Daily Thoughts From God's Word

Paul writes here his great piece on the person of Christ:  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (1:15-17).  He has created all things, and he holds the universe together by his power.  Wow!  An

Paul constantly writes about our righteousness in Christ.  He testifies, here, that if anyone had any reason to boast in his own righteousness apart from Christ, he did.  Circumcised, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, persecutor of the [heretical; according to him] church, and under the law blameless.  But what does he write?  “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count t

Paul begins his letter to the Philippians by assuring them that he prays for them and noting his certainty that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (1:6).  He also writes about things that have happened to him, particularly his imprisonment, and that it all happened to advance the gospel.  Both for the Philippians and for Paul, the Lord is working his will for good.  We have that promise for ourselves, also.   Even when the

Building upon the theological foundation laid in the first three chapters, Paul reminds the Ephesians (and us) about how we are to live:  “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (4:1) & “. . . speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (4:15) & “. . . you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds" (4:17) & "put of

Just this quick thought this morning.  In epistle after epistle, the apostle Paul addresses his readers as “saints,” as he does here in Ephesians:  “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1).  That is an amazing thought, i.e., that we can be called saints.  No, even more than that, we ARE saints.  Holy ones.  Set apart ones.  Sanctified ones.  Of course, it is all because of what God has done for us in Christ.  And that’s Paul's emphasis in the

The legalists have come into Galatia, and they have steered the believers away from the true gospel.  Paul, on the other hand, always has had the Galatians’ well-being as a priority.  He has suffered on their behalf.  He has preached the gospel to them.  He has prayed for them.  And he has told them the truth, though they now seem not to want to hear it:  “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (4:16).  An age old problem, huh?  Sometimes we interpret the tr

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (1:8), and “so now I say again:  If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (1:9).  Paul says it twice, in quick succession.  Think it’s important to Paul that the Galatians get the gospel right?  Yet, they don’t!  That’s the problem.  They have mixed the gospel of grace with a type of Pharisaical

Maybe I’ll just finish out 2 Corinthians in the vein I have started, i.e., selected verses.  Let’s start with:  "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully . . . for God loves a cheerful giver” (9:6,8).  This is not a get rich scheme; rather, it is an encouragement for us to be generous with what God has given to us.  God is pleased when we live in such a manner.   “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion rais

More jewels from 2 Corinthians.  “So we are always of good courage.  We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:6,7; One of the men at ReCenter, last evening, referenced this chapter and told how great a comfort it has been to him.).  And, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (5:17).  And, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no

The encouragements continue:  “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (3:5); “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (3:18).  There’s more:  “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (4:5).  And what about, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing p

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul begins by encouraging the saints by reminding them about their (and our) “Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (1:3,4).  Paul himself had been so utterly burdened beyond his strength that he “despaired of life itself” (1:8).  But the difficulties, according to Paul, were “to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (1:9).  There are some jewels here, which I think we

Varieties of gifts, the same Spirit. One body many parts. Gifts given to all. Love. Faith, hope, and love. All this is about the church and for the church. And Paul tops it off with a reminder about the gospel and the resurrection. And, finally, instructions to stand firm and, also, warm greetings to the Corinthians. Reading these chapters, one is just reminded of how wise and good God is and how abundant are his provisions for his people. He has given us all we need

Lots of instruction in these chapters about marriage, singleness, food offered to idols, offending others, working for a living, etc.  I wonder if a good summary statement of all that Paul writes here might be found in 9:12 – “But we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.”  In other words, all things are to be done, and all relationships are to be watched carefully, for the sake of the gospel.  And in another place:  “So, whether you e

One verse in chapter four has always stood out to me:  “Who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive?  If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (4:7)  In these chapters Paul writes about his apostolic ministry and continues to address problems in the Corinthian church (immorality, lawsuits against fellow believers, and issues regarding Christian marriage).  In all this, it appears that, though much sin can be fo

Churches are not perfect.  What’s the old adage?  “Churches are not perfect because they are made up of imperfect people.”  And certainly, the church at Corinth was not perfect.  Here’s the thing, though, these people were genuinely the church and, thus, it could be written of them that they were sanctified, called to salvation, recipients of grace, enriched in speech and knowledge, having Christ in them, gifted, persevering by God’s grace, ultimately guiltless (because of th