and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE
Just what is the gospel? The word gospel means good news and it is best summed up by John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “
What is the preparation of the gospel? This simply means that we should study out what it means to be a believer, to understand what god has done for us at the moment of salvation, and to learn how to present this to others in an understandable way. While we are to understand the doctrines behind salvation we should never forget that an unbeliever who wants to hear about Jesus does not need a doctrinal dissertation. What they need is Christ, not church speak. The preparation of the gospel is learning how to present the gospel to others. I once knew a man who wore a button with a question mark on it everywhere he went. When someone would ask what the button meant he would hand them a tract with the gospel message on it. He was never pushy about it or rude and by doing this he was able to give the gospel to people who otherwise might not have ever heard it.
Every believer has a story of how they were saved; some are rather dramatic others are not. This can be the starting point for giving the gospel to someone. The main thing to remember about sharing the gospel is God is doing the work. We do not have to say the “right” words in the “right “way. And we do not have be masters of apologetics with all of the answers. We can and should learn these things but the only necessary thing is a willingness to share Christ and submission to God allowing Him to do the work. Remember we are the tool not the craftsman.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
The Breastplate
and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
A breastplate is to protect the vital organs of the body. It consists of two parts, one in front and one to cover the back. To understand how this breastplate of righteousness works we must look at Ephesians 4:24. “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Righteousness is the Greek word δικαιοσύνη (1343) righteousness, is thus conformity to the claims of higher authority and stands in opposition to anomía (G458), lawlessness.[1] This “new self” is a change of method in one’s life. It is a changing of the standards of the world to the standards of God. The only way to do this is through the daily intake of God’s word. This is an exchange of lies for truth, if you will. And as such it protects one from being overcome by one’s own desires. James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” We see here that it is not an external force that is enticing us, but that it comes from within. In other words the devil did not make me do it, I wanted to. Contrast this with the putting on of the new man though. This is allowing God to work through us and change our life. It is a putting aside of self and as it is written in Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren”. How are we conformed to the image of Christ? We are conformed by using Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. The mind is renewed by the daily intake of God’s word; it is not just a list of do’s and don’ts. And it takes active participation on our part. When we begin to fill our minds with God’s word worldly influence begins to diminish and our thinking begins to adjust to God’s thinking. We start to see people as God sees them. We start to treat people with grace. Our lives become different. And people start to notice. This gives us a chance to give the gospel to them.
This brings us to the shoes.
[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament
A breastplate is to protect the vital organs of the body. It consists of two parts, one in front and one to cover the back. To understand how this breastplate of righteousness works we must look at Ephesians 4:24. “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Righteousness is the Greek word δικαιοσύνη (1343) righteousness, is thus conformity to the claims of higher authority and stands in opposition to anomía (G458), lawlessness.[1] This “new self” is a change of method in one’s life. It is a changing of the standards of the world to the standards of God. The only way to do this is through the daily intake of God’s word. This is an exchange of lies for truth, if you will. And as such it protects one from being overcome by one’s own desires. James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” We see here that it is not an external force that is enticing us, but that it comes from within. In other words the devil did not make me do it, I wanted to. Contrast this with the putting on of the new man though. This is allowing God to work through us and change our life. It is a putting aside of self and as it is written in Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren”. How are we conformed to the image of Christ? We are conformed by using Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. The mind is renewed by the daily intake of God’s word; it is not just a list of do’s and don’ts. And it takes active participation on our part. When we begin to fill our minds with God’s word worldly influence begins to diminish and our thinking begins to adjust to God’s thinking. We start to see people as God sees them. We start to treat people with grace. Our lives become different. And people start to notice. This gives us a chance to give the gospel to them.
This brings us to the shoes.
[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament
Monday, July 06, 2009
Codex Sinaiticus
This is really interesting if you are into original language stuff. Codex Sinaiticus was hand written over 1600 years ago and features the complete new testament and parts of the old. The site is kind of slow though.
The Belt
Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH
Another way of translating this is: Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, (NET Bible).
This is not the belt that a soldier uses to hold up his pants. This is the belt that holds all of his equipment. It supports his armor and holds his sword. And the bible calls this belt “truth”. Truth is the basis for all that we believe. Jesus said of Himself “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. The Greek word for truth is ἀλήθεια (225) and it means Truth, reality; the unveiled reality lying at the basis of and agreeing with an appearance; the manifested, the veritable essence of matter.[1] Truth more than comes from God; it is part of Gods essence. Part of His being, God is absolute truth and there is no truth apart from Him. All of the rest of the armor and even the sword depend upon God being truth. If God is not truth then there is no righteousness, no gospel, no salvation and the bible is not reliable. But if God is truth, He cannot lie then everything else works.
Today we live in a world of relativism where nothing is true and nothing is false. If it works for you then good, but if something else works for me then good also. There was a time when John 3:16 was the most well known and quoted bible verse, today that has been replaced with Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged”. Morality is relative. And everything is true, from a certain point of view.
Truth is exclusive, though. Ether something is true or it is not. The lie is not exclusive though, it can be anything. For example if I am wearing a blue shirt and I say that I am wearing a blue shirt then that is a true statement, but if I say I am wearing a red shirt, or a pink shirt, or a black shirt that would be a lie. See how inclusive the lie is, it contains so many things, except the truth. We live in a world that can be summed up by a statement found in Romans 1:25 “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie”. People do not like the truth, it is too uncomfortable. Notice in Romans 1:25 that there is an activity going on there. An active exchange of the truth for the lie, this involves a choice, a willing trade. In Romans 1:26 we see the results of thins trade, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions” and in Romans 1:28 we read “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind”. We can see this around us every day. People seem to have lost their ability to think or act rationally and that is why.
When God gives someone over to their own desires that person looses the ability to act or do otherwise. They become a slave to their desires. And desire is a harsh task master. It can never be satisfied, and when one has been given over to it, it can never be deigned. At that point the law of diminishing returns takes over. That law can best be summed up as the more one gets the more one wants. What once excited now only vaguely arouses and requires a new stimulus to excite. Because of this the mind seeks things that are more and more depraved and you end up going places where once you never would have dreamed of going. What once disgusted and sickened you now excites and fills your thoughts. The mind becomes obsessed with it.
The lie can be summed up with Proverbs 14:12, there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
[1] The complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament
Another way of translating this is: Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, (NET Bible).
This is not the belt that a soldier uses to hold up his pants. This is the belt that holds all of his equipment. It supports his armor and holds his sword. And the bible calls this belt “truth”. Truth is the basis for all that we believe. Jesus said of Himself “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. The Greek word for truth is ἀλήθεια (225) and it means Truth, reality; the unveiled reality lying at the basis of and agreeing with an appearance; the manifested, the veritable essence of matter.[1] Truth more than comes from God; it is part of Gods essence. Part of His being, God is absolute truth and there is no truth apart from Him. All of the rest of the armor and even the sword depend upon God being truth. If God is not truth then there is no righteousness, no gospel, no salvation and the bible is not reliable. But if God is truth, He cannot lie then everything else works.
Today we live in a world of relativism where nothing is true and nothing is false. If it works for you then good, but if something else works for me then good also. There was a time when John 3:16 was the most well known and quoted bible verse, today that has been replaced with Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged”. Morality is relative. And everything is true, from a certain point of view.
Truth is exclusive, though. Ether something is true or it is not. The lie is not exclusive though, it can be anything. For example if I am wearing a blue shirt and I say that I am wearing a blue shirt then that is a true statement, but if I say I am wearing a red shirt, or a pink shirt, or a black shirt that would be a lie. See how inclusive the lie is, it contains so many things, except the truth. We live in a world that can be summed up by a statement found in Romans 1:25 “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie”. People do not like the truth, it is too uncomfortable. Notice in Romans 1:25 that there is an activity going on there. An active exchange of the truth for the lie, this involves a choice, a willing trade. In Romans 1:26 we see the results of thins trade, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions” and in Romans 1:28 we read “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind”. We can see this around us every day. People seem to have lost their ability to think or act rationally and that is why.
When God gives someone over to their own desires that person looses the ability to act or do otherwise. They become a slave to their desires. And desire is a harsh task master. It can never be satisfied, and when one has been given over to it, it can never be deigned. At that point the law of diminishing returns takes over. That law can best be summed up as the more one gets the more one wants. What once excited now only vaguely arouses and requires a new stimulus to excite. Because of this the mind seeks things that are more and more depraved and you end up going places where once you never would have dreamed of going. What once disgusted and sickened you now excites and fills your thoughts. The mind becomes obsessed with it.
The lie can be summed up with Proverbs 14:12, there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
[1] The complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament
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