Week 17, Thursday

Mark 4: The parable of the sower
What an interesting story! Read about the different types of soil. What soil have you been? What soil are you now? How do you think the "soil of our heart" gets to be the way it is? How do you think our heart soil can be softened? What do you think Jesus would say about this?

Week 13, Wednesday

Romans 6:1-2 | After laying out the strongest argument for the fact that we are saved by grace (not works), Paul opens Chapter 6 with a compelling counterpoint. He writes, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" How early did he realize that this would be the temptation to new believers and old! Even today, 2000 years later, that is still the accusation against many Christians. "They use grace as a license to sin." But Paul made the answer clear in verse 2: "By no means!" Salvation by grace alone does not mean that we are free to live our lives chasing every earthly lust. Rather, Paul argues, we died to such things through our new found salvation. God's grace actually frees us to do good works - even though those works never did and never will save us.

Week 9, Tuesday

Matthew 3: The baptism of Jesus and the Trinity. Many non-believers in the Trinity use this chapter to "prove" their point that the Trinity doesn't make sense. They reason, "God cannot be One - here we see that the Father speaks to the Son as the Spirit descends upon him." This reveals a misunderstanding of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. God is ONE in being and THREE in persons. That means that while there is no difference in being or essence between Father and Son, there is a distinction between Father and Son in the sense of "personhood". The person of the Son is distinct from the person of the Father. The Father was not baptized; the Son was. Christians has never denied this distinction. Just remember: there is a distinction in the sense of "persons", but no distinction in the sense of "being" or "essence". This text is in complete harmony with the doctrine of the Trinity.

Week 8, Monday

2 Cor 9:11 "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion..."

These passages from Paul to the church in Corinth are very instructive for us. Many preachers teach that God wants to make us rich so we can have ridiculously indulgent lifestyles. But that's not what Paul is saying. Look at the "so that". Why does God bless us financially? So that we can be generous.

Here's a challenging question: "Whom are you generous toward?" Most people are generous with themselves. I want to be generous toward God. I want to give to his Kingdom, investing my money first and foremost in the only thing that makes it beyond this world: people. I want to give my life and my money to help people pursue God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Week 7, Monday

1 Corinthians 15:29 - Baptism for the dead
Lots of questions on this one. Does Paul endorse baptism for the dead? Was it a Christian practice? Here's the text: "29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?"

Let's break this down:
1. Paul is not associating himself with this practice; he is simply acknowledging that there are people who do this. Notice that he separates Christians ("and as for us") from the group that was baptizing for the dead.
2. Baptism for the dead was a common practice of Greek pagans (non-Christians). He is using a modern example to point out that many believe in the resurrection of the dead (Christians and pagans). The rest of the chapter gives the particulars of the Christian beliefs about resurrection.
3. Though there may be debate about the specifics of this passage, one thing is clear: the early Christians did not practice baptism for the dead - vicariously standing in for deceased people as if a living person's good works could be applied to someone who had already died. The Bible makes it exceedingly clear everywhere - we are saved by faith and not works. Each person is responsible for his or her own decision to accept Christ by faith - and it must happen in this lifetime. There is no second chance after death to respond to Christ, for "today is the day of our salvation".

Have you made that decision yet? If not, try 101.

Week 5, Monday

I love Scott's commentary on 1 Thess 2: "Our crowning achievement will not be our jobs or even our families; it will be the people we have led to faith and maturity in Christ." That's a pretty loaded statement. And I actually believe it. Think about it: leading someone to Christ (including our kids) is the most important thing we could ever do. What matters more than eternity? But do we really believe this? Do we organize our lives, our families, our church around this? What do you think?

Week 4, Wednesday

Galatians is most impacting when you read it with the situation in mind. The Judaizers were pseudo-Christians who tried to teach the young church that you had to jump through hoops to be saved. Pay attention to Paul's passion as he writes. Heresy is no small thing! He sets the record straight right away.