Obeying the Gospel

KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS (MAY 22)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/king-of-kings-lord-of-lords-may-22/

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war . . . From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King...

THE MESSIAH'S RULE (MAY 21)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/messiahs-rule-may-21/

"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Psalm 2:8,9).

POWER CORRUPTS. And if this is true of individuals, it is even more true of groups. Consider governments, for example. Can it be denied that governments tend toward corruption, that they always move in the direction of greater self-will? “The kings of the ea...

THE SIN OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY (MAY 20)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/sin-self-sufficiency-may-20/

"Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention" (2 Chronicles 24:19).

THE GOSPEL IS POWERFUL, BUT IT CAN’T OVERCOME THE WILL OF A PERSON WHO DOESN’T SEE THAT HE NEEDS TO BE SAVED. And for this reason, the gospel will not be of much interest to people today. Living in an age when the concept of “sin” is no longer taken seriously, we should not expect t...

WE CAN’T EXCLUDE GOD AND STILL HAVE HIM (MAY 19)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/cant-exclude-god-still-have-him-may-19/

"For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to...

OBTAINED WITH CHRIST’S BLOOD (MAY 18)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/obtained-with-christs-blood-may-18/

"Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood" (Acts 20:28).

WHAT COULD MAKE US VALUE THE LORD’S CHURCH ANY MORE HIGHLY THAN KNOWING IT WAS OBTAINED AT THE COST OF HIS BLOOD? No higher purchase price is imaginable. And if we think we can appreciate the Lord without valuing the church for which He died...

THE BODY OF CHRIST (MAY 17)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/body-of-christ-may-17/

"And [Christ] is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent" (Colossians 1:18).

STRICTLY SPEAKING, THERE IS NO ONE OVER WHOM CHRIST IS NOT HEAD. But there is a special sense in which He is the head of His body, the church. After having refused His rule, these individuals have returned to their rightful King, sought His forgiveness, and sworn allegiance to Him from now on...

IF OUR CONCEPT OF GOD IS WRONG (MAY 16)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/if-concept-of-god-wrong-may-16/

"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen" (Romans 1:24,25).

IF WE THOUGHT THAT “THEOLOGY” WAS AN INTELLECTUAL PURSUIT WITH NO PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCE, WE WOULD BE WRONG. Our theology is our view of God (His existence, His nature, His purposes, His...

A RANSOM FOR ALL (MAY 15)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/ransom-for-all-may-15/

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5,6).

BETWEEN GOD AND MANKIND THERE IS A GREAT SEPARATION. We are cut off from our Creator by our sins. And this alienation is a problem we can’t solve by our own wisdom or human effort.

MEDIATOR. Paul states that Jesus Christ is...

KNOWING GOD, ETERNAL LIFE (MAY 14)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/knowing-god-eternal-life-may-14/

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3).

IT IS FASCINATING TO CONTEMPLATE WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR ADAM AND EVE TO KNOW GOD. Prior to their tragic decision to rebel against His will, they would have had a perfect relationship with their Creator: knowing Him, revering Him, and loving Him. But once that relationship was broken, the knowledge of God would have become an...

DON’T WE REMEMBER WHAT WE SAW? (MAY 13)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/dont-remember-what-saw-may-13/

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified" (Galatians 3:1).

THERE IS NOTHING THE HUMAN MIND IS NOT CAPABLE OF FORGETTING, EVEN THE THINGS WE NEED TO REMEMBER THE MOST. Sometimes surprisingly quickly, we get to the point where even the most vivid experiences no longer have any impact. So when the Galatian Christians began to waver in their faith, Paul was amazed. “It was before your...

SOUL HEALTH (MAY 12)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/soul-health-may-12/

"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul" (3 John 2).

IN JOHN’S PRAYER FOR GAIUS, HIS BROTHER IN CHRIST, THERE IS AN INTERESTING ORDER OF PRIORITIES. Whereas most people would think first about a friend’s physical state and then also hope they were doing well spiritually, John prays that “you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” In other words, J...

RESPONDING RIGHTLY TO GRACE (MAY 11)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/responding-rightly-grace-may-11/

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

OBEDIENCE TO THE GOSPEL IS A RESPONSE. We do not initiate the process; God does. Whatever we do, we do in response to what His love has done to make our salvation possible. And surely...

THE SCRIPTURES (MAY 10)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/scriptures-may-10/

". . . just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:15,16).

IN THIS TEXT, PETER, WHO WAS ONE OF THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST, ALLUDES TO THE LETTERS WRITTEN BY PAUL, ANOTHER ONE OF THE...

LISTEN TO HIM (MAY 9)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/listen-to-him-may-9/

"And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, 'This is my beloved Son; listen to him'" (Mark 9:7).

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, WE OUGHT TO LISTEN. Other people may say things we have little interest in, but surely, when the Creator of the universe is addressing us, as He does today through the Scriptures, the least we can do is sit up and take notice.

It was an extraordinary claim when Jesus said that His teaching...

THE SPACIOUS FIRMAMENT ON HIGH (MAY 8)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/spacious-firmament-on-high-may-8/

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world" (Psalm 19:1-4).

THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD. So said David, a man who would have pondered the sky on many occasions...

THE HAND THAT MADE US IS DIVINE (MAY 7)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/hand-made-us-divine-may-7/

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Romans 1:19,20).

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THE EXPRESSION “PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE”? It’s a cumbersome string of words, I’ll grant you, but it contains a useful idea. The preponderance of the e...

MEMBERS OF HIS BODY, NOURISHED AND CHERISHED (MAY 6)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/members-body-nourished-cherished-may-6/

"For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body" (Ephesians 5:29,30).

HUSBANDS ARE EXHORTED TO NOURISH AND CHERISH THEIR WIVES “JUST AS CHRIST DOES THE CHURCH.” As the head of the body, Christ is deeply concerned about the body’s healthy functioning. It is more than a minor interest of His. He died to make the church possible, and having done that...

CHRIST GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR THE CHURCH (MAY 5)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/christ-gave-himself-up-for-church-may-5/

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25).

HERE, WITHIN THE SPACE OF JUST A FEW WORDS, WE HAVE ONE OF THE PROFOUNDEST STATEMENTS OF THEOLOGY EVER MADE. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Here is the heart of the truth about Jesus Christ and also our main motivation for obeying His gospel. And since the statement is part of Paul’s discussion of husbands an...

CHRIST AND THE CHURCH (MAY 4)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/christ-church-may-4/

"For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands" (Ephesians 5:23,24).

THESE VERSES OCCUR IN A PASSAGE THAT SEEMS TO BE ABOUT THE HUSBAND-WIFE RELATIONSHIP. There is certainly an analogy between this relationship and that of Christ to His church, but Paul is clear that the Christ-church relationship...

GOD’S GLORY IN THE CHURCH AND IN CHRIST JESUS (MAY 3)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/gods-glory-church-christ-jesus-may-3/

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20,21).

PAUL’S WORDS HERE CONSTITUTE A “DOXOLOGY.” From the Greek doxa (“glory, honor”), a doxology is an expression of praise to God. To God be glory, Paul says, throughout all generati...

WHAT GOD HAS GRACIOUSLY REVEALED TO US (MAY 2)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/god-graciously-revealed-may-2/

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29).

THERE ARE SOME THINGS WHICH GOD HAS NOT REVEALED TO THE HUMAN RACE. In fact, it seems likely that only a small portion of what God knows has been revealed to us. We can think of many reasons why God has not spoken...

EZRA’S GODLY SORROW (MAY 1)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/ezras-godly-sorrow-may-1/

"O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens" (Ezra 9:6).

EZRA DID NOT DOUBT GOD’S READINESS TO FORGIVE, BUT NEITHER DID HE DOUBT THE REQUIREMENT OF REPENTANCE. His grief was an indication of his deep reverence for God, coupled with a recognition that sin is never a trifling matter. It must be dealt with bold...

THE GOSPEL: WORDS AND POWER (APRIL 30)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/gospel-words-power-april-30/

". . . our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

PAUL’S ENEMIES IN THESSALONICA WERE PROBABLY SAYING THAT HE WAS A FAKE. The gospel of Christ was false, they would have said, and what is more, Paul knew it to be false. He was deceiving people deliberately, for reasons that were purely selfish. So Paul was anxious about those who had obeyed the gospel in Th...

YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE, I WILL BE YOUR GOD (APRIL 29)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/my-people-your-god-april-29/

"I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians" (Exodus 6:7).

AFTER ISRAEL WAS DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY, WHAT THEN? That is a question God answered even before He liberated them: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.” Having rescued them from...

REPENTANCE FROM THE HEART (APRIL 28)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/repentance-from-heart-april-28/

"Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven" (Lamentations 3:41).

IN HIS COLLECTION OF SORROWFUL SONGS FOLLOWING THE DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM BY THE BABYLONIANS, JEREMIAH CAPTURES THE PENITENT SPIRIT THAT ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE HAD AT THIS TERRIBLE TIME. “Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven,” he says. Although God had brought judgment upon Israel (just as He had said He would if they did not cease their idolatry), their future could still be b...

A BAG WITH HOLES (APRIL 27)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/bag-with-holes-april-27/

"You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6).

DESPITE OUR DILIGENCE IN THIS WORLD, SOMETIMES IT SEEMS THE RESULTS OF OUR WORK ARE NOT COMPLETELY SATISFACTORY. In our more honest moments, we recognize the existence of yearnings and aspirations that show no...

WE HAVE TO BE TAUGHT WHAT WE NEED (APRIL 26)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/taught-what-we-need-april-26/

"And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by...

DO WE REALLY MEAN OUR NICE-SOUNDING WORDS? (APRIL 25)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/really-mean-nice-sounding-words-april-25/

"Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments" (Deuteronomy 5:29).

GOD’S STATEMENT IN THIS VERSE CAME AFTER ISRAEL HAD SAID THEY WOULD OBEY THE LAW THAT GOD WOULD GIVE TO MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI. “Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say,” they had said, “and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and...

SETTING APART CHRIST AS LORD IN OUR HEARTS (APRIL 24)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/setting-apart-christ-lord-hearts-april-24/

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).

ONE WAY TO DEFINE THE CHRISTIAN’S UNIQUENESS IS TO SAY THAT HE HAS MADE CHRIST THE “LORD” OF HIS HEART. When he turned away from his sins, confessed his faith, and was baptized into Christ, the Ch...

WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND SOUL (APRIL 23)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/all-your-heart-soul-april-23/

"But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29).

THE BASIC IDEA CONTAINED IN THIS TEXT IS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES. I have not counted them, but if you took all the occurrences of “with all your heart and soul” (and all the variations thereof) and put them together, it would be an impressive list. Clearly, what God...

GOD WILL NOT BE TRIFLED WITH (APRIL 22)

View on Website -- https://wordpoints.com/god-not-trifled-with-april-22/

"Then Moses said to Aaron, 'This is what the Lord has said: "Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified."' And Aaron held his peace" (Leviticus 10:3).

WHEN NADAB AND ABIHU DISRESPECTED GOD BY FLOUTING HIS INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TABERNACLE WORSHIP, THEY PAID FOR IT WITH THEIR LIVES. These men having offered “unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them . . . fire came out from be...