The Excellency of Christ

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. - Luke 12:1-3 Jesus began this portion of scripture (Luke 11:14 - 12:12) responding to the blasphemous accusation of the Pharisees, who accused him of casting out Demons by the name Belzeebub.  The Lord responded by saying that a Kingdom divided against itself could not stand, and that, If Satan was divided against himself, his Kingdom would not stand.  Jesus truly casted out the demon in power, but this was done by the finger of God, for the Kingdom of God (himself) had come.  He overcame the enemy and divided his spoils, demonstrating the power of God over the evil one. It is a great concern how religious men who are fully convinced of their Knowledge and standin...

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ - 1 Peter 1:13 The Christian life is not an easy journey, in fact, we are promised that we will encounter many trails and have to endure much suffering on our journey ( Acts 14:22 , 1 Peter 1:6-7 , 2 Corinthians 1:6-7 , Romans 8:17 ).  Grieved by various trials, enduring wave after wave of affliction, and surrounded by many whose hearts have grown cold; we are vulnerable to the tempters voice to give up and go back to the ease of the world, conforming to our former lusts.  However, suffering in the Christian life is to be expected, and is in fact necessary.  It is not merely said that we will endure trials, but that we will be grieved by them.  There are seasons when trials will be heavy upon our shoulders, and you can do nothing but shed tears of sorrow. There are many reasons God may have for our sufferings: figh...

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart. Matthew 18 ends with a story from the Lord Jesus, regarding forgiveness.  The story highlights our foolishness when we do not forgive our brother or sister in Christ, and also tells us what we can expect when we are unforgiving.  “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ato settle accounts with his servants.7 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him bten thousand ctalents.8 25 dAnd since he could not pay, his master ordered him eto be sold, with his wife and fchildren and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant9 gfell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and dforgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred hden...

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of you stay here in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct - 1 Peter 1:17-18 Redemption is not metaphorical, it is real. God offered a supremely infinite and precious payment for sin, which speaks to the vileness of sin, the merit of Jesus Christ, and how serious the call to be holy as I am holy truly is. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. - 1 John 1:5-6 The fact that Jesus is the only one sufficient to redeem us, God testifies, not only of how perfectly righteous and pure Jesus is but also of how bad our sin actually is; mainly that our sin is evil and we are deserving of his wrath.  God has a ...

Thinking back to Our High Calling Part 1, you'll recall that we are exhorted in 1 Peter 1 to be holy as God is holy.  You'll recall that this is not a calling to be equal with God by any means, rather it is a pull towards the purpose of our salvation.  God has caused us to be begotten to a living hope through the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Christ is our life and God's will is to conform us to his image ( Romans 8:29 ); a work that he will bring about.  This is a redemptive calling. Continuing on, we will look at 1 Peter 1:13-15; considering our great redeemer Jesus Christ, and how the truth of God's word can help us to fight sin, and the pull from the world, flesh, and the devil. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called...

The first chapter of 1 Peter begins by revealing the incredible hope that believers have through the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This portion of scripture is truly a delight to the soul, as it reminds us just how gracious God has been toward us in saving our souls, and the power by which we have been renewed.  Peter says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." - 1 Peter 1:3-5 This is an amazing truth of scripture revealing our union with Christ.  Being dead in sin, we were void of any hope of eternal life, therefore God, in his mercy, has begotten us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. ...

"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" - Philippians 3:8 This blog will serve as a collection of devotions for encouraging believers around the world to follow Christ Jesus, no matter what the cost.  Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important necessity for any human being on the planet.  All men and women enter this fallen world as sinful individuals, who are spiritually dead and alienated from God (Colossians 1:21).  The Bible makes it clear that there can be no forgiveness of sins, without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).  God has declared through his word, that we are forgiven of our sins, and justified before God by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (John 3:18, Romans 4:4-5, Romans 4:23-25, Galatians 2:16)...