Look at these two verses, compare, contrast.
Romans 3:21-22 "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: "
James 2: 14-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
As we can see, the passage from Romans describes that we are save by faith, and not by works. And in contrast, the passage from romans describes that we are saved by what we do. Now, it seems these two passages cannot be reconciled, but if we look closely, we can see that they actually work together.
Paul, in Romans, was writing to people who thought that just by doing good deeds that that would save them and James was writing to people who thought that if they agreed with the teachings of Christ that that would save them. These two writers are saying that neither is correct, doing works won't save you and belief won't save you. It is when the works come out of the faith or when action flows from faith that we are saved, works are the evidence of faith.
But what is it that we should be doing? The Great Commission maybe? Yes, going to all the earth and spreading the gospel of Jesus. What is another word for this? Anyone? Ministry.
How does ministry happen? Is it that it's a choice, something we do? I think not. It's allowing God to occupy our very being, it's being saturated by the spirit of God, it's saying, "hey, I'm going to let God flow through me like he flowed through Jesus.
Alright, now that we've got that, what is ministry? Acts 1:1 "In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach," In this we notice how close together "to do" and "to teach" are. This signifies a unity of sorts, so we don't get the idea that teaching and doing are two different things. It means that they are one in this idea of ministry, where doing is teaching through action and teaching is an act of doing, they are one and the same. Check this with the passages from James and Romans and notice that the kind of faith a true christian has is the kind that has evidence which is doing and the doing is minstry that flows from the faith. notice here that doing means flow, an artistic flow and not something like painting a barn which is hard work.
10/8/07
6/26/07
this is how we roll
Romans 13:12-14 “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
The night, to me, refers to the time in our lives when we were with out Christ. The daytime, in contrast, refers to the time in our lives when we turned our lives over to the Lord and began the relationship with him.
There is a call in this verse to walk as in the daytime, to turn away from the sins of the past. But how are we to do that. The answer is in the verse, we are to do a few things; one, to put on the “armor of light”, two, to put on the “Lord Jesus Christ”, and three, to “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
The “armor of light” I believe is the same as the “armor of God” referred to in Ephesians 6:13-17. The “armor of God” in Ephesians is a lot to cover, but I’m going to write it in here and try to cover it in another post. Here it is, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”. Try studying this yourselves, its amazing.
Putting on the “Lord Jesus Christ” is a little different. In 1 John 4:16 we learn that “God is Love”. We believe that Christ and God are one, so to put on God is to put on our “Lord Jesus Christ”. But what do we know about love? 1 Corinthians explains that without love whatever we do is nothing, we must have love. Also verses 3-7 go on to say “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” So, basically to put on Christ is to put on love, and to love is huge.
Finally, to “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”, in other words means to not allow the opportunity for ones self to sin. You see, if we watch where we go and what we do, we can slake our desires to sin. When we go places we once went to while in the “night”, our flesh says “hey, I remember this place and what I did here. Let’s do it”, and that itself makes it hard for us as Christians to make the right decision. So don’t go places or do stuff that tempts you to sin and gratify the desires of the flesh.
So, put on the “armor of light”, put on our “Lord Jesus Christ” and “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”
Amen
The night, to me, refers to the time in our lives when we were with out Christ. The daytime, in contrast, refers to the time in our lives when we turned our lives over to the Lord and began the relationship with him.
There is a call in this verse to walk as in the daytime, to turn away from the sins of the past. But how are we to do that. The answer is in the verse, we are to do a few things; one, to put on the “armor of light”, two, to put on the “Lord Jesus Christ”, and three, to “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
The “armor of light” I believe is the same as the “armor of God” referred to in Ephesians 6:13-17. The “armor of God” in Ephesians is a lot to cover, but I’m going to write it in here and try to cover it in another post. Here it is, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”. Try studying this yourselves, its amazing.
Putting on the “Lord Jesus Christ” is a little different. In 1 John 4:16 we learn that “God is Love”. We believe that Christ and God are one, so to put on God is to put on our “Lord Jesus Christ”. But what do we know about love? 1 Corinthians explains that without love whatever we do is nothing, we must have love. Also verses 3-7 go on to say “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” So, basically to put on Christ is to put on love, and to love is huge.
Finally, to “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”, in other words means to not allow the opportunity for ones self to sin. You see, if we watch where we go and what we do, we can slake our desires to sin. When we go places we once went to while in the “night”, our flesh says “hey, I remember this place and what I did here. Let’s do it”, and that itself makes it hard for us as Christians to make the right decision. So don’t go places or do stuff that tempts you to sin and gratify the desires of the flesh.
So, put on the “armor of light”, put on our “Lord Jesus Christ” and “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”
Amen
6/19/07
Spill it
James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
How many of us who are sick, hurt, or struggling spiritually, actually talk about it with other Christians. I don’t know about everyone else but I know I tend to keep what is going on with me pretty secret. But, the verse up top here says that by telling other Christians what we are dealing with, their prayers will do much good.
As a group of people who want to serve God, I petition us all to embrace this idea fully, it will benefit our walk with Jesus immensely.
If you are all like me then opening up is a hard thing to do. If we embrace this then we have to be ready to be uncomfortable, to step out of our bubbles, and take a step of faith.
We need to repent of our old ways of keeping the things about ourselves secret, and embrace the new idea of revealing it to others so they can pray for us.
Amen
How many of us who are sick, hurt, or struggling spiritually, actually talk about it with other Christians. I don’t know about everyone else but I know I tend to keep what is going on with me pretty secret. But, the verse up top here says that by telling other Christians what we are dealing with, their prayers will do much good.
As a group of people who want to serve God, I petition us all to embrace this idea fully, it will benefit our walk with Jesus immensely.
If you are all like me then opening up is a hard thing to do. If we embrace this then we have to be ready to be uncomfortable, to step out of our bubbles, and take a step of faith.
We need to repent of our old ways of keeping the things about ourselves secret, and embrace the new idea of revealing it to others so they can pray for us.
Amen
4/16/07
whats going on
Mathew 18:12-14 "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
Easy enough, God wants everyone to be saved and adopted into his family. We were once the lost sheep, and we allowed God to save us. So, guess what. He threw a party in heaven to celebrate the lamb that was saved which is you and me just like the father did for his son in Luke 15: 11-32 (parable of the prodigal son).
When we get save and give our lives to God at first it’s like a party, everything is great. But after a while we become like the 99 that were never lost or the son that stayed with his father in Luke 15: 11-32. We forget about the lost sheep or become envious of the brother who comes home and parties with Jesus.
Remember, we are to be a light to the lost. After awhile we mature a little and we might think that's it but there is more; "Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few"", we are the laborers, in the field of lost sheep, we must find them and bring them back. We are called to spread the word.
Amen
Easy enough, God wants everyone to be saved and adopted into his family. We were once the lost sheep, and we allowed God to save us. So, guess what. He threw a party in heaven to celebrate the lamb that was saved which is you and me just like the father did for his son in Luke 15: 11-32 (parable of the prodigal son).
When we get save and give our lives to God at first it’s like a party, everything is great. But after a while we become like the 99 that were never lost or the son that stayed with his father in Luke 15: 11-32. We forget about the lost sheep or become envious of the brother who comes home and parties with Jesus.
Remember, we are to be a light to the lost. After awhile we mature a little and we might think that's it but there is more; "Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few"", we are the laborers, in the field of lost sheep, we must find them and bring them back. We are called to spread the word.
Amen
4/3/07
fire mouth
2 Timothy 2:16-17 "But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus"
People, how often do we join in in irreverent babble? We don't really do we, we just call it other things. By the way, irreverent means disrespectful, which means talking trash or gossiping about other people is completly aginst God.
Also, it says it will spread like "gangrene". Gangrene spreads very fast, how fast does our gossip spread? Pretty fast right. Any way watch what you say cause it will get around, are you speaking good or bad?
The "prayer chain" or whatever is one of the many things that get criticized for irreverent babble or gossip. I suggest we check our tounge and submit in prayer to God for help in taming the tongue. The tongue and what is says is very powerfull. The word says this, James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell."
So, if the mouth and tongue are so powerfull and strong, how are we to manage? There is something we can do? Nothing, but God can. Also, Matthew 12:34 "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Where the heart is and what is in the heart will cause the mouth to speak. Is your heart filled with the good or the bad.
What are you watching on tv or listening to? What are you reading? Set your mind on the Spirit and the heart will follow. Amen
People, how often do we join in in irreverent babble? We don't really do we, we just call it other things. By the way, irreverent means disrespectful, which means talking trash or gossiping about other people is completly aginst God.
Also, it says it will spread like "gangrene". Gangrene spreads very fast, how fast does our gossip spread? Pretty fast right. Any way watch what you say cause it will get around, are you speaking good or bad?
The "prayer chain" or whatever is one of the many things that get criticized for irreverent babble or gossip. I suggest we check our tounge and submit in prayer to God for help in taming the tongue. The tongue and what is says is very powerfull. The word says this, James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell."
So, if the mouth and tongue are so powerfull and strong, how are we to manage? There is something we can do? Nothing, but God can. Also, Matthew 12:34 "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Where the heart is and what is in the heart will cause the mouth to speak. Is your heart filled with the good or the bad.
What are you watching on tv or listening to? What are you reading? Set your mind on the Spirit and the heart will follow. Amen
Pt.3 why
Finally to sum up the study of James 4:1-4 we have this verse.
James 4:3 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
So far we have talked about how our passions can interfere with our spirt and cause pain to us eventhough the decision was right. Also, we have covered asking God for stuff. So, here we have the problem, and we ask God to fix it or help us through it or whatever, and thats all there is to it. Wrong. The verse up top says that we can ask wrongly of God.
People, this will be short and sweet. If your not asking for something to glorify God, give God the praise, to spread his word, or draw close to him; it doesnt cut it. So, basically, its not what you are asking for(sometimes it is), its why you are asking for it. Check yourself. Pray. Love God.
James 4:3 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
So far we have talked about how our passions can interfere with our spirt and cause pain to us eventhough the decision was right. Also, we have covered asking God for stuff. So, here we have the problem, and we ask God to fix it or help us through it or whatever, and thats all there is to it. Wrong. The verse up top says that we can ask wrongly of God.
People, this will be short and sweet. If your not asking for something to glorify God, give God the praise, to spread his word, or draw close to him; it doesnt cut it. So, basically, its not what you are asking for(sometimes it is), its why you are asking for it. Check yourself. Pray. Love God.
3/8/07
pt. 2 ask
James 4:2 "You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask."
Following verse 1 of James 4, verse 2 gives us some insight to what happens when our passions, our fleshly desires go against our spirit. Our spirit wants what is right and good. Pretty much any thing we hold as criminal or wrong stems from this. We fight, we steal, because we do not have what we covet and we covet because we do not have. Ex. We kill because someone stole our pride, or maybe not even kill them but we fight them. We steal money because we see others with lots of money and see what they do with it. we want what we do not have.
Why do we not have? Because we do not ask. Jesus in Matthew 7:7-11 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" So, why are we stealing and coveting when our Father in heaven, who knows how to give good things, can give us what we need if we ask him?
When our flesh wars aginst our spirit, why do we rely on ourselves? We can ask our Father in heaven for help. When we go through hard times we can ask God for strength when we want to give in, for will when it seem to tough to go on. We, as Gods children can do that.
Following verse 1 of James 4, verse 2 gives us some insight to what happens when our passions, our fleshly desires go against our spirit. Our spirit wants what is right and good. Pretty much any thing we hold as criminal or wrong stems from this. We fight, we steal, because we do not have what we covet and we covet because we do not have. Ex. We kill because someone stole our pride, or maybe not even kill them but we fight them. We steal money because we see others with lots of money and see what they do with it. we want what we do not have.
Why do we not have? Because we do not ask. Jesus in Matthew 7:7-11 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" So, why are we stealing and coveting when our Father in heaven, who knows how to give good things, can give us what we need if we ask him?
When our flesh wars aginst our spirit, why do we rely on ourselves? We can ask our Father in heaven for help. When we go through hard times we can ask God for strength when we want to give in, for will when it seem to tough to go on. We, as Gods children can do that.
2/28/07
Pt. 1 pain and pleasure
James 4:1 "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?"
This verse can apply to the church community and to the individual as well. Someone does something another doesnt think is right, whatever its, and conflict starts and churches split and people leave the church......extreme cases, none the less a quarrel starts. Whatever the application whithin the community this verse is true.
I want to focus on the this verse in concern with the individual. I want to stress this study concerns the christian but everyone is urged to respond with what they think, but the application of this study is for believers.
Our pleasure is what causes the source of our quarrels within our body. 1Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." Peter here states this differently and also says to stay away form "fleshly lusts" or pleasures, because it wages war with the soul/spirit. Our members are are the parts of our body : arm, hands, mind, and so on. The desires of our mind and body to have sex, drink, use tobaco, lie, cheat and whatever else goes aginst our spirit.
In my ethics class, i have learned that sometims doing the right thing feels wrong (continent). such things as not having sex when someone of the other sex is urging you to do it and you don't. Sometims it will feel wrong to live right, causing a war of flesh aginst soul/spirit.
1Peter 3: 17 "For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong." When our flesh goes aginst our spirit, we feel bad a suffer for doing what is right rather than for what is wrong. 1Peter 4:1 "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin"
This verse can apply to the church community and to the individual as well. Someone does something another doesnt think is right, whatever its, and conflict starts and churches split and people leave the church......extreme cases, none the less a quarrel starts. Whatever the application whithin the community this verse is true.
I want to focus on the this verse in concern with the individual. I want to stress this study concerns the christian but everyone is urged to respond with what they think, but the application of this study is for believers.
Our pleasure is what causes the source of our quarrels within our body. 1Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." Peter here states this differently and also says to stay away form "fleshly lusts" or pleasures, because it wages war with the soul/spirit. Our members are are the parts of our body : arm, hands, mind, and so on. The desires of our mind and body to have sex, drink, use tobaco, lie, cheat and whatever else goes aginst our spirit.
In my ethics class, i have learned that sometims doing the right thing feels wrong (continent). such things as not having sex when someone of the other sex is urging you to do it and you don't. Sometims it will feel wrong to live right, causing a war of flesh aginst soul/spirit.
1Peter 3: 17 "For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong." When our flesh goes aginst our spirit, we feel bad a suffer for doing what is right rather than for what is wrong. 1Peter 4:1 "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin"
3 part study james
3 part study
im going to do a 3 part study on James 4:1-3. check it out if ya want
im going to do a 3 part study on James 4:1-3. check it out if ya want
disciple
If you study the bible, you will find that Jesus was a Rabbi and that he chose his disciples and then told his disciples to make everyone disciples of christ. Jesus is our rabbi. Back in the day when a rabbi chose his disciples, he would interview each student who had already put in 12 years of studying and memorizing the old testament, the cream of the crop. The rabbi interviews these prime students to not only see if they can learn the exact teachings of the rabbi but if the student could also live out the teachings exactly as the rabbi did. To be a disciple is an awsome thing. So, when jesus pick his disciples he saw the potential in them to live a life exactly how he lived. This is our call too, to be discipls of christ. If you believe you have accepted the holy spirit in to your life, or have your life to christ, he chose you to be his disciple, he belives you can live a life like he did, he wants to help and teach. But if you are a disciple of Jesus, he already believes you can do it, there is no doubt in his mind.
eternal now
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
A popular misconception among christians today is that "eternity" or "eternal life" is something we recieve after we die. In the verse above Jesus is praying and says that tihis "eternal life", "eternity" begins as soon as we come to know God and Jesus. 1Corinthians 2:11 says "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God". So the way to come to know God is through his spirt. As most christians know, the spirt ascended awsomely on the day of penticost so as to live inside of each person so that we can know God, but only if we accept him. "Getting saved", a common term used when someone accepts God. The only problem with using this term is that it seperates and makes us think differently about people, thats for another blog entry thingy. but most christians accept this idea of being saved or babtized into the family of God. My proposition is the same as the verse up top........when we come to know God, that is eternal life. This is an awsome idea, rather than something to obtain after we die, its something we already have. Amen
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