December 1–1 Corinthians 7-9

“I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified”(9:27).

When our sons were young, Holly and I became “swim team parents”. LONG Saturday morning swim-meets! I miss many things about those years. Swim meets aren’t on that list.

As the children raced, a parent was tasked to walk beside and observe. If a foot touched the pool bottom, or a hand the pool wall, a card was raised to notify the judge that this child was DQ’d (Disqualified).

Paul had a similar fear. A godly concern. He did not want to be disqualified. See above.

Some teach, or subconsciously believe, that believers have already won the race set before us. Complete victory already ours by the work of Christ on the cross! No danger of failure. Self-discipline and sacrifice recommended but not required. Paul disagreed.

The danger of being disqualified is very real. Paul uses a word that often applied to counterfeit money. Adokimos, something invalid or unacceptable. Useless.

Even after we are received by Christ (welcomed home like a prodigal, without reference to merit or worthiness) great care must be shown that our service and work be acceptable to God. There are RULES that govern life in the Spirit. Growth in holiness is required.

Scripture gives examples of people who were disqualified. Samson. King Saul. Demas (see 2 Timothy 4:10). Friend, have you learned this godly fear? Apart from holy discipline and the sanctifying work of the Spirit, we all become barren and powerless.

“And he (Samson) awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him” (Judges 16:29).

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).

November 30–1 Corinthians 4-6

“But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore, do not go on passing judgement before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God”(4:3-5).

It is a sweet liberty for the people of God! No longer seeking the approval of others, nor fearing their disapproval; not even finding security in our own self-esteem, we leave all judgement to Christ and the coming day. It is a “very small thing” what other people think of me, says Paul. What matters is what Christ thinks!

Necessary lesson. Paul had many critics. Many admirers as well. How was it possible for him to avoid being alternately discouraged or filled with pride? The only way was to disregard the opinions of men entirely. He rested on the approval of Christ alone!

Only Christ is competent to judge. He knows the things hidden. He knows our motives. People judge by appearance and outcome. God looks at the heart. How grateful (and/or terrified) should we be to stand before a judge who sees deep within us?!! Unlike the flattery or rejection of men, the praise that comes from the Great King is true and permanent.

Strange irony. Only as I get free from a need for people’s approval, do I find the freedom to actually serve. If I crave approval or fear disapproval, I will miss the path of Christ. “He was despised and rejected of men.” Apart from Paul’s wisdom I will be permanently paralyzed by my own needs.

Friend, are you focused on the coming day and the approval of Christ?

“You’ll worry less about what people think of you when you realize how seldom they do”(David Foster Wallace).

“I believe in Jesus Christ. . .(He) is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead”(Apostles Creed).

November 29–1 Corinthians 1-3

“For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”(3:3).

Paul was troubled. He had cause to be. The church in Corinth was divided. Quarreling. Competing with each other for influence and control. “Has Christ been divided?” he asked rhetorically in 1:13. Had the solid center of the church cracked and broken into separate tribes struggling for supremacy? No!

Strife is the predictable outcome of flesh. The Greek word for flesh is sarkikos. (Sarx describing the soft substance of the physical body. Skin. Muscle.) Paul was not concerned that the Corinthians had bodies, but rather that their bodies were in charge of their decisions.

In 2:14, he referred to the “natural man” (unsaved). In the same passage he also spoke of “spiritual man” (saved, filled and directed by the Spirit). The “fleshly man” is the sad middle between these two conditions. He is saved, but unsurrendered. Possessing the Spirit (in regeneration) but still directed/controlled by the values and needs and logic of the body. Living as”mere men,” Paul scolded in 3:4.

Never forget. The Spirit of God is the source and sponsor of the unique life God intends for the church. When we walk with Him, we have unity and peace and boldness and humility. When we ignore Him we destroy the church as God designed it, receiving from God the harsh judgement such an act deserves. See 3:17.

All of us together, and each of us individually, is to be filled with the Spirit. We are to be animated by His presence and mind. Apart from this promised filling, we will be pulled down, dominated by flesh.

Friend, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Is He directing your path, your choices, your attitudes? Are there dangerous signs of the flesh operating in your church or heart?

“Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God”(Romans 8:7-8).

“Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me”(Daniel Iverson).

November 28–Romans 15-16

“Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever she may have need of you”(16:1).

“Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time” (Judges 4:4).

In Romans 16, Paul mentions at least nine women by name or role. Remarkable women! Faithful. Exemplary. Daughters of the King.

First among them is Phoebe. Paul calls her a servant (diakonos). Same word used for deacons in Scripture. Was Paul using it as an official title? Not sure. Phoebe probably carried Paul’s letter to Rome and he anticipated that she would need their help to get back home or to accomplish other strategic tasks. Paul had no hesitation in commending her or encouraging their support of her work.

Mentioned next is Priscilla. Often listed with Aquila, her husband, Priscilla is frequently named first. Paul respected her strength and leadership. Missionary couple. Like family to Paul. They were passionate, intelligent and effective. See Acts 18 for the story of their challenge and correction to Apollos.

“Greet Rufus. . .also his mother and mine,” (v. 13). “Somewhere on Paul’s journeys, he encountered this nurturing Christian woman. Though unnamed, she became a mother to the devoted and self-denying servant of Christ, and he remembers her care for him with peculiar gratitude”(Ironside). NOT Paul’s mother by birth. Even so, Rufus’ mother was a “Mom” in affection and encouragement to Paul. In my own years of ministry, I have had women (several) who cared for me with similar kindness.

As believers, we affirm Genesis truth. Men and women are created with different roles in God’s plan. Even so, the church must never fail to affirm the contribution that our sisters have made from the first days of the Kingdom until now. We owe much to remarkable women for their courage and faith!

“I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy”(Acts 2:17).

November 27–Romans 12-14

“Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship”(12:1).

In Romans chapter 12, Paul moves from doctrine to practice, from what we believe, to how we should live. “Therefore,” he says in the first verse, referring back to the magnificent truths declared in the previous chapters. Because we are united with Christ; because we are free from condemnation; because we are adopted sons exalting in the hope of the coming glory of God, true worship is now our duty and privilege.

True worship involves the presentation of self. Like the sacrificial animals of ancient Israel, believers place our bodies on the altar before the Lord. Full release of all rights and privileges and previous identity. Acceptance of the implications of invisible truth. Glad surrender of our former lives. Using an aorist verb in Greek, present yourselves, Paul imagines this presentation as a one time event. Clear and decisive moment of surrender to Christ as Lord. All believers must come to this place. This is true worship.

True worship also involves transformation. Gradually, powerfully, the Spirit of God shapes our lives into conformity with this higher identity. “Be transformed!” Paul says in v. 2. Maybe you know this moment. I certainly do. In worship or prayer, a truth of God’s word shines into your consciousness. It calls you upward. Already new in standing, you now become new in experience and testimony, in history and time. Having presented ourselves to Christ, we now surrender to the Spirit’s transforming call. Subject by subject, habit by habit, as our minds are renewed, we are transformed. It is the necessary and logical follow-through of our previous pledge!

In this living process, we prove God’s will. See v. 2. We become the humans God designed. We prove all that is possible in the gracious opportunity of union with Christ. We demonstrate the attractiveness and virtue of God’s plan to others as they observe.

Friends, when you go to worship, do you worship? It has nothing to do with style, everything to do with surrender and progress in holiness.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. . .restore to me the joy of Your salvation. . .and sinners will be converted to You”(Psalm 51:10, 12-13).

“Have Thine own way, Lord. Have Thine own way. Thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, after Thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still”(Adelaide Pollard).

November 26–Romans 9-11

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation”(10:1).

To the first century church, the Jews were a puzzle. The prophets predicted a great work of God among the Gentiles in the latter days, and nearly everyone assumed that it would follow (flow from) the full restoration of Israel. “To the Jew first,” was a well-known proverb. What no one expected was for the gospel to flourish among the Gentiles while the majority of the Jewish nation was left behind in stubborn rejection of Jesus as the Messiah!

Despite their resistance to Christ, and the opposition he received at their hands, Paul was very tender toward his Jewish brothers and sisters. He prayed for them passionately. He believed, without reservation, that a great day would come when they would be grafted back into the plan of God. He intentionally worked to make them jealous of the ways God was working among the Gentiles. (Not from spite, Paul’s motive was to inspire them to seek Christ.)

In Romans 9, he argues that God has always made choices regarding the Jewish nation. Is it not His right to do so? God chose the descendants of Isaac over those of Ishmael. He chose Jacob over Esau. Why should they protest His choice now?

In Romans 10, Paul talks about faith-righteousness. This was the sticking-point! Most Jews missed the opportunity to experience God’s grace in Christ, because they insisted that they were already righteous through the Law and individual effort. To hear that they had no privileges, no special standing was offensive! Pride prevented them coming to Christ.

In Romans 11, however, Paul continues to hold out hope that at some point in the future the promises to the nation of Israel would be fulfilled. Paul NEVER LOST HOPE for the whole nation to be restored. NEVER CEASED TO PRAY for the promises of God to be gloriously fulfilled!

Friend, do you pray for those around you (Jews and Muslims and secularists) to be saved? Even if, like Paul, they oppose and slander you? Do you cover them with believing prayer for God’s great work in their lives? Do you join God in His great and patient love? Will you?

“When wilt Thou save the people, O God of mercy, when? Not kings and lords, but nations, not thrones and crowns, but men! Flowers of Thy heart, O God, are they. Let them not pass like weeds away, their heritage a sunless day: God save the people!” (Ebenezer Elliott).

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

November 25–Romans 8

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace”(8:6).

We tend to make it a noun. Mindset. In Scripture, it a verb. We are called to concentrate the mind. To lift our eyes in worship. To fix our thoughts on God. Faith requires this exclusivity. God is to be our ONE confidence. He is to be our ONLY love.

In Christ, we focus our attention on the Spirit of God. Not on ourselves, not on our situations, not on our desires. The Spirit is the “new law” for us, the new framework of our lives. See 8:2. When our minds are set on the Spirit (rather than self, its ambitions and disappointments), we find power and peace. See 8:6. Like Peter walking on the water, with eyes on the Lord, nothing is impossible for us!

As we set our minds, we also walk (8:4). We put to death (reject) the deeds of the body. Faith involves action, choice, decision. God will do this life with us, but He will not do it for us.

Friend, where is your mind, today? Did you rise to seek the Lord? To focus your attention and aspirations on Him? Is He your sole aspiration, your only priority? Or, has the world and its problems captured you, again, distracting your attention, diluting your strength? Have you learned the liberty and power that comes from setting your mind on the Spirit?

“Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest, finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest”(Frances Havergal).

“So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath(Spirit) came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10).

November 24–Romans 5-7

“Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life”(6:4).

We died. When we were baptized into Christ Jesus (identified with Him, united with Him) our former lives ceased to exist. Not potentially true, actually true. The Scripture doesn’t say we SHOULD be dead, it says we ARE.

Paul is describing what happened in the “heavenly places,” the invisible, larger Spiritual reality in which all things exist. See Ephesians 1.

When we were joined with Christ, we became new creations. The old equation radically changed. Soul + body (the formula for the old man) became Spirit +soul +body (a new man). Restored to God’s original design, a new “you” was born and the old “you” died. In Heaven, in an act as FINAL and intentional as a burial of a body, the old you was discarded!

Not a normal way to talk, I know. Post-moderns tend to view SELF as precious. Not so, says Paul. The self we once knew deserved death. It was already condemned. Good riddance!

Over and over Paul makes the point. We were baptized into His DEATH (6:3). We were BURIED with Him (6:4). We were united with Him in the likeness of His DEATH (6:5). “Even so, consider (reckon, realize, affirm) yourselves to be DEAD to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ” (6:11).

Galatians 6:6 is a familiar expression of this idea. “I have been crucified with Christ.” God crucified the world to Paul, and Paul to the world. A double death moment! The world DIED to Paul (its appeal and logic no longer holding his confidence or affection), and Paul DIED to the world (his former friends and family all losing hope that he would ever be one of them again). “I died that day,” says the apostle.

Half a gospel is never enough. Some prefer to focus only on life. But, true LIFE comes only to those who realize that death is a necessary step. In Christ it HAS ALREADY taken place.

Believing friend, do you reckon yourself as dead? The old you buried, that bridge burned? Will you get forward, now? You can!

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning” (Louis L’Amour).

November 23–Romans 3-4

“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe”(3:21).

Paul is declaring a revolutionary new idea! Not new in time, but very new in clarity and accessibility. (It is actually centuries old truth, witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.) Paul calls it, “the righteousness of God.”

It means a right standing (both legal and personal) with God. Being right with Him. This righteousness is “of God” because it is in accordance with His own holiness. It is also “of God” because He is the source and giver of this new standing.

For centuries, people longed for this right relationship. The sacrificial lambs of Tabernacle worship symbolized the endless pursuit. Jeremiah predicted it as a future event. ” In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness”(Jeremiah 33:16).

This great gift is now ours through faith in Christ! It does not come to us by works. “Apart from the Law,” is the apostle’s clear declaration. As we join our lives to Christ in faith our sins are covered and we are declared righteous!

This is exactly what happened to Abraham. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Note the timing. Before circumcision, before the Law was given, Abraham believed and God reckoned (counted, calculated) him in a new place, a new standing. By grace, through faith alone, the righteousness of God was credited to him.

Friend, will you believe God and receive this great gift? Will you allow Christ to be the full and final answer to the accusations of your guilty conscience? Will you rest in this grace and tell others that a gracious God makes this gift available to sinful men? Without lowering His standards, God rescued men and made them right!

With boldness and thanksgiving we declare it. Those who come to Christ in faith are given the righteousness of God!

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”(2 Corinthians 5:21).

November 22–Romans 1-2

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith”(1:16-17).

It was a letter written from Corinth. Paul was on his third missionary journey. His goal was go to Rome, and then on to Spain. First, he needed to go to Jerusalem (15:24). When his delay grew longer than expected, he wrote this letter to prepare the way for a later visit. Phoebe, who belonged to the church in Cenchrea near Corinth (16:1), probably carried it to Rome.

Theologically rich! Paul wrote it after years of reflection on the gospel, with particular interest in the intersection of Old Testament and New. With tremendous intellect and intense missionary zeal, he penned what some consider the clearest summary of Christian doctrine.

It is a letter that rings with confidence! In the face of increasing cultural scrutiny and critique, Paul was (and hopes the Roman Christians will be) UNASHAMED of the good news that came to the world in Christ.

Interesting word. Ashamed translates the Greek word epischynomai. Epi means “upon or on”. Aischuno described the “shame or hesitation that disfigured people often feel in public”. A reluctance to step forward. Hesitation. Timidity.

Paul says he is NOT hesitant, NOT reluctant. In fact, VERY WILLING to be seen and heard on this point! Having seen what the world has to offer in the way of hope or help, he is absolutely confident in the superiority of the gospel.

In this present hour, we must learn similar boldness. Even in the face of rejection or ridicule, we must stand confidently. God has given us a powerful, healing truth! 1) God is. 2) He has revealed Himself in His Son. 3) The Son died for our sins and rose in glory. 4) Those who join their lives to Christ by faith are saved in life and eternity.

Will you say it with Paul? The supernatural story is the real one! I AM NOT ashamed! I WILL NOT be ashamed!

“Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in glory” (Luke 9:26).

“Ye that are men, now serve Him against unnumbered foes; let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose”(George Duffield).