A Steadfast Heart

Reading in Psalm 57.7 this morning where David writes: "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise" (KJV). Actually the literal reading is "Fixed, my heart, O God; fixed, my heart" as David emphasizes that his heart is fixed, or as the ESV translates it "steadfast."

According to Webster, steadfast means "firmly fixed or established." So here David is emphasizing that his heart (the center of his being, as we would also describe it in our culture) is firmly fixed in an attitude of worship and dependence upon God. A heart like this will not change due to circumstances or emotions.

This passage reminds me of Paul's admonition to the Corinthians in 1 Cor 15.58: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." With David our hearts should be fixed, steadfast, immovable, devoted to God despite our own feelings or emotions at the moment. Because we know—as David points out in vs. 10—"for your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds."

Avoiding Sinners

Paul explicitly explains what sinners to avoid in 1 Cor 5.9-13. He says to avoid fornicators and idolaters and drunkards and extortioners, people like that. With one important caveat. He does NOT mean to avoid people like that who do not claim to be Christians, because then one would have to exit the world (and if we do that, how do we evangelize the world). We are instructed to avoid so-called Christians who unrepentantly engage in such behavior. This is the important point.

Christians that act like the world and do not wish to change; are not concerned with repentance; want to keep on doing what they are doing, are to be avoided. Their lives deny Christ overtly. Avoid these types of people.

As to unbelievers who are fornicators and idolaters and drunkards, etc. Love them and tell them that Jesus can save them from all of that.

A Faith that Stands

Reading in 1 Cor. 2 this morning where Paul is concerned with communicating a faith that stands (1 Cor 2.5). One real danger to Paul's way of thinking was imparting a faith that stood upon the wisdom of men. Paul doesn't explain what he means here, but I don't think it is too hard to figure out. Faith that rests upon the wisdom of men is faith that always makes sense, that always has an explanation. Ultimately this is not faith and one understands that the wisdom of men comes to the point at which it stands silent before Almighty God, unable to fully explain him. Paul fully understood this danger, so he was careful not to lay a foundation of rational, man-centered religion, but faith that is grounded and explainable only in Jesus Christ and him crucified. This was a faith that stands.

Don't be Disqualified

Paul's goal is to keep his life under control (his body) so that he does not end up disqualified in the process of following Christ—a process that he compares to a race. "I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified," writes Paul (1 Cor 9.27). (In a misstep the KJV translates it: "should be a castaway," implying the plight of a shipwrecked sailor. The Greek word means to test and find unfit).

The salient point is that we ought to follow Paul's example here. We are no less obligated to keep our own bodies under control lest we be disqualified, lest we be tested and found unfit.

Faith Without Love is Wasted

In 1 Cor 13.2 this morning: And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Faith without love is wasted because it is nothing. The gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and knowledge, if I do not combine them with love is worthless. This is the importance of love.

Oh Lord God, may I remember that in your kingdom it is always love and... It is easy to deal with people on a practical level without thinking through what love would do in a situation. Sometimes love appears merciful; sometimes love appears judgmental; it takes great wisdom and commitment to understand the difference. May I love people, O Lord, as you love people.

Paul: Be Imitators of Me

A fascinating statement from Paul in 1 Cor 11.1, with many implications.

1. He implies that he has the authority to tell the Corinthians to imitate him. In other places he directly states that he has such authority because he is an apostle, on par with Christ's other apostles.

2. He implies that he is imitatable. By that I mean that he implies that it is possible for other believers to imitate his life and character. He was not a "super-saint," out of the reach of the normal Christian.

3. He directly states that his life and character imitate Christ's life and character and that such life and character is in the realm of possibility for his readers.

4. He implies that we ought to have a goal in terms of the Christian life and that goal ought to be to imitate Christ, with Paul as an example of how that is done.

A lot of power and truth packed into a few words.

Now to actually doing it...

The Resurrection is Everything

This from 1 Cor 15.17-19 (a favorite chapter of Scripture). Paul does not mince words here. He is short and to the point. If Christ has not been raised, Paul writes, futile (worthless) is your faith. He emphasizes futile by putting it first in the clause. He doesn't want us to miss this. Everything rests on the resurrection. If Christ is still dead, then we should stop wasting our time and eat, drink, and be merry, because we will die tomorrow and that will be the end of that. Fortunately, as Paul points out, Christ has been raised; our faith is not vain; we have hope in our resurrection to be with Christ in glory!

Vain Faith?

Thinking through 1 Corinthians 15.13,14, this morning. Paul lays out a clear path to vain faith here. Some people are saying that there is no resurrection from the dead? Let's ponder the implications of that. No resurrection = Christ has not been raised = My (read all) preaching is vain = Your faith is vain. The path to vain faith begins with Christ not being raised from the dead and ends up squarely in my own lap. Everything, and I do mean E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, rests upon Christ's resurrection, or, as one commentator put it: Take out the resurrection of Jesus, and there is nothing left on which to rest faith—only the decomposing corpse of an itinerant Jewish carpenter-turned-rabbi.

Fortunately, since Christ did rise from the dead, we do not have vain faith.

Thank you, Lord God, for raising Christ from the dead so that our faith is not in vain; we are not still in our sins; and we have vibrant hope for eternity.

How to Ensure You Gain Nothing

Thinking about 1 Cor 13.3 this morning where Paul lays out a clear path for us to ensure that we gain nothing. It's quite easy. Whatever else one does, be it helping our fellow man, having great faith, being filled up with knowledge; if we want to gain nothing we just need to do the opposite of what Mother Teresa said. I believe she said, "We can do no great things, just little things with great love."

Do you want to gain nothing? Do ginormous things without love.

In Demonstration of the Spirit and Power

In 1 Corinthians 2.4 this morning. Paul made a deliberate decision not to present the gospel in a way that accorded with what the Greeks perceived as human wisdom and eloquence (he was smart enough that he certainly could have). Rather, Paul decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. This ensured that the results that came would be by way of the Holy Spirit and demonstrate God's power.

The obvious question for us is: "Do we do the same in our presentation of the gospel and in our lives?" It is rather easy to allow worldly thinking and arguments into our lives in a vain attempt to "get results." Paul consciously rejected this approach. The message was Jesus Christ and him crucified. Always.

Preaching the Cross

I am struck reading through 1 Corinthians 1.17-25, that what stands out as clearly as a bell tower is that what Paul preached above everything else was Christ crucified. Sure he spoke about love, and faithfulness, about God's judgment and justice. He taught about the second coming of Christ. He taught about the law in relation to the gospel. However, he taught as most important Jesus Christ and him crucified.

If our preaching and teaching are not saturated with the cross of Christ; if we don't, as Spurgeon once said, "wherever I start in the Scriptures, I make a beeline for the cross, then we are not preaching the gospel as Paul preached it. Let us proclaim to the world until our last breath that the only answer to the question of who we are, and why we are here, and what is our purpose, lies at the foot of the cross.

"You Humble Now, Holmes."

A line from the movie, Tin Cup, where Cheech Marin is acting as Kevin Costner's caddie at the U. S. Open. Before his first round, Costner says, "Lord keep me humble." You see him hitting balls all over the place, then in the next scene they are at the finish and Marin is counting up Costner's scorecard. He says, "82. You humble now, Holmes."

The line came to mind as I was reading 1 Cor 4.7, this morning. While Paul was speaking in the context of the church, it is a truth which can be applied to all things. You are a talented basketball player? Who gave you all that talent? Did you give it to yourself? A concert pianist? Where did you get that talent and the opportunity to bring it alive? An architect? A politician? A banker? Wealthy? Beautiful? When one thinks about it, so much of our lives are not our own choices. We'd like to think that we "picked ourselves up by our own boot straps," but the truth is, did we give ourselves our own will?

It's a very humbling truth from Paul, here.