Let’s Take a Walk (part 3)

Let’s Take a Walk (part 3)

 

We must “walk in wisdom” in our dealings with those who are not in Christ (Colossians 4:5, 6; and confer Ephesians 5:15-17). Carelessness in word or deed may slam a door that could have been opened. We need to give thought to know how to answer each person. Speaking “the truth in love” does NOT look at the message, the message is always to be “the truth”.  Speaking the truth in love looks at the messenger, and his attitude and handling of the word, to speak that word in the most effective way possible.

“WALK IN A MANNER WORTHY OF THE CALLING TO WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED” (Ephesians 4:1)

We should walk in “good works”, Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. Do some have the idea that “Christianity” simply requires abstaining from that which is evil, with no concern about doing good? When Scripture says we are created in Christ Jesus FOR good works?

Jesus called us the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”, and said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). Here is instruction looking squarely at our duty for good works; and people are failing in their reason for being if they fall short in this responsibility shared by all, Hebrews 10:24.

 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7). Understanding “walking in the light” is helped by considering walking in darkness. One does not have to do nothing but sin, to be walking in darkness; he is just indifferent to the light, walking (living) as it suits him; and occasionally, maybe, doing something good.

By the same token, one does not have to be sinless, to be walking in the light – his aim and preference is to be obeying God, and when he stumbles, if he repents and confesses his sin, the blood of Jesus will cleanse him.

People who are “in the light” are already acquainted with the blood of Jesus. There is no forgiveness of sins “without the shedding of blood” (Hebrews 9:22) but “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The writer of Hebrews talks about the impossibility of goats’ and bulls’ blood for purification of the flesh; then asks, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:13,14). The blood of Christ is the price of forgiveness for every person. It is, therefore, the price of forgiveness for a straying Christian.

This is what John is saying, in I John 1:7. We must watch, where we walk. “Blessed is the man, who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly …”

Pat

Let’s Take A Walk, Ephesians 5:1, 2

Let’s Take A Walk, Ephesians 5:1, 2 

      

         The words sprint, dash, jog, trot, compare with the word “walk” as the speedy hare with the plodding tortoise.  These words speak of greater-than-normal exertion, because “in a race, all the runners run, but only one receives the prize” (I Corinthians 9:24). As the tortoise came on to beat the hare, so the one who walks ‘” in love” will in fact be victorious ln the pursuit of life eternal.

         “Walk” is used in the Bible to (1) indicate normal

moving around.  This is the sense of the word used when

Jesus was coming to the disciples, Matthew 14:25ff.    When Paul tells the Ephesians to walk in love, and

 as children of light (5:8), “walk” refers (2) to the journey

of life.  On this journey, how are we to walk?   We begin

with the passage just cited: we must walk in love.  If we

truly walk in love we will obey Him; “For this is the love

of God, that we keep His commandments” (I John 5:3.)  If

we walk in love of God, our walk with our fellowman is

natural.  So Paul writes, “Let all that you do be done in

love” (I Corinthians 16:14).

        

         We “walk … according to. the Spirit”, Romans 8:4.

Those who walk according to the Spirit arrange their lives  

as the Spirit directs, because “the fruit of the Spirit is

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things

there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

         There is a choice we must make, between flesh and

spirit; Romans 8:5-8, “For those who live according to

the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  For

to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind

on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on

the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God’s

law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh

cannot please God.”

         “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we

have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus

His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7).  Understanding “walking in the light” is helped by considering

walking in darkness.  One does not have to

do only sin, to be walking in darkness; he is just

indifferent to the light, walking (living) as it suits him; and

occasionally, maybe accidentally, doing something good.

         By the same token, one does not have to be sinless,

to be walking in the light – his aim and preference is to

be obeying God, and when he stumbles, if he repents

and confesses his sins, the blood of Jesus cleanses

him.  People who are “in the light” are already

acquainted with the blood of Jesus.  There is no

forgiveness of sins “without the shedding of blood”

(Hebrews 9:22), but “it is impossible for the blood of

bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).  The

writer of Hebrews talks about the impossibility of goats’

and bulls’ blood for purification of the flesh, and then

asks, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who

though the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish

to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve

the living God” (Hebrews 9:13, 14).  The blood of Christ is

the price of forgiveness for every sinner.  It is therefore

the price for forgiveness for a straying Christian.

         This is what John is saying, in I John 1:7.   We must

watch, where we walk.  “Blessed is the man, who walks

not in the counsel of the ungodly …”.

        

         We should walk in “good works”, Ephesians 2:10,

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for

good works, which God prepared beforehand that we

should walk in them.”  Do some have the idea that being

a Christian simply requires abstaining from that which

is evil, with no concern about doing good?  When

Scripture says we are created in Christ Jesus FOR good

works?  Jesus called us the “salt of the earth” and “the

light of the world”, and said “let your light shine before

others, so that they may see your good works and give

glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-

16).

         We read about the urgency of doing “good works”

in Hebrews 10:24, 25, “And let us consider how to stir up

one another to love and good works, not neglecting to

meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging

one another …”.   Here is instruction looking squarely at

our duty for good works, and for assembling with

brethren to encourage them to good works.  Good works

include everything we may do, for our neighbor or our

brother; Jesus said “And whoever gives one of these

little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a

disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his

reward” (Matthew10:42).

                  Saints fail in their reason for being if they neglect this responsibility for which they were created in Christ Jesus.
        

                  We must “walk in wisdom” in our dealings with

those who are not in Christ (Colossians 4:5, 6; and confer

Ephesians 5:15-17).  Carelessness in word or deed may

slam a door that could have been opened.   We need to

give thought to know how to answer each person. Speaking “the truth in love” does NOT look at

the message, the message is always to be “the truth”. 

Speaking the truth in love looks at the messenger, and

his attitude and handling of the word, to speak that word

in the most effective way possible.

“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called”

Let’s Take a Walk (part 1)

Let’s Take a Walk (part 1)

The words sprint, dash, jog, trot, compare with the word 

“walk” as the speedy hare with the plodding tortoise.  These words speak of greater-than-normal exertion, because “in a race, all the runners run, but only one receives the prize” (I Corinthians 9:24). As the tortoise came on to beat the hare, so the one who walks ‘” in love” will, in fact, be victorious ln the pursuit of life eternal.

“Walk” is used in the Bible to (1) indicate normal

moving around.  This is the sense of the word used when

Jesus was coming to the disciples, Matthew 14:25ff.

When Paul tells the Ephesians to walk in love, and

as children of light (5:8), “walk” refers (2) to the journey

of life.  On this journey, how are we to walk?   We begin

with the passage just cited: we must walk in love.  If we

truly walk in love we will obey Him; “For this is the love

of God, that we keep His commandments” (I John 5:3.) 

If we walk in love of God, our walk with our fellow man is

natural.  So Paul writes, “Let all that you do be done in love” 

(I Corinthians 16:14).

We “walk … according to. the Spirit”, Romans 8:4.

Those who walk according to the Spirit arrange their

lives as the Spirit directs, because “the fruit of the Spirit

is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things

there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

           

There is a choice we must make, between flesh and

spirit; Romans 8:5-8, “For those who live according to

the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  For

to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind

on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on

the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God’s

law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh

cannot please God.”

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we

have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus

His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7).

Understanding “walking in the light” is helped by

considering walking in darkness.  One does not have to

do only sin, to be walking in darkness; he is just

indifferent to the light, walking (living) as it suits him;

and occasionally, maybe accidentally, doing something

good.

By the same token, one does not have to be sinless,

to be walking in the light – his aim and preference is to

be obeying God, and when he stumbles, if he repents

and confesses his sins, the blood of Jesus cleanses

him.  People who are “in the light” are already

acquainted with the blood of Jesus.  There is no

forgiveness of sins “without the shedding of blood”

(Hebrews 9:22), but “it is impossible for the blood of

bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).  The

writer of Hebrews talks about the impossibility of goats’

and bulls’ blood for purification of the flesh, and then

asks, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who

though the eternal Spirit offered himself without

blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works

to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:13, 14).  The blood

of Christ is the price of forgiveness for every sinner.  It is,

therefore, the price for forgiveness for a straying Christian…

Pat

“My” Church

“My” Church

Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock, I will build my church.”  Ephesians 5:24 says the church is subject to Christ, and in the following verse that Christ gave Himself for the church.  Colossians 1:24 refers to the body of Christ as the church.  Such verses refer to what we sometimes call the “universal” church, the body of believers who have been “called out” from the world to God, by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

The church consists of all the souls who believe in Jesus Christ, on earth and in heaven (Ephesians 3:14,15).  Acts 11:2 refers to the church which was at Jerusalem, and Acts 13:1 refers to the church at Antioch; such verses specify members of the universal body of Christ who assemble in a specified location.  The church that Christ established, His body, was in Antioch, Jerusalem, and anywhere else where there are believers.

This brings us to another sense in which the word church can be used.  Acts 14:23 says elders were ordained in “every church.”  In I Corinthians 4:17, Paul speaks of teaching the same doctrine everywhere, in every church.  These kinds of verses refer to those “local” churches, believers who assemble in some specified geographic location.  Church can refer to the universal body of Christ, as well as to a localized body of believers. 

In I Corinthians chapter 14, Paul instructs the Corinthian church on how to have an orderly and edifying assembly.  Notice that when he says in verse 19, “speaking in the church”, he’s not talking about speaking inside some building: he means speaking among that local body of believers, speaking among the people.  The local church is the local body of believers, not the building or place where they meet, not the activities they engage in when they come together.  The church consists of the people.  

Likewise, in the same chapter, when Paul talks about edifying the church (vv.4,5,12) he is referring to edifying the members, the people, not the place or the activities.  In verse 23, he talks about “the whole church [coming] together in one place.”  This is what we would refer to as an assembly.  The church exists even when it is not assembled.  The church was still in Corinth even when the individual members were in their respective homes, at work, or somewhere in the city involved in their day-to-day affairs.  When he says the church came together, the members assembled for worship and mutual edification.  In verse 28, he talks about keeping silent in the church, that is, keeping silent in the presence of the members during the assembly, not keeping silent in the building.

So, what do we mean when we say, “I am going to church”?  Is it like, when we say we are going to fish, we are going fishing?  Are we going church-ing?  Perhaps statements such as, “I am going to worship” or “we are assembling” would be less ambiguous.  Or what do I mean if I extend an invitation and say, “you should come to my church”?  Surely, I don’t mean that the church belongs to me, personally.  Sometimes, when we invite someone, they say something like, “I already have a church.”  

Without presuming we know what everyone means when they use any kind of expression involving church, let us keep in mind to what church ought to refer.  There is a universal body of believers in Christ that is His church.  But we can also talk about the local church, the body of believers in our area with whom we personally work and assemble.  When talking about “your” church, whatever you have in mind, remember that you are talking about the people with whom you associate.  When you invite someone “to church” or to “your” church, make sure it is with the understanding that the church (local and universal) belongs to the Lord.  When we talk about “our” church doing this or that, we are referring to what we, the people, do and believe in.

When you invite people to “your” church, you are not inviting them to the building or to the service.  You are inviting them to meet, assemble, study, worship, to engage with the people.  When people visit us at “our” local church, our objective is not to impress them with the building, or anything superficial, but with the people who are the body of Christ.  When visitors are among us, we must make every effort to demonstrate the love of Christ, the sincerity of our belief, our desire for the truth of God, and our compassion for the souls of men.

How do you feel about “your” church?  Do you associate with a group of people you want others to meet and have a spiritual relationship with?  Are you the kind of person who attracts or repulses visitors?  We ought to be proud of our local family, and desire to be the kind of people who are sincerely characterized by the love of Christ (John 13:35).  We should be able to invite others in saying, “let me show where to contact the love of God and true disciples of Christ.  Let me introduce you to these people…”

“These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, that you may know how to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” - I Timothy 3:14,15

Jeremy Koontz