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Know Thyself
There is only one way to truly know yourself and be just before God.
Here are some collected quotes on the subject…
“No man can of himself understand his errors. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9.
The lips may express a poverty of soul that the heart does not acknowledge. While speaking to God of poverty of spirit, the heart may be swelling with the conceit of its own superior humility and exalted righteousness.
In one way only can a true knowledge of self be obtained. We must behold Christ. It is ignorance of Him that makes men so uplifted in their own righteousness.
When we contemplate His purity and excellence, we shall see our own weakness and poverty and defects as they really are. We shall see ourselves lost and hopeless, clad in garments of self-righteousness, like every other sinner. We shall see that if we are ever saved, it will not be through our own goodness, but through God’s infinite grace.”
- Ellen White, Chtist’s Object Lessons, 159.1
“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
— Luke 18:9-14“The prayer of the publican was heard because it showed dependence reaching forth to lay hold upon Omnipotence. Self to the publican appeared nothing but shame. Thus it must be seen by all who seek God. By faith—faith that renounces all self-trust—the needy suppliant is to lay hold upon infinite power.
No outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self. But no man can empty himself of self. We can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work. Then the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.
It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of self is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed. All our good works are dependent on a power outside of ourselves. Therefore there needs to be a continual reaching out of the heart after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the soul before Him. Only by constant renunciation of self and dependence on Christ can we walk safely.
- Ellen White, Christ’s Object Lessons, 159
“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
— Galatians 2:19-21“…if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
— Ephesians 4:21-24“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. And 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 12:1-2“It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of self is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed. All our good works are dependent on a power outside of ourselves. Therefore there needs to be a continual reaching out of the heart after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the soul before Him. Only by constant renunciation of self and dependence on Christ can we walk safely.
The nearer we come to Jesus and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly we shall discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the less we shall feel like exalting ourselves. Those whom heaven recognizes as holy ones are the last to parade their own goodness. The apostle Peter became a faithful minister of Christ, and he was greatly honored with divine light and power; he had an active part in the upbuilding of Christ’s church; but Peter never forgot the fearful experience of his humiliation; his sin was forgiven; yet well he knew that for the weakness of character which had caused his fall only the grace of Christ could avail. He found in himself nothing in which to glory.”
- Ellen White, Christ’s Object Lessons 159
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A Gospel Word: For The Many It Concerns and the Few Who Believe it
[Reposted from my Facebook page, written earlier today.]
Do you know the meaning, significance, and necessity of “imputed” righteousness? (Romans 4:8,11,22-24, 5:23).
The word appears in the King James Version of these texts. More modern Bible versions have updated the term(s) so you may not be familiar with them. But it is still used in theology to describe a specific act of God in justifying the sinner, the core of the gospel, the heart of the gospel, without which, it lies dead.
“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited [imputed] to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited [imputed] as righteousness…”
— Romans 4:3-5
“…Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute [account] sin.”
— Romans 4:8 KJV / cf. Ps. 32:1,2
This word and these passages also lie at the heart of the disagreement over the truth about justification (righteousness by faith alone) between Protestantism and Catholicism. I dare say a majority of Protestants today hold, either unwittingly or rebelliously, the position of Rome on justification, which is in fact a position of eternal loss. A significant number within my own church hold this false doctrine, disguising it under a profession of godliness called Last Generation Theology. Others align themselves with them under the misnomer of “historical Adventism”, as if the pioneers of our church taught a false gospel of salvation by works.
Why does it matter so much? Isn’t it just a windy upset in the teacup of theology? How could, as I suggest, so much depend upon something that seems either difficult to grasp or simply insignificant?
The apostle Paul puts it this way:
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
— Galatians 1:8-9
No amount of sincerity can release us from the curse of the sinner who attempts to change the way in which God justifies us.
Righteousness by faith alone, the justification of the ungodly by the grace of God through faith in the “imputed” righteousness of Christ, is the very heart of God’s saving act in the gospel.
Implied within it is ALL that Christ did in perfect obedience to the law of God and dying for our sins, so that his obedience could be imputed to us who believe in him.
The whole life and teachings of Jesus are staked upon the truth of justification by faith alone.
It has been this way from the beginning, before the creation of the world, when the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, made a covenant bond for the saving of the sinful humanity to come. In that Divine council of heaven the doctrine of justification by grace through faith was created and at its heart is the imputed righteousness of Christ alone.
What wonder then that there is so great confusion today in all of the churches between what God does in justification and what we accomplish in sanctification.
A great many, I would dare say a majority, of Christians today believe that their obedience to God’s law of love will merit God’s favor in the judgment and secure for them the salvation they long for. You hear the theology in their boasting of all they have overcome and all they have accomplished, by grace of course, in their efforts of obedience. And they obviously have the pictures to prove it.
The very sparseness of the discussion about imputed righteousness among Christians points us in this direction. The same can be said for the rarity of preaching on this subject. Humorous anecdotes and fascinating stories replace the expository preaching of the Word of God. The itching ears of a bored Christian community are scratched by increasingly more entertaining displays of imagined talents and presumptive spiritual gifts. Stage performance and the praise it receives is called worship. The infusion of energetic gestations and swaying hips is proclaimed to be manifestations of the Spirit. How can we not all be blessed?
What you do not see in our large and small meetings, what you do not hear, are the sites and sounds of repentance and confession of sin from sinners who see how they stand before a holy God. Where are the tears? Where are the cries? Where is the Pentecost of repentance and confession among those who have a searing need for relief of the convictions of sin?
And when there is some small measure of conviction, how can it be so quickly lost between the pew and the potluck table? We no longer wait to even enter the foyer after service before we discuss our favorite recipes, lawn mower repairs, and problems with the insurance adjuster. And this on the Sabbath!
How common worship has become! Could it have anything to do with misunderstanding the gospel, with refusing to give up our imagined right to boast in some way, at some time, of our achievements for God?
We will not be able to plead ignorance in the judgment for a truth that has been so clearly revealed, so urgently explained, yet widely ignored throughout the history of the church. Ignorance of the gospel, as in ignorance of the law, does not remove us from the responsibility of knowing it and the consequences of ignoring it.
It is true that the essence of the gospel is in simply believing on Jesus’ name, that in the person of Jesus all true theology meets and has its meaning. We may start the Christian walk by simply confessing our faith in Christ from a sincere heart with very little knowledge of how the bread of life is made.
HOWEVER, a professed faith that does not continue to seek understanding becomes presumption and loses its hold upon God. Very many have failed to progress in a Christian life, even worse, have become Christians in name only, through a willing ignorance of God’s saving acts in Christ. They reveal their unwillingness to live in true relationship to him, a relationship in which the bond is defined by God, not by themselves.
The gospel is the essence of simplicity, yet often very difficult because it allows no variance for pride and self-sufficiency in living before God. Experientially, justification by faith means the death of self in union with Christ in his death to sin (Roman 6). Expecting to be a Christian while not taking up this cross daily is a delusion of discipleship, not the exercise of it. (Luke 9:23-26). It is to come under the curse of God rather than his blessing.
If you have lost your way in understanding the gospel and living by it, there is only one way forward and that is through a diligent search of the Scriptures, allowing God to reframe your faith, your thinking, and your living by his word. This is the transformation and reformation so sorely needed in the church today.
The Scriptures clearly define our condition under the law, the righteousness it demands, and the righteousness that can only be ours, not through obedience to the law, but through the obedience of Christ to that law that is imputed to us, that is credited or reckoned to us, when we put our faith in his death for our sins.
(Romans 3:10-31) See at the end.
Righteousness is not a wage to be earned but a gift that is given. Justification is not a making righteous, not infusing us with righteousness, but a declaration of righteousness through the advocacy of Jesus Christ in our behalf.
Justification is our title to heaven; sanctification is our fitness for it. We must never confuse the two.
Justification accounts us as perfect before the law of God when we, in fact, are still far from morally perfect. The work of sanctification, that is, growing in the likeness of Christ, is the work of a lifetime and will never end as long as life shall last. And no amount of moral achievement will merit us standing as sinless before the law of God.
That is why the gospel takes away our proud boasting before God. What we may boast in is not our efforts of obedience to the law or any achievement in it (which certainly must exist), but are boast is in the cross of Christ , in his work for us that was already accomplished 2,000 years ago at Calvary. (Rom. 4:2; 15:7; 1 Cor 1:29-31; Gal. 6:14).
Even the sanctification, the obedience to the law of love, that God works in us through the power of His Holy Spirit, through his grace and our efforts, does not justify us in his eyes. These works of love can out atone for sins committed nor make us so pure that our corrupt humanity no longer appears in his eyes.
No good works in worship or service ascend to God in spotless purity. Our prayer, our praise, our sacrifices are only acceptable to God when mingled with the merits of Christ’s blood because all of our good works still pass through the corrupt channel of humanity. The very best of the human being can do is still so morally defiled by human nature that it is repudiated by a holy God.
Says Ellen White:
“Oh, that all may see that everything in obedience, in penitence, in praise and thanksgiving, must be placed upon the glowing fire of the righteousness of Christ. The fragrance of this righteousness ascends like a cloud around the mercy seat.” 1SM 344.3
It is for want of this that the church lacks power and wisdom, even thkugh church the so desperately seeks them, having forgotten that her power is in her weakness and her wisdom is in her foolishness, in the weakness and foolishness of God that is declared in the cross of Christ.
I’ll leave this argument of the gospel with these verses from 1st Corinthians as a witness to the truth and a testimony against all who corrupt the gospel with the supposed merits of their good works.
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 NASB
Update: I forgot to add the promised scriptures!
Here it is, the law and gospel in all of its glory in Christ:
Rom. 3:10-31 NASB
“…as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
Destruction and misery are in their paths,
And the path of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
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; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”
— Romans 3:10-31 -
Video: The Trinity | Our Triune God in the Gospel of John
I recorded this tonight for my YouTube channel, Voices in the Garden. As the old saints used to say, the Lord gave me “freedom” in presenting it. Still low key by other standards – I’m not demonstrative – but the Lord gave me a flow of thought, greater than usual; I hope is clear in the hearing as it was in the telling. I take it in faith. May you as well.
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The Psalms for Today
Why the Psalms?
“Then he [Jesus] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44
We meet Christ, through His Spirit, in the Psalms. We pray and sing them with Him now just as He prayed and sang them with His disciples more than two thousand years ago. The same voice His mother heard as she taught Him the sacred Psalter will be in our own hearts, lifting them in praise to God for,
“wonders He has done”.
Said Luther,
“Where does one find finer words of joy than in the Psalms of praise and thanksgiving? There you look into the hearts of all the saints, as into fair and pleasant gardens, yes, as into heaven itself.… On the other hand, where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitiful words of sadness than in the Psalms of lamentation? There again you look into the hearts of all the saints, as into death, yes, as into hell itself.… It teaches you in joy, fear, hope, and sorrow to think and speak as all the saints have thought and spoken.”
~ Martin Luther, Luther’s Works (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House), vol. 35, pp. 255,256“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
~ Psalm 78:4Thirty years after his birth He spoke of the Psalms as sacred Scripture to His disciples, teaching them about Himself, how He, God’s promised Messiah, must have suffered for their redemption:
“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” ~ Luke 24:45-49The Psalms were on His lips as He, the crucified Word, spoke from his Cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1). And at last, “Into your hand I commit my spirit”. (31:5)Jesus lived, moved, and had His earthly being in the Psalms. No other book of the Hebrew Scriptures speaks so often and so eloquently of the Anointed One, the Christ to come, of His suffering and victory over sin for the glory of God and our redemption. More than 1,000 years before His birth, we can read the words of life that would come from His lips, words that would fill the earth with the light of truth.
The Gospels tell us Jesus quoted often from the Hebrew Scriptures, but most often from the Psalms. Eleven quotes are given to us, but we can only wonder how much more came from His melodious voice. The Psalms He sung at the Last Supper before His crucifixion are not recorded, but we know the verses sung then for Passover, Psalms 115-118, are still sung today among those who have yet to know Jesus as their promised Messiah!
“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” ~ Matthew 26:30
Of His childhood, Ellen White writes:
“Often He expressed the gladness of His heart by singing psalms and heavenly songs. Often the dwellers in Nazareth heard His voice raised in praise and thanksgiving to God. He held communion with heaven in song; and as His companions complained of weariness from labor, they were cheered by the sweet melody from His lips. His praise seemed to banish the evil angels, and, like incense, fill the place with fragrance. The minds of His hearers were carried away from their earthly exile, to the heavenly home.”
~ Desire of Ages, p. 73“And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” ~ Luke 2:40
In the Psalms, the young Jesus read the prophecies of His coming, His suffering, and His victory. From the Word He Himself had inspired in prophets, priests, and King he learned the meaning of His incarnate life as the Spirit of God spoke to Him in His dependent flesh.
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.”
~ Luke 4:16-20This same Spirit of Christ, the inspiration of the Psalms and all of holy Scripture, is promised to all of His disciples, to all who put their faith in Him, all the way to the end of the ages. The Divine Psalmist will write His Word on our hearts, present with us in all we face for His name’s sake.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you….when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me…I will send him to you.
~ John 14:26: 15:26; 16:7“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
~ Matthew 28:18-20“Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.”
~ Psalm 54:4“The Book of Psalms fulfills a unique role in the Bible. Just as the heart has a special function in the human body, so the Psalms function in the Scriptures as the heartbeat of Israel’s religion. In this book of prayers the covenant people found their stairway to heaven. It reaches from the lowest depths of human agony and suffering to the highest joys of communion with God. Laments and cries of despair exchange with hymns of thanksgiving and praise in view of dramatic answers to intense supplications.
This living interchange between man and God is perhaps the deeper reason why the Book of Psalms has been cherished as the invaluable jewel in the Hebrew Bible by seekers after God in all ages. It proved to be an unceasing fountain of spiritual comfort and revival.”
— Hans K. LaRondelle, Deliverance in the Psalms: Messages of Hope for Today (Bradenton, FL: First Impressions, 2006), p.7
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A Parable in 60 Seconds
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Catching up | What I’ve been thinking, what I’ve been doing, and what’s next.
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The Word of Life
Jesus taught us to pray like this: “Our Father in heaven…Give us this day our daily bread”. Matthew 6:9,11
What food is to the body so is the Word of God to the soul. As often as we must eat our food we must consume the word of God to have His Life in ourselves.
Christ himself is the Word of God made flesh (John:1-5,14). We are nourished in Him when we are nourished on the Word. Ignorance of the Word is ignorance of him. To misunderstand the Word is to misunderstand God, for Jesus Christ, the Word, is from God and is God. Neglect of the word is neglect of Him.
Do we want Jesus to be with us every moment of the day? Then we will want nothing more, nothing greater than to abide in Him in His Word.
As Jesus said, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
— Matthew 4:4
Jesus spoke of himself as the Bread of Life, Bread that was baked in the furnace affliction, Bread that we must eat to have His life in ourselves.
Just as in the days of Moses God gave them mana to eat, manna from heaven, so this manna is a type of Christ whom we must partake of daily if we would live the Life, the only Life, worth living.
“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
— John 6:48-57
The Apostle Peter later said this to the Christians who had been dispersed by persecution throughout Asia…
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
— 1 Peter 1:22-25
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
— 1 Peter 2:2-3
Only a few hours before his condemnation and crucifixion Jesus gave his disciples this life-saving instruction:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love”.
— John 15:5-10
The Apostle Paul had this to say about his ministry of the Word, the ministry of reconciliation proclaimed to the world, the word of reconciliation in the gospel, for whom he had been commissioned as an ambassador by Christ:
“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
— 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
As the Word of God lives in us, Christ comes to the world through us, we who through the word are like salt that preserves life, like light that shines on the pathway of those surrounded by darkness.
The Word was made flesh to dwell among us; therefore, the church is the body of Christ to be consumed in the world as all who would live feed upon the living Word of God. It just as it was with Christ, so it is with the church as the body of Christ who lives in the resurrecting power of God.
“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 -
Video / Daniel 2: An introductory vision of apocalyptic prophecy
Here is an introduction to apocalyptic prophecy, the first vision in the book of Daniel, a vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s that was interpreted by Daniel. This is the foundation for Daniel’s own vision beginning in Daniel 7 and the subsequent three visions from Daniel 8-12.
The video explains the relationship of Daniel 2, not only to the other visions in Daniel, but to the Apocalypse, the book of Revelation, which has Daniel’s visions as its foundation.
Why does Bible prophecy matter and does it affect your life today? -
Psalm 37: A Bible reading for Hope and Encouragement
Here is a video link (below also) of a Bible reading on my YouTube channel, Voices in the Garden. It includes both long-form video and 60 second shorts, all of which have to do with the Christian spiritual life. I hope you’ll stop by, like and subscribe, and tell your friends.
I’m over 400 subscribers now with an increase of more than 50 in the last 10 days. I have a very simple message of encouraging others in the Word of God.
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A Christian, thinking, vlogging, and writing online. I live elsewhere as well. I follow the theology of the cross in the faith and practice of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Formerly a pastor in Europe and America, now living semi-retired in Kentucky (U.S.), driving for the Amish and in-home carer.
Crucified Hearts 