“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.”
I don’t know how this verse has escaped me all of these years, but it recently caught my attention. When I read Psalm 116:5 I saw it as a great description of God, and I base this on my experience with Him and on what I read in the Bible. Actually, the verse was the result of the psalmists experience with God during a trying time in his life. In verses 3 and 4 he wrote: “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.” The result of that prayer was the text written above. How does it describe God? It tells us that the Lord is “gracious.” Of course the word “gracious” is similar to our word “grace,” which tells us a lot about God. Graciousness is defined as kind, beneficent and benevolent. That is certainly a good description of God. A lot of people put so much stress on the wrath of God and His punishment of sin, that they overlook God’s graciousness. I certainly don’t intend to minimize God’s wrath, but, at the same time, I do not want to minimize His graciousness. One of my favorite points that I make about God’s treatment of us is that He really and truly wants to bless us, but we really and truly need to live a life that brings on God’s blessings. Throughout the Bible we see the graciousness, kindness and benevolence of God at work, and throughout the Bible we see people doing everything that they can to run away from His blessings. This is greatly illustrated by the nation of Israel. No one in the Bible had greater treatment from God than Israel, yet they continually disobeyed and disappointed Him. They preferred gods made of wood and stone to Jehovah. All these false gods brought to Israel was heartache and destruction. The good news to us is that God is still gracious, kind and benevolent. He proved that through the sacrifice of His Son. Accept and claim the graciousness of God in your life, and don’t let the cares of this world turn you away from Him. It tells us that the Lord is “righteous.” This word means a lot of things, the greatest of which is that God is Holy. God is totally and completely holy and good. It means that He is always right and righteous in what He does. The great thing is that He offers to share this righteousness with us through faith. One main theme of the apostle Paul was that any righteousness that we have comes by faith. God knows that we are all sinners, and by His grace He has made us righteous through faith in Jesus. It is called “imputed righteousness.” This means that God gives us His righteousness to enable us to live the Christian life. It was said of Abraham, that because he believed the promise of God that God would bless him and make of him a nation that God “imputed it to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:22) It tells us that the Lord is “merciful.” This means that God is compassionate. He cares about what happens in our lives, and He cares about the quality of our lives. We shouldn’t take God’s mercy for granted, but we can be assured when we take a wrong turn in life, that when we see the error of our way, confess, repent and ask for His forgiveness, we will get it. It was God’s mercy that carried Israel through the Red Sea when they were exiting from Egypt. It was God’s mercy that carried Israel through the wilderness to the Promised Land. It was God’s mercy that brought Jesus into the world to save us from sin. It was God’s mercy that placed our sins upon His Son on the cross. Without God’s mercy, we would be in dire straits and it would be impossible to be saved. Do you see what I mean by “a great description of God?” These three great qualities are fundamental to our relationship with God, and we need to be reminded of them often. Bro. Joe
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“ And Saul was consenting unto his death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.”
“That day” referred to here is the stoning of Stephen. After Stephen’s death, the persecution of Christians really picked up. But something good came out of this persecution. People, who had been converted on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2-3, and after, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Until that point all of the action of the church had taken place in Jerusalem, but now the witness was spreading. This fulfilled what Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:8: “But you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth.” I’m sure that when Jesus gave them tha charge that they did not know how it would be carried out. Here is what I really want us to see in this text: Persecution did not kill the church, rather it scattered it and began a movement that would be worldwide in a few short years. Let’s go back and look at something that happened as Stephen was stoned. They laid their robes at the feet of a man named Saul. Then we are told that he was “consenting unto (Stephen’s) death.” Who would have thought that in a short time this persecutor of the church would be a part of it and be one on the main characters in carrying out Acts 1:8? God does, indeed, work in mysterious ways. If we planned it out, it would not be like this. We would appoint committees and discuss being “witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth” to death. We would ask, “Exactly what did Jesus mean and how can we plan this thing out to everybody’s satisfaction?” This is not how God did it. He used the stoning of Stephen as the catalyst for scattering his church beyond Jerusalem, then, on the Damascus Road, converted Saul and turned him into “the Apostle Paul.” In order for the gospel to reach“the uttermost part of the earth” Gentiles would have to be converted. Again, if we had planned it out, we would have appointed committees, asked for resumes of good Gentile Christians, discussed it to death and come up with someone to witness to the Gentiles. This is not what God did. He found the meanest Jew that He could find, converted him on the Damascus Road, and sent him to witness to the Gentiles. Paul’s witness and the witness of Peter and other apostles enabled the gospel message to reach all the way to Rome and beyond, thus carrying out Jesus’ command. What lessons can we derive from this? First, we can understand that bad things that happen to us can turn out to be used of God for great purposes. Who knows but what some suffering that you have encountered has blessed someone else’s life in ways that you could not have planned out. Second, we can understand that when the Lord gives a command He means it, and He will see that it is carried out. If we didn’t send missionaries into the world, God would see that some were sent anyway. Perhaps, until the stoning of Stephen and the ensuing persecution, converted Jews were reluctant to leave Jerusalem. God had different plans and scattered them to other places. Third, God might want you to “scatter” from where you are in your life today and go and do what He wants you to do. (I’m not necessarily referring to location as much as I am referring to lifestyle.) At least give it some consideration. Bro. Joe “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound (overflow) in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I don’t know how many hundreds of times I have read this verse throughout my years of Bible reading and Bible study, but today it really caught my attention. It is loaded with gospel truth. Paul had just dealt with the inclusion of the Gentiles as the people of God, which had been prophesied in the Old Testament. This verse serves as a kind of doxology on that truth. The hope of God is for Jews and gentiles alike. Through Jesus Christ the world is literally overflowing with hope. Paul, then, gives the substance of this overflowing hope. I’m going to begin at the bottom of the verse to point out the reason that we have this hope. Paul wrote that it was “through the power of the Holy Spirit.” In John’s gospel, the promise of the Holy Spirit was given, and at the end of the gospels and at the first of Acts we see the fulfillment of that promise. We have this great hope in the Lord because of the Holy Spirit that God has given to believers. The Holy Spirit who convicted us, confirmed us and entered into our lives brought this great overflowing hope into our lives. (Remember that hope as used in the New Testament does not mean “maybe so” as we use it today, it means that through the Holy Spirit we have certain hope.) The hope that we are given overflows with joy: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy…” In John 15:11, Jesus said, “My joy I give you that your joy might be full.” Jesus gives us His joy through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we will always be happy, but it does mean that we will have the Joy of Christ no matter what is occuring our lives. It is up to us to claim this joy when we are going through difficult times. The Bible nowhere promises God’s people that their lives will be trouble free. All you have to do is read about all of the Bible’s prominent characters and see the troubles that they went through – all the way from Moses to Paul. But all believers have an overflowing hope that brings Christ’s joy into their lives. The hope that we are given overflows with peace: “Now the God of hope fill you with…peace in believing.” Just as Jesus promised us His joy, He also promised us His peace in John 16:33: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world…” Hundreds, maybe thousands, of books have been written advising people how they can find peace. Jesus promised us overflowing peace. The Holy Spirit brings peace into our lives. Like it is with joy, this promise of peace does not mean that we will not have anything negative happen in our lives to unsettle our peace. After all, Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble.” He offers us overflowing peace in spite of the troubles that we meet with in life. I personally know this, for I have had to claim this peace many times. The hope of overflowing hope with joy and peace comes about by believing: “Now the God hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing…” “Believing” is an important word in the New Testament. The promise given throughout the New Testament is that we can have salvation through believing in Jesus Christ. This means more than believing about, or just believing Jesus. To believe in Jesus means to give your life to Him. Believe in Jesus and claim the overflowing hope, joy and peace that we can have only in Christ. If you have it today, claim it!!! Bro. Joe The Bible is filled with great truths. Actually, it is great truth. I want to share with you some great Biblical truths that are so profound that they stand out, and make a difference in the way we live and the way we look at God. I think that you will agree that these are four of the greatest truths in the Bible.
John 4:24: "God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him I spirit and truth." This is the greatest theological truth. It was Jesus’ answer to the “woman at the well” in John 4, pertaining to the correct place to worship. Jesus pointed out to her that, since God is Spirit, He can be worshipped anywhere. There are certainly places that are more conducive to worship than others, but God actually can be worshipped wherever we are. Of course, we worship Him in church, but we should also worship Him individually and as families. Wherever and whenever we worship God, it should be done in spirit and in truth. True worship is in keeping with God’s nature, which is spirit. It is also in keeping with truth as we know it in Jesus Christ. Keep in mind, however, that it is important that we “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together,” as we are reminded of in Hebrews 10:25. Matthew 7:12: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them.”This is the greatest sociological truth. We call it the “Golden Rule.” It simply states that we should treat others as we want to be treated. We are to speak to others as we want to be spoken to. We could make many more applications of this great truth, but suffice it to say that this world would be a better place if we practiced this verse each day. In fact, churches would be better places if we Christians practiced this with each other. Imagine how much better our lives would be if we personally practiced this great sociological truth. Matthew 22:37-39: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind….and thy neighbor as thyself.” This is the greatest practical truth. First, we are to love God with all of our hearts. This means that we should love God/Jesus with all that is in us. Do we really love God this much? We know that we should, but do we really love Him emotionally, spiritually and mentally? Second, we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Jesus said, “the second is like unto it….” This means that it is ultimately important that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Do we really love other people that much? (Something to pray about, isn’t it?) John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is the greatest evangelistic truth. John 3:16 has been called “the gospel in a nutshell.” It tells us everything that a person needs to know in order to be saved. It tells us that God loves us. We know this but we need to know that love is the catalyst for our salvation. It tells us that, in His love, God sent His Son to save us. Without Jesus, we would all be doomed to eternity without God. It tells us how to be saved. We are saved by believing in Jesus, i.e., that we trust our lives and our eternal salvation to Jesus. It tells us that if we believe in Jesus, we will not perish. What a great truth. These four great truths should challenge us to live for Jesus daily, and to be thankful for all that God has done for us. Bro. Joe “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? 4. The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men.”
David had the same concern that we who believe in God and in the values that are intrinsic to that belief have. We look around and see that the foundations of our country are being destroyed. The “foundations” that are not of God need to be destroyed. We just need to be sure that the foundations that we lament are those that pertain to God and His values. Foundations are always being destroyed, but there are some foundations that we destroy at our own peril. You know, of course, that I am thinking of Christian values, those values that honor God and make people better. It is for sure that atheism does not make people better. It is for sure that the “anything goes” philosophy does not make people better. At any rate, we look around and see foundations being destroyed and we wonder what can the righetous who believe in and love the Lord do? The answer to the question does not lie in our righteousness. The answer does not lie in our fretting and worrying about the situation. In ourselves we have no power to change anything. The answer does not lie in our ceasing to love the people for whom Christ died. We need to put away any thought of our own goodness or our own power. This does not mean that there is nothing that we can do, because we can live lives that will advertise the virtues of the moral foundations of the Bible. But the answer does not lie in our actions alone. David gave us the answer in verse 4. He reminded us that “God is in His holy temple.” What does this mean since we do not have a temple? In the Old Testament the temple, or the tabernacle, was where God came to be among His people in the holy of holies. What David means here is that God is present among His people. This is a teaching that we see throughout the Bible. When David fought Goliath, he believed that God was right there with him. We, too, need to be reminded that when our foundations are crumbling God is not absent. He is present and He knows what is going on. This is a great comfort to me and I hope that it is a comfort for you as well. God is not unaware of what is going on, and He will be with us as we live in the darkness of the world as His lights. He does not want us to throw our hands up and give up because things aren’t going our way. He wants us to remember that He is with us and, because of that, the situation is not hopeless. David also reminds us that “God’s throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men.” This means that God is watching all that is going on, and that He is aware of all of it. The history of mankind shows us that there are always those to whom biblical foundations mean nothing. But this does not mean that the foundations are not real, nor that they will ultimately be destroyed. We do not keep the foundation firm; rather, the foundation keeps us firm. We cannot let those who would destroy all that is holy and good make us judgmental and keep us from realizing that God is ultimately in control. We are alive at a certain time in history because God wills it so, and our task is to witness and minister to the world in which we live. We need to hold firmly to our faith in God, who is present with us, and seek to do His will for our lives. If we want to change society, we can live by the values that we preach and teach and depend on God to make the changes that need to be made. In other words, we do not blandly accept the destruction of the foundations, but we hold to the tenets and precepts of those foundations and trust that God will straighten it all out in His good time. Rejoice!!! God is alive and well and He will be with you and guide you through it all!!! Bro. Joe “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.”
I don’t know what else the scribes and Pharisees needed to see from Jesus. If we take a look back at some of the things that Jesus did before they asked for a sign, we will see why their request was needless. Jesus had healed people, and had even raised a young girl from the dead. (To get a good picture of what I mean, read chapters 8-10 of Matthew.) They weren’t satisfied with what Jesus had done; they wanted to see something else. In the ensuing verses in Matthew 12 Jesus told them that the only sign he would give them was the “sign of the prophet Jonah.” This was a reference to the three days that Jonah spent in the belly of the “great fish,” which was a reference to Jesus’ resurrection when he was in the grave and rose again after three days.. I think that we are as guilty today as the Scribes and Pharisees were then. Before we will commit ourselves to Jesus, we want Him to prove Himself to us – to do something else. Good lands! What else does He need to do? God has already given us His magnificent creation. Psalm 19:1-3 deals with this: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament (sky, space, stars, etc.) shows forth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” We can look around us and see the handiwork of God both day and night. I know that there are people who look at what God has created and all they see is a “natural world.” To them this world started with a big bang and everything else just happened by chance. People see what they want to see, but as I look at the order of the universe and the beauty of the earth, I see what God has done and rejoice in it. God has already given us His Word – the Bible. Let’s return to Psalm 19 and see what it tells us about this. In verse 7 the psalmist wrote: “The law (which is the part of the Bible that he had) of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” All the way from Genesis to Revelation, God is revealing Himself through His word. I know that a lot of people read the Bible and cannot see the word of God in it. They give many reasons why they take this view, but we who believe have this dynamic record of God’s work through creation and redemption as solace for our souls. I know that I am glad that I have God’s word to study each day. There are times when I want to see God do something else, but then He reminds me that if I can’t find Him in what He has already revealed, then I won’t find Him. God has already given us His Son. Hebrews 1:1-3 speaks eloquently to this: “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; 3. Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.” I’m not saying that God no longer acts in this world, of course He does, I’m just saying that He doesn’t need to give us anything else to help us believe, because He has done enough already by sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins. Understand that God does not have to do anything else to prove Himself to you. Yes, He can, and will, do marvelous things in your life, but that is to bless you, not prove Himself to you. If what God has already done doesn’t suffice to help you believe, I doubt that “something else” will suffice either. Remember, faith is believing without seeing. Bro. Joe “But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
This text states what God did in order for us to be able to become His children. He sent His Son into the world to save us from sin. Jesus was Immanuel – “God with us.” This act of God changed the world and brought on the three great acts of God that would, indeed, change the world- though the world does not always agree. The Manger When God sent forth His Son, He did not send Him forth as a king, but as a baby. The amazing thing is that when this occurred, it didn’t happen in a palace or some ritzy Roman resort of its day. It happened in a stable and His crib was a manger – a feed trough. On top of that, He was born into a carpenter’s family. Carpentry was a noble line of work, but it was not a job of the elite. It is also noteworthy that when Jesus was born the announcement was not made to Herod, or any other important Jewish dignitary. The announcement was made to shepherds. Shepherds were important to the economy of that day, but it was considered to be a lowly job. It was to shepherds that the angels made the big announcement, and it was these shepherds who were the first to see the Savior of the world, “wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” The manger reminds us that Jesus came to live a perfect life and to die for all people. In Luke 2:10, the shepherds were told: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” This baby lying in a manger in Bethlehem was destined to change the world. He left great teachings that we have in the four gospels. He left a great example of what it means to live a good life, but what He mainly did was to give His life so that we could be saved, which brings us to the second great act of God: The Cross I don’t mean to diminish the life of Christ, for we can learn a lot from His sojourn on earth, but His main task took place on a cruel Roman cross. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Something took place at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross that changed the world’s access to God. When Jesus died, the veil of the temple that separated the presence of God from people was torn in two, which meant that at His death, Jesus opened up full access to God. The Empty Tomb The manger and the cross would have been all for nothing except for the empty tomb. Three days after He was crucified, Jesus arose from the grave. He taught His disciples for forty days, and then ascended to the Father. He is alive forever, and still has input in the world that He created. There is a lot of scriptural evidence for this, but I think that Hebrews 7:24-25 sums it up for us: “But this man, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25. Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to Him, seeing that He ever lives to make intercession for them.” The resurrection of Christ changed the world forever. I think that you will agree that these three acts of God did, indeed, change the world forever. The birth of Jesus, which we celebrate at Christmas, and His resurrection, which we celebrate at Easter, make all of the difference in the world in our salvation. Without these the world would be doomed forever. I know that a lot of people do not believe this and scoff at it, but it is nevertheless true. If you are reading this, it is almost certain that you are not scoffing, but rejoicing. Bro. Joe "Stand fast in the faith..."
What is "the faith"? As far as we are concerned it is faith in Jesus Christ and all that He stands for. We are reminded in Hebrews 11:6 that "without faith it is impossible to please Him (God)." Basically, faith is unquestioning loyalty. That is what Jesus wants of us. For example, Peter, Andrew, James and John were called by Jesus from their workplace to follow Him. They followed Him out of unquestioning loyalty, trusting that it was the right thing to do. Like all of us, they had their moments of doubt, but each of them stayed true until the end of their lives. Therefore, when we are told to stand fast in the faith, we know that it means to maintain an unquestioning loyalty to Jesus Christ. There are some who might read this and say, "That's ridiculous, I'm not giving my unquestioning loyalty to anything or anyone." Oh really! Take, for example. an atheist. He or she has given unquestioning loyalty to the proposition that there is no God. They Look at the universe and say that it all came about by accident. They look at the human body, which is a miracle within itself, and say that this just happened all by itself - by accident. When they hear about someone being healed when there is no explanation for it, they give credit to the strength of the human body to heal itself. All that I have mentioned here is unquestioning loyalty to a proposition. Think of this: you are giving unquestioning loyalty to something or someone. What, or who, are you putting your faith in? Are you putting your faith in Jesus or in some religion? Are you putting faith in Jesus or in science? I have no quarrel with science. I believe that science is a wonderful thing, but I am not going to give unquestioning loyalty to it, because it will change on me, and I will be left with an error. Maybe you are putting your faith in politics. From what I read on both sides of the aisle, there are a lot of people who have given unquestioning loyalty to a political idea. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a political philosophy and that I can bore you to death for hours discussing it. However, I do not give unquestioning loyalty to even my most deeply felt political convictions. Everything comes and goes, ebbs and flows: science, religion, politics, whatever, but Jesus stays the same. When I put my faith in Him, I am not left "holding the bag," so to speak. He will not let me go or let me down. I enjoy God's creation, but I do not worship it. I see the necessity of government, but it can't save me. As for me, I will put my ultimate trust in Jesus and give Him unquestioning loyalty. I write this humbly, not self-righteously, for I know that it comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. Give your unquestioning loyalty to Jesus, not because you agree with me, but because He is the only means of salvation and spiritual security. Bro. Joe “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. 10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all (people), especially unto them that are of the household of faith.”
If we aren’t careful, we will give up in the struggles of life. It is definitely a possibility for Christians today. There are so many objections to our faith and we are experiencing hostility as we have never experienced it. But we need to remember who wrote our text – the apostle Paul. He experienced negativity the likes of which we will probably never experience. I do not mean that our challenges are not real because they are not as fierce as Paul’s, but I am referring to how Paul faced the challenges that he faced. He did not give up, sit down and stop serving the Lord. What would Paul tell us to do? He would tell us not to be “weary in well doing.” Another translation of this text is that we not be “weary in doing good.” Doing good is part of our Christian calling. We just have to remember how Jesus lived. He never stopped doing good, though He was confronted time after time by those who opposed Him. Jesus was even accused of using the power of Satan when He healed people. He was given a false trial, given a beating across His back, and nailed to a cross, yet Jesus went on to the cross and did the good thing that would result in our salvation. We should be extremely thankful that Jesus did not grow weary in doing good. Throughout the New Testament we see those who trusted Jesus as their savior doing good and not returning evil for evil. We do good because it is the will of God for us to do good as a witness to the world, and as decent human beings. We can grow weary of good works when it seems that we are getting no credit for it and because people do not seem to appreciate what we do. The cliché, that “it is not about us, but it is about Jesus," comes to mind. We cannot lose heart to the point that we cease doing what God has called us to do in ministering and witnessing to a lost world. He would tell us that we will “reap if we faint not (do not lose heart).” Paul reminds us to not grow weary in well doing, because if we do we will not reap the fruit that Jesus intends for us. What does “reap” mean in this context. I think that it means that we should not stop witnessing to people about Jesus, even though we are rebuffed time and time again. I think that it means that we should not cease doing works of ministry to people who are in need. We can be sure that some people will take advantage of our good nature. Some people are downright professional about it. But we can’t stop doing good in that respect. We cannot lose heart because people to whom we witness and minister do not seem to be thankful. We keep on doing because it is what Jesus would have us do. He would tell us to do good to all people. That would mean that we should do good to people who do not agree with us and might even be hostile to our faith. He also told us to do good,“especially to those that are of the household of faith.” This means that we should also do good to fellow Christians. Putting the two together, this means that we would do good at work, for example, at play, at clubs, and at the church. It would be great if all Christians lived like this. Can you imagine the difference that it would make in our communities and in our churches? Do not lose heart, because this is what Satan would have you do. Don’t grow weary of good works, because if you do you cannot reap a harvest for Jesus. Do be good to all people at work and at church. Bro. Joe “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 is one of those texts that I return to again and again. Like John 3:16, this passage is what we could call “the gospel in a nutshell.” It tells us that it is because of the grace of God that we can be saved in the first place. In other words, God will save us in spite of ourselves. It tells us that we are saved when we put our faith in Christ Jesus. Furthermore it tells us that we have not been saved by our works, but that we have been saved to work for the Lord. Nothing that we do can save us, but when we are saved God has work for us to do. Notice that the text tells us that we are God’s workmanship. What this means is that by God’s grace, when we put our faith in Christ we are saved. In other places in scripture we are told that when we are saved we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit begins a work in us to do the works that God has called us to do. Our salvation is not “worked in;” rather it is "worked out" through the Holy Spirit within us. Notice also that the works that we are to do have been “before ordained.” The NIV translates it: “which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” The idea is that when we are saved, God has plans for us. We are led by the Holy Spirit to do the things that God planned out in eternity for us to do. These works take many forms. Many of these works are carried out in the churches that we attend. There are many ways that God can use our gifts in the church. There is always work to be done at the church, from teaching a Sunday School class to singing in the choir. God prepared in advance that we would do these works that keep the church going and carrying out its mission for the Lord. But God also has prepared in advance works for us to do in our daily lives. I think that we forget that and think that it is only at the church that God can use us. I don’t know what it is that God might want you to do in your community, but you should follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and do the works there that He would have you do. The world needs for us to do God’s work outside of the walls of the church. I don’t know what work God has called you to do, but I know that if you are a Christian, He has work for you to do. We should be aware that God is working in us to work for Him in daily life. The KJV translates it: “that God has before ordained that we should walk in them.” In this context “walk” means what we do in our daily lives. The point is that we are God’s workmanship every day of our lives and that God can use us in many ways as we live out our lives in the world. We are God’s workmanship whether we are in church, at work, on vacation, attending a sports event –whatever. Doing God’s work is not just event oriented; rather it is part of our lifestyles. I don’t want to be trite here, or seem to belittle the work that God wants us to do, but there are times that this work can be to smile and say a good word to someone who is in bad need of encouragement. If the Holy Spirit can lead a lost soul to Christ through us, He can surely use us to be an encouragement to discouraged people. The point of this article is to make you aware that God wants to use you at your church and in your community. You are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that (you) should do.” Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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