1 Thessalonians 3-4 August 18, 2009
Posted by Sparky in 1 Thessalonians, Epistles.Tags: Paul, 1 Thessalonians, idleness, understanding context
add a comment
Scripture:
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Observation:
These words, in the middle of a letter from Paul to one of the earliest churches in what is commonly thought to be the earliest of his letters, should make one stop and think, as they did for me. They don’t sound the same as ‘go out and win people for Christ’ to me (but they do sound like what we as Christians often settle for instead of that). But of course, ripping them out of context and applying them to our lives because they sound comforting is not acceptable. Why did Paul write this to the Thessalonians?
Well, we can guess / assume various things from these 2 verses – presumably there were people in this church who were not working, and living off the kindness of others, which wasn’t the example of Christian living that Paul wanted to cultivate. We get more clues in his second letter to the church (2 Thess 3:6-15), where Paul develops the theme, and makes it very clear indeed what he was referring to! So far from being an instruction to live one’s life in secret, the original verses from 1 Thessalonians were an instruction to those Christians to abhor idleness and get on with life without sponging off others.
Application:
Paul’s application, from 2 Thessalonians, is simple – if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Simple, clear, economically sound! For me, this is another reminder of context being vital in understanding and applying Scripture. I can imagine Christians (new or otherwise) reading the verses I selected and applying them to their lives for ever, leading quiet Christian lives that don’t bother anyone because that’s what Paul teaches. But that doesn’t match with the whole of the rest of the Bible, which challenges us continually to ‘get out there’ and spread the good news. I have been very challenged about this recently, through my Bible reading, my Bible listening which I have recently started (podcasts from www.dailyaudiobible.com – I’m not a big fan of the presenter’s delivery, or the occasional cheesy ‘I love you all’ message at the end, but it is really uplifting to listen to the text of the Bible regularly, and I love the fact that they use a different translation each week – keeps it varied), and sermons at church. Now I need to do something about it…
Prayer:
Lord, praise you for the whole of Scripture, and that we have instruction and teaching that matches up – please help us to use your word responsibly, and apply it to our lives with wisdom. And Lord, please help me to listen to you and do what you’re asking me to, in terms of spreading the gospel to friends who I want to know you.
Romans 3-4 January 13, 2009
Posted by Sparky in Epistles, Romans.Tags: Abraham, Epistles, gift, God's promise, righteousness, Romans
add a comment
Scripture
Romans 4:23-24
The words “it was credited to him” were written not for [Abraham] alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Observation
I have a confession. Most of Romans 3 goes totally over my head. It seems as though, with each new sentence, Paul makes these leaps in his logic that he expects his readers to keep up with, and I can’t! But when he starts in with the example of Abraham in chapter 4, and his belief in God’s word before he was circumcised, and before the nation of Israel had been given the law, it makes total sense, and the verses quoted above are the conclusion of that argument. And it’s all to prove that everyone in the world sins, and everyone in the world can be saved from that sin by belief in God.
Application
Simple, today – I am amazingly grateful that God will credit the same righteousness to believers as He did to Abraham all those years ago. Considering Abraham lived roughly 4,000 years ago, and he had nothing apart from perhaps some oral history to prove to him that God was God – no writings, no Bible – it’s astonishing to think that God will think of me as highly as he thought of Abraham, just for believing in Jesus as the Son of God, and his resurrection. What a gift!
Prayer
Thanks for this promise, Lord. Help me to live a life worthy of it.
Romans 1-2 January 6, 2009
Posted by Sparky in Epistles, Romans.Tags: Epistles, Law, liturgy, Paul, rituals, Romans, salvation
add a comment
Scripture
Romans 2:28-29
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
Observation
After having greeted the Romans, and explained how humanity got into an awful mess of sin (basically, through rejecting the idea of God in hearts and minds), Paul begins to write about how the Christians in Rome are to respond to the questions of the law (ie. the Jewish law, the Torah, being the first 5 books of the Bible, which gives the code of conduct by which Jews were supposed to live. This was seen as one of the things that made Judaism unique and gave Jews special access to a relationship with God). There were clearly Jews at that time who lived however they wanted, but relied on the fact that it was their race who had been specially selected to receive the law from God, and that was enough to save them from the sin that entangles everybody (Paul will go on to write in chapter 3 about all people having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God). Paul clearly states in these verses that the law is not enough, nor are the other Jewish rituals – salvation and access to a relationship with God depend on faith in Jesus Christ and the attitude of the heart.
Application
This is so easily applied to current Christian life. Every denomination has its own rituals and liturgy, be it confirmation, confession, prayers for certain days & times, hymns, praise songs, notices, ten-minute homilies, hour-long sermons (!), or baptism – and is that infant or adult, sprinkling or immersion? Ooh, careful! None of these are intrinsically bad, of course, and some are very good in my opinion. Some have been the source of debate as to their necessity throughout the ages, but I think they are all similar to the Jewish law in Paul’s eyes. There is no way we can rely on any of them for our salvation, if we don’t have faith in God, belief that Jesus was His Son, and subsequently an attitude that reflects his love.
Prayer
Lord, keep me focussed on you in my Christian life, not in how I am different or the same as other Christians. Jesus, I believe in you and want you to be centre and Lord of my life, and that is the basis of my salvation, and nothing else.
Romans 11-12 December 15, 2008
Posted by Sparky in Epistles, Romans.Tags: doxology, Epistles, Israel, Jews, Paul, praise, Romans
add a comment
Scripture
Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Observation
What’s interesting to me about this passage is less the content than the context in which Paul writes this. He has just completed a section in chapter 11 all about the Jews, how they fit into God’s plan for salvation, and how the Gentiles are not to look down on them because they havn’t yet understood the truth about Jesus. What seems to happen is Paul sort of write himself up into a frenzy of praise just thinking about the way God has planned it, and can’t help but let out this doxology. He then calms down a little and goes into how, therefore, the Gentile believers ought to live worshipfully in every way, so as to be a shining light and an example to Israel.
Application
A few things:
- I wonder whether I have ever worked myself up into praise through thinking about God’s orchestration of events, in the same way that Paul does here. Possibly I am too English and unemotional (an accusation I have heard once or twice from certain people near me), or possibly I could do with just letting some praise out a bit more forcefully now and again.
- I too, as a Gentile, need to follow Paul’s advice about not being haughty re: the Jewish faith. If it weren’t for the nation of Israel, at least as it was in the 2,000 years or so before Christ, I wouldn’t be here writing this today. I don’t have nearly enough knowledge about the current nation of Israel to try to apply the passages to that situation, and I’m not sure they even do apply – Paul is writing much more about faith than about any geographical notions.
Prayer
Help me, Lord, to praise you when I am in wonder about what you do! And help me to do it fearlessly, boldly, and unhindered – this is the maker of the Universe I’m praising, so it’s worth getting worked up! And teach me how to regard Judaism correctly, without pride or judgmentalism, but with humility and gratefulness.
