by David Peake | Blog
Jesus has a wonderful interaction with a Samaritan woman in the city of Sychar which was in Samaria. He talked with her of living water and told her details about her own life that He did not learn from gossip among strangers, but because He has the mind of God. This is the conclusion of that conversation:
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” John 4:19-26
I want to notice a particular short phrase that Jesus utters in His conversation with her at the well. He says in John 4:22, “salvation is of the Jews.”
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by David Peake | Blog
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14
How do we look at our lives? Do we live in the past? Are we resting on our successes or dwelling on our failures?
Paul could look back at his life and see epic failure as one who stood against the cause of Christ … one who was at times solely responsible for the imprisonment and death of His disciples! What a heavy burden!! Surely thinking of this, he writes in 1 Timothy 1:15 that he is the chief of sinners.
Paul also had the opportunity to enumerate the great successes of his life as one we could argue was the greatest of all the Apostles, planting many churches and leading countless souls to Christ .. but that was not his way.
Though the landscape of his life was littered with failures and successes, he teaches us that the past is the past. What matters is what we do today, looking forward to our Heavenly goal.
What occupies our minds each morning when we wake up? Are we present in this day, eager for the challenges that await us? I too have spectacular failures and some pretty fantastic successes in my yesterdays … but I challenge myself each day to focus on what this day holds.
The Psalmist declares, “This is the day Yahweh has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 With this mindset, we can let yesterday be yesterday and press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!
by David Peake | Blog
But the question deserves even more context. The letter to the churches in the region of Galatia (in Asia Minor) was, in great part, a rebuke of Judaizing that was happening in the churches. In Galatians 1:6-7, Paul writes, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.”
A reading of the whole of Galatians demonstrates that Paul is uniquely qualified to deal with the issues arising in the churches of the region. Christianity cannot devolve into Judaism. Christians are not under the law but walk in faith.
The recipients of this letter are gentile Christians who have been troubled by a number of Jewish Christians, Paul calls the Judaizers “those who were of the circumcision.” (Galatians 2:11)
Perhaps the central passage of the letter is Galatians 3:1-9:
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
A little later Paul writes:
Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Galatians 3:21-25
Suffice it to say that Paul is mounting a vigorous argument against returning to the Law.
To what does Paul refer when he says, “Against such there is no law?” The natural conclusion is the Law of Moses. For the Galatian brethren, the point is taken that a righteous walk in Christ, evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit, is not contrary to the Law but the fulfillment of the Law.
For us, as with the brethren of Galatia and all Christians across time, Paul’s plain statement can be taken to heart no matter what law we may live under or what law anyone may want to foist upon us: there is no law against righteousness.
In Romans 12, Paul makes it plain that we are to live under the obedience of whatever governing law we live (as long as that law does not compel us to disobey God), however, we do not look to law to define our life in Christ. It is faith that guides us as we look into God’s word and follow Jesus.
The Law of Moses regulated the flesh. Faith leads away from the entanglements of the flesh. If we diligently seek and follow Christ, we will put away sin and live righteously. The Law was a tutor teaching faith to those willing to learn.
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — the fruit of the Spirit — were never contrary to the Law of Moses or any law. This is Paul’s point when he says, “against such there is no law.”
There is nothing holding us back from living righteously. Not the law of Moses. Not the law of man.
A few verses before our initial text, Paul writes, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16
If we will strive to walk in the Spirit, we will exhibit the fruit of the spirit and will exceed the expectation of any law, proving “what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2
by David Peake | Blog
There are so many parts of the Bible where we so often stop at one verse and read it in isolation, like John 3:16. What we miss when we do this is that the verse is part of a greater context. In fact, our understanding of the verse is made so much richer by reading the verses around it. In this case, John 3:16-17 are together a fuller thought:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Even John 3:16 begins “for” — begging us to dig for more context before it.
Belief in God is utterly important. Paul tells us in Hebrews that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (again, read more around Hebrews 11:6)
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by David Peake | Blog
2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Let us consider the idea of rightly dividing the word of truth.
Recently, I had a discussion about Matthew 7:1 and whether or not it is acceptable for a Christian to judge another person. The problem is that the question is fraught with issues in itself. What does the person mean when they ask about judging?
Let’s start with Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
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