Obeying the Gospel

A RANSOM FOR ALL (MAY 15)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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". . . 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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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". . . 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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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)

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"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...

A TRAGIC DISREGARD FOR GOD’S REQUIREMENTS (APRIL 21)

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"Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them" (Leviticus 10:1).

BEGINNING WITH ADAM AND EVE’S BOLD EXPERIMENT WITH INDEPENDENCE FROM GOD, EVERY MEMBER OF THE HUMAN RACE HAS STRUGGLED WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. Somehow, we just can’t believe that God really means business when He reveals His will for the wa...

THE RETURN OF ELIJAH (APRIL 20)

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"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes" (Malachi 4:5).

MALACHI IS THE LAST BOOK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. After this oracle was delivered, God did not speak prophetically to His people again until John the Baptist appeared preaching in the wilderness of Judea over four hundred years later. When John began to preach, his message was simple: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1,2). The Messiah was soon...

BAPTISM IS IMMERSION (APRIL 19)

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"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 6:4).

WHEN A PERSON IS BAPTIZED, WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL ACTION THAT TAKES PLACE? If we’re seeking a biblical answer, there is no evidence that baptism was ever anything other than complete immersion in water. Of John, the prophet sent by God to prepare the wa...

FAITH AND TRUST (APRIL 18)

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"And the Lord said to Moses, 'How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?'" (Numbers 14:11).

ONE MEASURE OF THE MATURITY OF OUR FAITH IS HOW MUCH WE TRUST GOD. If we believe in the existence of God, that is a good thing. But as believers, do we trust Him enough to do things His way when that path looks dangerous...

FAITH AND REASON (APRIL 17)

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"But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand" (Acts 4:4).

BETWEEN “HEARING” THE GOSPEL AND “BELIEVING” IT, A PROCESS OF REASONING HAS TO TAKE PLACE. Contrary to the popular notion that faith and reason are incompatible, reason is necessary in the creation of a genuine faith in God. Without the solid foundation of reasonable thinking, faith is nothing but a feeling that is subject to the winds of ever-changing circumst...

THE LORDSHIP OF DAVID’S LORD (APRIL 16)

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"The Lord says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool'" (Psalm 110:1).

IN PSALM 110, DAVID SPOKE OF THE RULE OF A PERSON HE REFERRED TO AS “MY LORD.” Who was this person? Whoever it was, Yahweh is pictured as saying to him, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Some have said David was speaking of himself, but there is no other place in the Scriptures where a ki...

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM (APRIL 15)

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"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19).

WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF CHRIST’S “KEYS OF THE KINGDOM” STATEMENT? If Roman Catholics have read too much into this text, Protestants may have read too little. Jesus’ saying is of fundamental importance, and it should impact our thinking significantly.

To Peter, a...

THE KING’S UNPROMISING BIRTH (APRIL 14)

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"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2).

THIS TEXT IS ONE OF MANY FROM THE HEBREW PROPHETS QUOTED OR ALLUDED TO IN THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. It foretells that the Messiah (“Anointed One”) would be born in the village of Bethlehem — just one of t...