Introduction Continued

This book is loosely based on Augustus Strong's Systematic Theology. Strong's Systematic Theology has been a great influence on theological study and Baptist thought since its introduction in the late nineteenth century. It was my most cherished textbook when I was a student many years ago at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I have found Strong's work immensely rewarding in my own faith and devotion. However, it is not an easy volume to navigate. Many readers may find it lengthy and dense.

Strong's work was written for the academic, complete with small print, arcane references, and extensive footnotes.

This book has a different intended audience. It is written for the laity. It is intended for personal study and devotion.

Each chapter is meant to be a clear explanation of a truth about God that is easy to grasp and faith affirming.

Truths complement one another to build up your faith and knowledge of God.

I pray that this book will not only increase your knowledge of God, but your devotion to Him as well.

The clearer you see God, the closer you will desire to be with Him and seek to honor Him in all you do.

May you grow strong in faith and bring glory toGod.

Gain Christ! (Philippians 3:8),

David L. Parker

Tequesta, FL

The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. –Psalm 145:18

All other sciences require theology for their complete explanation. Only when we consider the relation of finite things to God does the study of them throw true light on God's character (Ps. 111:1-4).

Everyone has a theology or belief about God. But that does not mean that everyone's theology is proper or correct. We must wrestle with our beliefs to conform them to God's reality. This effort is one of the most rewarding endeavors that we can undertake (2 Cor. 4:18).

When you court or date someone, you seek to learn about them. You want to find out all about them, what makes them act, what they like and dislike. You take pleasure in discovering new things about them. So should our hearts be toward God (Ps. 66:1-5, 16).

God invites us to learn about Him. Think about that for a moment. The God who created all things desires to relate to us! He wants us to know Him. But God wants us to get it right. God is jealous of His reputation. He wants us to know Him as He has revealed Himself. God wants us to worship Him in spirit and truth. God created us to have a relationship with Him. This is the purpose of theology.

Bible verses for devotion:
Genesis 3:8-9 - What is God really asking when He asks "Where are you?"
Romans 1:18-25 -Is God concerned with our knowledge of Him? How so?
Romans 12:2 - How are we transformed?

Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. –Matthew 22:37

These facts require a framework. Scattered bricks and timbers are not a house. So too, scattered facts and their relations are not a theology. They must be fitted together.

In a court of law, facts are sought to explain a matter. It takes time and effort to establish the facts of the case and demonstrate how they relate to one another. The end result hopefully presents the truth accurately(2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Thes. 5:21).

This is also the aim of theology. We want to accurately present God's truth from the facts and their relations to the best of our ability. A good theologian thinks over again God's thoughts and brings them into God's order, as the builders of Solomon's temple took the stones already hewn, and fit them into the places for which the architect had designed them. We aim to display God and not ourselves (2 Cor. 4:5-6).

A good theologian works with a pencil. He realizes he is prone to error. Therefore, he is humble in his task and open to constant revision. The facts of God do not change. But our understanding and perception of them can change.

Theology requires great effort to discover the facts about God and arrange them in a way that best reflects God's thoughts and order. This is the aim of theology (Ps. 119:18).

Bible verses for devotion:
Jeremiah 9:23-24- What are we to glory in? Wisdom, might and riches take time and discipline to acquire. Is knowing God worth the effort to you?

…for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. –Hebrews 11:6

Faith is a knowledge conditioned by holy affection. Its only peculiarity as a cognitive sense is that is conditioned by holy affection.

Faith is a knowledge conditioned by holy affection. Its only peculiarity as a cognitive sense is that is conditioned by holy affection.

To have faith in God is to both know and love Him. We can't know God by intellect alone. The heart must go with the intellect to make knowledge of the divine things possible.

The faith which apprehends God's being and working is not opinion or imagination. Faith is certitude with regard to spiritual realities, upon the testimony of our rational nature and upon the testimony of God. Faith comes from God.

Therefore, faith can furnish, and only faith can furnish, fit and sufficient material for a true theology (2 Cor. 3:15-16).

In order for us to know God, He has revealed Himself to us. This self-revelation of God makes it possible for finite man to have a relationship with an infinite God.

This self-revelation of God makes up the material of theology. We will study His self-revelation in the remainder of this book.

Bible verses for devotion:
Hebrews 11:1-3 –What does this passage tell us about faith and knowledge?
1 Corinthians 2:6-16–What do these verses have to say about faith, knowledge and revelation?

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. –Ephesians 4:14-15

Theology is a necessity for us to know God and make Him known to others. To know God and make Him known, we must know the facts with regard to God and their relations to each other.

In order to glorify God and make God known to others, we must present God correctly and vividly (Mat. 23:15). Nothing nullifies our efforts to make God known more than confusion and inconsistencies in our doctrines. This robs God of His glory. To misrepresent or mutilate this knowledge is to not only sin against the Revealer, but also to harm another's faith (1 Tim. 1:3-7).

The best safeguard against this misrepresentation is diligent study of the doctrines of God, and especially its central theme, the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

Working out our theology brings order to our outlook. This effort richly rewards us with a foundation on which we can build Christian character. It also rewards us with a more intimate knowledge of God and a great ability to glorify Him.

Bible verses for devotion:
Colossians 1:9-11-What does this passage teach us about the relation of theology to our character?
Luke 17:2-What does this mean in regard to our duty to faithfully and accurately make God known to others?

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!–Romans 11:33-34

Theology is further limited by the silence of written revelation. There are many questions not addressed in Scripture. We must wait to have these answered. 1 Cor. 13:12 says "For now we see in a mirror, dimly…" In heaven, this will be rectified. In 1 Cor. 13:10, Paul promises"But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away."

Theology is also limited by our lack of spiritual discernment caused by sin. Romans 1:25 laments the sinners who "…exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…"

As our love of God is a condition of religious knowledge, all moral imperfection in the individuals and in the church serves as a hindrance to our theology. In Mat. 5:8, Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Theology has its limitations. But these limitations should not discourage us. What we can know, we must cling to and cherish.

Deuteronomy 29:29 promises us that "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."

Bible verses for devotion:
John 3:3–What is prerequisite of our religious knowledge?
1 Cor.13:12-When will our knowledge be perfected?

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. –Romans 1:20

All of nature reflects God's glory, power and otherness. Ps. 97:6 says "The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory."

God's handiwork leads us to consider our relationship with Him. Ps. 8:3-4 asks "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?"

Paul pleaded with sinners to turn to the God who created and sustained them. In Acts 14:17, Paul preached that God "…did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."

General revelation declares the universal presence of God in the conscience of mankind. It reveals His everlasting power, deity and holiness to man's heart. Man can't deny it or excuse himself from this common witness (Ps. 14:1).

But conscience, in itself, knows no pardon and no savior. General revelation draws a man to God, but does not offer the saving knowledge of Christ. It convicts, but it can't save.

Bible verses for devotion:
Rom. 1:19-20 & 2:14-15 –How does general revelation relate to conscience?
Acts 17:27–What is the purpose of general revelation?

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. –Colossians 1:13-15

Special revelation declares Christ as the image of the invisible God and the only way by which a relationship with God is made possible for sinners.

As the image of God, Christ is the sole and final authority in the revealing of God. 2 Cor. 1:20 says "For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us."As the "Yes", Christ is both the realization and the reality of all God's revelation in nature, history, and Scripture. As the "Amen", He is the faithful and true witness. Jesus Christ is the express and concluding revelation of God.

Before conversion, Christ as the revelation of God is external to us. He is the objective certainty of God. Upon conversion, Christ becomes the internal revelation of God to us. Christ becomes our subjective certitude of God's revelation. God's revelation becomes clearer and brighter as "…Christ is formed in you" (Gal. 4:19).

For our knowledge of Christ, we are dependent upon Scripture and the indwelling Spirit of Christ to illuminate our understanding of it. God has graciously chosen to fully reveal Himself to us in Christ through the Bible by His Spirit.

Bible verses for devotion:
Jn. 5:38-40, 45-47 –Of who does Scripture testify?
Jn. 20:31–Why was the Bible written?
Colossians 3:16– How can the word dwell in you?

For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. –1 Thessalonians 2:13

Since Christ, who is the divine Logos or Reason, is "…the true Light which…enlightens every man" (Jn. 1:9), a special influence of "…the Spirit of Christ within them…"(1 Pet. 1:11) rationally accounts for the fact that "…men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Pet. 1:21).

God is perfect. As God is its source, the Bible is wholly trustworthy, the only perfect rule to guide our faith and life.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul said"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

The same Holy Spirit who made the original revelation must interpret to us the record of it if we are to come to the knowledge of truth.

The testimony of the Holy Spirit combines with the teaching of the Bible to convince the earnest reader that this teaching is as a whole, and in all of its parts, beyond the power of men to communicate, and that its writing must have been put into permanent and written form by God's inspiration. So used and so interpreted, these writings are sufficient to lead us to Christ and salvation.

Bible verses for devotion:
Jn. 12:49-50 –To who does Jesus ascribe His words?
Jn. 10:35– Why can't Scripture be broken?

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.–2 Timothy 3:14-15

The Bible is not simply a collection of books. The Bible is a book. It is unified in all of its revelation of God.

The Bible is made up of sixty-six books, by forty writers of all ranks. Some writers were shepherds, some were fisherman, and some were priests. Other writers were warriors, statesman, and kings. These men composed their works at intervals throughout a period of seventeen centuries.

Documents may be genuine which are written in whole or part by persons other than whose name they bear, provided these persons belonged to the same class of men. For example, the addition of Deuteronomy 34 after Moses's death does not invalidate the genuineness of the Pentateuch.

In spite of its variety of authorship and the vast separation of its writers from one another in point of time, there is a unity of subject, spirit and aim throughout the whole Bible. It is not the work of man. It is the work of God. We have no reason to doubt its authenticity or its authority.

Bible verses for devotion:
Matthew 5:17-19 –What does Jesus say about the unity of spirit in the Scriptures?
Luke 24:44-47 –What does Jesus say about the unity of subject and aim in the Scriptures?

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. –John 16:13-14

Taken together, with Christ as its culmination and explanation, the Bible furnishes the Christian with the only true rule of faith and practice.

Obscure passages must be interpreted in light of the plain passages. Unless the idea taught is supported by other passages, we must not ascribe divine authority to our private impressions.

We must interpret Scripture in the literary sense in which each book is written. Take for example, the character of prophecy, as a rough, general sketch of the future. With its highly figurative language, and without the proper historical perspective, it is possible that we may confound the drapery with the substance, or apply its language to events to which it has no reference. We should tremble at His word (Isa. 66:2).

We must be like the Bereans who "…received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11).

The same Spirit of Christ who inspired the Bible is promised to teach us the things of Christ and lead us into all truth. Only the Holy Spirit can turn the outer word into the inner word.

Bible verses for devotion:
2 Timothy 2:15–How do we rightly divide the word?
John 14:25-26– Who is our teacher?

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. –John 4:24

The second commandment forbids our conceiving of God as a thing. Isaiah 40:18 asks "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?"

The representation of God with body or form degrades Him to the level of the heathen gods. These representations obscure the glory of God. They misinform our idea of God, bringing it down to the low level of our own material being.To worship God in spirit and truth is to worship God as He actually is. We can only do so by His gracious self-revelation.

Because God is spirit, we can only recognize Him through spiritual means. It is divine revelation that brings us to God, not human perception or imagination.

1 Cor. 2:10-11 says "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God."

It is only by revelation that we can know God. The Holy Spirit reveals God to us in Jesus Christ. The longing for a tangible, incarnate God meets its satisfaction in Jesus Christ.

Bible verses for devotion:
Ex. 33:18-20; John1:18 –Who has seen God?
Matthew 16:13-17– How did Peter apprehend who Jesus was?
Colossians 1:15 –Where do we find the image of the invisible God?

My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. –Psalm 84:2

In contrast, Jeremiah says "But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them: The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens"(Jer. 10:10).

King Darius was driven to say "I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions"(Daniel 6:26-27).

God is not dead. God is active, engaged, and in control of all things.In Ps. 18:46, David sang "The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation."

The living God, who has life in Himself, has given us His Son to be the life of the world. Christ has come "…according to the power of an indestructible life" (Hebrews 7:16). Because Jesus Christ lives, we have confidence that nothing can separate us from His love. Only the living God can meet all of our soul's longings.

Bible verses for devotion:
John 5:26-29 –What is meant by "the Father has life in Himself"?
John 14:6– What is Jesus teaching in this verse?

God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. God, furthermore, said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.–Exodus 3:14-15

Because God is a Person, He is relational. This means that God relates to His created order.At the root of His personality is the divine capacity for affection.

God called Israel His people and set His love on them. Likewise, in the New Testament, the church is called the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7).

God is not only "The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob", but He is also the "Savior of all men, especially of believers" (Ex. 3:15; 1 Tim. 4:10).

As humans, we too are persons. But we are not fully our own masters. Our personality is incomplete. Our self-determination is as limited as our self-consciousness. We reason truly, only with God's helping. We will rightly, only as God works in us to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). Our love only endures in His higher love (1 Jn. 4:16).

To make us truly ourselves, to be complete, we need an infinite Personality to supplement and energize our own.

Bible verses for devotion:
Deuteronomy 7:6-8–How does God relate to us?
Colossians 2:9-10– How is our person completed?

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.–Matthew 3:16-17

The undivided essence of the Godhead belongs equally to each of the Persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each equally God. Each Person possesses all the substance and all the attributes of Diety. Neither Person is God without the others. Each Person, with the others, is God. There is one essence. Scripture alludes to the eternal generation of the Son and the proceeding of the Spirit from both the Father and the Son. These terms do not represent inequality. Rather, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal in essence and glory.

These terms refer to an order of personality, office, and operation in which the Father works through the Son, and both the Father and the Son through the Spirit. This order is perfectly consistent with equality. Priority is not necessarily superiority. Each is the equal and proper object of worship.

The precise manner of God's triune existence is unrevealed to us and is beyond our comprehension. But we do grasp the four basic facts of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to a proper understanding of God's revelation and redemption (Hebrews 9:14). In Jesus Christ, God is revealed and human nature is lifted up into the life and communion of the eternal Trinity.

Bible verses for devotion:
Gal. 4:4-6– How are we united into the life of God?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. –Isaiah 40:28-29

Transcendence is not mere outsideness. It is rather boundless supply from within.

Infinity implies that God exists in no necessary relation to finite things or beings, and that whatever limitation of the divine nature results from their existence is, on the part of God, a self-limitation. This is God's gracious condescension to man.

Psalm 113:5-8asks "Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of His people. "God makes Himself little so He can make us great.

It is amazing that the infinite God, who is so great and high above us, is also a God who is near to us. In Immanuel, we find that He is truly "God with us"(Mat. 1:23).

Because God is infinite, He can love each believer as much as if that single soul was the only one for whom He had to care for. In all things, the whole heart of God is engaged and busy with plans for the good of everyChristian.

Bible verses for devotion:
Phil. 4:19-20– Do you trust the infinite God with you finite needs?
Rom. 11:33-36– Where does God's infinity lead us?

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. –Psalm 90:1-2

The apostle Paul reasoned with the men of Athens, declaring to them that God is the very ground of being.

In Acts 17:24-28, Paul says "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, For we also are His children."

Everything we come into contact with in our world has its source of existence outside of itself. But God is not thus dependent. He needs nothing outside Himself to exist.

Self-existence is certainly incomprehensible to us, yet it is God's nature. The existence of God is not a contingent, but a necessary existence. All things are dependent on God.

Bible verses for devotion:
Psalm 93:2–How long has God been on His throne?
Acts 17:24-28– Does God need anything?

Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment; like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.–Psalm 102:25-27

Scripture sometimes speaks of God changing His mind or ways. This is simply a way of relating God's unchanging character to a change in man toward God.

For example, Genesis 6:6 says"The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart." This should be interpreted in light of Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

God's unchanging holiness requires Him to treat the wicked differently from the righteous. When the righteous become wicked, His treatment of them must change.

When we change, God responds in a way consistent with His character. The sun is not fickle because it melts the wax but hardens the clay. The change is not in the sun, but in the objects it shines on. There is no varying in God. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8).

Bible verses for devotion:
1 Samuel 15:11, 29–Do these verses show a change in God or in man?
Malachi 3:6-7–How is God's immutability a consolation to the faithful, but a terror to God's enemies?

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the LORD, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.–Revelation 1:8

To God, past, present and future are one eternal "now".

This does not mean that the eternal God, who instituted time at creation, sees no distinction between past, present and future.

What this means is that God sees the past and the future as vividly as He sees the present.

This helps us grasp the patience, the long-suffering, and the expectation of God. Ps. 86:15 proclaims"But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth."

Likewise, 2 Peter 3:9 sates"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

God, in His grace and wisdom, allows us to experience time in successive moments, not simultaneously, thus preventing infinite confusion. Ps. 103:14 tells us that God "…knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust."

God created time to provide us perspective regarding our past, to order our present, and to give us hope for our future.

Let us pray like Moses prayed in Psalm 90:12,"So teach us to number our days,that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Bible verses for devotion:
Psalm 103:15-17 –How is our nature contrasted with God's nature?
Rev. 1:17– Does God's eternity encourage you?

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!–1 Kings 8:27

Immensity highlights God's transcendence. God not only occupies all space, but He is beyond all space. He is both transcendent as well as immanent. God is rather unspatial, evenwhile He remains the Lord of space.

God gave both the world and space their existence. Space is a relation of a finite existence. All created beings have a confined existence, occupying a limited space.

As finite beings, we experience life within the confines of space. We can only occupy one space at a time. We cannot be both here and there at the same time. This frames our limited existence and experience in this world.

It is hard for us to comprehend that God is completely present in all places throughout the universe, while at the same time He is beyond space itself. Yet it is a great comfort.

Isaiah 40:12asks "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?"

Isaiah 40:22 answers "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." God's infinite immensity is truly glorious!

Bible verses for devotion:
Psalm 8:1–Does God's immensity amaze you?
Isaiah 66:1-2– Does immensity preclude nearness?

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night, even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.–Psalm 139:7-12

In Jeremiah 23:23-24, God asks us "Am I a God who is near, declares the LORD, and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him? declares the LORD; Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?declares the LORD."

Our reliance on God and our very communion with Him is grounded in His omnipresence. In every individual heart and in every individual church, there abides the whole of Christ. In Romans 8:39, Paul confidently asserts that nothing "…will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God’s omnipresence assures us that He is always present with us. Indeed He is fully present with us. Our communion with God is sweet as He is in every heart and in the ends of the earth to answer prayer. Psalm 121:5 says “The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.”

Bible verses for devotion:
Isaiah 57:15- Where does God dwell?
Matthew 28:20- When is Jesus with us?

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. –Psalm 139:1-4

God knows the stars (Ps. 147:4), and the sparrows (Mat.10:29). He knows our works (Ps. 33:13-15), our hearts and thoughts (Acts 15:8, Ps. 139:2), our wants (Mat. 6:8), even the number of hairs on our head (Mat. 10:30). God perfectly knows the past (Mal. 3:16). He knows what is ideally possible (Mat. 11:23). He knows for certain what will be (Isa. 46:9-10, Isa. 53, Rev. 13:8).

Hebrews 4:13 says "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we must give account." His omniscience is frightening to the wicked, but comforting to believers. We can never truthfully say "My way is hidden from the LORD" (Isa. 40:27).

Psalm 40:5 comforts us by declaring"…Your thoughts toward us…would be too numerous to count." This is not because there is succession in God's knowledge, alternating between remembering and forgetting. God's thoughts can't be counted because there is never a moment of our existence in which we are out of His mind. He is always thinking of us.

Bible verses for devotion:
Acts 15:18 –When did God's knowledge begin?
Psalm 147:5– Is God's knowledge limited?

Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?–Isaiah 43:13

God has no external limitations. There is nothing outside of God that can confine or limit Him in any manner. God's power is only self-limited. His power is limited by both His nature and will. God can't do things that are contrary to His nature. God's nature doesn't change. For example, God can't lie, sin, or die. To do such things would not imply power, but impotence.

God's power is also self-limited by His wise and holy will. For example, God humbled Himself to the taking of human flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Even human freedom is not rendered impossible by divine omnipotence, but exists by virtue of it. God can do all things, but in His self-limitation, He does not do all things.

This self-limitation is actually an act of His omnipotence. His self-limitation is free, proceeding from neither external nor internal compulsion. God's self-limitation is the act and manifestation of His power. God has power over His power.

God's omnipotence is the ground of trust, as well as of fear, on the part of God's creatures. It is awe inspiring.

We share in the wonder that Job expressed in Job 26:14, "Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; and how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?"

Bible verses for devotion:
Job 42:2, John 10:29– Do you share this confidence?
Philippians 2:5-8–How is this omnipotence?

Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. –John 14:6

The one unifying current which these truths partially reveal is the outgoing work of Christ, the divine Word.

Christ is the one and only revealer of God. Because Christ is the truth of God, we succeed in our search for truth only as we recognize Him.

We learn truth due to the teaching role of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:17, Jesus described the Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of truth". The doctrine of the Trinity is therefore the necessary complement to the doctrine of God's truth.

God is true not only in His being, but in His revelation. In God, the outer expression and the inward reality always correspond. God's truth guarantees His revelation is true. God's revelation will never be contradicted, but will rather prove to have in it more truth than we ever dreamed.

Psalm 119:160 teaches us that "The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting."

Furthermore, God's truth assures us of His faithfulness to perform all that He has promised. 2 Tim. 2:13 says "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."

Because God is forever true, so are His promises. Psalm 91:4 says "…His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark."

Bible verses for devotion:
1 John 5:20– Do you share in God's truth?
Psalm 119:162– What is your treasure?

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.–1 John 4:16

God's love toward us is His desire to give Himself to us, to penetrate us with Him, and thereby bring us into His union and spiritual fellowship.

God's love for us includes His mercy and goodness to all men (Ps. 145:8-9). God's mercy leads Him to seek the earthly good and eternal salvation of those who have opposed themselves to His will, even at the cost of infinite self-sacrifice. Despite our sin, God still sees His image in us.

Eph. 2:4-5 exalts His mercy, saying" But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."

God's goodness leads Him to communicate of His own life and blessedness to those who are His own. It is a special love reserved for His children, united to Him in Christ.

Ephesians 2:6-7 illustrates the goodness of God who "…raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

God imparts Himself to us in Christ, filling and blessing us by His Spirit, and possessing us in union and fellowship.

Bible verses for devotion:
Psalm 17:15–How does God love Himself in us?
Romans 5:8– How are love and giving related?

Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.–Leviticus 20:26

God is not under law, nor above law. He is law. God is subject to no law but the law of His own nature. God is the one source and author of law.

The whole momentum of God’s being is behind moral law. That law is His self-expression. His benevolent yet fearsome arm is ever defending and enforcing it. God must maintain His holiness, for this is His very Godhead. God exercises His holiness toward us in righteousness and justice. His righteousness requires our conformity to the moral perfection of God. God’s justice visits non-conformity to His perfection with penalty. In righteousness, God reveals His love of holiness. In justice, God reveals His hatred of sin. Psalm 97:2 declares that “…Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” This is God’s self-affirmation.

In 1 Peter 1:16, God’s commands us to “Be holy”, where the ground of obligation assigned is simply and only: “for I am holy.” Jesus instructed us in Mat. 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect”, where the standard laid down is: “as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This is God’s self-willing.

In God, we have the ground of all moral obligation. He is infinite purity. Holiness, since it is God’s self-affirmation and self-willing, furnishes the guarantee that God’s love will not fail to secure its end, and that all things will serve His purpose. Romans 11:36 assures us of this by proclaiming “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

Bible verses for devotion:
Isaiah 5:16–How is God exalted and hallowed?

Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure. –Isaiah 46:9-10

God’s plan does not conflict with man’s free will. Because Scripture assures us that free agency exists, it must exist by God’s decree. Though we may be ignorant of the method in which the decrees are executed, we have no right to doubt either the decrees or the freedom. God’s decrees are not addressed to men, do not force human action, and become known only after the event. All conflict between God’s sovereign will and man’s free will must therefore be only apparent and not real.

In regard to sin, God decrees to permit it but not to directly produce it. God creates and preserves human wills which, in their own self-chosen courses, will be and do evil. God’s decrees do not make Him the author of sin, but the author of free beings who are themselves the authors of sin. Sin was permitted because it could be overruled and without it, God’s justice and God’s mercy alike would be unrevealed.

God’s plan inspires humility and awe of His unsearchable counsels and absolute sovereignty. It gives us confidence that God has wisely ordered the minutest of details to make all things work for the good of His people and the triumph of His kingdom. It shows God’s enemies that their sins have been foreseen and provided for in God’s plan, if they repent.

Bible verses for devotion:
Romans 8:28– How does this strengthen your faith?

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.–Isaiah 40:26

Creation is the work of each Person of the Godhead. Scripture presents the Father as the originating cause, the Son as the mediating cause, and the Spirit as the realizing cause of creation.

John 1:3 teaches the Son’s role in creation saying “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

In Genesis 1:2, we read that the Holy Spirit was brooding over the face of the waters, as an eagle flutters over her nest. In Job 33:4, Job states “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

God’s chief end in creation is nothing outside Himself, but only His own glory. The glory of the infinitely perfect God is revealed in and through His creation. By expressing Himself in His creation, God communicates to His creatures the utmost possible good. In His revelation, we are shown that our interests are bound up in His (Ps. 100).

Col. 1:16-17 says “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Bible verses for devotion:
Genesis 1 & 2–Read and meditate on these chapters.

You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You.–Nehemiah 9:6

The apostle Paul boldly preached in Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and exist...”

God’s upholding of our existence does not destroy or absorb our own being or the powers we have been given.

Humans are upheld by God’s will, but human wills do not always obey the divine will. They may even oppose it.

Man’s free will exists only by God’s self-limitation. However, the being that sins can maintain its existence only through the preserving agency of God.

These are indeed upheld by God in their being, but opposed by God in their conduct. Preservation leaves room for human freedom, responsibility, sin, and guilt.

In God’s inexhaustible fullness of life there are no burdens involved in the upholding of the universe that He has created. God’s infinity turns into sources of delight all that would seem burdensome to man.

God’s work of preservation displays the same glory, perfection, majesty, and unity as does His work of creation.

God has promised us that “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).

Bible verses for devotion:
Ps. 66:8-9–How do we respond to His preservation?

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done’?–Daniel 4:34-35

Preventative providence is found in Genesis 20:6 where God told Abimelech“…I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.”

Permissive providence is typified in Romans 1:28 which says “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”

Directive providence is evidenced in Genesis 50:20 when Joseph tells his brothers “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

Determinative providence is found in Job 1:12 which says “Then the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.”

God’s providence is grasped only when we consider that Christ is the revealer of God, and that His suffering for sin opens to us the heart of God. With the cross in view, we can believe that God’s love rules over all, and causes “…all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Bible verses for devotion:
Jeremiah 10:23 –Who orders and directs your life?

Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. –Psalm 103:13-14

In Scripture, miracles have a way of arresting our minds and hearts. They are often manifested in special times of God’s deliverance and self-revelation, as evidenced in the lives of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, Jesus and His apostles.

God usually guides us, not by continual miracles, but by His natural providence and the energizing of our faculties by His Spirit, so that we rationally and freely do our own work, and yet fulfill His purpose.

God is continually near to His people by His providential working. God’s providential working is perfectly adjusted to the Christian’s nature and necessities. It is designed to give us instruction with regard to our duty and discipline to our moral character. It is also for our help and comfort in trials.

In interpreting God’s providences, as in interpreting Scripture, we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit is, in great part, an application of Scripture truth to present circumstances. The Holy Spirit gives our understanding of circumstances a fine sense of God’s providential purposes with regard to us, although we may not always be able to explain it to others.

Miracles reveal God’s special care for us. Miracles remind us of God’s greatness. 1 Samuel 14:6 says “…for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.”

Bible verses for devotion:
Jn. 11:45-48 –How do miracles affect people?

For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.–Psalm 91:11-12

Evil angels oppose God and strive to defeat His will. This is indicated in the names applied to their chief. The word “Satan” means “adversary”- primarily to God, secondarily to men. Likewise, the term “devil” signifies “slanderer” of God to men (Genesis 3:1,4), and of men to God (Rev. 12:10).

Yet, in spite of themselves, they execute God’s plans of punishing the ungodly, of chastening the good, and of illustrating the nature and fate of moral evil.

The power of evil spirits over men is not independent of the human will. This power cannot be exercised without at least the original consent of man’s will, and may be resisted and shaken off through prayer and faith in God. God’s Spirit dwells in believers as their seal and guarantee (2 Cor. 1:22). He stands with us to plead God’s cause with us and our cause with God (Jn. 16:8; Rom. 8:26). Even the angels marvel at our redemption in Christ (1 Pet. 1:12; Eph. 3:10; 1 Cor. 4:9).

The power of evil angels is also limited, both in time and in extent, by the permissive will of God. Evil spirits are neither omnipotent, omniscient, nor omnipresent.

Opposed to God as evil spirits are, God compels them to serve His purposes. Their power for harm lasts but for a season, and their ultimate judgment and punishment will vindicate God’s permission of their evil agency.

Bible verses for devotion:
Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8–What victory was secured by Christ’s death?

Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.–Psalm 100:3

Genesis 1:26 says “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Man is unique among creatures in that he is created in the image of God. Reflecting God’s nature and attributes, man has the capacity to relate with God. We will discuss this further in a later chapter when we study man’s orignal state.

Reason points out the radical differences between man’s soul and the priciple of intelligence in the lower animals. Man is man because his free will transcends the limitations of the brute creature. Man’s possesion of self-consciouness, general ideas, the moral sense, and the power of self-determination show that man could not have been derived by any natural process of development from inferior creatures.

Job 32:8 illustrates this reasoning, telling us “But it is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.”

Man is uniquely created by God to reflect His holiness and to bring Him glory. We were made to “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for holy is the LORD our God” (Ps. 99:9).

Bible verses for devotion:
Psalm 8:3-9–What are we crowned with? What is our dominion? Why? What for?

Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?–Malachi 2:10

Fatherhood, in this larger sense, implies origination, impartation of life and likeness in faculties and powers.

Fatherhood also implies God’s sustentation, government, care and love of His creation.

God’s fatherhood is evidenced in His fatherly treatment of man and in His universal claim on man for filial love and trust (Mat. 23:9).

God’s fatherhood makes incarnation possible, for this implies oneness of nature between God and man. The atoning death of Christ could be effective only upon the ground of a common nature in Christ and in humanity. Even the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is intelligible only as the restoration of a filial relation which was native to man, but which his sin had disrupted.

This natural fatherhood, therefore, prepares the way for God’s special Fatherhood toward those who have been regenerated by His Spirit and who have believed on His Son.

All are naturally sons of God. But not all are spiritually sons of God. Many are “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) and “perdition” (John 17:12).

God is spiritually the Father only of those renewed by His Spirit. Only those who have joined themselves by faith to Christ have“…received a Spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba!Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

Bible verses for devotion:
Galatians 4:1-7 –What does our adoption imply?

And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth… –Acts 17:26

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 instructs us that “For since by a man came death, by a Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

This is God’s gracious provision for the salvation of man. Paul expounds on this gracious provision in Romans 5:17 saying “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

The descent of humanity from a single pair also forms the ground of man’s obligation of natural brotherhood to every member of the race.1 Jn. 3:17 asks if a man denies a “…brother in need…how does the love of God abide in him?”

The writer of Hebrews 2:11-12 describes this natural brotherhood, declaring “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.”

The common heritage of mankind is foundational to understanding man’s participation in sin, God’s gracious offer of redemption through the work of Christ, and both our rationale and responsibility of being our brother’s keeper.

Bible verses for devotion:
Hebrews 2:16-17 –Who is included as a “descendant of Abraham”? Who are “His brethren”? What does this teach us?

The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him, and he revived.–1 Kings 17:22

The terms soul and spirit are used interchangeably in Scripture. For example, “his spirit was troubled” (Gen. 41:8); “my soul is in despair within me.” (Ps. 42:6); “Now My soul has become troubled” (Jn. 12:27); “He became troubled in spirit…”(Jn. 13:21). This is especially common in the Old Testament.

Although the terms soul and spirit are often used interchangeably, and always designate the same substance, they are sometimes employed as contrasting terms.

Some Scriptures, such as 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12, seem to differentiate soul and spirit as constituting different parts of man’s immaterial makeup. On closer inspection, we find that the verses simply highlight the whole of the soul and all of its relations. These verses do not designate a separate part of immaterial man any more than Jesus’s command in Mark 12:30 to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Here, Jesus is not teaching a four part makeup of man. He only refers to man’s entirety.

Although man is represented as having a two-fold nature, man is related to as an organic unity, a whole man. It is man who transgresses and is accountable to God, not his soul or body independently.

In Mat. 10:28, Jesus taught us to fear God “…who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Graciously, Christ’s provision and offer of salvation for man is presented for the whole man, both body and soul.

Bible verse for devotion:
Psalm 139:14 –How are you made?

Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against You.–Psalm 119:11

The word of God and the Holy Spirit are the chief agencies in rectifying our standards of judgment. They enable our conscience to make absolutely right decisions.

God can so unite the soul to Christ that it becomes partaker of His satisfaction to justice and is thus “…sprinkled clean from an evil conscience…” (Heb. 10:22). As we experience His sanctifying power, our conscience is thus enabled to obey God’s command and to speak of a “good conscience” (1 Pet. 3:16, 21) instead of an “evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22) or a conscience “defiled” (Titus1:15) by sin.

The conscience of the regenerate man may have such right standards, and its decisions may be followed by such uniformly right action, that its voice, though it is not itself God’s voice, is yet the very echo of God’s voice.

The renewed conscience may take up into itself and express the witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul confirms this, saying that his conscience “…testifies with me in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1).

Conscience is not an original authority. It points to something higher than itself. This authority of conscience is simply the authority of the moral law, or rather the authority of the personal God, whose nature the law is but a transcript.

Conscience, therefore, with its continual and supreme demand that the right should be done, furnishes the best witness to man of the existence of a personal God, and of the supremacy of holiness in Him in whose image we are made.

Bible verse for devotion:
1 Jn. 3:20 – How can a weak conscience mislead us?

…for the willing is present in me… –Romans 7:18

Man’s will is free, but its freedom is self-limited. Man’s willful acts form a bend in his will which directs his future acts.

Every decision of the will turns our thought either toward or away from an object of desire, creating a path upon which future thoughts may easily travel. With repeated acts of will in a given moral direction, the affections may become so confirmed in evil or in good as to almost make certain the future good or evil action of the man.

Therefore, while the will is free, the man may either be a “slave of sin” (John 8:34) or be counted among the “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18) and the “righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23).

Man’s will is corrupted by sin. This sinful bent of the will toward evil becomes so constant and settled that man cannot by a single act reverse his moral state. In this respect man has not the power of a contrary choice. He can change his character only indirectly, by turning his attention to considerations fitted to awaken opposite dispositions, and by thus summoning up motives to an opposite course.

Studying the action of the sinful will alone, one might conclude that there is no such thing as freedom. But our consciousness testifies to freedom. Consciousness must be trusted, though we cannot reconcile the two. The will is as great a mystery as is the doctrine of the Trinity.

Scripture reveals most clearly the degradation of our will. Yet it also discloses the remedy. John 8:36 says “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

Bible verse for devotion:
Phil. 4:13 –What happens when God energizes the will of man?

Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright… –Ecclesiastes 7:29

God created man with a direction of the affections and the will to reflect His moral likeness. Since holiness is the fundamental attribute of God, this must of necessity be the chief attribute of His image in the moral beings whom He creates (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:8-10).

Newly created man had right moral tendencies, as well as freedom from actual fault. Otherwise the communion with God described in Genesis would not have been possible.

Though the first man was fundamentally good, he still had the power of choosing evil. There was a bent of the affections and will toward God, but man was not yet confirmed in holiness.

The loss of this moral likeness to God was the chief calamity of the Fall. Man has defaced the image of God in his nature, even though that image, in its natural aspect, is enduring. As Pascal said, man is now both “the glory and the scandal of the universe.”

The dignity of human nature consists, not so much in what man is, but in what God meant him to be, and in what God means him yet to become when the lost image of God is restored by the union of man’s soul with Christ. Because of his future possibilities, the lowest of mankind is sacred.

The great sin of the second table of the Decalogue is the sin of despising our fellow man. To harbor and cherish contempt for others can have its root only in idolatry, self and rebellion against God.

Bible verse for devotion:
Gen. 1:31 –How does God describe man at creation?

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ- John 1:17

God requires perfect holiness in man as the condition of harmony with His own infinite holiness. To let down this standard would be to misrepresent Himself.

God’s law is not a sliding scale of requirements which adapts to its subjects. God Himself can’t change it without ceasing to be God.

Some laws in the Bible differ in that they are ceremonial or special injunctions from God, being temporary in nature. An example of this is the dietary laws of Israel. Such modes of expression, like the Mosaic system, may be abolished, but the essential demands are unchanging (Matthew 5:17-18). Issued by God for spiritual tutelage, He alone can say when they cease to be binding upon us in their outward form.

Only to the first man was the law proposed as a method of salvation. With the first sin, all hope of obtaining the divine favor by perfect obedience is lost. God’s law reminds man of the heights from which he has fallen and drives him to Christ for righteousness and salvation (Romans 8:3-4).

Man needs law, just as railway cars need a track to guide them. To leap the track is to find, not freedom, but ruin.

Thus, God’s law both demands and protects. The law is thus not only for ownership, but also for care. Law is God’s transcript of holiness as well as a partial revelation of His everlasting love.

It is in grace that we find the chief revelation of His love. Love saves not by ignoring law, but in satisfying its demands.

Bible verse for devotion:
Galatians 3:24–What is the purpose of the Law?

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.–1 John 3:4

Not every sinner is conscious of this enmity. But this indifference easily grows in the presence of threatening and penalty into violent hatred to God and positive defiance of His law. If the sin which is now hidden in the sinner's heart were but permitted to develop itself according to its own nature, it would attempt to hurl the Almighty from His throne and set up its own kingdom.

Sin desires to obliterate God and His works, which testify of Him (Romans 1).

Selfishness is the essence of sin. Just as God makes His holiness the central thing, so we are to live for that, loving self only in God and for God's sake. This love for God as holy is the essence of virtue. The opposite of this is the supreme love for self, which is sin.

Sin chooses self instead of God as the object of affection and the supreme end of being. Man ought to make God the center of his life, surrendering himself unconditionally to God and possessing himself only in subordination to God's will. Instead, the sinner makes himself the center of his life. Man sets his own interest as the supreme motive and his will as the supreme rule. Man sets himself directly against God.

Side by side with the selfish will, and striving against it, is the Spirit of Christ, the immanent God, imparting aspirations and impulses foreign to unregenerate humanity. This prepares the way for the soul's surrender to truth and righteousness. These impulses to righteousness stem not from man, but from Christ moving man to seek salvation.

Bible verse for devotion:
Lk. 5:8–Was Peter confessing a single sin or a state?

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. –Romans 3:23

The sinful acts and dispositions of men stem from man’s corrupt nature. This nature is an inborn corrupt state from which sin flows. This nature is in mind when Jesus states in Luke 6:45 “…the evil man out of the evil treasure (of his heart) brings forth evil.” In Mat. 12:34, Jesus says “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?” Ps. 58:3 traces this state back to birth saying “The wicked are estranged from the womb; these who speak lies go astray from birth.”

Ps. 51:5 states “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. ”Here, David confesses not his mother’s sin, but his own sin. He teaches that man himself is sinful before God from his birth, before his works.

Ephesians 2:3 declares all men to be “…by nature children of wrath…” Nature here signifies something inborn and original as distinguished from that which is acquired subsequently. This text implies that: (a) Sin is a nature in the sense of an inherited depravity of the will. (b) This nature is guilty and condemnable. (c) All men share in this nature and in this consequent guilt and condemnation.

When a man says he is unconscious of any sin, it is only proof that he is a great and hardened transgressor. Denial of sin is damning because if one never realizes his sin, there is no salvation.

Opposed to this, we see the amazing grace of God. This grace is manifested not only in the gift of Christ to die for sinners, but in the gift of the Holy Spirit to convince men of their sins and to lead them to accept the Savior.

Bible verse for devotion:
Psalm 90:8–How are our sins brought to light?

The serpent said to the woman:You surely will not die! –Genesis 3:4

Thus man fell inwardly, before the outward act of eating the forbidden fruit. He fell in that one fundamental determination whereby he made the supreme choice of self instead of God.

Man denied God’s absolute ownership and asserted his own. Sin revealed a will thoroughly corrupted and alienated from God.

Man should have known evil as God knows it- as a thing possible, hateful, and forever rejected. But man learned to know evil as Satan knows it- by making it actual. It was a bitter experience resulting in physical and spiritual death.

We can’t understand how the first unholy emotion could have dwelt in a mind that was set supremely upon God.

We can’t grasp how temptation could overcome a soul in which there were no unholy tendencies to which it could appeal. The power of choice doesn’t explain unholy choice.

We can’t dismiss the fall as only a deception of our first parents by Satan. Their very yielding to such deception presupposes distrust of God and alienation from Him.

Sin exists. God is not its author. God cannot be sin’s author, either by creating man’s nature so that sin was a necessary incident of its development, or by withdrawing a supernatural grace which was necessary to keep man holy.

We must accept the Scripture doctrine that sin originated in man’s free act of revolt from God. It was the act of a will which, though inclined toward God, was not yet confirmed in virtue and was still capable of a contrary choice.

Bible verse for devotion:
Genesis 3:15–How does God make provision for our sin?

…through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men... –Romans 5:12

In other words, Adam’s sin is the root and basis of the depravity, guilt, and condemnation of all humanity. This is simply because Adam and his offspring are one by virtue of their organic unity. Thus, the sin of Adam is the sin of the race. Adam and his progeny share the same evil nature.

Humanity’s common fallen nature is self-corrupted and averse to God. This nature manifests itself in our own personal transgressions, just as it did in Adam’s. We are not sinners merely because God regards and treats us as such. God regards us as sinners because we are sinners.

In attempts to explain God’s justice in imputing to us the sin of our first father, many theories have been devised. We acknowledge that no human theory can fully untangle the mystery of imputation. Our finite minds can’t solve the dark problem of a corruption which is inborn yet condemnable.

Yet this is a central fact that is taught in Scripture. We feel compelled to believe upon divine testimony, even though our attempted explanation should prove unsatisfactory. This truth should lead us to acknowledge the depths of our soul’s ruin and our absolute dependence upon God for salvation.

We would be remiss to forget that there is also a physical and natural union with Christ which precedes the fall and results from the creation of man. This immanence of Christ in humanity guarantees a continuous divine effort to remedy the disaster caused by man’s free will, and to restore the holy union with God for which the race was created, but has lost.

Bible verses for devotion:
Rom. 5:12-18; 1 Cor. 15:21-22–Consider God’s grace.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. –Romans 7:14

No man can of himself change the underlying corrupt state of his affections and will. The sinner cannot by a single act of will bring his character and life to conform to God’s law (Eph. 2:8-10).

Depraved men are described in Eph. 4:18-19 as “being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” Inability results from sin and is itself sin.

Yet there is a certain remnant of freedom left to man. There are degrees of depravity. The sinner can choose the less sin rather than the greater. He can refuse altogether to yield to certain temptations. He can do outwardly good acts, though with imperfect motives. He can even seek God from motives of self-interest, opening himself to divine influence. Freedom of choice, within this limit, is not incompatible with complete bondage of the will in spiritual things (Jn. 1:12-13).

Over against total depravity, we must set total redemption. Over against original sin, we must set original grace. Christ is in every human heart mitigating the effects of sin, urging all to repentance, and is “…able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him…” (Heb. 7:25). Even the unregenerate heathen may put off “…the old self…” and “…put on the new self…” (Eph. 4:22, 24), being delivered from “…the body of this death...through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:24, 25).

Bible verse for devotion:
Romans 7:18–What good does Paul find in man?

God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. –Psalm 7:11

Every sin, whether of nature or person, is an offense against God. It is an act or state of opposition to His will which has for its effect God’s personal wrath (John 3:18, 36). Sin, as antagonism to God’s holy will, involves guilt. This guilt, or obligation to satisfy the outraged holiness of God, is explained in Scripture by the terms “debtor” and “debt” (Mat. 6:12; Luke 11:4; Mat. 5:21; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:3).

Guilt and depravity are also separable in fact. Christians are free from guilt (Rom. 8:1), but not yet free from depravity (Rom. 7:23). Christ, on the other hand, was under obligation to suffer (Luke 24:26; Acts 3:18; 26:23), while yet He was without sin (Heb. 7:26). The necessity of Christ’s suffering was not in the needs of man, but in the holiness of God.

The revulsion of God’s holiness from sin, and its demand for satisfaction, are reflected in the shame and remorse of every awakened conscience. There is an instinct in man’s heart that sin will be punished, and ought so to be. The Holy Spirit makes this so deeply felt that the soul has no rest until its debt is paid. So Jesus, when laden with the guilt of the race, pressed forward to the cross, saying: “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50; Mark 10:32).

This relation of sin to God shows us how Christ was made “…to be sin on our behalf…” (2 Cor. 5:21). For the very reason of His humanity, Christ bore in His own Person all the guilt of humanity and is “…the Lamb of God who…” takes, and so “…takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29).

Bible verses for devotion:
Hebrews 10:26-31–Consider those who reject Christ.

For the wages of sin is death…–Romans 6:23

The divine feeling toward sin is seen in Jesus’ scourging the traffickers in the temple, His denunciation of the Pharisees, His weeping over Jerusalem, and His agony in Gethsemane. Imagine a father’s feeling toward his daughter’s betrayer, and God’s feeling toward sin may be faintly understood.

Punishment is essentially different from chastisement. Whereas chastisement proceeds from love (Jer. 10:24; Heb. 12:6), punishment proceeds not from love, but from justice. God’s justice is offended by sin. Eze. 28:22 speaks of the vindication of His justice declaring “…Thus says the LORD God: Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her, and I will manifest my Holiness in her.”

The penalty of sin is death. Death is both physical and spiritual. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. It includes all those temporal evils and physical sufferings which result from disturbing the original harmony between body and soul, which is the working of death in us.

Spiritual death is the chief part of the penalty of sin. It is the separation of the soul from God. It is the absence of that which constitutes the true life of the soul, the presence and favor of God. This death includes all that pain of conscience, loss of peace, and sorrow of spirit, which result from disturbing the normal relation between the soul and God.

Eternal death may be regarded as the culmination and completion of spiritual death (2 Thes. 1:8-9). By God’s grace, this death is escaped by the Christian (John 11:25-26).

Bible verses for devotion:
1 Cor. 15:53-56–Are you a victor in Christ over death?

But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.–2 Sam. 12:23

As certain and great as is the guilt of original sin, no human soulis eternally condemned solely for this sin of inherited nature. At the final judgment, personal conduct is made the test of character (Rev. 20:12-13). But infants are incapable of personal transgression. We have reason therefore to believe that they will be among the saved, since this rule of decision will not apply to them.

In Mat. 18:3-4, Jesus said “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The Savior’s words do not intimate that little children are either sinless creatures, or subjects for baptism. Jesus is saying that their humble teachableness, intense eagerness, and simple trust illustrate the traits necessary for admission into the divine kingdom.

Jesus taught that infants are special objects of His care. Mat. 18:10 states “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Mat. 18:14 instructs “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

The infants whom the Lord gathers together from this life are regenerated by the Holy Spirit likely in connection with the infant soul’s first view of Christ. Their first moment of consciousness is only sweetness with Christ the Savior.

Bible verse for devotion:
1 John 3:2–Are you looking forward to seeing Jesus?

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. –John 1:14

John 10:36 hints at some mysterious process by which the Son was prepared for His mission saying “…Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world…”

The precise manner of the union of the human and divine nature in Christ is unrevealed to us and is beyond our comprehension. The Incarnation is thus as great of a mystery as the Trinity.

The Incarnation was a mystery to the early church as well. The first question which Christians naturally asked was “What do you think about the Christ?” (Mat. 22:42).

The early church struggled with controversy and heresy that came through misunderstanding the Person of Christ. All controversy hinged on denying the reality and integrity of the two natures or the union of the two natures in Christ.

In opposition to all these errors, the correct doctrine (promulgated at Chalcedon in 451 AD) holds that in the one Person Jesus Christ there are two natures, a human nature and a divine nature. Each nature is complete and perfect. These two natures are organically and indissolubly united, so that no third nature is formed. In brief, Scripture forbids us either to divide the Person or to confound the natures.

In the following chapters, we will study both the human and divine nature of Christ and their union. Knowing Christ leads us “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph.1:6).

Bible verse for devotion:
Mat. 22:42–What do you think about the Christ?

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, God with us. –Matthew 1:23

Scripture shows Jesus experienced common human limitations. He knew hunger (Mat. 4:2), thirst (Jn. 19:28), weariness (Jn. 4:6), sleep (Mat. 8:24), lack of knowledge (Mark 13:32), and sorrow (Jn. 11:33, 35). He endured temptation (Heb. 4:15). He suffered (Lk. 22:44) and died (Jn. 19:30, 34).

However, the virgin birth made it clear that a new thing was taking place in the earth. The One coming into the world was not simply man (Luke 1:34-35). Christ’s human nature is indeed humanity perfected. Christ was born free from sin and depravity. Christ took human nature in such a way that His sinless nature bore the penalty of sin (2 Cor. 5:21).

Christ, the greatest man, shows what the true man is. The heavenly perfection of Jesus discloses to us the greatness of our own possible being, while at the same time it reveals our infinite shortcoming and the source from which all restoration must come (1 Peter 2:21-25).

Christ is not simply the noblest embodiment of the old humanity, but He is also the fountain-head and beginning of a new humanity, the new source of life for the race. This new race is created by Christ’s indwelling. When Christ ascended with His perfected manhood, He sent the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, to make men children of God. Christ’s humanity now, by virtue of its perfect union with Deity, has become universally communicable by faith. Jesus is truly “…the root and the descendant of David…” (Rev. 22:16).

Bible verses for devotion:
Heb. 2:17-18–Do you find comfort in His humanity?

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. –1 John 5:20

To Christ also belongs all the attributes of God. Among these are life (Jn. 1:4), self-existence (Jn. 5:26), immutability (Heb. 13:8), truth (Jn. 14:6), love (1 Jn. 3:16), holiness (Lk. 1:35), eternity (Jn. 8:58; Rev. 21:6), omnipresence (Mat. 28:20), omniscience (Col. 2:3), and omnipotence (Rev. 1:8). Christ has these attributes because, according to Colossians 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”

Christ possessed a knowledge of His own Deity. In John 3:13. Jesus says that He “…has ascended into heaven.” This indicates that Christ’s consciousness, at certain times in His earthly life at least, was not confined to earth. In John 14:11, Jesus says “…I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…”

John 5:18 states “...the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He…was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” In Mat. 26:63-64, the high priest said to Jesus, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself…” Golgotha followed.

In Jn. 20:28, Thomas exclaims “My Lord and my God!” Unrebuked by Christ, this is a direct assertion of His Deity. Christ receives the honor and worship due to God (Acts 7:59; Rom. 10:9; Heb. 1:6; Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 5:12-14) for Jesus is worthy. Jesus said in John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

Bible verse for devotion:
Rev. 22:3–Whose throne is in heaven?

…you were not redeemed with perishable things, like silver or gold…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. –1 Peter 1:18-20

The union of the natures was such that, although the divine nature in itself is incapable of ignorance, weakness, temptation, suffering, or death, the one Person Jesus Christ was capable of these by virtue of the union of the two natures in Him. The God-man was thus capable of absolutely infinite suffering.

Scripture constantly proclaims the infinite value of Christ’s atonement and the wondrous union of the human race with God through Christ. This is only intelligible when Christ is regarded, not as a man of God, but as the God-man.

The union of the divine and human in Christ makes atonement possible. 1 John 2:2 speaks of the atonement saying “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

This union of the divine and human in Christ makes uniting God and mankind possible. Eph. 2:16-18 says He reconciled us “…in one body to God through the cross…” Since Christ is man, He can make atonement for man and sympathize with man. Because Christ is God, His atonement has infinite value, and the union which He effects with God is complete. A merely human Savior could never reunite us to God. But a divine-human Savior meets all our needs.

Bible verses for devotion:
2 Pet. 1:1-4–How do we partake in the divine nature?

Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. –Philippians 2:6-7

Christ did not give up possession of His divine attributes. To do so would be impossible as He cannot cease to be God. The attributes of the divine nature are imparted to the human without passing over into its essence. Christ, even on earth had the power to be, know, and do, as God.

That this power was latent, or was only rarely manifested, was the result of the self-chosen state of humiliation upon which the God-man had entered. In His humiliation, the communication of the contents of His divine nature to the human was mediated by the Holy Spirit.

The God-man, in His servant-form, knew and taught and performed only what the Spirit permitted and directed (Mat. 3:16; Jn. 3:34; Acts 1:2; 10:38; Heb. 9:14). When permitted, He knew, taught, and performed, not from without like the prophets, but by virtue of His own inner power (Mat. 17:2; Mk. 5:41; Luke 5:20-21; 6:19; John 2:11, 24-25; 3:13; 20:19).

Christ’s humiliation culminated in His self-subjection to suffering and death for us on the cross. In Christ, the union between humanity and the deity is so close, that deity itself is brought under the curse and penalty of the law.

Since Jesus Christ was God incarnate, did He pass unscorched through the fires of Gethsemane and Calvary? Certainly not. Because Jesus Christ was God made flesh, He underwent an absolutely infinite suffering.

Bible verses for devotion:
Phil. 2:5-8–Do you have the mind of Christ?

…that you will know… the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. –Ephesians 1:18-20

As Christ was without sin, His resurrection was a natural necessity. Acts 2:24 exalts Christ whom God raised up “…putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” This meant “…that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay” (Acts 2:31).

The resurrection proclaimed Christ to men as the perfected and glorified man, the conqueror of sin and death.

The ascension proclaimed Christ to the universe as the reinstated God, the possessor of universal dominion, the omnipresent object of worship and hearer of prayer.

Mark 16:19 states “…when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” Eph. 1:22-23 declares “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” In Mat. 28:18, 20, Jesus said “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In the ascension of Christ, glorified humanity has attained the throne of the universe. This exaltation, which then affected humanity only in its head, is to be the experience also of the members. Our bodies also are to be delivered from corruption, and we are to reign with Christ.

Bible verses for devotion:
Jn. 17:1-5–What was Christ prayer? What is yours?

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. –Revelation 21:23

Jesus was not inspired,—He was the Inspirer. Jn. 8:38, 58says “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father...before Abraham was born, I am.”

Christ’s prophetic work was only begun during His earthly ministry (Acts 1:1). It is continued through the preaching of His apostles and ministers, and by the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:12-14). The inspiration of the apostles, the illumination of all preachers and Christians to understand and to unfold the meaning of the word they wrote, the conviction of sinners, and the sanctification of believers,—all these are parts of Christ’s prophetic work by the Holy Spirit.

By virtue of their union with Christ and participation in Christ’s Spirit, all Christians are made in a secondary sense prophets, as well as priests and kings (Num. 11:29; Joel 2:28). All modern prophecy is true only as it is but the republication of Christ’s message—the proclamation and expounding of truth already revealed in Scripture.

Christ’s final revelation of the Father is to His saints in glory (John 16:25; 17:24, 26; Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 13:12). As the Father whom He reveals is infinite, Christ’s prophetic work will be an endless one. In heaven, Christ is the visible God. We shall never see the Father “…whom no man has seen or can see…” apart from Christ (1 Tim. 6:16). Jn. 1:18 says “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Bible verse for devotion:
1 Cor. 1:30–How did Christ become our wisdom?

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. –Hebrews 7:25-26

What God did in condemning sin, He did through Christ. 2 Cor. 5:19 says “…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself…” He was the condemner, as well as the condemned. Christ was both the Judge and the Sin-bearer. Christ was both the High Priest and the sacrificial Lamb.

Paul distinctly declares this double work of Christ in Rom. 8:3 saying “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.” God did through Christ what the law could not do, namely, accomplish deliverance for humanity. God did this by sending His Son in a nature which in us is identified with sin. In connection with sin, and as an offering for sin, God condemned sin, by condemning Christ.

As our High Priest, Christ also makes intercession for His people. His intercession is not just His divine petitions on our behalf. The intercession of Christ is the special activity of Christ in securing upon the ground of His sacrifice whatever blessings come to men, both temporal and spiritual.

Jesus “…holds His priesthood permanently” (Heb. 7:24). “We have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty…” (Heb. 8:1).

Bible verse for devotion:
Rom. 8:34–How is Christ our High Priest?

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.–2 Cor. 5:21

This substitution is unknown to mere law, and above and beyond the powers of law. It is an operation of grace. Grace, however, does not violate or suspend law, but takes it up into itself and fulfills it. The righteousness of law is maintained, in that the source of all law, the judge and punisher, Himself voluntarily submits to bear the penalty.

But how can Christ justly bear our penalty? In other words, how can the innocent justly suffer for the guilty?

The solution of the problem lies in Christ’s union with humanity. When Christ once joined Himself to humanity, all the exposures and liabilities of humanity fell upon Him. Through Himself personally without sin, He was made sin for us. Christ inherited our guilt and our penalty.

The whole mass and weight of God’s displeasure against us fell on Him, when once He became a member of the race.

As “by Him all things were created,” and as “in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17), it follows that He who is the life of humanity must, though personally pure, be involved in responsibility for all human sin, and “that the Christ had to suffer” (Acts 17:3). This suffering was an enduring of the reaction of the divine holiness against sin and so was a bearing of penalty (Isa. 53:6; Gal. 3:13). It was also the voluntary execution of a plan that antedated creation (Phil. 2:6-7), and Christ’s sacrifice in time showed what had been in the heart of God from eternity (Heb. 9:14; Rev. 13:8).

Bible verses for devotion:
Heb. 2:14-15–What did Christ’s sacrifice deliver?

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe... –Romans 3:21-22

Passages asserting special application of the atonement to the elect are the following: Eph. 1:4—“…chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him”; Eph. 1:7—“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”; 2 Tim. 1:9-10—God “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”; Jn. 17:9—“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me...”; Jn. 17:20—“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word”; Jn. 17:24—“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me…”

The atonement made objective provision for salvation of all by removing from the divine mind every obstacle to the pardon and restoration of sinners, except their willful opposition to God and refusal to turn to Him. Christ’s Spirit overcomes this and applies the saving work of Christ to men.

Bible verse for devotion:
Luke 18:13–Have you prayed like this?

Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. –Romans 8:34

Christ makes special intercession for His people. Luke 22:31-32 states “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail...” As Jesus prayed for Peter, so He prays for us in heaven.

Heb. 4:15-16 encourages us that “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Paul asks in Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

The Holy Spirit is an advocate within us, teaching us how to pray as we ought. Christ is an advocate in heaven, securing from the Father the answer of our prayers. The work of Christ and of the Holy Spirit are complementary and parts of one whole (Jn. 14:26; Acts 2:33; Rom. 8:26-27).

All true intercession is either directly or indirectly the intercession of Christ. Saints on earth, by their union with Christ, the great High Priest, are themselves constituted intercessors to bear on their hearts in prayer before God the interests of family, the church, and the world (1 Tim. 2:1). Joining Christ in His work pleases our Savior (1 Tim. 2:3).

Bible verses for devotion:
1 Pet. 2:5-10–How are you a holy, royal priesthood?

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. –Hebrews 1:3

Hebrews 1:3 teaches that Christ “…upholds all things by the word of His power…” Heb. 1:8 states “But of the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteousness scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.” Christ, who was once creation’s burden-bearer, is now its scepter-bearer.

With respect to His church on earth, it is a kingdom of grace. He founds, legislates for, administers, defends, and augments His church on earth. Eph. 1:22-23 says “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Eph. 5:25-27 displays Christ’s love in that He“…gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

With respect to His church in heaven, it is a kingdom of glory. Christ rewards His redeemed people with the full revelation of Himself, upon the completion of His kingdom in the resurrection and the judgment. Jesus prayed in John 17:24,“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me…” Amen! Even so, come, Jesus!

Bible verse for devotion:
Rom. 6:14–Who has dominion over you?

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. –2 Corinthians 13:14

The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in visible form as distinct from the Father and the Son. He does so in direct connection with personal acts performed by them.

We see this manifestation evidenced in Christ’s baptism as recorded in Mat. 3:16-17 and in Luke 3:21-22. Here we have a record of the prayer of Jesus, the approving voice of the Father, and the Holy Spirit descending in visible form to anoint the Son of God for His work.

The Holy Spirit performs acts that can only be ascribed to personality. That which searches, knows, speaks, testifies, reveals, convinces, commands, strives, moves, helps, guides, creates, recreates, sanctifies, inspires, makes intercession, orders the affairs of the church, performs miracles, raises the dead—cannot be a mere power, influence, efflux, or attribute of God. Such actions can only be performed by a Person (Genesis 1:2; Luke 12:12; Acts 8:29).

The Holy Spirit is affected as a Person by the acts of others. That which can be resisted (Isa. 6:10), grieved (Eph. 4:30), vexed (Acts 5:4, 9), blasphemed (Mat. 12:31-32), must be a Person. These verses reveal the mind of the Spirit, and show the infinite depths of feeling which are stirred in God’s heart by the sins and needs of men. We read also of “the love of the Spirit” (Rom. 15:30) and unuttered sighings in intercession (Rom. 8:26-27). These deep desires are only partially revealed to us, yet prove the Holy Spirit is a Person.

Bible verses for devotion:
Rom. 8:14-17–Do you commune with the Holy Spirit? Do you hear His voice? Does He lead you?

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?–1 Corinthians 3:16

Ascribed to the Holy Spirit are such works as the creation (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4), casting out demons (Mat. 12:28), conviction of sin (Jn. 16:8), regeneration (Jn.3:8; Titus 3:5), and resurrection (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:45). These are the works of God.

To the Holy Spirit also belongs all the attributes of God. Among these are life (Rom. 8:2), truth (Jn. 16:13), love (Rom. 5:5), holiness (Eph. 4:30), eternity (Heb. 9:14), omnipresence (Ps. 139:7), omniscience (Isa. 11:2; 1 Cor. 2:10), and omnipotence (Zech. 4:6; Luke 1:35; Rom. 15:19).

In Jn. 7:39, Jesus “…spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Acts 2 records the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church. Yet the Bible says the Holy Spirit is “the eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:14), and He not only existed, but also wrought, in Old Testament times. The Holy Spirit had been engaged in the creation and had inspired the prophets (2 Pet. 1:21). Through the working and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God in His Person of Son was fully incarnate in Christ (Acts 10:38).

But officially, as Mediator between men and Christ, “…the Spirit was not yet given…” (John 7:39). The Holy Spirit could not fulfill His office as Revealer of Christ until the atoning work of Christ was accomplished. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is sent by both the Father and the Son, to reveal Christ, apply His perfect work to our hearts, and render the Savior forever with us.

Bible verse for devotion:
Acts 1:8–What does Holy Spirit work in us?

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! –Galatians 4:4-6

It is through the Holy Spirit that Christ offered Himself without blemish unto God (Heb. 9:14). So too, it is only through the Holy Spirit that fallen man can return to God and that the church has access to the Father (Eph. 2:18).

The Spirit not only enlightens the sinner, but also the saint. He is the Spirit of revelation and sanctification in us. Jn. 16:13 says “…when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth…” Rom. 8:14 declares “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

He is also the Spirit of power, consolation, and witness to the saint. Jesus said in John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” He teaches us how to pray and intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26). As Christ is our Advocate before the throne, the Holy Spirit is the Advocate in our own heart. Rom. 8:16 states “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.”

The Holy Spirit completes the Trinity. Likewise, the office of the Holy Spirit is that of concluding, completing, and perfecting. Thus, the work of the Holy Spirit is the application of the work of Christ.

Bible verse for devotion:
Jn. 14:18–How does Christ come to us?

…God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. –2 Thes. 2:13

Election deals with men who are guilty and condemned. That any should be saved, is matter of pure grace. Those who are not included in this purpose of salvation suffer only the due reward of their deeds. There is no injustice in God’s election (Rom. 9:14-16). It is not a decree to destroy; it is only to save. We may better praise God that He saves any, than charge Him with injustice because He saves so few.

No man can be saved without God. But it is also true that there is no man whom God is not willing to save. Nothing prevents a man’s pardon but his own unwillingness to accept God’s pardon. God’s decree is as absolute as if there were no freedom, yet it leaves man as free as if there were no decree.

We must remember that God’s sovereignty is the sovereignty of God — the infinitely wise, holy and loving God. God can say to all men, saved or unsaved, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong...Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?” (Mat. 20:13, 15).

God does not elect to save any without repentance and faith. Some hold the doctrine of election, but the doctrine does not hold them. Such should ponder 1 Peter 1:2, where Christians are said to be elect “…by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood…” Election comforts and humbles believers. Ps. 115:1 says “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindess, because of Your truth.”

Bible verses for devotion:
Mat. 11:27-28; Jn. 6:37–Ponder election and gospel.

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. –2 Timothy 1:9

The Spirit’s inward call creates in man a new disposition of the heart and a new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. It is not a man reviving his own will nor is it mere cooperation with the will of God. It is an almighty act of God in the will of man by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (Rom. 8:28-30).

This inward call originates in God for His own glory. In 2 Thes. 2:13-14, Paul states “…God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Spirit’s inward call infallibly accomplishes its end of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. His saving grace and effectual calling are resistible, but they are never successfully resisted. Some use the term ‘irresistible grace’, but this implies a coercion and compulsion that is foreign to the very nature of God’s working in the soul (Psalm 110:3).

The only obstacle to the gospel on the sinner’s part is the sinner’s own evil will. God has made, at an infinite cost, a complete external provision upon which “one who wishes” may “come” and “take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17). God can truly say: “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Isa. 5:4).

Bible verses for devotion:
Phil. 2:12-13–How is our work God’s work?

In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. –John 14:20

Scripture teaches that our union with Christ makes all believers collectively united in Christ (Jn. 17:21-23). A believer“joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17), and together, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Just as the Son of God receives the Spirit without measure, so too believers in like manner receive Christ.

Union with Christ is fundamental in the New Testament. It is illustrated by the union of a building and its foundation (Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-5), by the union of a husband and a wife (Rom. 7:4; Eph. 5:31-32; Rev. 19:7), and by the union of the vine and its branches (Jn. 15:1-10). It is also illustrated by the union between the members and the head of the body (1 Cor. 6:15, 19; Eph. 1:22-23), and from the union of the race with Adam (Rom. 5:12, 21; 1 Cor. 15:22, 45, 49).

Union with Christ results in common sonship, relation to God, character, influence and destiny. Scripture teaches that we are crucified together with Christ (Gal. 2:20). We died together with Christ (Col. 2:20). We are buried together with Christ (Rom. 6:4). We are quickened together with Christ (Eph. 2:5). We are raised together with Christ (Col. 3:1). As joint heirs with Christ and fellow sufferers with Christ, we will also be glorified together with Him (Rom. 8:17).

Christ does not work upon believers from without, as one separated from us, but from within. Col. 3:3 states “For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Gal. 2:20 says “…it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” He is the very heart from which the life-blood of our spirit flows.

Bible verse for devotion:
Col. 1:24-29–Does union with Christ animate you?

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.–John 3:3

In many passages, the change is ascribed wholly to the power of God (Eph. 2:1). The soul is radically changed. In other passages, there is an appeal to man’s rational nature through truth (Ja. 1:18). The Holy Spirit presents truth, and the mind acts in its light.

The distinction between the two aspects of regeneration seems to be intimated in Ephesians 2:5-6 — “made us alive together with Christ” and “raised us up with Him.” Lazarus was first made alive. In this, he could not cooperate. But he also came forth from the tomb. In this, he did act (Jn. 11:44).

In regeneration, sinful nature is not gone, but its power is broken. Sin no longer dominates the life (Rom. 6:18). Sin has been thrust from the center to the circumference. It has the sentence of death in itself. Regenerate man is freed, at least in potency and promise. He will yet be sanctified.

Regeneration, or the new birth, is the divine side of that change of heart which we call conversion if viewed from the human side. Regeneration is God’s turning the soul to Him, while conversion is the soul’s turning itself to God. God’s turning the soul is both the accompaniment and cause as man turns only as God turns him (Jn. 6:44; 65; 1 Cor. 3:6-7).

Yet, the necessity of regeneration implies its possibility. In Jn. 3:7, Jesus said “You must be born again.” This equals “You may be born again”. This verse is not merely a warning and a command, it is also a promise. Every sinner has the chance of making a new start in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

Bible verse for devotion:
1 Cor. 2:2–What must we manifest to every man?

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. –Acts 11:21

Whenever the Holy Spirit works in regeneration, there is always accompanying it a voluntary change in man. This change is what we call conversion. This change is as free and as really man’s own work, as if there were no divine influence upon him.

Conversion is like the invasion of a kingdom. Mat. 11:12 says “…the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Men are not to wait for God, but to act at once with impassioned earnestness of soul. “Work out your salvation” in Paul’s exhortation comes before “for it is God who is at work in you” (Phil. 2:12-13). This means that our first business is to use our wills in obedience. We will then find that God has gone before us to prepare us to obey.

Conversion involves repentance. Repentance is that voluntary change in the mind of the sinner in which he turns from sin. It is abandonment of sin rather than just sorrow for it (Ps. 51:5, 7, 10; Jer. 25:5). Repentance takes God’s part against ours, has sympathy with God, and is grieved how the Ruler, Father, and Friend of men is treated (Rom. 2:4).

Conversion involves faith. Faith is that voluntary change in the mind of the sinner in which he turns to Christ as Lord and Savior. By faith, the soul surrenders itself, as guilty and defiled, to Christ’s governance as Lord (Mat. 11:28-29, Jn. 8:12). By faith, the soul receives and appropriates Christ for pardon and spiritual life (Acts 16:31; Jn. 20:31). Faith is not simple receptiveness. It gives itself as well as receives Christ. Faith and repentance are different sides of the same turning.

Bible verses for devotion:
John 6:35-40–Have you come to Jesus?

Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for the righteous man shall live by faith. –Galatians 3:11

The usage of the epistle of James does not contradict this. The doctrine of James is that we are justified only by such faith as makes us faithful and brings forth good works (James 2:14-26). James doesn’t deny salvation to him who has faith, but only to him who falsely professes to have it. James is denouncing a dead faith, while Paul speaks of the necessity of a living faith.

In justification, God acquits the ungodly who believe in Christ, and declares them to be just. This is based solely in the bearing of penalty by Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith. The demands of the law have been satisfied and they are now free from its condemnation (Rom. 8:1-2).

In justification, God treats the sinner as if he were, and had been, personally righteous. This is based solely in the perfect obedience of Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith. On account of Christ, our relation to God is restored in friendship (James 2:23) and adoption (Jn. 1:12; Gal. 4:4-7).

Remission is never separated from restoration. Failure to apprehend this favor is the reason why so many Christians have little joy and enthusiasm in their religious lives. The preaching of the magnanimity and generosity of God makes the gospel “…the power of God to salvation…” (Rom. 1:16).

Forgiveness seems easy to us, largely because we are indifferent toward sin. But to the Holy One who abhors sin, forgiveness involves a fundamental change of relation. This is possible only by Christ’s bearing the penalty of our sins.

Bible verses for devotion:
Rom. 5:1-2–Do you stand forever in God’s favor?

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.–1 Thes. 5:23-24

Redemption is indeed past, present and future. Justification is a past fact, sanctification is a present process and resurrection and glory are a future consummation (1 Jn. 3:2).

In regeneration, our governing disposition is made holy. Yet, we still contend with tendencies to evil which lasts throughout life (Rom. 7; Gal. 5:17). In Christ, we have both deliverance from sin’s penalty and the promise of new life that conquers sin. Christ sanctifies us (Col. 1:21-22) by His word (Jn. 17:17).

The vinedresser ensures that the vine bears fruit. Dead wood is cut out and living wood must be cut back (Jn. 15:2). Sanctification requires a divine superintendence and surgery on the one hand and, on the other hand, a practical hatred of evil on our part that cooperates with the husbandry of God.

The Holy Spirit enables the believer to more fully and consciously appropriate Christ by increasing faith, and thus progressively conquer the remaining sinfulness of his nature (Rom. 8:13-14). As we get air out of a vessel by pouring in water, so we drive out sin by bringing in Christ (Rom. 13:14).

Our sanctification is certain. 2 Cor. 3:18 promises us that “…we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Bible verses for devotion:
Jude 1:24-25–Is God able to present you faultless?

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. –John 10:27-29

Every believer is required to continuously and fervently surrender himself to divine action. 2 Peter 1:10-11 says “…be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

2 Tim. 2:19 teaches “Nevertheless the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows those who are His, and, Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”Christian character thus has on its foundation two significant inscriptions, the one declaring God’s power, wisdom and purpose of salvation; the other the purity of holy activity on the part of the believer in which Christ’s purpose will certainly be fulfilled (1 Pet. 1:2, 5).

In 2 Tim. 1:13-14, Paul says “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” Paul confidently prefaces this with “…I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

Bible verses for devotion:
1 Cor. 10:12-13–Consider God’s faithfulness.

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. –Colossians 1:18

The church cannot be defined in merely human terms, as a group of individuals united for social, benevolent, or even spiritual purposes.

The indwelling Christ makes the church superior to and more permanent than all humanitarian organizations; they die, but because Christ lives, the church lives. The church is immortal, since it draws its life from Christ (Isa. 65:22; Zech. 4:2-3). God has truly “…raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

James 1:18 says “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” Believers are “first fruits” because from them blessing will spread until the whole world will be pervaded with new life. We are saved not for us only, but as parts and beginnings of God’s kingdom (Luke 13:19).

In Acts 1:8, Jesus said “…you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” As God can be seen only through Christ, so the Holy Spirit can be seen only through the church. As Christ is the image of the invisible God, so the church is appointed to be the image of the invisible Christ.

As we are united in Christ, “Now all things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).

Bible verses for devotion:
Eph. 2:18-22 – How is the church God’s temple?

And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number. –Acts 5:14

As each regenerate man recognizes every other as a brother in Christ, individual members are upon a footing of absolute equality (Mat. 23:8-10). In Jn. 15:5, Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches...” No one branch of the vine outranks another. One may be more advantageously situated, more ample in size, or more fruitful. But all are alike in kind. All draw their vitality from one source, Jesus Christ. There can be no rightful human lordship over God’s heritage (1 Pet. 5:3).

As a local church is directly subject to Christ, there is no jurisdiction of one church over another. All are on an equal footing. Just as each believer has personal dealings with Christ and for even the pastor to come between him and his Lord is treachery to Christ, so too is any attempt to subject one church to another or to a group of churches (Rom. 14:4). Likewise, churches must also be independent of interference or control by a civil power (Mat. 22:21; Acts 5:29; Ezra 8:22).

The sole object of the local church is the glory of God, in the complete establishment of His kingdom, both in the hearts of believers and in the world. This objective involves united worship, including prayer and religious instruction (Heb. 10:25). It includes mutual watchcare and exhortation (1 Thes. 5:11; Heb. 3:13). It must entail common labors for the reclamation of the impenitent world (Acts 8:4; Jude 23). Local churches exists for us to “…consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24). The light that shines the furthest shines brightest nearest home.

Bible verses for devotion:
Mat. 16:18; Acts 2:47– Who builds the church?

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.–Philippians 1:27

This unity is only possible by yielding to the Spirit (Eph. 4:1-6). The whole church must strive for this unity (1 Cor. 1:10). Unity by the inflowing of Christ’s Spirit is better than any external unity, whether of organization or creed.

It is the responsibilityof the entire church to maintain a pure faith and practice. In Rev. 2 and Rev. 3, Christ exhorts the seven churches of Asia to good doctrine and works. These letters are directly addressed to the entire church. It is for each and every member to obey.

To help the church keep its faith and witness, two offices are recognized in the church. The first is the office of elder. It is sometimes referred to as “bishop”or “pastor” (Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1; Titus 1:5, 7; 1 Pet. 5:1-3). The role of the elder is primarily to shepherd and teach (Acts 20:18-35).

The second office recognized in the church is that of deacon. The deacon is a helper to the elders and the church in both spiritual and temporal things. He relieves the pastors of external labors and helps in tending the flock (Acts 6:1-7).

Qualifications of deacons and elders are found in Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-13. Elders and deacons are priests only as every Christian is a priest (Rev. 1:6). Elders and deacons are but humble stewards of the church. The Spirit of Christ is the true Administrator of His Church.

Bible verses for devotion:
1 Tim. 5:17-19 – How do you honor your ministers?

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.–Galatians 3:28

The relation of churches to one another is analogous to the relation of private Christians to one another. Never is a meddlesome spirit is to be allowed. But in matters of grave moment, a church, as well as an individual, may be offered advice unasked.

Independence is qualified by interdependence. While each church bears its own responsibility in ascertaining doctrine and duty, it is to acknowledge the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in other churches as well. It must value the public opinion of churches as an indication of the mind of Christ.

The church in Antioch asked advice of the church in Jerusalem, although Paul himself was at Antioch (Acts 15:2). While no church or union has jurisdiction over a single body, their counsel should be regarded as an index to truth. Only grave reasons will justify a church in ignoring or refusing it.

The principle of church independence is consistent with cooperation with other churches. Each church should recall that, though it is honored by the indwelling of Christ, it is only a part of that great body of which He is head (Col. 1:18).

Cooperation in mission work (3 Jn. 1:8), giving (2 Cor. 8:16-24), evangelical enterprises (Mark 2:3), and Biblical education (2 Tim. 3:16-17) are natural outgrowths of this principle. In John 17:23, Jesus prayed for believers to “…be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

Bible verse for devotion:
2 Thes. 3:6 – When should fellowship be withdrawn?

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge. - 1 Timothy 6:20

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are rites made ordinances by the commands of Christ. They both declare and remind us of the essential truths of His kingdom.

A sacramentum was the oath taken by the Roman soldier to obey his commander even unto death. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are sacraments in the sense that they are vows of allegiance to Christ our Master.

No ordinance is a sacrament in the sense of conferring grace. They merely express and remind us of the grace of God already given. Salvation is by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9).

In contrast with this characteristically Protestant view, Catholicism regards the ordinances as actually conferring grace and producing holiness. Instead of being the external manifestation of a preceding union with Christ, they are the physical means of constituting and maintaining this union. In this error, some Protestant churches substantially agree with Catholicism and are known as sacramentalists.

Catholicism holds to seven sacraments or ordinances: ordination, confirmation, matrimony, extreme unction, penance, baptism, and the Eucharist.

The ordinances prescribed in the New Testament, however, are two and only two: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both represent our union with Christ. They must be kept to proclaim the gospel and strengthen our faith.

Bible verse for devotion:
Mat. 5:19- Should we observe ordinances lightly?

But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. - Acts 8:12

Baptism was instituted by Christ and practiced by the apostles. In Mat. 28:19, Jesus says " Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. " In Acts 2:38, Peter says " Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

In His own submission to John's baptism, Christ gave testimony to the binding obligation of the ordinance (Mat. 3:13-17). He also demonstrated the proper mode of baptism, that being immersion. The baptism of Christ in the Jordan was by immersion to foreshadow His death and resurrection. Submersion and emergence are the very sense of the symbol.

John baptized upon profession of faith in a Savior yet to come (Acts 19:4). The significance of it was not understood in full until after Jesus' death and resurrection (Mat. 20:17-23; Luke 12:50; Rom. 6:3-6). Baptism is now administered upon profession of faith in a Savior who has actually and already come. It doesn't confer regeneration, but recognizes it (Acts 10:47). It is an act of obedience of the new believer.

To deny the observance of baptism, to change the mode of baptism, or to baptize unbelieving subjects is therefore to strike a blow at Christianity and at Christ, and to defraud the world of testimony to God's glorious salvation. Baptism is an indispensable witness to Christ's death and resurrection.

Bible verse for devotion:
Gal. 3:27-How are we incorporated into Christ?

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. - 1 Corinthians 11:26

The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ and practiced by the apostles. Luke 22:19-20 records "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. "

Christ commanded this ordinance to be observed by His disciples in remembrance of His death. This first Lord's Supper was Christian communion before Christ's death, just as John's baptism was Christian baptism before Christ's death. After His death, its role was realized (1 Cor. 11:26).

1 Cor. 11:27-34 is an exhortation for self-examination when taking the Lord's Supper. It is a call to recognize and appropriate the symbolism of the bread and wine. Thus, the Christian should not be deterred from participation by any feeling of his personal unworthiness, so long as he trusts Christ. The Lord's Supper testifies of His grace and mercy.

Gloom and sadness are foreign to the spirit of the Lord's Supper (Acts 2:46). It declares the life of Christ that sustains us. It symbolizes the coming joy and perfection of God's kingdom. In Mat. 26:29, Jesus promised "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." It brings before us, not simply death, but life; not simply past sacrifice but future glory. It points to our marriage supper (Rev. 19:9).

Bible verses for devotion:
1 Cor. 10:16-17-How is Christ incorporated into us?

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. - Romans 8:1-2

In spiritual death, the soul is separated from God. In physical death, the soul is separated from body. God promises a resurrection of body for the just and unjust.

For all who are in Christ, physical death loses its penal aspect and becomes entrance into life eternal with God. Psalm 116:15 says " Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones." Because of our union with Christ, we will share in His resurrection. In this hope, Paul triumphantly wrote "O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? " (1 Cor. 15:55).

As there is a life beyond the present life for the faithful, so there is death beyond death for the wicked. Death begins here, but culminates hereafter.

Body and soul are reunited in conscious separation from God. Their part is a " ...lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8). This is but a continuance of spiritual death for all of eternity.

The just will " ...not be hurt by the second death" (Rev. 2:11). The unjust has but "...wrath to come" (Mat. 3:7). "He is not the God of the dead but of the living" (Mat. 22:32).

In 2 Tim. 1:10, Paul exalts "...our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." The gospel promises eternal life. Christ's resurrection carries with it our own resurrection.

Bible verse for devotion:
James 5:20-How can you save others from death?

We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5:8

The departed are described as "spirits" (Eccl. 12:7; Acts 7:59; Heb. 12:23; 1 Pet. 3:19). But this is not inconsistent with their conscious activity as described in Scripture.

When the dead are spoken of as "sleeping" (Dan. 12:2; Mat. 9:24; Jn. 11:11; 1 Cor. 11:30; 15:51; 1 Thes. 4:14; 5:10), we are to regard this as simply the language of appearance, and as literally applicable only to the body.

The Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is without Scriptural warrant. They erroneously teach that in the intermediate state, believers make satisfaction for the sins committed after baptism by suffering according to their guilt.

Purgatory is inconsistent with any proper view of the completeness of Christ's satisfaction (Gal. 2:21; Heb. 9:28); of justification through faith alone (Rom. 3:28); and of the condition after death, of both the righteous and wicked, as determined in this life (Eccl. 11:3; Mat. 25:10; Luke 16:26; Heb. 9:27; Rev. 22:11). The true purgatory is only in this world, for only here are sins purged away in sanctification by the Holy Spirit. In this, there is never an element of penalty.

While the Scriptures represent the intermediate state to be one of conscious joy to the righteous, and of conscious pain to the wicked, they also represent this state to be one of incompleteness (Mat. 8:29; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 6:10). The perfect joy of the saints, and the utter misery of the wicked, begin only with the resurrection and general judgment.

Bible verse for devotion:
1 Thess. 5:10- Who do we abide with in life or death?

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.- Matthew 16:27

2 Thes. 1:7-10 says Christ's coming will "...give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed..."

Early Christians seem to have hoped for this occurrence during their lifetime. Yet neither Christ nor His apostles definitely taught when the end would be, but rather reserved the knowledge of it to the counsels of God (Mk. 13:32; Acts 1:7). Thus, we must live as it is possibly at hand and so ever be in its hope (2 Tim. 4:8; Ja. 5:7-8; 1 Pet. 4:7; 2 Pet. 3:13).

Scripture warns us of deceivers and mockers who will deny Christ's return (2 John 1:7; 2 Pet. 3:3-13). We are to be steadfast and remember God's grace in that "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).

Christ will come to put an end to the world's long sorrow, to give triumph to the cause of truth, and to reward His own. His glory will be finally revealed in us (Col. 3:4; Rom. 8:18).

Bible verse for devotion:
Luke 18:8- Will Christ find faith, at least in us?

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. - John 5:28-29

It is not by acting upon the bride of Christ from without, but by energizing it from within, that the Holy Spirit will effect its glorification. The Comforter, who came down at Pentecost to form a spiritual body out of flesh, will at the Second Coming return to heaven in that body, having fashioned it like unto the body of Christ.

Those who are living at Christ's coming shall receive spiritual bodies without passing through death. Paul promises in 1 Cor. 15:51-54, " Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Because Christ's resurrection is ours, "...we shall always be with the Lord"(1 Thes. 4:17).

As the body after corruption and dissolution, so the outward world after destruction by fire, will be rehabilitated and fit for our abode (Rom. 8:20-22; Phil. 3:20; Rev. 21:5).

Bible verses for devotion:
Mat. 17:1-9- How is this a prophecy of resurrection?

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. - 2 Corinthians 5:10

The grounds of the final judgment will be twofold.

Its first ground is the law of God (Rom. 2:12-13). This is revealed in conscience and Scripture. In Jn. 12:48, Jesus said " He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word that I spoke is what will judge him at the last day." Jesus Christ is both Judge and the Word by which He judges.

The second ground of the final judgment is the grace of Christ (Rom. 3:20-21). By God's infinite grace, He gives " even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe" (Rom. 3:22).

Rev. 20:12 states " And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds." The " books" opened are books of condemnation, in which are written the names of those who stand in their sins. They are unrepentant and unforgiven. The "book of life" is the book of justification, in which is written every name that is united to Christ by faith.

Judgment will be an unmixed blessing to the just. There is no fear in the words " Prepare to meet your God ", for He is their " Prince and a Savior " (Amos 4:12; Acts 5:31). " Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him..." (Rev. 19:7).

Bible verses for devotion:
John 3:18-21- Have you come to the light?

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. - 2 Thes. 1:9

We must remember that men are finally condemned, not merely for sins, but for sin. They are punished for their evil character.

The soul that is unlike God cannot dwell with God (Luke 16:26; Rev. 22:15). Sin is self-isolating. The misery of the wicked hereafter will doubtless be due in part to their evil company. The judgment is but a remanding of men to their " own place " (Acts 1:25).

Hell is a finite place. It is a ' pit,' a ' lake '; not an ocean. It is ' bottomless ', not boundless. But there is no limit to the suffering there. They are " ...in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

In Hell, there may be degrees of penalty in God's administration based on one's earthly works (Luke 12:47-48; Rom. 2:5-6; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Cor. 11:15; 2 Tim. 4:14; Rev. 2:23; Rev. 18:5-6). For certain, the wicked will not be in God's gracious presence, but in His wrathful presence (Heb. 10:31).

We must never deny or ignore the doctrine of eternal punishment. To do so is to be similar to Satan, when he told Eve " You surely will not die " (Gen. 3:4). The most fearful utterances of future punishment are those of Jesus Himself (Mat. 10:28; Mat. 23:33; Mat. 25:46; Mark 3:29).

We know the enormity of sin only by God's own declarations with regard to it, and by the sacrifice which He has made to redeem us from it. Hell, as well as the Cross, indicates God's estimate of sin. The Cross shows His love.

Bible verses for devotion:
Luke 12:4-5-Of what does Jesus warn us?

But just as it is written: Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9

Rest, in Heaven, will be consistent with service. It will be a holy activity without weariness, a service of perfect joy and freedom.

On earth, the greatest degradation and sin are found in the great cities. In Heaven, the life of the city will only help holiness and service, as the life of the city here below helps wickedness.

Brotherly love on earth implies knowing those we love, and loving those we know. If we know our friends here, we will know them in Heaven as well. We certainly will not know less in Heaven than here. And, as love to Christ here draws us nearer to each other, so there we shall love friends, not less but more, because of our greater nearness to Christ.

In Heaven, there may be degrees of blessedness and honor, proportioned to the capacity and fidelity of every person in their earthly works (Luke 19:17, 19; 1 Cor. 3:14-15). For certain, all the redeemed will receive as great a measure of reward as they can contain (1 Cor. 2:9).

Our greatest reward will be God Himself. Rev. 21:3 says " And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them." Jesus promised "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also " (Jn. 14:3).

Bible verses for devotion:
Heb. 12:14, 28-29- What should we follow after?