Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2) What is the law of the “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” ? Simply that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to himself, not counting our failures against us. When we believe this God gives us this Spirit of life...and we have assurance that when this body of flesh and blood dies it will be resurrected a new spiritual being, immortal, and without sin. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19) Let that soak in for a while without the religious “spin” and the truth just might set you fre...

"Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:32-33) Had a friend who posted a funny quote which made me laugh – “Have you ever had one of those days, when you’re holding a big stick and everybody looks like a piñata?” I commented “No, but I have had days where I feel like the piñata and everyone else is holding a big stick”. Life is designed to be the way it is. Sometimes we persecute, unintentionally I hope, and at other times we feel persecuted. So I began to think…what is meant by “tribulation” in the verses above. Well the Greek word is “thlipsis” and carries the idea of using pressure against something. I picture it as walking up a steep hill toward heaven against a cold 60 mile an ho...

“Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) "The salvation of the whole human race is what God proposed in the creation. It is what Christ came into the world to effect, and for the accomplishment of which he was given all needed power in heaven and earth. To this end he died the death of the cross, and thus tasted death for every man; and I submit that such self-sacrificing love cannot suddenly cool, or readily give over to endless torment souls for which it willingly suffered. I should be ashamed of myself, if, believing in God and in Christ, I still feared their ultimate failure in this great work of redemption, whose history fills the Bible." - Thomas ...

“We, then, were entombed together with Him through baptism into death, that, even as Christ was roused from among the dead through the glory of the Father, thus we also should be walking in newness of life. For if we have become planted together in the likeness of His death, nevertheless we shall be of the resurrection also...for in that He died, He died to Sin once for all, yet in that He is living, He is living to God. Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to Sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Romans 6:4-11) Paul is not talking about water baptism but identification with Christ in his death. I heard someone say that “you cannot reform a corpse”. We cannot, but God can and will make all corpses into a new creation...not reformed, but NEW... “...if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!...may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been c...

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.” (10:1-2) Who is "them" ?   It is Israel and he tells "them" … “…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…” (10:3-5) To this day Israel, as a nation, has not confessed Jesus nor do they believe God raised him from the dead - so they are not saved YET - but Paul tells us that "all" of them will be saved… “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! ...What then? …a partial hardening has happened to ISRAEL until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so ALL ISRAEL will be saved; just as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from JACOB. This is My covenant WITH THEM, when I take away THEIR sins.” (11:1-27)...

"God is love…Love never fails" (1 John 4:8; I Corinthians 13:8). If the God of the Bible, the one in whom I have chosen to trust, is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent…and is Love… what is there to worry about? “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8 38-39) He is either the God the Bible says He is, or he is the god of religious myth, a god created by man. And if He is the God of the Bible then NOTHING…even poor decisions…will separate us from the love of God. He will not, nor can He  fail in His plan…the plan to reconcile and save all through Christ Jesus our Lord… “For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile ALL things to Himself, having made peace through the blood ...

"Then they said to Him, what shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:28-29) They asked the wrong question, but Jesus gave the right answer. It is not about any "works" we must do, but the "work of God" . The “work of God” is to bring all mankind to faith in His Son Jesus, the Savior of the world. God’s work will not be complete until “every knee” bows and “every tongue” confesses that Jesus is Lord. Will God fail in His work? - NOT A CHANCE! “…at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11) What does God use to convince people to believe Him? "…Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven…and with gre...

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13) Did you notice that LOVE is greater than FAITH? Many Christians make man's faith greater than God's love it appears to me. They agree that God loves the world and sent Jesus to save it, but say that if a person does not place his faith in Christ he will be eternally condemned. Nevertheless, God's love is greater than man's faith...and the gospel is about God demonstrating this to us... "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled ...

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11) There are two theories upon which all modern physics rests. They are Einstein’s theory of general relativity (GR) and quantum field theory (QFT), the mathematics of which are beyond my IQ and are "foolishness before God" ... “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness; and again, the Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that they are useless. So then let no one boast in men.” (1 Corinthians 3:19-21)  In layman’s terms GR is a theoretical framework that focuses on the big stuff like stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, etc. QFT focuses on the small stuff like sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, etc. Countless hours have been devoted by scientists in studying these theories looking for the so called Theory ...

“For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ of Lord” (Romans 6:23) I have been thinking about sin as that term is used in the Bible. It occurs in many forms and for individuals it ranges from innocently missing a free throw in basketball to murder in the first degree. But the greatest sin of the past 1700 years or so, in my opinion, is not individual sins, but the collective sin of most institutions of Christianity with respect to His plan in Christ Jesus to save the world. Jesus Christ was sent by God to atone for and take away the sins of the world and he is proclaimed in the Bible to be the "Savior of the world" . "John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world… he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world…we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world… ...

Jesus said… "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit" (John 15:5) I once heard a sermon on evangelism which said the above means that saved people go out and win others to Jesus. The sermon went on to suggest that if we were not soul winners then we needed to make sure we had really been saved and quoted… “…he who is wise wins souls.” (Proverbs 11:30) Believe it or not he got a few “Amens” from the self-righteous folks who were involved in the ministries of the church…like me at the time. As a child growing up in the church from age 7 to 15 such sermons as these caused me to doubt my salvation and get baptized 3 different times, trusting these preachers and being convinced by them that I had not been saved. The truth is that none of those decisions and baptisms saved me. God saved me and everyone else through Christ Jesus 2000 years ago! But what is this “fruit” that one who abides in Christ produces? “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy...

"The word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth." (Colossians 1:5-6) The "word of the truth of the gospel" is rarely heard it in our churches…I presume because few pastors know what it is. Works are the emphasis at many churches...tithing, attending, joining and performing. But only those who know “the GRACE of God in truth”  bring forth the "fruit of the Spirit" . “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Don’t Worry, Be Happy! People love you IF you bla bla bla….but God loves you unconditionally! “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians...

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men… Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed…These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.” (Titus 2:11-15) The Greek word for "grace" is “charis” and the Greek word for joy is “chara”. They are both from the same root. I have been told that there was not a great distinction placed between them in classical Greek. And the idea of joy includes thankfulness. “Charis” (grace) is unexpected and undeserved favor joyfully given to another. “Chara” (joy) is the feeling experienced by both the giver and the recipient. Christianity has so screwed up the gospel message that it is a wonder anyone experiences the joy of it so they can give God thanks for it. It is a simple message of "GOOD NEWS"  for all.  When shared it brings "GREAT JOY" …not FEAR. “ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which ...

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the good news of God…regarding his Son…Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith…” (Romans 1:1-6) If you are a Gentile like me, or a Jew who is tired of failing to keep the Law of Moses, there is some Good News from God given to the apostle Paul. You will find it in the New Testament books of Romans through Philemon. This good news "brings salvation" to everyone. “…it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16) What is this good news that "brings salvation to everyone when they believe it? “…all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25) This salv...

The worst of Judah‘s Kings was Manasseh… "So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel" (2 Chronicles 33:9). But evil Manasseh humbled himself before God. "Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom" (2 Chronicles 33:12-13). And all other ungodly, hard hearted, evil Israelites will be humbled and saved… “…a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." (Romans 11:25-26)

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble…and whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (1 Peter 5:5 and Matthew 23:12) Even Gentile King Nebuchadnezzar… "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30).  God opposed this self-exaltation by driving the king out into the fields to eat grass like an animal and became humble...  "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven…and those who walk in pride He is able to abase" (Daniel 4:37). All Gentiles who are not humbled in this life, will be in the next, after they are raised to stand before the Great White Throne and give account… “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it…I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne” (Revelation 22:11-12) Is there any doubt at that moment all will b...

“The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU. So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer…Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us…in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:8-14) Christ Jesus not only redeemed Israel from the curse of the Law, but the Gentiles as well (everyone else). And in Christ Jesus the unconditional promises made to Abraham rests on ALL because one day ALL will believe. “It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things…EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and...

“Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. Nathan replied, The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” (2 Samuel 12:13) My wife is the love of my life. In my eyes she is the perfect wife and without her I would only be half a man…she completes me and has done so for 40 years. I love her without reservation. She is also a great cook. But even the very best cooks learn by experience…and husbands learn to keep their mouth shut…by experience. Early in our marriage she prepared meat loaf for supper. At the time we had a pet Saint Bernard who lived with us in our apartment in Norman. “How is it she asked” so I placed my plate on the floor in front of Puppy Casey. He sniffed it and licked it and then went over and sat in the corner. I laughed and said to Casey “I know what you mean”. Sue Ann didn’t think it was funny. She did not kill me but she did start me on an involuntary diet for about a week. Life is where husbands learn they should keep...

“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength...those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:29-31) Use common sense when you read verses like the above. Look around and observe your personal experience with life. It is our experience to grow old, get weaker, suffer from that condition, and then die. None of what Isaiah says becomes permanent in this life. Some suffer more than others, and often it is the very best and most faithful to God that suffer the most like Paul… “…in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, and I have been constantly on the move. I have ...

"Therefore judge nothing  before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.  He will bring to light  what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. ” (1 Corinthians 4:5 )   “each will receive their praise from God” - Each will receive praise from God based on "motives of the heart" . We are not to judge others motives, but God does and will praise all whose motives are pure.