Select Page
Beyond a Single Verse: Context is Key

Beyond a Single Verse: Context is Key

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

(more…)
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

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.

(more…)

He Who Has Seen Me

Jesus: The Image of God

Presentation for the PNW Study – 2019.

It is by Jesus that we know the Father. Colossians 1:15 says, of Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God,” and Jesus’ words in John 14:9 are “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus again said, in John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” … just as Paul tells us in Hebrews 1:1, that God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” Jesus is not the Father, but He is the “express image” of the Father.

The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1-9 

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. 

In the previous chapter, full of difficult names to read, there are about 70 nations (or families) listed. 

It is important to understand that because it means that when God dispersed the peoples of man and confused their languages there were fewer than 100 languages developed from the Tower of Babel. 

What is interesting is that experts in language tell us that of the over 7000 living languages that exist today; they come from only about 136 language families. (Example: spoken Chinese is separated into five main groups of dialects … with over 200 individual dialects.) 

(more…)
For His Good Pleasure

For His Good Pleasure

We will consider three verses: 1 John 4:7, 3 John 11, and Philippians 2:13:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 
1 John 4:7

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.  He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 11

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13

The first two of these verses come from John and the last from Paul. The three passages are not naturally linked together in the Scriptures, but they do work together well. We will, of course, deal with each verse in the context of the passages where they are found as well as taken together.

(more…)
Imitate Me, Just as I also Imitate Christ

Imitate Me, Just as I also Imitate Christ

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1-2

It is very interesting how the Apostle Paul opens 1 Corinthians 11. It is a classic counseling tool. In verse two, he praises the Corinthian brethren inasmuch as they have followed his teachings, or traditions, as it is translated in the NKJV. Then Paul proceeds to instruct them on how they need to correct their ways.

As I said, this is a classic counseling tool. I have often thought that modern counselors have gained insight into this technique from the Apostle Paul, here in 1 Corinthians. The influence that the Bible has had on societies over the years is immeasurable. It wouldn’t surprise me if modern counselors had learned this technique from the principles passed down over the years from the Bible — even 1 Corinthians 11.

But I would like to focus on verse one, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” The Apostle Paul understood that it was not enough for the Corinthians ­­ or even us ­­ to just follow his example. Paul’s instruction was to follow him, as he followed Christ.

The Apostle Paul’s instruction is valuable on a few levels …

  • First, we have Paul’s example in Christ
  • Then, we have the example of the other great men and women of God, as they followed Christ
  • And we have the example of our brothers and sisters in Christ in this generation, as they follow Christ

In fact, the Apostle Paul, expresses all of this in Philippians 3:17:

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. First, let us consider Paul and his example in Christ.

In Philippians 3:7-8 the Apostle Paul stated, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for 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.

If we could just master this attitude that Paul had, we would be closer to Christ than we have ever known.

Listen to what Paul has to say in verses 12-­14 of this same chapter of Philippians:

Not that I have already attained, 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.

The goal of Heaven, for Paul, was singular. He did not dwell on the past nor did he allow himself to be distracted by the temptations of the present. He set His gaze only on the future home of heaven. To this end, Paul tells us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.Hebrews 12:1

No discussion about Paul’s example in Christ would be complete without Galatians 2:20:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Reading about Paul’s life in the Bible, we see that these are not merely fine words, but a description of how Paul faced life. The Apostle Paul gave himself entirely to Christ. In a defense of his apostleship Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28:

From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, ­­besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

Even through all of these tribulations, the Apostle Paul remained steadfast in his faith. Few have suffered as much as Paul for Christ’s sake. It is likely that few have suffered as much as Paul, period.

Paul’s life has been recorded so we can be encouraged by his faith and steadfastness. Paul refers to Jesus the same way, because, of course, Jesus is the real article. Consider Hebrews 12:1-4 with this in mind:

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

So, we have Paul to imitate as he imitated Christ (and certainly, we have Jesus’ example.) But, we also have other great men and women of God to look to for examples.

Hebrews 11, which is often called the roll call of the faithful, offers us a glimpse into the lives of many of God’s great servants: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Moses, and many others. If We would read in the Old Testament about these whose faith caused them to do great things for God, we would be encouraged to serve Him more closely.

I often think of Daniel and something I once heard, “Dare to be a Daniel.” Daniel stood firm through all kinds of persecution. Once he was thrown into a den of lions for praying to God. For his faith, God saved him. (Daniel 6)

Noah, too, although it had never rained … ever … built an enormous ark because God said that He would cause the world to be destroyed by a flood.

For us, it would be like God saying that we had better collect and store as much water as possible because He would soon turn our entire landscape into a desert and there would be no more trees and very, very little water. This would be unimaginable to us today.

That is exactly the way it was for Noah, yet he obeyed God though he was persecuted by everyone he knew. But we don’t have to go back to the Old Testament to find faithful role models. Besides Paul, there are all of the other Apostles and some standout disciples.

Stephen comes to mind. Very early in his Christian life, he preached one of the greatest sermons recorded in the Bible and was stoned to death for it. But with his dying breath, he said on behalf of his killers, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” He was faithful even to death. (Acts 7)

The Apostle Paul tells us about the Berean brethren, saying that they were more noble or fair-minded than those in Thessalonica because they “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether [the things he preached] were so.Acts 17:11

We can read throughout the New Testament of believers in Jesus who lived faithfully and we can be encouraged by their examples. We can imitate them as they imitated Christ.

Finally, we can look to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters around us for examples and imitate them, as they imitate Christ.

We don’t want to follow the example of those who are not following Jesus, but those who are imitating Christ in their lives. Paul said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” And he said, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.

None of us live perfect lives, only Jesus has. But we may find, in our fellow brothers and sisters, examples of Christlikeness in particular parts of their walk.

We all have our strengths and weakness. Our goal should be to strive to imitate each other in our spiritual strengths — as each imitates Christ. There is a vast pool to draw from the brothers and sisters in Christ that we know.

In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul tells us that “the fruit of the spirit is: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-­control.”

We are to grow in the fruit of the spirit and we can help one another do so. Although his list is a little different than Paul’s list of the fruit of the spirit, Peter refers to this growth in the spirit as a progression:

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self­-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

Presumably, we are all starting out in this growth with faith. Perhaps, if we are struggling, we can find someone who exceeds in his or her virtue and model ourselves after them in their virtue. That same person may have a struggle with knowledge (of the Scriptures, that is) and can look to another brother or sister for help.

We can do this quietly, through observation, or we can ask one another for help where we are struggling. There is no shame in asking for help. In fact, it will help us draw closer to one another as brothers and sisters.

Once again, Paul said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” We would do well by reading all that the Scriptures tell us about Paul, following the pattern of His life. We can not walk in his footprints, but we can adopt his attitudes and strive for his passion and steadfastness. So, also we can study the lives of other great men and women of God from the Bible. And we can even grow by looking around ourselves, finding faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who can help us improve our walk.