Daniel'sWeeklyDevotions

This week, we come to the most popular 3:16 of them all.  It’s a verse so popular, people can write just the reference on a piece of poster board, and those seeing it know exactly what they’re trying to say.  Yes, today’s 3:16 comes from the book of John.

¹⁶ For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.— John 3:16

This verse is part of the larger context of Nicodemus’s visit to Jesus at night, described in John 3:1-21.  While we won’t recount that story in detail, it is interesting to note that John 3:3 is the source of the term “born again,” and it came from Jesus.  Also, we won’t rehash what we looked at two weeks ago, regarding man’s need for God; if you missed it or would like to re-read it, feel free.  Rather, I’d like to focus on what the Old Testament says about the coming of Jesus.  Notice that “gave” is past tense; at this chronological point in the Bible, most references to God’s Son were in the future tense.

The coming of Jesus is a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament, and it starts early in Genesis.

¹⁵ I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.— Genesis 3:15

This was God speaking to the serpent, after it had been used to deceive Adam and Eve.  The “He” in this verse is pointing to Jesus.  As we continue from there, Moses wrote in Leviticus 4 about the sin offering; while this description doesn’t mention Jesus by name, the picture of how the sacrifice was slain is a foreshadowing of the way Jesus would die, His blood spilled out all over the ground.  However, His blood didn’t just cover sin – it completely washed it away!  Further on, the Israelites began complaining about God leading them out of Egypt, and God sent poisonous snakes into their camp.  Through their deliverance from the snakes, we have another picture of salvation, and the way Jesus would die.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake [image] and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover. ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.— Numbers 21:8-9

Jesus even brings this up when He’s talking to Nicodemus!  He really was trying to tell people what was coming.

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up…— John 3:14

Isaiah paints what is probably the most poignant picture of the suffering Savior.  Before we talk a lot about it, I’ll let you read what Isaiah had to say.

² He grew up before Him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no form or splendor that we should look at Him,
no appearance that we should desire Him.

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like one people turned away from;
He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

⁴ Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.

⁵ But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.

⁶ We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished Him
for the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
He did not open His mouth.

⁸ He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of My people’s rebellion.

⁹ They made His grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man at His death,
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.— Isaiah 53:2-9

As a child growing up, this was a passage that I had to memorize.  As I worked to commit the words to memory, I either did not ever take the time to view them all together as a whole, or maybe I just didn’t know enough to really, really get it.  Verses 2 and 3 describe an image to which I can relate, and I suspect you can too; have you ever seen what a root looks like?  This person blended in, or maybe even stuck out in an undesirable way.  People took one look and despised Him, turning away from Him.  I’ve had people literally turn their backs to me and walk away, and it’s no fun.  How much more did this hurt the One who had given up everything He had in heaven to come here with the power to save us?  I can also tell you that it wasn’t love I felt in my heart towards the people who walked away from me.  Not only did Jesus take this abuse, this hate borne of misunderstanding, He continued His mission – His mission of even more suffering, untold torture, and eventual death – all not for what He had done, but for the sins that these very same people who rejected Him had done!  What an amazing, unimaginable love He must have for us!

Verse 6 is one of the more well-known verses in this passage.  We have all done wrong, every single one of us – if you’re like me, several times daily.  We have all “turned to our own way.”  No matter what we’ve seen, no matter what blessings God has given us, we all keep veering off the path, seeking our own way.  (Yes, even saved people still sin; Jesus’s sacrifice paid for that sin too.)  The King James Version translates the word “punished” in that verse as “laid on” – the picture I get from that is of our sin being piled and piled and piled upon Jesus, until He broke from the heavy load.

Verse 7 presents a concept that is completely foreign to many people today – Jesus did not defend Himself against the false accusations that were made against Him.  The Sanhedrin council levied all sorts of charges against Him, and He presented no defense for them.  The Roman authorities could find no fault with Him, even taking the step as to publicly wash their hands of any evil that the people wanted to do against Jesus.  As a child, this was one verse I didn’t understand.  I understood it as prophecy that was fulfilled as recorded in the Gospels, but I didn’t have my head completely around it.  Why didn’t He defend Himself?  I believe there are two main reasons.  First, verse 7 – this was prophecy concerning the Messiah, and had He defended Himself, this prophecy would be unfulfilled; this would have given His detractors a reason to speak against Him.  Second, it would have done no good whatsoever; the people who were coming against Him were not going to stop until they had Him.

Finally, verse 9 is just neat.  “They made His grave… with a rich man.”  Joseph, from whom Jesus’s tomb was borrowed, was a wealthy man who was also a follower of Jesus.  (I wonder if Joseph gave Him a special 3-day rate…)  The detail in these prophecies that are fulfilled really increases my faith, and I hope it does the same for you.  Confidence in the Scripture is important, because without the solid foundation of Scripture as inerrant, our knowledge of God could not be certain.

So, how do you live forever?  Jesus told us, right up there in the second paragraph of this devotional.  Did you miss it?   All kidding aside, it really is as simple as Jesus explained to Nicodemus – “so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”  Paul put it this way to the church in Rome…

⁹ if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.— Romans 10:9

If you have never done this, I pray that today is the day that you trust your life to Jesus.  Life is tough, and there’s no way I’d want to go through it without God on my side.  If you’d like this broken down even further, check out God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.  If you are a Christian, remember the sacrifice that Jesus had to make to be able to give you this free gift.  Thank Him, and be sure to share His gift with others that you see.

This week brings us to Acts 3:16.

¹⁶ By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know.  So the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.— Acts 3:16

This is Peter speaking to people who had assembled after he and John had healed a lame man (Acts 3:1-16).  This type of healing, along with many other things described in the book of Acts, can be a bit contentious among Christians.  Is God still in the healing business?  Does He still use people like Peter and John to speak His healing?  And what role do doctors play in healing – if I took a pill and got better, it must have been the doctor, right?  The short answers to these questions are yes, no, and no.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s look at some miraculous healings at other places in the Bible.

In 1 Kings 17:8-24, we read about Elijah and the widow of Zerephath.  This is during the time when Elijah had declared to Ahab and Jezebel (through direction from the Lord, of course) that it would not rain until he said it would.  There was a famine, and Elijah was hungry.  When he arrived at the widow’s house, she was about to make the last of her food; once she and her son ate it, they would be completely out with no prospect of any more.  Elijah asked her to make him some food first, and she did; from that point on, her flour and oil never ran out for the duration of the famine.  However, the widow’s son became sick and died.  Elijah prayed over him, that the Lord would raise him.

²² So the Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.— 1 Kings 17:22

Elijah was succeeded by Elisha, and Elisha had some pretty radical healing experiences himself.  In 2 Kings 4:8-17, he passed through a town called Shunem, and when he did, a woman prepared food for him every time he came by, and even set up a room in her house for him to stay.  When questioned about why, she said that she recognized him as a man of God.  Elisha asked what she would like in return for her hospitality, and she said she didn’t need anything.  When he pressed her, though, she said that she had always wanted a son, but had been unable to conceive.  Elisha told her “At this time next year you will have a son in your arms.” (v. 16)  She was incredulous, but a year later, she had a son.

Fast forward a few years (2 Kings 4:18-37), and the boy is growing.  Suddenly, one day he complains of severe head pain, and quickly dies in her lap.  She immediately calls for donkeys to travel to see Elisha.  Elisha tries to send an assistant to hold his staff over the boy’s head to bring him back to life, but the mother is insistent that Elisha come himself.  Once they arrive at her house, the assistant goes in as Elisha directed, but nothing happened.  What Elisha does next I’m pretty sure isn’t in any medical textbooks, but it worked!

³² When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed. ³³ So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he went up and lay on the boy: he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand.  While he bent down over him, the boy’s flesh became warm. ³⁵ Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth.  Then he went up and bent down over him again.  The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.— 2 Kings 4:32-35

(While these examples are of times that God chose to heal, He does not always make that choice.  Both the Old and New Testaments have plenty of times where people died, and were not raised back to life; and, even these people did eventually die “for good.”  Don’t at all think that because someone prays, even someone who is “right with God” or “spiritual” or a “great prayer warrior,” that God is bound to heal.  He alone knows the plans He has for each of us.  The remainder of this will focus on times when God does heal, but I wanted to address this before we continue.)

Returning to my questions from the beginning…  Is God still in the healing business?  The answer to that is an emphatic yes!  One of the names of God in the Bible is Jehovah-Rophe, meaning “The Lord Who Heals.”  This was used in Exodus 15:22-26, where God provided purification for the undrinkable water at Marah so His people could drink.  In Luke 5:30-31, Jesus even used the picture of a physician when explaining why He spent so much time with sinners rather than with those who already practiced religion; if He can fix our sin, can’t He also fix our health?  Also, over this past year, I have known people who have defeated cancer and overcome a drowning.  God is definitely still in the healing business.

Does God still use people, like Peter and John, to walk up to someone and heal them just by speaking?  This is where some of the contention comes in.  I’m not interested in a deep theological debate, but I will say that I have not see this in my lifetime.  While God could still use men (or women) in this way, He has generally used different techniques for different times.  In our day and time, could you imagine the international storm that would be created by someone who did this?  It is highly unlikely that this attention would point people towards God, which is the goal of everything God does.  Besides, I don’t think He needs to, which brings me to the next question.

Don’t doctors heal more people than God these days?  No.  God has revealed medicine and the human body to physicians; He has granted drug makers the knowledge that they have, and the doctors the knowledge as to when their application is appropriate.  He created the earth and everything on the earth; even if a drug is synthesized, it’s synthesized using material He created.  This reminds me of a joke that I heard a while back – a group of scientists gets together and decides that they’re now smarter than God.  So, one of them goes up to God and says, “You know, with human cloning and all the things we can create, we don’t really need You anymore.”  God replies, “Then why don’t we have a man-making contest – and let’s do it old-school, like I did with Adam.”  “No problem,” says the scientist, and he bends down and picks up a handful of dirt.  “No, no, no,” said God, “get your own dirt!”

So, then, we see that all healing does come from God, whether He chooses to make cancer disappear, or whether He uses ibuprofen and a physical therapist, or whether He uses a replacement limb.  Recognizing Him as the source for all healing, not just the miracles, enables us to more greatly see His hand at work in our lives, and in the lives of those around us.

Today we hit a Scripture so tough, it took me two years to write about it.  It’s Romans 3:16 – see if this isn’t the most uplifting verse you’ve heard all week…

¹⁶ ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,— Romans 3:16

We’ll definitely need some more context – let’s look beginning with verse 10, going through verse 20.

¹⁰ as it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, there is not even one. ¹³ Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues.  Vipers’ venom is under their lips. ¹⁴ Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. ¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, ¹⁷ and the path of peace they have not known. ¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. ²⁰ For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.— Romans 3:10-20

The block quote in the passage above is a compilation of verses from the Old Testament.  I won’t paste all of them here, but these can be found in Psalm 5:9, Psalm 10:7, Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 36:1, Psalm 53:1-3, Psalm 140:3, Ecclesiastes 7:20, and Isaiah 59:7-8.  In each of these passages, what immediately follows these descriptions is a call is for God to judge the people who are displaying these tendencies, and deliver His people from them.  The passage in Isaiah is no different; the prophet writes how the Lord is going to judge those who have wronged Him and His people.  Here’s how he described the coming judgment…

¹⁵ Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and He was offended.

¹⁶ He saw that there was no man —
He was amazed that there was no one interceding;
so His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness supported Him.

¹⁷ He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and He wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak.

¹⁸Thus He will repay according to their deeds:
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and He will repay the coastlands.

¹⁹ They will fear the name of the Lord in the west,
and His glory in the east;
for He will come like a rushing stream
driven by the wind of the Lord.

— Isaiah 59:15-19

That’s quite a picture!  The “rushing stream driven by the wind” is a powerful image.  We’ve seen images of floods on TV – it’s amazing how just a little bit of water can completely overpower anything in its path.  This is a strong force, but it is not indiscriminate, like a normal flood; the Lord is repaying people according to their deeds.  At this point, we may be thinking “Boy, I’m glad I’m not one of those people who has wronged Him or His people!”  But, are we really innocent?  Let’s take a look further in Romans 3…

²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.— Romans 3:23

I once had a pastor who said that in this verse, “all” is from the Greek, meaning “all.”  There is little ambiguity about whether you and I are part of the “all” that Paul is talking about – every one of us has sinned against God, and deserve any punishment we receive from Him.

So, we’ve wronged God, and God demands justice.  How are we going to make this right?  (Notice above in Isaiah 59:16, “His own arm brought salvation….”)  Let’s see what Paul says.

²¹ But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed — attested by the Law and the Prophets ²² — that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. ²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ²⁴ They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. ²⁶ He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.— Romans 3:21-26

The word “propitiation” is an interesting word.  When I started reading versions other than the King James Version, I thought for sure that “propitiation” was one of those words that wouldn’t make it.  However, the more modern translation versions NASB, ESV, NKJV, and HCSB all have this word in this verse!  The NIV translates it “sacrifice of atonement,” and that’s a good way to put it.  The dictionary defines propitiation as making something favorably inclined or appeasing it.  God presented Jesus as a way to appease His demand for justice!  Since Jesus appeases this demand, all we have to do is believe in Him and accept Him (v. 26 “He would… declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus”).  Not only does he declare us righteous, God will “pass over the sins previously committed.” (v. 25)

This is really good news.  I imagine your experience on this earth is much like mine in this regard – I simply cannot always do what I know I’m supposed to do.  I get angry.  I say mean things.  I let resentment build in my heart.  If it were up to me to apologize for my sins and try to do better, I would be toast.  But, look at what Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross can do for us!  If we accept Him, God counts us righteous and doesn’t demand any further payment for our sin!  (We may still have to deal with consequences here on earth – God forgives our sin; He never promised to save us from our bad decisions.)

Notice the end of verse 22 – “to all who believe, since there is no distinction.”  There’s that “all” again, and yes, it’s still talking about you and me.  This free gift, this payment for sin, is available to all people without distinction.  Any race, any gender, any age, any marital status, any intelligence level, any financial status… well, you get the idea.  Most importantly, it is available for you!  If you are reading this, Jesus knew about you when He died on the cross; He paid for your sin with His life.  All you have to do is accept that gift – as Paul and Silas told a jailer in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”  If you would like more information on how to accept this gift, you can look at God’s Simple Plan of Salvation, which details more about this; also, feel free to contact me using the “Contact” link found at the top of the page.

This week, let’s look at 2 Corinthians 3:16.  This is a beautiful verse!

¹⁶ but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.— 2 Corinthians 3:16

In this passage, Paul is illustrating the access that we now have to the Lord by contrasting it with Moses’s encounter with God when he received the Ten Commandments, along with plans for the Tabernacle and other laws.  Here is the description of this from Exodus:

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your glory.”

¹⁹ He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you.  I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” ²⁰ But He answered, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” ²¹ The Lord said, “Here is a place near Me.  You are to stand on the rock, ²² and when My glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back, but My face will not be seen.”

— Exodus 33:18-23

²⁹ As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone!  They were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. ³² Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out.  After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ and the Israelites would see that Moses’ face was radiant.  Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.— Exodus 34:29-35

This is a very interesting story.  In the first part, Moses has been taking down laws from God for quite some time (in the Scripture, since the bottom of chapter 20), and he asks to see Him. God tells him that he can’t look on His face and live, but he can see His back.  In the second part, every time Moses spoke with God, he had to wear a veil on his face afterwards, because the people could not look on him due to how radiant his face was!  In some sense, one’s closeness to God determined how much of His glory one could see.  Only when Moses had entered into the inner part of the Tabernacle could he remove this veil.

Now, we come to the time after Jesus has come and given His life for us.  Let’s look at today’s verse in its context.

¹² Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness— ¹³ not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel could not look at the end of what was fading away. ¹⁴ But their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside [only] in Christ. ¹⁵ However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, ¹⁶ but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.— 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Let’s skip verse 12 for now, as verses 13-15 describe the way it “was” instead of the way it “is.”  Moses put a veil over his face due to the closed-mindedness of the Israelites.  In verse 15, “reading Moses” refers to the reading of the first five books of our Bible, what we call the Pentateuch, but Hebrews call the Torah – to this day, the Torah is read as part of traditional orthodox Judaism.  It does not recognize Christ as having fulfilled the law, so the focus is continually on following the law given in these Scriptures.  Paul says that when this happens, the veil remains.

Verse 12 and verses 16-18 describe the way it “is” now.  We can use boldness because the veil has been removed.  Verse 17 describes this as “freedom,” translated in the King James Version as “liberty.”  We don’t have to go through a “closer-to-holy” intermediate person like Moses in order to get to God, and it’s not a one-way God-to-us communication either.  We can go directly to Him, and He can speak directly to us, either in our hearts or through His Word.  When Jesus was crucified, God even gave a symbol of this.

⁵⁰ Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. ⁵¹ Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom….— Matthew 27:50-51a

This curtain was the entrance to the Holy of Holies, the inner part of the temple that was restricted to priests once a year to offer the sacrifices for the people.  Jesus’s payment for our sins was complete – we are no longer restricted when coming before Him!

Finally, in verse 18, we see the reason for this.  We come before God with no veil, and can view His glory directly.  We benefit from this, as we are transformed and become closer to the image of God.  However, this also benefits others – we, like Moses, should reflect this glory!  Others should be able to look at us and see Him.  This is my prayer this week – that we will become so close to God that we will reflect His glory to the world around us.

This week, we’ll take a look at Galatians 3:16.  It is below, in the context of verses 10-18.  In this passage (and all of Galatians 3), Paul is writing to clear up confusion.  The Galatian church had been deceived by legalistic teachers who emphasized following the law.  In writing this, Paul refers directly or indirectly to several Old Testament verses to illustrate how Christ has fulfilled the promise made to Abraham.

¹⁰ For all who [rely on] the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continue doing everything written in the book of the law. ¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. ¹² But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. ¹³ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. ¹⁴ The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¹⁵ Brothers, I’m using a human illustration.  No one sets aside even a human covenant that has been ratified, or makes additions to it. ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but and to your seed, referring to one, who is Christ. ¹⁷ And I say this: the law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.

— Galatians 3:10-18

First, he shows the futility of trying to live under the law.  In verse 10, the “it is written” references Deuteronomy 27:26a, “Cursed is anyone who does not put the words of this law into practice.”  It is absolutely impossible to live without transgressing at least one of the law’s demands; and, once we have broken the law in any one point, we are guilty of breaking it.

In verse 11, he reminds the church that “the righteous shall live by faith.”  This is not the first nor the last time this phrase is used.  In Habakkuk 2:4, we read:

⁴ Look, his ego is inflated;
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.

— Habakkuk 2:4

And, of course, Hebrews 11 chronicles those who lived by faith.

In verses 12 and 13, we see the wonderful solution to the dilemma of the law.  When Jesus came and died on the cross for us, He took our sin on Him, and also took on the curse of the law.  Again, Paul refers back to Deuteronomy:

²³ you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung [on a tree] is under God’s curse.  You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.— Deuteronomy 21:23

In verses 15-17, Paul then uses what he’s set up to illustrate how this applies to the promise made to Abraham.  In those days, a covenant was a solemn promise, a contract that could not be broken.  Few contracts today would be strong enough to be considered a covenant!  When God promised to bless Abraham’s seed, this was a covenant.  He then points out that the covenant was to bless Abraham’s seed, not seeds.  This singular vs. plural is important; not only has the collective seed of Abraham, the nation of Israel, been blessed, but that one seed in particular, Christ.  Finally, the law, which (Paul points out) followed this promise by 430 years, did not remove this covenant.  Rather, following this law out of a belief in God’s promise was faith!

Verse 18 wraps it all up.  If inheritance came through the law, then none of us would be able to inherit it – remember above, where we’ve all broken the law at some point?  But God knew this, so He provided another way to receive His inheritance.  And, as Paul points out in verse 14, this has also come to the Gentiles (us non-Jews), so that we can, though faith, receive God’s blessing.

The argument above may seem like it follows a strange path.  But, for the church to whom this was written, this made perfect sense.  With the deception and focus on the law, they were familiar with the passages regarding the law.  Paul used these passages to show them, in a different way, what God has done for them.  It’s just another way of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

So, you may not realize it, but as a Christian, you are in line to receive an inheritance!  I pray that we can live as children of God, by faith, looking forward to our inheritance to come.

This week, our journey brings us to 2 Thessalonians 3:16.

¹⁶ May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you.— 2 Thessalonians 3:16

This is an end-of-the-letter salutation from Paul to the church at Thessalonica.  Paul began and ended most all of his letters by talking about the “grace and peace” of our Lord, and his hope that it would remain with those to whom he was writing.  This theme of peace is one that is woven throughout the Bible.  The word “peace” (or some form of it, like “peacemaker”, “peaceful”, etc.) is found in 266 verses in the HCSB.  We’re not going to look at the other 265 verses, but we’ll look at a few of them.

Peace was used as a greeting to Gideon…

²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you.  Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.”— Judges 6:23

It was also used by the angels, when announcing Jesus’ birth…

¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!— Luke 2:14

David used it to describe the safety that he felt from God’s protection…

⁸ I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, make me live in safety.— Psalm 4:8

In fact, Isaiah prophesied that one of the Messiah’s names would deal with His peace-making qualities…

⁶ For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders.  He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.— Isaiah 9:6

In these four verses, we see a common theme – the source of peace is God, through His Son Jesus.  But how to we get this peace?  Ask God for it!  According to Peter, the disciple of Jesus who went on to lead the early church…

¹⁰ For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, ¹¹ and he must turn away from evil and do good.  He must seek peace and pursue it, ¹² because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request.  But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.— 1 Peter 3:10-12

But we don’t even have to take Peter’s word for it. Jesus told His disciples,

²⁷ “Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.— John 14:27

Ask, and you will receive – that’s a promise from God.  I pray that the peace of God will overwhelm you as you live for Him on this earth.

This week, we’ll look at Hebrews 3:16.

¹⁶ For who heard and rebelled?  Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses?— Hebrews 3:16

We’ve all heard certain phrases throughout our lives.  “History repeats itself.”  “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  (This seems to also be a warning to high school students everywhere.)  “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  These phrases all point to the phenomenon of people doing the same thing over and over, regardless of the outcome.

In today’s Scripture, the author of Hebrews reminds us that it was the people who knew the truth and even experienced it – the Jews – who rebelled against God.  And rebel they did!  In three straight chapters in Exodus, the children of Israel complained and rebelled against Moses.

²³ They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter – that is why it was named Marah. ²⁴ The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” ²⁵ So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree.  When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.

He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.

— Exodus 15:23-25

² The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord‘s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted.  Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.  This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions.”

— Exodus 16:2-4

² So the people complained to Moses: “Give us water to drink.”

“Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them.  “Why are you testing the Lord?”

³ But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses.  They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people?  In a little while they will stone me!”

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you.  Take the rod you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. ⁶ I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

— Exodus 17:2-6

But, surely, once they get to the promised land, the Israelites will remember God’s provision, right?  Well…

¹ Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. ² All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword?  Our wives and little children will become plunder.  Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces [to the ground] in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to the entire Israelite community: “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. ⁸ If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.

— Numbers 14:1-8

It’s easy to look back at the failings of the Israelites, and point fingers at them.  But, aren’t we the same?  Don’t we do the same foolish things over and over again?  It’s easy to see how other people don’t learn from their mistakes, but it’s often more difficult to see our own.  Even if we are aware of our failings, though, we still have the inner conflict between the old, selfish nature and our new holy one.  Paul expressed this sentiment in Romans 7…

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. ¹⁵ For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.  For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. ²¹ So I discover this principle: when I want to do good, evil is with me. ²² For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. ²³ But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.— Romans 7:14-23

So what is the solution?  Later in Romans, Paul gives us the answer.

¹ Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.— Romans 12:1-2

As gold is refined, it is heated to the melting point, and its flaws are literally burned out.  I’m pretty sure that if the gold could talk, it would tell us that it doesn’t particularly enjoy this process.  However, the result is a more pure precious metal.  This is how God works in a Christian’s life; He brings challenges into our lives to mold us into His image.  Some of these challenges are external, but some are internal.  We must give this to God, and trust Him to work His will in our lives.  Will we fail at times?  Of course.  Does that mean would shouldn’t try?  Not at all!

We have been entrusted with the truth.  May we surrender our lives to it, and trust God to use the circumstances in our lives to mold us into His image.  May we learn through each of our mistakes, and may God give us the power not to repeat them.

Today, we take a look at 2 Peter 3:16.

¹⁶ He speaks about these things in all his letters, in which there are some matters that are hard to understand.  The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.— 2 Peter 3:16

The “he” in the beginning of the verse is Paul, who wrote many of the letters that are now books in the New Testament.  This is a good recommendation from a fellow minister, but it comes with a couple of warnings.

First, Peter warns the church that some of the things which Paul has written to them are difficult to understand.  This is certainly true – even today, there is often spirited debate over the meaning of some of the things Paul wrote.  Of course, rather than just listening to debate, and deciding which side is more convincing, it is important to search the Scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal its interpretation.  And, knowledge without application is useless – once you have determined what the Scripture says, that knowledge needs to be put into action.

The second warning Peter has for the church is that the “untaught and unstable” will try to twist what the Bible says.  Man has been doing this since, quite literally, just after Creation.  Let’s look at the first recorded twisting of God’s Word.  God gave Adam and Eve specific instructions regarding the Garden of Eden.

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”— Genesis 2:16-17

But when Eve is talking to the serpent a few verses later, she gets it… well, not quite right.

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. ³ But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ “— Genesis 3:2-3

Now, we don’t know whether it was Eve who got it wrong here, or if it was Adam who amplified God’s warning when he was telling Eve what God had said.  But either way, what God said is not faithfully represented in Eve’s answer to the serpent.  And, just as the Bible begins with this story illustrating (among other things) twisting God’s words, it ends with a warning as well.

¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, written in this book.— Revelation 22:18-19

I don’t know if you’ve read the book of Revelation all the way through or not; if you have, you know that you certainly don’t want all the plagues of that book added to you!

Another application of these warnings applies to selecting a version of the Bible to use for study.  Before making assumptions, research the translation philosophy, and whether the version is a literal translation or a paraphrase.  Using more than one version can help you understand a tough passage.

The key in interpreting the Scripture is to be sure that you know what It says.  Don’t rely on what other people say about It – what does It say?  I pray that we will all study the Scriptures, and allow God to reveal His interpretation of it to us.

(Note – we’ll discuss more on Bible study when we get to 2 Timothy 3:16.)

(Since there are not 3 chapters in 2 John, this “3:16″ isn’t an actual 3:16.)

⁶ And this is love: that we walk according to His commands.  This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: you must walk in love.— 2 John 6

That sounds like circular reasoning, doesn’t it?

“What is love?”

“Walk in His commands.”

“Well, what are those commands?”

“Walk in love!”

It isn’t actually circular reasoning – I believe that there are two different things we can take from this.  The first of these reminds us of Jesus’ words, when asked what the greatest commandment was.

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together in the same place. ³⁵ And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

³⁷ He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the greatest and most important commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

— Matthew 22:34-40

Both parts of the greatest two commandments, according to our Lord, deal with love.  This is the second principle we can see in this passage.  Even looking back at the Ten Commandments, we can see this.

² I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

³ Do not have other gods besides Me.

⁴ Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. ⁵ You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.

⁷ Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will punish anyone who misuses His name.

⁸ Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day: ⁹ You are to labor six days and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

¹² Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ Do not murder.

¹⁴ Do not commit adultery.

¹⁵ Do not steal.

¹⁶ Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ Do not covet your neighbor’s house.  Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

— Exodus 20:2-17

Think about it – if you love the Lord, you won’t have other gods, you won’t worship idols, you won’t misuse His name, and you’ll set aside a day to remember what He has done for you.  By the same token, if you love your fellow man, you’ll honor your parents by recognizing what they’ve done for you; you won’t murder your fellow man; you won’t steal from them, whether their spouse or an earthly good; you won’t lie about them; and you won’t be jealous of the blessings they have received from God.

So, you see, it’s not really circular at all.  Love is the command, and the command is love.  May God grow in us His love, both for Him, and our fellow man.

(Since 3 John does not have 3 chapters, this “3:16″ isn’t an actual 3:16.)

⁵ Dear friend, you are showing your faith by whatever you do for the brothers, and this you are doing for strangers;— 3 John 5

The book of 3 John is a letter written from John to Gaius, a believer who was doing good things.  A group of believers, led by Demetrius, was visiting in his area, and John wrote this letter to commend Gaius on how he was helping them.  Helping other people, especially those you don’t know and those doing God’s work, is a recurring theme throughout the Bible.

When Jesus was sending out His disciples, He proclaimed a blessing for those who would welcome then and support them.

⁴⁰ “The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. ⁴¹ Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.  And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple — I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”— Matthew 10:40-42

Just a cup of water!  That’s not hard at all, yet Jesus said that it will be rewarded.  In Hebrews 13, the author encourages hospitality.

¹ Let brotherly love continue. ² Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.— Hebrews 13:1-2

Would you give an angel a hand if you could?  By helping others and being hospitable, you may actually have the ability to help an angel!  And, even if you never come into contact with one (and I’m not really sure how you would know even if you did), by being hospitable to others, you can do the work of an angel for them.

Finally, let’s look at an Old Testament example of hospitality.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon, and stay there.  Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.” ¹⁰ So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath.  When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood.  Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” ¹¹ As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

¹² But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug.  Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”

¹³ Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said.  Only make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me.  Afterwards, you may make some for yourself and your son, ¹⁴ for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.’ ”

¹⁵ So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah.  She and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through Elijah.

— 1 Kings 17:8-16

This kind lady was willing to give up nearly all the food she had in her house to help Elijah; yet, her kindness was rewarded by God’s provision over many, many days.  And, in the remainder of this chapter, 1 Kings 17:17-24, her son dies, but is then raised by God through Elijah!  That’s quite a reward, just for the simple act of giving up a little food.

“Random acts of kindness” is the idea that you do something nice for someone else, with the hope that someone else will do something nice for you.  Mysticism has the idea of “karma,” where the things you do (for good or bad) determine how the rest of the world treats you.  Neither of these come from the Bible – we should do nice things for other people “just because,” not to get a reward; and blessings from doing good come from God, not some nebulous “spiritual balance” that we can manipulate.

However, the prevalence of this theme, both in the Bible and outside It, show us that God blesses those who bless others in His name.  Look for opportunities to bless others – you never know who you may be helping!