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.

The Armour of Light

Paul contrasts the gospel and evil metaphorically as light and darkness in Rom 13.12. He calls his readers to "cast off the works of darkness"—obviously speaking of evil and wickedness, indeed in the next verse he helpfully categorizes some (but not all) of what he means: rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness, strife, envying—and to put on the armour of light (KJV). I find that reference interesting. Light (acting righteously) acts as our armor.

Armor is meant for protection so in some way acting righteously protects us. Obviously Paul does not mean that acting righteously saves us for that would contradict what he has already written. He must mean that acting righteously inoculates us from the grip of evil which lurks in every dark corner waiting to devour us, even in corners that appear benign. This is the nature of evil.

Appointed to Know His Will

Paul uses some interesting verbiage in Acts 22.14. He quotes Ananias, who is the first Christian to show up after Paul's encounter with Christ on the way to Damascus, as saying: "The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will," or as the KJV puts it: "Hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will."

What is going on here? What did Ananias mean? We know for sure that it was God who acted and not Paul, God appointed; God chose; God was the active one here. While dramatic, Paul's conversion does not appear to be any different from the way God draws all others to himself. He acts first; He draws; He chooses. Can I fully explain this? Um...no.

I take "to know his will" as a euphemism for drawing Paul to faith in Christ. That is surely the outcome that we see from this encounter.

The question that one must ask oneself is: "What am I to do with Christ?" Am I to follow him by faith, as both Ananias and Paul did? Am I to give my life to him? Am I to respond to the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in my own heart right now?

Finish Your Course with Joy

I'm amazed at Paul's words in Acts 20.24. He understood that due to the course he was on, "bonds and afflictions" (vs. 23) awaited him. Having experienced bonds and afflictions before, he fully understood what this meant. And yet he says here: "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy...to testify of the gospel of the grace of God" (KJV).

For Paul the very thing that caused him bonds and afflictions was what would allow him to finish his course with joy. We understand from this that joy then, must come despite bonds and afflictions. This is supernatural joy; this is the joy of the Holy Spirit.

What are we to make of this? I understand it to mean that we ought to finish well by continuing to do what God has called us to do; to minister as he directs; to walk before him faithfully; to do what he calls us to do, and for all of us to testify of the gospel of the grace of God to whomever will listen.

And There They Preached the Gospel

I'm reading in Acts 14.7 this morning, such a short, benign verse: "And there they preached the gospel" [in Lystra and Derbe]. That's it. Not much of significance there, right?

Wrong. The reason they came to Lystra and Derbe was that they had to flee Iconium because the Jews had whipped up the people to stone them to death. The verse prior to this says that "they fled to Lystra and Derbe;" fled for their lives, that is.

Then notice what they did; they did the exact same thing in Lystra and Derbe that got them within a whisker of being stoned to death in Iconium; they preached the gospel. Remarkable men! Admirable men! Obedient men. God had called them to preach the gospel, so preach the gospel they did.

Of course the question for us is: Are we demonstrating like commitment to Christ? God does not call all of us to work under threat of death (though he calls some), but he does call all of us to work despite whatever opposition arises. May we have the same obedience and faith that Paul and Silas did.

Vengeance

Startling wording from Paul in 1 Thess 1.8,9. What awaits those who "know not God" and who do not "obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" is "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." This is not politically correct wording, with which Paul was not in the least concerned. Rather he was concerned about communicating the truth just because he understood the reality of "everlasting destruction."

Fightings and Fears

I love Paul when he sounds the most like me because it gives me hope that I can do this thing called "The Faith." This is why 2 Cor 7.5 resonates so much with me: "For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears" (KJV). Yes, this sounds like me, wrestling with fears on the inside and difficulties on the outside.

Difficulties and fears are a normal part of living out the Christian faith. Indeed, I would argue that God brings difficulties and fears so that we learn to depend on him alone, rather than on our own abilities or strength. They are blessings! Sure they don't seem like it at the time, but neither did Joseph perceive his time in an Egyptian prison as a blessing, until he saw what God was up to. Then his testimony became: "You (his brothers) meant your actions for harm, but God meant them for good."

Paul's Purpose/Our Purpose

Paul had such a clear understanding of his purpose in life. He states it succinctly in 2 Cor 1.9. His purpose was to make known to anyone who would listen that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. To him there was no higher purpose; no higher reason to be alive.

We are not all called to be evangelists like Paul. We are all called to live out our lives in the same way he did, in order to make Christ known as the Son of God to men. We can have no higher purpose.

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.

How to Overcome Evil

Paul speaks to how we overcome evil in Romans 12.21. "Do not be overcome by evil," he writes, "but overcome evil with good." There is so much packed into those twelve words (in the Greek).

First, both evil and good cannot win out, it is not possible. If evil is triumphant, than good loses. If good wins, then evil is crushed.

Second, It is possible for a follower of Christ to be overcome by evil. Otherwise, Paul would not have written this admonition.

Third, it is possible for evil to be overcome.

Fourth, the instrument with which to overcome evil is good, which here we would see as the opposite, and the antithesis of evil.

Fifth, Paul doesn't explain exactly how good overcomes evil, or how to overcome evil by using good; he only states to do it. I suspect that he must have felt that how exactly to do it was self-evident. It did not need further explaining.

Paul to Felix: "I am in Agreement with the Pharisees...sort of"

In Paul's defense before Felix (Acts 24.14ff) he acknowledges the areas of agreement with his accusers (who now seem to be Pharisees, or at least some of the Pharisees). He says that:

• I worship the God of my fathers
• I believe all things that are written in the law and the prophets
• I have hope toward God
• I believe in the resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust
• I work to always have a conscience void of offense both to man and God

In other words, Paul is saying that he agrees almost completely with his accusers. The area of disagreement is on the person of Christ. Paul says that Christ is the Messiah, his accusers disagree, and want to see him killed.

All in all it is a brilliant defense from Paul, and Luke clearly weaves into the narrative Paul's innocence, both from his own perspective and from the perspective of Felix, the one who could set Paul free.

Paul at Athens

Reading in Acts 17.22-31, this morning where Paul gives his speech at Athens. I'm struck by Paul's boldness in flatly declaring: "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you" (KJV). My sense is that Paul knew what he was doing when he started off this way. I'm guessing that he was getting their attention by, in essence, calling them ignorant (which as it so happens, they were).

The other thing that stands out to me here is how Paul describes the character of God, which stands in contrast to what he emphasized when he was speaking to a largely Jewish audience who were familiar with the Tanakh. He points out that:

1. God made all things

2. God is Lord of heaven and earth.

3. God does not dwell in any house made of human hands.

4. God does not need anything from man.

5. God gave life to all things.

6. God made all men from one person.

7. All men should seek the Lord.

8. God is not far from any man.

9. In God we live and move and have our being.

10. God is calling all men everywhere to repent.

11. Judgment is coming.

12. Christ, the risen, will be the judge on that day.

When Christians Disagree

Acts 15.36-41 is an interesting passage. There is a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over whether or not they should allow John Mark—he had abandoned them during their first missionary journey—back onto the missional team. Barnabas, the son of encouragement, wanted him back on. Paul disagreed. Luke points out that the disagreement grew so sharp that Barnabas and Paul had to separate over it.

Notice, however, their separation. Both continue in the work of the gospel; both go their separate ways; Barnabas takes John Mark and goes to Cypress; Paul takes Silas and heads to Syria. In God's ever sovereign way, he uses the disagreement to effectively double the force of missionaries.

Paul will later realize that John Mark is fit for the ministry (Col 4.10). The salient points here are that, first of all genuine, faithful Christians are going to have disagreements about how ministry should be done. This is not in itself a bad thing. Second, God can use these disagreements to further the gospel. Third, it's perfectly okay to explore solutions to problems that stem from these disagreements. There is no evidence that Paul and Barnabas hated each other, or that their conflict was unresolved. The difficulty was resolved by them agreeing to separate, and continue further ministry.

Sign of the Apocalypse: Hating what is Good

So says Paul to Timothy in 2 Tim. 3.3. In the last times, writes Paul, difficult days will come. Signs that we are in the last times are: [People] "will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good" (NLT). Whether or not, we as a world community are in the last days I can't say, but we in America certainly seem to fit the bill. In one generation we have gone from loving good and hating evil to hating good and loving evil. It is a remarkable shift, and one often seen in nations that have become morally bankrupt. Funny thing is, we are almost completely blind not to the shift per se because it is evident for all to see. We are blind to how immoral the shift is. We think it is a good shift, a good thing.

We Were not Idle

Paul and those with him worked hard night and day both proclaiming the gospel and working (in Paul's case as a tentmaker) to support themselves on the road while pursuing his God-given mission of reaching the Gentiles. There is a great example here for us. We are not to aim for retirement per se; we are to aim for ceaseless labor for the cause of Christ, until he calls us home. If we are confined due to health then we can labor ceaselessly in prayer, but there is almost always something we can be doing in terms of ministry. Brothers (and sisters) let us not be idle.

Privilege of Trusting; Privilege of Suffering

Twin privileges that Paul expresses to the Philippians in Phil 1.29. These twin privileges were given to the believers in Philippi, or as Paul puts it: For you have been given, not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are surprised at this second privilege and it is here that we enter the deep waters of faith. It is a privilege to suffer for Christ? Isn't this something we endure; something that we bear up under until the weight of suffering goes away? A privilege?

I think that Paul would consider it a privilege because suffering is indicative of someone who truly believes. One's faith is tested at the point of suffering. It's easy to be a disciple of Christ when it costs me nothing, but when it is costly, then my commitment is truly tested. To the extent that the Philippians were bearing up under suffering, their faith was proving genuine, and this was a privilege indeed.

Want to be a Servant of God?

Then you cannot have as your aim to please people. This is a huge danger, especially if one is a people person. If people pleasing were my goal, writes Paul, I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal 1.10). Paul leaves no wriggle room for us in that statement. Either we are servants of Christ, or we are people-pleasers. We are never both. As servants of Christ we would do well to keep that fact in mind.

Prayer: O Lord God, may my aim be to serve Christ with all of my heart, soul, and mind, and not to attempt to please people.

For We Know...

Struck by a comment from John Calvin on one of my favorite verses this morning, 2 Cor 5.1. He wrote: Even the heathens had some idea of the immortality of the soul, but there was not one of them, that had assurance of it — not one of them could boast that he spoke of a thing that was known to him. Paul has no question at all that there is a building to come, made by God, which is eternal and will replace our earthly bodies. This is precious food for the soul, especially of a 50 year-old. This old body is a pretty good one, but it shows the marks of death and decay more and more. It will not last forever, but I will last forever. We know this. What great hope to read Paul's confidence in 2 Cor 5.1.

Prayer: Thank you, O Lord God, for the truth Paul states here. That we can know what lies beyond the grave; that it gives strong hope; that we will have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

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...