Tag Archives: Christianity

Oct 21 2012

Paul Preaches Profoundly \ Week 41 summary posted

Athens Mars Hill from Acropolis.

We will open this week with Paul in Athens at Mars Hill, and his eloquent address to the Areopagus, before he heads to Corinth.  While preaching there, he writes a letter to the brethren at Thessalonica – some of which we will also read this week.

Summing Up

Each weekend, I am now posting a small PDF of one week of chapter summaries (on the website’s “Summaries” page), current to the beginning of the previous week.  I have posted the summary for Week 41 (October Week 2) of the schedule I am following.  This short PDF document contains condensed comments about Acts 11 and 12, James 1 and 2, and Acts 13, with hyperlinks to the ESV version of each chapter for listening or reading, and joins the summaries for other weeks already posted there.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
image © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

 

Oct 19 2012

Acts 16 – The Philippian Jailer Converted

After arriving again at Lystra, Paul wanted a disciple there named Timothy to come with him.  Some wonder why Paul chose to circumcise Timothy, but clearly states in Galatians 2:3 that Titus was not circumcised.   The answer is that Timothy, before becoming a Christian, was raised by a Jewish mother (though his father was Greek).  So, as verse 3 says, it was because of the Jews in those places.  Having an uncircumcised Jew with him could pose a distraction by having some focus on that fact rather than the important teaching of Jesus Christ.

Paul and Silas set out on a second missionary journey to visit the cities Paul had preached in earlier. This time they set out by land rather than sea, traveling the Roman road through Cilicia and the Cilician Gatesa gorge through the Taurus Mountains, then northwest toward Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium. The Spirit told them not to go into Asia, so they turned northward toward Bithynia. Again the Spirit said no, so they turned west through Mysia to the harbor city of Troas.

As they went along, the brethren at various places were encouraged by the relating of the events of the Jerusalem Conference.  In verse 6, as they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, it says that they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.  This is not a reference to the continent of Asia, but to a Roman province in what was called Asia Minor – Ephesus being the capital.  For whatever reason, the people there were not ready to receive the word yet.  The same was true of Bithynia in verse 7, as they went through Mysia to Troas.  Then Paul had a vision of a man telling him to come to Macedonia to help them.

In verse 10, Luke speaks for the first time in the first person plural – “we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them”  – from which we can conclude that Luke had been preaching the gospel for a while already, as he includes himself with Paul, Silas and Timothy.  So they set sail to Philippi, a leading city in Macedonia.  There was no synagogue there, so on the Sabbath they found women gathered for prayer by the river.  One was “Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods.”  These goods would have been made from an expensive dye made from the murex shell.  Note that Luke says that God opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul said, and she was baptized.

Traditional site of Paul’s prison at Philippi

After Paul drove the demon from the slave girl in verses 16-18, her owners drug Paul and Silas before the magistrates with false accusations.  In verses 20-22, they were beaten with rods and put in jail.  Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns while the other prisoners listened until an earthquake shook the prison, opening the doors and freeing the bonds.  The jailer, readied to kill himself as he supposed they had escaped.  But Paul stopped him, and he and his family were all baptized. The magistrates sent the police the next day, telling the jailer to let them go, but Paul declared his Roman citizenship, and practically demanded an apology  – which he ended up getting, as the magistrates were then afraid.   They were asked to leave the city, though, so they visited and encouraged Lydia and the brothers before leaving.

Side note: This article at Ferrell’s Travel Blog has a unique photo and a bit of information about Philippi.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 18 2012

Galatians 2 – Justified By Faith

Paul continues in this chapter with two important purposes – to defend his apostleship, and by doing so, to reinforce the correct teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ that he had done there previously.  Some see the visit to Jerusalem referred to in verse one as being the famine relief effort of Acts 11:29-30.  But that occurred at a time of great persecution in Jerusalem (Acts 12) – so much so that James the son of Zebedee was executed, and Peter was thrown in prison.  It was no time for the type of conference described in verses 1-5.  Clearly, these events correspond more closely with the Jerusalem Conference outlined in Acts 15:1-5.  Verse 9 confirms the conviction of Peter and James, the Lord’s brother, that bringing the gospel to the Gentiles was indeed God’s will.  Had this been the case with the trip in Acts 11, the matter would have been settled then – with no need for the Jerusalem Conference to take place at all.

Paul reports the decision of the Jerusalem council to the Christians at Antioch (Acts 15:1-35)

There are aspects of Paul’s rebuke of Peter in verses 11-14 that are much debated.  Did Peter’s hypocrisy about occur before or after the Jerusalem Conference?  What did Paul mean when speaking of the men of the circumcision party who “came from James?” We do not all of the answers.  We know from Acts 15:13-19 that James was certain of God’s will toward the Gentiles.  Paul’s relating of these facts to the Galatians showed not only that he was equal to the other apostles, but that this truly was the Lord’s will.

Paul then underscores all of this in verses 15-21 by pointing out that we as Christians are not justified (counted as righteous) by works of the law.  Through the faith in Christ (some translations more accurately say “faith OF Christ”) we have died to the law (verse 19, Romans 7:4-6).  As Paul says in verse 20, we “have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” We were “buried therefore with him by baptism” (Romans 6:4-6).   He settles the matter in verse 24 by pointing out that “if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”  If we could earn our salvation through works of the law, we would have no need of the grace that we have in Christ.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 17 2012

Galatians 1 – Paul Called by God

Paul’s letter to the Galatians was one of the earliest written epistles; and there is much speculation as to which Galatians it was written.  It was a circular letter, almost certainly written to the churches of southern Galatia that he established on his first missionary journey with Barnabas.  The context of the letter can be understood best if one keeps in mind that many of the circumcision party – Judaizers – had come after Paul teaching, as was their custom, that in order to be saved, the Gentiles had to be circumcised, and had to keep the law of Moses.  In effect, they were being taught that they first had to be converted to Judaism.

Paul visited several cities in Galatia on each of his three missionary journeys. On his first journey he went through Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, and then retraced his steps; on his second journey he went by land from Antioch of Syria through the four cities in Galatia; on his third journey he also went through those cities on the main route to Ephesus.

It is clear from Paul’s writing in the first chapter that these Judaizers had also suggested, if not outright declaring, that Paul was not really an apostle – certainly not on the level of the original twelve.  He opens the letter with a greeting that immediately declares his apostleship – something he only does in his letters to churches that were unfamiliar with him or where his authority was questioned (Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians), as opposed to the letters to Philippians and Thessalonians.  He goes to some length in chapter one to be candid about his background as a persecutor of the church, and to declare that he was called by the Lord himself to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (verses 11-16).

Paul often opens his letters with a commendation, but instead he opens with a rebuke here, as he declares his astonishment at hearing that many of them had accepted this false teaching.  He strongly proclaims that if anyone (even he himself, or an angel from heaven) would proclaim to them a different gospel than was preached to them previously, they were to be accursed.  This false teaching threatened the very foundation of Christianity and had to be quashed immediately and thoroughly.

One final note on this chapter is worthy of comment.  Verses 17-20 contain statements affirming (strongly underscored in verse 20) that Paul had not been among apostles other than Peter and James, the Lord’s brother, in the first years after the Lord had called him.  This point was important because efforts to disparage his apostleship had also suggested that he had merely been approved by them, or had been given his knowledge of the gospel by them.  The reference to James, the Lord’s brother, as an apostle should be understood in light of 1) his relationship to Jesus and/or 2) the fact that James became the official leader of the church in Jerusalem.  As Coffman pointed out, this James was not a plenary apostle, as were the twelve and Paul.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 16 2012

Acts 15 – The Jerusalem Council

Despite Peter’s vision, and the fact that the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles in chapter 10, the acceptance of Gentiles in the church was still meeting resistance. In Acts 6:7, we are told of a significant number of priests that believed and were added to the church.  Many of these would be of the Pharisaic party referred to in verse 5.  There were people being taught that all had to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses, causing Christianity to be looked upon as a sect of Judaism (and to some, a sect that had gone very wrong).  The time had come to deal with this issue once and for all.

Paul had been given his revelation on the matter, as the Lord had told Ananias in Acts 9:15 that “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…”  He and Barnabas and others were appointed to go to Jerusalem to speak to the apostles and elders about the matter.  In verse 3, we have them passing through Phoenicia and Samaria, bringing great joy as they describe the conversion of the Gentiles.

Peter spoke to the council in verses 7-11, reminding them of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Then Paul and Barnabas related the signs and wonders God had done through them on their journey.  James, the Lord’s brother, then affirms by quoting Amos 9:11-12 in verses 16-18.  The apostles then chose men to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, and sent a letter with them, affirming with one accord that the Gentiles were not to be burdened with the requirements that the circumcision party was trying to impose.  The stipulations referred to in verses 20 and 29 were to make clear that they were to abstain from behavior that would make them  appear to the world as the idol-worshipers that were so common (sexual immorality was a predominant theme in idol worship).

Pamphylia hill country, Turkey, a small Roman province in southern Asia Minor during Paul’s time. Paul preached here on his First Missionary Journey. Later, John Mark left Paul and Barnabas and went home.

Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch (of Syria) preaching for a while, then prepared to re-visit the cities where they had been.  Verse 39 describes “a sharp disagreement” between the two.  Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them.  But verse 38 says that “Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.”  Separating, Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas and went through Syria and Cilicia.  The Scripture does not elaborate on this, but it has been pointed out that the disagreement had the end result of making their efforts doubly fruitful.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 15 2012

Acts 14 – Paul and Barnabas at Iconium and Lystra

At the Jewish synagogue in Iconium, Paul and Barnabas preached in such a way that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and “poisoned their minds” against the believing brothers and sisters.  They stayed for a long time, performing many signs and wonders.  But the divided city resulted in a conspiracy of both Jews and Gentiles to persecute and to stone Paul and Barnabas.  When they learned of this, they fled the city.

Paul and Barnabas, thrown out of Antioch in Pisidia, descended the mountains, going east into Lycaonia. They went first to Iconium, a commercial center on the road between Asia and Syria. After preaching there, they had to flee to Lystra, 25 miles south. Paul was stoned in Lystra, but he and Barnabas traveled the 50 miles to Derbe, a border town. The pair then boldly retraced their steps.

One of the places they went to from there was Lystra.  There Paul healed a man who was crippled from birth.  When he began walking, many people started calling Paul and Barnabas gods, referring to Paul as Hermes, and Barnabas as Zeus; and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.  When they saw this, they were tremendously distressed and, assuring the people that they were just men, preached to these polytheists about the one true God and how he is evidenced in all the things of this world.

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and they turned the minds of the crowds.  They stoned Paul and dragged him from the city, leaving him for dead.  In verse 20, the disciples gathered around him and he rose up and went into the city.  The Scripture does not tell us that this was a miracle, or even what Paul’s actual condition had been.  Enough to say that the Spirit was with him, and he was not deterred.  The next day, he and Barnabas went to Derbe.  After preaching and making many new disciples there, they returned to Lystra and Iconium, and to Antioch.  They encouraged and strengthened the disciples in those places and appointed elders for them in every church.

They went back to speak the word in Perga, and then to Attalia.  From there, they sailed back to Antioch of Syria, where they had started their journey, telling all the brethren about the new “door of faith”  that had been opened to the Gentiles.

Side note: This article from Ferrell’s Travel Blog contains interesting information about the connection that the people in Lystra made to Hermes and Zeus.  This second article there is interesting in light of the sacrificial element.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 14 2012

Paul’s 2nd Journey \ Week 40 summary posted

Lystra area, Turkey. Paul visited on his First and Second Missionary Journeys.

This week, we open with Paul and Barnabas wrapping up Paul’s first missionary journey with an interesting visit to Lystra, followed by the historic Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15.  We will then start reading of Paul beginning his 2nd missionary journey; and break for a couple of chapters of his letter to the Galatians before coming back to it, as we learn that Luke is himself preaching the gospel with Paul and Silas.

Side note: This article at Ferrell’s Travel Blog is an interesting story of the method used to identify the site of Lystra, along with a picture of the stone inscription now housed at the archaeological museum in Konya (biblical Iconium).

Summing Up

Each weekend, I am now posting a small PDF of one week of chapter summaries (on the website’s “Summaries” page), current to the beginning of the previous week.  I have posted the summary for Week 40 (October Week 1) of the schedule I am following.  This short PDF document contains condensed comments about Acts 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, with hyperlinks to the ESV version of each chapter for listening or reading, and joins the summaries for other weeks already posted there.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
image © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 12 2012

Acts 13 – Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

It is in verse 9 of this chapter that the Bible first mentions that Saul was also called Paul.  The inference from that statement is that he had been called by that name, at least to some extent, for possibly a while.  Some have theorized that the name change was by choice – in order to be more identifiable to the gentiles to which Paul was called to proclaim the word of God.  But that speculation ignores the fact that others were known by different names (Peter, for example, was known also as Simon and Cephas).

Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark left Paphos and landed at Perga in the humid region of Pamphylia, a narrow strip of land between the sea and the Taurus Mountains. John Mark left them in Perga, but Paul and Barnabas traveled up the steep road into the higher elevation of Pisidia in Galatia. When the Jews rejected his message, Paul preached to Gentiles, and the Jews drove Paul and Barnabas out of the Pisidian city of Antioch.

Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit from the church at Antioch.  This journey of Paul’s is thought to have lasted about a year and a half.  They traveled down first to Seleucia, then set sail  to Cyprus  where Barnabas was from, taking John Mark with them.  They started proclaiming the word of God in the synagogue at Salamis.  Then they went 90 miles to Paphos, the seat of Roman government on Cyprus.  The proconsul was the highest ranking official in a Roman province.  This one summoned Saul and Barnabas, wishing to hear the word of God.  But a magician, a false prophet who was with him, was working against them, trying to turn the proconsul away.  Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, rebuked the man and caused him to lose his sight.  The proconsul believed after seeing this.

They then set sail again to Perga, where John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem.  Paul and Barnabas continued on to Antioch of Pisidia.  This is a long way from the Antioch that they started from – in Syria.  This Galatian city was one of 16 cities that the Syrian king Seleucus had named for his father Antiochus.  In verse 16-41, Paul delivers a sermon that begins with the wilderness wanderings, and ties the Scriptures to Jesus, his death, and his resurrection.  They were received well and encouraged, and they begged them to come back on the next Sabbath to preach again.  But the Jews saw the great crowds and were jealous.  They started contradicting them and reviling Paul.  Paul answered  as follows:

“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth‘”

When the gentiles heard this, They were rejoicing and glorifying the Lord.  And many became believers.  But the Jews stirred up persecution against them, and they were driven out,  From there they went to Iconium, rejoicing over the success with the Gentiles, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Side note: This article at Ferrell’s Travel Blog is about Pisidian Antioch and contains a modern photo of an ancient street there.  Here is another with good pictures of the ruins there.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 11 2012

James 2 – Faith Without Works Is Dead

This chapter begins with the warning about showing favoritism to the wealthy, or more to the point, less partiality to those of lesser means.  God has always made it abundantly clear how much He cares for the poor.  Besides idolatry, oppression of the poor was one of the main reasons for God’s judgment of destruction and captivity on His people in the Old Testament (Amos 2:6-7).  If we are the most Christ-like in all things, but show favor to some over others because of their station in life, we become accountable for all sin (verse 10).

James continues the same point in verses 10-13.  God’s word is to be followed in all things.  Christians do not have the luxury of ignoring part of God’s word.  The example of one person abstaining from adultery but committing murder makes the point in the extreme.

Abraham’s supreme example of obeying God (Genesis 22)

Verses 14-26 are often misquoted and more often misunderstood.  Paul says that we are justified by faith –  James says by works.  The problem, as is often the case, is that people tend to “section off” passages of God’s word and either pretend that supplementary passages do not exist, or that they are in conflict.  Coffman summarized these verses best:

“This paragraph is perhaps the most disputed and misunderstood passage in the New Testament; but the interpretation presented here flows out of deep convictions: (1) that here indeed we have the inspired word of God; (2) that this portion of the New Testament is as easily understood as any other; (3) that the simple answers are the true ones; (4) that there is not the slightest contradiction between Paul and James; (5) that Paul’s affirmation that we are justified “by faith” and James’ declaration that we are justified “by works” mean simply that we are indeed justified “by both,” and that it is a sin to assert that men are justified either (a) “by faith alone,” or (b) “by works alone”; (6) that all of the alleged contradiction between the sacred writers James and Paul derives not from what either of them said, but from the false allegations of theologians concerning what they meant…”

The point, as expressed in verse 17 is that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  Abraham’s works referred to in verses 21-23 did not occur without faith, but rather they occurred because of his faith.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 10 2012

James 1 – Testing of Your Faith

A house in old Jerusalem today, a reminder of Bible-time houses

We break away for the next two readings from the book of the Acts of the Apostles to the book of James.  The majority of scholars believe that this epistle was written by James, the Lord’s brother – rather than John’s brother, who was the first of the apostles to be martyred (likely beheaded) in Acts 12:1-2 about 14 years after Jesus’ resurrection.  According to the historian Josephus (“Antiquities of the Jews“, Book 20, Chapter 9, 1), James the Lord’s brother was stoned; and the historical accounts surrounding that event allow his death to be reliably dated around 62 A.D.  The book is only 5 chapters long, but its wisdom and encouragement of faith has been written about in many volumes (James is often called the “Proverbs of the New Testament”).

Verses 2-4 are a perfect example of the way that James so beautifully reminds of the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 5:11-12).  The trials to which James refers are both the temptations of sin, and the adversities that one faces in this world due to hardship, persecution, and sometimes even tragedy.  Macarthur noted that it is these trials “which Satan persistently uses to try to make Christians doubt they are indeed God’s children and fellow heirs with Jesus Christ.”  As verses 13-15 remind us, God does not bring misfortune or temptation upon us.

The phrase “let steadfastness have its full effect” recognizes that we have a choice.  We can “throw in the towel,” giving in to temptation or deciding that there is no point – no hope – in our faith.  But if we face even the afflictions that bring pain into our lives with the determination to persevere and remain faithful to the Lord, we gain strength and the patience of courageous endurance that brings us closer to the perfection that Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:48.

The wisdom to bear these burdens and to know how to persevere is available simply for the asking.  But one must have faith, and this means learning to trust in the Lord, and not in the world or in our own capability.  That does not mean that there is no need for action on our part.  Neither does it mean that God will instruct us specifically on every decision we make it life.  It means that He will give us what we need to know in order to bear our burdens, escape from temptation, and learn the divine truth of the way to our salvation.

Covetousness and the rich man, a story Jesus told — Luke 12: 15-21

Satan uses the “double-mindedness” that James refers to in verse 8 in other ways as well.  Verses 9-11 refer to different mind-sets of Christians in regard to wealth or the lack of same.  Those in humble circumstances are not forsaken by God, and the wealthy are not blessed by God.   Barclay noted that “…the great peril of riches is that they tend to bring to a man a false sense of security. He feels that he is safe; he feels that he has the resources to cope with anything; he feels that he can buy anything he wants, and buy himself out of any situation which he may wish to escape or to avoid.”   We are reminded in Luke 12:15-21 of the brevity of life, and the poverty of a different sort that awaits those who value the wrong things in life.  Conversely, verse 17 assures us that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”   So we must never neglect giving thanks to Him for any good thing that comes to us.

The chapter concludes in verses 19-27 with the admonition that hearing (or reading, for that matter) is not enough if one does not do as the word of God says.  One must stay unstained from the world, and a big emphasis is placed on keeping the tongue bridled.  Verses 19-20 (be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger) remind us of  Ecclesiastes 5:2,  Proverbs 10:19 and Proverbs 14:29.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.