'grace' Tagged Posts (Page 15)
Daily Devotions
For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants…” vs. 16a Romans 4:13-16 Paul is taking great pains to show the Romans the distinction between the legalisms of Judaism and the freedom he had discovered in Christ. He doesn’t believe that what he is teaching is new. Rather, he tells them that the seeds of this understanding were sown in God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah…
Daily Devotions
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.” vs. 18 Deuteronomy 18:15-20 When the Galileans encountered Jesus and heard his authoritative words some of them believed that he was the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy, a man like Moses who would speak to them all that God commanded. They were wrong! Jesus did…
Daily Devotions
Mark 1:9-11 “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” vs. 11 We only get a couple of glimpses at what might be called the “interior life” of Jesus in the gospels. The first is here during Mark’s account of his baptism by John. For one reason or another (Mark does not say) Jesus had come from Nazareth and joined the crowds at the Jordan who were listening to John…
Daily Devotions
John 1:15-18 “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” vs. 18 Through the centuries humans have been told that the study of religions will lead them to an understanding of God. And so we have done our work. We’ve dug into holy scriptures, listened to learned teachers, and probed deep into the intricacies of the world’s religions–and for the most part the search…
Daily Devotions
Isaiah 61:1-4 “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;” vs. 1 At times there seems to be confusion about the mission of the Church and what it is that followers of Jesus are called to be about in our world. We tend to overthink our doctrinal…
Daily Devotions
1 Corinthians 1:3-9 “for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind…so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” vss. 5, 7 Paul begins his letter to the church at Corinth with glowing words of affirmation. From his perspective, since they live under grace, they lack nothing–there is no need for them to worry about their salvation. We should…
Daily Devotions
Romans 3:24-28 … “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” vs. 28 Martin Luther spent decades trying to gain assurance of salvation by bringing his stubborn, subversive flesh into line with the works of the law. Since he couldn’t do it he was forever wracked with guilt, and greatly damaged his health in the process. But when in the course of studying the book of Romans he realized that justification…
Daily Devotions
Philippians 3:10-14 … “Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” vss. 13-14 There are some who believe that life in this world is a kind of qualifying test for the new life that has been promised to us in Christ…
Daily Devotions
Romans 11:29-32 … “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” vs. 29 Paul was explaining to his Roman readers that the disobedience of the Jews had not separated them from the love of God. Just as Gentiles, in spite of their disobedience, had been shown the mercies of God, so it was with the Jews. His careful arguments to that effect are likely not of much interest to us, but his conclusions bring a mind-boggling word of…
Daily Devotions
Romans 11:1-2a … “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.” vs. 2a In those all-too-frequent times when Christians have embraced an anti-Semitic stance and done all kinds of horrendous things to Jews, they have excused their own behavior by saying, “Well, they rejected Jesus,” implying that Jews deserve to be persecuted. Of course, that’s despicable logic and it does nothing to excuse the centuries of torment and abuse. What such positions do reveal is the abysmal ignorance of…
Daily Devotions: August 6, 2020
August 6, 2020 Romans 10:5-11 … “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” vs. 10 Paul contrasts the righteousness that comes from the law with the righteousness that comes from faith in his treatise to the Romans. For him it was an important distinction. He wanted the people to know that justification, being made right with God, was a gift, and not something that was earned through…
Daily Devotions: July 26, 2020
July 26, 2020 Matthew 13:44-52 … “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” vs.44 All the riches that God has for us–the peace and joy, the forgiveness and hope–all those blessings are present for us all the time! But too many of us don’t even sense their nearness. We pass through life, oblivious to the…