers: we have the presence of God with us at all times.  In Paul's case, he was driven to other lands to speak the message of Jesus Christ.  Peter and John had nothing to give except the presence of Jesus Christ in them: Arise and walk in the name of Jesus!

We who are in Jesus Christ are still walking, still driven as Paul was driven to share the Good News.  The Spirit of God in us wants us to keep walking and revealing the Good News in a hurting world.  As Peter wrote: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  (1 Peter 3:15)  Our choices and our actions should reveal that we are new creatures in Christ.  We are not people who condemn, but we are people who love and forgive, offering deliverance from darkness through Jesus.  In any community, we should be salt and light, not people sitting in judgment, condemnation, fear, or hatred of others.  If we do that, we become just as the people of the world.  Our authority is not God, but ourselves.  If we judge or hate others because of their ideology, religion, philosophy, lifestyle, ethnicity, we are under the control of the Adam spirit, not Jesus' control.  How easy it is to gossip, to find fault, to tell tales; but how hard it is to hear the voice of love when we wander from the Lord.  God is always speaking to us, but do we listen?  The Spirit comes to abide in every Christian.  If we ignore his voice of love and sacrifice, we fight against the Spirit of God, which is a dangerous place for our souls.  Before he met Jesus, Paul thought he was doing God's will by persecuting and killing the Christians.  He had no love for them.  But Jesus stopped him.  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  (Acts 9:3-6)  You might say, "Of course God would stop him.  He was persecuting Christians."  But remember, Christ gave his life for everyone.  Are you persecuting Jesus by not loving others, by avoiding the second royal commandment of loving others as yourself?  Have you picked out an ethnic or religious or political group to hate?  Remember, all humans are made in God's image.  Paul was going to the Romans because they were made in God's image.  He had Good News for the Romans, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Galatians, the Jews.  His insights from God might strengthen their faith or bolster their walk in Christ.  In his journeys, Paul collected a harvest of souls.  We also should be so overflowing with God's love that we willingly answer his call: And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  (Luke 14:23)  Yes, Lord, send us out.  Your servants are willing.

Romans 1:1-7 Death, Where Is Your Victory?

Romans 1:1-7  Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God — the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.  Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.  And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some will listen and some will not.  Some will hear and some will not.  Some will heed and some will not.  The gospel is for whosoever will.  Whosoever will believe on his name will be saved.  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)  From beginning to end, the Bible is about salvation, about a deliverance from death to eternal life, a gift God has promised us through Jesus Christ, his son.  The Children of Israel, of Jacob's loins, were led into slavery.  Pharaoh, the king of that age, ruled them with an iron hand.  They became his slaves, caught under his complete control.  Yet through one miracle after another, God delivered them from the hands of the Pharaoh.  God's chosen, the Children of Israel, were led out of the land of captivity by Moses.  Moses, raised in the household of Pharaoh, a prince of this world, rejected his position in the secular land of Egypt, and fled to the wilderness.  There, God talked to him from a burning bush.  He told him that he must go back to the land of Egypt and lead his ethnic brothers and sisters out of the hands of Pharaoh.  By performing many miracles, Moses persuaded Pharaoh to let the people go.  The last miracle God allowed that put the cap on the people's deliverance was the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.  All households that did not have sacrificial blood over their doorposts were visited by the death angel.  He killed the firstborn male, destroying the legitimate heir who would inherit the wealth of the household.   Such an action broke down the natural order of things, collapsing the dreams of the family, for the choice one of the family, the firstborn, was killed.  The biblical account says, At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.  Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.  (Exodus 12:29-30)   But the blood of the lamb over the doorposts bought freedom for the people of Israel by releasing them from the hands of Pharaoh.  They were no longer under the authority of the world but under God's rule.  

We Christians are now the chosen ones.  Once under the bondage of the devil, he owned the rights to our souls.  He alone was our father, for we served him and lived out our lives in captivity, serving sin every day of our lives.  We know because the Bible is clear that the wages of sin is death, but thankfully, the verse does not stop there: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  God had a freedom plan for his people.  A descendant of David, born of a virgin, announced by angels: along came Jesus, called of God, filled with the Spirit, doing only the will of his Father.  He came to a lost world, announcing freedom for whosoever will.  He performed many miracles, just as Moses performed miraculous deeds.  He performed so many miracles that the Bible says no man from the beginning of time had done the miracles He performed.  The people saw this light, but could not understand the purpose of his ministry.  Some thought, He was going to set up an earthly kingdom.  They cried Hosanna when He entered Jerusalem riding on a humble colt.  They thought He might throw off the yoke of the Romans.  But He came not to set them free from the earthly authority of man.  No, He came to set them free from the ruler of this world, the devil.  He came to place his blood over the door of each household who would believe in him.  He was ready to have mankind throw off the yoke of finiteness, to enter an eternal rest in his household, as the Children of God, not Children of Jacob or Israel.  The blood was spilt on the hill of Calvary.  That blood rolled down the wooden cross, but whoever accepts the shed blood of Christ by faith will escape the world of bondage.  They will inherit the name of the chosen, Children of God.  We who have taken Christ's work instead of our works, his salvation power in place of our weakness, will inherit a holiness that brings us to the Father.  Christ's holiness is evident because He was resurrected, winning the victory over death and the grave.  He did not face the consequence of sin, which is death.  No, He is alive, He was elevated to heaven.  We who are alive IN CHRIST have that same power of eternal life in us presently, at this time, as you are reading this breakfast.  What a great joy must come to your heart when you realize the truth of that message.  As we read in the Word: 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.  (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)

Yes, from the beginning of the Bible, the theme has been the same: to save eternally the human race that was made in God's image. The angel that announced Christ's birth to the shepherds said, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."  (Luke 2:10-11)  All are chosen if they place their faith in the Holy One of Israel.  Abraham was given the promise of being the father of many nations.  By his willingness to believe God, to have faith in God's promise, he became the father of all who would believe as he did: believe in God's words and works, rather than believe in his own ideas and works.  Abraham became the father of those who live by faith.  We, in our day, live IN CHRIST by faith.  We are lights for God in the darkness.  To them (the saints) God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  (Colossians 1:27)   We have not seen the full reality of our faith yet, but someday we will see the truth of our faith.  We will be changed.  Yes, Paul wrote we would be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.  (1 Corinthians 15:52)   We do not know in what reality or form, but we do know Jesus, after his resurrection, asked to eat fish.  If He were an amorphous ghost, the disciples would have seen this masticated fish floating around in the air.  No, Jesus was not in ghost form.  I believe that story is in the Bible for us to realize our eternal form will be something different from willowy forms floating around in the ether.  No, we will have a form, a recognizable form, probably not having to eat fish to sustain our lives.  But, whatever, we are the chosen, chosen to sit in God's throne room in the presence of our Lord.  We are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  This world is not our home.  Egypt is not our home.  The devil is not our father.  Because of the mercy and grace of God, we are now the Children of God through faith in the Son of God and his works.  What a plan!  The angels could not envision the plan of salvation.  But this plan was in the heart of God from the beginning of time.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

1 Corinthians 16:15-23 Love God, Love Others!

1 Corinthians 16:15-23  You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.  I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it.  I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you.  For they refreshed my spirit and yours also.  Such men deserve recognition.  The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings.  Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.  All the brothers here send you greetings.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.  If anyone does not love the Lord — a curse be on him.  Come, O Lord!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

Paul's concluding remarks in this letter to the Corinthian church express the importance of a number of people.  He relates how different members in the body have been essential to the church's founding and spiritual well-being.  He notes first that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints.  Stephanas and his household must have paved the way for others to come to Christ by functioning well with the gift of helping others.  Paul was thankful for their dedicated work in expanding the gospel by serving others, expressing Christ's love to people.  He also emphasizes his appreciation for Fortunatus, Achaicus, and Stephanas who helped him and the church in Corinth: they have supplied what was lacking from you.  For they refreshed my spirit and yours also.  They fulfilled the ministry of encouragement in the body of Christ, undoubtedly inspiring the community of believers to stay strong in their faith.  Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that others were involved in their spiritual vitality.  He mentions the good wishes of other churches in the Corinthians' struggle to bring Christ to a difficult culture.  The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings.  He also wanted them to know that Aquila and Priscilla, founding members of the Corinthian church, were still interested in the well-being of the church.  Even though they were now leaders and teachers in a church in Ephesus, they still expressed concern for the Corinthians.  The body of Christ in Ephesus, Macedonia, and Asia proper were standing as one with the church in Corinth.  As Paul had taught them, all Christians were connected in a fantastic way as Christ's body.  Jesus prayed: My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.  May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  (John 17:20-23)  Paul taught them as intricate parts of Christ's body, each possessed and displayed different characteristics for the manifestation of God.  The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)  By closing his letter with thanks to the people who helped make his mission to Corinth successful, Paul again emphasizes the importance of the body of Christ.

We often fail to realize the significance of the many parts of Christ's body on Earth.  We downgrade our part in the furtherance of the gospel when we do not feel significant in the local community of believers.  We sometimes feel inadequate, lacking the boldness and zeal that a Christian should have for Christ and his church.  We must guard against this attitude, for in reality, we have been placed in the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, the governing agent in the body.  We do not attain a position in the body, we are placed in the body.  We might not be fully aware of what God is doing with us, but we are all part of his beautiful expression on Earth.  Because of faith in Jesus and his works, we are new creatures, part of God's supernatural presentation to the world.  As living witnesses of God's reality, our expressions of love reveal God's presence to a sick and dying world.  Definitely, the world will know Jesus and the Father by our love.  As Jesus clearly said, By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  (John 13:35)  In today's focus, Paul highlights people who have expressed their love to the Corinthians through their actions: work, prayer, encouragement, and so on.  Their acts indicate believers following the Holy Spirit, fulfilling their roles in Christ's body.  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  (1 Corinthians 12:14-19)  Paul commends the different parts of the body while praising those who helped him with the furtherance of the gospel in Corinth.  Each part was needed to bring Christ to the community and to develop maturity in the Corinthian believers.  No part was less than the other: all were needed for the sake of the gospel.

As we end our breakfasts on 1 Corinthians, let us consider our place in Christ's body.  All of us have a specific role in making Christ visible to those we contact each day and in the surrounding community.  As new creatures in Christ, we display God's reality and his beautiful attributes to the world.  None of us can consider ourselves as expendable, not needed in the body.  We might not occupy roles that are easily seen or valued, but the Holy Spirit considers our roles essential to the body of Christ.  As in our biological bodies, we are made up of parts that we may not even appreciate for their importance.  However, these parts might be crucial in maintaining our vitality, strength, and longevity.  Of course, as with our biological selves, some parts of the body of Christ are honored and some not as much appreciated.  Visible parts are honored more than invisible parts.  Often in the church, the mouth is honored above all others: apostles, preachers, teachers, counselors, and the like.  Love should be the engine that drives Christianity.  If the visible parts or the more honored parts do not sacrificially love others, the world will not see Christ.  In those cases, love is not the guiding influence.  Instead, fleshly desires have eroded the love they should have displayed as they function in the body.  Of course, Christ desires every part of his body to express his love for the world, those most honored and those less honored.  Christ loved the world so much He died for the sins of all mankind.  The angels announced good tidings to the world at Jesus' birth.  When they came to the shepherds, the angel said, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  (Luke 2:10)  Christ came to give eternal life to all who accept his sacrifice for sin.  To all who will receive his good works for their works.  To all who will submit their self-oriented flesh to God's authority.  The Good News has come to the world.  Christian friends fulfill your place in the body by following your spiritual inclinations.  Pray about your role.  Love others as you want to be loved.  Sacrifice your needs for the needs of others.  If no one recognizes your works or position in the body of Christ, remember that the Holy Spirit placed you there, your life will be better, and God will see your good works.  As you remain faithful to your calling, someday you will hear: Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!  (Matthew 25:23)  

Please note we will be taking a break for the next 2 or 3 weeks.  Hope you spend some time on your own in the Word.  God bless you!

     

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.