Category Archives: Bible Study

GOD IS NEAR

Posted on by
Reply

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

The theological word for God’s nearness is immanence. This is closely related to another theological word that describes a characteristic of God – omnipresence. Have you considered God in this light? What are the implications of these characteristics?

Our verse from Psalm 34 tells us that God is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are burdened to the point of desperation, what the Psalmist describes as those “who are crushed in spirit.” This is a very frank picture of the human condition that many people experience at some point. For the writer of this Psalm – King David – it was a time of exceeding frustration and ebbing hope that gave rise to the penning of these words.  As David expressed his thoughts and emotions there arose within him an awareness of the nearness of God and the promises God had made to him concerning his own future.

It is very easy to become burdened down with the cares of life.  Everyone has bills to pay, appointments to keep, and responsibilities to fulfill. Day by day we focus on completing our tasks but over time we can become exhausted if we lose sight of why God saved us in the first place. We were made for so much more than debt, full schedules, and tasks that need completed. God saved us so that we might enjoy a close, intimate, and personal relationship with Him.

What compassion is this that God our creator would still remind us even when we allow our lives to become an endless parade of frustrating struggles that He is present for us and with us? Our God is not “an I told you so” God, but is instead full of mercy and patience, ever reaching out to His children.

Have you allowed your relationship with God to suffer at the hands of your schedule or responsibilities? Do you find yourself troubled by your lack of closeness to God? Are you suffering under the weight of life?  Cry out to God who is near.  He has never left you and stands ready to lift the burdens that crush your spiritual life.

 

Confession and Repentance? Yes!

Posted on by
1

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3

There is a spurious teaching today that appears to be gaining adherents.  It is the teaching that Christians don’t need to confess and repent of their sins because all a believer’s sins – past, present, future – are forgiven at the moment of salvation.  To confess sins after that point is an affront to God.  Is this what the Bible teaches?

Unfortunately for those who hold this view the answer is a resounding no. Salvation does not mean you receive a “get out of jail free” card when it comes to post-conversion sin. While it is true that God in Christ has forgiven us our sins in a judicial sense, it is not true that we no longer need to confess and repent of our sins.  Let’s unpack this issue.

It appears that supporters of the no confession, no repentance necessary post-conversion position confuse standing with relationship.  In other words they are guilty of misconstruing our justification and adoption as sons and daughters with our sanctification and fellowship in Christ.  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) stands along side of admonitions to not “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30).  There is a visible tension in the Scriptures which holds that we are no longer slaves to sin or under sin’s power (Romans 6) while simultaneously acknowledging that Christians will sin and this causes God’s discipline (Hebrews 12).

Perhaps the most cited passage in this context is 1 John.  In this epistle John tells believers that they must confess and repent of their sins.  Note again that John wrote to believers telling them that they must not succumb to the belief that they were “children of the light” when their lives demonstrated sinful behavior.  “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” John’s first epistle is a clear statement against the no confession/no repentance necessary teaching.

Finally let us consider Jesus’ words that He offered as instruction to His disciples of every age: “Pray then (daily) in this way . . . give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors . . .” (Matthew 6:9, 11-12).

Brothers and sisters do not think that your daily thoughts, words, and actions do not matter to the Father.  Remember to take captive every thought, word, and deed to the obedience of Christ.

It’s Logical

Posted on by
Reply

Logic

 

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

Romans 12:1 NKJV

Have you considered the truth that Paul expresses here?  Many Christians readily admit that they understand the instructions to present their bodies a living sacrifice to God.  The question I’m asking is, have you considered why we are to do that?

There are two clear reasons stated in this verse for presenting ourselves to God.  First we are to live totally and completely for God because of His mercies toward us.  The verse starts out “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. . .”  What mercies?  Certainly Paul had in mind the greatest mercy of all, that God would send His Son Jesus to Calvary’s cross in our stead.  In this particular context I believe Paul is referring specifically to the complete scope of God’s working in creation that he has already expounded on in chapters 1-11 of this great letter.

A second reason we are instructed to give ourselves completely to God is that it is our “reasonable service.”  This is an enlightening statement to be sure.  Reasonable in this passage is from a Greek word from which we get the English word logical.  Thus what Paul is telling us here is that giving ourselves completely to God is logical!

Praise God for His great mercies.  Let us press on in our quest to live completely and totally for God knowing that it is the most reasonable, logical thing we can do.