Author: Carolyn

I am a Christian, a sinner saved by God's amazing grace. Much like my life, my blog is a work in progress. The main objective I have for this blog is to "proclaim the praises" of the One who called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light! (1 Peter 2:9)

Verses for the Day – Galatians 2:11-14

Carolyn

It appears I have taken almost a two week break from my study of Galatians. I have spent time tonight going back through the study so far and reminding myself again of the author (Paul), the recipients (the churches of Galatia), the major theme (the truth of the gospel that Paul will defend and clarify), and the various issues that we’ve been studying. Galatians is rich with theology and doctrine, which is perhaps why I find myself taking it slowly, too slowly, though, if I want to finish the project I began!

By clicking on the “Galatians” tag on any of these Galatians posts, you can see all of the ones in one place related to this series.

I pick up now with Galatians 2:11-14:

11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

Did you know that Peter, the disciple of Jesus and leading figure of the Bible, was accused by Paul of hypocrisy?

The passage today tells us that Paul withstood Peter to his face, that Peter was to be blamed, that Peter feared those of the circumcision, that Peter played the hypocrite, carrying others along with him, and that Peter was not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. Wow! And Paul is once again defending the truth of the gospel (as he did in Gal. 2:5).

We always think of Peter as the one who walked on the water, but started to sink, the one who pledged allegiance to Jesus, only to deny him three times, the one full of passion and zeal, but also with flaws. Yet Jesus always related so tenderly to him. Don’t you love that not one of us is perfect? And that the Bible uses its biggest figures to demonstrate that to us:

  • Moses with his fear of speaking and challenges to what God was asking of him;
  • Moses who struck the rock and lost entrance to the Promised Land;
  • David who committed adultery and practically arranged for the death of Uriah, costing him a son;
  • Saul who was chosen to be king, but disobeyed God, keeping the best of the animals he was told to kill, and being removed from leadership.

We could go on and on, and not just with one flaw, but with many. Anything else wouldn’t be the reality we are faced with living in a sinful world with sinful flesh. It’s these failures that show us our need for Jesus, that lead us to the cross, and that in Scripture bring us some of the greatest psalms of repentance. Think of Psalm 51.

What was Peter’s issue here? He had been eating with the Gentiles until along came a group of Jewish people, and then Peter separated himself from these Gentile believers. It was hypocrisy, making these Gentiles feel as though they lacked something necessary for salvation. It was not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. And Paul withstood Peter to his face about this because Paul always defended and explained the gospel, understanding that its truth must be guarded.

We know Peter understood this truth from his interaction with Cornelius in Acts 11. But we don’t always live out what we believe, do we? And it can be subtle (or not), and that is hypocrisy, saying one thing, doing another.

Peter was also afraid of man and their thoughts of him, not fearing God (something I just wrote about last week) and choosing to do what was right out of that awe of God and who He is.  Isn’t it easy to want to live to please man or peers instead of God, such that even the truth of the gospel could be confused?

As you can see, I suppose there are many things we could take from this passage. One might be to pray for our leaders (like Peter) to stand – and for ourselves. One might be to recognize our similar challenges and to examine ourselves for areas where we need to repent. One might be to develop “iron sharpening iron” relationships like we see with Peter and Paul so that we challenge others and they challenge us in our faith.

The one I will leave us with today is the truth of the gospel message that saves us and can sanctify us each day. Jesus died on the cross for our sins that by faith in Him, not by any works we can do, we are justified (we will see that tomorrow in verse 16), made right with God, and forgiven. Simple truth, amazing grace, worth living and defending and telling others about. This gospel not only saves us, but in Christ’s power, we are able to stand each day, walk in the fear of God, and lead lives of joyful obedience. We look to Him in faith.

PRAYER: Thank you, Jesus, for dying for our sins on the cross and bearing our sins that we might be forgiven by faith in You. We would be condemned to death if You had not made a way for us to know You and have fellowship with You. Thank you! Thank you for truth we can know and on which we can stand. Help us not to live lives of hypocrisy, saying one thing but doing another. Give us wisdom to see where we do this, and faith to repent and live consistently with what we believe, fearing You. We love you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verse for the Day – Proverbs 1:7

Carolyn

I’ll return to Galatians tomorrow, but for today, here’s a real short and simple verse that I love, Proverbs 1:7:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Do you want wisdom to know how to live moment by moment? Walk in the fear of the Lord. This will bless you and lead you and give you knowledge. Fear Him. Not man, friends, or peers, but God!

What is the fear of the Lord?

The best way I would describe it is standing in awe of God — His might, His power, who He is! It’s not fear in the sense of being afraid (though there may be aspects of that); rather, when we rightly consider Him, though we can’t comprehend Him fully, this will be our reaction to the God that He is.

The fear of the LORD involves walking in His ways, trusting Him, hoping in His mercy, serving Him, departing from evil, loving and obeying Him — just to name a few things I’ve seen in Scripture.

However, the thing that has blessed me the most in my study of this so far is that when I see the fear of the LORD, I see timelessness, promises that extend beyond my lifetime and into eternity. Unlike some of the other promises given in Scripture, these promises to those who fear God go beyond today to future generations:

Luke 1:50 “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.”

Psalm 103:17 “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children”

Psalm 19:9 “The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.”

How amazing to think that the result of fearing Him might not only be my complete joy and His great mercy upon me, but also extended to my children and their children!

PRAYER: Lord, please help us to fear You and walk in the fear of the Lord! You are awesome and mighty and powerful and worthy of all our worship and honor. May You be exalted in our lives, lifted up, and feared. We love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 2:6-10

Carolyn

Picking back up in Galatians, we arrive this morning at Galatians 2:6-10:

Paul has been reporting on where he spent time after his conversion and how he has defended the gospel. Now he writes:
6 “But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised 8 (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do. (NAS)

It’s not completely clear who Paul is speaking about in verse 6, but it is those of “high reputation,” or those “who seemed to be something” (NKJV). Most commentaries I read seemed to indicate this is speaking of James, Cephas (Peter), and John, who are again mentioned in verse 9. Back in Galatians 2:2, Paul also wrote about speaking privately to those who were of reputation, and the notes say this was presumably the inner core made up of James, Cephas, and John.

With that understanding, it seems this small section is pointing out that, though there is one gospel about which Paul has been writing, there are different callings, each of importance. Paul is saying those of high reputation, though esteemed, added nothing to him. God has called and equipped Paul, and though his path is different from the others, coming from a radical conversion after persecuting the church, his calling is not insignificant compared to theirs. God does not show personal favoritism, Paul notes.

We see that Peter has been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (Jewish people), and Paul to the uncircumcised (Gentiles), and that God is working effectively in both Peter and Paul. And when James, Cephas (Peter), and John (pillars of the church) recognize the grace given to Paul, they extend to him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. My NKJV Nelson Study Bible notes, “The right hand of fellowship was a common sign of acceptance and friendship. It indicated full recognition of Paul by the representatives of the Jerusalem church.”

So here we see unity among these leaders who are all witnesses to the true gospel and involved in making disciples and growing the church by the power of the Spirit, but in different ways according to their callings from God.

In our current day, it’s easy to look around and want to compare or be competitive or think someone else’s life or ministry is more valuable or effective or wider reaching, but this passage tells us that God doesn’t show partiality. We should be faithful and obedient to the calling God has given to us, leaving the results in His hands, and not look around at others to validate or add something to us, but look to God who has given us our salvation and calling. And of course, we encourage one another with gospel friendship and are unified around the gospel of Jesus Christ that is directing our lives.

Paul concludes with the mention of remembering the poor, the thing he was eager to do. This was something they were also all united on doing, too, helping the poor in the church, giving from those who had an abundance to those who had a need. This is something our church does with its “Helping Hands” and something we should also consider individually.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank you again for Your Word that is living and active and by which You teach us and lead us, correct us and train us. Please help us to keep our eyes fixed on you, being watchful and prayerful about what it is you have called or are calling us to do, the places you would have us be involved. Show us where you are calling us to give to those in need. Open our eyes to see and our hearts and minds to know and understand where you are leading. Help us to follow you and obey.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Heaven is for Real

Carolyn

Over the last week or two, I’ve read several online articles from pastors that I esteem about the new movie Heaven is for Real. Each one seemed to be a warning of some sort about the movie and advising against seeing it.

I had read the book after its release a few years ago because a number of my daughter’s friends were reading it and she wanted to read it. I figured it was probably fairly benign — if it wasn’t accurate, it probably wasn’t harmful — but I did want to read it myself. It happened to be around the time of the death of a close friend of ours when I was also reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn and thinking about heaven more. 

While I realized the book was written quite simply and might not be true (though I found myself wanting to believe that a “pastor” is telling the truth, but also realizing that a not-quite 4 year old can be into make believe and perhaps there could be many other explanations), the book, combined with Randy Alcorn’s book which is far more biblical, did make me think bigger thoughts of heaven and wonder more about heaven in a way I had not before.

However, I will tell you this. Before I ever read it, I knew heaven is for real because I have God’s Word, the Bible. I knew without a doubt where my friend Jeff was because he had trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation from his sins, had accepted God’s free gift of grace, and had followed Jesus. I also knew how we have access to heaven – through faith in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross and resurrection, not because of any works that we can do.

If you’ve been reading my blog lately, you know I’ve been studying Galatians which gives us the true gospel of God, the gospel of grace. There is no ambivalence about its truth. We see the apostle Paul writing to the Galatians because they are turning away from the gospel as others are trying to pervert it. Paul is bold to speak the truth because he recognizes his own salvation and apostleship and this gospel are all from God, not man, and Paul is therefore God’s “bondservant,” living to please God, not man.

In Galatians, we see Paul (formerly “Saul”) recount the story of his life and dramatic conversion. The one who had persecuted the Christians would become the one persecuted. This gospel truth was worth living and dying for, worth being bold to speak about and to warn against false gospels, gospels that add or take away from the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was with all of these things in my mind as I considered seeing the movie Heaven is for Real. Because my daughter had the day off school yesterday, she wanted to do something fun together and suggested the movie. As before with the book, I didn’t expect it would be harmful — if this child’s account was not true, it might be encouraging in some way.

However, whatever truth the book may have held, it all seemed lost in this movie. I realize we can’t expect a movie to necessarily give a clear gospel presentation, but if you are going to tell about heaven, shouldn’t you tell the true way to get there? The fact that the movie gave another gospel is what was so distressing to me.

Church was about hearing a homily or some good thoughts from the pastor whose faith was unsure and uncertain. The pastor was shaken by the thought that his son might have gone to heaven as though the thought of heaven prior to that wasn’t even real to him! We see him reassuring a woman that her older son who had died would be in heaven because of love. Really? Was Jesus’ death on the cross unnecessary? Are we left wondering how we can get to heaven with no assurance more than love?

Toward the end of the movie, the church service becomes all about the story of the boy going to heaven. What is church? What is true worship of Jesus Christ? This movie did not give you glimpses of that. A holy God, a sinful people, a Savior – Jesus, Son of God, fully God, fully man – coming to die for our sins, His death and resurrection that we just celebrated this weekend. Salvation through faith in Jesus, and true worship of Him! All of it missing from this!

Suddenly, this all seemed completely unbelievable. I wanted to stand to my feet at the end of the movie and tell everyone not to believe it! There is a way to heaven, and it is through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

We have the living Word of God to show us the way. We don’t need a young boy’s unreliable word from a near death (not even death) experience. It could nonetheless be encouraging perhaps if it could be confirmed as truth, but this movie does not match God’s Word, which is reliable and true.

Before seeing the movie, I wanted to think it would at least be an encouraging, uplifting kind of thing, if nothing else. But it wasn’t. Jesus was not exalted in this movie. As our pastor says in his book No Other Gospel, “God has designed things to exalt his Son at the cross. Any gospel that doesn’t center on the cross of Jesus Christ is not truly God-centered.” We didn’t see Christ exalted. How can heaven be considered without Christ?

Praise God this morning for pastors who preach the Bible and the true gospel of God, for churches that are gospel-centered and Christ-centered, for pastors willing to warn us and direct us by the Word of God! I left the movie realizing with sadness how many churches are lacking in this, giving warm thoughts, feel good thoughts, things humans might want to hear, but not teaching the Word. I was also sad thinking how easily people are led astray and turn aside to other things that sound good or to things that “tickle the ears.”

Millions of copies of this book sold. People eating it up. But what of the Word of God? Let that inform us, teach us, be the thing we measure other things against. Study it, know it, believe it. It is reliable and true. By faith in Jesus, through His finished work on the cross, His death and resurrection, we have life, both now and eternally. That’s a message that should excite us, bring us to our knees in worship, and one we want to share with others.

A Place to Pray

Carolyn

I am taking a break from the verse for the day to think about today, Good Friday. We are in the week that is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. We hopefully live every day with an awareness of what Jesus has done for us and live in light of that, but this weekend is a special time to reflect.

Take time this weekend to read from the Gospel accounts (in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) to remember what Jesus did not just for the whole world, but for you.

One thing I was thinking about the last day or two is the value of having a place to pray. We see throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry that he made it a priority to go away to a quiet place to pray.

Mark 1:35, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”

In Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, and Luke 22:39-46 (parallel passages), after they have celebrated Passover and the Lord’s Supper, we read that Jesus came to a place called Gethsemane and told his disciples to stay in one place while he went over to pray. Jesus fell on his face and prayed about the things that were about to take place, his betrayal and crucifixion. Three times Jesus returned to his disciples to find them sleeping.

Jesus tells them, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).

They have arrived at the most significant time in human history, and they slept, unaware yet fully of what was to happen.

I wonder if Peter had taken time to watch and pray if he would have later denied Jesus. Certainly Peter’s flesh was earnest and desirous of defending and acknowledging Jesus (Matt. 26:31-35), yet even after having been told by Jesus that he would deny Him, and saying he wouldn’t, Peter went on to deny Jesus three times (Matt. 26:69-75).

Watch and pray that you might not enter into temptation. That’s a good reason to pray.

We see Jesus’ life of prayer as an example – rising early, going to a quiet place, praying. If the Son of God needed to pray, don’t we? He faced temptation (Matt. 4), and he could have stepped away from the mission he was here to do. But He prayed, He did His Father’s will, He sacrificed so that you and I could be saved.

Can we likewise pray, do our Father’s will, and live our lives for Him?

I encourage you to find a place to pray. Of course, the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), being prayerful and alert at all times (Eph. 6:18), but we also need focused time to pull away and pray. The best time often seems to be the morning, before the day begins, but it can be any time. In Matt. 6:6, Jesus tells us, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

So we go to a quiet and private place, we spend time in prayer, and the Father rewards us! That’s another good reason to pray – for the reward! Maybe that sounds self-serving, but it’s just taking God at His word. He says He will reward us. That reward could be peace; it could be having our hearts and will aligned with God’s; it could be seeing God work in powerful ways as He answers those prayers in supernatural ways, oftentimes ways we wouldn’t have expected, but better than our ways. While I don’t know what the specific reward is, there is a reward.

I want that reward; don’t you? I want freedom from temptation, don’t you? I want my weak flesh to be made strong by the Spirit of God; don’t you?

As always when I finish these posts, it feels incomplete. I know there is much more that could be said, much more in God’s Word about prayer, many more reasons to pray (it gives peace, shows our dependence and confidence in God, etc.). There is much, much more that could be said about Good Friday that we will hear tonight at church when we go to worship. God Word is rich and full and always supplies us with more than we could ever take in. These are just little nuggets of truth, but let’s study and know God’s Word, let’s believe it, let’s follow Jesus and live it, and yes, let’s pray.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we praise you for the gift of prayer, for access to the throne of grace through Christ. We thank you for this Good Friday, this day in which Jesus carried our sin in his body on the cross and took our punishment, paid our price, so that we can know You, Lord, so that we can be free from sin and death and live abundantly now and eternally with You. May we take advantage of this privilege you give us to pray and be people of prayer. I pray now as you taught your disciples to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us as debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)