QT 29 Nov 11, Integrity and skill in work honor God

Num 1:1-5 (NIV) The Lord spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: 2 "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army. 4 One man from each tribe, each the head of his family, is to help you. 5 These are the names of the men who are to assist you:

from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur; ...

NOTE: Numbers begins and ends with a census.  Why does God specify by name the men who were  to do the counting, rather than just let Moses choose anyone? I think the men were men of integrity who would provide an accurate accounting. The men were from each tribe so that no tribe could argue that they were unfairly counted. The job was an exceeding large task. It is not an easy thing to count from 30 to 75 thousand people and to record their ancestry by clan and family. It would take some organization as well. So, these men not only exhibited integrity but were skilled for the accomplishment of the job. It is a good thing for a man to pursue his vocation with integrity and with skill. I can't think of a better way to define the requirements of work than those two words.

QT 25 Nov 11, Our arguments about non-essentials ruin our witness

Rom 14:19-23 (NIV) Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

NOTE: It is very clear from the previous verses that the commands of the OT laws have no authority over the Christian.  But, some believers think that they do and their faith is effected by other's actions.  In these case, the overriding principle of grace, love for your neighbor, takes precedence.  To allow oneself to be under another's convictions shows love, it does not mean that one agrees with the other person's convictions.  Unfortunately, too many people make issues of things that are really not important.  The arguments and disagreements hurt the witness of believers in the world.  We have a wonderful message of freedom, of peace, of true joy that the world can't even begin to understand without our witness -- and to think we muddy the waters with issues that have no importance.  Jesus Christ changes lives, and makes people whole again -- not perfect, but whole.  And he begins a process of sanctifying an individual to become more and more like the savior.  We can have a strong and vibrant witness, but we must let go of these petty selfish interests and seek to know the Savior through the word of God.  There is power in the word that can transform and renew our mind, so that we just don't talk these ideas, but we live them.

QT 24 Nov 11, Conviction replaces OT law

Rom 14:5-8 (NIV) One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

NOTE: These verses are very clearly aimed at the OT law, feasts, Sabbaths, and kosher food.  Under grace, these are all a matter of conscience.  And not another conscience, but the individual's conscience.  Others do not determine what is right or wrong for a person, but the individual does that between himself and God.  Even in the case of the weaker brother, it is not the weaker brother determining what is right or wrong, but rather the individual conscience before his Lord that causes him to abstain in the presence of a weaker brother.  Right and wrong is defined by one's relationship to God.  Sensitivity to another's convictions is a matter of service but does not change the rightness or wrongness of the action.

QT 21 Nov 11, Weak faith is associated with observance of OT laws

Rom 14:1-4 (NIV) Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

NOTE: Paul talks about accepting the person whose faith is weak and to not pass judgment in disputable manners.  Then he gives an example of a person whose faith is weak and an area to not pass judgment: a Christian vegetarian. There is a command going back to Adam which forbids the eating of animals.  In Paul's example, the weak-faith person believes he is under this law, and the strong-faith person believes you can eat anything.  But even if we know that we can eat anything, because Jesus declared all food clean, and because we are not under the law, we should not use that knowledge to hurt people who think differently. The worst thing to do would be to judge the believer for his conscience.  God will judge believers in disputable matters, but it won't be based on rules or laws, but rather on the person's conscience.  Every believer is the Lord's servant and in issues of conscience, they stand before God and not other believers.  The exception would be areas of clear disobedience to a command in the new testament, such as in the area of sexual immorality, theft, gossip, lying, etc. In these cases, we are to judge other believers and we are to confront sin.

QT 9 Nov 11, I am undeserving of God's grace

Rom 11:13-21 (NIV) I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

NOTE: Again, the idea of sovereignty, "branches broken off," and free will, "their rejection … arouse to envy … because of unbelief," stand side by side in Paul's explanation of God's work in salvation.  Rather than arguing over Calvinism and Armenian-ism, we should accept the truth that God in his sovereignty has shown grace to people according to his choice but that man must respond to that grace by a free choice of his own will.  I am thankful for the mercy shown to me.  I did not deserve grace, I will never deserve God's grace.

QT 8 Nov 11, God's sovereignty, man's free fit in God's scheme

Rom 11:7-12 (NIV) What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8 as it is written:

"God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes so that they could not see

and ears so that they could not hear,

to this very day."  9 And David says:

"May their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and their backs be bent forever."

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

NOTE: Again we see the strong interconnection of God's sovereignty and man's choice.  It says God gave them a spirit of stupor, but then says, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?  In one case, God blinds them, but in another they stumble.  Also Paul answers his question with a very emphatic "not at all!"  Still later it says that salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  If there is no choice, what good is envy of salvation.  There is clearly a connection between God's control and man's choice which is entirely consistent to Paul, but is difficult for us to understand.  Both fit together without any grammatical gymnastics, they just fit together.  And who am I with my finite mind to understand the infinite mind of God?  How foolish can man be!

QT 7 Nov 11, Election does not negate choice

Rom 11:1-6 (NIV) I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"?  4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."  5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

NOTE: Paul says that God did not reject his people because Paul himself is a believer.  In fact, the entire early church were all Jewish.  It was only during Paul's missionary endeavors that it slowly began to become more and more Gentile.  Paul, like many other Jews, represent the remnant, the group of true believers that have existed even in the worst of times for Israel.  This group is not defined by works but by grace.  But less we suggest that God's sovereignty chose the group, we should not miss the reference to the seven thousand who did not bend the knee to Baal.  Yes, it is by grace, but yes also, a person needs to choose who he bends his knee to.  Bending the knee represents the "will" and is not salvation by works.  God sends mercy upon who he "wills," but we need to "will" to accept his  grace.

QT 2 Nov 2011, There are blessings to the NT believer

Rom 10:12-13 (NIV) For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

NOTE: Someone that I respect highly says that the NT does not have promises of blessings, and by that I think he means material blessings.  The OT law is built around the curses and blessings, which are all material.  The NT focus is on spiritual blessings, but I think he might be overstating the difference between the OT and NT.  God does richly bless all who call upon him.  I also think it is primarily spiritual for the NT believer, and clearly salvation is the greatest blessing, but there are other verses which seem to suggest even material blessings.  Proverbs which are not really part of the OT law suggests following certain principles of life will bring blessing.  Another is Jesus' admonition to give up all to follow him with a promise to receive 100 times more in this life and the age to come.  And also the passage that describes how the rich believer is to use what God has given him is another inference.  But whatever the truth here, for me two things are paramount, be thankful and use blessings wisely.

QT 31 Oct 2011, The law ended with Jesus

Rom 10:1-4 (NIV) Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.   3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

NOTE:  Verse 4 says that Christ is the end of the law, but Jesus said not one iota would pass away, so how does that fit?  The Greek word for "end," telos, means, a definite point or goal, the conclusion of an act or state, the result.  The law does not pass away, rather it is fulfilled, brought to a conclusion by Christ.  In this way it still exists still, but fulfilled and without the demands any longer.  Jesus says in Matt 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."  In this case the Greek word for "fulfill," pleeroosai, can be translated as, to finish, complete, end, fill up.  He is not saying that the law remains valid, rather that Jesus completes the law and its requirements on our life.  The law was against us, but our new life of grace is for us.  We are under a new law completely, it is called the law of Christ, the law of grace, and the law of righteousness.  It measures the heart and not obedience to a set of rules.  Why oh why, do some Christians insist on laying a burden upon themselves that Jesus and Paul said, even their fore-fathers found overwhelming?  Why can we not choose peace and grace?  Oh the subtle tricks of the old nature to keep us in bondage ...

QT 27 Oct 11, God's sovereignty, man's free will -- it makes sense to God

Rom 9:30-33 (NIV) What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 As it is written:

"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall,

and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

NOTE: For a chapter of scripture that clearly emphasizes the sovereignty of God, there are numerous references to the actions of individuals or groups: "did not pursue … have obtained … pursued … has not attained … works … stumbled ...one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  So, both aspects, God's control and men's free will, are taught in the passage.  Of course, reconciling both ideas is difficult for the finite mind.  I know that for God, it is crystal clear, but for us, it is a little like explaining quantum mechanics to a five year old, the infinite mind cannot express truths to the finite mind other than to assert that certain statements are true.  God shows his mercy to whoever he will, and man must respond to the message in faith and not in works.   I need to live under both truths.

QT 25 Oct 11, God's mercy does not cancel our free will

Rom 9:10-16 (NIV) Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls — she was told, "The older will serve the younger."  13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

NOTE: The point of election is to disprove any thought that works is involved in salvation.  God's showing of mercy has nothing to do with us, that is, how we lived, what good works we have done, or anything that would make us acceptable to God.  God chose freely to shower his mercy upon us.  And yet nothing here says that free will is still not involved.  I do not believe that the fact that God's mercy was shown to me saved me.  I had to respond to that mercy.  God showed mercy to Israel by selecting them from among all nation groups, and yet many are not nor will be saved.  In fact, verse 32 says that many stumble over a stone of "salvation by works," and hence are not saved.  So, the question is then, "is everyone shown mercy or not?"  Everyone I know or have met has been shown mercy.  And millions of others are taking the gospel to faraway places so that others might hear of God's mercy.  Everyone on earth has seen God's creative works.  But if some are not shown mercy, there is no fault on God's part, since he could have chosen not to create them as well.  Does his mercy diminish because he chose to create someone or he chose not to create that person?  I say "no."

QT 24 Oct 11, Is our creator unjust if we are not shown mercy?

Rom 9:1-15 (NIV) I speak the truth in Christ — I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

6 It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."  8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls — she was told, "The older will serve the younger."  13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

NOTE: This chapter of Romans has some very powerful statements in regards to election, predestination, and choice. On one hand, Abraham's offspring are the promised people with tremendous privileges, but that alone did not make them all God's children, even being born of Isaac, as in the case of Esau's descendants.  Later, Paul argues that only a remnant of the entire people will be saved (vs. 27).  So the question, why Jacob and not Esau?  Neither were particularly godly growing up.  It says that God shows mercy to one, and implied, but not to the other.  And later Paul will state: who are we to argue since God did not even need to create us, let alone to have to show mercy to us.  It is a tough section and it violates our human sense of right. Does showing mercy to one group but not to another make God unjust?  In a garden, often multiple seeds are planted but then thinned out later.  Is it unjust to destroy the other plants, or to choose one plant over another?  Of course, as far as we know, plants aren't sentient.  But what right do we even have to exist, let alone to argue what justice is to our creator?  But of course, the other side of the argument is that no one is without mercy, even if there weren't born into special privilege, like Israel, since Romans 1:18-20 has already argued that all men are without excuse anyway (the evidence of creation is a form of mercy).  I need to think about chapter 9 in relationship to the entire argument up to this point.  But I also just need to be thankful that God had mercy on me.

QT 21 Oct 11, Our hope is based on Jesus' life and resurrection

Rom 8:22-25 (NIV) We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

NOTE: How do we understand evil, pain, and suffering in this world?  It is our hope of a better future.  We are awaiting the evidence of our adoption as sons.  Paul has already called us heirs with Christ, but the actual adoption is consummated when our bodies our redeemed with a new body, that will be free of the sinful nature.  Then we can stand in the presence of God without the stain of sin.  For now we can enter into prayer because of Jesus' blood, but we cannot enter heaven with our sinful nature.  That will need to be removed and we will need a new body to stand before the Father.  We don't see it now, and the world thinks we are fools to have such a hope, but we wait patiently for it.  I'm not sure what the world hopes for--nothingness seems somewhat empty; ceasing to exist in thought is futileness--but what can you hope for when you are the product of random processes.  Our hope does have a basis though.  It is based on the life Jesus lived on earth, on the sayings that Jesus gave, and on the resurrection that Jesus proved to so many eyewitnesses.  These eyewitnesses were not second generation believers convinced of a lie.  They were the true eyewitnesses who would rather die than deny their savior.  They weren't rich on earth and gained little by their faith, but they kept the faith nonetheless.

QT 20 Oct 11, Someday there will be no natural disasters

Rom 8:18-21 (NIV) I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

NOTE: Why are there natural disasters?  God never intend life to be this way, but we rebelled from his way.  In the garden, weeds were decreed such that work would be frustrating, rather than what was intended.  Likewise, creation itself was subject to frustration, not just weeds, but bondage to decay.  The planet is decaying and falling apart because of the rebellion which started in the garden, but also continues in every human being who sins by obeying his sinful nature rather than what he knows in his heart is the right thing.  But God has given hope even to creation.  Someday, when the sons of God are revealed, that is all those whose lives have been reborn by the Spirit of God, creation itself will be freed.  The planet will no longer experience natural disasters, but once again will flourish and be protected from sin.  And so, while we suffer now due to the rebellion, someday everything will change, and we won't even compare one day to the other.  Every injustice of life will seem as naught because we will see what God really intended to give us.

QT 19 Oct 11, Not slaves--now heirs

Rom 8:11-17 (NIV) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

NOTE: Paul says that "if you live according to the sinful nature you will die." But Paul has already said that the gift of God is eternal life with an emphasis that the gift is different from the trespass.  The difference while immeasurable in the results has more to do with the foundations (wages versus gift).  The results of the trespass are earned while the results of the gift are by definition, given (where there is no boasting).  So what is the death then of verse 13? I think it is a death that occurs here on earth, primarily physical but also with spiritual effects.  Living for the sinful nature will not bring about our sanctification, and it will deprive us of rewards that we do earn by our Christian life (we can't earn salvation, but we can earn rewards).  It does not change our status as sons or as heirs.  Spiritually, our life will fail to show much power or effect in other's lives.  At the end of time, when we cast our crowns (our rewards) toward the savior in thankfulness for our salvation, we will be empty handed with no gift to offer.  Therefore it is of the utmost importance that we are led by the Spirit and not by the sinful nature.

QT 18 Oct 11, Legally, my status as a slave to sin has changed

Rom 8:8-11 (NIV) Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

NOTE: We are not controlled by the sinful nature nor are we slaves to sins.  We are legally (spiritually) freed from the hold over us.  We have a new owner.  And while is was not possible to please God, not matter what we did, now it is possible, because the stain of sin has been removed, and our minds have been renewed.  In olden days, when slavery was practiced, a person was a slave with little ability to change his status.  For some, slavery was forced, and for some it was entered voluntarily.  This picture is one of forced slavery.  In slavery, one is not completely controlled, and maybe that is the picture here.  We want to get out but we can't, because sin has a stranglehold on us.  Jesus death, and our faith, breaks sin's claim upon us.  We are free to serve God.  In a sense, this a legal picture.  Except for the Spirit living within us, and beginning to renew our mind, many things remain the same.  I still live in a sinful body, just as before when I was a slave to sin.  I still have the same choices.  I still choose wrongly, and at times I choose correctly, which I also did when I was a slave to sin.  But the good news is that legally I am no longer owned by sin or a slave to sin.  Jesus gives me life, and I'm being changed to become more like my savior.

QT 17 Oct 11, Those who truly know Christ will be identified by a changed life

Rom 8:1-8 (NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,  2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,  4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

NOTE: Paul's thesis is that we are no longer under condemnation, at least those who are in Christ -- also further nullify inerrant views of universalism.  The law condemn us, which was good in the sense of helping us see our sin but it could not save us.  The sinful nature took the law of God and rebelled more, so that each of us are no different from Adam, who took God's one law and rebelled against it.  The law of the Spirit of life sets me free from the law of sin and death (a reference to the OT law).  I live according to a new law with the Holy Spirit (HS) living within me.  The HS gives me a new desire, a new heart, a new life, and peace with God.  I could not please God trying to live according the OT law, but I can please God by living according to the Spirit.  Jesus summed up the law of the Spirit when he told us to love God and to love others.  Naturally, there are many implications to those two commands.  And while we will fail, because we still own a sinful flesh, we will also change, and as we submit to the Spirit, we will become more and more like Christ.  Many today call themselves Christians but are not experiencing the life-changing power of Jesus Christ in their lives.  I don't know why that is so.  Maybe they don't really know my Savior, and only claim allegiance in word.  But to those who know God, their lives are naturally transformed by the knowledge of Christ.  They are not perfect, but none can deny that they are not changing into a better person with the passing of time.

QT 6 Oct 11, We represent Christ to a world who desperately needs him

1 Peter 2:1-5 (NIV) Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

NOTE: I am a living stone.  I'm part of a spiritual building.  I am a priest in the new covenant.  A priest is a mediator between God and man.  In the new covenant, all believers are part of the priesthood.  We have access to our Father because of Jesus' death.  We are mediators because we represent God to the world around us.  They do not have access to God because they do not have faith.  We can tell them about God.  We can appeal to God for them.  We can them how to have a relationship with God.  Paul calls us ambassadors for Christ.  As priests and ambassadors, many who carry the name of Christ, do a poor job of representing him.  At times, it would seem that God would be better off without many of his priests and ambassadors.  Father, forgive me for my failures to represent you to those around me.  Empower me to live in a manner that pleases you and rightly represents you to those around me who so desperately need you.

QT 4 Oct 11, Baptism identifies us with Christ, but it does not save us

Rom 6:5-10 (NIV) If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

NOTE: The first thing to note is the use of the word "if."  In other words, not everyone is united with him in his death, even though he died for the whole world.  But if we have been united -- in reference to our baptism in the previous verses, which is a public identification of our belief in Christ -- then we are also united with him in his resurrection.  Baptism does not save us or resurrect us, our faith in Christ' work does that.  Baptism is an outward declaration of what God has done inwardly.  And so, because we believed, our old self is crucified with him.  The purpose (vs 6) is to do away with our body of sin.  But the use of the word 'might' suggests that it is not immediate or necessarily assured.  And the phrase 'should no longer' tells us that we have a response in order to free ourselves from sin.  We cannot affect our ultimate salvation, but we can affect our lives on earth.  Our belief in Christ assures us that we will live with him and like him we no longer need to fear death.  But as for how his death affects our lives today, the next group of verses will show that we have a responsibility for our sanctification.  Belief saves us for all eternity, but how we live our lives now will have consequences today and tomorrow (and incidentally beyond death as well).

QT 3 Oct 11, Our recognition of our depravity helps us to appreciate God's Grace

Rom 6:1-4 (NIV) What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Rom 5:20-21 (NIV)  The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

NOTE: I think verse 6:1 is in response to repeated misunderstandings to Paul's teaching (as characterized in verses 5:20-21).  Paul is saying that the value of the OT law is in making us more aware of our problem, as defined in chapter 1 and 2, and that problem is sin.  As we understand the depth of our depravity and separation from God, we begin to truly understand the depth of God's grace.  More sin doesn't make for more grace, but our realization of our "more sin" is what allows us to truly understand God's gift of grace.  Our sin is what required Christ's death.  And we have identified with that death in baptism.  What's more, the symbol of baptism, not only highlights Christ's death for us, but also our future rising from the dead in which we hope.  The more I realize how far apart and separated I was from God, the more I can appreciate the immensity of God's grace.