Freedom of Conscience Guillotine

Just in case anyone was wondering what I think about the current political situation. Feel free to share, because I honestly think that if we don't defend other people's freedom of conscience, we shouldn't be surprised to find our own freedom of conscience eroding away.

Once Means Done

ALL – Psalm 108:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 27:12
OT – Ezekiel 21:1-22:31
NT – Hebrews 10:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: But just the opposite happened: those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their disobedience and guilt instead of relieving their minds. – Hebrews 10:3, The Living Bible

Thought: Christians sometimes use Jesus’ death as a reason to beat themselves up. “It’s my fault. He died in my place. What a jerk I am.”… which may be true, but still. That’s not really the point. Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross to prove what jerks we are. Yes, His death was the only way to take care of the massive debt our sins had piled up. But the Law was enough to prove that we’re sinful. Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross to prove that, or even to get us to mourn our sinfulness. People had already been doing that. Hating and mourning our sin is part of what the sacrificial system was all about.

And the problem was that the mourning under the sacrificial system was perpetual. It wouldn’t stop. It was day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out. The mourning wouldn’t stop because the sin was never fully dealt with. The sacrifices were always necessary. The job was never done. The people could never stop worrying about their sinful condition before God. They were never free of their guilt.

Until Jesus came. And died. Once. Just once. That was all it took. The job was done. The sins were atoned for. The debt was paid. We would never be able to out-sin the atonement that Jesus’ death supplied (not that we’re encouraged to make a run at it).

When we look at Jesus’ death, we’re not supposed to beat ourselves up anymore. Because Jesus only died once. And ever since the third day after His death, there’s been no reason to worry that sin might ultimately win the day in our lives. Jesus lives, and by His life we have life. Our sins can’t undo His work. “It is finished.” He has won. And because He has won, we have won. The end.

That’s why it’s important to realize that Jesus only died once. And that’s why Jesus’ death isn’t a reason for us to mourn. It’s a reason for us to celebrate the victory He gained and never to waste time wallowing in our sinfulness again. Jesus didn’t have to die for you or me. He could have let us die for ourselves, and we would have mourned our sin while we paid its penalty. Jesus went to the cross because He and His Father loved us and chose the cross—not to make us feel more guilty, but so that our guilt would finally be taken completely away.

Question: What keeps you from enjoying and living in the freedom that Jesus bought for you at the cross?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Rules and Rituals

ALL – Psalm 106:32-48
ALL – Proverbs 27:10
OT – Ezekiel 18:1-19:14
NT – Hebrews 9:1-12

Interesting passage for the day: For the old system dealt only with certain rituals—what foods to eat and drink, rules for washing themselves, and rules about this and that. The people had to keep these rules to tide them over until Christ came with God’s new and better way. – Hebrews 9:10, The Living Bible

Thought: When you look at the Old Testament laws, it really is pretty amazing to think that you don’t actually have to love God in order to obey them. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that anyone could obey them perfectly—whether she loved God or not. But the laws themselves are rules about men’s actions and behaviors. They’re all outward, and anyone can follow them as much as he wants to or is compelled to.

Would it make a difference to have a heart that wanted to follow God’s laws? Sure, and the laws are sometimes accompanied by purpose statements where God says, “Here’s the law, and you need to follow it because...” Follow the law because you love Me. Follow the law because you’ll show your concern for your parents. When the laws are joined to purpose statements like these, it’s obvious that God was never calling people to a heartless religion. But at the end of the day, laws are still laws, rules are still rules, and it’s all too easy for them to usurp the focus of humanity’s religious devotion to God.

Now we’ve been set free from rules. We Christians are still called to live good, upright and moral lives. But we’re called to such lives not by rules, but by love—Christ’s love within us, compelling us to love God and one another wholeheartedly, with every cell of our bodies. And we’re free to live by love rather than by rules because God first loved us and sent His Son to die for our sins, so that we need never face their penalty.

Love begets love, not rules. Even though they sometimes look the same.

Question: Are you living by love, by rules, or by both? Take a moment and ask yourself whether you would live differently if rules weren’t a part of the equation? How would you live differently? In what ways would your life look exactly the same?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Personal Evangelism Obstacle – Pay Me!

ALL – Psalm 33:12-22
ALL – Proverbs 21:11-12
OT – Nehemiah 7:61-9:21
NT – 1 Corinthians 9:1-19

Interesting passage for the day: Under this circumstance, what is my pay? It is the special joy I get from preaching the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights. – 1 Corinthians 9:18, The Living Bible

Thought: What if pastors, evangelists and missionaries all went on strike? What if they all banded together and said, “No more Good News for you until you pay me what I deserve?”

Don’t get me wrong. Many of us are compensated well beyond what we need. But on the other hand, clergy frequently serve wholeheartedly at great sacrifice to themselves. In fact, it’s so common for clergy to be underpaid that sometimes congregations respond scornfully to ministers to suggest that they might need a little more compensation.

What I love about Paul is that he’s not focused on rights. That’s not an excuse to God’s people, letting them off the hook from doing what’s right toward God’s servants. But Paul finds his joy and fulfillment in preaching the Good News. And because he doesn’t depend on anyone in the Corinthian church to provide him with food and clothes, he is able to share the Gospel with them whether they pay him or not. What Paul celebrates is not his right to be paid, but his privilege to carry Good News from city to city and region to region!

Question: What would it take to get you to introduce people to Jesus Christ? Would you have to be paid and compensated well first? Or are you already free to share? If so, are you sharing?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Custom-Free

ALL – Psalm 150:1-6
ALL – Proverbs 18:9-10
OT – 2 Kings 20:1-22:2
NT – Acts 21:18-36

Interesting passage for the day: As for the Gentile Christians, we aren’t asking them to follow these Jewish customs at all—except for the ones we wrote to them about: not to eat food offered to idols, not to eat unbled meat from strangled animals, and not to commit fornication. – Acts 21:25, The Living Bible

Thought: On the one hand, the Jewish believers were VERY serious about having Jewish believers continue to follow Jewish customs. This verse comes in the midst of a section where Paul has returned to Jerusalem amid rumors that he teaches not only non-Jews, but also Jews, to stop acting like Jews once they put their faith in Jesus Christ. In reality, all he was teaching was that Jews and Gentiles could both come to Christ by faith without becoming something they weren’t—Gentiles didn’t have to become Jews to follow Jesus. So Paul was being asked to prove to the Jews that he was for Jewish Christians living like Jews—he wasn’t against a Jewish lifestyle. But on the other hand, it is important to notice that Gentiles (non-Jews) are allowed to follow Jesus as Gentiles. We who are not Jews may still know and walk with God. Jesus’ blood is enough to make us clean. We don’t have to adopt a whole new nationality and learn to apply the entire set of Jewish laws and customs. All we’re asked to do is to avoid a couple of foods and to be sexually pure. The rest of God’s commands are commands that we can live out in distinctly non-Jewish ways.

Question: What kinds of things make you feel restricted by the call to walk with Jesus? Compare what makes you feel restricted to how much more restricted you would be if you had to follow all the Jewish rituals and customs just to follow Jesus.

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.