Obeying the Gospel

LIKE A LAMB (FEBRUARY 17)

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"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

IT WAS A BASIC PRINCIPLE OF THE LAW OF MOSES THAT THE VICTIM OF A CRIME WAS NOT ALLOWED TO PUNISH THE WRONGDOER — OTHERS WERE TO TAKE CARE OF THAT. We have the same principle in our laws today. And this principle ma...

WITH HIS WOUNDS WE ARE HEALED (FEBRUARY 16)

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"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

AS A JEWISH RABBI, PAUL STUMBLED OVER THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST IN THE SAME WAY THAT MANY HAVE. The Messiah was to be the King, God’s “Anointed.” How could He even be killed, let alone die by crucifixion? To be hanged on a tree was to be under...

DESPISED AND REJECTED BY MEN (FEBRUARY 15)

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"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).

IF THE WORLD HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO DESIGN ITS OWN MESSIAH OR SAVIOR, IT WOULD HAVE COME UP WITH SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT GOD ACTUALLY PROVIDED. Jesus was, to say the least, a shock. He was offensive, if not ridiculous, to His enemies. At one...

APPEAL TO GOD FOR A GOOD CONSCIENCE (FEBRUARY 14)

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"Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21).

ACCORDING TO PETER, BAPTISM SAVES US. Its effectiveness does not lie in the washing of dirt from the body, and even as an action that is considered spiritual or religious, being immersed in water would surely not produce the forgiveness of sins if...

BEGINNING WITH THIS SCRIPTURE (FEBRUARY 13)

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"And the eunuch said to Philip, 'About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?' Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?'" (Acts 8:34-36).

IN ACTS 8, WE HAVE THE ACCOUNT OF A CHRISTIAN...

TRUSTING GOD’S CHOSEN MEANS (FEBRUARY 12)

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"And the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live" (Numbers 21:8,9).

THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW WHY GOD CHOSE THIS WAY OF SAVING THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SNAKEBITTEN. As the people of Israel dr...

THE HORRIBLE LIE WE TELL OURSELVES (FEBRUARY 11)

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"The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?' Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord" (Obadiah 3,4).

THE PROBLEM OF PRIDE ADDRESSED IN THE LITTLE BOOK OF OBADIAH IS A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM. Specifically, it...

SOWING AND REAPING (FEBRUARY 10)

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"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:7,8).

ONE OF THE WORST MISTAKES WE CAN MAKE IS TO DISCONNECT OUR ACTIONS IN THE PRESENT FROM OUR DESTINY IN THE FUTURE. The doctrine of God’s grace, for example, is sometimes misunderstood to...

WHAT IF WE COULD SOLVE EVERY PROBLEM BUT ONE? (FEBRUARY 9)

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"And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'" (Luke 12:18...

DO WE DENY THE LORD’S DIAGNOSIS? (FEBRUARY 8)

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"I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:18,19).

IF THE GOSPEL IS ABOUT GOD SAVING US FROM OUR SINS, THE FIRST REQUIREMENT IS TO SE...

WHAT SIN IS (FEBRUARY 7)

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"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4 NIV).

IF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS ABOUT SALVATION FROM OUR SINS, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO SEE CLEARLY WHAT SIN REALLY IS. If we deny the thing we need to be saved from, we are a long way from accepting God as our Rescuer. Hard as it is, sin is a fact we must face.

To begin with, we need to understand that God has...

FAITHFUL LOVE (FEBRUARY 6)

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"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).

WORDS OFTEN COME IN PAIRS. For example, consider the words “benevolent” and “malevolent.” The first means “good will” and the second, “ill will.” To be benevolently inclined toward someone is to want to help them, but if a person is malevolently inclined, that means their basic disposition is to harm.

THAT WE SHOULD NOT PERISH (FEBRUARY 5)

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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:16,17).

MANY PEOPLE WOULD SAY THIS TEXT IS THEIR FAVORITE. But favorite things have a way of becoming so familiar that they no longer challenge us as we need to...

WHEN COMFORT AND CONFIDENCE ARE DANGEROUS (FEBRUARY 4)

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"For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17).

AFFLUENT SOCIETIES ARE OFTEN THE LEAST OPEN TO THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. People who can get whatever they want to satisfy their temporal desires pay little attention to their spiritual needs.

The problem is that material prosperity breeds a false confidence in ourselves. When our immediate desires are fulfilled, we are...

ARE WE WILLING TO LEARN FROM OUR LIMITS? (FEBRUARY 3)

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"What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted" (Ecclesiastes 1:15).

GOD HAS MADE THE PRESENT WORLD AN UNPREDICTABLE PLACE. Lest we think figuring out which buttons to push will invariably get us what we want from the world’s vending machine, God prevents us from having this much control. He makes sure we can’t straighten out every crooked thing in our lives. Paul describes this by saying “the creation was subjec...

THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE (FEBRUARY 2)

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"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'" (John 6:68).

IN JOHN 6, WHEN JESUS GAVE HIS DIFFICULT “BREAD OF LIFE” DISCOURSE, MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES DECIDED THEY WOULD NOT FOLLOW HIM ANYMORE. But when He asked His inner circle of disciples, the twelve apostles, if they also would turn away from Him, Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter understood something about Jesus th...

IT IS BY GOD’S GRACE THAT WE ARE SAVED (FEBRUARY 1)

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"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

IN HIS MAGNIFICENT LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS, PAUL MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ALL THE SAVED HAVE BEEN SAVED BY GOD’S GRACE. The church in Ephesus was made up primarily of Gentiles, and he wanted them to be encouraged by the fact that God’s grace had saved them, just a...

THE GOSPEL: THE POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION (JANUARY 31)

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"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

WHEN PAUL WROTE THIS TO THE CHRISTIANS IN ROME, HE HAD NEVER BEEN THERE. And his critics seem to have been saying that he didn’t have enough courage to leave the hinterlands and come preach the gospel in Rome, the most powerful and sophisticated ci...

FAITH IN THE POWERFUL WORKING OF GOD (JANUARY 30)

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". . . having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead" (Colossians 2:12).

THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH JESUS’ DEATH AND RESURRECTION HAPPENED ONLY ONCE. But there is another sense in which these events occur every time someone is baptized into Christ.

Our baptism into Christ is not a mere ritual or insignificant act of obedience — it is t...

THERE IS NO FREEDOM EXCEPT IN THE TRUTH (JANUARY 29)

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". . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

FREEDOM IS AN IDEA THAT RESONATES IN EVERY HUMAN HEART. We all long to be free. Many forces trap us and hold us back, but which one of our problems is the slavemaster that has harmed us the most? According to Jesus, it is sin. Whatever else may bind us, the practice of departing from what we know is our Creator’s wi...

THE IMPORTANCE OF JESUS’ MIRACLES (JANUARY 28)

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"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30,31).

CLAIMS AS RADICAL AS THOSE MADE BY JESUS OF NAZARETH REQUIRE STRONG SUPPORT. No one should be expected to believe them without sufficient evidence. So Peter began his argument that Je...

CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST (JANUARY 27)

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"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

IN THE TEXT ABOVE, PAUL SPEAKS OF “THE LIFE I NOW LIVE.” This, of course, stands in contrast to the way he lived previously, when “faith in the Son of God” was not his guiding principl...

THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH (JANUARY 26)

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". . . to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations" (Romans 1:5).

TEXTS THAT INDICATE SOMEONE’S PURPOSE SHOULD BE STUDIED CAREFULLY. In Romans 1:5, Paul was speaking of the purpose of his preaching as an apostle of Christ: “to bring about the obedience of faith” among all nations. So what is the “obedience of faith,” and why is it so important that Paul could say it was the goal or outcome that he hoped for in his...

EXULTING IN HOPE (JANUARY 25)

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"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).

HAVING POINTED IN THE PREVIOUS VERSE TO THE JUSTIFICATION FROM OUR PAST SINS, PAUL SPEAKS IN THIS VERSE OF THE PRESENT GRACE AND FUTURE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL. Because the alienation has been removed, the relationship we can now have with God is rich and good — it is a foretaste of the perfect, unblemished re...

JUSTIFIED (JANUARY 24)

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"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).

IN THIS VERSE, PAUL WRITES OF THE JUSTIFICATION AVAILABLE TO US IN JESUS CHRIST. Our situation before God is like that of a lawbreaker in a courtroom. We have no hope of acquittal; because we are guilty (the evidence is clear that we’ve rebelled against God’s law), we rightly stand under the law’s penalty. In an “unjust” condition, what we need is to be “...

DISCIPLES, CHRISTIANS (JANUARY 23)

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"So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:25,26).

THE TERM “CHRISTIAN” IS QUITE FAMILIAR IN OUR CULTURE. It is the designation most often used for those who are followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Today, let’s look at the use of this term in Acts 11:25,26, which...

JESUS: THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE (JANUARY 22)

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"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6).

OF ALL THE REMARKABLE THINGS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST, NONE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN HIS VIEW OF WHAT OUR REAL PROBLEM IS, THE ONE PROBLEM OF WHICH ALL THE OTHERS ARE MERELY SYMPTOMS. Both His mission and His message were aimed directly at the problem of sin. It was the salvation of our souls...

REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED (JANUARY 21)

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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?' And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 2:37,38).

WE GET THE BEST ANSWERS WHEN WE ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. On the Day of Pentecost following...

GOD HAS MADE HIM BOTH LORD AND CHRIST (JANUARY 20)

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"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36).

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE TITLES ASSOCIATED WITH THE NAME OF JESUS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? In particular, what are we to make of the fact that at least sixty times He is referred to as the “Lord Jesus Christ”? To see fully who He is in the gospel message, we n...

IN CHRIST: RECONCILIATION TO GOD (JANUARY 19)

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"In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

OF ALL THE EVENTS IN HUMAN HISTORY, THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT. And the gospel of Christ is the most important of all messages. But what is it about? If Jesus was truly the Son of God, what was the point of His being sent into the world? Paul the apostle...

ALPHA AND OMEGA (JANUARY 18)

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"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22:13).

ALPHA IS THE FIRST LETTER IN THE GREEK ALPHABET, AND OMEGA IS THE LAST. From “alpha to omega” is, as we would say, everything “from a to z.” When Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” He was making a claim to be God Incarnate, nothing less than the Eternal God who came into the world in human form. But why should this...

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (JANUARY 17)

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"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'" (John 8:12).

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY, LIGHT AND DARKNESS HAVE BEEN UNIVERSAL SYMBOLS. Light stands for truth/goodness; darkness stands for untruth/evil. When Jesus said He was the “light of the world,” He was claiming to be the only truth through which the darkness of evil can be dispelled. If it w...

WITH WHAT ATTITUDE SHOULD WE COME TO JESUS? (JANUARY 16)

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"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

THE GOSPEL ALWAYS HAS AN INVITATION ATTACHED TO IT. Jesus’ invitation is, “Come to me.” In His day, however, some came to Jesus seeking things other than what He offered, some came for wrong motives, and some were simply unwilling to accept Jesus’ conditions and commandments. In our day, people still “come to Jesus” for a wide range of reasons. So...

SHARING THE FAITH (JANUARY 15)

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"Tell everyone God’s message. Be ready at all times to do whatever is needed" (2 Timothy 4:2 ERV).

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, ORDINARY CHRISTIANS WERE EVANGELISTIC. It wasn’t just the evangelists — everybody “preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went” (Acts 8:4 NLT). Even under persecution (especially under persecution, it seems) the followers of Jesus spread the word of forgiveness and eternal hope.

Today, it is tragically true that we who follow Jesus are not as evangelistic as they were. We a...

KEEPING THE FAITH (JANUARY 14)

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"When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose" (Acts 11:23).

SADLY, SOME PEOPLE MAKE A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST, BUT THEY GET TO WHERE THE COMMITMENT DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING TO THEM. They do not “remain faithful to the Lord,” as Barnabas urged the new converts in Antioch to do. And the New Testament is clear about the consequence of unfaithfulness: to go back on our...

DYING WITH CHRIST (JANUARY 13)

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"The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him" (2 Timothy 2:11).

THE LITTLE WORD “IF” IS A POWERFUL WORD. If salvation depends on dying with Christ, it’s important to know what this means.

BAPTISM. If it is in baptism that we die with Christ (Romans 6:3,4), we should not expect the benefits of Christ’s death unless we’re willing to die with Him in this way. But there is more.

INTENT T...

MAKING THE COMMITMENT (JANUARY 12)

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"Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?' And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him" (Acts 8:35-38).

IF (1) GODLY SORROW IS MOVING US TO SEEK GOD’S FO...

TRUSTING OUR FATHER (JANUARY 11)

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". . . for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13).

SIN IS THE RESULT OF FORSAKING THE TRUST WE WERE MEANT TO HAVE IN GOD. We see it first in the Garden of Eden, where as soon as Adam and Eve’s confidence in God’s goodness had been broken, they were willing to violate His will to get what they want...

COUNTING THE COST (JANUARY 10)

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"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" (Luke 14:28).

BEFORE EMBARKING ON A PROJECT, MOST PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHETHER THEY ARE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE. Halfway through the work is not a good time to start wrestling with whether the results are going to be worth the sacrifice. We should have already done that. So Jesus said those considering obedience to His gospel...

GRIEVING OUR SINS (JANUARY 9)

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"For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJV).

IN AN AGE WHEN “FEELING GOOD” OUTRANKS EVERY OTHER VALUE, IT IS HARD FOR MANY TO SEE THAT OUR FIRST RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL MUST BE GRIEF. Yet if the gospel is about redemption from our sins, we are not ready for what the gospel offers until we see our sins for what they are and grieve them in a go...