Santification

A quick warning before we start: if you’re going to read the beginning of this post, please read the end to! You need to read the end of the post in order to realize I’m not supporting legalism in the beginning… With that said:

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Such were some of you… But you’ve been washed clean by Christ. That may be one of my favorite verses in the Bible, as it perfectly captures what exactly it is that Jesus has done for us: He’s washed us clean in His blood. Sometimes we hear that phrase, as Christians, so much that it’s meaning is deadened to us. He’s actually washed us clean in His blood. Immortal God came down to Earth, becoming a man, and died for us. More than that though, now Christ has sanctified us! And, as this sanctification includes the mind, our wants and desires are changed as well… Something, however, which poses a rather interesting question:

What if I continue to want what I wanted before coming to Christ? Am I not a “true” Christian, and if not, what would make me one?

Well, I’m not about to put myself in the place of God, and tell you how to become a “true” Christian (as compared to a “false” one), but this is what the Bible says on the matter (this is the later half of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples):

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:13-19)

Jesus says here that his disciples are “hated by the world,” something which, it is inferred, was caused by Jesus giving them His word (“I have given them my word and the world has hated them,” as if the two where synonymous). Thus, because we are also Jesus’ disciples, and have His word – and because of His word, the Bible, understand that we’re not supposed to be homosexuals, thieves, etc. – the world should “hate us” as well. If the “World” (unbelievers in general) doesn’t hate us, than the only other possibility is that the world completely loves us: there is no grey line with Christ, either you serve one master (Jesus), or the other (the World), you can’t serve both. Thus, if the World loves us, we’re not “of Christ.” See where I’m going here?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not promoting legalism! There is forgiveness for sins, and, sadly, every Christian still falls to sin while on Earth. But we should no longer need that sin to find fulfillment. Instead, we now find fulfillment in Christ! What I’m saying is this: if we still feel as if we need to do this or that, or to have this or that, “this or that” is an idol that we’re worshiping instead of Christ! We shouldn’t need or want any sin, ever. This isn’t to say we won’t still fall (unwillingly!) to temptation, but it does mean that we’ll always get back up again. Paul puts it far better than I do:

¹ What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have 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.

 ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:1-7)

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

What It Means to Be a Temple of God

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

Something some people don’t realize, is that all Christians are temples of God. – Something which is understandable, as it isn’t exactly an idea that springs to the mind easily. – being a temple of God means several things, almost all of which we can see in the above verse:

It means we’re holy, that God will destroy those who destroy us, and that God’s very spirit dwells within us. Let’s look at these each, individually:

• We’re holy. Meaning that Jesus has now washed us clean, and that we’re spotless in the sight of God. But, along with this, it also means that God’s spirit helps to overcome sin struggles. Which is, of course, the usual way in which we think of “being holy.”
• God will destroy those who destroy us. Those who tear us down/try to stop our ministry will “reserve their due.” Look at 2 Timothy 4:14 to see some of what I mean.
• God’s Spirit dwells within us. Thus we have power to demolish strongholds, arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. In addition to that though, having God’s spirit dwell within us also means two more things: we no longer want what our old Spirit, the flesh, wanted (i.e. instead of wanting to sin, we should now want to please God). And we each have gifts of the Spirit (read this post for more on that subject: http://goldenbible.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/to-each-his-own-gift-is-given/).

Addition to all those things though, there’s one more: because we’re the temples of God, our bodies are no longer are own:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

We were bought with a price: Jesus’ blood. Thus, we should now serve God as best as He has enabled us! We’ve been bought at a price: let’s keep that in mind as we go about our day today.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Looking Towards the Cross

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Paul: famous apostle of Christ, someone whose written fourteen book (known books, that is, it’s still unknown if he wrote Hebrews) of the Bible, and someone who despite beatings, whippings, and ship wrecks, persevered… Went to the Corinthians with fear, trembling, and weakness, in order to better share the Gospel with them. Not only that, but he even resolved to know nothing while he was with them but the Gospel (of Jesus). So, after reading all that, it seems rather apparent that the Gospel is important… Except, of course, in this day and age, where it needs to take a back-seat, right? After all, people today need ten steps to overcoming! They need six ways to stop getting drunk! Yes, the Gospel is vitally important to get people saved, but then we really need to put it in a corner by itself and give them “solid teaching.” — Let’s let the Bible decide if this line of thinking is wrong or right:

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

 ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas,^[b] and then to the Twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5)

“Standing,” implies the present tense: they were still “standing” on the Gospel, even after they had been saved. — Something which is vitally important, is the realization that the Gospel isn’t just meant to “save people,” and then put to the side. Rather, it’s the very power of God (See: Corinthians 1:5), and should be treated as such. With that being said, Paul also says this in the following verse (the verse after the one quoted earlier from 1 Corinthians):

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. (1 Corinthians 2:6)

Yes the Gospel is vitally important, and is the power of God, even so, people still do need to be taught how to avoid temptation, etc. and please don’t think i’m not saying otherwise. But we should never lose sight of the cross! This is what the author of Hebrews says on the matter:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Unity in the Body

Now that we’ve finished both of Paul’s letters to Timothy, we’re going to go to Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. — This is what God gave me today in His word:

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)

There are divisions in the Church, and Paul wants to stop them. That pretty much sums up the above three verses. Paul also gives an explanation of why it is he wanted there to be no divisions: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” In other words, Paul wanted them to all work together: he wanted Christ to not be seen as divided. – If you’re wondering, Christ would have to be “divided” for Cephas to have had correct teaching, but Paul not to… Or the other way around. This is because both men had the Holy Spirit in them: had Jesus living inside of them, and thus for the two men’s teaching to be different, Christ would have to be divided. – Now, with that being said, what is it that makes us today think that divisions in the Church are “Okay”? To answer that, we first have to answer to other questions: does this letter that Paul is sending to the Corinthians, apply to us? And, because the teachings in the different denominations aren’t exactly harmonious (thus the different denominations in the first place), who would be the person to decide who had correct teaching and who had wrong teaching?

Well Paul answers the first question for us:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

Because every word Paul wrote was, in fact, “Scripture,” it must be profitable for teaching, etc. Therefore, because the verse in 1 Corinthians must be profitable for the afore-mentioned, it must apply to us: how else could it profit us?

As for the second question; that isn’t even an issue (stay with me here!). This is because, to put this as frankly as possible, no one has it right. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I have everything right, while everyone else in the world is wrong: I don’t have everything right, and others do have some things correct, it’s just that no one denomination has everything it right. In fact, it’s impossible for any division of the Church to have everything right, as no matter what, they’re still disobeying Paul’s statement here in his letter to the Corinthians. However, I do believe every denomination has some things right:

Catholics are right in saying that after salvation, we should show outward signs of our salvation… It’s just they took it (way) too far, and made it a requirement. Amish (pronounced either Omish or Amish… And no, I don’t know why they call themselves that) are right in being separate from the world, it’s just that they made being separate a physical instead of Spiritual thing. — Or, to put all this in other words: the feet are very good at walking, it’s just they’re horrible at reaching out, grabbing, and pulling someone else to their feet. Now while people find this obvious physically, it seems that the Church today has some problems with this in a Spiritual sense: some denominations may be good at missionary work, etc. but not so good at helping their new converts grow Spiritually.

There’s a reason Christ is the “head of the body,” and that’s because He’s most important. If the body (Church) would focus more on forgetting their theology and serving the Head (Jesus) as best possible, perhaps the Church would finally be more in the shape God wants it to be: If the feet could walk in unison with where the Head wants them to go, and the hands move in the same way, I’d dare to say we’d be getting somewhere.

¹ As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Sermon Today

Hello again!

This is the sermon dad preached today, at the Fountain of Grace Church (I hope, like all of us did, you enjoy it too):

First Scripture Reading: 1 Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 2 Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore. 3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised. 4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? 7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; 8 he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. 9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD. Psalm 113:1-9 (NIV)

Second Scripture reading: ¹ If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NASB)

Let’s Pray:

We’ve come now to the second half of Romans chapter 13; the first half tells us of our duty to submit to the authorities, and this section tells us of our duty to our neighbor.

Now one of the characteristics of a believer in Jesus is that we have a real desire to fulfill our duties; to obey the Lord. Before we were saved we didn’t think twice about what God required of us, we didn’t care that we were breaking His laws, and we didn’t want Him telling us what to do. But in salvation a man’s heart is changed, his desires and interests are changed, and He really wants to obey and please the Lord.

We’ve seen that God is holy and righteous and that He hates sin and cannot even look on it, and that when we were living in sin and unbelief we were under His wrath. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John 3:36 (NIV) But then we came to understand that Jesus took our sin on Himself, and in doing so God’s anger was redirected away from us and onto His Son, who bore the punishment of our sin. And God gives us faith to turn away from sin and believe that good news, to trust in it fully and in doing so we are saved. Saved from sin’s penalty and sin’s power. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 (NASB)

And those who are saved long to do God’s will. We realize that doing God’s will is the evidence of being saved. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father.” Matthew 7:21 (NASB) He also said, “”For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:35 (NASB) And so doing the will of God confirms that we are in the family of God. Jesus said, “”For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 6:38 (NASB) And when we become Christians we want to know “what is the will of God, that I might do it?” And we study God’s Word so that we might know God’s will, and then we depend on God’s Spirit to enable us to do God’s will.

Not that we ever obey perfectly; in Romans 7 Paul says, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” Romans 7:15 (NASB) Every Christian struggles against sin, and falls often, but notice that Paul said, “what I would like to do”. Paul would like to obey God, and all believers would like to obey God and so we study God’s Word to find God’s will.

For the believer God’s Word is beautiful and powerful and majestic and life-changing. When we become Christians we are like a newborn baby, we begin to eagerly crave the pure milk of the Word. Like David we say, ¹⁵ I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. ¹⁶ I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word. Psalm 119:15-16 (NASB). “My soul is crushed with longing After Your ordinances at all times.” Psalm 119:20 (NASB) and “The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” Psalm 119:72 (NASB) This was a man who craved God’s Word and desired to obey it.

And so Christians come to God’s Word and say “In light of what He has done for us, how can we live to obey and please Him. How can we fulfill God’s requirements?”

And we come to our passage of study today and we see one word repeated over and over, and that one word tells us exactly how to fulfill the requirements. Let’s see that Word as we read the passage: ⁸ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10 (NASB)

Love fulfills the Law, so that the word “love” is the short spelling of the word “righteousness.” So let’s just notice the two main points of this passage:

1. Owe nothing to anyone—verse 8
2. Owe love to everyone—verses 8-10.

So let’s look at these two points together. First, we’re told to “owe nothing to anyone” so that if we love people we will make sure we pay them what we owe them or die trying. This is a characteristic of righteous people. Psalm 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives” even as Jesus was gracious and gave His life for us. “Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.” Deuteronomy 24:15 (NIV)  “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay And does not give him his wages, Jeremiah 22:13 (NASB) We are to owe nothing to anyone.

Think of what the understanding of this passage would teach us:

1. To work hard. To not be lazy. Adam had to cultivate the garden “by the sweat of his brow”, working 6 days out of 7. In this day and age millions of people are out of work, not due to them being lazy but due to the economy. And they are trying to find work so that they can pay their debts. But we’re taught to work hard so we can owe no man anything.
2. To not go into debt. And to be radical in paying it off. Jesus gave His life to pay off your debt of sin, so that anyone who believes is debt free. You owe nothing to God for your sins, we should owe nothing to man either. Therefore we don’t go in to debt and we pay off whatever debt we have.
3. To be frugal and economical. We should live humbly, and do away with things we don’t need. We don’t ever want to be in a position of owing somebody something that we can’t pay.
4. To help our children. We should raise up our children teaching them the value of hard work, and saving money and avoiding debt.

First principle here today: we are to owe no man anything.

Second principle: we owe love to everyone. Love is an ongoing debt we must pay to all people, and the wonderful thing is the more we pay it the richer we get. So we have an ongoing debt to love one another. I invite you to turn with me to 1 John 4, and let’s notice that passage together:

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11 (NASB)

The Instruction: “let us love one another”—verse 7
The Definition: “God is love”—verse 8
The Manifestation: “God sent His only begotten Son…to be the atoning sacrifice…that we might live through Him”—verses 9 and 10
The Origination: “not that we loved God, but that He loved us”—verse 10 “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The Motivation: “if God so loved us…”—verse 11
The Instruction: “we also ought to love one another”—verse 11

Short summary: God is love. He showed it by giving His Son to die that we might live. So let’s love one another. After all, that is how the world knows that we are Christians. ³⁴ “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (NASB)

Well then what does it mean to love someone? Well first it means to do no harm. vs. 10: “Love does no harm to its neighbor.” It says about the Noble wife in Proverbs 31: ¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. ¹² She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:11-12 (NIV)

And under this heading of “Love does no harm” Paul reminds us of the commands of God, given in Exodus chapter 20. And he says in verse 9 The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Romans 13:9 (NIV)

If we loved our neighbor as ourself, and we understood that love does no harm, we would not commit adultery, for adultery harms both people, their spouses, their families, their churches and everybody who knows them.

We’re not to commit adultery in our actions, but neither are we to commit adultery in our thoughts: Jesus said in Matthew 5:²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; ²⁸ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28 (NASB) Under the new covenant we are not to commit adultery with our actions or even with a look. This prohibits pornography and all forms of impurity. Peter describes people who have ¹⁴eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin. 2 Peter 2:13-15 (NASB) Love does no harm to its neighbor in action or in thought.

If we are to do no harm to our neighbor we certainly wouldn’t commit murder. Now most people agree that we should not murder, but how about committing anger? Again Jesus says ²¹ “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ ²² “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. Matthew 5:21-22 (NASB) So that unrighteous anger is the seed of murder.

Some people say “well I’d never murder somebody” and then they go on to say “but did you hear what John did? He…” and they slander someone, in essence murdering their reputation. Some of us have been horribly humbled by this, and we’ve had to learn not to slander the hard way. We’ve learned by experience the truth of Psalm 101:5: “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.” Psalm 101:5 (NASB) No Christian should ever talk behind someone’s back in any way.

Think of this for a moment: Jesus’ hands were tied to a post, and the Roman soldiers beat His back mercilessly. And if you look in Roman history the reason they beat the back is because they didn’t have to see His face. It’s easier to hurt someone when you’re behind their back. Remember that next time you hear slander, or are tempted to slander. Remember that “He who spreads slander is a fool.” Proverbs 10:18

And then Romans 13:9 says “Do not steal” because that does harm to the one we take from. And “Do not covet” because that the seed of stealing. In other words, “Love does no harm to anybody.”

And so we end with verse 10: “Love is the fulfillment of the Law” as if to say “all that the law requires is that we love others.” But the reality is that no human being is able to keep the Law perfectly. We fail and fall short. So for our final thought today let’s compare two verses of Scripture. Compare Romans 13:10 “Love is the fulfillment of the Law” with John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down His life for His friends” and here’s what we come up with. Jesus fulfilled the Law for all believers when He died on the cross. If you repent, that is turn away from your sin, and put your faith in what Jesus did, then God looks at you as having lived perfectly, as having kept the Law in the Person of Christ.

So for just a moment consider the cross. Look at Jesus as they place the cross on His shoulders, and He struggles up to the top of Mt. Calvary. There He is laid out on the cross and His hands and feet are pierced, and then He is raised up on that cross. Look at Him hanging there. Know what that is? That is perfect love fulfilling the Law for all of God’s elect. The Law is now competed, fulfilled and finished.

²⁸ Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:28-30 (NIV)

Love is the fulfillment of the Law and greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.

——————–

Please feel free to share your thoughts on it!

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Apology

Hello again!

I’m sorry that I didn’t post today, I was about to finish my post when I accidentally deleted it (it was a long one too, and the auto-save feature only managed to save the first verse). After that, I just decided to leave it alone for a bit (until Monday).

Thank’s for understanding,

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Arriving at Truth

Hello again!

To give you some context of the following verse: Paul is talking about people in the “last days,” it’s just he described them in such detail I didn’t think it necessary to add that section of the passage here, if you want you can look it up in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 — This is what God gave me today in His word:

always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:7)

This a very important little verse, as it talks about those who read the Bible, but don’t apply what it says. Their the people who are constantly reading Scripture, but don’t take it in and apply it. This is extremely dangerous, as it starves our Spiritual selves. Think of reading the Bible and not applying it, as putting  a heaping plate of food in front of yourself, and then just staring at it: the food doesn’t do you any good, you aren’t nourished by it anymore than if you were without any food (not reading the Bible at all) at all! To quote James:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)

So, in fact, more than torturing your-Spiritual-self, reading the Word and not actually applying it also deceiving yourself. i.e. Because I’m reading the Bible I automatically become holy, righteous, and am just in general better than the guy over there. While the reality of the situation is that your Spiritual self is in the final throughs of death by starvation!

Now that we’ve discovered application of the Bible to be the clear necessity that it is… What exactly is a correct application of the Bible? Well pretty clearly it’d be difficult to come up with one, singular, application of the entire Bible: possibly, because of the sheer number of books in the Bible, in may not even be possible. But Paul does give us some general guide-lines for us to use with all Scripture:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

A correct application, therefore, would contain teaching ourselves something that we didn’t already know (preferably), a reproof to ourselves or someone else (preferably ourselves, as doing it to someone else tends to clout our self-opinion), a correction for ourselves: something that we can do differently in our lives, and should in general help to train us in righteousness.

To wrap up: reading the Bible, though it has the value of putting Spiritual food in front of us, is useless unless we apply it (eat the food). Not only that, but a correct application is one that has teaching, a reproof, a correction, and helps to train ourselves in righteousness.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Faithlessness and Denial

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful– for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

That last part (the bit in bold) is a very interesting, and is something we really need to understand correctly, as it implies that all Christianity is, is mumbling a prayer (getting a faith), and then going to live however we want, because, after all, Christ will remain faithful to us. This not true.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14)

If we deny Christ, He will deny us. “Denying Him,” doesn’t, per se, mean stating out-loud that you “Deny Jesus.” Instead, if you just don’t give Him all your worship, then you’re denying Him; and situations to the like.

Now that we’ve established the definition of “denying Christ,” what exactly does it mean to be faithless to Him? Well, this is the thing: yes, if we deny Christ He’ll deny us. However, this doesn’t mean that if we fall to temptation we’re no longer Christian. Sometimes even the most faithful of Christians falls into some temptation, and thus becomes “faithless.” However, the real difference between denying, and being faithless to Jesus, is that being faithless is a temporary situation; every true Christian will, through the power of God, overcome. Yet if someone denies Christ, they aren’t Christians. Though, as we see in Peter’s case, (remember that he denied Christ three times) if someone repents, they can be saved.

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, ¹⁶ but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

 ¹⁷ “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

   He replied, “I am not.” (John 18:17)

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17)

So, to summarize: all Christians at some point fall to temptation; and are thus “faithless”. Yet God will bring them back! But those who deny Jesus, though they can be saved, will remain trapped in their temptation.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

P.S. Just to update everyone: my mom now has a sort of tingling numbness in her left arm (in addition to the pain in her chest), which is one of the symptoms of a heart attack, so she’s gone back to the hospital for the now. Please continue to pray for her.

 

A Dutiful Soldier, An Incredible Athlete, and a Hard-Working Farmer… Your Pastor?

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. (2 Timothy 2:3-6)

Paul tells Timothy (and by extension, to all pastors) to be three different types of people: a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. To be a little more specific: a good soldier of Christ Jesus, who “doesn’t get entangled in civilian affairs.” An athlete who must compete according to “the rules”. And a hard-working farmer that gets a “share of the crops.”

A soldier who “doesn’t get involved in civilian affairs,” is, when you think about it, rather like a pastor who doesn’t get involved with his the personal lives of each and every of member of his Church. Don’t get me wrong, a pastor can of course form friendships with members of his congregation, etc. but it’s the job of the deacons to take care of the members.

An athlete who “competes according to the rules,” seems to actually be rather similar to a pastor who preaches his sermons in accordance with what the Bible says. For example, a pastor who “preaches” a “sermon” on the latest sporting event, isn’t exactly competing according to the rules… At all.

Likewise, a hard-working farmer who gets “the first share of the crops,” is really rather similar to a pastor who does in fact receive some money for his preaching.

Is your pastor a soldier, an athlete, and a hard-working farmer?

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Please Pray for My Mom

Hello again!

Today, at around 5:00 A.M. (EST), my mom started having severe pains in here chest, along with heavy breathing. My dad took her to the hospital, and they suspect that she had a small heart attack. So, I’m asking if you could please pray for her.

Thank you,

Joshua