Living A Life In Christ In A Cynical Society

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

14 Let all that you do be done in love.

15 Now I urge you, brothers-you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints-

16 be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.

17 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence,

18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people. - 1 Corinthians 16:13-18

1 Corinthians 

Living a selfish life

Chapter 1&2

Living a worldly life

Chapter 3&4

Believers who are hurting

Chapter 5 

Sexual immorality 

Chapter 6 

Suing

Chapter 7

Divorcing

Chapter 8&9

They have become desensitized 

Chapter 10

Worshiping false gods

Chapter 11

Take Lord's supper in vain

Chapters 12-14

Paganism of spiritual gifts

Chapter 15

Resurrection brings not only new life but forgiveness.

God should have given up on believers.

Live a life victorious to Christ.

We have refreshment or rest in Christ.

We are sanctified in Christ.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.- Matthew 11:28

Vigilance 

Never give up.

Watch.

Stand fast.

Stand firm.

Guard the doctrine of God.

Never compromise the word of God.

Pray to God.

Relationships must have passion.

Your heart has to be changed.

Christ will change your heart.

Unconditional love through Christ.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

We need the body of Christ.

We need revival.

We stand together.

Refresh us again, Lord.

Thanks Dr. Caner!

When God Becomes 100% for Us

. . . among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:3)

All of God’s wrath, all of the condemnation we deserve, was poured out on Jesus. All of God’s demands for perfect righteousness were fulfilled by Christ. The moment we see (by grace!) this Treasure, and receive him in this way, his death counts as our death and his condemnation as our condemnation and his righteousness as our righteousness, and God becomes 100% irrevocably for us forever in that instant.

The question this leaves unanswered is, “Doesn’t the Bible teach that in eternity God set his favor on us in election?”

In other words, thoughtful people ask, “Did God only become 100% for us in the moment of faith and union with Christ and justification? Did he not become 100% for us in the act of election before the foundation of the world?” Paul says in Ephesians 1:4–5, “[God] chose us in [Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.”

Is God then not 100% for the elect from eternity? The answer hangs on the meaning of “100%.”

With the term “100%” I am trying to preserve a biblical truth found in several passages of Scripture. For example, in Ephesians 2:3, Paul says that Christians were “children of wrath” before they were made alive in Christ Jesus: “We all once lived [among the sons of disobedience] in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Paul is saying that, before our new birth — before we were made alive together with Christ — God’s wrath was on us. The elect were under wrath. This changed when God made us alive in Christ Jesus and awakened us to see the truth and beauty of Christ so that we received him as the one who died for us and as the one whose righteousness is counted as ours because of our union with Jesus. Before this happened to us, we were under God’s wrath. Then, because of faith in Christ and union with him, all God’s wrath was removed and he then became, in that sense, 100% for us.

Therefore, exult in the truth that God will keep you. He will get you to the end because in Christ he is 100% for you. And therefore, getting to the end does not make God to be 100% for you. It is the effect of the fact that he is already 100% for you.

John Piper

Living By Promises Not Explanations

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” Matthew 6:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: 

According to an article, Henry Ford asked some engineers to box the transmissions for his Model-T Fords in certain sized boxes. He gave meticulous dimensions and material instructions for these boxes. The builders were confused, but they did as they were told.

When the transmissions were delivered, the factory workers took apart the boxes and used them for the floorboards! Mr. Ford was thinking ahead!

That’s what God does. He knows what we need even before we ask Him. We may not understand all of His ways, just like those workers who were boxing up the transmissions did not understand.

We do not live by our understanding; we live by His promises.

ACTION POINT:

Is there something happening in your life right now that you don’t understand? Read Proverbs 3:5-6 and trust in the promise that He will direct your path.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

You Are Greatly Loved

We all once lived among [the sons of disobedience] in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:3–5)

Would you not love to hear the angel Gabriel say to you, “You are greatly loved”?

Three times this happened to Daniel.

“At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.” (Daniel 9:23)

“O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” (Daniel 10:11)

And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” (Daniel 10:19)

I admit that each year when I read through the Bible and come to these verses, I want to take them and apply them to myself. I want to hear God saying to me, “You are greatly loved.”

In fact, I do hear this. And you can hear it too. If you have faith in Jesus, God himself says to you in his word — which is more sure than an angel of God speaking — “You are greatly loved.”

There it stands in Ephesians 2:3–5, 8: We “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith.”

This is the only place where Paul uses this wonderful phrase “great love.” And it is better than an angel’s voice. If you have seen Jesus as true and received him as your supreme treasure, that is, if you are “alive,” you are greatly loved. Greatly loved by the Creator of the universe. Just think of it! Greatly loved!

John Piper

What Is Justification?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“…and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Romans 8:30

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: 

What does it mean to be justified? It means to be declared righteous.

Justification is not being good, though being good gives God glory. When you put your faith where God put your sins—on the Lord Jesus Christ—then God stamps “righteous” over your name in His “Book of Life.”

It’s not because of what you have done or ever can do, but because of His justification.

No court on earth can justify anybody. But what God does is take a guilty person and not only give that guilty person a pardon, but He makes that guilty person just as if he had never sinned. That’s justification.

ACTION POINT:

If you lived every moment believing in the justification that God has given you, how would your faith be strengthened? Would you be more vocal about the gift of God’s love?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

God Opens the Heart

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. (Acts 16:14)

Everywhere Paul preached some believed and some did not. How are we to understand why some of those who are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1, 5) believed and some did not?

The answer why some did not believe is that they “thrust it aside” (Acts 13:46) because the message of the gospel was “folly to [them], and [they were] not able to understand” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The mind of the flesh “is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7).

Everyone who hears and rejects the gospel “hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:20). They remain “darkened in their understanding . . . because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:18). It is a guilty ignorance. The truth is available. But “by their unrighteousness [they] suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).

But why then do some believe, since all are in this condition of rebellious hardness of heart, dead in their trespasses? The book of Acts gives the answer in at least three different ways. One is that they are appointed to believe. When Paul preached in Antioch of Pisidia, the Gentiles rejoiced and “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

Another way of answering why some believe is that God granted repentance. When the saints in Jerusalem heard that Gentiles, and not just Jews, were responding to the gospel, they said, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).

But the clearest answer in Acts to the question why a person believes the gospel is that God opens the heart. Lydia is the best example. Why did she believe? Acts 16:14 says, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

If you are a believer in Jesus, all of these happened to you: You were appointed to believe; you were granted to repent; and the Lord opened your heart. The rest of your life you should be overflowing with amazed thankfulness at the miracle that you are a believer.

John Piper

To Be In Christ Jesus

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: 

What does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus?” First, think about what it was for Noah to be in the ark. The ark was waterproof. How do we know it was? Well, God told Noah, “put pitch on the inside and on the outside” (Genesis 6:14). The word “pitch” in the Hebrew is kapar, and it is exactly the same word translated as "atonement." You see, we are in Jesus as Noah was in that ark. Just as the storms of God’s wrath beat upon that ark, the storms of God’s wrath beat upon the Lord Jesus. But we are on the inside, and not one drop of judgment can come through.

ACTION POINT:

Read Romans 8:35-39. Reflect on the things that Paul says will never separate you from God’s love. Give glory to God that your sins have been atoned for by the righteous blood of the Savior.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers