Tag: Paul

Don’t Make it Any Harder

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After all the turmoil that Paul and Barnabas experienced in Acts 14, the ending verse is a wonderful statement of rest (Acts 14:28). They reported all the things God had done with them and how He opened a door of faith to the Gentiles, but then they stayed a long time with the disciples.

Now we come to the first Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. With all these non-Jewish believers coming to faith, the early church needed to define what it took to become a follower of Christ. Some were saying that converts needed to become Jewish first, while others where saying that becoming Jewish was no requirement in the gospel (Acts 15:1, 2, 5). Practically this meant that Gentile converts to Christianity would need to go through circumcision, which was the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham (Genesis 17:10, 14). Proponents of this view where called Judaizers or legalists who wanted strict obedience to the Law of Moses.

These legalists would rather split hairs than rejoice that people were coming to faith in Christ. If we look throughout history, it is probably legalism that has caused more churches to die, more servants to quit and more denominations to split than anything else. It starts out in the name of righteousness in order to clean out false teachings and poor interpretation of Scripture, but it ends up causing people to take sides and feud. Legalism is that same as a group being in pursuit of a godly standard. I love what James says in Acts 15:19, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles turning to God. A letter was drafted stating such, only to avoid four practices that were offensive to the Jewish brothers (Acts 15:29).

Three Mistakes Regarding Legalism:

They drew a universal standard out of their personal experiences; since they had been circumcised prior to salvation, everyone should experience salvation this way. The truth is that we all come to Christ out of different experiences. Some get saved out of a wild and reckless life and never return to that old lifestyle, while others might grow up in the church and regularly stumble with lifestyle issues. Both are saved based on their faith in Christ, but one cannot say to the other that they can only be saved if they have the same experiences as the other.

They tried to make salvation harder than it is; adding something to the basic truth of salvation by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). We all come to God with nothing to offer but simple faith in Christ, believing in His resurrection.

They expected of others what they could not keep themselves; they should not yoke the believers with something they and their forefathers could not bear (Acts 15:10). If we cannot live up to our own expectations, we can that failure. When we cannot live up to the expectations we put on others, that is called hypocrisy. Let’s remember the simplicity of salvation.

Once the Son sets people free, let us not enslave them in a system of laws from men (Ezekiel 34:27). What about the four restrictions (Acts 15:29)? They were free from the laws of Moses but not free from the life-giving laws of God. God gives us the freedom to separate from the practices of those around us. Abstaining from these four practices should keep them free from falling back into the old lifestyle.

Application: Don’t make salvation harder than it is. Avoid legalism that eliminates the Holy Spirit working in your life. If there is something you need to avoid or change, it is much more convincing and convicting to hear the Spirit tell you to give it up than to simply follow a man-made rule. Don’t fall back into your old lifestyle, the old hangout, the old friends, the old refreshments. It may be harmless and not forbidden, but will there be a temptation to slip back into your old ways? Don’t risk your freedom in Christ only to get enslaved all over again.

Life Can Be Hard

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After Paul had his near death experience (the stoning at Lystra – Acts 14:8, 19), the group packed up and headed to Derbe (Acts 14:20). They preached the gospel faithfully and then went back through the previous cities to strengthen the believers by telling them that “we must suffer many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:21, 22). The converts needed to be reminded to stay true to the faith.

What did Paul mean using the word, “must?” He meant that it was inevitable in the nature of things. Hardship has a place in the life of a believer, check out 2 Corinthians 4:17, mentioning “our light and momentary troubles achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweigh them all.” Perspective helps us to see that what happens on earth is temporary but our eternity is worth it. Our struggle is not against fresh and blood but against spiritual forces that would have us fail (Ephesians 6:12). A great reminder comes from 1 John 4:4, that God is greater than our common enemy who wants us to fall.

At first we may not think a message of unavoidable troubles very appealing, but check this out:

Recognizing inevitable hardships can motivate us to redirect our energies; fear of the trial can consume more energy than just facing the trial. In redirection, we change our focus from fear to faith. I’m not talking about a prosperity gospel that says if one has enough faith these hardships won’t defeat us, but to stand on what Peter says that hardships will prove that our faith is genuine (1 Peter 1:7).

Believing a heretical prosperity gospel can leave us disappointed, broken, wounded and discouraged. A friend once told me “the only people who believe such a gospel are baby Christians in America.” I tend to agree. I have seen great faith of believers in Africa, who regularly suffer greatly. I see their faith to be genuine, not a result of what they get out of a relationship with God. It is such an insult to their faith to say that if they only had enough faith they would not have children die of worms or malaria, or they would have plenty of food on the table.

We also know unbelievers who may suffer as terribly as believers, but the difference is that our suffering is never in vain; Paul says that we will enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

Application: Do you ever feel that God is against you when your life seems to be falling apart? Take courage in the fact that you and the apostles and early believers are in good company. They did not escape the hardships of life, so why should we be immune to them? See life from God’s perspective, he walks through life with us. We may not experience his deliverance as we would like, but we always have His presence. Paul encouraged Timothy that all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12, John 15:20). Sounds like a certainty to me. Keep the faith.

A Sudden Change in Plans

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Continuing this series in the life of Paul, after the stoning of Stephen, Paul began new threats against the followers of Christ (Acts 9:1-2) so he might jail them of kill them. This is the chapter where Jesus gets to Paul and reaches him with the life-changing message of the gospel.

If you’re like me, you probably have asked at some point in your Christian life, “Why in the world did you choose to save me?” Each of us knows our personal failures and vulnerabilities and have concluded that we are not really worth the price of our salvation. Then we look at Paul and decide that at least we are not like him! He was so anti-Christ (Acts 26:11). Paul was obsessed with destroying the church. The word really means “to act like a maniac” (the Greek term is mainomai).

Paul was a hot-headed rabbi determined to make a name for himself. One day on the road to the city of Damascus, Jesus Christ intervened in his life (Acts 9:3-4). This encounter left him blind and dependent on those around him (Acts 9:8). In a way, Paul is the perfect example of a guy who was totally sincere in his beliefs yet totally wrong. He thought he knew it all but actually knew nothing. In a world of black and white religious dogma, Paul comes face to face with shades of gray. Sincerity means nothing if it is misdirected.

Sometimes we feel that we should get our lives straightened out before we can come to Christ, but a great verse is Romans 5:8, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. No matter how dark or deep, we can begin a journey of faith in Christ. No one is perfect, but we all must press on toward the goal (Philippians 3:12). The phrase “take hold” means to seize with eagerness, like God snatched Paul by the hair. Paul never forget the depth of his sinfulness, out of which Jesus saved his soul (1 Timothy 1:15).

There is no room for pride and nothing can bring us back to reality and humble us like remembering how God saved us from ourselves. No one can teach forgiveness like the forgiven. Paul believed in his cause and it led him down a destructive path. That day on the Damascus Road, Paul not only was snatched from the devil but God snatched Paul from himself; from his misguided zeal and his obsessive behavior.

There is little doubt that Christ can save anybody. No one is too wicked or far from God (Isaiah 59:1). A gray question may be why God chose to save us, but a black and white answer is that “I once was lost but now I’m found.”

Forgiveness, Faith, and Fear

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When we get to the life of Paul in the book of Acts, the first reference to him was at the execution of a Christ follower named Stephen (Acts 7:58-8:1):

They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. — Acts 7:58-8:1

Perhaps Saul the Pharisee needed to oversee this event because he remembered the whole situation with Lazarus. In that story Lazarus died (John 11:14) and Jesus decides to go back to Judea where only a few days earlier the “people” tried to kill Jesus (John 11:7-8). The resurrection of Lazarus was a powerful testimony to Jesus and His mission and many people came to faith in Him (John 11:45, 48, 53, 57, 12:9, 17). To top off this celebration of people coming to faith in Jesus, the religious leaders decided to go ahead and kill Lazarus, too (John 12:10). I find that ironic, but Saul may have had this batched execution in mind when he came to witness the elimination of Stephen.

The Bible says that Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, faith, grace and God’s power (Acts 6:3, 5, 8). This tells me he was more than just a believer in Christ but had surrendered his whole life to Him. This is not just for those who eventually become pastors and missionaries, but for all of us.

During the stoning, Stephen showed such meekness, which is defined as power under control. He had such confidence in his message and did not fear the people who sought to do him harm. He stood before the religious leaders, who were shocked to see that he had the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). Moses may have had this same look when he came down from meeting with God on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:29). King Solomon wisely confirms that wisdom brightens a man’s face (Ecclesiastes 8:1). Whatever they thought, they did not expect to hear a history lesson of their ancestors being a stubborn people who killed God’s prophets and were disobedient to God’s laws (Acts 7:51, 52, 53). That was the last straw; they were ticked at him (Acts 7:54).

As frightening as this situation must have been, Stephen demonstrates the attitude of Jesus himself and asks that God not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:60). Forgiveness is a hard thing to do; the message and Bible study this past Sunday was called, strong families forgive. It is only through forgiveness that we can free ourselves of bitterness that will permeate all parts of our lives, not to mention that forgiveness is a powerful witness of Christ in our lives.

We tend to equate victory in our lives with survival, but the apostles had a different understanding… that they would be counted worthy to suffer or die for Christ (Acts 5:41). I like this picture given in Acts 7:56; did you catch it? The heavens open and Stephen sees Jesus standing in the place of honor. That which was happening on earth was so significant that it brought the Son of God to His feet. While Stephen was standing up for Christ, Jesus stood up for him. Stephen may have been covered in his own blood, but he was also covered by the blood of Christ. Stephen got a standing ovation from the only One who mattered.

Saul was a witness of all this and he was no innocent bystander. The Bible says that he gave approval for all this (Acts 8:1). The word used means “to take pleasure with” and the grammatical tense is continuous or repeated action; so basically he was cheering. At the same time, Jesus is standing in heaven noticing every act in this play on earth. One man was covered in blood; the other is covered by prayer shawls. One could not save himself from men; the other could not save himself from sin.

So, consider examining yourself to see whether you are on board with the mission of Christ or if you are actually an obstacle in God’s path. Are you striving to be found faithful by God, or will you allow the world to conform you into its image? I hope that one day, maybe every day, Jesus would stand to His feet and take notice of how we are involved in the Mission of God. How about you? What can you do for the kingdom of God?

Paul and Divine Initiative

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Sometimes Paul’s Gospel is preached in such a way that God and Jesus Christ are set over against each other and contrasted with each other. One thing is clear, to Paul, the whole initiative of the process of salvation lies with God. There was no separation between the love and grace of Jesus in the NT with the judgment and wrath of God in the OT.

The will of God:

  1. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, (2 Corinthians 1:21)
  2. In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
  3. Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, (Galatians 1:4)

The love of God:

  1. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
  2. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
  3. Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)
  4. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)
  5. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1)
  6. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (Ephesians 2:4)
  7. Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:12)

The initiative of reconciliation: man’s reconciliation to God, never God’s reconciliation to man. The breach lies with man.

  1. Now all [these] things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)
  2. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:10)
  3. And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say], whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of God:

  1. But after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. (1 Thessalonians 2:2)
  2. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, [how] working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (1 Thessalonians 2:8-9)
  3. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, (1 Thessalonians 3:2)
  4. Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called [as] an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, (Romans 1:1)

Grace is associated with God and Jesus Christ:

  1. In order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:12)
  2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, (Galatians 1:3)
  3. I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, (1 Corinthians 1:4)

God sent Jesus into the world:

  1. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, (Galatians 4:4)
  2. He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
  3. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)
  4. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
  5. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God [did:] sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and [as an offering] for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, (Romans 8:3)
  6. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

This material is from William Barclay, the Mind of St. Paul, 1975.

Set Apart From Birth

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This is the first part in a series on the life of the apostle Paul. First off, using the term, “the apostle Paul” may conjure up images of some holy man, spiritual mystic, saintly statue or iconoclastic portrait, but in the original language of the New Testament (Greek), the term apostle really means “one who is sent out.” That is exactly what happened to Paul in the New Testament, he was called by God and sent out with a message. That is what we read about in the book of Acts; Paul and his missionary journeys take up most of the book’s content.

The passage today is from Galatians 1:15-16, where Paul tells us that he was set apart from birth and called by God; that the Father revealed the Son to him so that he might preach to the nations. The question comes, what may have been the upbringing of Paul? In what sort of home was he raised? Taken from Scripture and the Code of Jewish Law (which for centuries has been the foundation of Jewish life), Paul’s life was surrounded by Jewish custom and tradition, and guided his Jewish moral, social and religious behavior.

In Galatians 1:15-16, since Paul mentions being set apart from birth, he describes the rite of circumcision, which is the sign of the covenant (going all the way back to Abraham, Genesis 17:2, 7, 9, 10, 14). Paul includes in his testimony that he was the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), a topic on which I will follow up next time.

The Jewish household was surrounded by Scripture, even from the very front door of the home. A mezuzah (the little container attached to the doorpost) contained a portion of sacred Scripture from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. These are the bedrock of the Jewish faith.

There were three priorities for the devout Jew: study of the Torah (the Law of Moses), marriage, and doing good deeds. I’ll save the look into Paul’s boyhood home for next time.

So, what does this all have to do with us today? When was the last time you looked at your spiritual past? From where did you come? How far has the Lord brought you? You know more than anyone where you have been, and out of what God has saved you. Do you understand that what he has done in your life is no accident? We can also have the same response as Paul, that we have been called from birth. Circumcision is not the issue, but once we have come into a relationship with Christ, we can begin to see that He has guided us down a path that includes providential care and provision. We might not see it during the early or dark days, but hindsight is always 20/20, we can see how God has led us to where we are today. Take time this day to rejoice in what God has done in your life.

Secondly, how committed are you to the Word of God? Does your soul hunger and thirst for the things of God? Do you long to hear from Him? Do the Scriptures comfort your soul and fill your spirit? How do you handle the Word of God? Do your kids know how much the Bible means to you and your spiritual life? Do they see you reading from it and do you teach its principles each day?

One last question: do you sense the need and urgency to make necessary changes to become all that God desires for you to be? Not just for your own sake, but for your family’s sake.