|
|
|
        |
 |
 
|
  Linden
Street Leaflet
March 7, 2010 Love is the Fulfillment of the Law Romans 13:8-10 (New King James Version): "8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." How does love fulfill the Law of God? "You shall not commit adultery." The person who regards his friends and neighbors with a godly love does not destroy another's marriage, does not lead another into temptation, and does not wish ill will upon the spouse of another. "You shall not murder." Love has no room for the hate and anger that might wish another dead, nor does it have a careless disregard for the safety and welfare of others. "You shall not steal." Love respects another's property and does not take nor destroy what is valuable to another or what another has spent time and energy creating. "You shall not bear false witness." The person who loves does not bring harm upon another by false testimony, nor does he implicate others to try to protect himself. "You shall not covet." He who loves does not let envy cause him to desire that harm come upon another who is prosperous or who has done well. He does not desire that which he himself has not merited. Simply keeping the commandments does not produce love. One can behave properly and still harbor hate, jealousy, and ill-will in his heart. But when one loves, evil intentions are replaced, and the commandments are fulfilled of their own accord. Thus love is a greater force than the law. The Apostle Paul says we are to "owe no one anything except to love one another." This does not mean that we are not to have debts, but that our debts should not be overdue--except for the love that we owe to others. Because Christ died for us and forgave our sins, the debt of love we owe to him, and through him to others, is always overdue. Linwood Kemp Web Admin - - - - - - - - - - February 27, 2010 Discerning the Will of God "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 (English Standard Version) Determining the will of God is not always an easy task. Sometime we wish the Lord would just tell us what to do, but he rarely does. This is because God's will does not consist of actions alone, but by actions informed by right attitudes. Even if he were to tell us exactly what to do, we could still end up doing the right thing for the wrong reason and in the wrong way. In Romans 12:2, Paul gives us a clue for determining just what the will of God is. In the version I have quoted above, the phrase "by testing you may discern" translates a single verb. It means to test something for the purpose of understanding it, understanding what it is made of and how it works. Therefore, a good modern translation of the phrase would be "that you may figure out what the will of God is." What does Paul suggest that we do in order to "figure out" God's will. First he says to stop doing and thinking of things the way the world does. Instead, renew your mind so that it is transformed. Transformed to what? The implication is that we need to start looking at things the way God does. Paul is more specific in Colossians 3:2: "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." And what are the things we are to think about? "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8) Also, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22,23) In other words, when our mind is in the right place, transformed by the Holy Spirit, and thinking of our situation from a godly perspective, it is much easier to discern, to "figure out," the will of God. When our thoughts and attitudes are God-centered to begin with, we don't always need to know what explicit action to take. We can just act, knowing that the Lord will use our actions to his glory, because we have acted in a manner consistent with a godly attitude. So "set your mind on things above" today and know that you are walking within the will of God. Linwood Kemp Web Admin - - - - - - - - - - February 13, 2010
The Love Of God
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7,8 - New King James Version) There are many things that we can know about God through his character as revealed in Scripture, but there are three things that we are told of his nature explicitly that stand out. "God is Spirit." (John 4:24) "God is light." (I John 1:5) And "God is love." (I John 4:8) It is not simply that God loves, but that He is Love itself. It is his very nature. 1. It is by grace. God's love is not something that we earn. It originates from him and it is a free gift. "We love him, because he first loved us." (I John 4:19) 2. It is eternal. God himself is eternal, and God is Love. As God had no beginning, so his love had none. 3. It is sovereign. "In love having predestined us...according to the good pleasure of his will." (Ephesians 1:4,5) 4. It is infinite. "God so loved..." (John 3:16) "God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us..." Ephesians 2:4) 5. It is unchanging. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God." (Romans 8:39) 6. It is holy. "Whom the Lord loves he chastens." (Hebrews 12:6) God will not wink at sin, even in his own people. 7. It is gracious. "God so loved the world that he gave..." (John 3:16) "How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11) Do you know the God of love so that you, too, may know the love of God? Linwood Kemp Web Admin - - - - - - - - - - February 6, 2010 What's Wrong With This Picture? In Romans 5 Paul demonstrates that the grace of Christ is much greater than the sin of Adam which had been inherited by all of mankind. When anyone repents of his sin and accepts the free gift of salvation, righteousness is imputed (credited) to him by grace. Some of Paul's critics then suggested that if grace is free, why not go on sinning so that you can get more grace. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" (Romans 6:1) An intriguing thought, but a logical impossibility. How so? "By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Rom. 6:2) The problem with the suggestion is this: Grace is only granted to the one who repents of (i.e., turns away from) sin. You can't intentionally go on sinning and receive grace. One who outwardly repents but continues in sin has not truly repented at all, and therefore is not eligible for grace. But this raises another question. How come we do, in fact, continue to sin after we have been saved? This is because our bodies and our minds still retain the habit of sin. What has changed, however, is that now we have a choice. Before we knew God, none of our actions and deeds were done to serve the Lord, and therefore were contrary to his will. Now we have the power to choose his ways and to serve him. The power of sin over us has been broken. "Our old man was crucified with [Christ], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin." (Rom. 6:6,7) Remenber that the will of God is defined by our motives and attitudes, not by our specific actions. God looks on the heart. If we allow our hearts and minds to be transformed by God, it is possible to reach the point in our lives where sin is kept at bay. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Rom. 12:2) It may take a lifetime of transformation, but sin does not need to continue to reign over us. So, should we continue to sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Why would you want to continue in sin, when a life of holiness is actually within your grasp? (All scripture is from the New King James Version.) - Linwood Kemp, Web Admin Home
: Calendar : The Upper Room
Copyright © 2007 Linden Street Christian Church. All Rights Reserved.
|
Archives May 2007 June 2007 Dec 2009 Jan 2010 |