We All Need The Lord

Posted on August 20, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Yuichi Kageyama on Unsplash

Proverbs 20:9 (KJV) Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

We All Need The Lord

It’s all the fashion now to get on the Internet through your “smart phone”, then to rant and rave over the phone via a video – usually about politics. I had to laugh out loud at a young black woman in her car. She went to a drive up ATM at bank, and got $60 in cash out (three 20 dollar bills). She suddenly had what my mama called a “conniption fit” because someone had stamped on the back of one of the 20’s, right over the picture of the White House, in red letters “Trump Lives Here”. She said she was so mad she wanted to throw the money away. I support that. Throw the money MY way.

The Internet has amplified self righteousness & virtue signaling. God says no one is clean

I know a lot of people do not like Trump, but he’s the President of the United States whether you like it or not. Yes, he lives in the White House. President Trump has his failings, but also his good points. Beloved, no one makes themselves clean. Shouting into your phone doesn’t make you clean, but stupid looking. If this nation was settled not by White Europeans, but Black Africans, I suspect we’d STILL have had a problem with slavery – only in reverse. We’re all a mess.

The heartbeat of Christianity is that “all sin, all fall short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). King Solomon wrote:

Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV) Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

It is a sign of a deluded person who thinks they are righteous and perfect, but all others have flaws. Sadly when that young lady screamed and hollered about nothing, all this proved was that she is delusional. Those who are deluded stay in a perpetual child-like state. They never mature, and often become those in society who create more trouble than they contribute. The next verse …

Proverbs 20:10 (KJV)DIVERS WEIGHT, [and] DIVERS MEASURES, both of them [are] alike ABOMINATION to the LORD.

… ties into this verse. In the ancient world people used a balance with two pans. They would put a known weight, usually a stone, in the left pan, and then the item they were selling in the right pan. When the balance was horizontal, the weight was supposed to be accurate. Yet thieves would manipulate the left pan weight, making it lighter, so that they could steal from the customer. Or crooked salesmen would use undersized cups to measure out grain, again stealing.

What I see in the world today, amplified by the Internet, is what God calls an “abomination”. When we do wrong, we manipulate the left pan weight to make it heavier so when our sin is weighed in the right pan – well, it doesn’t seem so bad. But when someone else does wrong, we put the light weight in the left pan, so when their sin is weighed it seems so much heavier. This is false weights. This is self righteousness!

Self righteousness is so hypocritical! God says that manipulation of truth is an “ABOMINATION” {Hebrew tôʿēḇâ}, something that disgusts Him. God uses this same word to describe homosexual behavior (Leviticus 18:22), idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:25), shallow worship of God (Deuteronomy 17:1), transgender dress (Deuteronomy 22:5), and the seven deadly sins (Proverbs 6:16).

“Only vain people can boast that they have pure hearts. But the boast, far from showing their goodness, demonstrates their blindness. Man is so depraved that he cannot understand his own depravity.” (Bridges)

The Apostle said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We cannot cleanse ourselves – but Jesus can. The Apostle went on to say, “If we CONFESS OUR SIN, HE {Jesus} is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). When we recognize we are all broken, and that we all need the Savior, when we come to God with empty hands and open hearts, Jesus will cleanse us. We can hide our sins, and look good on the outside – but only God can cleanse our hearts. Our Lord Jesus chastised the Pharisees and Scribes, who rather than admitting their sins, covered them up with religion and ritual. Jesus told them:

Matthew 23:27-28, 33-35 (ESV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. [28] So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. … [33] You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? [34] Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, [35] so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

What Does Your Life Prove?

Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

If someone says “I love the Lord Jesus”, how can you tell if they love Jesus or not? Watch them. Quietly see how they live their lives. The Bible is very clear that we cannot make ourselves sinless nor righteous – God must do this. The Bible is very clear that:

Titus 3:5-7 (KJV) Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; [7] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Salvation is a supernatural work of God. We do not save ourselves – God saves us. But once we are saved, once we become “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26), then our works prove that we are “new creations in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). The Apostle wrote:

1 John 3:10 (KJV) In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

1 John 5:2 (KJV) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Watch a child, and you will see their heart. If you are a child of God, your actions will reflect the Lord. The works of the true Christian will be Christ-like.

The Reformer Martin Luther hated the Book of James, because he thought it taught salvation by works. Martin Luther was wrong. James wrote:

James 2:17-24 (ESV) So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”–and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

A person is saved by genuine faith. But if a person is genuinely saved, you will see it reflected in their lives. I have known too many so called Christians who hatefully gossiped and maligned myself and others. I have known so many so called “Pastors” who manipulated their flocks, molested the sheep, and made merchandise of the city of God. I have know many so called “Christians” who lived in sexual sin, justifying their fornications and adulteries as if the Blood of Christ made it all right. Beloved, it does not. The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon said:

“Faith and works are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God trusts God; and he that trusts God obeys God. He that is without faith is without works; and he that is without works is without faith.”

How did we know that Jesus was the Messiah? Did His works make Him the Messiah? No, but His works proved He was the Messiah.

When John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus this question: “Are You the One – The Messiah – Who is to come, or shall we look for another One?” (Matthew 11:3). Notice how Jesus responded:

Matthew 11:4-6 (ESV) And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: [5] the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. [6] And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

John’s disciples could not look into Jesus’ heart to see if He was the Messiah – but they could look and see what Jesus DID. God made Jesus the Messiah. God caused His virgin birth. God worked through Christ. We know He was the Messiah because He did the works of the Messiah. Jesus said in another place:

John 14:10-11 (ESV) Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. [11] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

The works Jesus did proved He is the Messiah. The works of the genuine Christian proves that he is a child of God.

God Must Awaken Us

Proverbs 20:12 (KJV) The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.

It is God – not evolution or chance – but God Who gave us ears and eyes. Psalm 94:9 (ESV) says “{God} Who planted the ear, does He not hear? {God} who formed the eye, does he not see?” Everyone has ears and eyes, but it is God Who opens our ears so that we can hear, and opens our eyes so that we can see. The Prophet Moses told Israel:

Deuteronomy 29:2-4 (NKJV) … You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land– [3] “the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. [4] “Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this [very] day.

God must give us the HEARING ear, the ear that will listen to and respond to His truth, His command. When Jesus preached, He often said, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8). God must open the ear, that we might be blessed. God will not bless those who are self centered, rebellious. God told the Prophet:

Ezekiel 12:2 … you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Those who are unrepentant, who will not stop and look Godward, will never see nor hear in a productive Kingdom way. The reason that David was a man after God’s own heart is because he sought the Lord. David prayed, “Open my eyes {O Lord}, that I may see, wondrous things from Your Law” (Psalm 119:18). God must open our eyes and ears. No one is saved through their own efforts. Those who are supernatural, children of God, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). But those who are unsaved, the Bible declares:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) …. the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Since the unsaved or natural person has not RECEIVED Jesus as Lord and Savior, that person is bound to satan by the chain of sin. If you do not surrender your life to Christ, God will not send His Spirit to you. You must REPENT and RECEIVE the Gospel, RECEIVE the Son and you will RECEIVE the Spirit. I pray that the next generation of young people repent, and that God gives them the eyes and ears to hear the Gospel.

Honesty In Life

Proverbs 20:13 (KJV) Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be SATISFIED with bread.

I often meet people who are miserable with their lives. They blame everyone else for their present condition. In reality, with few exceptions where you are reflects what you did before this moment. I have never seen a generation like this one. No one wants to work. They want to play on their “Smart Phones”, but they don’t want to have to PAY for their “Smart Phones”.

There is nothing wrong with helping those who are, so to speak, “Down on their luck”. Sometimes people hit bad patches. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (ESV) If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

We are to help our brothers in Christ, to those in need, to aid the impoverished. But as Christians we are not to be lazy, but are to WORK HARD. The Apostle Paul told us:

Acts 20:35 (ESV) In all things I have shown you that by WORKING HARD in this way we must HELP THE WEAK and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”

We are to help the weak, the impoverished. But we are not to help the lazy person. God made us to work. Even in Paradise, Adam was commanded to work. The Apostles gave us a very clear mandate:

2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 (ESV) Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. …

We are to find honest work – but not be con-men!

Proverbs 20:14 (KJV) It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

There are some who work hardest at stealing what another has. I have come across numerous scams, both telephone as well as Internet, designed to rob me of my money. This proverb is about these con-men. The con-man is looking to buy it – whatever “it” is – as cheap as possible. When told the price, he says “Oh no, that’s good for nothing. No, no, it’s not worth that!” Yet he knows it is worth what the asking price is … he is just greedy and crooked.

I used to watch a show called “Pawn Stars”, where people came into a pawn shop and tried to sell stuff. It was very interesting. Unlike many pawn shops, the owner was an honest man just trying to make a living. I remember one episode where a woman brought in, I believe, a coin. She asked just a little for it – maybe $100 for this old coin. The owner checked, and found out that this coin was worth $10,000 – and he told her about it. He offered her $8000 for the coin because, as he said, he needed to make a living. She refused – and wanted $10,000. He refused. Greed. It is in the heart of so many.

I applauded that pawn shop owner, and was ashamed of the greedy woman. The person who makes a living by lying and undervaluing the goods of others – well, one day they will pay the price. Jesus taught us:

Matthew 12:35-37 (NKJV) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. [36] “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. [37] “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Proverbs 20:17 (KJV)Bread of deceit [is] sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

You may enjoy getting something by deceit for a moment, but in time you will find that what you are chewing on is gravel. To speak lies, to malign others, to slander – it may seem sweet as you are doing it. But later you will hurt yourself more than you hurt the one you were maligning. Which brings us to this proverb:

The tongue can bless or curse. The tongue driven by the Wisdom and Word of God will always bless – but the tongue driven by the flesh will always demean or curse.

Proverbs 20:15 (KJV) There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

People value gold and rubies, but to God the most precious thing is spoken truth. “The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools” (Proverbs 15:7). The person who guards what they say and who speaks as guided by the Word of God is a cherished person. King David had a counselor called Ahithophel. The Bible says of this man:

2 Samuel 16:23 (ESV) … the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God

Study the Word of God so that it permeates your soul. Read and absorb it, meditate on His Word, until no matter what the culture throws at you, you will heed through the lens of the Scripture. Speak life. Speak to edify, to draw others to Christ.

Proverbs 20:19 (KJV) He that goeth about as a TALEBEARER revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

The person who flatters you will more than likely stab you in the back when talking with others. I remember one Andy Griffith episode when an undercover news reporter came to Mayberry to try and get the Sheriff fired. She pretended she was a young college student and, through flattery, got Barney to say some bad things about Andy. Of course, he didn’t get fired. But it illustrated how the flatterer seeks to harm a good person.

Those who are “TALEBEARERS” or gossips often get only part of the story right. God told Israel:

Leviticus 19:16 (NKJV) You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

The gossip loves to talk negatively about others, for it elevates their sense of worth. Often the gossip is the lazy person who will not do as God has called them to do. Paul talked about young widows who, rather than seeking marriage, they …

1 Timothy 5:13 (ESV) … learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

When people stop using their hands and working, they use their lips to destroy. What we all need to do is to find what God has called us to do, and to do it with our whole hearts. Stay busy for Jesus while you can, for eternity is coming.

May God the Holy Spirit draw you to His side this very day.

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Paul’s Second Amen

Posted on August 18, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Ingmar on Unsplash

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word:

Romans 16:1-15 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us. 7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. 10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household. 11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord. 13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

To be honest with you, there are parts of the Bible that I skim through, parts that I find difficult to read. Those parts are what I call the phone books of the Bible. Younger people have no idea what a “phone book” is, but when I was growing up you had phone books. These were thick, alphabetized books where everyone who had a phone number was placed in it. Unless you paid the phone company extra, everyone had access to your phone number. It was in the Phone Book!

As you go through the Bible, there are lists of names, often hard to pronounce, written in the Book. You find lists like this in Genesis, Exodus, Chronicles, Nehemiah, Matthew and Luke. One of the greatest lists of names is in the Book of Numbers. Name after names is listed, like:

Numbers 1:5-8 (LSB) of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar ….

and it goes on and on. I confess I get sleepy reading the names. I used to wonder, “Why did God think I needed to know these people? Why didn’t He tell me more about them?” The truth is, the name is important because God put it in the Book. God put it in the Book because He wanted us to know something about that person and their way of life.

As we come to Paul’s second Amen we see a list of names that we might skip over. But if we do, we will rob ourselves of great truth that can bless us. As Paul introduces these people to the Church at Rome, he uses the same Greek word over and over again:

aspazomai

The King James sometimes translates this word as “Greet”, and other times as “Salute”. The word can mean either of these things, but it actually has a deeper meaning. It means “to receive and embrace”. The word is not just a handshake, but a drawing of someone to yourself as family, to receive with joy and welcome. The word was used to describe Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Bible says that the crowd:

Mark 15:18 (KJV).. began to SALUTE {aspazomai} him, Hail, King of the Jews!

Each of the people that Paul addresses have something in common. They are Christ followers who love the Lord. They are unknown to Rome, and unknown to us, but they are known to Paul and to God. Their names are written in this Book because their names are written in the Book of Life. And we know that they are saved because the fruit of their lives glorifies the Lord Jesus!

These Believers Served The Lord They Loved

Romans 16:1-2 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a SERVANT of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

As Feminism has taken over our modern age, people have begun to attack and second guess the writings of the Scripture. In particular, many have declared the writings of the Apostle Paul to be homophobic or woman hating. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Paul wrote as God the Holy Spirit gave him direction. In 1 Corinthians 14:37 the Apostle wrote:

“If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge the things that I AM WRITING TO YOU ARE A COMMAND OF THE LORD” (ESV).

Paul didn’t just make up stuff, or write of his opinion (unless he clearly said it was his opinion). Paul wrote referencing the written Word of God (the Bible) and the Living Word of God (Jesus).

Feminists and liberals “progressives” point to what Paul wrote in:

1 Timothy 2:11-15 (KJV) Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. [12] But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. [13] For Adam was first formed, then Eve. [14] And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. [15] Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Following this, God established the parameters of the two offices of the Church, the Pastor and the Deacon (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13). The Overseer or Pastor is to share the Word of God and to minister, and the Office of Deacon to aid the Pastor. The Deacons are to handle the physical needs of the Church, whereas the Pastors are to “give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word”. Pastors are “Overseers”, made so by God the Holy Spirit. The command given the Pastors is:

Acts 20:28-31 (KJV) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. [29] For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. [30] Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. [31] Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

God calls MEN to be leaders in His Church. This doesn’t mean that women aren’t appreciated, but Paul goes back to Genesis when he speaks of leadership. “Adam was first formed, then Eve”. It was to Adam that God gave the command, “Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17), not Eve. It was MAN’S sin that brought evil into the world, not WOMAN’S. In the Creation order, God made man to lead, and woman to support.

Did Paul hate women? No! As he commends those who serve well in the Church, he commends Phebe first. Paul trusted Phebe so much that he gave the Book of Romans to her to carry it to the Church at Rome!

Phebe was from the Church at Cenchrea {Kegchreai, pronounced keng-khreh-a’-hee}, which was a harbor on the eastern side of Corinth. Paul wrote the Book of Romans while at Cenchrea/ Corinth {keng-khreh-a’-hee}, and gave the Book to Phebe to carry to it to the Church at Rome.

Paul calls Phebe a “servant of the Church”, and she was. The Roman Empire had no postal service, so Phebe provided a vital service to the Church of Christ. Paul asked the Church at Rome to “receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints”, to show her hospitality, and to provide her a place to stay. Phebe puts us in mind of the women who supported Jesus when He walked this earth. Had His mother Mary refused to be used of God, Christ would not have been born a a virgin, fulfilling prophecy (Luke 1:26-38). When Jesus was eight days old Anna proclaimed Him Messiah (Luke 2:36-38) in the Temple. The Bible tells us that many women provided for Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:41), and some of these women are named:

Luke 8:2-3 (ESV) and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod ‘s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

Why did God choose Phebe to deliver Paul’s letter to the Roman Church, and not a man? Because Phebe was doing as a Christian should do, honoring the Lord Jesus by serving Him through the Apostle.

God Uses Couples As Missionaries

Romans 16:3-5 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

Phebe was probably Greek, since she was from Cenchrea {keng-khreh-a’-hee} in Corinth, a Gentile area. Aquila and Priscilla were Jews, cast out of Rome by the decree of Claudius Caesar (Acts 18:2). When Paul came to Cenchrea {keng-khreh-a’-hee} on his second missionary journey, he was assisted by Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:18-19). By helping Paul this missionary couple was “laying down their own necks”. Paul was considered a traitor to the followers of Judaism, and a threat to the Roman Empire. By yoking themselves with Paul, they were risking their lives. When Paul traveled to Ephesus, he stayed in the home of “Priscilla and Aquila”, establishing a Church in their home (1 Corinthians 16:19).

God Calls Slaves To Serve Him

Romans 16:5 … Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

“Epaenetus” (the Greek Epainetos [pro. ep-a’-hee-net-os]) was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Though a Gentile, Paul calls him “well-beloved” (Greek agapētos), a word that God the Father used for Jesus (Matthew 3:17, “this is my BELOVED (agapētos) Son, in Whom I am well pleased”).

Epaenetus was a servant or a slave in the household of Stephanas (1 Corinthians 16:15), and this was the only household that Paul baptized (1 Corinthians 1:16). Epaenetus would later be granted his freedom, and as a freeman would serve the Lord Jesus by assisting Paul. The Bible says that:

Galatians 3:28 (KJV) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 (KJV) … there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.

When we see Epaenetus we are reminded that there are no second class citizens in the Kingdom of God. If you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, you are just as important as anyone else. “There is no iniquity with the LORD our God, NOR RESPECT OF PERSONS” (2 Chronicles 19:7; Romans 2:11). He “without respect of persons judges according to every person’s work” (1 Peter 1:17).

God Calls Without Regard To Race Or Gender

Romans 16:6 Greet Mary {Maria or Miriam}, who bestowed much labor on us.

We do not know who “Mary” is, as this was a popular name among the Jews. In the Gospels we see there are:

Mary the mother of Jesus
Mary from Magdala
Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus
Mary of Cleophas, the mother of James the less
Mary the mother of John Mark, the sister of Barnabas

Some believe this is a Mary of Rome. I don’t think so. Paul is introducing these people to the Church at Rome. If she was well known, Paul would have no need to introduce her. The truth is, we don’t know who this Mary is, nor exactly what Mary did. I think this is by design.

Mary represents the crowd of believers who quietly work behind the scenes to the glory of God. They may never be known, never be famous. But their names are written in Heaven, and they will wear a crown in glory because of tireless dedication to Jesus.

God Calls Unknowns, Anonymous, Little Known People

Romans 16:7-9 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen {syngenēs}, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 8 Greet AMPLIAS my beloved in the Lord. 9 Salute URBANE, our helper in Christ, and STACHYS my beloved.

When you hear the names “Billy Graham, John MacArthur, Charles Stanley”, everyone knows who they are (unless you’re Amish). But no one knows who these people are – no one but God and the Apostles. “Andronicus and Junia” are male and female, as Andronicus is a masculine noun and Junia a feminine noun. Their names are of Latin origin, so they are probably Gentiles and not Jews. Paul calls them “my kinsmen”, the Greek syngenēs, which means “my fellow countrymen”. Paul was a Roman citizen, and these were Roman citizens. They had also been imprisoned at some time for loving Jesus and preaching the Gospel, just as Paul had been in bondage (2 Corinthians 6:5; 11:3). These Christians stepped outside their comfort zone, suffering for the cause of Christ. They were saved before Paul was saved, and worked with the Apostles, supporting the early growth of the Church.

Beloved, those whom Christ calls to salvation, He calls to suffering and pain. We are not called to comfort, but to be light in the midst of darkness. It is easy to go with the river, with the world. We are called to go with God!

1 Peter 2:20-21 (ESV) For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Our Lord Jesus told us to “count the cost” before coming to Him. He said:

Luke 14:26-33 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

The nature of Repentance is that you give your life to Jesus. You surrender yourself, and follow Him. You probably will never be famous. In fact, you’ll probably be hated! We know nothing about “AMPLIAS, URBANE or STACHYS”. As for the other names in this extensive list:

Romans 16:10-15 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household. 11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. 12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord. 13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. 15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

The commentaries tell me nothing about these people. Who are they? What family did they come from? Where were they born? How did they die? Where are their earthly remains buried? We do not know. Bible scholars have made educated guesses, but the truth is you will not know all about these people until you get to Heaven.

These people all had one thing in common: They loved and received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Their names are written in the Book of Life by the Blood of the Lamb. We will meet them one day in glory, IF our names are in the book.Is YOUR NAME in the Book of Life?

When Paul wrote the Church at Philippi, he mentioned other unknown people who served the Lord with him. Paul wrote:

Philippians 4:1-3 (KJV) Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, [my] dearly beloved. [2] I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. [3] And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and [with] other my fellowlabourers, whose names [are] in the book of life.

Paul knew that these people had their names written in the Book of Life, and commanded that they “stand fast in the Lord”. Those who are saved cling to Jesus! He told them, “be of the same mind in the Lord”. Those who are saved cling to one another! They work together with one common goal. Paul said, they “labored with me in the gospel”. They did not languish, they labored. They worked to promote the Kingdom of Christ.

Those Who Are In The Book Of Life Are
In One Accord With Jesus

Romans 16:16-17 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the DOCTRINE which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Word Study: What binds believers together is not opinion, but DOCTRINE, the Greek didachē which means “Biblical teaching”. The Apostle warns believers to examine those around them. If the believers around you are not living according to the clear teachings of God’s Word, if these reported “believers” are causing “DIVISIONS {dichostasia} and OFFENSES {skandalon}”, then we are to withdraw fellowship from them.

We are not to cater to the Biblically divisive and scandalous crowd. We are to AVOID THEM.

When you as believers cater to that which the Bible warns against, you aid in the spread of cancer throughout the Body of Christ. This is what happened in Corinth. Paul told the Corinthian believers:

1 Corinthians 3:3 (NKJV) … for you are still carnal. For where [there are] envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like [mere] men?

The Church of Jesus Christ is able to defeat Satan, “Bruising him under your feet” (Romans 16:20), but NOT if you tolerate those who do not live according to the rule of Christ’s Word. Paul says of these divisive pretenders:

Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

People who are always rejecting God’s Word, who are always complaining and finding fault, they are not serving Jesus. They are serving themselves. They are in our midst to “deceive the hearts of the simple”. Paul marked those who worked with him and the Apostles in spreading the Gospel of Christ. He commended them to the Roman Church. But those who stand against God’s Word …. stand against them in love. Rebuke them in the name of Jesus, and pray that they might repent while they can.

Beloved, if your name is in the Book of Life, then you love this Bible, this Book that leads to eternal life. If you don’t, dear friend, I suspect that your name is not in the Book. And that saddens me, for you will leave this life and burn forever and ever. Please repent today. Turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and follow His Word daily. May Christ bless your hearts. Amen.

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The Curse Of The Law

Posted on August 18, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

Galatians 3:10-14 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Christians Are Under The Law Of Faith And Love,
Not Of Works

The Mosaic Law did not bring a blessing to God’s Israel. In fact, it wasn’t supposed to bring a blessing. God has never ruled His people by Law, but by Promise and by Love. The Law was not given until Mount Sinai, and it was given to Israel to show them that they needed the love of God.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Paul is quoting the Bible of his day, from

Deuteronomy 27:26 (ESV) CURSED be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

The Law demanded compliance, or else the curse. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 28:15-21 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these CURSED shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 CURSED shalt thou be in the city, and CURSED shalt thou be in the field. 17 CURSED shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 CURSED shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 CURSED shalt thou be when thou comest in, and CURSED shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20 The Lord shall send upon thee CURSED, vexation, and rebuke, in ALL that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until He have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

The Law had to be kept perfectly, something that no one but Jesus Christ has ever done. The Law did not bless, but CURSE every aspect of your life.

Illustrate: Keeping the Law is not like climbing a ladder to Heaven. It is like climbing a chain to Heaven, a chain you have forged by your works. If you have just one link insecure, one link weak, then that chain will not support the weight of your soul. The Scripture says:

James 2:10-12 (NKJV) For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

The Law was never given to man to save us. The Law defines sin, but does not eradicate it. The Bible says:

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ..

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Illustrate: Sin kills. The Law points out sin. It diagnoses that which makes us sick, but will do nothing to correct the sickness. The Law condemns us, but cannot bless us. Consider this: Have you ever seen anyone in the local paper being commended for keeping the Law? If I keep all the Laws of Columbia, Tennessee, and obey every jot and tittle for twenty years, I will never be recognized in the paper as an “outstanding citizen”. BUT if I rob one store and get caught, what happens? I broke the Law. I’m arrested. My picture is in the paper, and people would shun me. The Law does not reward, but penalizes.

God’s People Live By Faith, Not Law

Galatians 3:11 But that no man {oudeis} is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Word Study: The Bible is clear that NO ONE {oudeis}, not “no man” but “no living being” is “justified” or made right in the eyes of God by the Law.

The concept of us as humans “making it better by our works” can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

When God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, the Bible says that God put him in a perfect place, a perfect environment, and gave him a perfect wife and a perfect life. God did this because He loved Adam. The Bible says that:

Genesis 2:15-17 (KJV) And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God did not give Adam a LAW. God gave Adam life.
God gave Adam love.

God gave Adam a wife. God gave Adam something to do. But God in love warned Adam against taking fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why? Because God loved Adam, and God gave Adam everything he needed for a great life. God warned Adam that, as created beings, we do not have the capacity to fully comprehend good and evil. God’s warning was not,

“I will kill you if you eat of this particular tree”

No, God’s warning was,

“If you eat of this particular tree, your actions will kill you”
Sin is to walk away from God Who is Life.
Sin is self suicide!

When Adam sinned, did he die? He didn’t die physically, but he died spiritually, for his action separated him from God. What was the first thing Adam did when he spiritually died? Adam tried to make it better by his works.

Genesis 3:7 … the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Adam led Eve and together they tried to cover up their spiritual death with man made solutions. Adam said, “I see I’m naked – let’s make clothes”. When God came into the Garden and asked, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9), it was not because God lost His omnipotence. It was because there was now a sin barrier between God and man, a barrier that Adam put in place. Rather than repent, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and none of this made things any better. Adam brought a curse into the whole world, the curse of spiritual death.

The Law exposes sin, but does not dispose of sin. Adam has always either (1) made excuses for sin, or (2) tried to “fix” sin by his works. It’s like taking aspirin to cure cancer – it does no good.

When Adam sinned, God gave no Law. Instead. God promised a Redeemer. God told Satan, that old Serpent:

Genesis 3:15 … I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This was the first promise of the Messiah. Adam’s fig leaf works and blame shifting did not fix his transgression against God’s love.

Galatians 3:11 But that no man {oudeis} is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Those who are JUST, or righteous in God’s eyes, must live BY FAITH. We cannot fix ourselves – God must fix us. It is PRIDE that makes us think we can make ourselves better. This is what God said through the Prophet:

Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJV) Behold the PROUD, His soul is not upright in Him; But the just shall live by his faith.

Those who are pride filled, full of themselves, believe that they can make their souls UPRIGHT IN HIM, righteous with God. The lost will claim the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of what they think is their own goodness, and demand that God consider it to be “enough” for Heaven. This evil concept lies dormant in every man’s mind. When someone dies, people say things like:

“If anyone deserved to go to Heaven, so and so is there!”, or
“When they left this earth, Heaven was made better by their coming”, or
“Our loss is Heaven’s gain”.

These are statements of PRIDE. The proud person, the person who “knows” they are right with God, relying on their own abilities as the Pharisees did – that person’s soul is NOT UPRIGHT in HIM, in God. No, those who are saved must “live by faith”. What do we have faith in.

We live by faith in God’s promises,
faith in God’s love for us.

Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

This is a quotation from:

Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

Preach: God did not give Israel the Law until fifty days after they left Egypt, when they got to the base of Mount Sinai. God only gave Israel the Law after they repeatedly called His love into question. Up to this point the only “Law” they had was to follow the pillar of fire at night, and the pillar of cloud by day. To follow God, to trust God, to have faith in His love.

God did not give Noah the Law, but the Covenant of Grace and a promise. Noah believed the promise of God, and did not die with the world, but by faith rose above the judgment of God.

God did not give Abraham the Law, but the Covenant of Grace and a promise. Abraham believed the promise of God, by faith was saved from sexual death. It was faith that gave Abraham his child Isaac, faith in the goodness of God.

God did not give Moses and Israel the Law while they were in Egypt, but the Covenant of Blood and a promise. God told Israel:

Exodus 12:13 (NKJV) Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

No Law saved Israel when they passed through the Red Sea. No Law gave Israel manna and meat in the desert. No Law brought water out of the rock.

Jesus Saves Us From The Curse Of The Law

Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The word “REDEEMED” is a very interesting one. This is the Greek exagorazō (pro. ex-ag-or-ad’-zo), which means “to pay a price so as to recover someone from the power of another, to ransom one who is kidnapped”. When God made Adam, God made Adam the Federal Head of the earth. God created the earth and all that was in it, and gave stewardship of the earth over the Adam. When Adam walked away from God, he gave his stewardship over to sin and Satan.

All of humanity became servants of sin because of Adam. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a SLAVE to sin (John 8:34). Without God, we are “sold as slaves to sin” (Romans 7:14).

The sinner sins because they are slaves to sin. The Bible tells us that “the Law is spiritual” (Romans 7:14), “the Law is good if one uses it legitimately” (1 Timothy 1:8), “the Law is holy, and its commandments are holy, right, and good” (Romans 7:12). The Law is not evil, but a mirror that shows us that we are slaves to sin if left to ourselves.

This is where redemption comes in.

A slave cannot redeem themselves. They must be redeemed. Adam put us into slavery. We can’t get out – unless God gets us out. And God can only get us out of slavery LAWFULLY. God cannot violate His own Law. His Law is right, and holy. So Jesus came to this earth to save us.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

No one ever lived perfectly under the Law but Jesus. The Bible says of our Lord, that He is the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). Adam disbelieved the love of God, and brought sin into the world by eating from a forbidden tree. Jesus Christ went to a horrible tree, the Tree of Calvary, for us. The Law pronounced us all slaves to sin. But Jesus, Who was without sin, shed His Blood on that horrid tree for us.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV) …knowing that you were RANSOMED {lytroō, pro. loo-tro’-o} from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The Law made provision to temporarily cover sin with the shed blood of a lamb without defect, without blemish. Jesus was without defect. Our Lord Jesus Christ “was in every way TEMPTED AS WE ARE, and YET WITHOUT SIN” (Hebrews 4:15). We suffer temptation. Jesus suffered temptation.

Jesus was harassed by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).
Jesus was hated on by Pharisees and Saduccees (Luke 20; John 5).
Jesus was lied about, and tried (Mark 14:57).
Jesus was betrayed by a dear friend (Matthew 26:49-50).
Jesus died associated with two criminals (Lluke 23:32),
Jesus was abandoned by both Father and Spirit (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46)

Jesus was literally made “a CURSE IN OUR PLACE”. He did this so that when we receive Him as Lord and Savior, His actions redeem us from the slave market of sin. We are told:

Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Israel before the Law followed Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Cloud, this being the physical manifestation of God. Under Christ, we follow the Holy Spirit Who indwells us to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). Paul put it this way:

Romans 6:6 (KJV) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Christians are NOT slaves to sin. We do not “practice” sin. We may sin, but when we do, we immediately feel the guilt of it, and run back into the arms of Jesus. The Apostle said:

1 John 3:6 (NKJV) Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

1 John 5:18 (NKJV) We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

Those who are born again of God, saved by Grace through faith in Christ, may sin but do not practice sin as normal. The born again believer may violate the Law of God, but will not remain in violation. We do not belong to the world, nor to sin, nor to Satan. We belong to God our Savior. We do what we do not to earn salvation, but because we are “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When someone tells me “I’m a Christian”, but in their lives are living in perpetual sexual sin without repentance, I know that they are not Christians but SLAVES. Christians serve the Kingdom. Christians serve Christ, and glorify God.

Though both Jews and Gentiles were slaves to sin because of our forefather Adam, God never gave the Law to the Gentiles, but to the Jews. And yet, in Abraham God wanted to save both Jews AND Gentiles from our enslavement to sin.

Galatians 3:15-16 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made (see Genesis 12:7). He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

When men make a covenant or a contract, that contract is binding until it is fulfilled. This is what Paul means by “I speak after the manner of men”. When you sign a contract with me, that contract stays in effect until it is satisfied, or until I myself eradicate it. God made a contract with Abraham – not through the Law (which did not come for 430 years – but God to man. God told Abraham”

Genesis 17:7-8 (ESV) I will establish My covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your OFFSPRING after you.

God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham, not just with him, but with his OFFSPRING, or his SEED. In Genesis 12:7 God promised Abraham that his SEED {Hebrew zeraʿ} would be blessed. God did not say “to your SEEDS I will make My covenant”, but “TO YOUR SEED (singular)”. God’s promise was not to fallen man, but to the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is the “Seed of the Woman” spoken of in:

Genesis 3:15 (KJV) I will put enmity {make you enemies} between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and HER SEED; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God made His Covenant with Abraham long before there was any Law of God. The Covenant with Abraham was that he would have a son, and a nation through that son. But the covenant was also that a son of Abraham, The Son of God, would come and offer salvation to the whole world.

The target of the Abrahamic Covenant was not Israel, a nation enslaved to sin. The target of the Covenant was Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the One born of Abraham Who would defeat the slave market of sin!

Galatians 3:17-19 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

The Law came 430 years AFTER the Everlasting Covenant that God made with Abraham. You cannot come in years later and annul a perpetual covenant with another covenant – at least, not lawfully. For the Israelite to say “We are God’s people because we have and keep the Law” is absolutely untruthful. The Law did not erase the Abrahamic Covenant, nor the promise of the Redeemer through Abraham. Why was the Law given?

It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made

God added the Law to Israel because they continually rejected the Love of God, and repeatedly accused God of doing evil. Rather than trust God, their enslavement to sin caused them to plot against God, saying:

Numbers 14:3 (NKJV) Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

God loved Adam, and Adam betrayed God. God loved Israel, and Israel betrayed God. But did God destroy them? No. He knew they were enslaved the sin. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 78:38-43 (NKJV) But {God}, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; 39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again. 40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! 41 Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy, 43 When He worked His signs in Egypt …

The Old Testament is a picture of a people enslaved to sin, but who did not realize it. So God gave the Law to show them that they are sin sick slaves. The Law was but temporary. It was given …

Galatians 3:19 till the SEED should come to whom the promise was made

This SEED is Jesus Christ. Jesus told us on His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV) Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Jesus died on Calvary for our sins. When we receive Him, we receive the SEED that God promised to Abraham, and all that this SEED gives. If you have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you are a recepient of the Everlasting Covenant that God made with Abraham. A Jew is not the physical seed of Abraham. Jew or Gentile, only those who have by faith received the SEED, Jesus Christ, only these are freed from enslavement to sin. I close with:

Romans 2:28-29 (ESV) For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

May God open your blind eyes to see Jesus. Amen and Amen!

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Paul’s First Amen

Posted on August 12, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Ramiro Pianarosa on Unsplash

Romans 15:14-19 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, 16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

As I stated when we began the Book of Romans, this Book is called the “Constitution of Christianity”. Throughout the Book our Lord explains the Christian way of life.

In the first 11 chapters God establishes that all are born physically into this world in need of the Savior. Because of Adam’s sin, we are born the first time separated from God, spiritually dead. We are absolutely unable to make ourselves physically born. We are also absolutely unable to make ourselves spiritually born. We must be born again.

Romans 3:10-12 (KJV) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

In order to accomplish new birth for the spiritually dead us, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to first show us the Way of God. Jesus then went to the Cross. Dying for our sins, He made payment to God for us, a payment we could not make. Jesus offers this salvation to whosoever will receive Him as Lord and Savior.

Romans 3:24-26 (KJV) {We can only be} justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

The first 11 chapters speaks of our need for salvation and what God did to offer it. The last 5 chapters tells us what God saved us for. He didn’t save us just for Heaven (which is what many believe). He saved us to bring Heaven to us. To make us into children of God. To use us as light in this present fallen world.

This section of Scripture is what I call “Paul’s Three Amens”. From Romans 15:14 till the end of the Book Paul uses examples of those who are saved, and how they live their lives. Paul ends each section with an AMEN. Today we look at Paul’s First Amen, which deals with how the Grace of God changed the Apostle’s life.

Grace Brings Heaven’s Purpose To The Believer

Romans 15:14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Illustrate: I remember my Mama, years ago, telling me about the tragedy that happened in her Church. Two young women who sang at Church, and loved the Lord dearly, we coming home from meeting one night and had an accident. On a dark rainy night they missed their turn, and ran into a tree, killing them instantly. Mama said “They sang a special for Jesus that night at Church – and now they’re gone! How could a loving God allow such a waste of life? They loved the Lord, and now they’re dead. How?”

I don’t remember what I told my Mama that night, but I was still a young Christian, and I didn’t know how to respond. I believe Mama’s in Heaven, and knows the answer as to why. She’s looking on the face of the One Who loved her so much, He laid His life down for her, and for us all. If I could go back in time to that moment I’d tell Mama what I’m going to tell you today. I’d say,

“Mama, those two wonderful Christian girls didn’t die. They’re with Jesus. Jesus promised us, ‘whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die’ (John 11:26). God didn’t waste their lives, and THEY didn’t waste their lives. God is the Giver of Life (1 Timothy 6:13), and we belong to Him. He purchased us with His Blood, and He can call us home when He wants. These young women lived all of this life that God gave them to glorify Him, and are now in the Presence of the One they so love (Romans 14:8). THEIR LIVES ARE NOT WASTED, but enhanced, elevated, and eternally with Jesus.”

A wasted life is not one that ends early (and we always think its too early) IF those who are enjoying that life are honoring and serving Jesus. Pastor John Piper, years ago, was preaching. In the midst of the sermon he pulled out a page torn from a travel magazine. He read these words:

“ ‘Bob and Penny took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells.’ Piper then said, “The American Dream: come to the end of your life—your one and only life—and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator be, ‘I collected shells. See my shells.’ That is a tragedy. People today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Today I’m here to plead with you: don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.”

God gives us life for a reason. He doesn’t give us life so we can waste it on the mundane, on hours before a cell phone, sitting staring at Facebook, Linked In, X, Tick Tock, or Instagram. The life we have is one that God has allowed us. We can fill that life with useless things, or we can live with eternity in mind. If you are lost, I suspect you’ll hear and disregard this sermon. But if you’re saved, if you’re born again through faith in Christ, then I beg you, DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE. Live for eternity. Live to make a difference to the glory of God.

Paul writes:

Romans 15:14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

What is interesting about the Church in Rome is that Paul has never visited the Church. He is writing the Church because God directed him to do so, but he’s never been there. Paul has been in ministry to the Gentiles over 17 years (we get this information comparing Galatians 1:18 and Galatians 2:1).Once saved on the Damascus Road, Paul preached in Arabia, Damascus, Syria, and Cilicia, all Gentile territories. Paul tells the Church at Rome:

Romans 15:20-22 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation: 21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. 22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

Paul did not go to Jerusalem and Judea to preach, but went strictly to the Gentile nations, just as God led him to do. He said “I have been much hindered from coming to you”. He’s never been to this Church! And yet Paul said:

I myself also am persuaded {peithō} of {peri} you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to ADMONISH {noutheteō} one another

Here’s the question: How did Paul KNOW that these Roman believers were “full of goodness, filled with knowledge, able to admonish one another”? He’s never met them. How does Paul know this? Notice how Paul states this. He doesn’t say, “I am persuaded BY you”, but “I am persuaded ABOUT you”. What Paul is telling us is,

IF you are saved by faith in Christ Jesus,
IF you are born again of the Spirit,
IF you are a child of the King,
THEN you have the capability to do good,
THEN you have the capacity to grow in knowledge,
THEN you are able to support one another, to be in one accord.

Every Christian has the same blessings, the same abilities, the same worth as every other Christian. If you are born again, you are born again with a purpose. We are members together in His Kingdom.

We all do not have the same Calling, but we all have a Calling, a Gifting, a Direction that God wants us to go. Paul is persuaded that the Roman believers will prosper in Grace, because he has seen what Grace did in HIS life.

Paul is not a super Christian. Paul is a surrendered Christian. Paul is a Christian with purpose.

God Did Not Give Us Grace Just To Take Us To Heaven

Romans 15:15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,

Paul is saying “I wrote these things BOLDLY to you (for Paul had never been to Rome) because I saw what Grace did in me”. Grace changes things. Grace changes us. If a person tells me, “I’m saved by the Grace of God”, but there is no fruit of the Spirit of God in their lives, then I need to lovingly ask them, “Are you SURE?” The Apostle wrote the Church at Philippi:

Philippians 2:5-11 (KJV) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: [8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; [11] And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Why did Jesus die on the Cross of Calvary? Why are we offered Grace through His Bloody Death? Verses 10 and 11 tell us, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”. That this world, filled with spiritually dead creatures, would come to life through the operation of God’s Grace. That the Spiritually Dead would become the Spiritually Alive, and that “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Grace changes darkness to light. Grace changes the lost to saved. Grace changes the son of Adam to the son of God. Grace changes condemnation to glory. Grace changes everything. Paul went on to tell the Church:

Philippians 2:12-13 (KJV) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [13] For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

WORK OUT – show fruit. For GOD WORKETH IN YOU. Grace changes you. Grace changed Saul to Paul. Grace changed fisherman Peter to preaching Peter. Grace changed the tax collector Matthew to the Gospel writer. God wrote the Law on tablets of stone. But God writes His Law on our hearts by Grace, changing stony hearts into hearts that love Him!

Grace is given to us not to sit stagnant, but to make us the workmanship of God. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Ephesians 2:8-10. The first two verses read:

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

You cannot be saved by the works of the Law, by being good, by any action that you can think of. You are saved BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. You receive Him as He is, both Lord and Savior. But once you are saved, GRACE WORKS IN YOU. We read:

Ephesians 2:10 (KJV) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

God’s people WALK in GOOD WORKS. God’s people obey the Lord Who saved them. Paul said:

Romans 15:15-16 … because of the grace that is given to me of God, 16 That I should be the MINISTER {leitourgos} of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, MINISTERING {hierourgeō} the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

Word Study: Before he was saved, as Saul he served the Sanhedrin, seeking to please Judaism. As a Pharisee Saul had nothing to do with the Gentiles. But once he was given Grace, Paul became the “MINISTER of Jesus Christ”. This is the Greek leitourgos, which means “a minister or servant of the state”. Before he was saved, Paul was a servant of Judaism. Now he is a servant of Jesus Christ, of the Kingdom of God. As a servant of the kingdom of Christ, Paul was “MINISTERING the Gospel of God”. This is the Greek hierourgeō, which means to “act as a priest, sharing that which God has given”. Paul did not modify the Gospel in any way, shape, or form, but presented the Gospel clearly and as God gave it to him.

Paul did not inject his opinion or his desires into the process, but gave the Gospel as God gave it to him. And God honored Paul’s labors, as the Gentiles who came to Christ were “sanctified by the Holy Ghost”. Their lives showed evidence that God was working in them.

Romans 15:18-19 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Paul didn’t brag on what he did, for Paul was but a tool that God used. The Grace of God “make(s) the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed”. True Grace brings about a change. Paul said, “I have fully preached the gospel of Christ”. He didn’t add his spin to it. Beloved, too many today preach a partial Gospel, a modified Gospel, a Gospel that appeals to the masses. But we are warned in:

Galatians 1:8-9 (KJV) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. [9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

What is the Gospel that Paul preached? It is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 3-4). The Gospel begins with “REPENT”. Your life is not your own. You are broken. Hear Jesus’ call, and receive Him. The Gospel is:

Romans 10:9-13 (ESV) if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Grace Of God Takes Us Outside
Our Comfort Zone

Paul said of his calling:

Romans 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:

He stepped outside of his comfort zone. As Christians, we must all step outside our comfort zones. We must trust the Lord as we reach out to those around us in the name of Christ. Paul was sold out for Christ. He tells the Church at Rome:

Romans 15:24-28 Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. 25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. 28 When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.

The Churches in Macedonia and Achaia , fully Gentile, saved by the Grace of God, sought to help “the poor saints in Jerusalem”, the Jews. Grace erases racism! It erases divisions. It does not matter what color your brother or sister in Christ is. It just matters that they are IN CHRIST. That they are saved. The Gentile Churches were, themselves, very poor. The Church in Macedonia was terribly persecuted. Paul said:

2 Corinthians 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

It is a very pagan area. Paul and those ministers with him were attacked constantly, and once the Church was established there, it was persecuted as well. And yet we are told:

2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (KJV) Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; [2] How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. [3] For to [their] power, I bear record, yea, and beyond [their] power [they were] willing of themselves; [4] Praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and [take upon us] the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. [5] And [this they did], not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

Impoverished themselves, attacked and downtrodden, the Macedonian Christians, because of the Grace of God in them, gave to the poor of Jerusalem. Paul was carrying an offering to Jerusalem from the Gentiles, an offering that shows how Grace changes things. Paul didn’t know it at the time, but his trip into Jerusalem would not be a pleasure trip. Paul wrote:

Romans 15:29-32 I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32 That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.

Sadly, this was not to be. When Paul came to Caesarea to the home of Phillip the Evangelist just prior to going to Jerusalem with the Gentile offering, God the Holy Spirit spoke to Paul. We read:

Acts 21:10-14 (NKJV) And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. [11] When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his [own] hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver [him] into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” [12] Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. [13] Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” [14] So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

Did Paul err? I believe he did. It happened just as God said it would. Beloved, if God had warned me not to go to Jerusalem, I’d listen to God. Paul could have sent the offering to Jerusalem by the hand of Phillip the Evangelist. But he didn’t. However, I salute Paul’s dedication to serve the Lord. It reminds me of what Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright said:

“Too often we ask, ‘Where does God fit into the story of my life?’ The real question should be, ‘Where does my little life fit into the great story of God’s mission’?

Paul would eventually end up in Rome, and would stand before Caesar, sharing the Gospel with him. Paul would, like John the Baptist, be beheaded for the cause of Christ. Was his a wasted life? No! I believe he is in glory now, celebrating the grace of God that gave him a Heavenly Father. The life given to Jesus is never wasted.

Beloved, one day we will all stand before the Lord. Some will stand before God and, never knowing Him, will be cast into a Lake of Fire FOREVER (see Revelation 20:11-15). Others who are saved will stand before Christ to test the stewardship of Grace you were given. The Scripture says:

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 (NKJV) Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

When judgment day comes, the works you did will be judged. If you did works to BE saved, you will be cast into the Lake of Fire. No work will save you, but the work of receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you did works BECAUSE you were saved, because God is working in you, the works will be judged by fire (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Those works you did which gave glory to the Lord will be rewarded. I pray you all will receive crowns for honoring the Lord.

Romans 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

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Bewitched Believers

Posted on August 12, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash

Galatians 3:1-5 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

One of the social media sites I sometimes visit is called Linkedin. Recently I was intrigued by an article entitled “What Is The Worst Thing That Can Happen On A Sunday Morning?” from Church Growth Magazine. I rarely read these articles, because much of what people are doing to grow the “Church” is man-made, not Bible inspired. The article started out good:

“In the push to execute Sunday morning services, it is easy to forget the basics: churches grow when people receive Christ, and people receive Christ when they’re invited to receive Christ. Read the story of a church that has mastered the basics.”

So I thought, “Okay! I believe that. Salvation comes by RECEIVING Christ as He is. Let me see what this Church is doing.”

The article went on to say that this Church was growing so fast, they couldn’t keep up with all the new people coming in. The writer said:

“The worship was loud, sometimes unorganized, sometimes spontaneous. The pastor preached a decent message on “becoming a new creation in Christ.” The message was good yet … a little simplistic.”

When a man came forward at the end of the service, “He knelt. The pastor laid hands on him, and they both prayed a “sinner’s prayer.” Then, some folks took the cover off a horse trough filled with water. This young fellow was about to get baptized!”

After the service, a “Worship Planning Meeting” met, debriefing, looking at the numbers, talking about the sound system. No discussion of Scripture. The Pastor did not come to the meeting, nor did he give input. As I read the article, the one thing that kept coming to my heart was …

Is God in this? Is the Bible in this? I admire that the members are excited about “numbers”, but are people being saved? When the Pastor – and not the Holy Spirit – leads someone in a “Sinners Prayer’, where do you find this in the Bible?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for using technology to reach others. I love the slides we can now show on the wall as I describe the Scripture. But neither I nor any pastor are “God”. God must call people to salvation. God must effect a change in a life. Many Church leaders, years ago, read Rick Warren’s book “Purpose Driven Church”. In that book Warren taught marketing tricks to try and entice people into the Church. I’d love to see 200 here on Sunday. I’d love to see a great crowd. But what about Wednesday Bible Study and Prayer Meeting? What about Sunday night services? A crowd on Sunday morning is great, but God calls me, and all Pastors, to …

Ephesians 4:11-15 (ESV) {God the Holy Spirit} gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ …

Pastors oversee the Church as shepherds, EQUIPPING THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY. I am called to teach you God’s Word, to BUILD UP THE BODY in the UNITY OF THE FAITH, to teach you about Jesus. To feed you so that you will go from being children to ADULT CHRISTIANS who will not be deceived by the devil.

No Pastor can teach dead people.
You must be BORN AGAIN of God.
You must be DRAWN OF THE SPIRIT to Jesus.
God must save the sinner.
Repeating a “Sinners Prayer” smacks of man made religion.
Nowhere in Scripture do you see the Apostles
lead others in a “Sinners Prayer”

Beloved, the devil is always trying to flood the Church of Jesus Christ with anything that will get it off mission. I can’t save you. You can’t save you. Only God can. Salvation is God’s supernatural response to the human heart REPENTING and RECEIVING the Lord Jesus Christ. I can’t do that for you. Anyone who tells you they can, they are bewitching you.

The Galatians Were “Bewitched” Believers

Galatians 3:1-2 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

What is the Apostle talking about? The Church at Galatia was a Gentile Church, filled with believers who have given their lives to Jesus. They were going well. Beloved, any time the Church gets going well, it won’t be long before the devil will infiltrate, and try to cause it to stumble. This is why we need strong, Bible based Christians in the Church. If not, we will find ourselves (as we saw in Ephesians).

Ephesians 4:14 (ESV) tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

What creeps into Churches that the Bible doesn’t support? The Pastor saves you. Baptism saves you. You must count beads or pray to saints. You must belong to this Church to be saved. Jesus was just a good man. God saves everyone by default, since Jesus died for everyone. You can be saved by Jesus and ignore Him in your life. You can do what you want to do and go to Heaven. We are gods who will one day be equal to God. God is not a Trinity, but an Actor. The Bible is a fairytale, not the Word of God.

There’s more, and I’ve heard them all over the past 50 years. What was the lie that Satan pumped into the congregation at Galatia? You must follow the Mosaic Law to be saved. Paul asks:

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath BEWITCHED {baskainō} you

Word Study: The word translated “BEWITCHED” is the Greek baskainō, used only here in the New Testament. The word means “to cast a spell on, so as to bring under control”. Paul uses this word specifically because at this time, the only Scripture fully available was the Old Testament. Years ago there was a cute comedy called “Bewitched”, where Daren Stevens wife Samantha, a witch, could twitch her nose and make things magically happen. In the comedy witches were shown as harmless, fun. But God’s view of witches is far different. God said:

Exodus 22:18 (ESV) You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

And as the Apostles wrote the New Testament, we are told:

Revelation 21:8 (ESV) But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Witchcraft is considered the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), because like murder and sexual immorality, it’s power is not derived from God but from darkness. Those who are specifically cast outside Heaven are “sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15). Pharisees had crept into the Church and taught the believers there, “You must keep this law, and observe this festival, and do this and that, or God will cast you from Him”. Yet the Apostle says:Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Word Study: It was well known among the Gentiles that Jesus was crucified on Calvary, and the Apostle Paul had taught them that Jesus was “SET FORTH” by God the Father. This is the Greek prographō, which means “to write before, to depict or portray previously”. It was very clearly presented in the Old Testament that God was going to send a Messiah, a Savior to save us from our sins. The Apostle told the Church at Rome, “whatsoever things were WRITTEN AFORETIME {prographō} were WRITTEN {prographō} for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope”. Our Lord Jesus was foretold all throughout the Old Testament. Jesus told the Pharisees:

John 5:46 (NKJV) For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

My commentary notes:

“The story of Jesus saturates the meta-narrative of the Bible, and prophecies of His first advent are found throughout the Old Testament. Allusions to Him also come up in micro ways, as many people and events hint at the work He would accomplish. One scholar, J. Barton Payne, has found as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament that somehow point to or describe or reference the coming Messiah. Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah or His times. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry.”

The Lord Jesus Christ paid for our sins IN FULL. Further, for a person to be saved, the Spirit of God MUST work in their lives.

Galatians 3:2-3 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

When a person RECEIVES Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God the Holy Spirit comes to them and indwells them. The Bible says:

Romans 8:8-11 (KJV) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. [9] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [10] And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. [11] But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Your righteousness did not save you from God’s condemnation. Jesus’ payment for your sins saved you, if you believed. Your righteousness does not bring the Holy Spirit to indwell you. The finished work of Christ on Calvary makes it possible for the Spirit to indwell you. Beloved, if the Spirit of God does not indwell you, you are not Christ’s child. And if the Spirit of God does not indwell you, you are GOING TO HELL!

If you’re saved, you’re saved not because you are “good” or “perfect”, but because you received Jesus as Lord and Savior. You are saved because the Spirit of God indwells you – and you are Heaven bound for it.

Paul says, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”. How stupid is that? I can’t save myself. I didn’t save myself. God saved me, and God saves you IF you believe in Christ Jesus, surrendering your life to Him.

Galatians 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

The greatest persecutors of the early Christians (and even Christians today) are the Judaizers and Pharisees. They hate Jesus. The Jewish Talmud, which teaches Jews about the Old Testament, repeatedly defiles the Name of Jesus. The Rabbis taught that Jesus was raised from the dead not by God, but by sorcery (Talmud Gittin 57a:3) or witchcraft. The Talmud in the same section claims Jesus is being punished with boiling excrement in the next world. The Rabbis taught that Jesus worshiped idols and performed sorcery (Talmud Sotah.47a.14). They refused to receive Jesus as the Messiah, though God did many miracles through Him. The Rabbis teach that:

“On Passover Eve they hung the corpse of Jesus the Nazarene after they killed him by way of stoning … because he practiced sorcery, incited people to idol worship, and led the Jewish people astray.” (Sanhedrin 43a:20). The Judaizers and Pharisees HATED Jesus, because Jesus stood against their false teachings. Jesus said of these so called teachers:

They are children of hell (Matthew 23:15)
Their father is the devil (John 8:44)
Their faith is the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9; 3:9)

The Jewish Rabbis teach that Jesus was born not of a virgin, but out of adultery. A footnote in Talmud Sanhedrin 106a:42 states “Balaam is frequently used in the Talmud as a type for Jesus”. There is much more of this nonsense in the Talmud. The early Church suffered greatly, and suffers today from false teachers who attack our Lord.

Galatians 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The intent of Satan in using his agents to infiltrate the Church is to create a flesh powered, man made institution. The proof of an effective Church is not large numbers at a rock concert on Sunday morning, but a Church that consistently longs for the power of God’s Spirit and the truth of God’s Word.

Was Abraham Saved By The Law?

Galatians 3:6-7 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Paul now brings out a key section in the Bible of that day, our Old Testament. He refers to the life of Abraham. If there was ever a broken man, it was Abraham. Before he met God, he wasn’t even called Abraham. He was called “Abram” (Hebrew ‘aḇrām) which means “exalted father”. This was what his father Terah named him, as every parent hopes that their children will be great. Yet Abram was not an exalted father. When God the Father came to Abram and called him, Abram was 75 years old and childless (Genesis 12:4).

God came to Abram and offered him the Covenant of Grace. We are told in

Galatians 3:17-18 … the covenant {of Grace}, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The Law was not given to Noah. The Law was not given to Abram. And yet, both Noah and Abram found GRACE in the eyes of God. They were saved by FAITH, not by keeping the Law!

God came to this broken Abram, the Almighty Father came to the exalted but impotent father, and called him to salvation. God told Abram:

Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV) Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

How was Abram saved? By believing God. By following God. By heeding God. God said, in essence, “If you’ll follow Me and trust Me, I’ll bless you. You’ll have kids. And through you, I will bless all the FAMILIES of the earth.” What did Abram do? He followed God.

Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

What Paul quotes here is not from Genesis 12, but about 10 years later, in Genesis 15:6. Abram is still without a child, though he has faithfully followed the Lord for ten years. When Abram went to God in prayer about it, the Lord told Abram:

Genesis 15:4-5 (NKJV) … “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

The Bible says, “{Abram} believed in the Lord, and He {God} accounted it to him for righteousness.”

Saving faith believes God, and follows God. Saving faith trusts God. Saving faith realizes that we are deficit, but that God is good and faithful. Saving faith clings to God like a drowning man clings to a life raft.

Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

The Pharisees were fond of saying that they were “Abraham’s seed”. They said, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man” (John 8:33). They were physically able to trace themselves back to Abraham, but they were not Abraham’s seed. Jesus told them,

John 8:34-37 (KJV) … Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. [35] And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. [36] If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. [37] I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

The Pharisees rejected the Messiah, but relied on the Law and their adherence to it to save them. But the Law cannot save. Only God can save. Only Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, can save us from our sins. Only God could save Abram from his brokenness. Only God can save us from our brokenness.

The true children of Abraham are not those who can genetically trace themselves back to him. The true children of Abraham are those who spiritually imitate Abraham, following and trusting in the Lord our God.

The Pharisees, trusting in the Law and their abilities, damned themselves for all eternity. We do the same when we think we with our tiny strength can save ourselves.

Galatians 3:8-9 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

It was God’s intent to JUSTIFY the Gentiles through faith, just as He JUSTIFIED Abraham. God offered Abram the Covenant of Grace, and Abram, believing God, was made by God into Abraham. God takes the broken and, through His Covenant of Grace, makes whosoever will whole. I end with this quote from Pastor J.D. Hall:

“The Gospel does not merely grant a legal acquittal before the throne of God. It transforms the sinner into a new creation. The blood of Jesus Christ is not a mild detergent that lightens the stains but leaves the fabric frayed. It is a consuming flood that regenerates, sanctifies, and resurrects the spiritually dead. This is not poetic embroidery; it is the core proclamation of the New Testament. It is the very blood of Christ, drawn from Immanuel’s veins. … The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, listing the vices that exclude from the kingdom of God, sexual immorality among them, and then immediately declare, “Such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” … That is not careful, hedged language. It is an unqualified declaration that the blood of Christ is entirely sufficient to cleanse even the most sordid sinner and that the ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level for both harlot and Pharisee.”

Are you saved by Grace? Have you come to God broken, with empty hands? Or are you relying on your ability to save yourselves? Oh, dear ones, reject Satan and his tactics. Trust in the Lord Jesus. Surrender to Him as Savior and Lord. Trust His power, and the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Don’t trust in a “Sinners Prayer” or a Pastor’s assurances. Trust in the Lord. “they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham”. Amen!

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The Best Way, God’s Way

Posted on August 8, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Zach Kessinger on Unsplash

Proverbs 20:1 Wine {yayin} is a mocker, strong drink {šēḵār} is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Be Careful With Alcohol

This is the first time that Solomon addresses alcohol in the Book of Proverbs. Here he personifies alcohol. The “wine” (Hebrew yayin) that is referenced here is naturally fermented juice of crushed grapes. The “strong drink” (Hebrew šēḵār) is fortified or distilled wine made from grapes, figs, dates, or grains. The difference between the two was that

Wine or Yayin is naturally formed. Strong Drink or šēḵār is engineered by man to increase the alcoholic content per volume.

It was naturally formed wine that our Lord Jesus made at the Wedding Feast in Cana. Wine diluted with water was often used in Jewish celebrations. The Bible tells us that:

John 2:3 (ESV) When the wine {oinos} ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine {oinos}.”

Jesus had the servants of the feast take six stone jars there for the rites of Jewish purification, each able to hold around 30 gallons of water. Jesus told the servants, “fill the jars with water”, and the servants filled the jars to the brim. Jesus told them to draw out the beverage, and take it to the “master of the feast”. This man declared:

John 2:10 (ESV) Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.

Jesus made “GOOD WINE”, naturally fermented, something only God can do. That which our Lord Jesus provided was not for drunkenness, but for celebration of Biblical marriage. The Psalmist praised the Lord, saying:

Psalm 104:1, 5, 10, 14-15 15 (LSB) Bless Yahweh, O my soul! O Yahweh my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 5 He founded the earth upon its place, So that it will not shake forever and ever. 10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; 14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for man’s cultivation, To bring forth food from the earth, 15 And wine {yayin} which makes man’s heart glad, To make his face glisten more than oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.

Naturally fermented wine was given us by God – but God warns against its misuse. By personifying wine and strong drink, the Bible makes wine to be a “mocker” (Hebrew lûṣ) someone who makes fun of you or scorns you. We are told that strong drink is “raging” (Hebrew hāmâ), that is, it fights against your best interest, harming your life. Among the Israelites, Priests on duty were forbidden to drink alcohol:

Leviticus 10:8-11 Yahweh then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations— 10 and so as to separate between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to instruct the sons of Israel in all the statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them through Moses.”

This was because wine and strong drink can dull your senses, and allow the priest to do something that they would not have normally done. God made no allowances for tipsiness in the priesthood. If they were impaired by alcohol, their impairment could lead to their deaths.

When Abraham returned from battle, the Bible says that he was met by …

Genesis 14:18-20 (NKJV) Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine {yayin}; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Again, this was naturally fermented wine, not fortified wine. Though it is possible to get drunk on naturally fermented wine, as Noah did (Genesis 9:21). The Bible forbids the Christian from drunkenness, saying:

Ephesians 5:18-20 (KJV) And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; [19] Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; [20] Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

If we’re going to “get happy”, we should rejoice in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit of God, not from wine or strong drink. One final point. Christians are to avoid partaking wine around other Christians if it is offensive to them. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 14:21 (KJV) [It is] good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

Drunkenness is a sin, and always forbidden. It is also a sin to cause a weaker brother or sister in Christ to stumble. The Apostle warned, “take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9). It is our calling to lead others to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, not to please ourselves.

Consider Carefully Who You Provoke

Proverbs 20:2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.

A wise person looks to avoid conflict with others, especially when dealing with people you don’t know. Especially those in power. The Bible tells us:

Romans 13:1 (KJV) Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is NO POWER BUT OF GOD: the powers that be are ORDAINED OF GOD.

It is God Who establishes the nations, according to His purposes. This brings us to the story of King Hanun of Ammon.

When David was still being chased by Saul he went to the King of Moab, and said:

1 Samuel 22:3 Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.

The King of Moab took David’s family in, but ended up killing all of David’s family but one brother Eliab. Eliab escaped to Ammon, and was put under the protection of King Nahash.

When King Nahash died, and his son Hanun took the throne, we read:

2 Samuel 10:2-5 (NKJV) David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. 3 And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?” 4 Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. 5 When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”

This understandably angered King David. The Ammonites compounded the problem by then hiring 33,000 Syrian mercenaries to help them fight Israel. General Joab took the best fighters of Israel to fight the Syrians, and commissioned his brother Abishai to lead troops against the Ammonites. Both the Ammonites as well as the Syrians were destroyed!

The story doesn’t end here. King David should have honored the King of Kings and Lord of Lords after God gave him this great victory. But instead, the Bible says:

2 Samuel 11:1-2 (NKJV) It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.

This began one of the darkest moments of David’s life. He committed adultery with another man’s wife, murdered her husband, and married the woman called Bathsheba. But as the Scripture says, be sure your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23). God told David:

2 Samuel 12:7-12 (NKJV) ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’

It is bad to anger the King, but horrible to anger the King of Kings. Our sins are an affront to God Himself. When we “provoke Him to anger, we sin against our own soul”.

The Wise Man Is The Peacemaker

Proverbs 20:3 It is an HONOR {kāḇôḏ} for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling {gālaʿ}.

It is better to follow the path of peace, not of war and offense. The word translated “HONOR” is the Hebrew kāḇôḏ, which means “to be exalted, to be lifted up as an example, to be honored”. The “fool” or godless person responds badly to others. They are always “MEDDLING”, Hebrew gālaʿ, meaning “seeking a battle, breaking out in contention”.

The fool is always finding fault, always looking for trouble! They are never satisfied or at peace.

The godless are always stirring the pot, but the one who will be honored is the one who seeks to calm the waters! Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

I suspect that those who are brittle, always finding fault are actually lost people. They make trouble because it inflates their ego – and yet – these people, the troublemakers, are rarely sought after or honored. Yes, there are times when you will have to strike in the name of God (as King David did), but that is the exception, not the default. The Bible tells us:

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV) Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Romans 12:18 (ESV) If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Do good to your enemies (Luke 6:35), and walk in love as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Illustrate: A little old lady came into the bank, and went to the Teller window with her bank book. “I’d like to draw out $10 from my account”. The self important woman behind the window said, “Ma’am, if you need to withdraw anything less than $100, you need to use the ATM outside!” The little old lady said, “But I only need $10. Can’t you get that for me?” The arrogant Teller said, “Absolutely not! The bank policy is to use the ATM, just like I told you”. The little old lady them said, “Well then, I’d like to close my account”. With a trembling hand she surrendered her bank book to the teller, who typed the account number into her computer. The teller turned white. That little old lady’s account held $350,000!She started stuttering, “Ma’am, we don’t have that much money in our vault at this time! Will you please reconsider? If I tell the manager you’re closing your account, I’ll be fired!” The little old lady smiled, and said sweetly, “Then honey, just give me my $10”. She got her money, and the Teller learned a lesson.

Arrogance and belligerence can hurt you. You never know who you are talking with. The way of peace is the way of Christ.

God Is Looking For People Who Are Faithful

Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

Illustrate: I heard about a fellow who lived in a house with a leaking roof. When it was raining, he refused to fix it because it was raining. When the rain stopped, he refused to fix the roof because it wasn’t leaking. Lazy people never get anywhere. The Bible says:

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man SOWS, that he will also REAP.

If you SOW nothing, you REAP nothing. The sluggard puts off, procrastinates, and the time of planting passes. When the harvest comes, the sluggard gets nothing, because he would do noting. When his belly was empty, he went begging others so that he might eat.

Proverbs 19:15 (ESV) Slothfulness casts into a DEEP SLEEP, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

These people never contribute to the good of anything, but are quick to point out deficiencies that they themselves have no solution for. Christians are not to be sluggards! The Apostle wrote:

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 (ESV) Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

We are not to be sluggards, nor are we to fellowship with sluggards. The standard of the Kingdom of God is, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”. Those who do nothing, contribute nothing – though many will be “BUSYBODIES”. What you sow, you reap! The Apostle said that if there are sluggards among us Christians, do not treat them as enemies, but warn them that their way is not Christ’s way. My commentary notes:

“So work hard, even when you don’t feel like it! I can tell you, being self-motivated is a huge asset to your employer, and to your spouse. Many are not willing to work when it’s hard and cold, and then wonder why things are not easy when everyone else seems to be having things go their way. The same is true spiritually. Often we can feel cold in our walk with the Lord, and don’t feel like reading our Bibles, like praying, or like going to church meetings – but that’s exactly when we should! And if we do, we’ll reap the harvest – we’ll see fruit in our lives.”

Keep Good Company With Faithful Believers

Proverbs 20:5-6 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. 6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful {ēmûn} man who can find?

We live in a day when it is difficult to find faithful people. I believe that the demise of Church attendance and fellowship of the saints has contributed to this. I have noticed that …

When professing believers contribute to and focus on social media (Facebook, Tick Tock, X, Instagram, etc) excessively, they will adopt the mannerisms and bad attitude of the lost world.

We are warned in 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV):

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

This is why the Church comes together frequently to read and study the bible TOGETHER. This focuses our hearts toward God and His truth.

The purpose of coming together to seek out and study the Word of God is to focus the heart toward faithfulness to God. God never expected us to be perfect or without sin when He saved us – but He does expect us to be faithful to Him. When God found Israel, the Lord said:

Deuteronomy 32:9-15, 20 (NKJV) … the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. 10 “He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings, 12 So the Lord alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him. 13 “He made him ride in the heights of the earth, That he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock; 14 Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes. 15 But Jeshurun {a symbolic name for Israel, meaning ‘those whom God made upright’} grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then {Israel} forsook God who made him, … {and God said} 20 I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.

God expects His people to be faithful, to be fruitful, not to be fallow. He saved us in love, and demands that we love Him in our salvation. We work for Him, and glorify Him.

Proverbs 20:7 The just man walketh in his integrity {tōm}: his children are blessed after him.

The faithful person is the JUST person, the saved person. The person who is saved should “walk” or live in his “INTEGRITY”. The word translated integrity is the Hebrew tōm, which means without hypocrisy. This is what God loved about King David. David was not flawless. He stole another man’s wife, and murdered her husband. He was prideful at times. But when God corrected David, David wholeheartedly repented and cast himself on the Grace of God. God came to Solomon after he built the Temple, and told him:

1 Kings 9:3-7 (KJV) – And the LORD said unto {Solomon}, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. [4] And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity {tōm} of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, [and] wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: [5] Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. [6] [But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: [7] Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people

Integrity means that, dear Christian, you need to be SOLD OUT to God. God will not tolerate a half-heart in following Him. God gave EVERYTHING for you on the Cross. He expects you to give Him your WHOLE HEART. Period.

May God touch your hearts with His Word.

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God Never Gives Up

Posted on August 6, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash

Romans 15:4-7 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

How Do We Define “God”? How Do We Define “Fool”?

Everyone knows that there is a God Who made all things. That’s an absolute truth. Oh, there are people who say “We’re atheists. We’re agnostics. We’re scientists. We believe that all things just evolved out of nothing. We believe in the survival of the fittest. There is no God. There is only “mother nature”, a mother who came about by accident.” If that were true, the name “God” or “Jesus Christ” wouldn’t be in your language whatsoever. “OMG”. Everybody knows there is a God Who is above us.

Defining the word “fool” is easy. The Bible says that the definition of a FOOL is:

Psalm 14:1 (KJV) The FOOL hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

The FOOL says there is no God. The reason they say this is that, IF there is a God (and there is), THEN the stupid things they do, they will be held accountable for it. There is a God. Without a God, then mankind is god, and we can do as we please without worry of eternity. But even scientists – though they will not acknowledge it – know there is a God. I came across this statement the other day:

“According to strict logic, mathematical probability, and observational science, the mathematical probability of a sequence of DNA letters (DNA is the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for all living organisms) forming through random to code for even the minimalistic gene that we can see …. the probability of a new functional gene around 1000 nucleotides (the building blocks of DNA) forming via random mutations is about 1 in 10 to the power of 600 … Evolution requiring new functional genetic information has never been directly observed. … It is effectively IMPOSSIBLE IN REAL WORLD CONDITIONS.

When I looked this up – and it’s from Answers in Genesis – I knew it. Scientists know this. But they lie, they hide, and they push the propaganda of Godless Evolution. There is a God, and that God made all things. That God made you, He made me, and He made everything we see and everything we do not see.

God made us in His image because He, as God, can do that. We cannot make God in our image. That “god” is imaginary. That “god” is demonic, from Satan himself.

The Bible warns against making idols (Exodus 20:4-5). Idols are useless. “They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, for they are useless” (1 Samuel 12:20-21). “People make their own gods, but they are not gods!” (Jeremiah 16:20). Those who say there is no God, and those who create false gods to worship apart from the God of the Bible have one thing in common. They are enabling demons.

Psalm 106:36-38 (ESV) They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

The “God” You Worship Defines How You Live

The God you worship will determine the type of person you are. The reason our Beloved America and the Church in America is in such a state is because we have moved from the TRUE GOD reflected in the Scripture, to NO GOD or a DEMONIC GOD. Jesus said, “IT IS WRITTEN, WORSHIP the Lord your God, and SERVE Him only” (Luke 4:8, CSB). Jesus Christ believed in and preached the God OF THE BIBLE. When Jesus walked the earth, the only Scripture written was the Old Testament. The Apostles wrote the New Testament, as God the Holy Spirit enabled them (2 Peter 1:21), but that which was written of God’s Word as Paul wrote Romans focused on ISRAEL and God’s prophecies to them.

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through PATIENCE and COMFORT of the scriptures might have hope.

There is a strange idea in the Church that there are two Gods in the Bible – the harsher God of the Old Testament, and the Grace filled God of the New Testament. Whatever was written before Paul’s writing was written to teach the Church about God.

The God of the Old Testament and the Old Covenant is the same God of the New Testament and the New Covenant.

God’s grace has never changed.
God’s plans have never changed.

Word Study: The Old Testament was written so that “we through PATIENCE and COMFORT of the scriptures might have hope”. Look at those two words, “PATIENCE and COMFORT”. The word translated “PATIENCE” is the Greek hypomonē, which means “the ability to endure and wait for, to persevere”. The word translated “COMFORT” is the Greek paraklēsis, which means “to call to the side so as to comfort, to embrace”. God is PATIENT. God comes alongside to COMFORT and ASSIST. Do you know how many times Israel messed up in the Old Testament? Do you know how many times the Old Testament Saints messed up? It boggles the mind. And yet, at the end of the day, God stayed with Israel. This is Who God is. He is the …

Romans 15:5 (KJV) Now the God of PATIENCE {hypomonē} and CONSOLATION {paraklēsis}

The Apostle uses the exact same two words to describe the God of the Bible. He is the God Who is hypomonē. He is patient. He endures the silliest of things that we do. The Saints were patient because they knew how patient God had been with them. Yes, there are things in the Old Testament where the wrath of God fell, and many died. And yet, Israel continued to be God’s nation. Yes Israel repeatedly mocked and ignored God, sought other gods, and spat on Him repeatedly. Yet God did not erase Israel. Why? Because God knew what Israel would be before God called Israel to be His own. God had a plan. God is …

Exodus 34:6-7 merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty …

God did not look the other way on Israel’s sins. He did not look the other way on the sins of the key people of the Scripture. And yet, as David was quick to point out:

Psalm 86:15 (KJV) thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

God “endured with much longsuffering humans who were worthy of destruction, that He might bestow His mercy on others” (Romans 9:22-23). God could have destroyed Israel, but He did not. God took the long view. Israel walked away from God numerous times, and God could have easily destroyed that nation, destroyed the whole world in righteous anger. And who would have blamed Him? The arrogance of the created in mocking the Creator gags even the demons of hell. The demons tremble, but we mock and make light. But God had a plan. God is …

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV) … longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:15 (KJV) … the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation

Romans 15:5 (KJV) Now the God of PATIENCE {hypomonē} and CONSOLATION {paraklēsis}

God is not just patient and longsuffering, but He comes alongside and encourages. He does not want to pack hell with souls, but wants whosoever will to come to Him in repentance. God wants to save souls from damnation. Now here is the amazing thing:

As God Is Long Suffering And Ever Encouraging,
We Are Called To Let Him Empower Us To The Same

Romans 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

Word Study: God calls us and empowers us to be LIKE HIM. To be “like-minded”, the Greek phroneō, which means to savor or desire the same things that God savors. To have the unity of mind with God toward one another ACCORDING TO Christ Jesus. As God was patient with Israel under the Old Covenant, we are to be patient with one another in the Church under the New Covenant. As God came alongside of Israel even when they did not deserve it, we are to come alongside others in the Body to comfort them. This is to be done …

according to Christ Jesus

Jesus set the pattern. Jesus surrendered Himself, coming from Heaven to earth, to patiently come alongside us. Jesus lived, not satisfying Himself, but satisfying God the Father Who sent Him. Jesus told His Nazarene hometown:

Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord

Jesus did not live to please Himself, but to please the Father. He was the “Beloved Son, in Whom God is well pleased”. Jesus said, “I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:38-39)

God invites those whom He has saved to work alongside of Him, just as Jesus did, in comforting and assisting others in the Kingdom. It is the will of God that the Church be a type of Heaven on earth. Here is our target:

Romans 15:6 … with ONE mind and ONE mouth GLORIFY GOD, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We come together not to be entertained, but to worship God, to magnify His goodness. We do not come together to make idols, but to praise and lift up the name of Jesus to the glory of God. It is impossible that – considering the history of man – there will not be offenses and minor problems in the Body.

Like God, like Christ Jesus, we need to take the long view. Praise God no matter what may come, and come alongside others to comfort them and encourage them to live for the glory of God.

Romans 15:7 Wherefore RECEIVE {proslambanō} ye one another, as Christ also RECEIVED {proslambanō} us to the glory of God.

Word Study: The word “RECEIVE” {proslambanō} means to “take to yourself as it is”. Why? Because this brings glory to God. We are not to give up on one another.

God did not give up on Israel. Israel is STILL God’s chosen nation. No matter how many times Israel went after other gods, God punished them, then stayed with Israel. Why?

Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Jesus has been given many titles in the Scripture.

Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6)
Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6)
Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
Root and Offspring of Jesse (Isaiah 11:10)
Man of Sorrow (Isaiah 53:3)
King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15)
Immanuel (Matthew 1:23)
The Great I AM (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14)
The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

Someone once counted up the names and titles the Bible gives to Jesus, and found about 110 in Scripture. Here is a name that the Apostle gives to our Lord:

Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision

The “circumcision” in Scripture refers to Israel, to the direct descendants of Abraham and the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:1-14). When God made His covenant with Abraham, He established the nation Israel, as well as promised blessings to the Gentiles:

Genesis 17:5-7 KJV – [5] Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. [6] And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

God told Abraham that “I will make YOU very fruitful”. This spoke to Israel. But them God said “I will make NATIONS of you”. This spoke to the Gentiles. God said that this was “an EVERLASTING COVENANT”. Our God, Who “declares the END from the BEGINNING, and from ANCIENT TIMES the things that are yet to be” (Isaiah 46:10), set apart Abraham to bless the entire world. Not just the Jews, but the Gentiles too.

“Replacement Theology” also known as supersessionism is a misinterpretation of the Scripture. Those who believe this think that the Christian Church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people, because the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant. This is false, and the text shows us this.

Jesus is a “minister of the circumcision”. Paul previously told us in:

Romans 11:1-5 (NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, [3] “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? [4] But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” [5] Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Jesus was a minister OF THE CIRCUMCISION. He came “for the Jews first, but also for the Gentiles” (Romans 1:16). Jesus came to Israel first

verse 8 to confirm the promises made unto the fathers

But God did not come for just the Jews. In Abraham, He came to fulfill His promises to Israel, as well as to the Gentiles. Paul now calls on four Old Testament witnesses to this truth:

Romans 15:9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

This is a quotation of King David, a part of the song he sang to God “when the Lord delivered him from Saul and his enemies” (2 Samuel 22:1-51)

Psalm 18:49 (ESV) … I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.

God saved Israel under David’s leadership, though he and the nation was attacked both from without and within. God did this so that “the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy”. The second Scriptural witness is in

Romans 15:10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, WITH his people.

There are numerous verses in the Old Testament that speak of the Gentiles praising God with Israel. One of the clearest is:

Psalm 67:3-4 (ESV) Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

God loves all. God chose Israel to be His servant to bring the Messiah to all the people. The third witness says:

Romans 15:11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

A quotation of Psalm 117:1 (ESV) Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!

The Lord did not give up on Israel. The Lord does not give up on the Gentiles. The fourth witness the Apostle calls “to the dock” is:

Romans 15:12 And again, {Isaiah} saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust.

This is a quotation from Isaiah 11:10-11, in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left

God is not done with Israel, nor is He done with the Gentiles. God established the Church as His New Covenant people, and in the Church

Colossians 3:11 … there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Though God has raised up the Church, and through Christ calls whosoever will unto salvation:

Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

God has not cast away Israel. At this time, they may be far from God, but He has not washed His hands of His chosen people.

What Can We Take Away From This?

Romans 12:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy {Spirit}.

God does not give up on His people. He is the God Who is long suffering. He is the “Comforter”, the Paraclete, the One Who comes alongside us to lift us up. Have you failed God? “Faithful is He that called you, Who will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Our God is the “GOD OF HOPE”, not of hopelessness. He wants us to “ABOUND IN HOPE”. You may have failed. You may have fallen. But God is not done with you, if you are His. God gives you the “power of the Holy Spirit” to grow.

Don’t give up on yourself.
Don’t give up on others.

Trust in God, with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Give your life to Him today. Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and live your life in Him. May God, through His Spirit and the Blood of Christ, draw you close to His side. Amen.

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Frustration Or Fulfillment

Posted on August 6, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Michiel Annaert on Unsplash

Galatians 2:15-19 (KJV) We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

The absolute number one worse sin in the Bible is the sin of idolatry. Idolatry is when a person worships or seeks to please any God but the God of the Bible. It was idolatry that got mankind thrown out of Paradise. The devil told Adam:

Genesis 3:4-5(AP) {if you eat the forbidden} you will not die {implying God is a liar}. God knows when you eat of it you will be like Him, gods who determine good and evil …

Idolatry starts in the heart, when the created tries to take the place of the Creator.

Idolatry led to the first murder. Cain killed his brother, rather than worship God and kill a lamb (Genesis 4:4-8). Idolatry led to the Noahic Flood. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Idolatry led to the Tower of Babel. The people refused the command of God to multiply and fill the earth, saying …

Genesis 11:4 (NKJV) Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.

We don’t want to glorify God. “Let us make a name for OURSELVES. Let’s glorify US. Let’s build a building that will get us closer to God, maybe we can be gods.”

While Moses was receiving the Law of God from the finger of God, Israel in the valley was busy creating golden calves, gods to follow. Idolatry is in our DNA.

Even among God’s people. There are people today who take the Law of God (which is good, for the Bible says “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12)) and have turned it into an idol. The concept of Pharisaism has crept into many Churches today, the idea that “since I keep the Law, then I’m going to go to Heaven when I die”. Beloved, that’s a lie. Keeping the Law doesn’t save you.

Salvation Is Not Based On How Good You Are

Let’s examine idolatry and the purpose of the Law based on our text today. We start out with:

Galatians 2:15 (KJV) We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles …

God gave the Jews His Law. He did not give the Law (including the Ten Commandments) to the Gentiles, but to Israel. God gave the Law AFTER He saved Israel from Egypt. Before giving even the first commandment, God said to Moses:

Exodus 19:3-6 Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.

The Law was not given to Israel to save Israel. God had already saved Israel. The Law was a covenant of love. The Bible tells us:

Romans 13:8 (NKJV) Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Galatians 5:14 (NKJV) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

God loved Israel, and saved Israel, so Israel was supposed to love God. He is their Father. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). “We love Him, because HE FIRST LOVED US” (1 John 4:19).

This is what God told Israel BEFORE He gave them the Law. God said “if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me” (Exodus 19:5). Beloved, this has NOTHING TO DO with going to Heaven! In the first part of the Law, God told Israel to have nothing to do with idolatry – but to love God. The Lord said:

Exodus 20:5-6 (NKJV) For I, the Lord your God, am a JEALOUS God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The Law was not given to save. It was given to Israel because GOD LOVED ISRAEL. It was not given to Israel to purge sin. God told Israel, in effect:

“Instead of doing what Adam did in the Garden and listen to a snake, listen to ME because YOU LOVE ME. I am JEALOUS for you. I made you. I called you. I saved you. Obey Me, because I KNOW BEST.”

But Israel made an idol of the Law. The first thing they did was say “We Jews are SAVED and SPECIAL because we keep the Law, and the Law was given to us. It was not given to the Gentiles, so they are SINNERS”. That’s why Paul wrote:

Galatians 2:15 (KJV) We who are Jews by nature, and not SINNERS of the Gentiles …

Those GENTILES, God hates them. And yet, when God had Israel build the Temple, He made them make a Court for the Gentiles, or the Outer Court (Revelation 11:2). It was from the Court of the Gentiles that Jesus twice drove out the money changers (John 2:13-17; Matthew 2:12-13).

God built a Court of the Gentiles to show His love for all peoples. But God did not allow the Gentiles to go further than the Outer Court, because the Law was given to Israel ONLY.

God is nothing but consistent. The Jews were given God’s Law because God loved them, not to save them. God only saves. “God is My Salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). “To the only God, our Savior” (Jude 25). Israel could not save herself. Israel was not sinless. Only God can save. The Gentiles are sinners, yes, but so are the Jews. That’s the point that Paul makes here.

Galatians 2:16 (KJV) Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Word Study: The word translated “justified” is the Greek dikaioō, which means “to be rendered righteous in the eyes of God, to be made acceptable in God’s sight, to be pronounced pure by a holy God”. The Law cannot make Israel right with God. The Law cannot make any of us right with God. What does the Law do? The Law is like the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Bible says:

Romans 3:20 (KJV) Therefore by the DEEDS OF THE LAW there shall NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED {dikaioō} in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Could the “deeds or works of the Law” save the Jew? No. Could the “deeds or works of the Law” save the Gentile? No. “NO FLESH {Jew or Gentile, black, white, Latino, Asian, or any other flesh tone} CAN BE JUSTIFIED IN GOD’S SIGHT. Why? Because we are all prone to sin. The Bible says:

Isaiah 53:3-6 (LSB) He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. [4] Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace [fell] upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. [6] All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

God did not give the Law to Israel to save them. He gave the Law to Israel because He loved them. And if they love Him, they would obey His Word. Not to go to Heaven, not to be saved, but because they loved the God Who saved them. But God was going to save more than Israel. He planned to save the Gentiles as well. He would do this through His Son, Jesus Christ. “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried”. “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities”. “The chastening for our peace [fell] upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.” Who has gone astray from God? “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way”. Whether Jew or Gentile, God has reached out to us in love, but we have gone our own way. But “Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him, on Jesus our Messiah”.

If You Are Saved, You Will Obey God’s Word
Because God Loves You And You Love God

Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves ALSO are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister {diakonos} of sin? God forbid.

The number one thing I hear from people today is “I was saved so I could go to Heaven, and not Hell”. Then they walk and aisle, get baptized, join a Church, and then proceed to walk absolutely contrary to the Law and Commandment of God. The person who “SEEKS to BE JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST”, but who “CHASES SIN”, that person is not in a saving state. Listen to me.

Word Study: Jesus did not die on the Cross as a Minister of Sin. The word translated “MINISTER” is the Greek diakonos, which means “a Deacon, a Helper”. God did not save Israel and take them to Sinai just so they could go back to Egypt. They were supposed to go into the Promised Land, and glorify God in that land while chasing evil out of the land. Jesus did not die on the Cross to ENABLE US TO BE GUILT FREE SINNERS. That’s what I hear when people say, “I’m a Christian homosexual”, or “I’m a Christian drunkard”, or “I’m a Christian playboy”.

God saves us not IN our sins, but FROM our sins. Not by the Law, but by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

AFTER God saved Israel, then and only then did He give them the Law. If Israel loved God, they would follow His Law without adding to it or taking away from it. AFTER God saves the Gentile, then and only then He gives us standards, His Holy Word. We follow His Word because we love Him, without adding to it or taking away from it. When Jesus Christ was to enter this world, God told Joseph:

Matthew 1:21 (ESV) {Mary} … will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.

Those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior love God, and hate sin. We believe that:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) For our sake {the Father} made {Jesus, His Son} to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus Christ gave His life for our sins so that, believing in Him, receiving Him as Lord and Savior, we could be made righteous by God. The Bible says:

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV) He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

It is insanity to live in sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sin kills. It always kills. If you are saved, you are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But now, being saved, you obey the Word and will of God. Anyone who says, “I was saved so I can do my own thing, so I can ignore God’s Word and make myself god” is not saved. The Bible says:

Romans 6:1-2 (ESV) Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Jesus Saved Us, Not The Law

Galatians 2:18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

Here Paul is not talking about sin, nor salvation, but idolatry. It is God Who wrote the Law and gave it to Israel. It is God Who establishes what is right and wrong. But here Paul is not talking about what God did, but whatI build, andI destroy. This was what the Pharisees – and Paul was a Pharisee before He was a Christian – did to the Law.

Pharisaism takes the Law of God, modifies it to suit the user, then demands that others follow this idolatrous thing to be saved.

There were 613 commandments that God gave Israel in the Law. Rather than love God and obey Him out of love, the Pharisees modified the Law. One commentary notes:

“the Mosaic Law commands Jews to keep the Sabbath holy, refraining from work on Saturdays. To clarify this, the Pharisees created 39 separate categories of what constituted “work”, with many sub-categories. This resulted in thousands of sub-rules, including restrictions on the number of steps one could take and the number of letters one could write on the Sabbath. … The Pharisees also created other laws, such as not spitting on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10), as it would disturb the dirt and one would be guilty of ploughing, and not swatting a fly, as one would be guilty of hunting. They also believed that a woman could not look at her reflection, as she might see a gray hair and pluck it out, which would be considered work. They even created loopholes to get around certain laws, such as allowing one to put on several layers of clothing instead of carrying them when leaving a burning house.”

The Pharisees created 1500 Fence Laws, rules and guidelines put into place to protect the core laws. Our Lord Jesus condemned the Pharisees and Scribes for making the Law what it was never intended to be. Jesus quoted what God said in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 29:13) some 700 years before:

Matthew 15:7-9 (ESV) You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

The Pharisees do like many “Christians” do today. Rather than loving God, and obeying His Word because we love Him, they seek to impress God by adding to or taking away from what He has directed. God is not pleased when we manipulate Scripture. We are to love Him, and honor Him by obeying His Word.

Galatians 2:19 (KJV) For I through the law am DEAD to the law, that I might live unto God.

Word Study: The word translated “DEAD” is the Greek apothnēskō which means “to be slain by”. The Law of God was given to Israel to teach Israel that they were sinners in need of the Savior. The Law was given to Israel to show them they needed the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Word of God teaches the Gentile today that we are all sinners in need of the Savior.

The Law kills the lost person, so we can seek the Savior. The Law kills our idols so that we might “live unto God”. We do not keep the commandments of God to “go to Heaven”. This is selfishness. Those saved obey God because we love Him.

The Saved Love And Glorify God

Galatians 2:20 (KJV) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

Israel was given the Law AFTER she was saved.
God gives us Gentiles His Word AFTER we are saved.

What saves us all? The death of Christ on the Cross. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live”. When Jesus died, like Moses He went up on Sinai where the Father dwelt. He was nailed to a terrible tree, the Tree of Life. He died on that Tree for my sins, in my place. He died for me. Once I received Him as Lord and Savior, believing He died in my place, then “Christ liveth in me”. Here’s a test for you all.

Why did you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior? Just to go to Heaven? Then you’d better carefully look at your salvation! It’s okay to want to go to Heaven – I want to go there myself. But does Christ live in you NOW?

And what keeps you saved? Is it that you keep the Law meticulously? It shouldn’t be. The right answer is, “Because I love the Lord, and live my life for Him”.

The Christian pursues righteousness because he is born again, and Christ lives in us. We live by the Grace of God, glorifying our Savior. When we get to Heaven, it will be because Jesus saved us, and we love the One Who saved us. There is not one good thing you can do to keep yourself on the right side of God BUT to love Him with all you are able.

Galatians 2:21 (KJV) I do not FRUSTRATE {atheteō} the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Word Study: To believe you are able to save yourself is to atheteō, to cast off or do away with the Grace of God. That is the action of a fool. May God lead you to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ this very day. Amen.

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How To Be Blessed

Posted on July 30, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Anastasiya Badun on Unsplash

Proverbs 19:19-20 A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again. 20 HEAR counsel, and RECEIVE instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

You Must HEAR And RECEIVE To Be Blessed

How can you be blessed of God? You must first of all submit your flesh to God. This is hard for many people. I had a lady who once came to this Church tell me, “I have so many questions. How can I learn to be a strong Christian?” I told her that …

You must consistently submit yourself to God. Come to Church regularly. HEAR the preaching of the Word. Not just HEAR it, but RECEIVE it, believe it, take it to heart. Make it your own.

Sadly, she never did this. Her visits to the Church were sporadic at best, here a little, gone a lot. In time she became one of the faceless shadows on the fringe of Christianity.

Word Study: You cannot allow your flesh to control your spirit. Look at the phrase, “A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment”. The words “A MAN OF GREAT WRATH” in the English is but two words in the Hebrew: gāḏôl ḥēmâ. The word “GREAT” doesn’t apply to the anger, but to the man. Someone who, as Clint Eastwood once said “is a legend In their own mind”, the one who thinks he or she is infallible, always right. That self important person cannot hear anything from others, nor even focus on another person’s point of view, because they believe they are impervious. The word gāḏôl is used in Scripture to describe the sun and the moon (Genesis 1:16), the whales (Genesis 1:21), and God used the phrase with Abraham when He promised him “I will make of thee a GREAT (gāḏôl) nation”. Those who are proud and arrogant are especially dangerous when angered. The word “WRATH” is the Hebrew ḥēmâ, which refers to “rage, hot displeasure, deep indignation, venomous anger”. That sort of person will not hear counsel, will not hear the Word of God. The Bible warns us:

Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Proverbs 29:22 A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.

Illustrate: That type of person gets into trouble, and seeks to draw others into trouble as well. You can step in and save them, you can do your best to help them out, but “thou must do it again”. I knew a minister one time I’ll simply call “Larry” who, through anger and arrogance, burned every bridge at every Church he served at. In time he came to me, dejected and despondent, and I stepped in to help him. I asked my Church to take him on as a Worship Leader. Bad mistake. I spent most of my ministry until he left our Church getting him out of binds. He spoke without thought. Mark Twain once said,

“It is better to keep your mouth shut and be assumed a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.”

Proverbs 19:19 A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment …

Such a person brings punishment on themselves. “Larry” eventually quit our Church and went on to nothing. He brought that on himself.

Proverbs 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

The self important and arrogant will not “HEAR COUNCIL” AND “RECEIVE INSTRUCTION”. The wise man or woman will do BOTH. My commentary notes:

“One of the first marks of wisdom is the readiness to receive more wisdom. A teachable person, one who will listen to counsel and receive instruction, has already made much progress on the path of wisdom.”

There is a difference between hearing and receiving. A lot of people hear. The Pharisees heard what Jesus said, but refused to receive His Words because they prioritized their humanistic interpretation of Scripture over what Jesus said. Though Jesus proved He was Messiah by the miraculous things He did, the Pharisees believed that when the Messiah came He would overthrow their enemies, and make Judaism a world wide religion. When Jesus began to teach not a conquering the Roman message, but

Matthew 5:44-48 I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

They HEARD, but did not RECEIVE God’s instruction. They despised Jesus and His teaching because it did not fit THEIR IDEA of what God planned for Israel.

Jesus implied they were imperfect, because they neglected the “Weightier matters of the Law”. God told them:

Matthew 23:23 (LSB) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

The Pharisees were giving – as God had commanded – but only materially. They were also required to give “justice and mercy and faithfulness”. They HEARD Jesus, but couldn’t RECEIVE His Word.

One of the best Old Testament examples that comes to my mind is the reign of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, the successor to the Throne of David. In 1 Kings 12 Rehoboam becomes King of Israel, and shortly thereafter a delegation comes from the Ten Northern Tribes led by Jeroboam. The delegation came with a simple request:

1 Kings 12:4 (LSB) Your father made our yoke harsh; but you, now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.

Rehoboam HEARD what they requested. He went to the advisors that King Solomon had serving him, wise men who helped Solomon maintain the peace for the 40 years he ruled. The wise men told Rehoboam:

1 Kings 12:7 (LSB) If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.

Lighten their tax load. HEAR and RECEIVE what they ask, and you will maintain the integrity of the Kingdom to the glory of God. Did Rehoboam do this? No.

1 Kings 12:8 (LSB) … he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had counseled him, and took counsel with the young men who grew up with him and stood before him.

His young friends, puffed up with pride, encouraged Rehoboam to double down on the Northern Tribes because he was, after all, King. It was a bad idea. Rehoboam had to run with his tail between his legs back to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:18). When Rehoboam called out the army, 180,000 chosen men to fight the House of Israel, The Bible says:

1 Kings 12:22-24 (LSB) … the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You shall not go up and fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of Yahweh, and returned to go their way according to the word of Yahweh.

God allowed this to happen to teach us, His people, the foolishness of HEARING but not RECEIVING, and the dangerousness of arrogance and uncontrolled anger.

Proverbs 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

If you want to end well, HEAR and RECEIVE Godly instruction.

Live According To The Word of God

Proverbs 19:21 There are many DEVICES {maḥăšāḇâ} in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.

Word Study: The word translated “DEVICES” {Hebrew maḥăšāḇâ}, which means “cunning plans, thoughts, purposes”. As humans we often have good intentions, and make great plans. But in the end it is “the counsel of the LORD shall stand”. Sometimes man plots against God. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 2:1-3 (LSB) Why do the nations rage And the peoples meditate on a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

But how does God respond?

Psalm 2:4-6 (LSB) He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord mocks them. 5 Then He speaks to them in His anger, And terrifies them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

God is in control at all times. We make many plans, but when we plan we need to ask God and plan according to His will. It is the certainty of God’s call in our lives that gives us courage. Before Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land, God told that dear Saintly Warrior:

Joshua 1:2-9 (LSB) Moses My servant is dead; so now arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous to be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be prosperous wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful, and then you will be prosperous. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be in dread or be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”

God said “Follow Me. Follow My Word. Move as I direct you, and you will be undefeated”. Always follow the Word and Will of God. Always include God in your plans. The Bible says:

James 4:13-15 (NKJV) Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

What Is A Man?

Proverbs 19:22 The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

We live in a day when people, because of wokeness, cannot answer the question “What is a man?”. Biologically a “man” has an X chromosome from his mother, and a Y chromosome from his father. Mark Twain said years ago,

“Clothes make the man, because naked people have little
or no influence on society”.

He lived in simpler times. Men today have become effeminized and socially castrated, and are celebrated when they are weak and malleable. The Bible says of this behavior:

1 Corinthians 6:9 (KJV) Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, {malakos} nor abusers of themselves with mankind

The EFFEMINATE {malakos} is a reference to the catamite, or young boys kept for homosexual relationship, males that submit to unnatural lewdness. This is the idea on “man” that is being pushed by the liberal or LEFT. Then there is the BRUTAL concept of the man that is pushed on the extreme RIGHT.

A real man – Biblically – is defined by his kindness:

Word Study: The word “KINDNESS” is the Hebrew ḥeseḏ, which means “lovingkindness, goodness, mercifulness”. It is the desire to bestow graciousness and goodness, even on those who are undeserving of it. The word is used to describe God Himself:

Numbers 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great MERCY, {ḥeseḏ} forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty …

The Biblical man does not look the other way on sin, and yet shows mercy and kindness to others. Real men act from controlled strength. There are many who are rich, who have lied and cheated others in order to gain great status. But God says,

a poor man is better than a liar

I was watching a video the other day where various “women on the street” were asked what they wanted in a man. Shallow women will say they want a man who “makes over $100,000 a year”. But smart women, Godly women want honest men who are merciful and good. The Apostle Paul tells men:

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (LSB) Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

A godly man strives to live in a way that glorifies God and honors the Lord Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

A “real Man” has “fear of the Lord”. Fear of the Lord means to put God first, to love God more than you love others. For the unbeliever, they do not fear God, but they fear judgment and eternal damnation. Jesus said:

Luke 12:5 (ESV) I will warn you whom to fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

God has the power to both kill and cast. The Bible says “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Hebrews 10:31). To fear God, Who is the Author of Life, is to have a good life. But if you depart from fearing, respecting God, you “may be visited with evil”. Bad things happen when we forsake God.

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.

Illustrate: I heard U.S. Senator John Kennedy talking about the Park Avenue Skyscraper shooting that happened recently. Shane Tamura went into New York City’s Blackstone Building with a rifle, and killed three people and a police officer before killing himself. News media initially identified the shooter as “white”, which was wrong. Asked about the shooting Senator Kennedy said,

“On Capitol Hill, probably beginning in the morning, there’ll be the inevitable call by some of my colleagues for more gun control laws,” Kennedy (R-La.) said … “We’ve got hundreds of gun control laws, Sean. Maybe thousands. We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control, and I don’t know exactly how to do that. … I don’t want to hear anyone feeling sorry for this guy who did this,” Kennedy said of the shooter. “I believe there’s objective evil in this world, and we saw it today. I’m just sorry”.

Why did this happen? Because “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life”. This young man was raised without fear of the Lord, in a permissive and sin saturated environment. Rather than acknowledge this, we tend to justify criminal and godless acts while blaming the weapon used. That is insanity. When someone runs over people with their car, we don’t demand there be more “car control”. We need to be sorry and pray for the families of the victims. But we need to lay the blame on the perpetrator – the criminal – and stop making excuses for them or feeling sorry for them.

As a nation, we need to get back to “fear of the Lord”!

Those who have fear of the Lord “shall abide satisfied”. That young 27 year old man was obviously unsatisfied with his life, and the lives of those around him. “The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). The idiocy that is Darwinian Evolutionary Theory has taught us that humans are animals, and that life is accidental. This is the reason that evil continues to manifest itself among humans. My commentary notes:

“A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. When we were children, our fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions on our part. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in a way that pleases Him.”

Proverbs 19:24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his BOSOM, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

Word Study: God has no respect for the “good intentions” of those who do nothing for Him. Those who are slothful in serving God harm themselves. The word translated “BOSOM” is the Hebrew ṣallaḥaṯ, which means “something deep, like a bowl”. The NKJV translates this text as:

Proverbs 19:24 (NKJV) A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl, And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

The lazy person will seek for pleasure, but will forever be dissatisfied. No blessing comes of those who refuse to serve themselves and God. This same proverb is repeated again in,

Proverbs 26:15 (NKJV) The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

The lazy man is always looking for something for someone else to do, but will never do it himself. They are not content, but always blaming others rather than themselves for their lack.

Scorners And Stripes

Proverbs 19:25-29 Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge. 26 He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach. 27 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. 28 An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity. 29 Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.

The “SCORNER” (Hebrew lûṣ) is the person who “mocks or boasts against the truths of God’s Word”. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 1:1-6 (KJV) Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. [2] But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. [3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. [4] The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away. [5] Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. [6] For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The “SCORNER” of God’s Word is not to be tolerated. Those who are God’s people who are corrected will respond to correction judiciously. But the scorner hates truth. We are not to tolerate them, but back away from them. “Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools”. We do not heed them, but walk away from them. When I hear someone on television speaking of “evolution” and “millions of years” of natural selection, I turn it off. Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. I won’t listen to it – and neither should you.

We are not called to be “open minded”, but God minded. “An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity”. The only way you can compromise with the darkness is by dimming the light.

Stay in the Light of God’s Word. Amen.

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Even Christ Pleased Not Himself

Posted on July 29, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Devon Beard on Unsplash

Romans 15:1-3 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. 3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me.

Last week we heard about the battle that was going on in the Church at Rome. Both Gentiles and Jews – each with distinctive different cultures – were coming into the Church. And their cultures were clashing. Paul told the Church:

Romans 14:19-21 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

Word Study: Paul ordered the Church to follow the Spirit of God, to stop letting cultural differences dismantle the Body of Christ. God calls us together to “EDIFY” other members in the Church. The word “EDIFY” is the Greek oikodomē (pro. oy-kod-om-ay’) which means “to build up, to promote another’s growth in Christian wisdom, to add to spiritually”. The same word is used again in our focal text:

Romans 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to EDIFICATION. {oikodomē}

We Are No More To Justify Sin In Our Members,
Than We Do Cancer In Our Bodies

What is the Lord telling us here? Should we look the other way on sin and iniquity? No, absolutely not. We who are saved belong to God.

1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s BUILDING. {oikodomē}

Preach! Christians that are Christians are “born again of the Spirit of God”. Receiving Jesus Christ as lord and Savior, God does a miraculous work in us. Our souls are awakened to the Light of God. We “walk in the Light as He is in the Light” (1 John 1:7). We are “born again, not of perishable seed, but imperishable, THROUGH THE LIVING AND ABIDING WORD OF GOD”. We do not turn a blind eye to sin, nor justify sin in our midst. The Apostle chastised the Church at Corinth for doing that very thing (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). The Apostle went on to say,

1 Corinthians 5:6 (LSB) a little leaven {yeast} leavens the whole lump

A little sin in the Body, like yeast, will “puff up” the whole dough. The corruption will spread. Sin has no place in the life of a Christian, nor of the Church. We are not to justify sin, but to speak the Word of God, to affirm what God has said is truth. Our language should affirm what God affirms, and cast out what God abhors. Again,

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of EDIFYING, oikodomē that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

This is Christ’s Kingdom. This is Christ’s Church. BUT we are not to brand something as “sinful” if God has not said so. In Rome, Gentile believers ate all meats, but Jewish Christians were raised that certain meats were “unclean”. Both cultures must give a little to maintain unity in the Body of Christ.

Romans 14:21 It is good neither to EAT FLESH, nor to DRINK WINE nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

Again, the Bible is not talking about sin, but about cultural differences. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (vs 23). What you are doing may not be sinful – but you need to be careful to not let your freedom become that which enslaves another. For instance, the Apostle speaks of “DRINKING WINE”.

About Wine: We can argue this point all day long (and Baptists often do), but our Lord Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:3-10). Jesus turned water into GOOD WINE, for the Bible says:

John 2:10 … Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Wine mingled with water was often used as a beverage in Jewish wedding feasts. No one drank to drunkenness, but we lie to ourselves if we do not recognize Jesus made wine. Jesus also used wine in His illustrations of Grace:

Luke 5:36-39 (KJV) {Jesus} spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was [taken] out of the new agreeth not with the old. [37] And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. [38] But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. [39] No man also having drunk old [wine] straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

The “NEW WINE” is unfermented wine, a type of pressed grape juice with very little alcoholic content. The “OLD WINE” is fermented, with a higher alcoholic content.

The Apostle told his student Timothy, who was suffering gastric upset:

1 Timothy 5:23 (KJV) Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

Paul spoke of a “LITTLE WINE”. Why for the stomach? I looked it up, and found out “Red wine may have benefits for gut health due to its content of polyphenols, which can promote healthy gut bacteria. However, it’s important to consume it in moderation, as excessive alcohol can lead to health risks”. God knew about the benefits of a “LITTLE WINE” long before modern medical doctors did. Surprise!

But here’s the thing. The same Paul wrote:

Romans 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

The Gentiles were encouraged to back off eating “unclean” meats in front of the Jewish Christians. The Jewish Christians were to back off requiring circumcision of Gentile believers. Paul said, “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God” (Romans 14:22). Do not hinder the spiritual growth of other believers in your Christian liberty.

Christians Are Selflessly To Work Together
To Grow One Another Upward For Christ

Romans 15:1-2We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.

We please our neighbor – our fellow Christian – for his good. The Church is to be the light of the world. Beloved, humanity is sick, and the disease that has possessed it is sin. The true Christian says:

Psalm 38:18 (ESV) I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.

The lost person condones sin, justifies sin, modifies sin, denies sin. Those who are not born again hate the light of God. Jesus said:

John 3:16-21 {LSB} … 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. [17] For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. [18] He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. [20] For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. [21] But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”

The world is sin sick – and loves the disease that possesses it. We who are the Body of Christ, the Church of the Living God, we are His Ambassadors on this planet. As His ambassadors we work together toward the goal of ministering to the sin sick and the lost. We cannot fix the world, but we can share the Gospel, that Jesus gave Himself for everyone who will believe. Yet, many will not come to Jesus to be healed. They love the disease that holds them. “Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. [21] “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light”

Saved people do not live to please themselves.
They please themselves by blessing others.

The world, under the grip of satanic forces and the flesh, is a greedy, selfish, unsatisfied place. I am mildly amused at the finger pointing that goes on between Democrats and Republicans today. Each side points at the other, as if their party is headed by Jesus Christ. It is not. There are few politicians that are self sacrificing.

Go to their homes.
Look in their bank accounts.
What Church do they attend?
Are they active in the Body?
What do their spouses do?
Do they affirm the Word of God both publicly and privately?
Do they love Jesus?

I am not surprised by the things I see going on in the world, and neither should you be if you are a Christian. What does surprise me is when Church bodies get side-wise of the Word of God in loving one another. Christians are “not to please ourselves”. That cannot be our chief focus. We are to be imitators of Christ. Our focus is to “please {our} neighbor for his good to edification”. Not to please our neighbor in godless things, but to assist our neighbor in being more like Christ.

As you grow in Christ, help someone else grow in Christ. Seek for the Christ like unity of the Body.

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NASB20) Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

2 Corinthians 13:11 (NASB20) Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, mend your ways, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

The Church is to be unified on that which matters, on the teachings of God’s Holy Bible. But in the gray areas, the areas not clearly listed as sinful or forbidden in Scripture – these are not to be areas of contention. Our Lord Jesus set the standard:

John 13:34-35 (ESV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. [35] By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

We Are Imitators Of Christ In Our Walk

Romans 15:3 For even Christ pleased not Himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me.

Our Lord Jesus did not “please Himself”.
Jesus first of all lowered Himself.

Though God, the Son of God (John 1:14; 8:58; 10:30; Colossians 2:9) set aside His Heavenly Throne to come to this earth to save us. Jesus told us:

John 4:34 (ESV) My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish his work.

John 6:38 (ESV) I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of him who sent me.

Jesus did not please Himself. He set aside His infinite power, and came to earth to walk among us and be with us. The Bible says “Though Jesus was RICH, yet for our sakes HE BECAME POOR, so that BY HIS POVERTY WE COULD BE MADE RICH”. Jesus Christ came into this world representing the Kingdom of God. He left the glory and splendor of Heaven, to enter a broken world. He left the praises of the angels to come and be accused by the religious lost. Jesus did not please Himself.

He pleased the Father. John 8:29 (ESV) He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

Jesus was mocked by the Pharisees as “Beelzebub”, the prince of demons (Matthew 10:25). On the night that Jesus went to Gethsemane three times He prayed:

Matthew 26:39 (ESV) My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.

It did not “please” Jesus, that is, it was not pleasurable for Him to come to this earth, nor the go to the Cross. He did this so that He might bring us to God:

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God

Jesus was strong for us, for we were weak. Once more:

Romans 15:1 We then that are STRONG ought to bear the infirmities of the weak

Jesus the Stronger supported us the weaker. Now we who are stronger are to support the weaker members of the Body. Who is the STRONG? How does one “grow in Grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

The Christian who spends a minimum amount of time in sin and a maximum amount of time in the Word grows in grace. He or she becomes more gracious, more like Christ, more like God Himself. The Bible says:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] PROFITABLE for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

What Should The Strong Do?

Young believers in Christ will be unaware that the Christian faith is a discipline. Those who are maturer, stronger believers are to guide those weaker in the faith. Those who are stronger are to …

1. Encourage all believers to attend the assembly of the Church. The Church is Jesus’ idea, not mine or yours. We are exhorted “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day {of the Lord} drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). We want to promote love and good works, to the glory of God and the possible salvation of all who we come into contact with.

2. Encourage all believers to attend to the Word of God, both publicly and privately. I have often had people in the Church come to me, saying, “Pastor, I want you to talk to so and so, for they offended me”. I then ask, “Have you already taken the first step that our Lord Jesus commanded?” You see, He told us:

Matthew 18:15 (ESV) If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Young Christians do not know this because they do not study their Bibles. The mature Christian is to refer – not to opinion – but to the Scripture. Jesus went on to say:

Matthew 18:16-17 (ESV) But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. [17] If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. {a lost person}

The mature believer approaches all things through the lens of the Scripture, not of self opinion. We ask ourselves, “What does the Bible say?”, or as our Lord Jesus stated, “It is WRITTEN”.

3. Encourage all believers to attend to both private and public prayer. Jesus never taught His disciples how to teach or preach, but Jesus taught us how to pray. He gave us very specific directives on prayer (Matthew 6:5-11; Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6:9-15). What is interesting about prayer is that Jesus said to pray:

Matthew 6:12 … forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors …

and went on to say,

Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15] but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Prayer is so integral to the Christian way of life, that we are commanded

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

As We Come To Our Deacon Ordination

I want to thank God for the Deacons that this Church has called. Brother Jim was called with a 100% vote of the Church. If Brother Jim and his dear wife Sandra will come forward and be seated, I’m going to ask our Deacons to come by and “lay hands” on Jim, and to pray for both as we recognize God’s calling in Jim’s life. Though Sandra is not a Deacon, she will be very much involved in supporting Jim as he helps minister in this blessed Body.

May God bless us all to maintain unity, to the glory of God in Christ. Amen.

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