Weapons of Light

A week from tomorrow I'm going to a special event at my church.  It is a "women's event" where we will participate in a simulcast of Priscilla Shirer, teaching the Word.  Do you remember her?  She starred a year or so ago in the movie, "War Room".

After watching that excellent movie, I went onto Twitter to "follow" (Twitter-ese for those of you who don't tweet!) Priscilla.  Her bio-tag line on Twitter?  "Just a girl....with a sword".

What is she talking about?

Our scripture passage for today is Romans 13:11-14, and with it we finish this chapter.

11And do this because we know the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 12The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.

In order to "get" the context of these verses we must remember the ones that went before, the ones I blogged on yesterday, the ones concerning loving our neighbors.  When Paul says "and do this", he is talking about loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those who have yet to claim Christ as Savior.  So, actually, he is expanding upon how we love our fellow man.

Specifically, he talks about putting on "weapons of light".  (The underlining in the passage above is my editing.)  This is what Priscilla is alluding to when she refers to herself as bearing a sword.  I have a friend who refers to putting on these weapons as "armoring up".

But...what are the Christian's "weapons of light"?

Out of curiosity, I googled the phrase and the results were all these links to discussion boards about weapons upgrades in a video game called Destiny.  Interesting how fantasy mimics reality...

Biblically speaking, we find Paul describing these weapons of light elsewhere ... in his letter to the Ephesians.  (Ephesians 6:12-20) In my first month or so of blogging here at RDM, I elaborated on them in the posts below:

http://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2014/07/marching-marching-marching.html

http://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2014/07/battle-gear.html

http://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2014/07/and-more-weapons.html

In the 3rd link, you can learn more about the sword Priscilla loves so very much....her love for a sword so great that it is part of how she describes herself.

These posts can be a great start in understanding this life-and-death struggle in which we find ourselves.  Life or death?  Surely, Gena, you exaggerate!  No, and Ephesians 6:12 concurs.  In The Message version the daily spiritual battle is described as "a life-and-death struggle", an ongoing cosmic battle for the souls of men and women.

Look, Paul is saying in Romans 13 that if we TRULY believe that people who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior, who do not worship Him, are destined for an eternity in Hell, then we need to
a) WAKE UP (vs. 11) and
b) ARMOR UP (vs. 12).
Both of these actions require daily, deliberate decisions on our part.
If we, instead, either "sleep on", oblivious to the battle around us or live as though we do not even know Christ, then we are not "loving our neighbor", nor are we advancing the cause of Jesus Christ.

Father, we never have to ponder "what we should wear" spiritually, as we start each new day.  You have provided for us and told us how we should dress and arm ourselves.  From the moment we rise from our beds, our spirits are in Satan's cross-hairs.  How we prepare for battle will determine whether we advance the kingdom of Your Son, our Savior, or not.  May we choose well, dress well, live well, for Your glory!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Hiding My Light

There have been times when I have been embarrassed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Oh, if you asked me outright, I would have said the right things.  But, in my actions and behaviors, I have veiled my beliefs in order to "be successful" and "get along" in this distinctly unChristian world.

Case in point:  Some of you who have known me for years probably have this response to my behavior now - - - "Did you hear about Gena? She has gone off the religious deep-end.  She writes that blog five days a week and posts religious posts on Facebook and tweets about faith and politics like a madwoman.  What has gotten into her?"

The thing is - - sorry to tell you - - -I've always been that way, well, since a teenager, that is.  Since my conversion to Christianity as a youth.  But, when I made a career choice, to work in the public schools, I put a veil over my faith.  In one-on-one situations, given an opening, I would express my faith by praying for/sharing with individuals - - staff members, children, parents of students.  I wasn't ashamed of the gospel in the workplace; but, I was careful how I expressed my faith.  I had to be, in order to keep my job.  Or, so I thought at the time.  (This was before I ever got a Facebook account or began tweeting.  Even though I "semi-retired" only 5 years ago, it seems like "the dark ages" now, as far as all these technology tools are concerned.)

Was this the right decision?  I could have decided to go full-bore into full-time ministry in my 20s. But, I did not.  It's easy to look back and flog oneself over past decisions.  But, as I have often said, God can use our past, even our failures, no matter what they are - - - IF we will let Him.  While we must learn lessons from our past, it is pointless to continually go back to stare at the carnage, bemoaning the fact incessantly that the carnage occurred.  Does no good.

What we do have in our hands today - - - is TODAY!  So, here's the question.  When presented with opportunities to live out the gospel today, will we take them?  Paul's example is both inspiring and daunting, at the same time:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”

It's not "about us", you know.  The driving force behind us shining our light (Daniel 12:3) is that people who die without Christ as their Savior will be forever in Hell.  We tend to conveniently ignore that fact! It's too painful to contemplate; so, we shutter our eyes - - just pull the blinds down.  It tends to be overwhelming - - - I get that.

Here's the deal, though.  We can give money to missions, and should. We should exercise our ministry gifts/talents, and should.  But, beyond that, when God presents us with opportunities to share the gospel in more direct ways, we.must.not.be.ashamed.

Or fearful.
Sometimes, some of us are not "ashamed" exactly.  We are fearful - - of rejection, repercussions, consequences, etc.
Recently, I was given an opportunity to expand this blog ministry.  I was somewhat intimidated and had to "pray through" the circumstances, consult trusted advisors, search the Scriptures.   I've sensed God's leading in the situation, though, and am forging ahead.

Ok, let's move on to verse 17.  The scripture Paul quotes here is (originally) from Habakkuk 2:4.  But, in addition to Romans 1:17, it is also quoted in Galatians 3:11 and in Hebrews 10:38.  On second thought, there's too much here to cover today.  Let's defer this exposition until tomorrow.

Father God, make us bold as lions, yet meek as lambs, following the lead of Your Holy Spirit to share the gospel of our Savior.  And, for any readers who do not know Him in that way, may they open their hearts to embrace him, with the deepest of heart-felt belief, transformative belief, today.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Jesus + ...

6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel –7not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!9As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! 10Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!  11Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:6-12 (NET)

There are precious gifts that go with living in any human historical time, I think.  I do not envy the early Church their particular challenges.  I'm not talking about martyrdom, though that would be an obvious challenge, to be sure.  I'm referring specifically to that turbulent time when the gospel was being spread initially and error was so prevalent.  It's amazing to think that the only "God's Word' they had came from either the Old Testament or the letters of the New Testament writers.  

Of course, Satan still uses doctrinal error as one of his chief weapons for disrupting the Church.  However, the difference today is that we have the complete, written revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the form of our Bible.  We, in our modern day, have no idea how grateful we should be.

These new churches...they had it rough!  Some smooth-talker would come along and persuade them to accept some form of "Jesus +" - - - Jesus plus circumcision, Jesus plus good works, Jesus plus ______ (whatever).

The admonitions Paul gives concerning those who pervert the gospel are extremely strong.  (It's difficult to get much more intense than damning someone to hell!)  This is something I try to be very careful to avoid - - no, not hell! Heaven is already settled for me.  I'm referring to twisting and misinterpreting the Scriptures.  It's terribly easy to make a mistake, as the Bible is a very complex book, to put it mildly.  There's plenty of opportunity to draw wrong conclusions and to put something out there that is just plain wrong.  

Case in point:

After yesterday's post a person on Twitter wanted to argue with me about the dating of the book of Galatians.  (I share my posts to Twitter and on Facebook.)  I listened to the rationale put forth respectfully and said I'd look into it more at a later time.  If you go back and read yesterday's post, you'll see that I totally understand that there is a great deal of disagreement on this point.  Frankly, I don't think it is all that crucial that we know "without a shadow of a doubt" when Galatians was written.

You may have wondered now and then who I am and why in the world I am doing this.  Well, I don't do it to win any person's approval or even my own.  Nearly two years ago I felt a calling from God to start this blog. It made no sense at the time, and I didn't want to do it.  I felt it would be just "too much".  Still, the pull of God on my heart was inescapable, if I was going to be obedient to Him.  So, I began.  My pastor said one time that if a call from God is not bigger than you are, then it is not from Him.  That is because He wants all the glory, and He deserves ALL the glory! (Gal. 1:5).

Do I have a degree in Bible?  No.  I did attend a conservative, non-denominational Bible college for four years, graduated with a teaching degree, and have studied the Bible regularly since my teens.  But, that's it. Nor am I a paragon of spiritual virtue.   Rather, I am a redeemed, middle-aged lady, trying my best to follow Jesus. 

What I try to do in this blog is this:
1) share what God is giving me from the Scriptures and at the same time avoid spreading doctrinal error, as Paul warned against in today's passage
2) share honestly about what it means to be "resplendent" on a daily basis.  Some days, I am more resplendent than on other days ... that is, I allow the Holy Spirit of God to fill me some days, more than on others.  HE is the source of all resplendence, as He IS utterly resplendent.  The Word of God is alive, powerful and so sharp that it can pierce you through and through, before you even realize it! I need a lot of that piercing, every day!

So, if you ever, ever catch me "preaching another gospel", please call my hand.  This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, two passages which perfectly describe it:  

3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NET)

13 And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 14 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14 (NET)

Jesus plus ..... nothing!  Grace, all grace!  Hallelujah! 

Good morning, Father.  You are so beyond our human comprehension.  Thank you for your Word and the privilege of worshipping you from it as often as we please.  We may have to lasso our bodies to only eat physical food in moderation, but we can have as much of You and Your Word as we want. What joy!  Please keep us from the evil one, Lord.  Deliver us from evil, especially the evil of perverting the meaning in Your written revelation.  My Lord Jesus is all in all.  To Him be all the glory and honor and praise, forever and ever.  Amen.

Of First Importance

Good morning,

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul moves on to another heretical teaching which had invaded the Corinthian church.  This was the truth of Jesus' resurrection.  In coming to that topic, though, he makes a statement which has been often taken out of context and misinterpreted.  Let's examine verses 1-11.

 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.

NET

In the past couple of months, I have heard two preachers refer to 1 Cor. 15:3-4 as "the gospel defined".  That is ... if anyone asks you, "What is the gospel?", here is the answer:
Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to how the Old Testament prophets predicted He would.
Jesus Christ was buried.
Jesus Christ, on the 3rd day, was resurrected.  Again, this was prophesied in the Old Testament.

{Implicit in these statements by Paul was Jesus's divinity, His 2nd Personhood of the Holy Trinity. That was not a point of dispute among the Corinthians, and Paul had drilled that doctrine elsewhere. He does not stop to perseverate on that point here in this context.}

So, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which Paul had preached, not only when he was with the Corinthians, but to all to whom he preached.  That is the gospel which the Corinthians had received.  It is the only gospel which saves.  Corinthians were being saved, coming to know Jesus Christ; but, this would continue to occur only through the preaching of the true gospel.

Verse 2 is one that trips some believers up, because they point to it as a proof that our personal salvation is dependent upon our working hard to keep it.  That is not what Paul is saying in verse 2.  Remember that this is the same man who, under divine inspiration, penned Ephesians 2:8-9!

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

ESV

What is his meaning here in verse 2, then?  He is emphasizing that we must hold fast to the truth of the gospel as he laid it out in verses 3 and 4 because, if believers perverted the gospel, their belief would be polluted, misdirected, false, "in vain" as Paul phrases it.  They would be believing "another gospel other than the one I preached to you" (Galatians 1:8-9; 2 Cor. 11:4).

The social and historical contexts are very important to note.  Christianity was born in the midst of Roman and Greek culture.  The Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  In fact, when Paul was preaching on Christ's resurrection at Mars Hill in Athens (see Acts 17:32), the listeners laughed at him!  This societal belief had crept in to deceive the Corinthian believers, to make them question the concept of an afterlife and a resurrection.  It is to this point that Paul writes chapter 15.

Paul emphasizes that the true gospel must be "right".  If it is not right, then nothing else matters; nothing else will be "right".   The gospel is "of first importance".  This begs the question:  why does Satan try so hard to pervert the true gospel of Jesus Christ?  Because this true gospel is the only one with the power to save.  It is the only one given by God for the redemption of mankind.  There is one way to God, and there only one (John 14:6).

In verses 5-8, Paul lists some eyewitness accounts of Jesus' resurrection:  His appearance to Peter, His appearance to the 12 disciples, His appearance to over 500 people at one time (!), His appearance to James, His appearance to the apostles, His appearance to Paul (on the road to Damascus and possibly also during Paul's 3 years of solitary, private study in Arabia - - see Galatians 1:11 through 2:21).

Then, Paul sort of "digresses" a bit to talk about his own personal testimony.  I love these verses.  In fact, they deserve a blog post all their own.  We'll meditate on them tomorrow.

Father, we see from this letter that the enemy has, from the beginning of the Church, sought to pervert Your gospel message.  The same tactics are being used today.  Help us to be wise to recognize such perversion and deception when we encounter it.  Make us watchful to reject its infiltration into our own spirits.  In Jesus' name, amen.