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Week 24 — Acts 27 – Romans 3

What! I thought believers were no longer under the Law. But there it is. Paul clearly wrote: “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:29). Is this saying that we still have a relationship with the law, that we are to continue to try to live up to its righteous requirements?

Hardly! Scripture speaks loud and clear to the issue of the law and the believer. Here are several key passages:
Galatians 3:25 (NIV)
Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Romans 7:6 (NIV)
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 8:3-4 (NIV)
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Galatians 2:19 (NIV)
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
Galatians 5:18 (NIV)
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Romans 6:14 (NIV)
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Believers are no longer under the law. We were when we were lost. All that changed at the moment of salvation. That old relationship we had with the law of sin and death was broken, severed once and for all. Now as new creatures in Christ, we are no longer under the law, but are led by the Spirit of God.

Since this is the case, what does it mean to uphold the law? Simply this. When the Law speaks, it speaks words of condemnation and death. The law judges all guilty of sin and then pronounces death as its sentence. That’s the purpose of the Law in our lives. How else would we know we needed the saving life of Jesus Christ?

We uphold that purpose through faith in Jesus. In turning to Him for life, we agreeing with the Laws judgment; we are dead spiritually, sinners by nature. We also agree that death, eternal separation from God, is our just reward and that Jesus stood in our place. He took our punishment for us. Resting in the finished work of Jesus is our declaration that our sins have been punished once and for all, and they have been punished to the full extent of the Law.

Every time you thank Jesus for the forgiveness He provided for you at the Cross, and thank Him for taking the punishment you deserve, you are upholding the Law. Try it. I guarantee you’ll gain a deeper appreciation of His love and grace.

The Persistent Thread of Grace

Week 23 – Acts 22-26

What’s to say about the trials of the apostle Paul? Actually, the question should be, what’s not to say? In chapters 22-26 of the Book of Acts, we pick up after Paul has been arrested for his testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and his (Paul’s) own conversion to faith in Jesus. The Pharisees and the Sadducees are intent on murder because of this testimony.

Again and again we see the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders who on one hand want to be seen as staunch defenders of the Law, yet on the other, as Paul said, want to break their own law by killing an innocent man.

As the scenario unfolds we see Paul steadfastly pleading the case for faith in Christ Jesus, and the repeated evaluation of the authorities–the commander Claudius Lysias, governor Felix, king Agrippa–each deciding, just as Pontius Pilate when Jesus was first brought to him–that the man accused before them had committed no crime worthy either of death or imprisonment. Yet the Jews persisted, and in each case, ultimately prevailed with the death of the one accused.

But for those who shed their blood, Jesus declared in Matthew 23:13-32 that it will not be pleasant for them in the hereafter. The bottom line to Jesus was this:

29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

30and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

31“So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32“Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

But the persistent thread that runs through the testimonies, lives, and deaths of each of those who have been martyred in the cause of Christ is the immeasurable grace of God manifesting in the bold proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the empowering, indwelling Holy Spirit.

Week 22 Acts 17:1- 21:40

Several things stand out in these chapters, not the least of which is Paul’s address to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Like many we hear today, they pooled their ignorance and were easily impressed with their own words.

But Paul caught their attention. Luke records it as “What is this babbler trying to say?” They wanted to dismiss him as just another kook… someone easily ignored. But Paul challenged their ideas – even using their admission of an UNKNOWN GOD as a basis for his argument.

“Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”

Years ago I met a Buddhist. She was fairly intelligent and could converse on many subjects, but her beliefs did not include the belief in god. It was interesting to learn this, but it gave me a place to start. Like Paul, I listened, read and learned where my audience was and met her where she was.

I began with the testimony of creation that could be seen and touched and clearly showed the existence of a creator. I had the chance to plant a seed. Years later I received a letter. I hadn’t heard from my friend in years, but the letter explained that she had come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and was now looking for a church where she could grow in God’s grace. I rejoiced along with the angels.

Paul’s message centered around the God who made the world and everything in it. He does not live in temples built by hands. What an incredible challenge to present to those who either deny or want little to do with God.

We can look at the world around us and in recent history peer into the depths of the oceans and the vastness of space. Everywhere we look we’re faced with the fingerprints of the one who made all of it. Why wouldn’t we want to know Him?

The men of Athens paid homage to a ‘god’ they did not know and God sent His apostle to bring them the Good News.

Have you met an ‘Athenian’?

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Week 21, Acts 12-16

There is nothing quite like giving a great answer during our radio program, explaining a key point of belief clearly and succinctly during a Bible study, or singing a song that obviously touches people’s hearts.

Such is the joy and the mine field of ministry.

We tend to idolize those who have the gift of spiritual-gab. We tend to put ministers on pedestals as if they are cut from different cloth. Next time you’re in church, take a moment to look around and notice the beatific expressions on some people’s faces. That is the face of idolatry.

Ministers tend to encourage the idea. Watch the TV preachers. Listen to the radio divines. Really, their tone is sickeningly arrogant.

Paul and Barnabas met this issue head-on in Lystra. After a man was healed (by God, not by Paul) the crowds decided they were Zeus and Hermes. Sacrifices were brought and the party was about to start. Paul and Barnabas “rushed into the crowd, shouting: ‘Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you…’ ” (Acts 15:14ff)

“We too are only men, human like you” should be the mantra of every professional minister. “They too are only men, human like me” should be the mantra of every parishioner.

The Body of Christ is not about clergy and laity. It is about the Head living His life through the rest of us – all of us human, saved as the result of His initiative into our lives. The fact that I’m paid to minister is nothing more than the accident of my job. I was a minister before I got paid for it, and I’ll continue to be a minister after I retire. The same is true for you. Regardless of your profession, each child of God is a minister. None of us are special, except as the indwelling Spirit sets us apart from the world.

If you are tempted to put the people of People to People on a pedestal, stop. If we ever begin to act or sound like we’re climbing onto that pedestal, call us on it immediately.

Avoid the pedestal like the plague! It’s the only way to serve one another in love.

Acts 7-11

Talk about stepping on toes, or killing sacred cows. Peter’s trip from Joppa to Caesarea was a frontal assault on everything his Jewish heart held near and dear. It was a journey against the current of Jewish belief and law. But God said to go and Peter did.

As Luke recorded in Acts 10, he went without objection. His vision while praying on the roof of his Joppa house had something to do with that. Peter didn’t fully understand the ramifications, but the words he heard, “do not call anything impure that God has made clean,” kept one foot moving in front of the other.
After a full day of travel, his three Gentile escorts took him to the home of Cornelius. A large group of people were gathered to hear what he was going to say. According to Jewish law, Peter was in the wrong place. He was strictly forbidden to visit Gentiles, but there he was. At that moment, the meaning of the vision became clear.

God was going to pour out His Spirit on the Gentiles, just as He did for the Jews and the Samaritans. Peter began. The message concerning Jesus poured out of his mouth. Before he finished, the gift had been given. God’s Spirit had taken up residence in the hearts of the Gentiles.

The believing Jews who had accompanied Peter on this journey were astonished. But they couldn’t deny what they observed. Peter’s message was the key that unlocked the door and now it stood wide open for the Gospel to go forth to both Jew and Gentile.
Peter took the heat from the believers in Jerusalem. They were not happy he violated Jewish law. But who was he to oppose God. The miracle in Caesarea was God’s doing, not his. The compelling evidence of God’s great love for both Jew and Gentile made its mark. No religious tradition was going to keep Peter from sharing in God’s purposes and plans.
Peter’s passionate recounting of the story satisfied the Jerusalem contingent: “they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’” God’s plan from the beginning was to save the Gentile. Think about the ramifications of that on your life. Place yourself in the story. God granted you repentance unto life. Overwhelming! But that is God.
To Him “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:12,13).

That is God’s plan, and just as He used Peter to bring the message of Christ to Cornelius, He can and will use you to bring that message to searching souls today. You may have to swim upstream, get a few toes stepped on, or kill a sacred cow. But knowing God’s great love for man will keep one foot moving in front of the other.