Scripture of the Month

 

March, 2004

 

“Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

I Peter 1:21

 

Last month, we studied that holy living starts with a determination of the mind. We are called by the holy God; therefore, we are called to a lifestyle that is different from that of the world. This is not without reason. Since we call this holy God as Father, therefore, as His obedient children, we do not conform to the evil desires that used to flood our minds (v.14).

 

God is Judge as well as Father, and those who call God as Father must also remember that His judgment is impartial (v.17). Simply proclaiming as Christians does not mean that all will be well on Judgment Day. Justified persons are those who stand before God in grace, and they must walk in good works as evidence of the grace received. Though condemnation is no longer a fear, yet judgment is certain. Therefore, Christians should live in reverential awe of God.

 

Peter reminded us that we are not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold (v.18). We are redeemed from the “empty” lifestyle to a fuller lifestyle only by the blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish, who was chosen to complete this mission before the creation of the world.

 

Do you realize that our redemption wasn’t an afterthought? Everything was planned to its detail and was made complete by the work of Christ. Peter told us all is done “for your sake.” Therefore, we must live a life of response to God. This paragraph (vv. 17-21) closes with a statement of believer’s faith in God. Our faith in God comes through the work of Jesus Christ because He is the one who reveals the invisible Father to us and He is also the one who reconciled us with the Father. We have faith in God because He raised Christ from the dead and glorified Him through the Ascension. Peter, who was an eyewitness to the awesome revelation of God’s power in Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension, urged us to put our faith and hope in God. To sum it up, Jesus’ Resurrection is the foundation of our faith, and His Glorification is the pledge of the hope of our new future. There is nothing worth our while to hang on to except the promises of God.

Scripture of the Month

 

March, 2003

 

“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” II Cor. 3:6

 

The Apostle Paul was one of the most confident persons in the history of the Church. He boldly defended Christianity against the attacks from the Orthodox Jews. It wasn’t without reason. He was intensely trained theologically under the best Jewish Seminary of the time. He knew the flaws of Judaism. Not only did they not accept Jesus as the Messiah promised through the prophets of the Old Testament, they also put the focus on the observing the “letter” of the Law.

 

Paul identified himself as a minister, a competent one by God’s making, of a new covenant. The Mosaic Covenant which the Jews received at Mount Sinai was a written revelation of the righteousness of God. Through the Old Testament, the people were to accept with an oath of obedience and a blood sacrifice for the remittance of sins. When the Israelites proved to be unable and unwilling to remain faithful to the covenant, God graciously intervened and promised a New Covenant. We often misunderstand that the New Covenant didn’t come about until the time of Jesus Christ. But God made the promise over 600 years earlier (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It was completely fulfilled by Christ in His sacrifice on the cross.

 

The reason not to follow the “letter” of the Old Covenant is that it kills. Paul didn’t articulate what would be killed. I would suggest that it kills any possibility that it could bring transformation of life. Keeping rules and regulations (being legalistic) is not the way to please God, but allowing the Spirit to take control is, for the Spirit gives life. The Spirit will keep our lives vibrant.

 

We, as believers of the New Covenant, must go beyond keeping the superficial requirement of bringing sacrifices to the altar once in a while. We need to be willing to be Spirit controlled. When a person believes in Christ, the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling in his heart, but it doesn’t mean this person will be controlled. Practically speaking, being controlled by the Spirit is to gain freedom to do things that are pleasing to God. The question to ponder, then, is “Will my Father in Heaven be pleased with my decisions and actions?”

Scripture of the Month

 

March, 2002

 

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’” John 6:35

 

This is the first of a total of seven self-declarations of “I am” of Jesus. In the Greek language, the “I am” was spoken solemnly emphatic and it was significant as that it referred back to a particular incidence in the Old Testament. When Yahweh commissioned Moses to return to Egypt to deliver His chosen people from oppression. He wanted to know His name. Yahweh said to Moses, “I am who I am.” (Exod. 3:14) The Hebrew “I am” was written in the same emphatic way (this can only be appreciated with the original language). Jesus implied that He is the Bread of Life because He is the Great “I AM.”

 

Following a miracle that fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish (an amazing miracle, no less), Jesus withdrew from the crowd and went to the other side of the lake. Their desire to find Him wasn’t to be denied. The dialogue (vv.26-59) between Jesus and the people was profound. Jesus began by shifting their focus from physical satisfaction to spiritual fulfillment, from temporal to eternal nourishment. He pointed to their intention of looking for Him ad made it known that they weren’t impressed with miraculous signs, but rather, to have great meal again. If they were to see the miracle, they could have believed the one who performed the miracle. This is so true! If you were able to see the wonderful things done in your life by the Almighty God, you would believe He could provide your daily needs. Jesus’ advice was that, don’t consume all your efforts to satisfy physical hunger, which will return often, but rather, pay more attention to spiritual hunger, which goes beyond this age.

 

“I am the bread of life.” Jesus spoke of the food that satisfies is a Person, not a commodity. Of course, this should not be understood as Jesus telling people to “eat” His flesh and “drink” His blood literally (vv. 53-56). The Bread of Life means nourishment that provides life. Since He is the eternal God, therefore, anyone who is in a right relationship with Him will find satisfaction which is everlasting, not temporal. The word “never” is also emphatic (double negative) in Greek. When you cultivate a healthy relationship by going to and believing in Jesus, your soul will never be hungry or thirsty; always be satisfied. How’s that for a promise from the Great “I am”!

Scripture of the Month

 

March, 2001

 

"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light." Luke 8:16

 

Jesus just finished teaching the multitude about the Parable of the Sower (better to call it the Parable of the Soil). In order for us to understand what Jesus was trying to teach His disciples, we need to study Luke 8:4-18 as a whole unit. If you follow the chronological sequence, you would realize v. 16-17 is part of the answer to the question posted in v. 9. Since the disciples couldn’t capture the meaning of the parable, Jesus had to explain to them that the seed is the Word of God, and the different kinds of soil represent the different condition of the heart.

 

Many interpret v. 16-17 as a warning not to live a "double life." In other words, don’t be a hypocrite because there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed. Sooner or later, someone is going to find out the real person that you are. Though this is a timeless truth, yet it is not where we should draw the biblical support for this important truth.

 

Immediately following the explanation of the Parable of the Soil, Jesus challenged His disciples to not keep the truth of the Word of God to themselves. It is not logical to light a lamp and put it away in a jar or under a bed. The usefulness of the lamp is diminished with such an action. The purpose of a lamp is to help people see. The application of this is: Anyone who has been enlightened by the Light must make an effort to make known to others. It is God’s desire to disclose what was once hidden and to bring out into the open what was once concealed. What was once hidden and concealed was God’s plan of Salvation through Jesus Christ, and now it is revealed through His works and words. Therefore, as Christians, we are charged to bring this truth to the open so that those who come in can see the Light (Jesus Christ). We are the channels by which others can see the Light. What an important Mission the Lord has entrusted to us! This is Missions month, and may this be our personal challenge!

 

The final instruction is just as important as the challenge itself. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. In order to yield a crop a hundred times more than was sown, it will depend on "how" you listen. This is an attitude check!

Scripture of the Month

 

June, 2004

 

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”-I Peter 3:15

 

We learned how to live in harmony—be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, and be humble—among one another within a church last month. This month we will learn how to live among the nonbelievers, including those who oppose our faith to those who persecute. Paul said that if we are eager to do good, chances are slim people would harm us. Even if they persecute for no reason, we count it as blessed—the same word Jesus used in the Beatitudes, which means “happy”.

 

Before he tells us why we should be happy, Paul first reminds us that our hearts should be set apart Christ as Lord. When we read this verse, we seldom read the first sentence. But it is important to know the more attacks that come from the world the more we need to live a “set apart” life. Christians overcome “fear” from the world by living a sanctifying (make separate from others) life. Paul emphasizes that to live a different life from others is by having Christ as Lord. A sanctifying life is a conscious choice rather than a passive enrollment. You don’t accidentally fall into this kind of living. When we do that, we would be looked upon as “weird.” That’s the time we should be “happy” because it gives us the opportunity to explain our hope.

 

Therefore we should always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Be prepared means to get ready. It serves us well to have our personal testimony ready at all times so that we can share with others our Faith. Our Faith hangs on the hope that we have. The hope that this world cannot provide. It is our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can live a “set-apart” life. The Greek word for “ the reason” is apologian, in which the English word apology came from. The word Apologetics is often being misrepresented. It gives Christians a wrong impression that we should “argue” about our faith. Let’s be certain that we can never bring a person to heaven by argument. This is as if we are saying, “I’m sorry that you disagree with me and the way I live my life, but the reason is that I have this hope in me that rests on Jesus Christ.” Not only should we not “argue,” Paul reminds us that we should give our reason with gentleness and respect. Our testimony should not be given in an arrogant manner but with gentleness as “seasoned with salt” and respect in a non-degrading attitude.

Scripture of the Month

 

June, 2003

 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" II Cor. 5:17

In this passage (5:11—6:2), Paul made clear what is the center of the message of reconciliation. Believers are compelled by Christ’s love to proclaim this great news that Jesus died for all, and those who live in Him should no longer live for themselves but for the One who died for them (5:14-15). As a result of his conversion, Paul no longer evaluated anything from its external appearance because external value is only skin deep, though that was the way he evaluated Christ before.

 

In order to effectively proclaim the message of reconciliation, we need to know who we are in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” The Greek word kaina, translated as “new” in this passage is significant. It is the new of the new kind, not a refurbished kind. No one can reflect the transformation more vividly than Paul who turned from a persecutor to a proclaimer of Christ. He didn’t just know about the change of status, he experienced the metamorphosis in a real and personal way. You and I may not have experienced such a dramatic change similar to his, but we must realize that our transformation is just as definite. We are a New Creation of God, and this new creation isn’t skin-deep—it is a change from within. David prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). The heart and spirit within drive a person to the right direction with the right motivation, which produces joy and perseverance. On the other hand, performance-bases attitude drives a person to the wrong direction, which produces frustration and complaints.

 

The characteristic of this new creation rests on the following phrase: “the old has gone, and the new has come.” The Greek grammar of “has gone” points to its finality, which was a thing of the past. Our “old self” was a thing of the past, and now, the “new self” has come. The Greek grammar of “has come” points to a continuous action that started in the past. In other words, we continue to have a new perspective in relating to Christ and to others.

 

In order to feel like a new creation, it is important to have a paradigm shift on how you view your own identity. You are a child of God. He loves you and His love compels you to keep changing from within, which truly reflects that you are completely reconciled with the Awesome God who we call “Abba Father.” Have you talked to your daddy today?

Scripture of the Month

 

June, 2002

 

“I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11

 

This is the fourth of seven of the Lord s I AM statements in John s Gospel. I Am the Good Shepherd. The word good is used to describe that which is ideal and without fault. One time a rich young man approached Jesus, fell on his knees and asked, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? (Mark 10:17-18). Before giving him the answer, Jesus said, No one is good except God alone. Here, Jesus was using the same word to describe Himself as Good. Jesus is good because He is intrinsically good. It is His nature and there is no evil, not even a shadow of, found in Him.

 

There were two kinds of shepherds: owner-tender and hireling. It seemed they did the same job, but their attitude were quite different. Most hirelings did it for money and would not sacrifice for the sheep. The owner-tender truly cared for the sheep and would do whatever it takes to provide safety for his sheep. The most important trademark of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is that He would laid down His life for the sheep. Five times in this passage, Jesus clearly affirmed the sacrificial nature of His death. We cannot say that Jesus died as a martyr, killed by men. He died as a substitute! Willingly He laid down His life on our behalf. That was His choice. It was He who put Himself on the cross. One important biblical doctrine we must realize is that Jesus’ blood on the cross is sufficient for the salvation of the world in all times (past, present, and future), but it is efficient only for those who put their trust in Him. Jesus further explained that the sheep (those who put their trust in Him) and the Good Shepherd have a unique relationship—He owns them. The concept of ownership is important because as believers, we need to know that we belong to our Savior. And it wasn’t without giving His life that we could have eternal life. An Eternal God gave up His life. No matter how temporary it was (three days), it is still an unfathomable mystery and high price to pay.

 

Are you convinced that you have eternal life based on the substituting death of the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are, do you know that you belonged to Him? What does it mean to you to know that you belonged to Christ?

 

Scripture of the Month

 

June, 2001

 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes.” Luke 12:22-23

Jesus told a story about a certain rich man who was quite well off. He made plans to move to a bigger and better mansion in order to hold all his possessions. Then, he made plans to enjoy life from his prosperity. All is well, except he thought it would bring “rest” to his soul. When a person thought all he had to live for was his possessions, he would miss taking care of his soul.

 

Immediately after telling this story to the people, Jesus turned around to teach the disciples an in-depth lesson on priority. “Therefore” is a conjunction, connecting together the story and the teaching. Since life is more than possessions, therefore, we don’t “worry” about the less important things in life. In verse 22 and v. 29, Jesus said “Do not worry about your life” and “Do not worry about it (what to eat and drink).” He used two different Greek words to remind us—anxious and worrying. Anxious means, “to be divided, distracted.” Worrying means, “to be tossed like a ship at sea . . . to be in doubt.” To worry or to be anxious usually comes in this two phases: we look at a situation, which distracts us from our priority; and from it, grows doubt and bewilderment, causing our mind to be tossed around about the future, like a boat in a raging sea.

 

Why shouldn’t we worry? First, let’s look at what people usually worry about. They worry about what to eat and what to wear. Today, many worry about the kind of car they drive, the number of square footage of their home, whether the clothes they put on are fashionable or not, and things like that. Are these things evil? Absolutely not! It also doesn’t mean we should neglect our jobs and simply wait for God to provide. But if we are obsessed to a point that it distracts us from pursuing the right priority of life, then it is wrong. We shouldn’t worry because we learn to trust God to provide what we need—our clothing and our food. Second, even if we worry, it doesn’t change a thing. We can’t change the weather, the passing of time, people’s actions and reactions, the stock-market, and things like that. Worrying only gives the worrier ulcer, gray hairs, and irritability. Jesus is teaching us to take our minds off from what it takes to live, and LIVE, with content and thankfulness. We are already a lot better off than many people. Don’t let the things of the world distract you from seeing God and His grace.

Scripture of the Month

 

July, 2002

 

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

 

article not available this month

Scripture of the Month

 

July, 2001

 

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:14

Though Paul was considered a spiritual giant in the eyes of Christians in the first century, yet he didn’t consider he had attained his goals. What were his goals that he pressed on to attain? The answer rested on verse 10, which simply put, was becoming like Christ. The goal is to have the attitude like that of Christ Jesus (2:5). Christ emptied and demoted Himself from the domain of God to take on humanity and taste a criminal death. His submission brought Him back a promotion to the highest place possible, that all will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (2:6-11). Complete submission is the final stage of sanctification.

 

In order to attain this goal, we need to press on. When Paul was writing this paragraph, he must be imagining some kinds of athletic competition. Christian spiritual growth is sometimes related to a race. In order to win the prize, we can’t let down. We must press on! This Greek word “press on” carries an idea of intense endeavor. It was used to describe a hunter eagerly pursuing his prey. You won’t become a winner by listening to lectures, watching others perform, reading books, or even cheering on the participants. You become a winner by entering the game and determining to give it your best to win. Some Christians are too busy “dying to self” that they forget to come back to life to run the race!

 

Paul told us in this verse that you and I have to press on toward the goal to win the prize. Let’s make sure that Paul wasn’t suggesting that we could attain to heaven by our own efforts. He was simply saying that just as an athlete was rewarded with a wreath in earlier Olympic games or Gold medal in recent years, so the faithful Christian will be “crowned” by the Lord Jesus Himself when He returns. There is a prize awaiting for every faithful Christian who doesn’t forfeit his race.

 

To attain such a monumental goal, we ought to follow the three instructions laid out in verse 13. (1) Don’t be content with our spiritual condition. There is always room to grow. (2) Leave the past behind. The past is a cashed check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is cash on hand. (3) Strain forward, which literally means to lean forward and strain every nerve and muscle to maintain balance. It is used to describe a chariot racing, in which the athlete had to maintain balance of the chariot and to control the horse at the same time. So, press on! The reward is heavenward.