Monday, October 8th

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is John 5

Today's scripture focus is Romans 2:12-16

¹² All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. ¹⁴ (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, ¹⁵ since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)¹⁶ This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

When God judges men by their knowledge, by truth, by guilt and by deeds, He will judge all men equally.  He shows no favouritism.  He doesn't judge based on looks, status, wealth, power, race or culture.  He judges everyone equally (v11).

I liked MacArthur's point here...
Justification by faith alone applies to the time of entrance into salvation, but not to the time of judgment. We are saved by faith alone but we will be judged, says Romans, by our works....when God in free grace receives the sinner at the time of his conversion, he asks nothing but that we believe and submit to Him, right? That's it. He asks nothing more. But from that moment on the believer enters into a responsibility of obedience and then the mark of that believer becomes the obedient pattern of his life, we call it the fruit of grace. Faith doesn't mean that now I've received Jesus I can do whatever I want. On the contrary. True faith always results in holy living. Now there are lapses, there are times when we fail. But there has to be some evidence there, some evidence of a seeking after God and glory, honor and incorruption because that's the standard by which we'll be judged....

All your righteousnesses are as...what?...filthy rags. I mean, there is a thing you could call relative human good. I mean, it's better to be kind to people than to be unkind to them. And there's a certain good in that. But that is not true righteousness that pleases God. The reason is because the motive isn't right, see. In other words, you could do good but you could have a wrong motive. And any other motive than glorifying God is a wrong motive....if you didn't do good specifically to glorify the God of heaven, then you fell short of the standard of true righteousness. And the man in the natural world doesn't do good for that reason because he doesn't know that perspective...

The point is that men are going to be judged by their works. And the only way that you or anyone else on the face of the earth could ever produce one single righteous work would be when your spirit was energized by the indwelling presence of God through salvation. And then when salvation truly occurs, you will produce the works which become the attestation to the legitimacy of your faith. So God will judge by works.

He will judge by works, and He will judge with complete impartiality - on the subjective reality of their faith in Christ (only God can see the heart) and the objective confirmation of that in their works.

He will judge everyone fairly according to the knowledge that they were given.

If you don't have the law, you'll be judged as one who didn't have the law. If you have the law, you'll be judged as one who had the law. God will be utterly absolutely fair. 

The Jews had the Mosaic law and they will be judged based on that fact.  The Gentiles did not, and they will be judge on the basis of that fact.  (v12)  Just like today, there are many people who have still never heard the gospel message preached to them and they do not have the scriptures.  God will still judge them, but they will be judged based on the fact that they did not hear the gospel.  But they are still sinners.  Which means they will still perish in hell, but it will be less severe for them than for those who had more knowledge. The hottest hell is reserved for those who know the most and rejected the Truth.

The more you know God's law, the more it intensifies the consequence unless it is obeyed.

And here is a terrible frustration because you can't obey it in your own strength. And so he literally backs them into a corner...God requires perfect obedience. God requires a manifestation of righteousness but no one can do that. Thus the law is meant to drive us to a point of desperation where we turn to God for the power to do what we otherwise couldn't do. so the question the Jew might ask is answered. It doesn't do you a bit of good to have it unless you do it, it just intensifies your guilt because only the one who does it is justified.

But what about the person who has never heard?  How can they be held responsible if they've never seen the written word of God or heard the gospel message?

They are still responsible - for several reasons.

First, creation itself testifies to a creator - we saw that in Romans 1. They can look around and know there's a God and so they are responsible for their knowledge.

Next, their own conduct testifies to the fact that we've been instilled with a sense of right and wrong (v14).  The unsaved behave in ways that compliment scripture very often - most unbelievers love their spouses and children, many help clothe the poor and feed the hungry, they know it's wrong to murder and to commit adultery, they honour their parents, they pay their debts - all consistent with the law of God.  The law of God has been written on the hearts of men and their conduct proves it.
This does not mean that man is basically good, he is depraved. But there is in him a sense of rightness that keeps him from being as bad as he possible could be. And that is the law of God within him.

Another reason is their conscience (v15), which follows the same line of reasoning.  It refers to a person's inner sense of right and wrong, the moral consciousness that pronounces judgment on thoughts and attitudes and speech and deeds.
There is that sense within you that convicts you when you do wrong.  In a Christian the conscience is intensified because we not only have the natural law within us that all men have, but also the law of Christ from His Word, and also the work of the Holy Spirit.  We should never violate our conscience because doing so causes it to become numb and scarred so that it becomes far less effective than it should naturally be.  Everyone has a conscience, whether they've heard the scripture or not.  The first thing a child often does when he's been caught doing something is wrong is to lie, because he knows what he did was wrong!  We have that conviction within us.

Lastly, there's also the ability to analyze and determine whether something is right or wrong (v15 - accuse and defend).  The majority of people who hear about a murder will determine it to be very wrong and will want to accuse that person and punish them - that's why we have a punitive system in place in our legal system.  There is within everyone the ability to contemplate right and wrong and decide that this is excusable while this inexcusable.

Creation, conduct, conscience, contemplation, what they do, how they deal with the good and bad in their own life and how they deal with it in the lives of others indicates that they know the law of God as written in them. Now here is the most important thing I've said yet. The sum of it is this, if they live up to that much light, and they accept that much light, God will reveal to them the full light of Jesus Christ. I believe that with all my heart. You see, that's what it says in Acts 17, "He is not far from us if we would feel after Him." Do you see? If they would just take what they have and accept that. John 7:17, mark it down, "If any man wills to do My Father's will, he shall know of the teaching." If the willing heart is there, he'll know.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 2:17-24

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Matthew 12:1-21, Mark 3, Luke 6

Sunday, October 7th

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Mark 2

Today's scripture focus is Romans 2:5-11

⁵ But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶ God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” ⁷ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰ but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favoritism.

We saw in Romans 1:18-31 God's wrath of abandonment being leveled against the ungodly after they rejected Him.

Here in Romans 2:1-16 we see that God's wrath is also directed to the morally, externally righteous person - specifically in Paul's time, the self-righteous religious Jew.  God's wrath has already begun, but it is also being piled up and awaiting the day when it breaks, even on those who are moral and appear righteous, but who are not truly and inwardly righteous.

In his sermon, Principles of Judgment (Part 2), MacArthur says....
The moral majority, if I can borrow the term, is always eager to condemn the debased and the debauched people in society but not so eager to look at their own life and see if they in fact are any better off....the self-righteous people whose morality is only a facade and who are falsely secure who are outwardly attached to the right religion but do not have truth in their hearts, they need to know also that they're in line for God's wrath as much as the pagans and more.

God's judgment is based on several things, the first of which was knowledge.  In v1 we saw that if we can condemn others because we know the law of God, we are self-condemned by that same knowledge. when we do the same thing - maybe not as flagrantly, maybe in secret, maybe only in thought, but nonetheless we betray our sinfulness and our knowledge of that sinfulness.

He also judges on the basis of truth (v2-3).  the hope of the religious phony is that God will not judge on the truth but He will judge on the superficial profession
We can claim all we want that we've done things for the Lord, but God knows our hearts, God knows our motives, God knows the reality, the facts, the truth - and He will judge us based on the truth as it actually is, not on the truth as we profess it to be.  We cannot fool God, He will not be mocked.

He judges on the basis of true guilt (v4-5).  God has been so good to us.  He is a Holy God and therefore, cannot abide sin.  It would be utterly just if we would be destroyed immediately after we commit even just one sin.  Just one.  But in His mercy He withholds judgment.  It is all mercy that we don't die with every breath we take!  But we are unthankful for His mercy.  Not only are we unthankful, but we have become so used to mercy that we presume we will continue to get it forever.  He is patient, kind and long suffering in order to lead us into repentance. But when we don't allow God's goodness to lead us into repentance and instead we reject His goodness, abuse and despise His mercy, presume upon His grace, spurn His love and mock His kindness, we pile up guilt upon guilt that is inevitably going to come back on us in judgment.

Not only are we unthankful, but we have the nerve to question God's goodness (especially when we read about some of the wrathful judgments in the OT - Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt, the boys who mocked Elijah being killed by a bear, Uzzah being struck dead when he touched the ark to prevent it from falling, destroying virtually the entire world in a flood, etc) and it's because we're seeing history from the wrong perspective.  I've never thought of it this way before and I just loved MacArthur's explanation - truly I learned something huge today....

 Now listen, if you look, watch this, at the Old Testament with the New Testament in view, you're going to get confused because we live in an aura of the goodness and mercy and grace of God. And if you go back from that perspective, you're going to get all confused in the Old Testament. The problem is we feel that God is unjust because we are comparing His justice with His mercy, not His mercy with His law. Let me show you what I mean. We have to go back to creation. You cannot look at the Old Testament from the New Testament, you have to look at the Old Testament from the creation.

Now, God said this, "In the day you eat of the fruit of the tree you shall surely...what?...die." When God created He said, you sin--you die. The New Testament reiterates the wages of sin is...what?...death. The soul that sinneth, said Ezekiel, it shall die. You eat, you die. In creation, all sin was a capital offense. Any sin, God had a right to kill. Now think of it this way. God made man freely. Created man of His own choice freely. He made man to glorify Him. He made man to radiate His image. He made man to manifest His person. But man rebelled. R.C. Sproul says he committed cosmic treason.

Now if God freely made man and God freely gave man his life and God freely gave man the conditions to continue that life, and man chose to violate that, then God had every right in the world to take that life back, right? After all, He gave it freely. Whenever we sin we are striking a blow at God's sovereign character. We are misrepresenting His image and His intention for us. We are insulting God and does not He who freely gave life have the right to freely take it back if He gave the conditions and we violated them? Is that unfair? No...no, He gave the conditions, that would be just. He has every right to take back the life He gave when that life violates His conditions.

Okay, Adam and Eve ate. Let me ask you a question, did they die? No...no, they didn't die. Did they get justice? No, what did they get? Mercy. And at the moment that Adam and Eve sinned, God's mercy was activated and you know what else was activated? The plan of the cross because as soon as God was merciful to sinners, somebody had to take His justice, right? And the cross became a fixed reality. So originally every sin...now stay with me...every sin required death. Is it unjust by God's law to take the life of the rebel to whom God has been so good? No. But God didn't exercise His justice, He was merciful to Adam and Eve.

Now listen to me. By the time you come to the Mosaic law, you only have 30 to 35 capital offenses. That is not cruel and unusual punishment, that is an amazing reduction in the severity of God's judgment, isn't it? Because originally it was any sin and now it's just 30 to 35 of them. And who knows how many thousands there are. God is so merciful but by the time He gets to the Mosaic era He's reduced it to 30 to 35. And you know something else? Even in the case of those 30 to 35, there were times when God did not enact His justice. There were times when the people of Israel did all of those things and God spared their lives. He was merciful. Wherever there was adultery in a marriage, there was supposed to be death. But because they were so adulterous all the time, God permitted them to divorce as a gracious merciful alternative. And they were to die for idolatry but how many times did God forgive that idolatry? And how many times was He merciful? They were to die when they were committing fornication but how many times did God show His patience? They were to die when they murdered, but how many times did God seem to overlook it? He was so patient, so patient.

Now you see, beloved, that is the point. If you compare the Old Testament with the original created standard, the Old Testament is full of mercy...now listen to me...but we are so used to mercy, we are so used to grace, we are so accustomed to getting away with our sin, we are so used to not being punished, we are so accustomed to grace that we abuse it. And whenever God does do what is just, we think He's unjust. That's how confused we are. And that's how we despise the goodness of God. When God knocks down in death Ananias and Sapphira, we say, "Well, how can God be so cruel?" when the fact is, how can anybody else in that congregation stay alive, they were all sinners. You see, we so trade on God's mercy and we're so used to abusing God's grace that we are offended if God isn't merciful. And that's the truth. He chooses times not to be merciful.

You say, "Well, I still don't understand why He does it." Listen, I'll tell you why. Because it's so bad now and we trade so much on His mercy and abuse His grace so badly now that if He didn't give us those frequent examples of His justice, imagine how much more we would trade on His mercy without any fear of repercussion. The reason that God from time to time takes a life and comes down in severe judgment is because periodically throughout the flow of redemptive history He has to illustrate what should happen to bring us back to our senses because we are so accustomed to His mercy. If we didn't have examples of the consequence of sin, we would go on blissfully trading without a thought on His mercy....

So why are there throughout the Old Testament and even into the New, why are there those illustrations of God's instantaneous wrath? They're examples and God does those to show us what should happen to all of us and to build in our hearts attitudes of thanksgiving. Every day I live I should say, "Thank You, God, thank You for being so merciful and overlooking the sin today that should have caused my death and eternal judgment."

I'll tell you, we would never tolerate the insubordination that God tolerates. We tread on His mercy even with these examples, can you imagine if there weren't these examples what would happen?..

we are so used to mercy, so used to grace, that we think justice is unjust.

Wow.  It seems so obvious that I cannot believe I haven't seen or understood the truth of that before.    We are so used to mercy, we are so used to grace, that when we see examples of justice in action we think God is unjust.  Our perspective is so skewed.

Anyway, to quickly wrap up today's passage....

God judges on the basis of our deeds (v6-11).  In Part 3 of the same sermon series, MacArthur says...
You cannot be saved by works but you will be saved unto works... if you are truly saved you will be His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that you walk in them....A person's deeds, a person's works reveal whether he has been saved and they are the absolute infallible indicator. So an unbeliever will be judged by his works, his deeds and they will reveal his unbelief. They will reveal the absence of God in his life because all of his works will be unrighteous. And even when he tries to be righteous, it will turn out to be filthy rags.

So all God has to do is look at the works. If He sees works that are manifestations of righteousness, He knows there is a regenerated person. If He sees no such manifestation of righteousness, He knows there is an unregenerate person. Therefore judgment in the end can be rendered on the basis of works....

I want you to understand one very important thing. Paul is not talking about salvation here, so get that out of your mind or you'll be confused....He is simply dealing with one of the elements of judgment. He doesn't say how the righteous people got righteous or he doesn't say why the unrighteous people were unrighteous, he just says you can judge them by their works. A true Christian is known by his righteous deeds. A non-Christian is known by the absence of righteous deeds.

Now what does that say to you? Simple thought. If there's nothing in your life to indicate righteousness, then there's no righteousness there....If there's no manifestation, there can be no salvation. There may be periods of time when we walk in disobedience and the flesh. But there cannot be a life that is barren of righteous deeds that can still claim to be redeemed.

A true believer seeks to glorify God, seeks to reflect God's glory, to receive the honour that God gives as a result of reflecting His glory, to seek transformation into Christlikeness, to seek the incorruption and perfection of eternal life forever with the One we love.

In contrast, an unrighteousness person is completely self-absorbed, rejects God's truth in a spirit of rebellion, and lives a life disobedient to God's will.

The road to hell is basically a spirit of antagonism toward the lordship of Christ. You will not respond, you will rebel. You will not obey, you will disobey. Now listen carefully here, I want you to get this point, if the road to hell is a spirit of antagonism toward the lordship of Christ then the road to heaven must be the opposite...it must be an attitude of submission to the lordship of Christ. And that is precisely what it is saying.

God wants you to seek for glory and honor and incorruption. God wants the heart to seek heavenward, Godward, above. And even though we don't always attain, there is that seeking heart. And when we fail there is that brokenness. If an unregenerate person is one who rebels against the Lordship of Christ, then a Christian has to be the opposite of that by character. That is clearly the message of this text. Eternal life belongs to those who show the work of God in their hearts by living under the obedience of the lordship of Christ. Those who refuse to do so are the unregenerate and those who receive wrath.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 2:12-16

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: John 5

Saturday, October 6- Pamela

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is John 2-4

Today's scripture focus is Romans 2:1-4

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ² Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

We have "no excuse" to judge others. Yet, how often do I find myself guilty of it? . . . .all. the. time. We are all sinners, all unworthy, all in need of God's grace. He is the only one who has the right to judge us for our actions. I found this commentary and enjoyed all of the stories that he weaves into it. The Pastor at my church using a similar teaching style and the stories about making assumptions on how people look, snoring, and forgetting things really help clarify to me how we are so quick to judge others and so slow to realize how we are guilty of the same things we accuse others of. Brian Bill explains clearly why God is the only one who can judge us:

God judges justly on the basis of what really exists, not what merely appears to be. He sees all the facts, the multiple motives, each action and every attitude. It was F. B. Meyer who said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.

Why are we so critical and caustic with others? Think of it this way. Every time we are judgmental toward another person, we are in essence displaying our distrust or lack of faith in God to take care of His kingdom. Remember that He is God and we are not. And when He passes judgment, we have no basis to object or ask for a retrial. Psalm 96:10: “Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns.’ The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity” and verse 13:“…He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.” Here’s a news flash: God doesn’t need any help in judging others.

Even though we know God is the only just judge, it is so hard to avoid judging others. Judging others makes us feel better about out own inadequacies. We call tell ourselves "Well, at least I'm not as bad as _________ because I don't ____________". When we acknowledge our reasons for passing judgement on others it becomes painfully clear why God can be the only judge. Our motives for judging are to lessen our own guilt for the things in our lives - to make us feel better about our choices and our actions. God's motives for judging are to drive us to repentance.

Our judgmental attitudes are ultimately destructive while God’s judgment is meant to be constructive. The purpose behind God’s condemnation and His kindness is redemptive: He is waiting for us to repent…before it’s too late. (again from here)

So what can we do? Brian Bill suggests these steps of action:

1. Stop judging. How many times a day do you talk about other people and look down your nose at them? Do you disdain people who sin differently than you do? Stop it. Instead of judging, realize that when you judge, you come under judgment. Remember that others are on a journey, just like you are.

2. Change your pronouns. Stop using “them” and “they;” and “he” or “she.” If we want to grow in this area, we must personalize the problem because it really involves three people: me, myself and I. Too many of us talk about ourselves only when we’re bragging. Here’s an idea. Brag on others instead of blasting them; when you talk about yourself, mention something you’ve done wrong. It will keep you humble. Plus, you’ll be much easier to be around.

3. Give God is job back. Ask the Lord to help you be perfectly content to allow Him to judge people instead of trying to do his job for Him.

4. Be positive. When you catch yourself talking negatively about someone else, immediately say something positive. And, when you hear someone else judging or gossiping, insert a constructive comment into the conversation.

5. Get to know God. Start viewing God as kind, tolerant and patient and strive to be so yourself. In addition, see Him as holy, faithful, just, sovereign, and all-powerful. For further study on this topic, see the sermon series called “Getting to Know God” from 2000 by clicking here:www.pontiacbible.org.

6. Respond with repentance. Allow God’s kindness to lead you to repentance. What do you need to turn from right now? Don’t be like Felix who said to Paul in Acts 24:25: “When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” It’s dangerous to wait and it’s foolish to presume upon God’s patience because it will not last forever. We see this in Acts 17:30: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 2:5-11

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Mark 2

Friday, October 5th

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Matthew 4; Luke 4-5; John 1:15-51.

Today's scripture focus is Romans 1:26-32.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

"The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded and are therefore self-enslaved."  CS Lewis

God's wrath of abandonment is at work in our culture today.  He has let go and abandoned us to our own choices and the consequences of those choices.

In his sermon, When God Abandons a Nation, Pastor John MacArthur says that the wrath of abandonment follows three sequential steps.

First is sexual immorality (v24 from yesterday's passage).  And it's obvious that our society today has pursued sexual passion far outside the realm of God's plan and has distorted it by pornography, sexual promiscuity, pedophilia, easy divorce, less marriage, adultery and on it goes.  In our society, there is no doubt that the hearts of the people are filled with lust, leading to impurity, leading to dishonourable behaviour - our nation is driven by sexual immorality.

The next step is the degrading of natural passions into unnatural ones - homosexuality.
MacArthur adds an interesting point.... And the Holy Spirit first in this passage refers to the degradation of women because they are usually the last to be affected in the decay of morals because they have a mothering instinct and a protective instinct over their own children but when the wrath of abandonment is in force, even the women fall to the degrading passions.

The end of v27 and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 
there is consequential wrath here as well. Venereal disease and AIDS (though there are some ways to get it that do not involve sin, that's definitely not the norm) - the direct result of sin.
There's no doubt that are society today has embraced the homosexual movement and wants us to consider it normal, natural, right.

And the third step is a depraved mind.
Reasoning is so corrupted that it is crippled. The faculty, the intellectual faculty can no longer function. The moral law of God written in the heart has been literally stomped and replaced with cultural immorality. The conscience cannot function. And so, says verse 28, they do the things which are not proper, not moral. So immorality goes in every direction and now you can't find your way back because the mind is so corrupt. People don't think right. People's brains don't follow the paths that they should. They advocate all the wretched things and depreciate all the virtuous things. And what flows out of this pornographic, homosexual, depraved culture? All evil.
²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 
It's like somebody opened the sewer of sin and let it run through society.

They know it's wrong and they know the consequences, but not only do they do it anyway, they approve of anyone else who does it right along with them.

Does our society manifest these characteristics?  The answer is unmistakably clear.  Yes it does.  Our nation is suffering the wrath of God's abandonment.
God has abandoned our society because our society has first abandoned God. There is no surer and no sadder evidence of a corrupted, wicked abandoned society than when that society will not tolerate anger against sin. Our society won't tolerate anger against sin. 

Man likes to live with five dominant lies.
Life is random, truth is relative, people are basically good, everybody can change his own life if he chooses to, and the goal of life is self-satisfaction. The truth is opposite that. The truth is opposite that. God is sovereign and nothing is random. The Bible is absolute truth. All people are basically sinful. Only Christ can change your life. And selfless submission to Jesus Christ is the goal of life. 

God has revealed Himself to us - in creation, within ourselves (our sense of morality and reason), and in scripture.  But as a society, we have rejected God.  We have rejected the truth and the light and replaced it with darkness. And the darkness has become so profound we can't even assess their own condition - we're blind to our own sin and can rationalize anything.  We've even turned to man-made idols or false religion in order to accommodate our own useless ideas.

We have abandoned God and now God has abandoned us.

What a bleak, bleak picture.

Is there any hope for our nation?

Psalm 81:11-16
“But my people would not listen to me;    Israel would not submit to me. 
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts    to follow their own devices.
“If my people would but listen to me,    if Israel would follow my ways,
how quickly would I subdue their enemies    and turn my hand against their foes!
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,    
and their punishment would last forever.
But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; 
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”


Follow My ways.

The only hope for our nation or any other nation that has been abandoned by God is to hear the Word of the Lord and obey it.  We need to boldly proclaim the gospel message so that as many people as possible can escape this wrath and, more importantly, the final and eternal wrath.

There is always hope for every individual.  No matter what the state of our nation, we have our own personal choice.  We can choose to believe God's Word, we can choose to accept His amazing gift of salvation, we can choose to reject the lie and the darkness, we can choose to accept the Truth and the Light, we can choose to hear the Word of the Lord and obey it from hearts thankful to the One who has saved us.

May we all choose well!

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 2:1-4

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: John 2-4

Thursday, October 4 ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3.

Today's scripture focus is Romans 1:24-25.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

I don't really have anything to expound upon here.  It's simple.  Man decided they didn't want to accept God's sovereignty and turned away to a philosophy that suited them better, so God said "Fine.  Have it your way then.  I offered you everything I have to give you.  I withheld nothing from you; not even My own Son.  You reject it, so I leave you to your own devices."  And nothing has changed.  We've come up with a thousand variations of the same old sins that have existed since the Fall.  John MacArthur says this:

Now, there is a sense, and this is a theological point that I want you to get in your mind, we're going to go two ways on it, there is a sense in which the phrase means "God let go." God just took His hands off, pulled the restraints back and just let them go in their sin and sin brings its own consequence. One of the problems, by the way, in our society is that we're working furiously to remove the consequence of sin.  I always think about that when I think about all the medicines they've invented to stop venereal disease when venereal disease is God's way of stopping immorality. And as soon as you can deal with venereal disease you can free up everybody to do whatever they want. There's a sense in which God just lets men go, takes away His restraints, gives them their freedom and they go on in their sins and reap the results. So in a very real sense without revealing fire from heaven, without some cataclysmic event, God pours out His wrath on a day-to-day basis as He abandons men to the destructiveness of their own compounded sin. It's an amazing and awesome reality. God makes men's passions the very instrument of His wrath.

There's a sense also in which in pulling back or letting the restraints go, God is acting in a positive overt move of judgment. It isn't that God just says, "Ah, that's enough of you," and turns around takes a walk. It is that God in taking off the restraints which is sort of a negative sin, He just takes them back, also is positively inflicting men with His wrath because He knows the consequence. He abandons us totally to our sinfulness. He removes the restraints but in a real sense that is a positive punitive act on His part.

I want to give you one footnote. It's important to say at this point that this is not a final forever act that damns all men without recourse. God lets men go to the consequence of their sin and all the while endeavors to reach them with the message of His salvation. You understand that? You see, the gospel begins with the fact that God let men go but it is these very men, the world of people like you and I, that He has abandoned to their sinfulness that He calls back later in Romans in the redemptive invitation of the gospel.
(emphasis mine)


Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Romans 1:26-32.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Matthew 4; Luke 4-5; John 1:15-51.

Wednesday, October 3 - Kathryn

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Matt 2; Luke 2:39-52

Today's scripture focus is Romans 1:21-23

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Wow, do I ever see our world today in this.  It's interesting that they know God and know His glory and how beautiful He is and they exchanged that glory, that beauty for passing things.  How many times do I exchange the beautiful blessings God has for me for the things that I want?

Really, when we deny God and make gods of our own, we are really trying to make ourselves God.  Because if we are making our own god, one who does what we say it will, then aren't we really the ones in control?  Aren't we really the 'god' in a sense?  How many times do I put God on a different level and try to make Him do what I want Him to do in an effort to become God?

We have a world full of 'fools' who think they are wise, but they deny God.  Isn't it interesting that the Christians, the followers of God are seen as stupid and backwards?  However, how many times do I become a fool because I use my own 'wisdom' instead of Gods?

It all comes down to Him and me, that is, choosing His wisdom, His glory, His reign, or my own.  Which am I choosing?  

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 1:24-25

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Matt 3; Mark 1; Luke 3

Tuesday, October 2nd

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Matthew 1, Luke 2:1-38

Today's scripture focus is Romans 1:18-20

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The wrath of God is not just some fit of anger directed at people God doesn't like.  The wrath of God is a determined response of a righteous and holy God against sin.

Sometimes the wrath of God is seen in natural consequences to our sinful choices, sometimes it is through direct divine intervention (ex. the destruction of Sodom), sometimes it is wrath still to come (at Judgment Day and hell), sometimes it is the wrath of abandoning people to their owns sins by removing restraint, and one time it was in the outpouring of wrath on His Son on the cross.

Godlessness indicates complete disregard (even contempt) for God and wickedness is the result.

God does not pour wrath on people who never had a chance to choose.  God has revealed enough about Himself so that all men are without excuse.

Creation and the ability to sustain that creation reveals a being of awesome power.  And yet people suppress that truth (v18!) all the time.  The intricacy of creation is absolutely astounding and to think that it was the result of anything but Intelligent Design is absolutely illogical.

God has revealed enough of Himself for us to respond to that revelation. And when we respond to the revelation we've been given, He will provide some way for that person to hear the gospel (such as Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-39, Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10:1-48).

God will judge us based on what we've done with the revelation we've received.  Truly we are without excuse.


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 1:21-23

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Matthew 2, Luke 2:39-52

Monday, October 1st

Today's passage from the Chronological Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Luke 1, John 1:1-14

Today's scripture focus is Romans 1:16-17

¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

In these two verses we see the theme of the entire epistle, and the gospel message - power, salvation, faith and righteousness.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

MacArthur, in his sermon The Gospel of Christ, says....

All the learned religionists, all the philosophers of Rome do not intimidate Paul. They did not intimidate him in Athens. They did not intimidate him in Corinth. They did not intimidate him in Ephesus. They did not even intimidate him in Jerusalem. And they aren't about to intimidate him here. He is proud of the gospel. He is overjoyed at the privilege of proclamation. He is utterly and absolutely eager to preach Jesus Christ. And even though it is a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Gentile the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to all that believe and Paul is not hesitant to preach it.

He has been imprisoned in Philippi. He has been chased out of Thessalonica. He has been smuggled from Berea. He was laughed at in Athens. He was seen as a fool in Corinth. He was nothing but an irritant and sore spot in Jerusalem. He was stoned while in Galatia. And yet he will be eager to preach the gospel at Rome also.

I guess all of us would like to be able to identify with Paul in that same way. But the fact is for you and for me very often we are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I don't think we'd con­fess that, I don't think we'd state that, I don't think we easily admit that but that's the way it works out. Because in those times when we could speak we don't speak. When those times come when we could be bold we are not bold. We face the hostility of the world. We face the unimpressiveness of the gospel. It talks about sin and blood and death. And it sounds so foolish and so silly to men, and we're afraid of what they might think and so we tend to be silent when we should speak. But Paul calmly viewed the distain of the unbelievers. He understood the contempt and the ridicule of those who rejected Christ. He faced death itself for the gospel but never once did he become ashamed of Christ.

Isn't that incredible?  I would like to be able to identify with Paul in that same way.  But what MacArthur says is true of me - there are time I don't speak, when I could speak.  Especially in person.  On Facebook it's easier to share God's truth or my faith, because I can't see their reaction.  It's less intimidating.  But in real life, I admit there are times I don't speak.  And I've never thought of it in these terms before, but if I don't speak when God gives me the opportunity to speak, it proves that I am ashamed.  And for that, I am ashamed.

Paul was able to overcome any such fear quite simply.  He tells us right here. - because of what the gospel is and because of what the gospel does.  It is the power of God for salvation. It's powerful, it changes lives, and Paul has seen it and he believes it.  Do we believe it?

There is indeed power in the gospel, because it has the very power of God behind it.  Man cannot change himself - not in his heart.  And certainly not enough to attain the absolute perfection required by God.  No, we are completely unable.  But we have a God who is able!

behind the gospel is the power. How much power is behind the gospel? I'll tell you. The Bible says, "God has great power," Psalm 79:11. The Bible says, "God has strong power," Psalm 89:13. The Bible says, "God has glorious power," Exodus 15:6. He has mighty power, Job 9:4. He has everlasting power, Isaiah 26:4­.  He has sovereign power,Romans 9:21. He has effectual power, Isaiah 43:13. He has irresistible power, Deuteronomy 32:39. He has incomparable power, Psalm 89:8. He has unsearchable power, Job 5:9. He has power.

Jeremiah 10:12 says: "It is He who made the earth by His power." Jeremiah 27:5 says: "It is I who by My great power and My outstretched arm have made the earth."

In Psalm 33:8 and 9 it says: "Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him for He spoke and it came to be." What power .... what power.

By the same powerful command the Lord maintains the universe. Behind each miracle in the Bible there is the power of God. God can part the sea. God can bring food from heaven. Miracle after miracle show His power. But I really believe the greatest expression of His power is found in His power to save, to transform people, to change their nature, their time and their eternity. Psalm 106 verses 8 and 9: "He saved them for His namesake, that He might make known His mighty power." You see, the manifestation of His power comes in salvation.

The New Testament presents the same power. In Alatthew 28:18 He said: "All power is given unto Me." He had the power to cast out demons. He had power over sickness, every illness, to heal. He had power over the universe to provide for the needs of the people. He had the power to still the storm, the power to walk on the water. He had power over death. He called Lazarus out of the grave. He gave life to the dead son of the widow of Nain. He gave life to the daughter of Jairus. He raised Himself from the dead. But most of all, Romans 1:16 says it, "He had the power of God unto salvation." He had power to save.

Now that is power!

The power of God is able to save.  Salvation.  We need to be saved from sin, from Satan, from evil, from death, from hell, from judgment.  And only the gospel of Christ has the power to do that.

When does it saved?  When we believe.  When we have faith.

Salvation is not professing Christianity. It's not that. It's not ... salvation is not baptism. Salvation is not moral reform. Salvation is not going to church, it's not conforming to rules. It's not self-discipline and restraint. It's not morality. So many people think they're saved for the wrong reason...Salvation doesn't come through the church. 

Salvation comes because a man or a woman recognizes that he has no resources and he sees himself lost and undone and he sees the filthiness and deformity of his sin. And he perceives the rottenness of his heart and the pollution of his nature and he is drawn to Christ as a remedv. And he sees One who died for his sin and who conquered his sin and paid the price and wants to give him new life. And he says - I believe ... I believe.   And it doesn't matter who that man is...

Yes, the primacy of salvation was extended to the Jews. Salvation has primary relevancy to the Jews since they were God's specially chosen people. 

The preaching of the gospel to the Jews first served various important ends. It fulfilled Old Testa­ment prophecies. It manifested the compassion of the Lord Jesus for those who shed His blood, to whom after His resurrection He commanded His gospel to be first proclaimed. It showed that it was to be preached to the chief of sinners and prove the sovereign efficacy of His atonement in expiating the guilt even of His own murderers. It was fit too that the gospel should be begun to be preached where the great transactions took place on which it was founded. (Robert Holdane)

Sure, to the Jew first. But also to the Gentiles. The salvation of God was not limited -to any nation. To everyone, the Jew or Gentile.

But how can the power of God change us even when we believe?  Because when we believe the righteous of God is given to us. We do not suddenly become righteous in ourselves, we are still incapable of that.  But God gives us His righteousness. And He is able to do that because Jesus bore the penalty for my sin, for my unrighteousness. 

This is the glory of the gospel that it is the power of God unto salvation. That it is activated by faith and that faith activates it because faith releases the manifestation of the righteousness of God on our behalf. 


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 1:18-20

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Matthew 1, Luke 2:1-38