Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
What Paul Tells Us in Galatians
(A Bible Study)
1. He warns against a false gospel opposed to “the truth of the gospel”
(1:6-12; 2:5, 14).
2. Paul’s understanding of that “truth” forced him to contend with the
leadership of the church of his day. His understanding was more clear
than that of the apostle Peter, or James (1:16-20; 2:12-14).
3. The “all men” who are sinners are not put right with God by any good
thing they can do, but “by the faith of Jesus” (2:15-19).
4. Honest human hearts identify with Christ on His cross. As with Him,
the natural result is: self is crucified. The slightest taint of
legalism “frustrates the grace of God” and denies the cross (2:20, 21).
5. The alternative to “the truth of the gospel” has to become a form of
Spiritualism. “The hearing of faith” is a heart-appreciation of the
Good News in the gospel; it works miracles (2:1-5).
6. All believing humans repeat the experience of Abraham’s unbelief
followed by his learning to believe (2:6-14).
7. “The curse” of the law is not obedience to it but disobedience.
Christ’s experience on His cross was that “curse,” the horror of our
second death (3:10-14).
8. The law was written in stone because of Israel’s old covenant
unbelief; but that does not invalidate God’s promise in the new
covenant to write it in the heart (3:16-21).
9. The law written in old covenant stone served as a policeman driving
Israel under legalism until they should come back to Abraham’s
experience of justification by faith (3:22-29).
10. All who live under a sense of condemnation and fear are like the
barefoot boy bossed about by slaves on the ranch, while born to be the
heir of the estate (4:1-3).
11. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception denies the truth of Christ’s
full genetic identity with our fallen human race, which is necessary
for true redemption from sin (4:4-7).
12. “The third angel’s message in verity” is the full liberating truth
of the new covenant (4:16-31).
13. Salvation by faith cannot be understood unless faith is understood
as that which “works by love [agape]” (5:1-6).
14. Proclaiming “the truth of the gospel” always brings persecution on
its proclaimer (5:11, 12).
15. The genuine liberty inherent in true faith never produces license
(5:13, 14).
16. The Holy Spirit is stronger than the “flesh” with all its sinful
addictions. Therefore, if one understands and believes Paul’s “truth of
the gospel,” he finds it easy to be saved and hard to be lost (5:16-18;
compare Matt. 11:28-30; Acts 26:14).
17. To “walk in the Spirit” is to believe He is holding on to your
hand, not vice versa (5:18-25; compare Isa. 41:10, 13).
18. We cannot truly help someone else unless we can sincerely put
ourselves in his place (“there but for the grace of God go I”) (6:1-6).
19. The final mark of the beast will be “persecution for the cross of
Christ.” “The truth of the gospel” as it is in Galatians will
therefore be part of the final “loud cry” that will lighten the earth
with glory (6:12, 13).
20. To understand and believe this gospel of the cross delivers one
from captivity to worldliness in all its forms (6:14).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
“Israel has the right to defend herself,” is the mantra we hear continually. Hence the pulverization of a neighbor, including (inevitably) some innocent civilians.
The “right” rests on the time-honored universal “right” bestowed by military conquest. We Americans have often boasted that “we” didn’t conquer our land “from sea to shining sea” militarily; it dropped into our lap. But sober historians have concluded that “we” didn’t treat the Indians right. If Mexicans were to fire missiles into California, we would “have the right to defend ourselves” (says the mantra, but let’s hope, not by pulverizing Mexico), but do we have a divine right to the land on which we live?
In the little village where I live there are still seen the hollow places in the rock which the Indians carved out for grinding their corn when they lived here peacefully. There is a deed to my little plot stored in the county courthouse, but can I claim it as a “divine right”? No; the best I can claim is that it is “mine” only by the much more abounding grace of the Creator/Savior (and then only temporally).
There are honest, God-fearing individuals on both sides of the tragic conflict engulfing the Middle East. They can’t help but read the Gospel of John which quotes the official political (and religious) leadership of the nation of the Jews who solemnly, in the personal presence of the Son of God, their Messiah, deliberately declared, “We have no king but Caesar” (19:15), thus renouncing political statehood. Paul goes to great lengths to prove that God never “cast away His people” (Rom. 11:2, ff), and that His “gifts and calling are without repentance” (29); but the truth is, they cast themselves off. God didn’t do it.
Can He somehow acquaint these warring factions with the self-humbling truths that would make living-together-in-peace possible? (Both sides would be deeply humbled.) If so, it would be the most stupendous miracle God has done since Christ’s raising Lazarus (ch. 11). You say, “??”
Careful! God is still in the business of working miracles. He needs “Elijah.”
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
When we talk about “child evangelism,” what do we mean? Merely
persuading children to profess to be Christians? Nominal church
members? Go through the rite of baptism? Have their names on a record
book? The temptations to life-hypocrisy today are enormous.
Jesus was a child of 12 when He witnessed His first Passover. Like all
children, He wondered what the killing of the Passover lamb meant. No
one could help Him, not even His mother. But His sinless mind was
gradually able to grasp the truth--the blood of billions of Passover
lambs could not wash away even one human sin. He sensed the meaning of
Psalm 40:6-8, “Lo, I come . . . to do Thy will, O God.” Someone holy,
undefiled, must give Himself to be “the Lamb of God.”
Through His young human soul there surged a great desire: “O Father,
let Me be the world’s ‘Passover Lamb’!” From that moment, the
divine/human Messiah in His childhood grew to be absorbed “in [His]
Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). John the Baptist caught Christ’s total
consecration at the age of 30 when he cried out, “Behold the Lamb of
God!” (John 1:29).
The age of 12 is still very significant. The Holy Spirit today is often
forced to by-pass older people because they quickly become full of
themselves and stay that way; children are sensitive to the call of
heaven to give themselves to the One who gave Himself for them--if only
someone can be humble enough to step aside and let Christ be revealed
to them.
May God give you and me the grace to reveal Him as He is in His agape
love, to children.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When we talk about “child evangelism,” what do we mean? Merely
persuading children to profess to be Christians? Nominal church
members? Go through the rite of baptism? Have their names on a record
book? The temptations to life-hypocrisy today are enormous.
Jesus was a child of 12 when He witnessed His first Passover. Like all
children, He wondered what the killing of the Passover lamb meant. No
one could help Him, not even His mother. But His sinless mind was
gradually able to grasp the truth--the blood of billions of Passover
lambs could not wash away even one human sin. He sensed the meaning of
Psalm 40:6-8, “Lo, I come . . . to do Thy will, O God.” Someone holy,
undefiled, must give Himself to be “the Lamb of God.”
Through His young human soul there surged a great desire: “O Father,
let Me be the world’s ‘Passover Lamb’!” From that moment, the
divine/human Messiah in His childhood grew to be absorbed “in [His]
Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). John the Baptist caught Christ’s total
consecration at the age of 30 when he cried out, “Behold the Lamb of
God!” (John 1:29).
The age of 12 is still very significant. The Holy Spirit today is often
forced to by-pass older people because they quickly become full of
themselves and stay that way; children are sensitive to the call of
heaven to give themselves to the One who gave Himself for them--if only
someone can be humble enough to step aside and let Christ be revealed
to them.
May God give you and me the grace to reveal Him as He is in His agape
love, to children.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
The suicide bombers are still at work in the Middle East, the
insurgents still creating mayhem in Iraq, but now the stories are off
the front page and inside. All thoughtful people have pondered another
quiet terror troubling our souls: the possibilities of ending up like
Terri Schiavo--maybe before even getting old. The life insurance
companies have been keeping rather quiet; their money isn’t what we
would want most.
But there is a Life Insurance Policy not only offered us but urged upon
us, yes, even given to us for the “receiving” (look at the “receive” in
Rom. 5:17). The most precious New Covenant is the out and out promise
of God that “thou shalt BE a blessing” as well as receive a blessing
from Him (Gen. 12:1-3). In other words, to the one who like Abraham
“gets out of [his] country, and from [his] father’s house, unto a land
that [God] will shew [him],” in other words gets out of “Babylon,”
God’s solemn promise is that he/she will always bring happiness to
someone else. Giving it will be much more fun that getting it!
A vegetable like existence in immortality is not the goal; to “BE a
blessing” requires an active mind and a warm heart plus a knowledge of
God as the Giver of Good News for every human soul (Ashley Smith had
some for the murderer who burst into her apartment). Abraham believed
those New Covenant promises in Genesis 12; now as a child of Abraham,
you have inherited them. That means you are a stream of living water or
at least a rivulet of it, however tiny; the little fountain deep in
your inmost soul will never run dry (see John 7:37-39). And the command
of Jesus to His disciples is to you; of those whom He will always send
to you, He says, “They need not depart; give YE them to eat” (Matt.
14:16). He will multiply the “bread” in your very hands! But you must
eat it first; start studying that Word today.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The suicide bombers are still at work in the Middle East, the
insurgents still creating mayhem in Iraq, but now the stories are off
the front page and inside. All thoughtful people have pondered another
quiet terror troubling our souls: the possibilities of ending up like
Terri Schiavo--maybe before even getting old. The life insurance
companies have been keeping rather quiet; their money isn’t what we
would want most.
But there is a Life Insurance Policy not only offered us but urged upon
us, yes, even given to us for the “receiving” (look at the “receive” in
Rom. 5:17). The most precious New Covenant is the out and out promise
of God that “thou shalt BE a blessing” as well as receive a blessing
from Him (Gen. 12:1-3). In other words, to the one who like Abraham
“gets out of [his] country, and from [his] father’s house, unto a land
that [God] will shew [him],” in other words gets out of “Babylon,”
God’s solemn promise is that he/she will always bring happiness to
someone else. Giving it will be much more fun that getting it!
A vegetable like existence in immortality is not the goal; to “BE a
blessing” requires an active mind and a warm heart plus a knowledge of
God as the Giver of Good News for every human soul (Ashley Smith had
some for the murderer who burst into her apartment). Abraham believed
those New Covenant promises in Genesis 12; now as a child of Abraham,
you have inherited them. That means you are a stream of living water or
at least a rivulet of it, however tiny; the little fountain deep in
your inmost soul will never run dry (see John 7:37-39). And the command
of Jesus to His disciples is to you; of those whom He will always send
to you, He says, “They need not depart; give YE them to eat” (Matt.
14:16). He will multiply the “bread” in your very hands! But you must
eat it first; start studying that Word today.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 22, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
A thousand times “yes!” Let’s agree that when the Savior of the world
died on His cross and proclaimed “It is finished!” He won the great
controversy all by Himself.
Yes, yes, He died “instead” of us. Yes, salvation is assured. Yes, He
opened the gates of Paradise. Yes, it was all done even before we were
born. Yes, yes, we contribute nothing to our own salvation.
But does all that mean that we His people, being “covered” by this
celestial Insurance Policy, now have only to “wait” and “occupy until
[He] comes”? (Cf. Luke 19:13; that word “occupy” has come to mean make
lots of money, enjoy the world, don’t lose out, have our fun as though
there were no solemn Day of Atonement for us to live in). Does Christ’s
dying “instead” of us mean that we have no cross to “share” with Him?
He dies 100% only “instead” of us? From now on are we simply so many
childish digits in the credit column in God’s heavenly computer, and we
“wait” for the call of the first resurrection? Or is there some serious
business before us about getting ready to meet Jesus at His second
coming?
Please note: there are four glorious “Hallelujah Choruses” in
Revelation 19:1-7 that say something must happen that at last makes
possible that “the Lord God omnipotent reigns”! And that something not
having happened yet has delayed His “reign” for many, many years, even
though He finished His dying “instead” of us. What finally must happen
is that “the Lamb’s wife” “make herself ready” for the intimacy of the
“marriage of the Lamb.” What happened on the cross was wonderful
indeed, but nobody can (or will) be happy in heaven until those
Hallelujah Choruses can be sung, proclaiming a hitherto elusive
victory.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
A thousand times “yes!” Let’s agree that when the Savior of the world
died on His cross and proclaimed “It is finished!” He won the great
controversy all by Himself.
Yes, yes, He died “instead” of us. Yes, salvation is assured. Yes, He
opened the gates of Paradise. Yes, it was all done even before we were
born. Yes, yes, we contribute nothing to our own salvation.
But does all that mean that we His people, being “covered” by this
celestial Insurance Policy, now have only to “wait” and “occupy until
[He] comes”? (Cf. Luke 19:13; that word “occupy” has come to mean make
lots of money, enjoy the world, don’t lose out, have our fun as though
there were no solemn Day of Atonement for us to live in). Does Christ’s
dying “instead” of us mean that we have no cross to “share” with Him?
He dies 100% only “instead” of us? From now on are we simply so many
childish digits in the credit column in God’s heavenly computer, and we
“wait” for the call of the first resurrection? Or is there some serious
business before us about getting ready to meet Jesus at His second
coming?
Please note: there are four glorious “Hallelujah Choruses” in
Revelation 19:1-7 that say something must happen that at last makes
possible that “the Lord God omnipotent reigns”! And that something not
having happened yet has delayed His “reign” for many, many years, even
though He finished His dying “instead” of us. What finally must happen
is that “the Lamb’s wife” “make herself ready” for the intimacy of the
“marriage of the Lamb.” What happened on the cross was wonderful
indeed, but nobody can (or will) be happy in heaven until those
Hallelujah Choruses can be sung, proclaiming a hitherto elusive
victory.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Have you ever tried to drive a car when the emergency brake was on? If
so, you understand what it’s like to keep praying for the Lord to
give you spiritual victories while you keep breaking His holy laws of
health.
Selfish indulging appetite is sometimes described as the “first
sin” in Eden; it’s pathetic even today, almost everywhere in the world. You
may pray ever so earnestly for the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind and
heart, and He may be totally willing to answer your prayer, but He is
hindered against His will from making His answer clear to you. He would
love to pour out upon you a heart-warming spiritual blessing, but if
you are over-eating or indulging an intemperate use of desserts or
sweets, your mind will certainly be clogged.
An excess of milk and sugar products tends to stupefy the mind, and the
poor Holy Spirit is just frustrated in His earnest efforts to bless
you. All He can do is to remind you of what the Lord Jesus says to you
and me: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down
[overcharged, KJV], . . . and that day come upon you unexpectedly”
(Luke 21:34).
Jesus said that the very first work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us a
“conviction of sin” (John 16:8). If cigarettes are your problem, He
will not let you indulge without reminding you, “This is wrong!” Or
if alcohol is your problem, He will not let you take the glass to your
lips without convicting you that it is sin.
Does He also convict us when we’re tempted to eat too much? O Lord,
forgive us for the many times we have trampled on the Holy Spirit!
Forgive us for our foolishness! Now let us thank God that we have
another day of probation; choose to respond to Him today. Let the Holy
Spirit tell us what to do and what not to do. Choose to die before you
beat back the Holy Spirit. Yes!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever tried to drive a car when the emergency brake was on? If
so, you understand what it’s like to keep praying for the Lord to
give you spiritual victories while you keep breaking His holy laws of
health.
Selfish indulging appetite is sometimes described as the “first
sin” in Eden; it’s pathetic even today, almost everywhere in the world. You
may pray ever so earnestly for the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind and
heart, and He may be totally willing to answer your prayer, but He is
hindered against His will from making His answer clear to you. He would
love to pour out upon you a heart-warming spiritual blessing, but if
you are over-eating or indulging an intemperate use of desserts or
sweets, your mind will certainly be clogged.
An excess of milk and sugar products tends to stupefy the mind, and the
poor Holy Spirit is just frustrated in His earnest efforts to bless
you. All He can do is to remind you of what the Lord Jesus says to you
and me: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down
[overcharged, KJV], . . . and that day come upon you unexpectedly”
(Luke 21:34).
Jesus said that the very first work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us a
“conviction of sin” (John 16:8). If cigarettes are your problem, He
will not let you indulge without reminding you, “This is wrong!” Or
if alcohol is your problem, He will not let you take the glass to your
lips without convicting you that it is sin.
Does He also convict us when we’re tempted to eat too much? O Lord,
forgive us for the many times we have trampled on the Holy Spirit!
Forgive us for our foolishness! Now let us thank God that we have
another day of probation; choose to respond to Him today. Let the Holy
Spirit tell us what to do and what not to do. Choose to die before you
beat back the Holy Spirit. Yes!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Have you ever tried to drive a car when the emergency brake was on? If
so, you understand what it’s like to keep praying for the Lord to
give you spiritual victories while you keep breaking His holy laws of
health.
Selfish indulging appetite is sometimes described as the “first
sin” in Eden; it’s pathetic even today, almost everywhere in the world. You
may pray ever so earnestly for the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind and
heart, and He may be totally willing to answer your prayer, but He is
hindered against His will from making His answer clear to you. He would
love to pour out upon you a heart-warming spiritual blessing, but if
you are over-eating or indulging an intemperate use of desserts or
sweets, your mind will certainly be clogged.
An excess of milk and sugar products tends to stupefy the mind, and the
poor Holy Spirit is just frustrated in His earnest efforts to bless
you. All He can do is to remind you of what the Lord Jesus says to you
and me: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down
[overcharged, KJV], . . . and that day come upon you unexpectedly”
(Luke 21:34).
Jesus said that the very first work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us a
“conviction of sin” (John 16:8). If cigarettes are your problem, He
will not let you indulge without reminding you, “This is wrong!” Or
if alcohol is your problem, He will not let you take the glass to your
lips without convicting you that it is sin.
Does He also convict us when we’re tempted to eat too much? O Lord,
forgive us for the many times we have trampled on the Holy Spirit!
Forgive us for our foolishness! Now let us thank God that we have
another day of probation; choose to respond to Him today. Let the Holy
Spirit tell us what to do and what not to do. Choose to die before you
beat back the Holy Spirit. Yes!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever tried to drive a car when the emergency brake was on? If
so, you understand what it’s like to keep praying for the Lord to
give you spiritual victories while you keep breaking His holy laws of
health.
Selfish indulging appetite is sometimes described as the “first
sin” in Eden; it’s pathetic even today, almost everywhere in the world. You
may pray ever so earnestly for the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind and
heart, and He may be totally willing to answer your prayer, but He is
hindered against His will from making His answer clear to you. He would
love to pour out upon you a heart-warming spiritual blessing, but if
you are over-eating or indulging an intemperate use of desserts or
sweets, your mind will certainly be clogged.
An excess of milk and sugar products tends to stupefy the mind, and the
poor Holy Spirit is just frustrated in His earnest efforts to bless
you. All He can do is to remind you of what the Lord Jesus says to you
and me: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down
[overcharged, KJV], . . . and that day come upon you unexpectedly”
(Luke 21:34).
Jesus said that the very first work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us a
“conviction of sin” (John 16:8). If cigarettes are your problem, He
will not let you indulge without reminding you, “This is wrong!” Or
if alcohol is your problem, He will not let you take the glass to your
lips without convicting you that it is sin.
Does He also convict us when we’re tempted to eat too much? O Lord,
forgive us for the many times we have trampled on the Holy Spirit!
Forgive us for our foolishness! Now let us thank God that we have
another day of probation; choose to respond to Him today. Let the Holy
Spirit tell us what to do and what not to do. Choose to die before you
beat back the Holy Spirit. Yes!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Someone writes asking that we make clear what Young’s LITERAL
TRANSLATION of Romans 5:15-19 means, especially his use of the word
“constitutes.” It’s in verses 18, 19, instead of the word
“made” as in the King James Version. Here’s what Young renders Paul as saying:
“So, then, as through one offense to all men it is to condemnation, so also
through one declaration of ‘Righteous’ it is to all men to
justification of life; for as through the disobedience of the one man
[Adam], the many [all men] were CONSTITUTED sinners: so also through
the obedience of the One [Christ], shall the many [the same all men] be
CONSTITUTED righteous” (Young’s LITERAL, vss 18, 19).
The sin of Adam did not MAKE “all men” to be actual sinners--that
would be “original sin.” Adam’s fatherhood has not forced anyone to
sin! (It could be that the KJV rendering as “made” has led some to think the
Bible does teach original sin; but Young’s “Literal” makes clear
that we still have freedom of choice. Thank God!)
But it is true that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:10), except Christ.
But He took upon Himself the DNA descent from Adam, yet He proves that
inheriting a sinful nature does not force one necessarily to be a
sinner in character. Christ was tempted like as we are tempted, but He
said “No!” to every temptation (Heb. 4:15; Titus 2:11, NIV).
Adam’s sin CONSTITUTED “all men” under the legal condemnation of sin. Jesus
“took” it upon Himself, so He could die.
Likewise, according to Young’s “Literal,” the cross of Christ did
not MAKE the same “all men” to be experientially “righteous.” It
CONSTITUTED them “righteous” in a legal sense so the Father could
send His rain on the just and the unjust alike--so He could treat every
person as though he had not sinned. Some call this a “second
probation.” But God means what He says: no one can keep you out of
heaven, except your own perverse choice.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone writes asking that we make clear what Young’s LITERAL
TRANSLATION of Romans 5:15-19 means, especially his use of the word
“constitutes.” It’s in verses 18, 19, instead of the word
“made” as in the King James Version. Here’s what Young renders Paul as saying:
“So, then, as through one offense to all men it is to condemnation, so also
through one declaration of ‘Righteous’ it is to all men to
justification of life; for as through the disobedience of the one man
[Adam], the many [all men] were CONSTITUTED sinners: so also through
the obedience of the One [Christ], shall the many [the same all men] be
CONSTITUTED righteous” (Young’s LITERAL, vss 18, 19).
The sin of Adam did not MAKE “all men” to be actual sinners--that
would be “original sin.” Adam’s fatherhood has not forced anyone to
sin! (It could be that the KJV rendering as “made” has led some to think the
Bible does teach original sin; but Young’s “Literal” makes clear
that we still have freedom of choice. Thank God!)
But it is true that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:10), except Christ.
But He took upon Himself the DNA descent from Adam, yet He proves that
inheriting a sinful nature does not force one necessarily to be a
sinner in character. Christ was tempted like as we are tempted, but He
said “No!” to every temptation (Heb. 4:15; Titus 2:11, NIV).
Adam’s sin CONSTITUTED “all men” under the legal condemnation of sin. Jesus
“took” it upon Himself, so He could die.
Likewise, according to Young’s “Literal,” the cross of Christ did
not MAKE the same “all men” to be experientially “righteous.” It
CONSTITUTED them “righteous” in a legal sense so the Father could
send His rain on the just and the unjust alike--so He could treat every
person as though he had not sinned. Some call this a “second
probation.” But God means what He says: no one can keep you out of
heaven, except your own perverse choice.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
When I was young, grey-haired pastors would tell me that the most
important subject I could think about is my own personal salvation. But
is there a more important, greater issue to think about than this
self-centered one?
What led Christ to His cross was not such a self-centered motivation.
As we ponder Scripture clues here and there we begin to discern that He
was tempted as all of us humans are tempted--to seek self-preservation;
but a new motivation engrossed His soul. He was concerned not for
Himself, but for the preservation of the universe of God which had been
challenged by the greatest created being of all eternity--Lucifer, who
by rebellion became Satan (Rev. 12:7-10). Satan’s new invention was
the motivation of self-seeking. Our first parents yielded to it, and
therefore every human being descended from Adam has been naturally
self-centered by nature.
The great battle that Jesus fought in Gethsemane and on His cross was
“Not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). In order to say His
amen to that prayer, He had to surrender His own life, yes, His own
eternal life. Jesus repeatedly assures us that in His becoming one with
us, He took on His soul a “self” as we all have a self to contend
with (John 5:30; 6:38; Luke 9:23; Rom. 15:3, etc.). But the love (agape)
that He was as God, as the Son of God (1John 4:8), confronted this
“self” which He had taken upon Himself, and He denied self and all
self-centered motivation. He denied His own human will.
“Easy” for Him? A zillion times, No! He wept blood as He struggled
in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). And as a “most precious” gift, He has
given us a new motivation for following Him--not just to get a reward for
ourselves in heaven, nor just to save our own little souls, but a new
capacity to sense a concern for Him. The success of His great
controversy with Satan absorbs us. It’s as a bride feels in her soul
a new concern--for the husband who has won her love (Rev. 19:7, 8). This
“growth in grace” is “present truth”(2 Peter 3:18).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I was young, grey-haired pastors would tell me that the most
important subject I could think about is my own personal salvation. But
is there a more important, greater issue to think about than this
self-centered one?
What led Christ to His cross was not such a self-centered motivation.
As we ponder Scripture clues here and there we begin to discern that He
was tempted as all of us humans are tempted--to seek self-preservation;
but a new motivation engrossed His soul. He was concerned not for
Himself, but for the preservation of the universe of God which had been
challenged by the greatest created being of all eternity--Lucifer, who
by rebellion became Satan (Rev. 12:7-10). Satan’s new invention was
the motivation of self-seeking. Our first parents yielded to it, and
therefore every human being descended from Adam has been naturally
self-centered by nature.
The great battle that Jesus fought in Gethsemane and on His cross was
“Not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). In order to say His
amen to that prayer, He had to surrender His own life, yes, His own
eternal life. Jesus repeatedly assures us that in His becoming one with
us, He took on His soul a “self” as we all have a self to contend
with (John 5:30; 6:38; Luke 9:23; Rom. 15:3, etc.). But the love (agape)
that He was as God, as the Son of God (1John 4:8), confronted this
“self” which He had taken upon Himself, and He denied self and all
self-centered motivation. He denied His own human will.
“Easy” for Him? A zillion times, No! He wept blood as He struggled
in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). And as a “most precious” gift, He has
given us a new motivation for following Him--not just to get a reward for
ourselves in heaven, nor just to save our own little souls, but a new
capacity to sense a concern for Him. The success of His great
controversy with Satan absorbs us. It’s as a bride feels in her soul
a new concern--for the husband who has won her love (Rev. 19:7, 8). This
“growth in grace” is “present truth”(2 Peter 3:18).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 08, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
All through Bible history and through the history of Christianity,
those who seek to follow Jesus have been opposed, ridiculed,
persecuted. Always, the believer who would be faithful must “take up
his cross” in order to follow the true Christ (Luke 9:23).
Elijah was opposed by the government of the Israelite nation; the
opposition of the king and the queen was so terrible that he was
denounced as Public Enemy # One.
The same persecution was seen in King Saul’s bitter hatred of David,
the youth whom the Lord had “anointed” to replace him as future
king.
Then Jeremiah had to spend his entire lifetime enduring the persecution
inflicted on him by the successive kings and leaders of Judah following
the death of good king Josiah.
At first the official leadership of the nation of Israel was favorable
to the message of John the Baptist, but later what they considered
objective evidence made them conclude they were forced to criticize,
then oppose, then reject, and finally crucify, the Man whom God had
sent as their Messiah. It was the popular thing to do--shout “crucify
Him!” (John 19:15).
Must we still today “take up [our] cross” in order to be faithful
to Him? Yes!
But does that mean that life must be a dreary enduring of sadness and
loneliness? No, the promise of Jesus has particular reference to life
today. He said: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world” (Matt. 28:20). As He walked with the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace
(Dan. 3:25), so He has pledged Himself to suffer and endure with His
faithful disciples today.
And in every confrontation with Satanic falsehood, Jesus wins the
victory.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
All through Bible history and through the history of Christianity,
those who seek to follow Jesus have been opposed, ridiculed,
persecuted. Always, the believer who would be faithful must “take up
his cross” in order to follow the true Christ (Luke 9:23).
Elijah was opposed by the government of the Israelite nation; the
opposition of the king and the queen was so terrible that he was
denounced as Public Enemy # One.
The same persecution was seen in King Saul’s bitter hatred of David,
the youth whom the Lord had “anointed” to replace him as future
king.
Then Jeremiah had to spend his entire lifetime enduring the persecution
inflicted on him by the successive kings and leaders of Judah following
the death of good king Josiah.
At first the official leadership of the nation of Israel was favorable
to the message of John the Baptist, but later what they considered
objective evidence made them conclude they were forced to criticize,
then oppose, then reject, and finally crucify, the Man whom God had
sent as their Messiah. It was the popular thing to do--shout “crucify
Him!” (John 19:15).
Must we still today “take up [our] cross” in order to be faithful
to Him? Yes!
But does that mean that life must be a dreary enduring of sadness and
loneliness? No, the promise of Jesus has particular reference to life
today. He said: “I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world” (Matt. 28:20). As He walked with the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace
(Dan. 3:25), so He has pledged Himself to suffer and endure with His
faithful disciples today.
And in every confrontation with Satanic falsehood, Jesus wins the
victory.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Sometimes the most wonderful gift can be wrapped unattractively. That
is true of certain “Bible doctrines” that outwardly appear boring
or even burdensome, but which are marvelous blessings. One is the Bible
doctrine of the Sabbath; in His mercy God asks us to “remember” it,
to keep it holy (that’s all, to keep holy what He has already made
holy!). And Satan wants to make that blessed “remembrance” to appear
burdensome.
Another “doctrine” that appears dry as dust (it used to be that way
to me!) is the Two Covenants, an idea that only high-tech theologians
wrangle about in their ivory towers. And the Bible Commentaries were no
help. It seemed that God was experimenting on Israel, trying this or
that method to save them, and since the old covenant was one of His
experiments that went bad, He had to think up another method, the new
covenant. But that created a REAL problem: if God Himself has not been
sure what to do to save us, how can I be sure of anything?
Then the light broke through the clouds, when I read a little book
entitled The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians. To me
it was intensely interesting. God always has had only one way of saving
people; He was not experimenting with different ways; the new covenant
was always His way; but the people are the ones who tried to invent a
different way to get to heaven--they came up with the old covenant
idea. The simple, sunlight truth is that God is too wise ever to try to
make bargains with sinners (don’t forget, “saints” are sinners by
nature), because He knows they can not fulfill their part of the
bargain.
His new covenant is not a “contract” wherein both parties, God and
the sinner, strike a bargain agreement. It’s always His own simple,
straight-forward promise to save the sinner by the sacrifice of
Himself; and the sinner’s proper response is not to promise to DO
this or that, but to believe, appreciate, God’s promise--just as Abraham
believed. And there is where the trouble lies: Abraham’s descendants
at Mt. Sinai did not have his faith. So they contrived a different
response to God’s new covenant promise: they promised to obey (which
promise they broke in a matter of days; Ex. 19:8; 32:1-8).
So, get under the new covenant today! Believe God’s promises to you,
and that faith will produce the obedience that has worried you, as it
did for Abraham.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes the most wonderful gift can be wrapped unattractively. That
is true of certain “Bible doctrines” that outwardly appear boring
or even burdensome, but which are marvelous blessings. One is the Bible
doctrine of the Sabbath; in His mercy God asks us to “remember” it,
to keep it holy (that’s all, to keep holy what He has already made
holy!). And Satan wants to make that blessed “remembrance” to appear
burdensome.
Another “doctrine” that appears dry as dust (it used to be that way
to me!) is the Two Covenants, an idea that only high-tech theologians
wrangle about in their ivory towers. And the Bible Commentaries were no
help. It seemed that God was experimenting on Israel, trying this or
that method to save them, and since the old covenant was one of His
experiments that went bad, He had to think up another method, the new
covenant. But that created a REAL problem: if God Himself has not been
sure what to do to save us, how can I be sure of anything?
Then the light broke through the clouds, when I read a little book
entitled The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians. To me
it was intensely interesting. God always has had only one way of saving
people; He was not experimenting with different ways; the new covenant
was always His way; but the people are the ones who tried to invent a
different way to get to heaven--they came up with the old covenant
idea. The simple, sunlight truth is that God is too wise ever to try to
make bargains with sinners (don’t forget, “saints” are sinners by
nature), because He knows they can not fulfill their part of the
bargain.
His new covenant is not a “contract” wherein both parties, God and
the sinner, strike a bargain agreement. It’s always His own simple,
straight-forward promise to save the sinner by the sacrifice of
Himself; and the sinner’s proper response is not to promise to DO
this or that, but to believe, appreciate, God’s promise--just as Abraham
believed. And there is where the trouble lies: Abraham’s descendants
at Mt. Sinai did not have his faith. So they contrived a different
response to God’s new covenant promise: they promised to obey (which
promise they broke in a matter of days; Ex. 19:8; 32:1-8).
So, get under the new covenant today! Believe God’s promises to you,
and that faith will produce the obedience that has worried you, as it
did for Abraham.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Sometimes the most wonderful gift can be wrapped unattractively. That
is true of certain “Bible doctrines” that outwardly appear boring
or even burdensome, but which are marvelous blessings. One is the Bible
doctrine of the Sabbath; in His mercy God asks us to “remember” it,
to keep it holy (that’s all, to keep holy what He has already made
holy!). And Satan wants to make that blessed “remembrance” to appear
burdensome.
Another “doctrine” that appears dry as dust (it used to be that way
to me!) is the Two Covenants, an idea that only high-tech theologians
wrangle about in their ivory towers. And the Bible Commentaries were no
help. It seemed that God was experimenting on Israel, trying this or
that method to save them, and since the old covenant was one of His
experiments that went bad, He had to think up another method, the new
covenant. But that created a REAL problem: if God Himself has not been
sure what to do to save us, how can I be sure of anything?
Then the light broke through the clouds, when I read a little book
entitled The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians. To me
it was intensely interesting. God always has had only one way of saving
people; He was not experimenting with different ways; the new covenant
was always His way; but the people are the ones who tried to invent a
different way to get to heaven--they came up with the old covenant
idea. The simple, sunlight truth is that God is too wise ever to try to
make bargains with sinners (don’t forget, “saints” are sinners by
nature), because He knows they can not fulfill their part of the
bargain.
His new covenant is not a “contract” wherein both parties, God and
the sinner, strike a bargain agreement. It’s always His own simple,
straight-forward promise to save the sinner by the sacrifice of
Himself; and the sinner’s proper response is not to promise to DO
this or that, but to believe, appreciate, God’s promise--just as Abraham
believed. And there is where the trouble lies: Abraham’s descendants
at Mt. Sinai did not have his faith. So they contrived a different
response to God’s new covenant promise: they promised to obey (which
promise they broke in a matter of days; Ex. 19:8; 32:1-8).
So, get under the new covenant today! Believe God’s promises to you,
and that faith will produce the obedience that has worried you, as it
did for Abraham.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes the most wonderful gift can be wrapped unattractively. That
is true of certain “Bible doctrines” that outwardly appear boring
or even burdensome, but which are marvelous blessings. One is the Bible
doctrine of the Sabbath; in His mercy God asks us to “remember” it,
to keep it holy (that’s all, to keep holy what He has already made
holy!). And Satan wants to make that blessed “remembrance” to appear
burdensome.
Another “doctrine” that appears dry as dust (it used to be that way
to me!) is the Two Covenants, an idea that only high-tech theologians
wrangle about in their ivory towers. And the Bible Commentaries were no
help. It seemed that God was experimenting on Israel, trying this or
that method to save them, and since the old covenant was one of His
experiments that went bad, He had to think up another method, the new
covenant. But that created a REAL problem: if God Himself has not been
sure what to do to save us, how can I be sure of anything?
Then the light broke through the clouds, when I read a little book
entitled The Glad Tidings, a verse-by-verse study of Galatians. To me
it was intensely interesting. God always has had only one way of saving
people; He was not experimenting with different ways; the new covenant
was always His way; but the people are the ones who tried to invent a
different way to get to heaven--they came up with the old covenant
idea. The simple, sunlight truth is that God is too wise ever to try to
make bargains with sinners (don’t forget, “saints” are sinners by
nature), because He knows they can not fulfill their part of the
bargain.
His new covenant is not a “contract” wherein both parties, God and
the sinner, strike a bargain agreement. It’s always His own simple,
straight-forward promise to save the sinner by the sacrifice of
Himself; and the sinner’s proper response is not to promise to DO
this or that, but to believe, appreciate, God’s promise--just as Abraham
believed. And there is where the trouble lies: Abraham’s descendants
at Mt. Sinai did not have his faith. So they contrived a different
response to God’s new covenant promise: they promised to obey (which
promise they broke in a matter of days; Ex. 19:8; 32:1-8).
So, get under the new covenant today! Believe God’s promises to you,
and that faith will produce the obedience that has worried you, as it
did for Abraham.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Sometimes we humans fret endlessly about how to understand a passage of
the Bible when attention to the actual original text would clear up our
disputes. Robert Young, author of the famous “Concordance,” also
gave us a good “Literal Translation of the Bible.” One of the Bible
passages that unfortunately splits almost any church or classroom is Romans
5:15-19. The “Literal” version is hard for us to read because it is
so stiffly accurate, but it is accurate. Let’s see if it may help us
now.
The original language often uses the article “the” where we don’t
use it in English. When Paul speaks of “the death,” or “the grace,”
or “the gift,” he means universal death, universal grace, or a universal
gift--as distinguished from personal, individual death, grace, gift,
etc. (In English we could capitalize each word to make it clear.) Thus:
“15. But not as the offence so also is the free [universal] gift;
for, if by the offence of the one [Adam, the first head of the human race],
the many did die [the universal ‘many’ is everybody], much more did
the [universal] grace of God, and the [universal] free gift in grace of the
one man Jesus Christ, abound to the many [all men];
“16. And not as through one who did sin is the [universal] free gift,
for the [universal] judgment indeed is of one to condemnation, but the
[universal] gift is of many offences to a declaration of
‘Righteous.’
“17. For if by the offence of the one [the father of the human race]
the [universal] death did reign through the one [Adam], much more those
who the abundance of the [universal] grace and of the [universal] free
gift of the [Christ’s] righteousness are RECEIVING, [they] shall
reign in life through the One [the universal Savior]--Jesus Christ.
“18. So then, as through one offence to all men it is to
condemnation, so also through one declaration of ‘Righteous’ it is to all men to
justification of life;
“19. For as through the disobedience of the one man [the universal
head of our race, Adam] the many [all men] were CONSTITUTED sinners [not
MADE sinners]; so also through the obedience of the One [Christ, the
new Head of the human race], shall the many [all men] be CONSTITUTED
[not MADE] righteous. . . . Where the [universal] sin did abound, the
[universal] grace did over-abound.”
Thank you, Robert Young.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes we humans fret endlessly about how to understand a passage of
the Bible when attention to the actual original text would clear up our
disputes. Robert Young, author of the famous “Concordance,” also
gave us a good “Literal Translation of the Bible.” One of the Bible
passages that unfortunately splits almost any church or classroom is Romans
5:15-19. The “Literal” version is hard for us to read because it is
so stiffly accurate, but it is accurate. Let’s see if it may help us
now.
The original language often uses the article “the” where we don’t
use it in English. When Paul speaks of “the death,” or “the grace,”
or “the gift,” he means universal death, universal grace, or a universal
gift--as distinguished from personal, individual death, grace, gift,
etc. (In English we could capitalize each word to make it clear.) Thus:
“15. But not as the offence so also is the free [universal] gift;
for, if by the offence of the one [Adam, the first head of the human race],
the many did die [the universal ‘many’ is everybody], much more did
the [universal] grace of God, and the [universal] free gift in grace of the
one man Jesus Christ, abound to the many [all men];
“16. And not as through one who did sin is the [universal] free gift,
for the [universal] judgment indeed is of one to condemnation, but the
[universal] gift is of many offences to a declaration of
‘Righteous.’
“17. For if by the offence of the one [the father of the human race]
the [universal] death did reign through the one [Adam], much more those
who the abundance of the [universal] grace and of the [universal] free
gift of the [Christ’s] righteousness are RECEIVING, [they] shall
reign in life through the One [the universal Savior]--Jesus Christ.
“18. So then, as through one offence to all men it is to
condemnation, so also through one declaration of ‘Righteous’ it is to all men to
justification of life;
“19. For as through the disobedience of the one man [the universal
head of our race, Adam] the many [all men] were CONSTITUTED sinners [not
MADE sinners]; so also through the obedience of the One [Christ, the
new Head of the human race], shall the many [all men] be CONSTITUTED
[not MADE] righteous. . . . Where the [universal] sin did abound, the
[universal] grace did over-abound.”
Thank you, Robert Young.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
What is THE top news story for today? Every morning when you log on
with your computer, you get a glimpse of what your e-mail server
considers the most important or most spectacular news item of the day
(or it’s the biggest headline in your morning paper). But back of it
all, what does that heavenly Father of us all, the God who says He is
“love” (agape), tell us is the great News behind the news? Answer:
the central message of the Book of Revelation: “the everlasting gospel”
being “proclaimed to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people”
(14:6, 7). And what is the purpose of this most highly acclaimed activity? To
prepare people for the most climactic event of all history--the second
coming of Jesus (vss. 15, 16).
Is this message getting through to the people of the world, or is it
being buried under an overwhelming mass of confusion published by the
media, or even by a similar mass of confusion known as “organized
religion”?
The answer does not depend on mere human observation, for even the New
York Times doesn’t know what is “all the news that’s fit to
print.” Jesus said, “The kingdom of God cometh not by observation” (Luke 17:20). In His day, what served as “the media” tried to ignore the greatest News of all time, but the Holy Spirit was working quietly,
surely, in what Jesus was doing. So today, the “everlasting gospel”
proclaimed by those three angels of Revelation 14 is getting through in
different ways.
The best way to know for sure is to consider the character of God
Himself--He is “love” (agape); that is, He will not permit the
final, cataclysmic events of earth’s history (“the seven last plagues,”
Rev. 16) to come, until people have had a reasonable chance to prepare. And
that means, they must hear the message of Good News, of His “much
more abounding grace.” You can’t believe that “God is love” (agape)
if you think He has gone to sleep. You must recognize that every angel in
heaven is intensely active, moving upon the hearts of human beings everywhere. God’s “office” in heaven is the central command post of the vast worldwide war between Christ and Satan, as real as the war between
them when Jesus was here on earth 2000 years ago. It will not be
recognized “by observation,” but it’s the most real newsworthy
happening today. Read about it in Revelation 14-19; let the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Book speak to your heart in its pages.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 04, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
There need be no confusion or perplexity about the meaning of
justification by faith. It's a simple matter to go to the original
language the apostle used when writing his soul-stirring words in
Romans: "justification" is the same word he used for "righteousness."
That opens up a world of understanding. When Paul speaks of
justification by faith he means righteousness by faith--in other words,
right living by faith. Justification by faith is worlds beyond a
verbal, legal pronouncement of acquittal from guilt which makes no
change in a person's heart and character.
The legal pronouncement was made when Christ cried out at His
crucifixion, "It is finished!" He had completed the work the Father had
given Him to do (John 17:4). He had earned His title, "The Saviour of
the world" (John 4:42), "The Lord [had] laid on Him the iniquity of us
all" (Isa. 53:6). He had now proven His role to be the new Head of the
human race, the second Adam. He had died the second death of "every
man" (Heb. 2:9), paid the final penalty for every sin of humanity.
That is why Christ in a purely legal sense pronounces the "judicial . .. verdict of acquittal" on "all men" (Rom. 5:15-18; compare NEB). But
justification by faith is conversion, a change of heart, an experience
of reconciliation to God. And since no one can be reconciled to God
unless he is also reconciled to God's holy law, justification by faith
means a new life of obedience to God’s law, not motivated by fear but
by love (agape). Love is the most severe taskmaster in the universe,
but in the light of the cross of Christ, the most reasonable because it
leads to self being crucified with Christ.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There need be no confusion or perplexity about the meaning of
justification by faith. It's a simple matter to go to the original
language the apostle used when writing his soul-stirring words in
Romans: "justification" is the same word he used for "righteousness."
That opens up a world of understanding. When Paul speaks of
justification by faith he means righteousness by faith--in other words,
right living by faith. Justification by faith is worlds beyond a
verbal, legal pronouncement of acquittal from guilt which makes no
change in a person's heart and character.
The legal pronouncement was made when Christ cried out at His
crucifixion, "It is finished!" He had completed the work the Father had
given Him to do (John 17:4). He had earned His title, "The Saviour of
the world" (John 4:42), "The Lord [had] laid on Him the iniquity of us
all" (Isa. 53:6). He had now proven His role to be the new Head of the
human race, the second Adam. He had died the second death of "every
man" (Heb. 2:9), paid the final penalty for every sin of humanity.
That is why Christ in a purely legal sense pronounces the "judicial . .. verdict of acquittal" on "all men" (Rom. 5:15-18; compare NEB). But
justification by faith is conversion, a change of heart, an experience
of reconciliation to God. And since no one can be reconciled to God
unless he is also reconciled to God's holy law, justification by faith
means a new life of obedience to God’s law, not motivated by fear but
by love (agape). Love is the most severe taskmaster in the universe,
but in the light of the cross of Christ, the most reasonable because it
leads to self being crucified with Christ.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 01, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
The Lord has good things to say to those who are brokenhearted:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath ... sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted ...” (Isa. 61:1).
When Jesus came, He fulfilled that promise for He taught us, “Blessed [happy, is the meaning] are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:1-4).
A person who has been brokenhearted thinks differently, he speaks differently, and if he sings, thank God (!), sings differently.
The only ones who will share in that glorious experience that only the Lord can give of being “comforted” with His heavenly comfort, are those who “mourn,” who have been brokenhearted.
There are dear people who have been bitterly disappointed in love; the comfort comes in the realization that Jesus has had that experience.
Isaiah says that “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (53:3). That language fits the experience of being “despised and rejected” by someone whom you dearly love—which story the annals of divorce abound in.
There is no bitterness of disappointment in love that Jesus, our Savior, has not known. He has been “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
There is a conclusion: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (vs. 16).
If you feel like a steamroller has rolled over you, come; if you fear that love will forever be a bitter experience, come; if you feel desperately alone in the world (or in the church!), come to Him, pour out your soul before Him.
And let Him bear the burden “henceforth” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
TIME magazine has often promoted the Roman Catholic view of Mary the
mother of Jesus as a co-redemptrix, an assistant “Savior of the
world,” one to whom people should pray, an intermediary between people and
Jesus. This is not a biblical view.
But TIME’s feature article for Easter this year explores a rather new
Protestant study of the biblical Mary as one qualified to be understood
as a teacher, an apostle of the faith of Jesus. She has been neglected
as an over-reaction against the idolatrous Roman view.
She appears first in the Bible as one who “believed” in the
ultimate sense--no resisting the word of the angel Gabriel, although she must
have known well that her public role as an unwed mother would invite
scorn. She would submit to the will of God. Long before Jesus took up
His cross for us, she took up her cross in believing the word and the
call of God. (Luke 1:38, 45).
Next she appears as one who had loved the Bible, for her extemporaneous
poem of thanksgiving (46-55) is drenched with biblical allusions. Her
Son was to inherit our human nature, the DNA line to the fallen Adam to
be unbroken, but His mother was to be one who could teach Him in His
infancy to read and believe the Bible. He applied Himself so zealously
that He grew as “the word made flesh” (John 1:14). He was her
Savior as well as ours.
Mary never preached a sermon that we know was recorded, but she left a
brilliant one in its terseness: “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do
it” (John 2:5). That’s enough for a good Sabbath message. She had to be a
very positive feminine personality.
All biblical evidence points to her as an older woman, a step-mother to
at least six children of Joseph from a previous marriage (Matt. 13:55,
56; 12:47). That role certainly required a saint!
Mary’s corporate fellowship with her Son dying on His cross as she
watched Him in motherly fidelity is evidence that we can identify with
Him on His cross--something that the Bible says is “faith.” We are
“baptized INTO His death” (Rom. 6:3). It’s time that we understand it
maturely!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
We have long pondered the wonderful time when the earth will be
lightened with the glory of the final “most precious message” of
the gospel (Rev. 18). We have known that the Bible says it will be a
“short work” (Rom. 9:28).
Now we have a little illustration of how “short” may be the way the
Lord may choose to work. Alone, 26 year old Ashley Smith near Atlanta
found herself suddenly confronted with a wild murderer who made her his
captive. Frightened of course, her knowledge of the gospel enabled her
to recover her faith in Christ and banish her natural fear. She
realized that this crazed man with his gun, Brian Nichols, was still a
human being for whom the Lord Jesus had given Himself, as well as He
had given Himself for her. She was enabled to sense a concern for him!
She talked to him calmly about his soul. Yes, he had brought upon
himself now the guilt of multiple murders, but Jesus Christ was still
his Savior awaiting Brian’s repentance. She conveyed that truth to
the desperate man.
The murderer was hungry, so she fried some eggs for a breakfast for
him. Looking him in the eye as one soul saved by the grace of Christ
speaking to another who had been saved by the same sacrifice, she
persuaded him to do the right thing, and give himself up. The grace of
God enabled her to trust the criminal’s sincerity, which meant her
life was saved and so was his. Let us pray that as he spends his life in
prison, his soul will be saved.
The front page news story has thrilled the nation. The version of the
gospel message that is being touted worldwide in these few days since
the story happened is that of Pastor Rick Warren’s book, THE
PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE. It had gripped Ashley Smith’s heart. By yielding
to a conviction of truth that she was able to understand, she became a
spokesperson for the gospel as she understood it, gaining suddenly an
audience greater than probably all the public evangelists in the world
combined.
The lesson for us: let’s study what is “the truth of the gospel”
as it is “in Christ,” receiving that agape that “casts out fear,” and
thus be ready always to witness for Him (Gal. 2:5; Eph. 4:15; 1 John 4:18).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have long pondered the wonderful time when the earth will be
lightened with the glory of the final “most precious message” of
the gospel (Rev. 18). We have known that the Bible says it will be a
“short work” (Rom. 9:28).
Now we have a little illustration of how “short” may be the way the
Lord may choose to work. Alone, 26 year old Ashley Smith near Atlanta
found herself suddenly confronted with a wild murderer who made her his
captive. Frightened of course, her knowledge of the gospel enabled her
to recover her faith in Christ and banish her natural fear. She
realized that this crazed man with his gun, Brian Nichols, was still a
human being for whom the Lord Jesus had given Himself, as well as He
had given Himself for her. She was enabled to sense a concern for him!
She talked to him calmly about his soul. Yes, he had brought upon
himself now the guilt of multiple murders, but Jesus Christ was still
his Savior awaiting Brian’s repentance. She conveyed that truth to
the desperate man.
The murderer was hungry, so she fried some eggs for a breakfast for
him. Looking him in the eye as one soul saved by the grace of Christ
speaking to another who had been saved by the same sacrifice, she
persuaded him to do the right thing, and give himself up. The grace of
God enabled her to trust the criminal’s sincerity, which meant her
life was saved and so was his. Let us pray that as he spends his life in
prison, his soul will be saved.
The front page news story has thrilled the nation. The version of the
gospel message that is being touted worldwide in these few days since
the story happened is that of Pastor Rick Warren’s book, THE
PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE. It had gripped Ashley Smith’s heart. By yielding
to a conviction of truth that she was able to understand, she became a
spokesperson for the gospel as she understood it, gaining suddenly an
audience greater than probably all the public evangelists in the world
combined.
The lesson for us: let’s study what is “the truth of the gospel”
as it is “in Christ,” receiving that agape that “casts out fear,” and
thus be ready always to witness for Him (Gal. 2:5; Eph. 4:15; 1 John 4:18).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
We have all heard the horrifying stories of people with Alzheimer’s
saying and doing things that we could not imagine them saying or doing
when they were normal and well. A friend of ours when he developed
Alzheimer’s threatened to kill his wife and had to be locked up, and
yet we knew him always as a genuine Christian. And we all have known of
people who when they have a stroke, act in a bizarre, ornery way, when
we have known them previously as being gentle Christians. Sometimes
when under an anesthetic or drug, decent people have been known to use
language that is indecent.
These remarks on “Dial Daily Bread” are not intended to question
the sincerity of these people’s conversion to Christianity. But this
phenomenon of evil words or acts coming out involuntarily raises the
issue of Bible sanctification. Paul prays for us a total sanctification
in 1 Thess. 5:23: “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What does Paul mean? Obviously, the initial experience of conversion or
of justification by faith, is good in itself; but it must deepen and
extend throughout the mind and heart until there is no hidden portion
that is left unaffected, uncleansed. This is why sanctification is a
daily work of the Holy Spirit, requiring a daily surrender to Him,
until every nook or cranny of the heart is exposed to the merciless
light that shines from the cross of Christ, and every egocentric
motivation is made painfully distinct, so it can be repented of. A
person may die with that process of being sanctified “wholly” still
uncompleted; and we trust that person’s soul with the Lord’s mercy
in the final judgment. But how could any of us “stand” in the final
“great day of the Lord” when Jesus returns if there are sinful dark secrets
of evil still left in the heart not yet “sanctified wholly”?
Wouldn’t that bring shame on our Savior, like a good Christian
threatening to kill his wife, or saying indecent words? Thank God we
have a new day, TODAY--a new opportunity to be sanctified!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have all heard the horrifying stories of people with Alzheimer’s
saying and doing things that we could not imagine them saying or doing
when they were normal and well. A friend of ours when he developed
Alzheimer’s threatened to kill his wife and had to be locked up, and
yet we knew him always as a genuine Christian. And we all have known of
people who when they have a stroke, act in a bizarre, ornery way, when
we have known them previously as being gentle Christians. Sometimes
when under an anesthetic or drug, decent people have been known to use
language that is indecent.
These remarks on “Dial Daily Bread” are not intended to question
the sincerity of these people’s conversion to Christianity. But this
phenomenon of evil words or acts coming out involuntarily raises the
issue of Bible sanctification. Paul prays for us a total sanctification
in 1 Thess. 5:23: “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What does Paul mean? Obviously, the initial experience of conversion or
of justification by faith, is good in itself; but it must deepen and
extend throughout the mind and heart until there is no hidden portion
that is left unaffected, uncleansed. This is why sanctification is a
daily work of the Holy Spirit, requiring a daily surrender to Him,
until every nook or cranny of the heart is exposed to the merciless
light that shines from the cross of Christ, and every egocentric
motivation is made painfully distinct, so it can be repented of. A
person may die with that process of being sanctified “wholly” still
uncompleted; and we trust that person’s soul with the Lord’s mercy
in the final judgment. But how could any of us “stand” in the final
“great day of the Lord” when Jesus returns if there are sinful dark secrets
of evil still left in the heart not yet “sanctified wholly”?
Wouldn’t that bring shame on our Savior, like a good Christian
threatening to kill his wife, or saying indecent words? Thank God we
have a new day, TODAY--a new opportunity to be sanctified!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, July 28, 2008
Dial Daily Bread
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Something momentous about the truth of justification by faith developed in the latter years of the 19th century. Fresh insights into this glorious truth came through two young ordained ministers who thought
through something that apparently no one else had clearly grasped. They
simply combined Paul’s idea of justification by faith with the truth
that we are now living in the great final cosmic Day of Atonement. The
world’s High Priest, Jesus Christ, had begun His last work of fully
reconciling alienated human hearts to God.
It was an antitypical work in the Most Holy Apartment of the heavenly
sanctuary that fulfilled the type in the ancient high priest’s work
when he entered the second apartment of the earthly tabernacle (see
Hebrews 9). Now Christ’s objective was not merely preparing people to
die and come up in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6); now His work
prepares a people to meet their Lord in person at His second coming
(see 1 Thess. 4:16, 17), and be translated. Now every buried root of
enmity against God (Rom. 8:7) is to be cleansed. Only when the heart is
cleansed can we be in total oneness with the Lord. Only then can it be
said in all truth that “here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). Christ’s righteousness
is not merely legally imputed; now it is fully imparted.
This most precious message had within it the promise of fulfilling the
prophecy of the message that must “lighten the earth with glory.”
The reason was that it brought to parched human hearts what was in fact
long-awaited “showers from heaven of the latter rain.” There was
power in that message of justification by faith that delivered from the love
of self. Those who believed treated their richest gain as loss and
poured contempt on all their pride. This was refreshing to see in
ministers. It was the greatest sign of the nearness of the end.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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