Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

In our last blog, we discussed that Jesus fully understood the cost of our salvation. Fully God yet fully man, he chose to endure a gruesome beating and tortuous death to pay the price for our sin, but He was tempted to turn away. What man wouldn’t be fearful? How could the thought of running away not occur to Him?

No, it is not sacreligious to speak of the temptation of Jesus during His Passion. Too often we emphasize only His godly perfection and relegate the temptation to His wilderness experience. The point of His birth as a man was to overcome the sinful nature  inherent in man. He came to redeem mankind, to conquer sin and death, to restore us to the image of God, and to make us worthy to rule with Him in Glory (Daniel 7:27). Only One who bore both the nature and frailties of man and the nature and power of God could be found worthy serve as sacrifice of the cumulative sins of mankind.

As Christians we are told to deny ourselves and take up our own cross and follow Him. The clause “to take up your cross” explicitly implies that we should suffer the death of our carnal, sinful, nature. It implies also that we should consider Christ of such great value (and ourselves of such little value) that we are ready to die physically for Him if asked.

The Apostle Paul understood just that. While we learn theology through Paul’s letters, we learn his bio in the work of Luke that we know as the Acts of the Apostles. The wonderful thing about Luke is that he wrote two works, one of which is a sequel to the other. We learn about the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. We learn about the birth, growth, persecution, and scattering of the Church in Acts.

There are many other parallels in the literary styles of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, but only one that we will note here. In Luke, we view six trials of Jesus before His crucifixion. The writer makes clear in his narrative that Jesus is innocent in all six trials*. The powers that be – the governors of Judea and Galilee – find that Jesus had broken no laws. Nonetheless, Christ is punished unto death.

In Acts, we see that Paul also endured six trials. In each, he too was found to have broken no laws. He was brought before Porcius Festus and Marcus Antonius Felix, governors of Judea. Like Pontius Pilate before them, both men allowed the sentiment of the ruling class Jews and the public to sway them. Festus sends Paul to Rome where the apostle would – tradition tells – face the Emporer Nero who eventually condemns the apostle to death**.

Is Luke making out Paul to be a replacement for Christ, a new messiah? Not at all. He is emphasizing that, like Paul, we must bear our cross and be willing to follow Christ to our deaths. Paul says in Acts 20:20-24 (NIV), Paul declares,

“You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

A few paragraphs later, he reiterates the same sentiment:

Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” – Acts 21:13 NIV

Paul’s eyes were open wide and he knew exactly what awaited him in Jerusalem,

And, he went anyway.

Would you? Would I? I would like to think so. It is that kind of faith – the kind that says, “Lead me to the cross” – that Christ expects of us.

* Six may significant in that it represents man in the Bible.

** Many scholars believe that Paul won his appeal to Nero and, afterward, ministered in Spain, a journey that was not recorded in Acts. Later, he was again arrested and condemned to death in Rome.

Source

You have most likely heard the Native American legend about every person having two wolves living within them, one good and one bad. The Apostle Paul expressed something similar in Romans 7. He speaks of a constant struggle between his carnal self and his spiritual self, and it is one that has upset him beyond description. In fact, he finds himself tongue-tied trying to describe it. Paul is known for eloquence in writing. He was a master of the Greek language, and likely spoke Aramaic as well. In Romans 7, however, he talks in circles. Considering the problem on which he elucidates, talking in circles may be the only way to describe it. It is the problem of two natures battling within one mind. We are talking about What We Believe. Today, We believe in Sanctification, on Christian Holiness Daily.

Here are part of his words from Romans 7, as translated in the ESV Bible:

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”⁸ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.²⁴ Wretched man that I am!

Many people skip right over this section because they cannot understand it. Here it is in a nutshell: Because of my sinful nature – “my flesh” – I always do what is wrong. Why? Because there is nothing good within me. My spiritual nature wants to do right, but is too weak.

He then calls himself wretched.

In the next verse, he asks himself, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Who can help Paul? Only Jesus.

Ask any addict – whether addicted to pornography, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, or video games, and they will tell you that they cannot overcome it without help. According to the popular school of thought, alcoholics are never free of the addiction, and even a single drink can hook them again. We are weak, and must rely on a higher power. Even Christians cannot easily overcome their addictions.

What we speak of, though, is not just addictions. We speak of the bondage of sin. Satan puts us in chains and never lets us go. The vast majority of Christians go through life, still struggling against the chains by which Satan had bound them. The sad part is, it is not necessary. Christ stands with his hand outstretched, and in his nail-scarred hands, He holds the key to your chains. He is ready to free you. All you must do is allow Him.

To be clear, I speak of Christians who are still bound by sin. The reason so many Christians still live a carnal existence is that they have believed on Jesus enough to accept Jesus as Savior but refuse to believe enough to accept Him as Lord. Do you hear how silly that is? We believe that He can bring us back to life after we die, but He cannot free us from sin while we live. That is a sad statement.

He can, though. He can free us of sin. After salvation there comes a point where we must submit our will to Him, and follow Him with all our heart and mind and strength. Once we submit, He will infill us with His Spirit and free us from our sin nature. We then will have within us the nature of Christ, not the nature of sin. We call this sanctification. We are not, then, perfect, as some think. But we do become filled with His perfect love. This is called sanctification, and what I prefer to call perfect love.  More on this on tomorrow’s Christian Holiness Daily.

__________

__________

Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

Source

The Apostle Paul told the Timothy that elders of the Church should be paid, especially those who preach and teach. Indeed, close reading of that passage shows that Paul felt pastors should be paid double the normal salary. “Workmen,” he said, “are worthy to be hired.”

On the other hand, Paul valued his churches so much that it seems he never took payment. Instead, he earned his keep across the Mediterranean and Europe by working as a tent maker, a skill he had learned as a boy in Tarsus.

As we continue to look at 1 Thessalonians 4, we see that Paul links work – specifically working with one’s hands – to living a sanctified life. Work, in this passage, is also closely connected to living a quiet life.

The question is: why? Why does Paul link sanctification, which is an act of the Holy Spirit, to work, which is commonly considered an act of our own strength?

Here’s the thing, sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit that rids the believe of the carnal (sinful) nature and replaces it with the nature of Christ). In return, we are so full of the love of God that we want God to be in control of every aspect of our lives. We want Him to clean the muck out of even the darkest corners and replace it with the light of His love. As a result, we even give Him our work, our labor, our jobs.

Those of us who accept Jesus as our Savior but never make Him Lord of our lives… those of us who ask Him to save us but never let him have dominion over our hearts and minds… those of us who are saved, but never allow His Holy Spirit to fill us with His love, will find that we soon burn out, soon wear out, and soon return to our old habits and old ways.

By the way, I have not forgotten about the part of the verse that reads, “Mind your own business.” Well look at that, and the connection between work and peace later.

According to Apostle Paul in Thessalonians chapter 4, if we have been sanctified, then we will turn away from sexual immorality, love one another more and more, find peace and quiet in our lives, mind our own business, and earn our keep.

Source

In an earlier devotion on Christian Holiness Daily, we learned that it is God’s will that we be sanctified, or filled with the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:3). After Paul proclaims this to his readers, he expounds on what is expected out of those whom Christ sanctifies.

• Abstain from sexual immorality
• Love one another
• In verse 11 of that same chapter, he says that we are to live a quiet life. What does Paul mean, though, when he uses the word quiet?
• Paul’s life seemed to be anything but quiet. He traveled from town-to-town preaching first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, bringing a new message – and one that few wanted to accept – and stirred up so much trouble that he found himself often in jail, stoned and left for dead, beaten, and eventually martyred. Ask and the definition of quiet life, I doubt any of the items on that list are mentioned.
• When I think of a quiet life, I think of a cabin in the woods, off grid, and a room full of books.
• Others may think of a sailboat on a calm sea, or a fishing boat on a still lake. Some might picture a horseback ride or a cross-country trip on a Harley. Though peaceful, I doubt any of those images are what Paul had in mind when he wrote of the quiet life. Paul’s idea of quiet can be determined from his other epistles.

• The first clue that we find about Paul’s definition of quiet is Romans 12:18, where he gives similar advise:

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. – ESV

Peace and quiet are synonymous. In this passage Paul ads a qualifying clause, If possible…

In Paul’s life, peace and quiet wasn’t always possible, for it wasn’t always up to him whether he lived at peace.

• Galatians 5:22 tells us the same thing that Paul tells us here in 1 Thessalonians 4, but it is more succinct: the fruit of the Spirit is peace.
• In Philippians 4:7, he urges us to allow our hearts to be guided by the peace that comes through the Holy Spirit.
• In Romans 14:19, he urges us to make every effort to bring peace into our lives.
• As with every aspect of sanctification, living in peace or living a quiet life is only possible if we allow the Holy Spirit to rule (take charge) in our lives daily.
• If He is not the King of our hearts, then the best that we can hope for is brief calm often followed by a ferocious storm.
• If we allow the Holy Spirit to reign, then we too can say (like Paul),

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Source

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul speaks to Christians – those who have believed on and followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He tells them they need to be sanctified. They need to live a holy life. He emphasizes that they should turn away from sexual immorality. Today, we see that he encourages them to love one another (and others) more and more.

You see, love is what sets Christians apart from the rest of the world. For mortal man, it may be difficult to love someone outside our immediate family (sometimes, it is not easy to love those within our immediate family). For Christians, love – even love for others and love for our enemies – should come as natural as love for our own children.

If loving others does not come natural, then you should prayerfully and persistently seek sanctification. Ask God to rid you of worldly love, lust, selfishness, pride, and hatred, and fill you with His Holy Spirit. He will. He will perfect His love within your life. When one is filled with the Holy Spirit, one is surprised by love… a deeper love than you thought possible.

We seem to be living near the end of days and Satan has begun one final offensive in the battle against the saints of God. As a result, many Christians have ducked for cover, and are not reaching out to others in love as they should; instead many are looking out only for themselves and their closest loved ones.

We must resist fear. We must stand up to evil and call it by name. We must look evil in the eye and expel it in the name of Jesus. And we must do it all in love.

Remember, Christ sacrificed His life for the sins of the world, not just for you and me (and not just those who agree with our viewpoint). That person that we think is so evil… that one who is causing so many problems in the world…he or she may be the next Saul who finds Christ on the road to Damascus and becomes the next Apostle Paul.

We must love our enemies. Pray for those who threaten us, abuse us, and persecute us. Remember, they, too, need to know God and His love.

Source

In the Bible water is often synonymous with chaos, sin, or evil. In the beginning, the earth was formless, void, and full of darkness… Chaotic.

When the nation of Israel escapes Egypt, God not only defeats Pharaoh, he defeats the waters. For Christians, the next generation crossing of the Jordan symbolizes the passing of life and entering life eternal.

Baptism took on new meaning for us with the resurrection of Christ. It came to symbolize our death and burial with He who saves us and our subsequent resurrection.

In the psalms, water represents our enemies, physical or spiritual. In the Psalm 69, the enemy is represented as deep waters, mire or muck, a raging flood, and an abyss. David has come to an end of himself. He is helpless, powerless, outnumbered, accused, and (vs. 19) guilty.

We too must come to the end of ourselves before God may act in His fullness. Paul says it best in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Do you feel like you are drowning, like you are ready to die? Give it up. Surrender to Christ, and He will make you alive. For when you are weak, He will be strong for you.

Source

Why do I think that is a possibility? One reason is this passage from Romans 8:15-16

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

When the Prodigal Son repented, he had made up his mind that he would be content to be a slave on his father’s estate. His father, though, would have none of that. This was his son, and he would remain his son. This concept of slave versus child is presented both by Paul and by Christ.

So what distinguishes a slave from a child? Why is it important enough that both Paul and Christ use the theme?. A slave in the Roman Empire had limited rights. He or she was property and could be bought or sold. A slave was at the mercy of the master, for better or worse.

A child, however, not only had far greater rights under the law, but was also loved. To the child, the head of the house was not named Master, but Father.

We’re you ever scared as a child? I remember being scared and crawling in bed with my parents and clinging to their side. I remember calling out, “Mommy” or “Daddy!” That’s what Abba means… Daddy (literally, papa). The loving protection of the Father is what distinguishes the child from the slave.

Isn’t it great to know that because we are children of our Heavenly Father that He loves us and will protect us? We don’t need to fear, but if we do, He wants us to call to Him, take His hand, and cling to His side.

Source

In Psalm 34, David gives thanks for God’s protection, for delivering him from his enemies. This Psalm was written while David hid from King Saul among the Philistines. David spent his entire life, it seems, in a cycle of sin, repentance, and forgiveness, followed by sin again. And again. And again. You and I are much the same. 

In a passage similar to Psalms 34:4 (2 Timothy 4:18), we find Paul Pouring out his heart just before facing Caesar and execution. He says,

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.”

Both David and Paul were fully human, full of sin, murderers both, yet they are considered great men of God. Why? They fell on their faces daily and repented. When God revealed to them their deceitful hearts, they sought God’s mercy and asked Him to cleanse their hearts and change their lives. 

The difference in these passages, one written by David and one written by Paul, is this. David’s plea was answered when God rescued him from a dangerous situation and hid him in the unlikeliest of places. David lived many more years. Paul’s prayer was answered by his immediate execution. In Paul’s mind (and in truth), though, his execution was rescue. He was “taken safely to [God’s] heavenly kingdom,” which had been his hope for years. 

Both were delivered, but in very different ways.

Source

“Every knee shall bow,” declares Paul, “and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Those that think that Jesus was a good man, a venerable prophet, a sage, are sadly misled. He is God, the great “I Am.” He said so Himself many times, and he was declared so by those who knew Him well. We are forced to decide for ourselves. Is Jesus God, or was he a lunatic who has deluded himself and others for millennia? As for myself, I decided long ago that Jesus is indeed God, and I have made Him Lord of my life. 

We begin a study of Christology with a series examining Jesus’s claim to be God. The series is called “I Am.”

Source