Tag: righteousness
Not ashamed of the Gospel!
Scripture reading for June 15th: Romans 1
Paul wrote a letter to the church at Rome from Corinth during his third missionary journey to help them understand the Gospel and to clear up some issues between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. He longed to visit them but had not yet done so.
“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.”
Paul introduced himself to the church as a ‘servant of Christ Jesus’. God had called him and set him apart to preach the Gospel–the good news of Christ Jesus the Son of God. Jesus was a descendant of David–the Jewish king as foretold in the Scriptures through the prophets. However, Jesus was declared with power from God to be His Son by resurrection from the dead as Christ the Lord! Through God’s grace in Christ, Paul became an apostle and preacher to the Gentiles, as well as the Jews!
“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 and 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)
Sunday rest and reflection!
Sunday August 17th, 2014
Dear Friends of Jesus,
Praise the Lord for His marvelous Word! Praise Him for the glory of creation! Praise the Lord for His righteousness revealed in Jesus Christ, the final Word from God!
Today God’s people gather again to celebrate eternal life through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! We gather united through our dependency on His shed blood, which alone can cleanse us from the power of sin and from sin’s penalty of eternal death. We gather to pray, study God’s Word, worship, and have fellowship with those on the journey of faith. Don’t miss out! Join in the celebration! The King is coming soon!
In His Love, Pastor John and Mary
Rigtheousness, peace and joy!
Scripture reading for July 31st: Romans 14:1-23
The body of Christ is composed of people from different walks of life and different spiritual experience. Some come from religious backgrounds. Others come with no spiritual training and are eager to learn what is expected. Paul knew that the church at Rome was very diverse, with many Jews and Gentiles of different backgrounds. He wrote to help them understand how to practice the command of Jesus to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:9-10)
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” (Romans 14:1-4a) We enter into pride when we judge someone else. Some matters, such as eating meat sacrificed to idols, are disputable. The strong person knows that the idol is nothing and that the meat is made clean by prayer and thanksgiving. The weaker person may feel polluted by the meat and believe that they have sinned by eating it. As long as what they do is motivated by their faith, neither one is to judge the other and cause disunity or division over eating meat! We do not show love when bringing strife over matters like this.
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” (Romans 14:17-18) The Holy Spirit wants to lead us in loving our brothers and sisters, not in judging them on matters of conscience that are not clearly dealt with in Scripture. We can please God by walking in love and faith that God will deal with each person according to their faith.
“So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:22-23) Be quiet and live by faith!
Grief turned to Joy!
Scripture reading for May 27th: John 16:1-33
“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you; Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:20-22)
Jesus spoke plainly about His coming departure and the grief that would come over the disciples as they witnessed the unfolding of events. They did not fully understand what He was saying, but He knew that the Holy Spirit would help them understand fully and remember what He taught them. He encouraged them to be patient and look for the joy that would follow.
Jesus likened the disciples joy at His resurrection to that of a mother who had just had a child. The time immediately preceding the birth would be filled with pain and anguish. The birth pains had to come before the baby was introduced to the world. So Jesus had to go through the battle with the ‘prince of this world’ and face the last enemy, ‘death’! But the ‘prince of this world’ had no hold on Him. (John 14:30) The ‘prince of this world’ must be driven out! (John 12:31) This battle would involve the cross for Jesus and the ‘prince of darkness’ would attempt to hold Him in death. However, Jesus would be victorious and emerge from the grave with the keys of death and hell! (Revelation 1:18) He would spoil the principalities and powers of darkness, and make a public show of them openly by the cross! (Colossians 2:15)
When these disciples experienced Jesus in resurrection, their grief would be turned to a joy that no one could take away! They would know God the Father was true and the Gift of the Father would teach them all things. They would understand that death had no hold on them either and live with a new boldness to share the love of God in Christ Jesus! Christ’s victory would assure them of their victory! Are you living in this joy? Why not put your faith in Jesus Christ and experience it for yourself?