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In: Bible and Theology, Legalism, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Romans 15:2) Yikes! Whatever happened to you can’t please everyone? Okay, lay some context on me, please: We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written,”The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” (Romans 15:1-3) Ah, there, Paul is continuing his discourse from Romans 14 on the varying convictions in the Body and saying we shouldRead More →

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In: abuse, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18) The immediate context includes verses 13-16, which tell us, if I understand them correctly: Quietly let your wisdom and understanding be evident in how you conduct yourself, enduring injury with patience and without resentment (Thank you m-w.com.) Do not boast of being such while deceitfully hiding in your heart an attitude of hostility toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage and ambitions that put yourself first and furtherRead More →

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In: abuse, Bible and Theology, Gospel, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness, Suffering

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) In context, if I understand correctly, Peter tells us in verses 13-25: Obey the local, state, and federal government, and the leadership of any other institution you may belong to, attend, work for, or serve under. This is God’s will because it silences the historical objection to Christians’ assertion that Jesus is Lord. Based on the the Emperor of Rome’s assertion that he is Lord, non-Christians of the day felt to be a ChristianRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, God's promises, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.” (Psalm 14:1) So Bible Gateway does have a sense of humor, making this the verse of the day on April 1. I managed  to get through this day without seriously thinking about trying to deceive anyone, something God managed to convince me is wrong (read: convict me of being wrong) even for “fun.” It is foolish to say there is no God, and only growing more foolish the more we look inside the cell and see the order and structure of factory assemblyRead More →

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In: Bible and Theology, God's Character, God's love, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) We have a tendency to reason about what God would do and how he would act from our fallen sinful nature. We reason, since we love so-and-so, and we accept their behavior and love them just the way we are, since this is what our love does, surely that is what God’s love does, too. Nope. He loves us, but he doesn’t accept our sin–he wants us to surrender it to him, so he can in turn makeRead More →