Matthew 5:45b
for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Message: Providence and Common Grace
Time: The date of Matthew's composition is anywhere from 55-60 AD probably in Antioch of Syria. The writing is most likely to the Jews. His purpose was to show them that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected messiah and both his genealogy and his resurrection were legitimate proofs of this.
What the Lord is Saying:
The Sovereignty of God acknowledges that God actively controls all things that occurs in His creation. God is creator and He has planned all things and they take place as He has planned. He is independent of creation and Lord over it. God has existed for eternity while everything else has a beginning. God is also active. He did not simply wind a clock up but He is active each day in His creation and thus He is providential. Our existence today needs God right now. We need God for our world to exist today. We are all dependent on one another.
He sustains us out of his grace. Grace is providing something to someone that they neither earned or can pay back. When a homeless person on the street asks you for money, you are being gracious in giving him money. He does nothing to earn it and won't be paying it back. You are freely giving him what is yours and making it his. This is how God has exhibited his love toward us. He could act in any way he wanted, but He chose to give us freely what we need.
While some people will call God Lord and some with call Him a liar, everyone receives His creation. We all live in this creation and enjoy its benefits. Thus, His grace is common to all. The verse today echoes this idea for He causes His Sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Saving grace provides salvation only to the elect of God, but common grace is open to everyone. Common grace does not distinguish, does not discriminate.
Some time ago I was looking at His creation or the natural revelation that has been given to us. One of my favorite verses is Romans 1:19-20 - that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Everyone can see God because everyone can see His creation. Everyone can see His power and His nature. The benefits of His creation are common to all.
While grace is common to all, there is a special grace of salvation to all in Jesus providing us His son for salvation.
Promise: God's common grace reminds us that as creatures we are undeserving even of our very existence.
Prayer: Lord, you are sovereign over all. You are active. You are present with me right now and you are present in this world. I need you every day. Each day you create and each day you sustain this world. We like to think we are in charge, but God you are in charge of all. Thank you for your creation that I have before me each day. Thank you for making it the way you have, for the people that I see each day, for creating them. Lord, re-train mankind to know you and draw people to yourself. I pray the good news of your salvation is more clearly seen in people each day.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Nehemiah 9:6 - Providential Preservation
Nehemiah 9:6
You alone are the Lord.
You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down before You.
Message: Providential Preservation
Time: Nehemiah is the author and written from a first-person perspective. We meet him as an adult serving in the Persian royal court as the personal cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. It opens in the Persian city of Susa in the year 444 BC and concludes around 430 BC. Most of the book centers on events in Jerusalem. He was a layman not a priest and his life is a study on leadership. He gave God the credit for his successes.
What the Lord is Saying:
Sovereignty is the doctrine that God controls all that occurs in His creation. God works all things according to the counsel of His will. All things take place as He has planned, decreed, or ordained them. The way that God works all things is in the works of creation and providence (Westminster Shorter Catechism 8). He created the heavens and the earth. He created all things out of nothing. We are His creation.
In addition to His creation God provides. Nothing happens by chance. Often in life, we use the word providing to denote things that we like that we receive. We have no problem receiving good things in life, but the notion that God provides the uncomfortable situations, the difficulties, the trials of life seems absent from our thinking for why would suffering be at the hand of God? Yet, we can see multiple times how trials teach us about ourselves and also about our need to trust God.
Again going back to WSC 11 we see that God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. Thus, the divine work of providence can be divided into divine preservation and divine governance.
To say that there is divine preservation is to record the idea that He sustains the existence of all created things. In essence, we need each other. Everything we see is His creation - nature, animals, land, sea. They all testify of who He is and yet they are all here to support one another. We need creation to live and sustain life. We need the food from creation to support one another and the animals. The sun lights our days. All of creation is dependent on one another and so God preserves it all for us, for His purposes.
Creation also cannot exist apart from God. Nehemiah 9:6 states - You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them. God gives life to all of them. Evolution and atheism try so hard to show that their is no life-giver, no one that sustains life, but rather life evolves and remains on its own. Yet, to me, it seems that his creation order gives this impression. The continual regeneration of one form to another is seen, but the mystery remains often why one form ends and when it does. We praise God for new life, for beginnings, but we often don't for ends.
Psalm 145:15-16 records - The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time.
You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. We sit at the table and thank God for the food He has given, for the shelter he has provided, for the job he has given, for the clothes we have on our backs - we want to remain thankful to him. There is danger in thinking this providence comes about because of our hard work alone.
Promise: As Martin Luther states, whatever "is in heaven and upon the earth, is daily given preserved, and kept for us by God"; thus, "it is our duty to love, praise, and thank Him for it without ceasing."
Prayer: Lord, as I take the time to examine creation, it reminds me Lord that You are creator. Lord, I see again that You provide everything that I see. Forgive me for thinking often that I am in control of outcomes. What a danger I have in my life to see what I produce and want to give myself the glory. Keep my eyes looking to You. Thank you for the earth and all that is in it. You give life to all that we see. You are giver and taker, but always for your purpose. We need you to carry on life. I need to keep returning to You in all things because I get so easily distracted.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
You alone are the Lord.
You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down before You.
Message: Providential Preservation
Time: Nehemiah is the author and written from a first-person perspective. We meet him as an adult serving in the Persian royal court as the personal cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. It opens in the Persian city of Susa in the year 444 BC and concludes around 430 BC. Most of the book centers on events in Jerusalem. He was a layman not a priest and his life is a study on leadership. He gave God the credit for his successes.
What the Lord is Saying:
Sovereignty is the doctrine that God controls all that occurs in His creation. God works all things according to the counsel of His will. All things take place as He has planned, decreed, or ordained them. The way that God works all things is in the works of creation and providence (Westminster Shorter Catechism 8). He created the heavens and the earth. He created all things out of nothing. We are His creation.
In addition to His creation God provides. Nothing happens by chance. Often in life, we use the word providing to denote things that we like that we receive. We have no problem receiving good things in life, but the notion that God provides the uncomfortable situations, the difficulties, the trials of life seems absent from our thinking for why would suffering be at the hand of God? Yet, we can see multiple times how trials teach us about ourselves and also about our need to trust God.
Again going back to WSC 11 we see that God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. Thus, the divine work of providence can be divided into divine preservation and divine governance.
To say that there is divine preservation is to record the idea that He sustains the existence of all created things. In essence, we need each other. Everything we see is His creation - nature, animals, land, sea. They all testify of who He is and yet they are all here to support one another. We need creation to live and sustain life. We need the food from creation to support one another and the animals. The sun lights our days. All of creation is dependent on one another and so God preserves it all for us, for His purposes.
Creation also cannot exist apart from God. Nehemiah 9:6 states - You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them. God gives life to all of them. Evolution and atheism try so hard to show that their is no life-giver, no one that sustains life, but rather life evolves and remains on its own. Yet, to me, it seems that his creation order gives this impression. The continual regeneration of one form to another is seen, but the mystery remains often why one form ends and when it does. We praise God for new life, for beginnings, but we often don't for ends.
Psalm 145:15-16 records - The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time.
You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. We sit at the table and thank God for the food He has given, for the shelter he has provided, for the job he has given, for the clothes we have on our backs - we want to remain thankful to him. There is danger in thinking this providence comes about because of our hard work alone.
Promise: As Martin Luther states, whatever "is in heaven and upon the earth, is daily given preserved, and kept for us by God"; thus, "it is our duty to love, praise, and thank Him for it without ceasing."
Prayer: Lord, as I take the time to examine creation, it reminds me Lord that You are creator. Lord, I see again that You provide everything that I see. Forgive me for thinking often that I am in control of outcomes. What a danger I have in my life to see what I produce and want to give myself the glory. Keep my eyes looking to You. Thank you for the earth and all that is in it. You give life to all that we see. You are giver and taker, but always for your purpose. We need you to carry on life. I need to keep returning to You in all things because I get so easily distracted.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Genesis 1:1 - God's Decree and Creation
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Message: God's Decree and Creation
Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.
What the Lord is Saying:
God is sovereign which is defined as God actively controlling all things in His creation. He is active today, right now, in working out all things and to work them out according to His will. God has a perfect plan and purpose for all things. He is working from what we know was the beginning of the heavens and earth, up to now and then after now, throughout the history of time. He created time.
The eternal decree of God means that God has planned or decreed all things and this means that things take place as He has planned, decreed, or ordained them.
In the beginning God created all things out of nothing. Only God is eternal - everything else has a beginning. He began creation. He did not combine elements, but he spoke creation into existence. Hebrews 11:3 - By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Everyone agrees that all of life has a beginning. Granted there are some which believe the material world has always existed (dualism), but for the most part even those that are not religious or atheistic believe that the world at one point began. Thus, we know that all that we know begins. Life begins at conception. Trees and gardens begin from a seed. Every man made object of life had a beginning. The created order is everywhere present in our lives. We simply differ on what caused this creation to occur.
It is not complicated. It is not difficult. We often make it complicated and difficult because we struggle defining it as simple.
Promise: God created and His creation is to be enjoyed.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for creating everything I see and creating it the way that You have. My body amazes me the way You have formed it. Lord, your plan is perfect and there is order by what You have done. Thank you for being eternal and set apart. Lord, I want to continue to testify of You and what You have done.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Message: God's Decree and Creation
Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.
What the Lord is Saying:
God is sovereign which is defined as God actively controlling all things in His creation. He is active today, right now, in working out all things and to work them out according to His will. God has a perfect plan and purpose for all things. He is working from what we know was the beginning of the heavens and earth, up to now and then after now, throughout the history of time. He created time.
The eternal decree of God means that God has planned or decreed all things and this means that things take place as He has planned, decreed, or ordained them.
In the beginning God created all things out of nothing. Only God is eternal - everything else has a beginning. He began creation. He did not combine elements, but he spoke creation into existence. Hebrews 11:3 - By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Everyone agrees that all of life has a beginning. Granted there are some which believe the material world has always existed (dualism), but for the most part even those that are not religious or atheistic believe that the world at one point began. Thus, we know that all that we know begins. Life begins at conception. Trees and gardens begin from a seed. Every man made object of life had a beginning. The created order is everywhere present in our lives. We simply differ on what caused this creation to occur.
It is not complicated. It is not difficult. We often make it complicated and difficult because we struggle defining it as simple.
Promise: God created and His creation is to be enjoyed.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for creating everything I see and creating it the way that You have. My body amazes me the way You have formed it. Lord, your plan is perfect and there is order by what You have done. Thank you for being eternal and set apart. Lord, I want to continue to testify of You and what You have done.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Ephesians 1:11 - God's Eternal Decree
Ephesians 1:11
also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
Message: God's Eternal Decree
Time: Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians deals with topics at the core of being a Christian - faith and practice, no matter the situation.
What the Lord is Saying:
God's sovereignty over all is something I trust and believe in. It is a doctrine that I feel like is a prevailing doctrine in the lives of Christians, more so those that hold to the infallible word of God. This idea that He is in control of all things is taught in the Bible. God MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM (Acts 4:24) and we trust this. Though we talk about God's sovereignty often, its definition varies it would seem. The simple definition is that God actively controls all that occurs in His creation.
The text today from Ephesians 1:11 calls attention to this with Paul saying God works all things after the counsel of His will. For me it is one thing to say "God is in control" and quite another thing to start talking about specifically what that means. For me the difficulty comes about when we start talking about what God controls. If God controls all, does man still have a will? Is every action of man predetermined?
Going back to Ephesians 1:11, the phrase who works is a present active participle of the verb meaning "to work," thus meaning that the Lord is active today, right now, in working out His purposes in all things. Here is the seemingly hard part of this as it would include good and evil. It would include our choices and include nature and weather. There is nothing that the Lord does not determine and control. Thus, he wills things to occur in the way that they do.
This text states that these actions are after the counsel of His will. Thus, he has a plan. He has a purpose. He has a decree.
It will take some time in these lessons to unpack all that this means. For now, there is the premise that He works out all things according to His will. In verse 9 he says that He made known to us the mystery of His will. Our knowledge of God came from God. Our knowledge of Him came from Him.
Promise: All that God does is in accordance with His decree. Everything in our lives has a specific purpose even though we may not know the purpose.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being in control and helping me to see this doctrine. Now Lord help me to trust You in Your decree and trust that who You are is what I need. Help me to not get ahead of myself but stay strict to the reading of your Word.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
Message: God's Eternal Decree
Time: Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians deals with topics at the core of being a Christian - faith and practice, no matter the situation.
What the Lord is Saying:
God's sovereignty over all is something I trust and believe in. It is a doctrine that I feel like is a prevailing doctrine in the lives of Christians, more so those that hold to the infallible word of God. This idea that He is in control of all things is taught in the Bible. God MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM (Acts 4:24) and we trust this. Though we talk about God's sovereignty often, its definition varies it would seem. The simple definition is that God actively controls all that occurs in His creation.
The text today from Ephesians 1:11 calls attention to this with Paul saying God works all things after the counsel of His will. For me it is one thing to say "God is in control" and quite another thing to start talking about specifically what that means. For me the difficulty comes about when we start talking about what God controls. If God controls all, does man still have a will? Is every action of man predetermined?
Going back to Ephesians 1:11, the phrase who works is a present active participle of the verb meaning "to work," thus meaning that the Lord is active today, right now, in working out His purposes in all things. Here is the seemingly hard part of this as it would include good and evil. It would include our choices and include nature and weather. There is nothing that the Lord does not determine and control. Thus, he wills things to occur in the way that they do.
This text states that these actions are after the counsel of His will. Thus, he has a plan. He has a purpose. He has a decree.
It will take some time in these lessons to unpack all that this means. For now, there is the premise that He works out all things according to His will. In verse 9 he says that He made known to us the mystery of His will. Our knowledge of God came from God. Our knowledge of Him came from Him.
Promise: All that God does is in accordance with His decree. Everything in our lives has a specific purpose even though we may not know the purpose.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being in control and helping me to see this doctrine. Now Lord help me to trust You in Your decree and trust that who You are is what I need. Help me to not get ahead of myself but stay strict to the reading of your Word.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
I Corinthians 2:10b-16 - Illumining Scripture
I Corinthians 2:10b-16
For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
Message: Illumining Scripture
Time: This epistle was written to the church that resided in Corinth of Achaia. First Corinthians is a response to a letter that Paul received from the Corinthian church, and that letter was probably a response to another of Paul's letters. This letter was composed in Ephesus around AD 54-55, and such topics as division, sexual immorality, lawsuits, marriage, Christian liberty, order of worship, and the resurrection are covered in this epistle.
What the Lord is Saying:
This is the last day in this study of Sola scriptura - that Scripture is the sole authority of our lives. There are natural revelations in this world - creation which testifies about God but doesn't necessarily save man. But hopefully it brings us to that knowledge. God speaks through people, through dreams, through events, through anything he desires. But his final revelation of who He is and His salvation is through Jesus and was revealed to us in His holy word. And so All scripture is inspired by Him. All scripture is breathed out from him. It provides us every thing that we need for life - everything. It is complete. It cannot be broken. It never fails. Yet he spoke through fallible men, speaking in a unique way through them, through their personalities. And they can still fail. But the word that we now of a scripture is Sola Scriptura - infallible, inerrant. So it is clear. It should be clear. It is meant to be clear in its meaning. The words itself have been set apart as Scripture through a canon process. As God inspired the writers to write, he also has confirmed the text that we consider to be All Scripture. It ended with the witnesses of the resurrection and Jesus testimony. We need to make sure we rightly handle this truth in our lives. We need to interpret it correctly. It is a literal interpretation and yet there are different ways it is spoken - in non-literal language such as phenomenological and anthropomorphic, through different genre's like prophecy, epistles, law, prophets, parables, apostles and in English styles such as personification, hyperbole, and metaphors. There is explicit and implicit teachings. We interpret the Bible with the Bible. If two passages seem to conflict we must realize they don't, they can't. Understand the context. Yet talk to each other through this process. Help one another to understand it better.
And today, I am reminded that all the while, realize that we are not alone as the Holy Spirit is with us illuminating the words. The Holy Spirit is here. Paul instructs us explicitly in this today. He tells us clearly that the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. We have the Spirit in us, illuminating His words to us, helping us understand what we need to know. This Spirit wants us to freely now the things of God. It is like I have to figure out how to filter out everything that is not God in my life, so that I can see Him, and what He is to teach me and have me learn -- so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. I am to take those spiritual thoughts and then communicate with spiritual words. It is like this is to be my language but according to my personality.
But this doesn't mean that natural man or unbelievers cannot know what scripture is saying - just that they lack the illumination of the text and what it means for salvation or come to saving faith. For them it is a textbook. That's what I've always thought of the JW's and the LDS - this book is a textbook to them. And most people see it as a life manual only. They see it as a handbook to living life now and sometimes even in the next life. But, my life in Christ is everything to me. It is to definite my thoughts and then my words. The Spirit tells me what I am to know about God, my creator, my sustenance, and therefore my life. It is not a duty in order to get more people in a church and please the church - it is me with God in this life. It is living with the mind of Christ.
If the Spirit is in me, it is in others and so I can listen to their words.
Promise: In all of my study of Scripture, I must never forget my need of the Holy Spirit's assistance. As I read, I need to pray that the Spirit will illuminate that reading and give me understanding so that I can then apply it. I am not simply a bucket that is at church or in a study to fill up a bucket, but I am to be a hose, spraying out to everyone in my path.
Prayer: O God, there is power in your name, in You, and You are equipping me even now through the Words and Work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I trust in you. I do not trust in me. I want your words thoughts to be my thoughts and your words my words. Thank you for living in me and illuminating me. Thank you for entrusting me with You and providing me all that I need. Clear out the gutter and the garbage in me. Train me according to your godliness. I depend on You, Jesus.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
Message: Illumining Scripture
Time: This epistle was written to the church that resided in Corinth of Achaia. First Corinthians is a response to a letter that Paul received from the Corinthian church, and that letter was probably a response to another of Paul's letters. This letter was composed in Ephesus around AD 54-55, and such topics as division, sexual immorality, lawsuits, marriage, Christian liberty, order of worship, and the resurrection are covered in this epistle.
What the Lord is Saying:
This is the last day in this study of Sola scriptura - that Scripture is the sole authority of our lives. There are natural revelations in this world - creation which testifies about God but doesn't necessarily save man. But hopefully it brings us to that knowledge. God speaks through people, through dreams, through events, through anything he desires. But his final revelation of who He is and His salvation is through Jesus and was revealed to us in His holy word. And so All scripture is inspired by Him. All scripture is breathed out from him. It provides us every thing that we need for life - everything. It is complete. It cannot be broken. It never fails. Yet he spoke through fallible men, speaking in a unique way through them, through their personalities. And they can still fail. But the word that we now of a scripture is Sola Scriptura - infallible, inerrant. So it is clear. It should be clear. It is meant to be clear in its meaning. The words itself have been set apart as Scripture through a canon process. As God inspired the writers to write, he also has confirmed the text that we consider to be All Scripture. It ended with the witnesses of the resurrection and Jesus testimony. We need to make sure we rightly handle this truth in our lives. We need to interpret it correctly. It is a literal interpretation and yet there are different ways it is spoken - in non-literal language such as phenomenological and anthropomorphic, through different genre's like prophecy, epistles, law, prophets, parables, apostles and in English styles such as personification, hyperbole, and metaphors. There is explicit and implicit teachings. We interpret the Bible with the Bible. If two passages seem to conflict we must realize they don't, they can't. Understand the context. Yet talk to each other through this process. Help one another to understand it better.
And today, I am reminded that all the while, realize that we are not alone as the Holy Spirit is with us illuminating the words. The Holy Spirit is here. Paul instructs us explicitly in this today. He tells us clearly that the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. We have the Spirit in us, illuminating His words to us, helping us understand what we need to know. This Spirit wants us to freely now the things of God. It is like I have to figure out how to filter out everything that is not God in my life, so that I can see Him, and what He is to teach me and have me learn -- so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. I am to take those spiritual thoughts and then communicate with spiritual words. It is like this is to be my language but according to my personality.
But this doesn't mean that natural man or unbelievers cannot know what scripture is saying - just that they lack the illumination of the text and what it means for salvation or come to saving faith. For them it is a textbook. That's what I've always thought of the JW's and the LDS - this book is a textbook to them. And most people see it as a life manual only. They see it as a handbook to living life now and sometimes even in the next life. But, my life in Christ is everything to me. It is to definite my thoughts and then my words. The Spirit tells me what I am to know about God, my creator, my sustenance, and therefore my life. It is not a duty in order to get more people in a church and please the church - it is me with God in this life. It is living with the mind of Christ.
If the Spirit is in me, it is in others and so I can listen to their words.
Promise: In all of my study of Scripture, I must never forget my need of the Holy Spirit's assistance. As I read, I need to pray that the Spirit will illuminate that reading and give me understanding so that I can then apply it. I am not simply a bucket that is at church or in a study to fill up a bucket, but I am to be a hose, spraying out to everyone in my path.
Prayer: O God, there is power in your name, in You, and You are equipping me even now through the Words and Work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I trust in you. I do not trust in me. I want your words thoughts to be my thoughts and your words my words. Thank you for living in me and illuminating me. Thank you for entrusting me with You and providing me all that I need. Clear out the gutter and the garbage in me. Train me according to your godliness. I depend on You, Jesus.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Acts 15:1-35 - Interpreting Scripture with the Church
Acts 15:1-35
Prayer: Lord, keep me diligent in the personal study of Your Word. Give me discernment continually as I listen to those that are around and state their understanding of Your Words. Thank you for the wonderful individuals that have taken the time to study and learn Your word and understand it.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question
Message: Interpreting Scripture with the Church
Time: Clearly written by Luke, this book follows the lives of Peter and then Paul after Jesus' ascension into heaven. The book was completed about 62 AD as Paul sat in prison. It provides an account of the growth of the Church and spread from Jerusalem, from a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, and it should help us to be bold and have zeal in our walks with God.
What the Lord is Saying:
Scripture is the only infallible authority in our lives. Scripture will not fail us. But there are other authorities we can use in our lives, namely the Church or those within it. We can learn from other people's insights into the Scriptures because the Holy Spirit is present in lives that are surrendered to God.
Message: Interpreting Scripture with the Church
Time: Clearly written by Luke, this book follows the lives of Peter and then Paul after Jesus' ascension into heaven. The book was completed about 62 AD as Paul sat in prison. It provides an account of the growth of the Church and spread from Jerusalem, from a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, and it should help us to be bold and have zeal in our walks with God.
What the Lord is Saying:
Scripture is the only infallible authority in our lives. Scripture will not fail us. But there are other authorities we can use in our lives, namely the Church or those within it. We can learn from other people's insights into the Scriptures because the Holy Spirit is present in lives that are surrendered to God.
I think the point here today is that we need each other and it is important in reading Scripture to read commentators, depend on the Holy Spirit, but also talk about among people that believe the Bible is inspired and infallible.
I've knocked the idea of Roman Catholics and that the Bishops and apostles of the church throughout the 1000 years or so that there was not a printing press would herald the teaching of God's word and so it basically became a think to just let the Bishops discern the meaning of God's word. But, I think in some ways we all do this or have a tendency to align ourselves with some speaker and trust his interpretation. And yet, I think the point is that this doesn't mean that we don't study the Word ourselves and don't have regular Bible study ourselves. I don't know what it was like growing up in the 14th century and prior. Perhaps church involved meeting together after a message and talking about the sermon.
Discerning the will of God in our lives is a difficult venture. We all have different feelings about our faith and approach it in different ways. At times, yes, we have similar alignment to the truth. Bt, I think we need to be careful to assemble together and to always make that a priority in our lives. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas took time to think about this question of circumcision and men from Judea saying that it was imperative for salvation. They concluded that grace is what is key in our lives. The grace of God has been present throughout history - in the time of Moses and Abraham and the giving of the Law and present in their time, following the raising of Jesus from the dead. Grace is what was key in all of this not sticking to rules. Rules are needed in our lives, but not to bring about salvation. Paul and Barnabas took time to think about what was being said but also trusted in the Holy Spirit and what He was speaking to them and leading them.
I need to make sure I am doing the same thing as I listen, study, read the Word of God.
I've knocked the idea of Roman Catholics and that the Bishops and apostles of the church throughout the 1000 years or so that there was not a printing press would herald the teaching of God's word and so it basically became a think to just let the Bishops discern the meaning of God's word. But, I think in some ways we all do this or have a tendency to align ourselves with some speaker and trust his interpretation. And yet, I think the point is that this doesn't mean that we don't study the Word ourselves and don't have regular Bible study ourselves. I don't know what it was like growing up in the 14th century and prior. Perhaps church involved meeting together after a message and talking about the sermon.
Discerning the will of God in our lives is a difficult venture. We all have different feelings about our faith and approach it in different ways. At times, yes, we have similar alignment to the truth. Bt, I think we need to be careful to assemble together and to always make that a priority in our lives. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas took time to think about this question of circumcision and men from Judea saying that it was imperative for salvation. They concluded that grace is what is key in our lives. The grace of God has been present throughout history - in the time of Moses and Abraham and the giving of the Law and present in their time, following the raising of Jesus from the dead. Grace is what was key in all of this not sticking to rules. Rules are needed in our lives, but not to bring about salvation. Paul and Barnabas took time to think about what was being said but also trusted in the Holy Spirit and what He was speaking to them and leading them.
I need to make sure I am doing the same thing as I listen, study, read the Word of God.
Promise: I need to be willing to submit myself to the authority of the church and those that have studied the Word of God. I need to seek to read Scripture with the church and to learn from others both past and present.
Prayer: Lord, keep me diligent in the personal study of Your Word. Give me discernment continually as I listen to those that are around and state their understanding of Your Words. Thank you for the wonderful individuals that have taken the time to study and learn Your word and understand it.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Matthew 19:1-9 - Reading the Bible Holistically
Matthew 19:1-9
1 When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Message: Reading the Bible Holistically
Time: The date of Matthew's composition is anywhere from 55-60 AD probably in Antioch of Syria. The writing is most likely to the Jews. His purpose was to show them that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected messiah and both his genealogy and his resurrection were legitimate proofs of this.
What the Lord is Saying:
I need to be careful about how I read the Word of God each day. I thank you that it illumines my path and as I seek nourishment in it each day, it delivers me closer to Jesus and following God. I am enjoying this understanding of Scripture and the different literary styles being used. It is like an English lesson with the Bible. I learned yesterday to make sure I let the explicit meaning of passages define those that may be more implicit. In essence, scripture interprets scripture or scripture defines scripture. The Latin phrase Scriptura sacra sui ipsius interpres means sacred scripture is its own interpreter.
As I read and understand these words of Scripture, as I walk in them and see that they are a light to my path I conclude that God has inspired them. Paul wrote those words that All Scripture is inspired by God. But, I am still piecing together what He meant my All Scripture at that time. Today I can say that this means the canon of the Bible. I Corinthians 14:33 stated explicitly that God is not of confusion but of peace. This tells me that his inspired word does not contradict itself and I must be careful then about it is interpreted. God would not teach one thing in one passage and then contradict that teaching in another passage.
Take these 2 passages - Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and Matthew 19:1-9 that spoke speak of divorce. In Deuteronomy it states that When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her he writes her a certificate of divorce. In the first century, rabbi Hillel embraced the idea that any time any situation arises in which there are irreconcilable differences then a man is permitted to divorce his wife.
Jesus states here in Matthew 19 - He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
I think in Moses's day and in the day of Jesus there was an issue of the hardness of people's hearts on this issue. People are bent towards divorce being an acceptable practice; this was true thousands of years ago and is true today. Moses and Jesus both come back to the issue of God's plan is for people to marry and not divorce, but both provide their own allowances. We should be focused on the standard and not the exception. But since exceptions occur, we want to make sure we are still on the same playing field as the original expectation. Yet, I am not sure we are. But, I am also not sure any of us are on any issue. I think when we start talking exceptions, Jesus is saying that we need to not do what was often done in the time of Moses and afterwards and that is allow for multiple reasons. Jesus is more strict in stating it is only to be about sexual immorality. Man took a word like uncleanness in Deuteronomy and made it to mean many different things. People then focused on the idea that they could get out of a relationship. The union of man and woman is to be upheld. It is interesting that people looked for the way out and somewhat ignored the consequences.
I think this is what is meant by reading Scripture Holistically - to read all of Scripture and think about the context of each writer. On this issue we focus on the fact that Jesus wants commitments to remain, if at all possible, but if a divorce occurs it needs to be rare. Our divorce rates have improved but mostly because people have stopped getting married.
Promise: We need to read scripture in its context. I need to be a entire-Bible or whole-Bible Christian. I must diligently study all that God has revealed.
Prayer: Lord, help me with the understanding of Your Words. I need Your help.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
1 When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Message: Reading the Bible Holistically
What the Lord is Saying:
I need to be careful about how I read the Word of God each day. I thank you that it illumines my path and as I seek nourishment in it each day, it delivers me closer to Jesus and following God. I am enjoying this understanding of Scripture and the different literary styles being used. It is like an English lesson with the Bible. I learned yesterday to make sure I let the explicit meaning of passages define those that may be more implicit. In essence, scripture interprets scripture or scripture defines scripture. The Latin phrase Scriptura sacra sui ipsius interpres means sacred scripture is its own interpreter.
As I read and understand these words of Scripture, as I walk in them and see that they are a light to my path I conclude that God has inspired them. Paul wrote those words that All Scripture is inspired by God. But, I am still piecing together what He meant my All Scripture at that time. Today I can say that this means the canon of the Bible. I Corinthians 14:33 stated explicitly that God is not of confusion but of peace. This tells me that his inspired word does not contradict itself and I must be careful then about it is interpreted. God would not teach one thing in one passage and then contradict that teaching in another passage.
Take these 2 passages - Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and Matthew 19:1-9 that spoke speak of divorce. In Deuteronomy it states that When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her he writes her a certificate of divorce. In the first century, rabbi Hillel embraced the idea that any time any situation arises in which there are irreconcilable differences then a man is permitted to divorce his wife.
Jesus states here in Matthew 19 - He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
I think in Moses's day and in the day of Jesus there was an issue of the hardness of people's hearts on this issue. People are bent towards divorce being an acceptable practice; this was true thousands of years ago and is true today. Moses and Jesus both come back to the issue of God's plan is for people to marry and not divorce, but both provide their own allowances. We should be focused on the standard and not the exception. But since exceptions occur, we want to make sure we are still on the same playing field as the original expectation. Yet, I am not sure we are. But, I am also not sure any of us are on any issue. I think when we start talking exceptions, Jesus is saying that we need to not do what was often done in the time of Moses and afterwards and that is allow for multiple reasons. Jesus is more strict in stating it is only to be about sexual immorality. Man took a word like uncleanness in Deuteronomy and made it to mean many different things. People then focused on the idea that they could get out of a relationship. The union of man and woman is to be upheld. It is interesting that people looked for the way out and somewhat ignored the consequences.
I think this is what is meant by reading Scripture Holistically - to read all of Scripture and think about the context of each writer. On this issue we focus on the fact that Jesus wants commitments to remain, if at all possible, but if a divorce occurs it needs to be rare. Our divorce rates have improved but mostly because people have stopped getting married.
Promise: We need to read scripture in its context. I need to be a entire-Bible or whole-Bible Christian. I must diligently study all that God has revealed.
Prayer: Lord, help me with the understanding of Your Words. I need Your help.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
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