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October 8, Sunday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Distorting Revelation? — There are three major actions of Jesus in this passage. First, out of His grace, He “gave Himself for our sins” (v. 4a). That was a loving, sacrificial act to benefit us, who didn’t deserve to be forgiven. We had no part to play in that action. It was driven and accomplished by Jesus. Second, the purpose for Jesus’ sacrifice was “that He might rescue us from this present evil age” (v. 4b). While the former was an act of grace, giving us undeserved good, the latter was an act of mercy, saving us from evil’s deserved condition and judgment. We had no part in that action either; Jesus accomplished it all. The third action in this passage was to give us the good news “through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (v. 12). Paul made it clear that the gospel was not a derived set of concepts that came from the mind of men; it was not by reason but by revelation. It was the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, which was shared by all the apostles, not just Paul. Since it was God’s message, it is not eligible for modification. Any attempted change would be a distortion. Jesus’ half-brother, Jude, said that this faith was “once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 1:3). The Gospel message we have in the New Testament doesn’t need to be updated, modernized, or made more acceptable; it is direct revelation from Jesus.
Teach Me Thy Truth, O Mighty One – YouTube
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October 9, Monday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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I Live by Faith — There seems to be a universal desire to try to please God by things that we humans do. All the world’s religious organizations, except Christianity, seem to be based on this principle. Paul makes it clear in this passage, however, that “a man is not justified by the works of the Law” (v. 16a). The only means of gaining eternal favor with God is accepting the work that Jesus did for us on the cross, which is having “faith in Jesus Christ” (v. 16b). Although Jesus sacrificed Himself for the benefit of all people of all times in a general way, it was also very personal. Jesus had you in mind when He died on the cross. Paul said that Jesus “loved me and gave Himself up for me” (v. 20). It was personal. When someone gives us a gift for some special occasion, or just because they love us, although we may feel like we should do something good for them in return, it would be an insult to the giver. Jesus died for you because He loves you. What should be our appropriate response? Here was Paul’s: “I live by faith in the Son of God” (v. 20). It is a new kind of life; I will now “live to God” (v. 19). He will be my focus, my delight, and my guide.
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October 10, Tuesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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The Cursed Seed — There are some wonderful pictures of Jesus in this passage. One is that He was the ultimate seed promised to Abraham. Yes, the first one was Isaac, but the last one was Jesus. The time between Moses and Jesus was the period dominated by the Law, which had several characteristics: It was not based on faith (v. 12); it was temporary (“…until the seed would come”—v. 19); and it showed the human impossibility of perfect obedience (“Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law”—v. 10). Jesus’ coming solved all three of those problems. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us” (v. 13). His voluntary, sacrificial death paid the penalty for our sins. Jesus’ coming brought a permanent relationship based on faith (“…you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus”—v. 26). Finally, His coming set us free from the requirements of the Mosaic Law (“…now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” [i.e., the Law]—v. 25). Now that we have come to faith in Christ, we “are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise” (v. 29). What a wonderful release provided by Jesus! What a wonderful relationship He provided for us!
Faith of Our Fathers – YouTube
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October 11, Wednesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Freedom to Serve — This passage begins and ends with freedom. There is first, the freedom Jesus has given to us from the requirements of the Mosaic Law. Grace has replaced Law. The Law could be considered bondage if it were the basis for obtaining justification from God. Yes, forgiveness was obtained through offering sacrifices, but it didn’t cover tomorrow’s sins. It was freedom from this bondage “that Christ set us free” through His grace (v. 1). Paul said that if someone reverted by receiving circumcision, a symbol of the whole Law, he embraced “being justified by law” and has “fallen from grace” (v. 4). Christians are not justified by keeping the Law, they are justified by faith in Christ’s grace. At the end of the passage, Paul warned that, although we “were called to freedom,” we are not to turn that “freedom into an opportunity for the flesh” (v. 13). We are set free from the Law but not set free to do whatever we want, which would be serving ourselves. We are still under the moral law of Christ, however, which includes serving others by loving them.
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October 12, Thursday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Comforted — What happens to believers who die? Some Thessalonian Christians must have thought they would miss out in some way, but resurrection is the solution. Our resurrection is based on Jesus’ resurrection; if He rose from the dead, so will we. The souls of believers who die go immediately to be with Christ, as Paul told the Corinthians later: “to be absent from the body… is to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Much of the sequence at the time of the Second Coming is detailed in our passage for today, which Jesus apparently revealed to Paul personally. It was “by the word of the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15), but we have no record of Jesus sharing that while He was on earth. Just as Jesus ascended into heaven, so He “will descend from heaven” (v. 16), but in a much more dramatic way, “with a shout … and with the trumpet of God.” Paul said to “comfort one another with these words” (v. 18), not only regarding the hope for Christians who die, but also because “we shall always be with the Lord” (v. 17). The best part of heaven will be Jesus.
One Day (When We All Get To Heaven) – YouTube
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October 13, Friday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Our Savior, Sacrifice, Companion — There are three pictures of Jesus here in relation to us believers. The first is that He is our Savior, our “hope of salvation” (v. 8). It includes both a realized hope through His present indwelling presence, and a future and deeper hope awaiting us in heaven. This is the ultimate benefit for us as Christians. Jesus is our Savior. Second, He is our sacrifice, the one who “died for us” (v. 10a). It was costly, requiring His physical life, bearing the burden of all human sin, and being temporarily separated in His relationship with the Father. His sacrifice also included the motivation of love, that He died “for us.” Jesus described His own love for us like this: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The third picture is that He is our companion: “so that … we will live together with Him” (1 Thess, 5:10b). It is a personal relationship that we enjoy now but will enjoy even more after this life.
Man of Sorrows! What a Name – YouTube
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October 14, Saturday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Pleasure for Goodness — Jesus’ dramatic coming will be terrifying for “those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (v. 8), but it will be wonderful for us believers. We will share His glory by our closeness to Him, and we will marvel at what we see in Him. It sounds like Jesus will have an even more glorious appearance than what His disciples saw in His resurrected body and what the souls of deceased believers have seen in heaven, because He will “be marveled at by all” (v. 10), even them. Christ’s name will also be glorified in us to the degree that our “pleasure for goodness” is fulfilled along with how much of God’s power has been released by our faith (v. 11). This might be a good time to grade our “pleasure for goodness.” David said, “I delight to do your will, O my God” (Ps. 40:8). We should delight in that as well.
O Thou from Whom All Goodness Flows – YouTube
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