Spared from Death

Connections

Two incidents, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, point in the same direction.

The first occurred when God instructed Israel to take the blood of a lamb and put it on their doorposts.

“The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13).

Many centuries later John the apostle described what he witnessed at the cross. “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe” (John 19:34-35).

God witnessed the blood of a lamb on the door. John witnessed the blood of “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Comparisons and contrasts

The blood of the Passover lamb spared the Israelites from physical death. We are spared a doom far worse than the death if we apply the blood of “Christ our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The first blood pointed to the second. The lesser was a sign of the greater.

In homes without the blood, there was death. In hearts without the blood of Christ, there is spiritual death.

For Israel, applying the blood was an act of faith and obedience. We too exercise faith and obedience when the blood of Christ cleanses us in baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12-13).

God made a way for Israel to be spared that awful night when death came calling.

God has made a way for us to be spared on the awesome Day when His wrath is poured out on the disobedient.

It’s the blood that makes the difference.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

The Beginning

The day the New Covenant message was first proclaimed

Acts chapter 2 is undoubtedly one of the great mountain peaks of Scripture. What occurs in Acts 2 would have never been possible if everything had depended on human ability alone.

Peter says, “Men of Israel, listen to these words . . .” (v. 22). The words he then speaks were not his own. They are Christ’s words, imparted by the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-26; 16:12-13; 17:8, 18, 20).

As F. F. Bruce has written, “The apostolic teaching was authoritative because it was the teaching of the Lord communicated through the apostles. In due course this apostolic teaching took written shape in the New Testament scriptures” (Commentary on the Book of Acts, 79).

The day true grace was offered

Convicted by Peter’s words, the people cry out, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Imagine if Peter had replied, “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing you can do. God will never forgive you for killing His Son. There’s no hope for you. You are eternally doomed!”

Instead Peter said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (vv. 37-38).

Now that’s good news! So it is possible to be reconciled to God.

The day the church was born

“So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls” (v. 41).

The next verse tells us, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

The apostles’ teaching (which was really the Lord’s teaching through the apostles) served as their common standard. The first church all believed and practiced the same thing. There was but one church—denominations had not yet come into being.

Here then is basis for true unity today, a unity based on divinely revealed truth, rather than on human traditions.

Years later, Peter referred to this remarkable day as “the beginning” (Acts 11:15).

If we believe what they believed, and if we do what they did, then we will be what they were—disciples of Jesus Christ, members of His one body.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

The Future: How to Prepare

The perspective of age

I’ve been a senior three times in my life: a high school senior, a senior in college, and now in the senior stage of life.

A congregation provided visitors with a card that requested the usual contact information, and also a place to indicate the visitors’ age categories: child, Jr. High, Sr. High, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50+.

Many of us are in that 50+ slot—and have been for quite some time. How should we feel about it?

First, aren’t we grateful that God has allowed us to live this long? So many obituaries I see in the paper are for those who were far younger than I.

Second, don’t we feel an increasing sense of the preciousness of the time remaining? It’s true that the 50+ category may last longer than any of the other age brackets, but we don’t know that it will.

“As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10).

“. . . you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

Soon it is gone, wrote the Psalmist. Just a vapor, says James.

We speak of longevity, but never shortevity. Perhaps we should.

And third, doesn’t it make good sense to make diligent preparation NOW for what lies beyond? “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

The two stages

The future can be divided into two parts:

Future: Part I is whatever time remains for us in this world.

Future: Part II is eternity.

When we die, Part II begins. Part I is temporary. Part II is forever.

Part II is dependent on Part I. How we spend the first part determines how we spend the second (Romans 2:1-11; 2 Corinthians 5:10). We have a choice.

Satan seeks to distract us with the “worries and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14). God calls us to raise our sights and make wise choices (Colossians 3:1-2).

“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).

What does it mean to do God’s will?

It means trusting and obeying the Son He sent to be our Savior (John 8:24; 11:25-26; Hebrews 5:8-9).

It means turning from doing our own will to doing His (Acts 17:30-31).

It means being united with Christ in baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Galatians 3:27).

It means remaining faithful to the end (Hebrews 3:6. 14; 10:35-39; 12:1-3).

“. . . so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2).

“. . . the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

The Two Thomases

Last Tuesday evening I heard C. L. Thomas speak. Thomas is an apologist—someone who provides a reasoned defense for faith.

His topic was “What is Significant about the Christian Worldview?”

It was obvious he had done his homework. He gave compelling reasons why the worldview espoused by Christians best fits reality.

His presentation was anything but a dry recitation of evidence. He was obviously passionate about his message, and it clearly resonated with his audience of mostly university students.

Convinced by the evidence

I’m reminded of another Thomas, the apostle who was absent the evening Jesus appeared to His disciples after rising from the dead.

Later, when the other ten apostles told Thomas they had seen Jesus alive, he refused to believe it.

One week later Jesus appeared once again, and this time Thomas was present.

When Jesus invited him to touch the scars in his hands and side, Thomas could only exclaim, “My Lord and my God!”

He, along with the other apostles, became lifelong apologists for the risen Christ. They all were threatened by the authorities for preaching the resurrected Christ. They were imprisoned, they were beaten, and many of them paid for their testimony with their blood.

The evidence still stands

Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29).

No, we didn’t see what they saw, but because of their powerful eyewitness testimony, recorded in Scripture, we can believe exactly what they did—“that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing . . . have life in His name” (John 20: 30-31).

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

 

Thoughts from a Railroad Crossing

Fulfilling Our Purpose

Years ago I was waiting at a railroad crossing on Wellington Street in Greenville. How long the train was I couldn’t tell, but it would go east for a while, then west. Back and forth. Back and forth. Over and over. Over and over.

Finally three Kansas City Southern locomotives came into view. They were pushing the train, and it looked like my wait was about to end.

Nope. They stopped, then back and forth some more. I strongly suspect a switchman somewhere was making up a train. I could have turned around anytime I wanted but decided to stay awhile and observe. (It’s a good thing I did, because it provided the thoughts for this post!)

From where I sat all I could see were a few cars at a time. If I could have had a bird’s-eye view of the entire string of cars, it would be clearer…

View original post 260 more words

Countering the Culture

Former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett has written, “There is a coarseness, a callousness and a cynicism to our era. The worst of it has to do with our children.  Our culture seems almost dedicated to the corruption of the young” (Reader’s Digest, August 1995, 37).

Examples could be multiplied to illustrate Bennett’s premise. The media is one of the worst offenders.

Passing it on

Can we parents afford to abdicate our responsibility to teach our children the ways of God? The Bible has much to say about parents’ training their children to know God and obey Him (Genesis 18:19; Exodus 10:2; 12:24-27; 13:7-8, 14-15; Deuteronomy 4:9-10; 6:4-7, 20-23; Joshua 4:1-3, 6-7, 21-22; Psalm 78:6-7; Ephesians 6:4; 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14-17).

As James Burton Coffman has written, “The silliest and most satanic attitude we have ever encountered in Christian parents is this, ‘Oh, well, we are going to let Johnny make up his own mind.’

“Indeed, indeed, that is exactly what the devil would have Christian parents do. If only Satan would be so neutral! The Evil One will exert every pressure possible to persuade children to forsake the Faith and wallow in licentiousness” (Commentary on Psalms 73-150, ACU Press, 48).

Making a difference

My dad used to tell me Bible stories on the way to school. It’s amazing how much teaching we can do by using a few minutes here, a few moments there. But for my dad to be able to drive and tell Bible stories he had to know those stories well. Can we do that?

What can we as individuals do to save this great nation of ours? We can pray. We can be the best citizens we can be. We can be faithful Christians and win souls for Christ—especially the souls of our own children!

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Onward and Upward?

If you were a CEO, would you hire those who are goal-oriented, ambitious, hard-working, and who make definite progress toward their goals? The people described in Genesis 11:1-9 were like that. They had big plans, they were dreamers and doers, they were movers and shakers, highly-motivated, industrious. They knew how to make things happen.

Only one problem: God was not pleased.

Opposed by God

They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city . . .” (v. 4). God said, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language . . .” (v. 7).

They said, “. . . let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (v. 4). “So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth . . .” (v. 8).

Verse 4 says, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city . . . .” Verse 8 says, “. . . and they stopped building the city.”

“Man proposes, but God disposes” (Thomas à Kempis)

Why did God bring their building project to a grinding halt? They had said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (v. 4).

“. . . for ourselves . . . for ourselves . . . .”

Today we know far more than the Babelites about how to get things done. If we have their attitude, can we expect God’s blessing?

“Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled . . .” (Matthew 23:12).

Ultimately, all human efforts apart from God will fail (Psalm 127:1; James 4:13-17).

Who always has the last word?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Castoffs

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

In my parents’ backyard was a small white frame building my dad called his tool house. It was equipped with a workbench about 8 feet long, with scrap lumber stored underneath. Plenty of shelving held old cans of paint and miscellaneous hardware collected through the years, along with nails, screws, etc. stored in coffee cans.

I recall my dad saying, “I like to take junk and turn it into something useful.”

What Jesus loved to do

During Jesus’ ministry He was denounced for spending time with people the Pharisees had no use for. He earned a reputation as “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). This was meant as a criticism, but aren’t we thankful He is?

Many consider the story of the Prodigal Son His greatest parable. He told it in response to the complaint, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2).

On another occasion Jesus explained why He spent so much time with people like this: “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).

When He went to the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector, again His critics grumbled, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

Jesus replied, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The Master Carpenter

Jesus delighted in taking castoffs and transforming them into something beautiful, as well as useful.

He did it then.

He’s still doing it.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

 

Freedom!

Convicted!

“Warning: Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates.” So said the orange sign we passed on an Oklahoma highway.

Hearing about someone who lived next door to the Huntsville prison, a teenager commented, “I wouldn’t want to live next to a prison.” His dad replied, “Better next to than in.”

Some years ago several of us visited the Gurney Unit near Tennessee Colony, Texas. Overlooking the locked gate, the guard kept watch. At the base of the tall enclosure were long coils of razor wire, making escape next to impossible.

Even if an inmate could somehow slip past the guards and over the top, he must always be looking over his shoulder. Out of prison, he can never truly relax as a free man. Really, he isn’t. Legally, he is still a prisoner.

Acquitted!

While we may or may not have done anything that would land us in jail, we have all done things that condemn us to hell (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8). It’s true, so we might as well admit it.

The worst prison on earth can’t compare with the horrors of an eternal hell. Let’s do everything required of us to escape the sentence that will surely be ours if we don’t get right with God. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Though innocent, Jesus was willing to die as a convicted criminal in the most horrible fashion. Because He died in our place, God offers each of us a pardon we surely do not deserve.

It is a pardon that allows us to walk out of our cell on death row, through the gates of sin’s prison, and out into the fresh air and blue skies of freedom! God wipes our record clean.

Nothing we’ve done will ever be held against us. He offers us a fresh start, a new beginning. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Released!

Have you taken the steps to obtain the freedom He so much wants to give you? (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-38; 22:16).

Why stay locked up when freedom is so available?

Using a similar analogy of the slavery of sin vs. the glorious freedom He offers, Jesus promised, “. . . everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin . . . . So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36).

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Salvation Options?

I heard once about a man who was quite intelligent and highly educated, and yet when he tried to add oil to his car engine, he poured it down the narrow dipstick tube. Well, that’s one way of getting the job done!

Multiple approaches

With some tasks, however, there may be several satisfactory methods. If we need to send a communication to someone, we can use email, fax, telephone, texting, or an old-fashioned letter. The message is the same, regardless of how it’s conveyed.

And then there are wedding options. Whether a big church wedding, a private ceremony at home, or being wed by a justice of the peace, you’re just as married in any case. There are advantages and disadvantages to each arrangement, but still, one can choose.

We are conditioned to multiple options in almost every department of life—from menus to makes of cars to brands of detergent.

Wouldn’t our ancestors be astonished if they could see the almost unlimited choices available to us?

Many avenues?

In regard to salvation, are there many roads to heaven? Does the Bible teach that?

Christ “became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9). But what if we disobey? See 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The Bible says there is only one gospel, only one faith, only one Savior, only one way to be saved, and only one road that leads to life (Galatians 1:6-9; Ephesians 4:4-6; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Matthew 7:13-14).

So what’s our choice? Take it or leave it.

If God offers us one and only one way to be saved, and He does, should any of us have a problem with that?

After all, isn’t that far more than we deserve?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

The Man Who Amazed Jesus

A true story with a happy ending

What was there about the Roman army officer that impressed Jesus so much? Here’s what happened:

“. . . a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.’ Jesus said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ But the centurion said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, “Go!” and he goes, and to another, “Come!” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this!” and he does it.’

“Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel’ . . . . And Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go, it shall be done for you as you have believed.’ And the servant was healed that very moment” (Matthew 8:5-10, 13).

Amazing faith!

From his own military experience this centurion recognized that he and Jesus had something in common: both were under higher authority. The centurion could issue orders to his men because the authority of Rome itself was behind him.

Jesus could issue commands because of the authority of heaven behind Him.

Because Jesus was linked to God, who gave Him the power to heal, Jesus could help the centurion’s servant, and the centurion knew it.

Jesus marveled at this centurion’s ability to see the parallel chains of authority: from Caesar down to the centurion down to the men under him—parallel with God’s authorizing Jesus to heal diseases of all kinds.

In reality, Jesus represented a far greater Power than Rome.

And the centurion knew that too.

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

A Unified Whole

Scripture cross-referencing

It’s fascinating the way one passage in the Bible refers to another. For example, God encouraged Joshua, Moses’ successor, to give attention to what Moses had written (Joshua 1:7-8).

Centuries later, King Josiah listened as Moses’ writings were read (2 Chronicles 34:14ff.). And Daniel consulted the book of Jeremiah (Daniel 9:2).

In response to Satan’s temptations Jesus cited three passages from Deuteronomy (Matthew 4:1-11). In visiting His hometown synagogue Jesus took the scroll and read from Isaiah where His ministry was prophesied by Isaiah some seven centuries before (Luke 4:16-21; see Luke 24:25-27, 44-47).

As an Ethiopian court official was returning home from Jerusalem, he was reading from Isaiah 53. God sent Philip the evangelist to meet up with him, “and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:26-35).

The Gospel of Matthew cites passage after passage from the Old Testament, as do Paul, Peter, and the author of Hebrews.

What’s especially interesting is that we also find references in the New Testament to other parts of the New Testament. Peter refers to the letters of Paul as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).

In 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul is apparently quoting from both the Old Testament and a book in the New Testament (Deuteronomy 25:4; Matthew 10:10 or Luke 10:7) and refers to both as Scripture.

So what’s the point?

Why all this cross-referencing? God’s word, written over many centuries, is a mosaic. Each part contributes to the Big Picture. In His sovereign wisdom God was directing the whole process of revealing and preserving His word for us.

The Holy Spirit empowered the forty or so authors of the Bible to write what God intended (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Therefore what we have is a unified whole and is God’s inspired word to us today.

If the Bible is simply a collection of human documents, then how can all this remarkable interconnectedness be explained?

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

 

Two Ways to Understand What It Means to be Saved

In most cases the New Testament uses the words “save” and “salvation” to refer to deliverance from sin (Matthew 1:21; Mark 16:16; Luke 19:10; Ephesians 2:8; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Peter 3:21).

But we also find a number of uses of the same words in reference to deliverance from physical calamities.

Rescue from danger

Today we speak of someone being saved from a fire, from drowning, etc. Note these biblical uses:

The panicking disciples woke Jesus during the storm they thought was about to sink their boat: “Save us, Lord; we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25).

Luke records that during another storm on another sea, “all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned” (Acts 27:20; see verse 31). But by God’s mercy, everyone made it safely to shore.

Cure from a bodily affliction

“Whenever He [Jesus] entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured” (Mark 6:56). The word translated “cured” is the same usually translated “saved.”

What this teaches us

These two non-religious uses of “saved“ help us understand that when Christ saves us from our sins, we are being rescued from a danger far worse than the threat of bodily death. We are also healed of a soul sickness that unless treated would result in our spiritual death forever in hell.

“Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound! /That saved a wretch like me! /I once was lost, but now I’m found /Was blind, but now I see” (John Newton).

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Need to Know?

 

Where ignorance is necessary

Some things we are not meant to know. The Lord revealed many things about the future to Daniel, who then asked the angel who had spoken to him, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” The angel answered, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time” (Daniel 12:8-9; see 1 Peter 1:10-12).

When Jesus revealed the manner in which Peter would one day die, Peter wanted to know about his fellow disciple John: “Lord, and what about this man?”

Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” (John 21:18-23). In other words, it was none of Peter’s business.

The apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He answered, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority . . .” (Acts 1:6-7).

Earlier Jesus had said of His return, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36). Even so, this doesn’t stop the date-setters!

Where knowledge is sufficient

There are many things we might love to know, but the Bible does not satisfy our curiosity. And yet we can know what we most need to know: how to live in this world and prepare for the next. So let’s go with what we know and be content to be ignorant in those areas where we don’t need to know.

“. . . His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness . . .” (2 Peter 1:3).

And that’s more than enough.

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Pictures of the Coming Christ

What do these have in common: a lamb, bread, and a serpent? Very little, yet all are used as likenesses of Christ. All three have their roots in the early history of Israel.

The Lamb

In preparing His people for leaving Egypt, God commanded them to apply the blood of an unblemished lamb to the door frames of their houses.

He told them, “. . . and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13).

This is the basis for the Passover—when God passed over the houses of the Israelites, just as He had promised. The Egyptian homes, however, were struck with the death of their firstborn sons.

The New Testament brings out the significance of this. As John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching he announced, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

And Paul writes, “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The Bread

Once Israel left Egypt and entered the wilderness, how would they be fed? In response to their needs God provided a special miraculous bread called manna.

Jesus declared, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died . . . . I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:49, 51).

The Serpent

After God sent serpents to punish His people for their faithless complaining, He instructed Moses to erect a bronze serpent on a staff; and that whoever looked at the serpent would not die from the venomous bites (Numbers 21:4-9).

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” Jesus said, “even so must the Son of Man be lifted up . . .” (John 3:14-15).

“”And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

The apostle John then explained, “But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die” (John 12:32-33).

Lamb, bread, serpent

All three pointed to the Christ and the cross.

May God be praised for His great plan to save us—a plan which He forecast centuries before and then so wonderfully fulfilled in the giving of His Son for our sake!

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Rules and Rebellion

“Employees must wash hands before returning to work.” Have you seen a sign like this in a restaurant restroom? One can only hope this rule is followed!

“Rules were made to be broken.” That’s a rather sad commentary on human nature, isn’t it?

Surely those who make rules don’t make them for the purpose of having them broken.  But has there ever been a rule somebody didn’t break? Every single day rules are ignored, defied, or circumvented.

This happens with parental rules, NBA rules, school rules, traffic laws—and especially the commandments of God.

Why rules are necessary

God gave Adam and Eve only one prohibition, and we all know how that turned out!

In spite of rules there are illegal drugs, cheating on tests, counterfeit money, and falsified tax returns.

Many laws were made to ensure fairness and provide protection. Wouldn’t it be true to say that many if not most of society’s ills today are due to the violation of rules of one kind or another?

So what’s the solution? Doing away with the rules so people can’t break them?

God has authorized government to make and enforce laws (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14). A society without rules is a chaotic mess. Law and order are a pair that naturally go together.

Disobedience to government is disobedience to God—unless the laws conflict with God’s laws (Acts 5:29; Daniel 3, 6).

Attitude is everything!

There is a certain mindset that chafes under rules. Some people break rules because it’s not convenient to comply. Some because they are determined to get what they want, regardless. Others break rules because they are there. “Nobody’s gonna tell ME what to do!”

One of the colleges I attended was rather conservative. Daily chapel was required. Curfews were in place. Many students were happy to be there and were cooperative. Others complained about the restrictions. The boundaries weren’t wide enough to suit them and they kept stepping over the line.

Obedience at all levels is a hard lesson for most of us to learn. It was excruciatingly difficult for Jesus to do His Father’s will, especially when it meant going to the cross.

He not only submitted but He did it with a good spirit. It cost Him His life (Philippians 2:5-11).

In this ultimate act of obedience He took away all our excuses.

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

Straight Ahead

Whoever had the idea of painting stripes down the middle and along the sides of the road did a tremendous service to travelers! The stripes help us avoid veering left into oncoming traffic or drifting to the right and going off the road.

If we see the value of definite boundaries on the road, and if football cannot be played without specific sidelines and yardlines, are there established boundaries for life?

Guidelines for Israel

As Joshua faced the weighty task of leading Israel after the death of Moses, God told him, “. . . be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7).

Years later as Joshua was facing the end of his life he urged his people, “Be very firm, then, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left . . .” (Joshua 23:6).

Centuries later it was said of King Josiah, “He did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2; see also Deuteronomy 5:32; 17:20; 28:14; Proverbs 4:27).

Guidelines for us

Israel had the Law of Moses to keep them on the path. We have the example of Jesus and His teachings in the New Testament. As long as we keep focused on Christ and His word we will move forward.

Just as highway stripes cannot protect a distracted driver, so God’s word keeps us on course only if we use it as directed..

Sad to say, many Christians today are not holding the course. They have veered off into immorality or indifference or false doctrine or other pitfalls along the way.

In driving, a moment’s inattention can be fatal. So also with our traveling the road to life.

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it . . . . how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1, 3).

Drift. Neglect. Totally avoidable–if we pay attention.

 

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com

 

Check It Out!

Time and again the spell-check on my computer has alerted me to a misspelled word.

Imagine, though, a computer for religious writers and for preachers preparing their sermons, equipped with a doctrine-check and a heresy-detector. If the writer commits a theological error, the computer beeps a warning.

Sounds unbelievable? You’re right. There’s no such thing—as far as I know.

But what if there were? Can you imagine trying to program a doctrine-check applicable to everyone? Would there have to be a different program for each denomination? And since many churches have liberal and conservative factions, would there have to be a doctrine-check designed for each?

Is there a standard?

Who has the authority to say what is true doctrinally and what is false? Is there a right and wrong? Or is it all relative? Does each of us have the freedom to decide what to believe? Is there no standard?

Paul writes, “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13).

Also Paul warns, “. . . there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:7-8).

If there is no doctrinal standard, then what Paul says here makes absolutely no sense.

How do we determine the truth?

Even Paul was subject to a doctrine-check. When he preached at the Berean synagogue, the Jews there “were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Note the measuring stick the Bereans used to determine if what Paul taught was the truth.

Whenever we hear sermons from the pulpit or on TV or radio, and whenever we read articles such as this one, let’s do a doctrine-check, as the Bereans did: “to see whether these things were so.”

If what is taught matches up with God’s word, let’s believe it.

But if it doesn’t . . . .

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB: http://www.lockman.org/

Please share this post!

david_gibson6@yahoo.com