May 19, 2014

Stop Sinning: Can You? Should You? Will You?

Stop sign

In His word, God has defined certain things as sin – fornication, idolatry, covetousness, strife, drunkenness, murder, lying, and more (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; Revelation 21:8; et al.). The Scriptures also present a very clear instruction with regard to sin: “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

It is to be expected that those in the world will ignore this instruction. Yet, sadly, many Christians seem to ignore this as well. They have believed the Calvinist’s lie that our flesh is inherently sinful and that we cannot help but sin. As we will see, the Scriptures present a different reality. Living in the flesh means it is possible for us to sin (1 John 1:10-2:1); but we are called to “be perfect, as [our] heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). With that in mind, let us consider three questions in this article.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: , , , , , ,
December 4, 2013

“The Lord Stood With Me”

Paul the Apostle

Near the end of his second letter to Timothy, Paul spoke of his experience in making a defense of the truth. He warned Timothy – and us as well – what to be prepared for and reminded him of the importance of keeping his trust in the Lord.

“At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:16-18).

Let us notice briefly some lessons we can learn from Paul in this passage.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: , , ,
October 30, 2012

Those Who Trusted in Themselves (10/30)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Luke 17:11-18:14.

Jesus told a parable of two men – a Pharisee and a tax collector – in order to teach a lesson about attitudes and how one perceived himself before God.

“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: “God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted’” (Luke 18:9-14).

The Pharisee would have been recognized by others as being righteous. The tax collector acknowledged that he was a sinner. Yet he was justified, and the Pharisee was not. Why? Notice the two problems with the Pharisee:
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , ,
October 7, 2012

"The Son of Man Has Authority on Earth to Forgive Sins" (10/7)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Mark 2.

“When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying” (Mark 2:1-4).

It became common for those with various ailments to be brought to Jesus to be healed of Him. At this time, four men brought a man who was a paralytic in hopes that Jesus would heal him. When the crowd prevented them from meeting the Lord, they did not allow that to deter them but went through the roof and lowered the man in his pallet down to Jesus. After seeing this, Jesus healed him.

“And Jesus, seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5).

Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , , ,
September 21, 2012

"Return to Me, That I May Return to You" (9/21)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Zechariah 1-7.

The book of Zechariah opened with a call to repentance.

“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts’” (Zechariah 1:3).

The call to repentance was made in order to restore fellowship with God. If they returned to the Lord (repented), then the Lord would return to them (restore fellowship). God’s acceptance of them was conditioned upon an appropriate response to their sins.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , ,
September 10, 2012

“Let Them Put Away Their Harlotry and the Corpses of Their Kings” (9/10)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezekiel 42-43.

God punished the people of Israel because of their sin. But God was willing to forgive them and restore them to their place if they met His conditions of pardon.

“Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will dwell among them forever” (Ezekiel 43:9).

Before God would forgive them, the people had to do two things:
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , ,
August 24, 2012

"Neither Israel nor Judah has been Forsaken" (8/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 51-52.

Israel had been punished by God at the hand of the Assyrians. Judah had been punished by God at the hand of the Babylonians. At the end of Jeremiah’s prophecy, the Lord told of the coming punishment by God of Babylon at the hand of the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11). In all of this, there was an important point for God’s people to remember:

“For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the Lord of hosts, although their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel” (Jeremiah 51:5).

The people of Israel and Judah were God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6). The above passage is talking about God not forsaking a nation as a whole. While we do not live under the same time of collective national identity before God, there are some lessons to be learned.
Continue Reading

Filed Under: SERIES: Daily Notes & Observations Tagged With: , , ,