April 30, 2013

After the First Openly-Homosexual NBA Player, What Do We Need to Remember?

Jason CollinsNews broke yesterday that Jason Collins, a professional basketball player and twelve-year veteran of the National Basketball Association, has announced that he is a homosexual. With public opinion shifting more and more toward the acceptance of homosexuality as a moral and common practice, an announcement like this was inevitable. Now that Collins has come out about this, we can probably expect more professional athletes to do the same.

Whether we like it or not, professional athletes, like other celebrities, can have a big influence on the thinking of people in society. This announcement will only further the efforts to normalize the practice of homosexuality in people’s minds. In light of this news, it is important that Christians remember a few things.
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April 10, 2013

The Chief of Sinners

Paul in prison

Because of his past, Paul would have seemed to be an unlikely candidate for salvation, let alone apostleship. In the following passage, he explained to Timothy why the Lord chose him and how he was able to be saved.

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all [of whom I am chief, KJV]. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:12-16).

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March 26, 2013

Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

Ohio Senator Rob PortmanOhio Senator Rob Portman wrote an editorial that was published on March 15, 2013 in which he announced his change of position on same-sex marriage. Previously, he had been against such “marriages.” Now he believes “the government shouldn’t deny [same-sex couples] the opportunity to get married.”

In the editorial, he explained the reason for his change of heart. Two years ago, one of his sons informed him that he was a homosexual. After learning this, Senator Portman began re-evaluating his stance on same-sex marriage and eventually changed his mind on the issue. He said he is “a dad who wants all three of his kids to lead happy, meaningful lives with the people they love.” Couple that with his statement about “the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God,” and we see one who has tried to find a way to harmonize – in his own mind – faith in God and man’s desire to be happy.

His statement about wanting all of his children to be happy seems reasonable to a lot of people, even among those who are religious. Many people believe that God would want them to be happy. Therefore, if something like homosexuality makes one happy, they conclude that God must accept it and that we should accept it, too.

So we should ask the question: Does God want us to be happy? In answering this question, we must be sure that our conclusion comes from the Bible and not our emotions.
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January 28, 2013

The Appreciation of Wisdom: The Perils of Wickedness

Notes on Proverbs

After considering the value of wisdom, the rewards of wisdom, and the deliverance from evil that wisdom provides, we will next consider the perils of wickedness to further reinforce what we have already learned: embracing and following the wisdom that comes from above is for our good.

The perils of wickedness can be divided into three categories: hardship in life, lack of hope for the future, and the inevitability of judgment.
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January 22, 2013

Hedges to Help Protect Us from Sin

Hedges

When Satan came before the Lord, God praised Job for his righteousness: “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8). Satan, however, protested. In his mind, he believed that God was unfairly protecting Job from temptation: “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?” (Job 1:10). This “hedge” of divine blessing made Job less susceptible to temptation.

Of course, when God granted permission for this “hedge” to be removed, Job remained faithful (Job 1:22; 2:10). But the fact that Job had to work harder to resist the temptation to forsake God cannot be denied. Temptation was more severe when the “hedge” protecting Job was taken away.

As we make application to our lives, we should understand that we can have certain hedges to help protect us from sin. God has promised a way of escape so that every temptation can be defeated (1 Corinthians 10:13). The more hedges we have in place, the better we will be able to overcome temptation.

The only infallible safeguard against temptation is the word of God. The wise man wrote, “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him” (Proverbs 30:5). However, there are other hedges that we can put in place to help guard against temptation. We will consider a few of these in this article. We should understand that none of these safeguards are infallible, but they can greatly help if we use them properly.
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December 5, 2012

Godly Sorrow (12/5)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Corinthians 5-9.

It is common for one to feel guilty after doing something that is wrong. Whether it is due to conscience, negative consequences, or shame that comes from others learning of our actions, we often feel remorse over our sins. Only after one’s conscience is seared does he no longer feel such guilt (1 Timothy 4:2). But while this guilt (sorrow) over our actions may be common, not all of it is necessarily helpful. Notice what Paul told the brethren in Corinth:

“For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).

In his first letter to these brethren, Paul rebuked them for several sins. Naturally, they were sorrowful (they had a sense of guilt and remorse) after Paul brought these sins to their attention and condemned them. Fortunately, the Corinthian brethren had the right kind of sorrow.
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December 4, 2012

A New Creature

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When Paul spoke of Christians (those “in Christ”) as being new creatures, he did not mean that we are no longer human as if we had become a new species. We remain human beings made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). But there are significant changes that come when one becomes a disciple of Christ. Let us notice a few of the “new things” that come when one becomes a “new creature” in Christ.
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