pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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The Power of God

Reading: 1st Corinthians 2:1-10

Verse 2: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

As chapter 2 begins, Paul hones in on how he shared the faith with those in Corinth. He is calling them back to the beginning, back so that they can remember how he spoke among them when they first came to believe in Jesus Christ. Paul made an intentional choice to not use human wisdom. Well-educated and a Pharisee by training, Paul knew the scriptures inside out. This choice was very wise. In a city that loved to hear the latest and greatest ideas, that loved to debate these – well, to try and do that with the gospel would lead a 1,000 different directions. Paul reminds them, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Paul stuck to the basics. He told of Christ’s life and sacrifice, of Christ’s teachings and of the love that led to a humble sacrifice on the cross.

When I have been able to share my faith it has never been through arguing someone into believing the creation story or the story of Noah or any other Bible story. When a message hits home with someone on a Sunday morning it is not because I defined this fancy word or because I explained the intricacies of a conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. Wisdom may interest the brain but it does not move the heart. Paul knew this. The power in his message was the story of how Jesus changed his life. This painted a picture of how Jesus could change another’s life. This is the power in our testimony too.

Sharing our faith begins in our hearts. Love and faith reside here. It is also the home to the Holy Spirit. In our text, Paul identifies the Spirit as the revealer. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the words to speak and the actions to take. The Holy Spirit will also reveal the power of God to those we share our faith with. This day and every day may we trust in the power of God and the Holy Spirit to change and transform lives, beginning with our own.

Prayer: Lord, work in and through me today. By the power of your Holy Spirit use me today for your glory and revelation to the world. Amen.


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By Faith Alone

Reading: Romans 4: 1-5 and 13-17

Verse 13: “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise… but through the righteousness that comes by faith”.

As Paul and the rest of the earliest church were sorting out just how Jewish one must first be to become a follower of Jesus Christ, he penned these words that we read today. Before becoming an apostle, Paul was known as Saul. In that phase of his life he was a self-proclaimed Jew among Jews. He was a very devout Pharisee who knew and followed the letter of the law. As the early church grew and began to add Gentile believers, a huge debate arose over just how much of the Jewish faith must be followed to become a Christian.

In our reading for today Paul points to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. Paul chooses him for two reasons. First, he is one of the pillars of Judaism. His faith is one of the models. God declares Abram righteous because of his faith. As we’ve been reading, God called and in obedient faith, Abram went where God led. He stepped out and followed God. Second, at the time there was no law. It had not been given yet. Paul is saying that one can be saved by faith apart from the law. Paul, known as the apostle to the Gentiles, is not in favor of applying Jewish laws to the Christian faith. Paul himself became a believer when he met the risen Lord and then entered into a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ. For Paul it had nothing to do with the law. In the next chapters Paul will go on to argue this point further. Martin Luther will pick up these texts many hundreds of years later as he works out his “justification by faith alone” doctrine that will rock the church.

Even though the New Testament clearly spells out that one is saved by faith alone we can often feel like we must do good works or follow some set of prescribed steps to be saved. God does not have a giant balance scale that one day weighs out our good versus bad. We know from the scriptures that as soon as we confess and give our sins to God, they are wiped away – they are no more. Nothing is being stacked up on the “bad” side of some mythical scale. Yes, our faith will lead us to do good things. That is how we live out the love of God within us. It is the model Jesus set for us. As we follow Christ, living out our faith, may his ‘why’ become our ‘why’. Jesus loved others because the love of God within him overflowed into the lives of others. May we do the same. May the sharing of God’s love be our grateful response to our God who saves.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your unconditional love and grace. It is certainly not deserved but you pour it out upon me anyway. I definitely cannot earn yet it is still there in unending abundance. It is an amazing love, an amazing grace. Thank you. Amen.