Category: Christian good works

The Person of the Year

Friday, December 31, 2021

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” (Philippians 2:9,10a KJV).

Let us praise the 2021 Person of the Year—our Lord Jesus Christ!

Society’s most stressful time of year, the Christmas Season, is winding down. The year 2021 is nearly over, and a new year, 2022, will dawn soon. At this time every year, various groups and publications feature their particular choice for “Person of the Year.” Whether a chief of state, a philanthropist, a religious leader, a distinguished author or scientist, a television or radio personality, or some other “professional” who impacted society in a negative or positive way the most during the past year, they are all still people with limitations and frailties. One can accomplish all sorts of praiseworthy, generous, and awe-inspiring feats. However, what carries the most weight is the attitude, the heart, underlying the action, not the action. Was it Jesus Christ, or simply the flesh?

The one single event in history that pleased God the Father most was when His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, went by faith in His Word, to an awful Roman cross to suffer the worst possible and most graphic death a human ever experienced, to pay for our sins. “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). It is through that finished crosswork of Jesus Christ that He is still doing mighty works, 20 centuries later. How our Lord Jesus Christ has saved countless souls from sins and hell this past year, and how He has saved innumerable Christian souls from false doctrine and spiritual ruin.

Jesus Christ, who in death defeated His greatest enemy (Satan), was raised by God the Father and is now the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ (today’s Scripture). Saints, may we ever thank and praise our Saviour Jesus Christ for what He has done for us, what He has done with us, and what He will do with us next year… and all the countless ages thereafter….

NOTE: Saints, believe it or not, we close yet another year of grace ministry. Thank you for your continued prayer and encouragement these last 12 months. We surely needed it. While we have come so very far, we still have so much more ground to cover, so much more sound Bible doctrine to learn and believe, and we look forward to serving you here for at least another year (provided our Lord Jesus Christ wills it). So, with that, I sign off for 2021. See you in 2022! 🙂

Scrooges and Christians

Thursday, December 16, 2021

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV).

To the old identity, we say, “Bah, Humbug!” To the new, we say, “God has blessed us, everyone in Christ.”

Other than Jesus Christ’s conception and birth as found in the Holy Bible, there is one other classic story associated with Christmastime. British author Charles Dickens’ 1843 book, A Christmas Carol, focuses on the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge (the novella has some Christian influence).

From the onset, Scrooge is a wealthy, miserable, mean, stingy, and selfish old man. His employee, Bob Cratchit, is underpaid (yet, strangely, Ebenezer observes, Cratchit is cheerful). Scrooge refuses to donate to charities collecting for the destitute—to him, Christmastime is a time for others to “pick his pocket.” He even refuses to attend his nephew’s Christmas party. What a miser!

Through visitations by four Spirits—his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley; and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future—Scrooge is forced to realize what a thoroughly rotten man he is. Once confronted with his future, the awful events that lie ahead, he asks for another chance to make things right (which, thankfully, he receives and does!). The Scrooge at the end of the book is drastically different from the Scrooge at the beginning. Scrooge is now loving, warm, cheerful, and generous—he is a brand-new man.

Bible-believing Christians recognize parallels between Dickens’ work and the Holy Scriptures. The sinner starts off rotten, a rebel from birth—selfish, miserable, and mean. When he or she comes to realize that pitiful condition he or she is in, and comes by simple faith in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for their sins, God gives him or her a new identity (today’s Scripture). That identity is designed to influence subsequent actions. Scrooge did not simply change his outward activity; he had a change in heart first. This Christmas, let us be submissive to God’s Holy Spirit working in our hearts, as He uses sound Bible doctrine to manifest in our behavior our identity in Christ, that we be not Scrooges.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing #5

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:14-17 KJV).

The final verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!”

Religion has done an excellent job (wrongly) teaching us that God likes to rehabilitate humans—that He wants to make us quit doing certain things (“fleshly”) and make us start doing other things (“churchy”). What a very shallow, and actually a false, perception. God wants to do much more than what we could ever do by ourselves.

For good works to reign in our lives, God has to kill us! As sinners, in Adam, we are dead in our trespasses and sins, no life in ourselves (see today’s Scripture). Nothing we can do in our own strength will ever change our (sinful) nature in Adam. However, God offers us death to Adam and a new identity through Christ at Calvary. When we trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins, in God’s mind, we died to sin, too. Christ did not simply die for us but as us. Romans chapters 5 through 8 describe the victory is in Christ, not in Adam or in ourselves. Success is by the power of the Holy Ghost working with the grace doctrines we study and believe, not in our struggles to do right. And so, “Christ [is] formed in [us]” (Galatians 4:19).

Something about which the angels cannot sing, but we can, should, and do! 🙂

A Better Biography #8

Friday, November 19, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

Brethren, our Christian life will not operate on the basis of ignorance. Unless we have a renewed mind, thinking like God Himself reasons concerning the Christian life, we will have no Christian life: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1,2).

“If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24). “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:9-11).

God’s unconditional love for us, Christ Jesus’ unconditional love for us, was exhibited at Calvary’s cross (Romans 5:8), and it is offered us through the Gospel of Grace (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). When we walk by faith in this Good News on a daily basis, we are living in light of our identity in Christ. As we allow God’s power demonstrated at Calvary to work in us, the Holy Spirit will produce in us the love the Law commanded Israel (Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:13-16). God’s love will cause us to love others, leading us to better biographies! 🙂

A Better Biography #7

Thursday, November 18, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

When the Apostle Paul writes, “For the love of Christ constraineth us,” he is describing the process by which the Christian life operates. It is not we struggling to keep a series of rules and regulations, performing to get blessings from God (and receiving curses when we fail). Yea, rather, it is an intense working of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Him laboring to bring into the reality of our lives the Words of Grace: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

The idea of “constraineth” is a compelling or urging toward a particular course of action. We are tightly bound together, driven to a specific end, the goal in today’s Scripture: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” To “judge” here means to exercise the mind, to evaluate or examine evidence in order to reach a verdict.

Christ died for all (1 Timothy 2:5,6), since all were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1); but He is “specially [the Saviour] of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10); and, if He is the Saviour of Christians, Christians should live in light of that reality, conducting themselves not in accordance with their own selfish desires but for the glory of the God-Man who died for them and resurrected! After all, as He died, so they died to sin; as He rose again, so they arose to walk in newness of life (Romans chapter 6).

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Our two latest Bible Q&As: “What does ‘gainsaying’ mean?” and “Can you explain ‘penury?’”

A Better Biography #6

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

The Book of Titus, the Apostle Paul’s “good works” epistle, has two noteworthy verses in chapter 3: “[8] This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men…. [14] And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.” The heart of this doctrinal treatise, however, is in chapter 2.

We re-read the Holy Spirit’s words: “[11] For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12] Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; [13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; [14] Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork is plainly referenced in verse 14. The Saviour shed His blood to pay our redemption price, our buying back from sin. We use today’s Scripture to amplify: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” Friends, we dare not miss this important point! It is not our love for God, but rather Christ’s love for us. Our love for God is imperfect, weak, fickle, changing. If our Christian life depended on this faulty foundation, we would have no Christian life at all. Thankfully, God has not placed us under a performance-based acceptance system (Law). We are rather under a Christ-based acceptance system (Grace)….

A Better Biography #5

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

What the Law of Moses demanded Israel do—thereby showing the Jews they could not do—the Grace of God instructs and empowers us to do. Never forget, while we are under Grace not Law, God still cares how we live. If we did whatever we wanted as lost people (lived in sin before we came to faith in Christ), does it make sense that we Christians continue to live like people we no longer are? Grace is not a license to sin. Whoever says otherwise either has a poor understanding—or no understanding—of grace!

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid [May God not let that happen!]” (Romans 6:11-15).

As members of the Church the Body of Christ, sin is not who we are anymore. The indwelling Holy Spirit will take the sound Bible doctrine we learn and believe in our heart, and work in us to produce the life of Christ Himself: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;… the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

Now we get to today’s Scripture….

A Better Biography #4

Monday, November 15, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

If the Law was designed to point out Israel’s sin—and, by doing so, accentuate everyone’s sin (Jew and Gentile alike; Romans 3:19,20)—why should we go back to it to seek victorious Christian living? First Timothy chapter 1: “[7] Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. [8] But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; [9] Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, [10] For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; [11] According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

We are justified—declared righteous—by faith in Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour (Romans 3:22-31). Having taught us our need for the Saviour, the Law can therefore do nothing else for us: “…the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners.” Read Galatians 3:24,25: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

Possessing a completed Bible, the mystery program committed to the Apostle Paul now fully revealed to us, does it make sense for us to fall back on previous revelation as though more recent information from God has not been disclosed? Today, we have the Grace of God—not the Law of Moses!—to teach us how to live….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Does the King James Bible in Luke 14:10 suggest Jesus encouraged people to worship fellow humans?”

A Better Biography #3

Sunday, November 14, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

According to the Bible, the Law of Moses was not God’s original agreement with Israel. Galatians chapter 3: “[16] Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. [17] And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. [18] For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. [19] Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

The Law was “added because of transgressions” (verse 19). In the Abrahamic Covenant, given over four centuries earlier, God had promised to do some things with Abram (Abraham). Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and [I will] make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and [I will] curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The LORD is working to make a people for Himself—Abraham is not working to form this nation! So Israel would learn she could not be God’s people based on her performance, but solely on the LORD’S performance, He introduced the Law Covenant. By failing under the Law, she would come to better appreciate the grace of the Abrahamic Covenant….

A Better Biography #2

Saturday, November 13, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). There is nothing wrong with the Law of Moses; it is God’s Word, His standard of righteousness. However, there is a problem with us—sin. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19,20).

As the Lord Jesus remarked, all 613 rules and regulations of the Law of Moses can be recapitulated with two simple statements. One is Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 and 5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” The other is Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” Each commandment of the Law involves either a Jew’s relationship with God, or a Jew’s relationship with another human.

Let us concentrate on these two “great commandments.” Firstly, do we love God with “all our heart, all our soul, and all our might?” Do we love Him with every ounce of being within us, constantly? No. That is what sin is. Secondly, do we love our neighbor “as we love ourselves?” Do we love others to the degree we love self? Do we always put their welfare ahead of our own? No. That is what sin is. God’s standards are high—yea, impossible for sinners to reach. The Law condemns us….