Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog

A blog following the daily readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Romans 3:21-31 – 8 Words That Can Change Your Life

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

cross of christ

“But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because… he himself is righteous and he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.” (NRSV)

500 years is a long time.  It was that long ago when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Church door.  It sparked the flame of Reformation, a legacy we still live with today.  Protestant Christians have a rich spiritual heritage in acknowledging and affirming the veracity of Holy Scripture and its central message of Christ’s good news of salvation.

8 words changed Martin Luther’s life, changed the course of history and Christianity, and can change our lives, too.

1. Law

The role of the law is not to save nor to sanctify, but to reveal the true state of our hearts.  The law can only condemn; it cannot save you.  Obedience is important yet cannot be done by sheer willpower.  Deliverance does not come by turning over a new leaf; that approach only gets you caught in cycle of regret, promising not to do it again, and returning to it.  Law makes us feel the great weight of our darkness.  We need to feel and know what that darkness really is….

2. Sin

Sin means missing the mark, falling short.  We must agree with God about what sin really is, without sugar-coating it.  We tend to think of sin as some terrible action like assault or murder, yet sin is primarily thought of in Scripture as not giving God his due – of de-godding God and replacing him with something else.  You and I need to be realistic about the bad news of sin before we can ever receive the good news of forgiveness.  You can’t be forgiven unless you can admit that you have done, or not done, something that warrants needing to be forgiven.  Moving forward in hope can only happen when we possess…

3. Righteousness

Righteousness means right relationships; unrighteousness means broken relationships.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for right relationships.  Like illegal aliens who cannot make themselves citizens, God grants us spiritual amnesty because we can’t make ourselves legal or righteous.  Through righteousness God has made it possible for us to live in harmony.  Holding onto bad relationships is like a dog returning to its vomit; there is no need for it because God has given us…

4. Justification

This term is a picture of the court of law.  It communicates for us that righteousness comes because God justified us, that is, he did for us what the law could not do – he sent his Son to be a substitute for us.  You can’t justify yourself by obeying the law or simply by being sorry.  Without the next word, we will wallow in our guilt because we need this for our justification to really live….

5. Faith

Faith is a gift given by God.  We do not generate faith within ourselves because sin estranges us from God.  We need God to act.  God’s righteousness can only become operative through faith.  You must hold out your hands and receive a gift to possess it.  You must come to the end of yourself to exercise faith.  You need to see that your sin is bad enough to have made your life unmanageable and that you have dug yourself in a hole too deep to get out of yourself.  If you think you can handle it, you are going back to the law, living in denial and not by faith.  We also need…

6. Grace

Faith must have an object, and that object is the cross of Christ.  It’s grace which gives faith and saves us.  Our denial is so great about our sin that we can’t reach out to God unless God acts.  Even while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  Opening the gift given to us, we find that we are given…

7. Redemption

Redemption is a word referring to a slave market.  We are slaves to sin.  We need someone to purchase our freedom.  The blood of Christ paid for my sin.  He bought me through his death.  Jesus has taken care of the sin issue through…

8. Propitiation

“Sacrifice of atonement” is the meaning of propitiation.  It is the satisfaction of God’s wrath against sin.  Because God loves, God has wrath; he is not okay with sin running amok in this world.  We are forgiven through the blood of Christ.  We are free to live into the gracious joyous life of God in Christ.  Yet, not all of us do so.  For example:

If the institution that gave me my car loan came along and forgave or satisfied the debt I have on my car, it would be weird if I kept making loan payments.  But that is what many people keep doing with their lives because they don’t really believe they are forgiven and loved by God.  We think God is constantly upset or, at least, agitated with us since we screw-up so often.  So, we live by law hoping that God will applaud our sincerity and our effort, wishing that everything will be okay.  But everything won’t be okay with that approach because God wants our faith, not our promises to be better.  His question to us is:

Do you trust me?  Do you trust me to deliver you from your sin?  Do you trust me to work out the situation that you’ve made a mess of on your own?  Do you trust me to provide for you everything you need? 

Live into your spiritual heritage. Don’t return to the law. Bask in the gracious gift of your freedom in Christ.  Live and enjoy Jesus because you have been made righteous, justified, and redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 4:1-11 – Facing Temptation

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

 

The devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power.  The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.”
 
Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:
 
‘Worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”
 
            It is at our most vulnerable time that the devil swoops in and offers his demonic delights for us to consider.  We call it “temptation.” Indeed, it can be quite tempting to entertain ways of getting what we need and want through means other than God.
            In the desert, the place of preparation for ministry, Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days.  If ever there was a time when Jesus would be vulnerable to alternative religion, it would be now.  Then, the devil tempted him with three whoppers he thought would get to Jesus for sure.  Having tempted Jesus with food and a way to fame, and failed, Satan gave his final temptation.
            To us this temptation to bow down and worship Satan is a no-brainer.  Of course, no one would do such a thing as this, especially Jesus.  He didn’t.  But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t tempting.  It was.  Jesus knew very well what was ahead of him.  He had just spent 40 days in an intense orientation for three years of hard ministry with an end being tortuous death.
            Satan was picturing for Jesus a different path.  Jesus could have it all without the three years, without the hard slugging to communicate that the kingdom of God has come.  Most of all, Jesus could circumvent the cross and establish his rule over all the earth.  The temptation, yes, was very tempting.  Become King Jesus now with no suffering.
            This has always been one our great temptations as well: Take the easy path.  Get what you want, what you deserve, now, with no hardship.
            The values of God’s kingdom include trust, patience, and perseverance.  Temptation insists we don’t need them to be successful.  Satan is the original slickster, marketing his quick and easy wares for people to buy into the notion that life can lived without pain and hardship, and with wild success right now.  The scary thing about it is that Satan can deliver… but it will cost us.  Slavery to sin is the price we pay for hitching our hopes to quick and easy.
            Lent is a time for the slow, patient, deliberate development of the soul in attachment with the Lord Jesus.  It’s hard engaging in spiritual disciplines.  It’s difficult fasting and praying.  Growing in Christ is slow and takes a great deal of learned perseverance.  Far too many of us are tempted to circumvent the hard work of discipleship and simply have a spiritual professional distill everything we need into one hour on Sunday morning.  Or, we create our own religious practice and beliefs, picking and choosing what fits our lifestyle, as if it’s about convenience instead of worship.
            Christ was able to face down temptation because the desert strengthened him.  Yes, he was vulnerable.  But he was not weak.  If we want to handle temptation, it will take Lent to help us.  It will take the desert to spiritually form us and prepare us for godly ministry that puts the devil in his place.
Lord Jesus, you are the king of all creation.  Just as you chose the hard path of God’s kingdom, so help me to persevere with faith and patience.  May my life reflect your words and ways, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

1 Peter 3:8-18 – Suffering Before Glory

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

 

“Don’t pay back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, give blessing in return. You were called to do this so that you might inherit a blessing.” (CEB)
 
            We don’t like to suffer.  I don’t like to suffer.  After all, it hurts.  I’m not really into pain.  I’m not a high tolerance pain kind of guy.  I have no problem taking a pain pill at the first sign of discomfort.  Yet, I know there will be time I’m going to have pain – physical, emotional, and spiritual – and there is no way around it.  To live in this broken world is to experience suffering.  To suffer as a Christian, however, is different because we are following the way of our Lord Jesus Christ.
            There must be suffering before glory.  Just as Christ suffered, we ought to expect that we will suffer as his followers.  As Christians walk with Jesus during the season of Lent, they journey through the desert full of temptation and hard circumstances.  At the end of the journey will be the glory of Easter, a celebration of the resurrection.  Christian theology and practice hangs it’s hope on these redemptive events of Christ’s cross and resurrection, suffering and glory.
            We are not above our Master.  We, too, will suffer.  The real question is whether we will suffer because of our own foolishness and selfishness, or because of our devotion to Christ in being kind, humble, and gracious.  When insults come our way, we don’t respond with insults.  Verbal cruelty is not the way of Christ.  Anger, slander, gossip, lies, manipulative words, and belligerent bullying have absolutely no place in the kingdom of God for any reason.  God takes a zero-tolerance policy toward hate speech.
            Christians are to us their tongues exclusively for blessing, not cursing; for love, not hate; for truth, not lies; for building-up, not tearing-down; for proclaiming good news, not bad news laced with insults.  If we suffer for being Christians proclaiming good news, we shall receive blessing from God.  But if we suffer for giving-in to retaliation and our base desires for revenge, then we will suffer the consequences of our own stupidity.
            God has called us to bless the world, not condemn it.  Christians are to be on the front-lines, leading the charge of spreading respect, civility, kindness, and the gospel.  Jesus said that it’s no problem to show love and respect to people we like.  It’s a whole other ballgame to do the same for those who treat us with disrespect and hate.  Yet, God watches over all who obey him, and he listens to their prayers.  God will handle the hate-filled person, not you or me.  Our task is to have a deep concern for humanity, both the ones we like and the ones we don’t.
            Take some time today or in the next few days to slowly and carefully read the book of 1 Peter in one sitting.  It’s a short book.  Pay attention to how the adversity of living in this fallen world gives Christians the opportunity, hope, and encouragement to live well.  May it be so, to the glory of God.
Loving Lord Jesus, you suffered and died on my behalf.  It is a small thing for me to follow you and walk in the way of suffering.  I know and have the confident expectation that blessing awaits.  Keep me true to following you through all the adversity I must face in this fallen broken world.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.  Amen.

 

Ephesians 2:1-10 – Saved for a Reason

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

 

“You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith.  This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed.  It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. We are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.” (CEB)
 
            Christians are not saved so that they can just sit in a worldly holding tank until Jesus comes back.  Deliverance is only one dimension of God’s plan.  We are saved for good works to be done in the here-and-now.
            A Christian knows that he is saved from his sin through the forgiving work of Jesus Christ.  It’s an act of sheer grace on God’s part.  A believer is not born again through her effort any more than a baby’s birthed because of her own doing.  It is thoroughly the work of God.  Even the faith needed to believe is a gift graciously provided by God.
            But that’s not the whole story.  God also has some plans and purposes in mind for his people.  Christians were birthed into a new spiritual community with new commitments to do all kinds of good deeds.  It’s as if sin were a weight or an obstacle that has been removed so that living a life full of goodness can now plow ahead and do its work.  To be saved is to be freed for a vigorous moral life.
            The great problems of our world are spiritual problems which require believers in Jesus to take the lead in agitating for change.  Expecting human governments or corporate systems to take the lead in moral transformation is like asking the fox to guard the hen house.

            Christians, churches, and spiritual communities are to labor at the gates of hell for the lives of women caught in sex trafficking; provide uplift and the tools to a better life for those in grinding poverty and hunger; challenge the idolatry of the American gun culture; and, hundreds of other realities of living in a fallen broken world.
            At their core, these are not political, social, or cultural issues – they are spiritual.  Mass murder violates God’s command to not kill.  Hunger and poverty too often result from greedy leaders in power who covet resources for themselves, violating God’s commands to provide for the poor and needy.  Sexual slavery treats persons as chattel property and not as image-bearers of God.
            God has delivered you from sin so that you can take on the immorality of your world.  Perhaps you have a boss who is nothing more than a master of a small world and bullies and manipulates his employees.  Maybe your local municipal authorities simply aren’t seeing or purposely turn a blind eye to moral evil in their town.  It could be that within your own family there are problems of addiction which need to be graciously confronted and dealt with.
            God has placed you in the place you are right now for just this time so that you can do good works, both big and small, taking on an immoral establishment as well as little acts of kindness.  Doing good comes in all sizes, and all of us are to share our lives for the betterment of others.
Saving God, you have only good plans for your world and your people.  Use me today and every day to be an agent of blessing and goodness, working for the benefit of others who need the power of Christ’s resurrection in their lives.  Amen.