2016-07-15
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Another week has rolled around, and there is always more to say about the loving nature and generosity of our God. We learned last week some of the most important attributes and deeds of our Lord Jesus. That’s why COL 1: 15-20 matters so much to us. Throughout our earthly lives and gradual maturing spiritually, we all need to come to recognize the huge impact for good on our lives of Christ’s Atonement. We should every day express our genuine thanks and praise to God for making the sacrifice of His only Son on the cross. Also, we should not waste a single drop of the blood Christ shed for us in the way we conduct our lives.
Paul, after his conversion [AC 9: 1-6], went to Arabia, where he received the Gospel from Jesus Christ Himself [GA 1: 11-12]. Later, he went to Damascus without consulting Peter or the other leaders conveying the Gospel to Jews in Jerusalem [GA 1: 15-17]. He began preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul makes the point that God chose him from birth (just as Jeremiah had been chosen to be a prophet –JER 1: 5) for this purpose [GA 1: 15]. After three years Paul went to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and James (Christ’s half-brother), staying 15 days there (18). Afterward, Peter would continue preaching the Gospel to the Jews, and Paul would continue preaching it to the Gentiles [GA 2: 7]. Paul then, went to Syria, Cilcia, and the churches in Judea, where he had previously been in unknown. They only heard one report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” They praised God, because of Paul’s conversion [GA 1: 21-24]. Fourteen years later in response to a revelation, Paul returned to Jerusalem with Barnabus and Titus. Paul needed to know if his efforts had been in vain [GA 2: 1-2].
There had been some infiltration into the group of believers by false teachers [Judaizers], who were teaching that physical circumcision was necessary for males to be acceptable to God. However, not even Titus, a Greek, was required to be circumcised by those in Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabus didn’t give in to these false teachers, so that the truth of the Gospel may remain with believers [GA 2: 3-5]. James, Peter, and John gave Paul and Barnabus the hand of fellowship. Their only request was that Paul should reach out to the poor, something Paul would do [GA 2: 9-10]. Later before Peter met with Paul at Antioch of Syria, Judaizers talked Peter, James, and even Barnabus into keeping a Kosher regime in what they ate. This hypocrisy spread to other Jews as well. It led to Paul opposing Peter, face to face [GA 2: 11-13]. Paul’s argument was that we are only justified by faith in Christ, not be observing the law [GA 2: 16]. GA 2: 20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness cold be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Yes, our belief in Jesus Christ and repentance allows us to be blessed enormously by Christ’s Atonement on the cross! We were once God’s enemies; now we have been made His friends [COL 1: 21-23; RO 5: 9-11]. Paul reveals the mystery of God in COL 1: 26-27 and COL 2: 2-3, “The word of God is presented in its fullness—the mystery which has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles, the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory…My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Conveying these important truths is the crux of Paul’s ministry. This labor was accomplished at great cost and with great gusto, so that the saints could be presented “perfect in Christ” before the Father. Only our loving God has the supernatural power to select a persecutor of believers in Christ and convert him to one of the greatest apostles that ever lived, one who was responsible for the spread of belief in Christ, which still goes on today!
Over this author’s years of study, a description of Paul as not being a hansom, tall, person, who may not have had a powerful speaking voice has come across. Paul was a well-educated man, having been raised in a traditionally Jewish home. His mind was clearly the mind of a wise attorney, that which figured out objections to the Lord’s teaching ahead of time and met them effectively in what he taught and how he taught it. The book of Romans describes effective settling of objections and arguments coming in from Judaizers (who fell back on emphasis on the law with its human regulations) and the Antinomians (who believed in grace without license and no regulations). The early church was a compilation of people from all walks of life and various religious and cultural backgrounds. Unifying such a group into the Body of Christ is something only God, using humans like Peter and Paul could do. Amazing is our God!
PRAYER: O Lord, we are so blessed that people like Paul were willing to put up with all manner of trials (shipwrecks, illness, opposition from the Jews, etc. [2 COR 11: 23-33]) in order to bring the Gospel to us. You gave him an extraordinary mind and heart and led him to go out of his comfort zone to achieve Your purposes for him. His legacy is strong in us even today. Were it not for his efforts, Your church, the Body of Christ, would have died. Instead, we are given the mystery of Christ in us, making us alive and giving us profound understanding of how Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has made our lives better. It is the reason that amidst chaos and crisis, we pause to ask, “What would Jesus do?” We acknowledge Christ’s superiority and sovereignty in our lives. We recognize the extraordinary grace You extended to us in giving us faith, salvation, justification, and eternal forgiveness for our sins. It is only through faith in Him that we may have these things. Dearest Abba, Your generosity in blessing us with the Holy Spirit and any of His fruits we demonstrate in our lives is beyond any from another source [GA 5: 22-23]. Your word, the Bible, is Your love letter to all who believe in Christ. We treasure it and the Gospel message it reveals. We pray to You today to offer praise and thanks for urging Paul to work so hard in His ministry, despite the suffering for his beliefs that he went through. You have given us the presence and advice of the Holy Spirit to be with us 24/7. You are truly a God, Who keeps His promise of so long ago to live among us [EX 3: 12]. You have told us it is better to suffer for being a believer in Christ and to expect to do this, for it is by tenaciously holding to our faith that we will gain eternal life [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. We offer thanks and praise forever to You, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led by the Holy Spirit to begin writing about the problem of human regulations. I have been told in my life that my faith is a “crutch based on fairy tales” that I’ve read. To these insults which are hard to hear, I am expected to react totally differently that human desire would lead me. Can you imagine what a surprise it was to find 1 PET 4: 14, 16 in the Bible? “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and God rest on you…However, if you suffer as a Christian do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that name.” It is necessary, if my own experience is any teacher, for one to step out from the old, familiar ways at times in favor of something this important. One’s objectors can be as close as family or as distant as a group of strangers who disagree. But no matter from what source these objections come, there is nothing more important that embracing the truth and being the person God meant us to be. I’ve lived all over North America having been an Army brat who married an engineer. It’s taught me that I can find friends almost anywhere I can go, if I will be attempting to be the person God means for me to be, one who is relying on His leadership. It’s the covenant relationships we have with God and other believers that can shape our lives and improve our service to Him. We learn from those around us. It’s reliance on the Lord and willingness to go where He sends us that gives us the tenacity to endure objectors of many kinds. When I’m on the chat line witnessing to my faith, I may run into vociferous objections and horrific disrespect. But now I can live with what these misguided people say and have enough dignity to abort a chat that seems to go too far, particularly one where foul language is being used to insult the Lord. And yes, we have to pray for these people, pray that they will one day learn and accept the truth of God’s love for them and His desire that they return to Him in heaven [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. And if something I say in one of these computer chats causes a person to accept Christ, then the Lord has worked through me. Even an ordinary person like me can be used by the Lord, if he allows it. Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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