December 8–Galatians 1-3

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed” (1:8).

On his second missionary journey, Paul came to Galatia (modern Turkey). Though pressed by personal illness, he boldly preached and saw the beginning of many churches in this mostly rural area. After his departure, false teachers came behind Paul claiming that believers must obey the Law of Moses (effectively keeping Christianity as a form of Judaism, rather than the miraculous new thing that it actually is). The letter to the Galatians is Paul’s vigorous response.

If he sounds contentious, it is because he is alarmed. If the evil one cannot defeat the gospel, he will seek to distort it. He will influence men to make the gospel “fit” the logic and preferences of men. See 1:7. There are no “different gospels” argues Paul. He is stubbornly intolerant on this point.

The gospel came by REVELATION, a word that means “an uncovering”. Our eyes were previously blind to truth. God opened our eyes by sending Christ. (Here Paul probably hints at his own conversion.) See also 1:16 and 2:2.

Non-negotiable truth! THE GOSPEL CAME FROM GOD! Since it isn’t man-made, it cannot be man-corrected, man-marketed. The gospel is a timeless message from heaven.

The content of the gospel is CHRIST, the glorious and sufficient Son of God! FAITH is the means by which we receive Him. As Abraham believed God and was reckoned as righteous, so the believer is united to Christ in child-like faith. In Christ. By faith. A new standing with God. This is the unchanging gospel.

In his day, Paul had courage to confront every corrupted version of this life-giving message. It is not enough to preach the gospel, we must also DEFEND it from every attempt to distort or weaken it.

Friend, have you received the gospel? Will you now preach and protect it?

“Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints”(Jude 3).

December 7–2 Corinthians 12-13

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. . .concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it would leave me”(12:7-8).

Familiar passage. Rich in wisdom.

The passage doesn’t say what the “thorn” was. Migraine headaches? Partial blindness? Scholars debate. Whatever the specifics, the situation weighed on Paul, weakened him.

Like Jesus in Gethsemane, Paul turned to prayer. He prayed for relief. Unashamedly so. The best place to begin in prayer is always child-like trust. Tell God what hurts. Ask for His help.

There are times, however, God doesn’t answer. Not, at least, in the way we imagine. He allows the pain to stay, uses it to press us forward in sanctification. As Paul prayed, a surprising answer came. “My grace is sufficient,” said the Lord (12:9). “I am enough for you, Paul. Lean on Me. Face the pain. Endure it.”

Paul didn’t argue. Not only did he surrender to the Lord’s decision, he did so gladly! God is GOOD and WORTHY of trust. So, Paul embraced the larger will of God and learned the power of God that is perfected (comes to full strength) in weakness. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves” (Viktor Frankl).

Friend, as you hear Paul’s testimony, do you sense the Spirit of God teaching you a similar lesson? When painful circumstances come, the Lord calls us to gladly boast in them, to accept pain as a necessary part of life in Christ. “No pain, no gain,” says the world. “Power is perfected in weakness,” says the Savior.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes”(Psalm 119:67, 71).

“Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free? No, there’s a cross for everyone, and there’s a cross for me” (Thomas Shepherd).

“Let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).

December 6–2 Corinthians 6-11

“Therefore, ‘Come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty”(6:17-18).

It is a paradox. Two truths, BOTH taught in Scripture. They seem to be opposites.

Our job is to go INTO all the world. Salt only works when it comes into contact with corruption. Like Jesus, we are called to connect with sinners, to talk with them and listen to them. The Father sent Christ into the world. Christ sends us.

Our job, however, is also to be SEPARATE from the world, distinct from the people we are trying to reach. In identity. In values. In morality. We are to be a counter-culture, walking the “road less traveled”.

As Paul deals with the problem-prone Corinthians, he emphasizes separation (the second duty). When association with lost men blurs the lines of a believer’s distinctiveness, when the ways of the world creep into the congregation, action is required!

The Holy Spirit is our guide. Only He can provide the required balance. When we are too close to the world, too similar in our thoughts and practice, He will call us to, “come out from their midst.” When the church becomes isolated and inwardly focused, He will call us to, “Go out into the highways and byways and compel them to come in”( Matthew 21:31).

In Acts 13:2, this wisdom came again to Paul. “Separate for me, Barnabus and Saul(Paul) for the work to which I have called them” said the Lord to the leaders of the church at Antioch. First, we separate from the world. Ultimately, we also separate from other believers, embracing our unique assignment, learning anew the sufficiency of Christ.

The Lord commands both of us, dear reader. Be in the world, not of it! Be with people, saved and unsaved, but never take your identity from them, nor let them hinder your pursuit of holiness.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”(Romans 12:2).

December 5–2 Corinthians 1-5

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen” (4:16-18).

The Corinthian church was a challenge for Paul. Their criticism stung him. Their tolerance of sin baffled him. Added to the other stresses of his ministry, the immaturity of this stubborn church was at times overwhelming. Are you ever, “excessively burdened” dear reader? Paul was. See 1:8.

I hope you will not be surprised when you are. The world is broken and defiant. Sufferings will be abundant for those who follow Christ.

If, however, our sufferings are abundant, our comfort is equally so! See 1:5. For all the stress and disappointment, Paul never surrendered to pessimism. His word for comfort was the name Jesus gave for the Holy Spirit. (Parakaleo, “one who walks beside us, calling, guiding). Please note that Paul makes it singular. We have many sufferings, just One comfort.

In the Spirit, believers experience constant, infinite, daily inner renewal! See 4:16-18 above. It is a daily miracle! Stronger than any heartbreak. It comes to those who fix eyes on invisible things.

When we look at our problems, when we obsess on visible things, we are led to (and left in) despair. When we look to God, His character and promises and power and faithfulness (invisible things) we experience, as Paul did, a fresh, full flow of restoring power and hope.

The outer man decays. No denying this fact. Our energies drain away. Our political systems fail us. Even so, God’s children move from glory to glory. See 3:18. Day by day, as we focus on Him, the Spirit flows into our inner man, renewing us, filling us, giving us energy and hope.

Does life hurt, sometimes? Yes. Does God daily renew His children with supernatural power? Yes. Christian, will you live this promise today? Will you seek the Lord, waiting on the Holy Spirit until He renews you?

“He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:2-3).

“The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace”(Romans 8:6).

December 4–1 Corinthians 15-16

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God”(15:13-14).

The resurrection of Christ was (is) a MIRACLE. An act of supernatural power. The Scripture makes no attempt to reconcile it with science. Science is the ordinary operation of the universe. Miracles are the extraordinary operation. Both are true. Always.

It is a common mistake to think that miracles are illogical. Just the opposite, actually. The very idea of a God assumes the possibility of the miraculous. “NOTHING is impossible with God,” said Jesus.

God is not captured or limited by the universe of His own making! A VERY logical assertion. Rather than rejecting the miracles of Scripture, some of the brightest minds of history have taken them as worthy subjects for intelligent reflection.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul challenges those who deny the idea of a resurrection for all men. You will remember that the Sadducees denied this doctrine, even though it is clearly predicted in Scripture. The Greeks were equally skeptical.

Building one idea on another, Paul makes his argument. If resurrection is categorically impossible, then the resurrection of Christ didn’t happen. And, if Christ was not raised, our faith is empty. Worse than empty; factually false!

Doesn’t nature itself provide an analogy? A seed dies and then lives again in a plant. Different form, same life. In this way, the coming resurrection is written into Creation, says Paul in his thoughtful letter.

One of the weaknesses of modern theological thought and preaching is the absence of eschatological teaching (eschatos, “last, final outcomes”). Attempting to avoid controversy, we don’t teach (not often, or well) the supernatural promises for the end of time. Paul’s warning? Avoiding the subject of the coming resurrection only makes people unprepared and morally lax. Resurrection at the end of time is a conviction both of Scripture and logic.

A supernatural universe created by a supernatural God will come to a supernatural end. All people will be resurrected to meet God. It is only logical.

“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment”(Jesus, John 5:28-29).

“Each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Roman’s 14:12).

December 3–1 Corinthians 13-14

“But now faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love”(13:13).

All things are NOT equal. Order and rank are part of God’s design. Some gifts are good. Others are better. There are angels and there are archangels. There are works and there are “greater works”. See John 14:21. God’s call is, therefore, always “upward”. We are to be ever reaching for the higher thing (Philippians 3:14).

As Paul taught the fractured and divided church in Corinth, he urged them to prioritize and pursue LOVE

Faith is good. It is the entrance to and the permanent practice in God’s Kingdom. Hope is a step higher. It is the confident expectation of a glorious future in Christ. “We exult in the hope of the glory of God.”

Love is a still higher step. God’s objective for every child. We are to LOVE Him. We are to LOVE those He loves. Gently, compellingly, Paul challenged the proud Corinthians. Spiritual gifts and experience were meaningless without this higher gift. LOVE is God’s heart. LOVE is God’s goal.

If we start a journey, should we not finish it? If we don’t finish, weren’t the early steps taken in vain? Friends, if we have trusted in God and hoped in Him, should we not, now, give ourselves to learning love?

” ‘You shall love the Lord your God’. . .this is the great and first commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor’ “ (Jesus, Matthew 22:37-39).

“ ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’ “(John 21:16).

December 2–1 Corinthians 10-12

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also, so that you may be able to endure it”(10:13).

Saved and safe are not the same word. “In the world you will have tribulation,” warned our Savior. See John 16:33. Those who follow Christ are will be required to walk through difficult days. We are called to courage. No pouting. No retreat.

If we are honest, the hardship often comes from our own unbelief and disobedience. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells the sad story of Israel in the wilderness. Despite compelling spiritual evidence of God’s kindness and power (parting of the Red Sea, provision of daily manna), they sinned and brought down harsh discipline upon themselves. God was, in Paul’s great understatement, “not well-pleased”(10:5).

Self-caused or not, our tribulations are not stronger than God. Carefully He shepherds us, assuring us that our struggles are not unique (common) and that He will not allow our temptations to rise above the level of our spiritual resources. He promises, in time, to open a door that leads out of the present pain and into the promised and glorious future. Our part in this holy equation is endurance.

Do not panic, my friend! God sees your struggle and knows well the pain-price you pay for every faithful step. Don’t quit! Don’t complain or forget His promises! Just as He did for Jesus in the sealed tomb, the Father will soon open the door and whisper to you, “Come this way, my child.” There WILL be a way of escape. God promises.

My Grandmother used to sing an old song. I can still hear the melody of her courageous wisdom. “Wait till the darkness is over, wait till the tempest is done, hope for the sunshine tomorrow, after the shower is gone. Whispering Hope, oh, how welcome thy voice, making my heart in its sorrow rejoice”(Septimus Winner).

Wait, dear one! Walk on, even with slow step and tears in your eyes! Your endurance honors Him and completes His work in you. Victory, not pain, will be your story. There will be a way of escape. The Lord will see to it.

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).