Be Married to Christ and Bear Fruit

Be Married to Christ and Bear Fruit

The Bible uses many symbols to describe our relationship with God and Christ. The church is described as a body and Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18). Christ is King and his people are his kingdom (Revelation 1:5,9). Christ is the cornerstone and the church is the building (1 Peter 2:4-8). Christians are adopted into God’s family and are his sons and daughters (Galatians 4:5-6). The most “mysterious” symbol, however, is that of husband and wife. The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4). He also references this relationship in Ephesians 525-33.married to Christ

Do you see yourself as married to Christ? Do you own Jesus as your husband? Years ago, evangelist Marshall Keeble encountered a woman who came to be baptized in her wedding dress. He asked her if she wanted to change before she was immersed. She answered that she wanted to marry Jesus in the same clothes that she married her husband. He baptized her, wedding dress and all because she understood what she was doing.

Christians are married to Christ and the church is the bride of Christ. This means that Jesus is our husband. What does a husband do? As Paul says in Romans 7:4, “that we should bear fruit to God.” Just as it is impossible for a woman to bear fruit without a husband, so also, it is impossible for a Christian to bear fruit without Christ! The fruit are our good works in Christ Jesus (John 15:1-8, Galatians 5:22-23). Without Christ, there are no good works.

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Rely on God’s Word?

Rely on God’s Word?

Whether they are 5 or 50, do your children know they can rely on God’s Word?

Think for just a moment before you answer that question. Far too often, children learn the Bible similar to the way in they might study a textbook. They read and isolate passages, and various Scriptures—memorizing verses that are most often repeated. Some may even have a good working knowledge of the way the Bible is laid out.

But do they truly look to it for guidance and strength? For many homes, the answer to that question is no. Many children reach an age where doubt and skepticism interfere with their relationship with God. And as such, their reliance on the Truths found in God’s Word become insignificant, and wind up straying away from New Testament Christianity. In John 17:17 we read “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

One way to combat doubt and skepticism is to challenge alleged discrepancies and contradictions that atheists proclaim exist in the Bible.

For instance, Matthew 28:1 records: “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb.” From this passage it would seem safe to presume that these two Mary’s went to the tomb. But what about John’s account in which we are told “On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early…” (John 20:1).

There is no mention of the second Mary. If that weren’t confusing enough, Mark then adds another name to the mix: “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Sa-lome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him” (Mark 16:1).

So which account is correct? Are these verses contradictory?

The answer is that they are all correct. Some of the Bible writers choose to give more information that others. Technically speaking this is called supplementation—and supplementation does not equal contradiction. Another example of this can be found in the Gospel accounts of the arrest of Jesus, where we are given various pieces of information about the servant of the High Priest whose ear was cut off.

Most people readily understand that a message is often changed according to the audience. For instance, I routinely change my lessons depending on the age and education level of my audience. Likewise, if 4 eyewitnesses to a car wreck were asked to give their testimony they would all proba-bly add different details while explaining the same incident.

As we come across passages like the ones above we must remember that the writers were writing to different groups of people, and they stressed different items. This by no means deems the Bible as unreliable. Arm your children for battle!!

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A Personal Message

A Personal Message

As one reads the Bible or listens to sermons, he learns great truths. He learns the truth about the origin of the created world, and this knowledge becomes the basis of faith. He reads about the lives and struggles of godly men and is filled with awe when he sees their faith and how it sustained them. Yet, sometimes he just wishes that God would give him a personal message.

He studies the scheme of redemption and what sin does and how it brings bondage. He reads and sees how the blood of Jesus surpasses the blood of bulls and goats. He comprehends that His precious blood is the basis of salvation and the great price Jesus paid when He died such a horrendous death. He marvels at all of this and there is no doubt it impacts his life and the decisions he makes, yet he may still wish that God would give him a personal message.

He reads the Bible and sees those messages God personally gave to Noah about the building of the ark and the coming flood. He reads about God’s messages to Abraham about Ur and later about offering Isaac. He may not want to receive the message about his own son that Abraham received about his son, yet he thinks how wonderful it would be to receive a personal message from God.

Perhaps this story will help you, if you have ever had thoughts about God giving you a personal message. A Christian who I know so well tells the story of how he now looks at such messages. His first two children were born just fourteen months apart, and one night as he was telling them bedtime stories, he said to them, “I want to tell you something so important. Are you aware that when God wrote the Bible, He put in it one special verse for you? So, when you read this part of the Bible and this one verse remember that God put this in the Bible especially for you.”

Their eyes were wide with excitement to know what personal message God gave just for them. That verse? “Obey your parents…for this is right” (Eph. 6:2). The truth is that this verse is in the Bible as a personal message to children!

The man then thought, “Are there any verses in the Bible God put there especially for me?” What about loving your wife like Christ loves the church? What about training your children in the teachings of God? It then dawned upon him that every verse, chapter, book, event, parable, discourse and every word is God personally speaking to him!

When you arrive at this point in your life, it will change how you study. This holy book is God’s message, written personally to you and it gives you all you need to know. You do have a personal message from God—read it!

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Building Spiritual Strength

Building Spiritual Strength

Gavin has been telling me about his strength-building exercises in athletic class. He talks about how they start lifting at a lower weight, do a certain number of repetitions, increase the weight, and continue with the repetitions. They repeat this process until they reach a final, higher weight and then stop. This is the hard part because it requires a great amount of effort. Additionally, to build muscle strength, he must also eat food with lots of protein and carbohydrates. Eating is the easy and fun part. This is a proven method to building physical strength.Bible Muscles

Building spiritual strength occurs in a similar way. Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” To grow strong spiritually, we must eat some solid spiritual food. This means we must study God’s word and wrestle with the spiritual truths that are within it. We must also do some spiritual exercise, or heavy lifting. This means visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved, giving to the church, worshiping with the saints, and many other spiritual activities. We do these things on a regular basis so that we can be spiritually strong.

Just like gaining physical strength, gaining spiritual strength requires effort, but it is not easy to make an effort. The word “effort” means “exertion of physical or mental power” or “an earnest or strenuous attempt.” The words “exertion,” “power,” and “strenuous,” imply a level of involvement beyond merely spectating. To be spiritually strong, one must get involved and do some work. What will we do this year to make an effort for Christ and grow spiritually stronger? The choice is up to us. Will we remain weak or grow stronger?

 

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Cornelius – Could He Lay Hands on Others?

Cornelius – Could He Lay Hands on Others?

There is no doubt that the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. After the apostles received the Spirit, they could lay hands on others, giving them miraculous powers when they also received the Spirit. The question is, did Cornelius and his household have this same ability to impart the Spirit after being baptized in the Spirit?Holy Spirit Dove

There is no doubt what the Bible says about what happened in Acts chapter ten when Peter went to Cornelius’ house. In three places he described what happened. “These…have received the Holy Spirit just as we have…the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning…then I remembered how He said, ‘You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit’…“giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us” (Acts 10:47; 11:15-16; 15:8—bold emphasis by dj). The Greek is even more emphatic, but one does not have to know Greek to understand what happened. Peter was at both Pentecost and with Cornelius and he said it was the same.

Having established that it was the same does not answer the question as to whether all those in Cornelius’ household could then do what the apostles did in Samaria, when the Holy Spirit was given to those in that city. To understand this, we must see the difference in the receiving of the Spirit and the manifestation of the Spirit once He was received.

Look at Paul’s first letter to Corinth. He affirms that while every member in Corinth had received the Spirit (v. 7), He was manifested in a different way. It was the same One who gave diversities of gifts, ministries (administrations—KJV) and activities (operations—KJV). He then shows that one man might have more manifestations of the Spirit than the one who had only one (14:13). The fact is that one might have more manifestation of the Spirit, but he did not have more of the Spirit. Paul’s argument is that they all had received the same Spirit. All were equally important in their service to the church (v. 11).

Those in Corinth had received the same Spirit that the apostles received on Pentecost. He was simply manifested in a different way. Why is the receiving of the Spirit called a baptism of the Spirit in Acts 2 and 10? Because they were immersed (overwhelmed) by the Spirit and had no control as to whether they spoke in tongues. Those in Corinth were not overwhelmed for they could keep silent if no interpreter was present. All received the same Spirit, He was manifested in different ways. The manifestation of the Spirit gave the apostles the sign they were apostles by laying hands on others (2 Cor. 12:12). Cornelius is different—He was not an apostle. Men received the same Spirit, He manifested Himself differently!

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