Obeying the Gospel

CONTINUING TO OBEY THE GOSPEL (JANUARY 6)

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"You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" (Galatians 5:7).

PAUL’S QUESTION “WHO HINDERED YOU FROM OBEYING THE TRUTH?” WAS ADDRESSED TO A GROUP OF CHRISTIANS. He was concerned about some in Galatia who, having been baptized into Christ, were turning away from the truth. They were no longer obeying the gospel, and Paul was worried about their salvation.

Beginning with the initial response to the gospel that brings one into a forgiven relationship with G...

OBEYING THE GOSPEL (JANUARY 5)

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". . . in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE “GOOD NEWS” OF GOD’S SALVATION. But at this point, we encounter a misconception that is firmly lodged in the minds of many people: the notion that the gospel is unconditional and requires no response on our part.

Now certainly, anything we might do would be no mor...

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST (JANUARY 4)

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"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1).

WHEN THE TIME CAME AND GOD BROUGHT TO COMPLETION HIS PLAN TO PROVIDE SALVATION, THE PLAN WAS COMMUNICATED IN WORDS. In the Scriptures, this announcement of the deliverance from sin that God made possible is called the “gospel.”

It is an interesting fact that God chose to use the medium of human language as He did. Crucial to His rescue plan was its communication by m...

SALVATION (JANUARY 3)

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"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

EVEN BEFORE SIN BROKE THE PERFECTION OF GOD’S CREATION, GOD HAD FORMULATED A RESCUE PLAN. A descendant of Adam and Eve would crush Satan, the one who had lied to them, enticing them to sin: “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” As it turned out, this One would live a perf...

SIN (JANUARY 2)

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"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die'" (Genesis 2:16,17).

ADAM AND EVE WERE FREE, BUT THEY USED THEIR FREEDOM TO REJECT GOD RATHER THAN HONOR HIM AS THEIR MAKER. We must not underestimate the seriousness of their decision to do what God had said they...

IN THE BEGINNING (JANUARY 1)

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"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

LONG AGO, GOD MADE THE WORLD, AND WHEN IT WAS NEWLY MADE, IT WAS PERFECT. In its original state, as yet unmarred by any rebellion on the part of its inhabitants, the world reflected the perfection and glory of its Creator, ideally and supremely.

God is the only uncreated being. As Meister Eckhart wrote, “Outside of God, there is nothing but nothing.” Yet God was moved by His wisd...

WHAT HINDERS YOU? (DECEMBER 31)

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"And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16).

WHEN ANANIAS FOUND SAUL OF TARSUS, THE NOTORIOUS PERSECUTOR OF THE CHURCH, SAUL HAD BEEN FASTING AND PRAYING SORROWFULLY FOR THREE DAYS. “And now why do you wait?” Ananias asked. “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” Saul did as he was instructed, received the forgiveness of his sins, and served Jesus Christ fervently for the rest...

HAVE YOU OBEYED THE GOSPEL? (DECEMBER 30)

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"For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17).

WHEN PETER SPEAKS OF “JUDGMENT,” HE PRESENTS US WITH A SOBERING THOUGHT. The marvelous gift of the freedom of our will is accompanied by responsibility and accountability to our Creator. The time will come when we will be judged. In our conscience, we all know...

HAVE YOU DIED WITH CHRIST? (DECEMBER 29)

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"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3,4).

IN THE GOSPEL, THERE IS AN INSEPARABLE LINK BETWEEN CHRIST’S DEATH AND OUR BAPTISM. The death of Christ is obviously important; it is...

EXAMINING OURSELVES (DECEMBER 28)

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"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV).

GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD, THERE IS NO HIGHER PRIORITY FOR US THAN SELF-EXAMINATION. Are we, or are we not, in a right relationship with Him? Do we, or do we not, have the hope of eternal life? And no less critical is this question: by what standard...

FORGIVEN, SAVED, BORN AGAIN (DECEMBER 27)

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"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live...

HAVE YOU ACCEPTED CHRIST? (DECEMBER 26)

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"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6,7).

PAUL’S COUNSEL TO THE COLOSSIANS IS ONE THAT APPLIES TO ALL OF US WHO HAVE OBEYED THE GOSPEL. He said, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” Having accepted Christ, we need to live like persons who have actually done that.

We oft...

ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? (DECEMBER 25)

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"Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'You almost persuade me to become a Christian'" (Acts 26:28 NKJV).

THE QUESTION “ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?” IS PERHAPS MORE CONFUSING TO PEOPLE TODAY THAN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST CENTURY. But when Agrippa said, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian,” he knew what a Christian was. He understood the word “Christian” in its original sense: a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Sadly, there is no evidence that Agrippa ever became a Christian...

WHEN YOU RETURN, EXPECT A CELEBRATION (DECEMBER 24)

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"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate" (Luke 15:22-24).

IT SHOULD GIVE US COURAGE TO READ THE WORDS “AND THEY BE...

COME TO JESUS, DO NOT TARRY (DECEMBER 23)

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"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39,40).

WHEN JESUS INVITES US TO COME TO HIM, IT IS POSSIBLE TO REFUSE. Tragic as such a refusal is, many do refuse. But many others simply delay, thinking an easier time will come later.

It is always important for us...

A VICTORY GIVEN BY GOD (DECEMBER 22)

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"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

GRATITUDE IS ONE OF THE MAJOR MOTIFS THAT WE HEAR IN THE GREAT SYMPHONY OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. The apostle Paul, for example, uses the expression “thanks be to God” six times in his letters. And he uses it in 1 Corinthians 15:57 as he reaches the climax of his magnificent discussion of the resurrection of Christ.

“Victory” is a powerful word, but it i...

REAL RESTORATION TO GOD (DECEMBER 21)

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"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).

IF WE WANT SALVATION AT ALL, MOST OF US ONLY WANT SALVATION FROM OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, NOT SALVATION FROM OUR SINS. We’d like help with the difficult, painful aspects of our lives, especially the unjust things other people have done to us. It is the unpleasantness and hardship of this broken world that we want God to fix.

Now and then, though, we...

WHAT PROFIT? (DECEMBER 20)

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"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

IN THE LAST TWO THOUSAND YEARS, MANY DIFFERENT MESSAGES HAVE BEEN PREACHED BY THOSE CLAIMING TO UPHOLD THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Today, most of what goes by the name of “Christianity” is a far cry from what Jesus taught and what He instructed His apostles to teach. To be specific, the original emphasis on t...

THE TWO GREAT ALTERNATIVES (DECEMBER 19)

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"He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury" (Romans 2:6-8).

JESUS SAID THAT EVERY TREE IS KNOWN BY THE FRUIT IT BEARS. Our outward deeds are important because, in the end, they will have shown the kind of...

SEEING THE TRUTH, DECIDING TO RESPOND (DECEMBER 18)

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"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you"'" (Luke 15:17,18).

THE LOST SON IN THIS STORY MADE A DECISION. Alienated from his father, and having abused every blessing he had ever been given, this young man “came to...

WE CAN'T GET BACK TO GOD ON OUR OWN (DECEMBER 17)

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"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21).

IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN IN THE WORLD ARE DISTRESSING TO US. There are few rational people anywhere who do not understand the difficulties of the human condition: we struggle with loneliness, depression, anxiety, fear, anger, alienation, and irrelevance (to name...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SAY NO? (DECEMBER 16)

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"As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11).

IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO THINK THAT GOD IS UNAFFECTED WHEN WE REJECT HIM. It was He who gave us the freedom to choose, and He will not force His will upon...

WILL ALL BE SAVED? (DECEMBER 15)

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"Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed" (Romans 2:4,5).

MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT EVERYBODY IS GOING TO HEAVEN. At almost every funeral service, the speaker comforts the family by saying that the deceased (no matter...

IN CHRIST, WE CAN BE EVERYTHING GOD INTENDED (DECEMBER 14)

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"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19).

BOUND TO THE PRESENT MOMENT AS WE ARE, WE CAN’T SEE VERY FAR BACKWARD OR FORWARD. So we can only imagine what human beings were before they fell into sin, and it is beyond our dreams to envision what we will be, in Jesus Christ, when God has completed His future plans for us. Paul said “the revealing of the...

GOD, THE SUPPORT OF THE SAVED (DECEMBER 13)

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"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24,25).

JUDE’S CHRISTIAN FRIENDS NEEDED TO BE ASSURED OF GOD’S HELP. They faced difficulties that would test their allegiance to Christ, ordeals that might overwhelm them if t...

LOOKING BEYOND OUR SALVATION TO THE SAVIOR (DECEMBER 12)

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"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29).

AS THE “LAMB OF GOD,” JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONE WHO “TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.” The words “looking to Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) are powerful. If our sins are to be taken away, it is to Him that we must look. We have no other hope (Acts 4:12).

However, there is a s...

OBEDIENCE IS NOT A NEGATIVE CONCEPT (DECEMBER 11)

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"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:2,3).

NOWADAYS, MOST PEOPLE THINK OF EQUALITY IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY BELIEVE HIERARCHIES ARE EVIL AND ARE TO BE AVOIDED WHEREVER POSSIBLE. The very word obedience evokes an image of pre-modern times, before equality came to be viewed as...

THE MOST DISTURBING MESSAGE IN THE WORLD (DECEMBER 10)

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"Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'" (Acts 2:37).

WOULD YOU SAY BEING “CUT TO THE HEART” IS A GOOD THING? These days, most people wouldn’t. We want, at all costs, to experience happy feelings, and we would be turned off by any sermon that called on us to pass through the wilderness of godly sorrow. We only w...

JESUS, THE CRISIS-PRODUCER (DECEMBER 9)

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"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34).

IN RESPONSE TO JESUS, PEOPLE DID MANY DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT ONE THING NOBODY DID WAS REMAIN NEUTRAL. Jesus’ teaching authoritatively called for a decision, and those who did not make a decision for or against Jesus were making the worst decision of all. As Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not...

FLEE! DON’T LOOK BACK! (DECEMBER 8)

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"Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19:24-26).

THE ADMONITION TO FLEE IS SOMETIMES MORE IMPORTANT THAN WE REALIZE. If we were in a difficult situation, the advice to “get out of ther...

THE DEADLIEST TEMPTATION (DECEMBER 7)

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"And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, 'Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you'" (Acts 24:25).

TEMPTATION COMES TO US IN VARIOUS WAYS. Sometimes we are tempted to engage in acts of deliberate disobedience. Knowing full well what God’s will is, we are persuaded to do what God has said we must not do, as Eve did when she ate of the forbidden fruit (Ge...

A GENTLE KNOCK AT THE DOOR (DECEMBER 6)

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"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).

IT MAY STRIKE US AS UNUSUAL THAT WHEN GOD CAME INTO THE WORLD, HE CAME IN SUCH A GENTLE WAY. Perhaps He could have landed with an invading army and compelled our submission with brute force. But he appeared as a gentle Teacher, asking us to...

MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE, WE LONG FOR HIS FELLOWSHIP (DECEMBER 5)

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"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27).

HUMAN BEINGS HAVE ALWAYS MARVELED AT THEIR UNIQUENESS. Compared to differences that separate the lower creatures, we are so different from even the highest of other living beings, the difference can hardly be described. But how and why are we so different? Until the 18th century in Western Europe, almost every person...

WE ARE NOT SAVED BY THOSE WE ARE CONNECTED TO (DECEMBER 4)

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"Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham" (Matthew 3:8,9).

IF THE JEWISH LEADERS THOUGHT OF SALVATION IN “INSTITUTIONAL” TERMS, THEY WERE NOT ALONE. Very few of us can say we haven’t made the same mistake. We are strongly tempted to think that our ticket into t...

GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS (DECEMBER 3)

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"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:30,31).

THE IDEA OF A “JUDGMENT DAY” IS UNPOPULAR THESE DAYS. Fewer of those who designate themselves as Christians believe that such a thing will actu...

PUTTING OUR HAND TO THE PLOW (DECEMBER 2)

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"Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God'" (Luke 9:61,62).

ONE COMMON THREAD RUNNING THROUGHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT IS COMMITMENT. Will we follow Jesus? Our answer must be more than “maybe” or “if I don’t change my mind.”

DECISIVENESS. Too many so-called...

JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED (DECEMBER 1)

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"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

PAUL WAS GRATEFUL FOR HIS BRETHREN IN CORINTH, BUT HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT THEM. They had divided into factions, each group following its favorite teacher of the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). This kind of sectarianism was common in cities like Corinth, of course, where the public forum was filled with philosophers, orators, and teachers — each wooing followers by showing himself to be more on the in...

ENTRANCE INTO THE ETERNAL KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 30)

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"Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:10,11).

AS CHRISTIANS, IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US TO GROW IN THE CHARACTER TRAITS OF GODLINESS. Just prior to the text above, Peter had encouraged his readers to work hard at...

JUDGED BY OUR RESPONSE TO JESUS' WORD (NOVEMBER 29)

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"I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day" (John 12:46-48).

...

CALLED, BELOVED, KEPT (NOVEMBER 28)

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"Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you" (Jude 1,2).

BEING A CHRISTIAN IS A REALITY THAT CAN BE LOOKED AT FROM MORE THAN ONE ANGLE. In other words, a person who is a Christian can describe his identity in various ways. Let’s look at the three expressions Jude used to address his fellow Christians.