It’s a shame when some see the work of God in the world and yet miss God being a part of that work. Worse yet is to be upset with someone being used by God because they can’t possibly be doing what God has asked them to do.
In Matthew 9:1-8 is the famous story of Jesus forgiving and healing the paralytic who was carried in by people as he lay on his bed. After Jesus forgave the man on his bed, the scribes who were there said this was a blasphemous thing to do.
I’ve know God loves me but does he care for me?
This is the feeling a lot of Christians have at one point or another (or at many points) in their lives. We can struggle with the idea that God really does care for us—even down to the day-to-day things we go through. I think we struggle because we know God loves us (this is a given in the Bible) but then uncomfortable and even horrible things happen to us, so we compartmentalize a little bit. We recognize and do business with the fact that God loves us but then (when the uncomfortable or horrible things happen) we wonder if God cares about what we’re going through.
Romans 8:1 reads, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” It’s Paul’s blatant statement that, for those who are in Jesus, condemnation no longer exists. A similar (albeit opposite) point is made by John in his gospel when he writes, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).
What kind of standing has the unregenerate man before the holy God? His only standing is one of condemnation.
Condemnation can be the only answer to the question of unregenerate man’s standing before the holy God, for the unregenerate man hates God and is God’s enemy. To please God is not the desire of the unregenerate man’s heart, for he is not able to do so (Romans 8:8).
Nine times in the opening chapter of Genesis we read the words: God said. One of those nine times, God tells the land to produce vegetation (Genesis 1:11) and another one of those nine times, God gives his creation (mankind and animals) every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it for food (Genesis 1:29).
Two Sides
There are some who earnestly believe that the New Testament has been reproduced perfectly in English, to the extent that there are absolutely no questions regarding the authenticity and accuracy of the text. In their eyes, the English version of the New Testament they hold in their hands is perfect in the sense that it cannot be improved upon.
There is an upcoming opportunity for you to take part in a class taught by me (Kevin Davis) on the doctrine of the Trinity. This class will begin on Sunday, January 21 and run four straight weeks, ending on Sunday, February 11. All classes will take place at Living Waters Church in the gymnasium and will go from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you are reading this and think a class on the Trinity sounds interesting
500 Years Ago…
Last Tuesday, October 31, marked the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Specifically, it marked the day in which the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, posted his 95 Theses against the selling of indulgences to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
“The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” (Mark 3:6, ESV)
There is a point in Mark’s gospel, in chapter 3, where Jesus has a confrontation with the Pharisees over whether or not he should heal a man with a withered hand. Mark writes that, as Jesus entered the synagogue, the Pharisees watched him to see whether or not he would heal the man on the Sabbath (3:2). Notice Mark does not write that the Pharisees watched to see if the work of God might be on display through the healing of this man. They were not interested in seeing God at work; they were interested in keeping control.
