#Matthew18 - The Power of Forgiveness

Click here to read Matthew 18:

1. What stood out to you from this chapter?

I noticed a theme in this chapter, two really that caught my attention. The first is sin. Jesus gives a stern warning for anyone who causes a little one to stumble, and uses a hyperbole to illustrate the gravity of sin. (Verses 8 and 9 are also pretty convincing verses that there is a real hell, and it is eternal, and it is fire. Some say that hell is just not living forever, or that it's not painful, it's just drab. But that is not how Jesus describes it here.) But the chapter sort of transitions in that it still talks about sin in the form of a wandering sheep, a debt that can't be repaid, and a hurt relationship. However now Jesus lingers on the need for forgiveness and restoration. The shepherd seeks out the lost sheep and returns it to the fold, the one believer points out the others sin in love and for the purpose of restoration, and the master forgives the servant a great debt.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

Jesus words and warnings in verses 8-9 echo, almost repeat word for word, his warnings in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, especially verses 27-30.

Also, the story of the wandering sheep can be found again in Luke 15 as the "Lost Sheep". It is right next to the "Lost Coin" and the "Lost (Prodigal) Son" parable.

3. What does this mean for my life?

When Peter asks Jesus how many times he is supposed to forgive someone, Peter thinks he's aiming high and sounding really righteous when he says, "Up to Seven?" Apparently that was way more than was taught at the time. Jesus answer blows up the glass ceiling of forgiveness when he answers "seventy-seven times," or "seventy times seven." I don't think Jesus means for us to keep track all the way that high. In his culture, (because of Scripture), seven held a meaning of completeness. Multiples of ten, like a hundred, or a thousand, could mean "more than you can count." So when Jesus multiplies 7 times 10 times 7, no matter what the translation it means "more times than you could count. Long story short, this is convicting to me to be quick to forgive. Even if it's not the first time, or the 489th. :)

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

After reading the parable of the unforgiving servant, the last verse is really a shocker. It sounds pretty harsh. My question is, "How do I interpret this last verse truthfully and faithfully to Scripture?" It would be easy to water it down to something like, "So it's important to forgive others, because God loves us." But is unforgiveness in our heart like an unforgivable sin? I don't know. I tend to start interpreting verses as quite literal until other Scripture paints a different picture.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter.

In Christ,
Dan

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#Romans 7 - The Do Do Verses

Romans 7: 

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

Paul makes some very interesting logical loops in this chapter. It's a little confusing. In fact, as I read it I couldn't help but think about the scene from the Princess Bride where Wesley is arguing with Fizzini in the "Battle of Wits." If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here to watch. Yet in the middle of Paul's "dizzying intellect," he gets his point across in reminding us that the law is good, the law makes us aware of our sin, our sinful nature sways us away from God's desires, and that Jesus Christ alone can deliver us. I have come to lovingly call this passage, the do-do verses.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

This reminds me a lot of Galatians 5 in the "Fruit of the Spirit" section. There Paul talks about how the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and vice versa. "They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." (Galatians 5:17, NIV). He emphasizes that there is a battle going on every moment for your desires and actions. Even if our heart desires what is good, our sinful nature or "flesh" will fight for pleasing itself. It's not a matter of who's to blame; we still choose one way or another. But we have to recognize the battle happening within us.

3. So what does this mean for my life?

Actually, these verses in Romans 7 are some of the most comforting verses I know. To know that Paul, who I consider a giant in the faith, struggled with temptation to sin helps me realize that he was human. More often than I'd like, the sinful nature ends up winning the battle and I just do or think what is good in the moment. But I know that, like Paul, I too have the ability and freedom in Christ to choose what is right every time. If I mess up, there is forgiveness and a second chance when we repent and confess to God. Praise God for his mercy, grace, and Holy Spirit.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

In this chapter, Paul says that when the commandment came, sin sprang to life. Is he even including God's first commandment not to eat from the one tree in the garden? Because in Genesis 6, long before the law was given, Scripture is clear that "every intention of the human heart was only evil all the time." Just curious.

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans6 - Wanted: Dead AND Alive

Romans 6: 

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

There are two very strong images Paul uses in this chapter to describe a Christian's life. The first is life and death. Baptism is a symbol of how we have died to sin. The sinful nature in us is not our source of life anymore. Instead, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too have been raised to a new life that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live. I think that immersion baptism really illustrates this perfectly, in that when the person goes under the water they are "drowning" the old, sinful self. When they come back up they are rising up to live a holy life, having had their sins washed away.

The second image is one of slavery. We are all in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. Naturally we let our master be our own desires. Whatever we want and whatever pleases us - that is our master. That master is sin. However when we are made new, washed clean, and born again into the new life, we offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

Well the language of death and life is used in other key passages as well. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Colossians 3:5 commands us to "Put to death...whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." and then lists a whole bunch of destructive and sinful behaviors. This is obviously a pretty serious warning to not even let those desires and behaviors get even the smallest foothold in our lives.

3. So what does this mean for my life?

First, there is a verse in this chapter that every Christian should memorize. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It's a powerful verse, similar to John 3:16, that shares the whole gospel in one verse. I need to have this in my "hip pocket" to help me be ready.

Secondly, there's the very personal and practical commands to offer the parts of our body for righteousness. I need to make sure my hands are engaged in Godly work, my words are building others up, and my whole body is not engaging in immoral behaviors.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Because Paul talks about Baptism in this passage, I would like to know, "What would Paul say about Baptism today? Would he take a side in the "believers baptism" vs. "infant baptism" debate? Would he favor young or old to be baptized? Would he tolerate our practices and teachings about it? It would be cool and crazy to have him here today explaining all he meant.

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans3 - Best Gospel Explanation

Romans 3: 

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

In my opinion, verses 19-26 hold one of the most concise, clear, compelling explanation of God's plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It begins with knowing that we will all be held accountable to God someday, and that we will all be found guilty. In fact, verse 20 says that the law actually guides us to realize our sinfulness. This passage basically says there are two ways to be found righteous - 1. By being perfect according to the law (which nobody except Jesus is able to do), and 2. By putting our faith in Jesus Christ and believing in him. It declares redemption and atonement through Christ, to be received by faith. It describes God as a just judge, and as the merciful provider for our penalty through Christ. I think this is a passage every Christian should read thoroughly to understand that we are not justified by works, that we are never found righteous through doing enough good things, that we will never earn our way to heaven. Rather we are forgiven of our sins and given eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, no matter what our background is.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

Ephesians 2 has another similar explanation of the gospel, clarifying that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...not by works, so that no one can boast." Galatians 2 also contains a passage very similar, especially in emphasizing that Jews and Gentiles are both justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

3. So what does this mean for my life?

Passages like this don't necessary have direct action applications, but sometimes the application of Scripture is not just in right "doing" but in right "thinking." For me, this passage really has been instrumental in helping me to understand the basic gospel message. It has also been very helpful to share that message with others using Biblical truth rather than just my own "analogies". If ever there was a passage to memorize, this would be right up there in my book. It is so central to our own faith, as well as being a powerful truth to equip us in sharing our faith with others.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

The first 8 verses are a little confusing. I think Paul is basically saying that the fact that our sin makes God's holiness even more obvious isn't an excuse to keep on sinning. My question is, "Is that a fair summarization? Am I missing something?"

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans2 - Tolerance, Repentance, and Eternal Life

Romans 2:

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

Like most of the world, Christian and non-Christian, I tend to cringe a little when I hear the phrases "Turn or Burn," "Repent or Perish," or "Judgement Day is Coming!" It doesn't seem like a winsome preaching or evangelism style. But today's reading from Romans 2 sounds like Paul's version of a "turn or burn" sermon. The word that really caught my attention was "repentance." Paul says that God is richly kind and patient with people and their sin. He tolerates a lot. But God's tolerance is intended to lead us to repentance (v.4). God does not tolerate sin forever, nor does he condone sin while being patient. There will be a day when all of us will be judged according to our works, and we will all be found guilty according to the law. But this passage says that for all who repent, turn to God, and follow him, He will give eternal life (v.6-7). But to those who are unrepentant and reject the truth, there will be wrath and anger (v.8). So Paul's title for this brief passage might be "Repent (which literally means to turn around) or Remain Under God's Wrath (which might be even more harsh than "burn")." So next time I hear a Christian preaching that, I'll cut them a bit more slack (although I might still suggest an alternative approach). Also, lest anyone thinks that Paul's message here is related to being saved by doing good works, please read very carefully the next 6 chapters of Romans in which he very strongly argues against that idea.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture you know?

Continuing with the theme of "repentance," Paul wasn't the first one to preach repentance. In fact, the first sermons by John the Baptist and Jesus both were, "REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matthew 3:2, 4:17) Repentance was also a major theme in the old testament. Examples that come to mind are Job (Job 36:9-11), the whole nation of Israel through the prophets (Isaiah 59:20, Jeremiah 15:19, Ezekiel 14:6), and the story of Jonah and Ninevah. This is another really good reminder that the God of the old testament is the same as the God of the new testament.

3. So what does this passage mean for my life?

The whole second half of this chapter is really, really, REALLY, convicting. Though it was written originally to Jews and teachers of the law, it can easily be applied to Christian leaders and teachers. The first chapter and a half were really easy to get caught up about judgment and wrath, but this part of the chapter (v.17-29) reminded me that apart from Jesus I would find myself square in the path of God's wrath. I need to daily repent of my sin and strive for what is right, to live a life of integrity so that my life would reflect God's character more and more. Plus, I can't even do that on my own. I need God's Holy Spirit to fill me and empower me to suppress the flesh and embrace the fruit of the Spirit. This chapter was very convicting both as a reminder of God's righteous judgment and my need to be grateful for all God has done by living my life in a way that honors him.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

This question is related to yesterday's question. In chapter 1, Paul writes about how God's invisible attributes are made known through creation so that no one is without excuse. Today, in chapter 2, Paul says that whoever hasn't heard the law will be judged according to the law. I'm not even sure how to phrase the question, but here's the simplest way to ask: "How does God judge people who have never heard about Jesus? Do they automatically go to hell? Do they automatically go to heaven? Are they judged according to their heart and how they obeyed their "conscience"? I'm just not super clear on this.

I'd love to hear some responses.

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans1 - Danger and Salvation

As I finished reading the book of Acts, I decided to go to the next book of the bible and continue my journey of reading a chapter a day. Romans is a letter, written by Paul to the believers in Rome. Rome is where Paul's journey ended in the book of Acts, and according to traditional understanding is also where his life ended. Romans is also one of the key books of the Bible that inspired Martin Luther some 500 years ago to post his 95 theses on the door of the Catholic church which ultimately inspired the Reformation and led to people reading the Bible for themselves. So I am very excited to dig in. HERE WE GO!

Romans 1

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

After his greetings and personal statements, Paul gets into some theological statements pretty quickly, but they aren't pretty at all. He begins with the wrath of God. It's a topic most people would just rather ignore, erase out of the Bible, or close their eyes and plug their ears and hum a merry tune while it's being read. We say God is loving, we say God is perfect, and we say God is holy. How can God be a loving, holy, perfect God and let the guilty go unpunished. I recently heard a sermon that rightly pointed out that if we are the ones who are wronged or hurt, we cry out to God for punishment and judgement. But when we are guilty, we like to just cling to the mercy and grace of God. So the fact that Paul starts out speaking about God's wrath makes me think we need to stop and realize that it's a big deal. There is a danger of living in our sin without repenting. God will not force us to change our destructive, disobedient behavior, but he will not let us "off the hook" forever. God's wrath is real and we need a way to escape it.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture you know?

This chapter contains a list of behaviors God clearly calls sinful. At a retreat recently, I shared about these kinds of lists not as a overly-strict fun-hating God, but as a map through a mine field. Wouldn't you appreciate someone telling you where the mines were so you could avoid them and the destruction that comes with them? That's what God does in Scripture. This list includes behaviors and attitudes like not being thankful to God, worshipping idols, homosexual behavior, greed, envy, murder, gossip, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to parents, etc. There are other lists that are very similar in Scripture. Some are found in Galatians 5, Colossians 3, 1 Corinthians 6, and Ephesians 4. It would be really easy to think that these lists are for other people, the "really bad ones." But the truth is, I bet it would be rare for anyone to look at all of these lists and not find themselves having done some of these things. It just really reminds me that we need God.

3. What does this mean for my life?

In Romans 1:16, Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..." I want to live my life unashamed of the gospel, not being afraid to share of God's love, God's judgment, God's mercy and grace in providing Jesus, and God's promise of eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. Ironically, this verse in Romans is the theme verse for the Recharge youth retreats at Ingham Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camps in the spring.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

I have heard verses 18-20 used as a way of saying something like, "Everyone in the world sees creation and therefore is expected to worship God, or what they know of God through creation. Therefore everyone who does not believe in this way is guilty (people are without excuse)." My question is whether or not this is a valid approach to understanding this verse. My struggle is that I just don't think people would naturally make the leap from, "Wow, what a pretty sunset" to "I need to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins and salvation of my soul right now." So I'm just not exactly sure how to take this part.

Hope you're able to join me in reading through Romans. Please feel free to leave a comment. It can be a response to any or all of the four questions, or to something I wrote. Either way I hope you read the chapter and use this to keep digging deeper into God's word.

In Christ,

Dan