Author Archives: Randy Buchman

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About Randy Buchman

I live in Western Maryland, and among my too many pursuits and hobbies, I regularly feed multiple hungry blogs. I played college baseball, coached championship cross country teams at Williamsport (MD) High School, and have been a sportswriter for various publications and online venues. My main profession was as the lead pastor of a church in Hagerstown called Tri-State Fellowship for 28 years before retiring in 2022. I'm also active in Civil War history and work/serve at Antietam National Battlefield with the Antietam Battlefield Guides organization. Occasionally I sleep.

Puzzles Winner for the Cross Words Series

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Congratulations to Joni Sgaggero who was the TSF Cross Words series puzzle solving champion (though a friend of mine who lives outside the area actually got them both correct previously).  The final puzzles were in the devotional on Monday April 15th, and you can see them HERE.

The first and more simple puzzle was solved with the words “cross words for life.”  Indeed, the words that we have been studying are words that give us eternal life with Christ.

The second and more difficult puzzle was the word “infralapsarianism.”  Never heard of that one, eh? Perhaps you’ve heard of its sister term, “supralapsarianism?”  We’ve looked at some big words during this series, and it has been fun to see people really grasping what these words mean, being blessed by the gracious work of God on our behalf, and being equipped to better communicate the Gospel.

These last two big words are theological terms that seek to understand the order of God’s decrees… when did God determine to save mankind – like, before or after man feel into sin? The arguments are exceedingly complicated, and are of course difficult in that we are attempting to understand the God who is above and outside of time … and to bring into the dimensions of our finite world an understanding of what he has done and is doing in salvation.

For winning the puzzles competition, Joni was awarded a brand new BMW M4 in church today … pictured here…

BMW M4

 

Truth Worth Fighting For (Galatians 2:11-21)

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Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time to speak and a time to remain silent. Circumstances determine which course is wisest. Even Jesus did not speak out on every occasion against everything he that knew was wrong. A modern-day maxim says that one should pick his battles wisely.

In today’s devotional reading, we encounter a historic situation where the Apostle Paul chose to pick a battle – with none other than Peter. Wow! Saints Peter and Paul in a dust-up! Readers of the Scripture seem to more often remember the occasion in the book of Acts where Paul had a serious conflict with another giant of the early church – Barnabas. And look – Barnabas shows up in this passage today. He is on Peter’s side of the equation and standing justly in the firing line also for the verbal tongue-lashing Paul lays on Cephas (Peter).

Antioch was a great church in the earliest days of the Gospel going worldwide. There were Jews and Gentiles and all sorts of diversely-gifted people. If you know the story of Acts, you know that Peter certainly understood that the message of Christ was not an exclusively Jewish truth. It was the good news of the final work of Christ that had benefit for all peoples, Jewish and Gentile. Peter openly associated with Gentiles in Antioch, that is, until a group from Jerusalem (“from James”) came to be with them. Among these were those who were of a “circumcision group” – meaning that they had not yet accepted the full message of the Gospel of grace abounding, and they were hence still of an opinion that the only way one could be right with God was to believe in Jesus AND still keep the Law.

The stiff, traditional, old-timer, “we’ve never done it that way before” group in the early church were the believers in the church in Jerusalem – very predominately Jewish. Apparently they also were quite intimidating. I imagine that Peter knew them well from the days of following Christ, the passion week, and the resurrection appearances and Day of Pentecost. Even Barnabas was caught up also with Peter in separating themselves off from fellowshipping and eating with the large Gentile elements in Antioch.

For Paul, this was an unacceptable situation that had to be confronted. It was a physical evidence of an insufficient understanding of the work of Christ and the very nature of the Gospel.  This segregation failed to see that the message of the cross was not merely the latest Jewish thing, it was a totally new work of God for all people. In Paul’s mind, what was at stake … and what needed to be clearly affirmed was the very issue of justification – that it was a work of grace and not at all a work of the Law.

Some of Paul’s arguments in this passage are difficult to understand, but the essence is that any combination of the Law with belief in Christ was a total mixing of oil and water.

I have always loved verse 20, having memorized it as a young boy. Paul says he is identified with Christ in his death, being so loved by the Lord that Christ is worthy of Paul’s whole life being dedicated to serving him in faith. And that application is in the category of what I often speak about as a “timeless truth.”

Paul Opposes Cephas – Galatians 2:11-21

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

The Story Behind the Story (Ephesians 2:1-10)

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And the pastor began to speak to them in parables, saying: 

There was once an exceedingly wealthy man named John who owned a mansion house containing many rooms. For reasons none could understand, he cared about street thugs and young men who had completely lost their way in the world. One day he sought out a young boy named Billy and offered him a room to come and stay at his home, in order that Billy might put behind his world of crime and relational connections to the life of the street. At first Billy was skeptical, and even though there were frustrations with the street life, it was all he knew. He laughed at John, as did his gang of ruffians, but John continued to pursue him with the great opportunity for a total transformation.  And over time, a day came when Billy made the decision to walk out of the hood, and into the mansion. Billy was always thankful for what John had done for him, but over time, he began to remember the details a bit differently than the historical reality. The way his mind recalled them was that, out of all the guys in the hood, he was the smart one who found a good deal and was wise enough to make a choice to change his life. There was a subtle sense within him (not that he actually put words to it) that there was a little something unique about him that made John single him out.  He was pretty proud of his life transformation! Not many ever did such a thing! However, the reality was that, bottom line, Billy really had nothing much to do with his good fortune, it was all because of John that it ever happened at all.

We’ve been talking about some big words – cross words – in this series of sermons and devotionals. I’m going to give you some more today. I realize now that I used to think like Billy, but here is the day that changed. A college professor taught that there are three views about salvation: Pelagianism, Semipelagianism, and efficacious grace.

Pelagianism (named after a guy who lived in the late 300s) is a view that man is not really that badly tainted by sin and that he can work his way into a good position with God by following Christ’s moral example. This is truly works salvation, and I knew that was totally wrong.

Semipelagianism is a view that God sees that man is very sick because of sin, sorta throws down a rope from heaven, and man grabs hold of it if he is smart and ends up being saved from his perilous condition – spiritually rescued like a helicopter with a rope picking up someone off the roof of their house in the midst of a huge flood. I heard this, and at age 18 in college thought – “yep, that’s correct.” But the prof said that “no” it was not.

Efficacious grace is the view that man is total depraved – meaning that he is so lost because of his imputed sin from Adam that he is spiritually dead. A dead person cannot respond to anything. God brings life and salvation – opening the eyes and the mind to understand and respond to the Gospel – for apart from that grace and act of God, the lost soul would not and could not respond. Hence salvation is fully a work of God. It seems that we respond, and in time and space we do respond to the Gospel and are commanded to preach the Word as the vehicle through which God’s grace and truth is disseminated … but the real work of salvation is all of God.

That is what today’s passage is teaching. And when one understands God’s grace in this way, and when one sees what the Lord has done in raising us up and seating us in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus … Wow! It really is a gift. Take these thoughts with you this Sunday to the table of the Lord, and I dare you to stand there with those elements in your hand … with dry eyes.

Ephesians 2:1-10 – Made Alive in Christ

2:1  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Hoping Against Hope (Romans 4:16-25)

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OK… at the risk of leaving some people behind on this one, let’s start off by being a kid again in summer Vacation Bible School and sing together – “Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you, so let’s all praise the Lord.” The first verse in today’s devotional says that Abraham is the father of us all, and indeed he is the father of all those – Jew or Gentile – who have been saved by God’s grace through faith. Just as God is one who has brought to life that which was dead physically (Christ … and as we’ll see in a moment, something else!), God has brought to life all of us who were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins.

Not only did the Christian classic song “Father Abraham” come from today’s devotional passage, so also did the English language idiom “to hope against hope.”  The meaning of this occasionally-used phrase is one of continuing to hope for something when the situation appears entirely bleak. For example, Redskins fans might say of the coming season, “We’re hoping against hope that the Skins will at long last win a Super Bowl.” So you see, this is an expression of hope rendered where there is no substantive reality to have such!  (Okay… you know I’m just kidding … I love them deep, deep, down somewhere in my soul … or should I say that I’m hoping against hope that I do?!).

If you want to keep score, there are two reasons why Abraham should have no hope, but only one reason as to why he should hope against hope.

The first reason for Abraham to feel hopeless was the mirror. When he looked into it, he had my common and similar reaction, “What’s a young man like you doing in a body like that?” He was almost 100 years old. And yes, people lived longer then, but, well, let’s just say that the procreation train had already departed the station!

But there was an even worse reason for Abraham to lack faith. If the mirror experience wasn’t bad enough, when he turned around, there stood Sarah! Oh boy. Yes, a babe in her younger years … but, that was a while ago. Now at age 90, when it says that her “womb was dead,” that is not metaphorical speech!

But, Abraham has ONE good reason to have faith:  He had a promise from God about being a father of many. And that promise was ultimately one from which he did not waver. He believed that the God who called things into being – like the created world – could bring life to the dead situation of their bodies; and since God had said it would happen, he believed it would indeed transpire. This faith in God’s promise was credited (imputed) to Abraham’s account as righteous – declaring him justified! It was not works, circumcision, or the Law that did it – it was faith.

You gotta love it when the Scriptures give you the application and don’t just leave you to figure it out on your own. And the passage says that this was not a one-time thing, but rather that it applies to all of us today.  Christ took our imputed sins, and being delivered over to death paid for them and was raised again. As we believe in this work – understanding these cross words – our faith credits Christ’s righteousness to our account, and we have justification. Whoohoo!

Romans 4:16-25

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”  He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

It Just Feels Right to have to EARN IT! (Romans 4:1-15)

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I used to say that a challenge in our culture for people accepting the Gospel message of God’s extravagant grace was the American work ethic that you’ve got to earn everything that you get. But now, with the rise of a substantial entitlement society, it is not like there is a commensurate rise in people taking hold of the freely offered Gospel. Probably the associated ideas of righteous living and yielding one’s life to a control outside of self are concepts equally difficult for both extremes!

Let me help you through this passage today, as it is not as difficult as it at first may appear. As with many Scriptures, it is helpful if you understand what came immediately before what you are reading. The final portion of chapter 3 (verses 21-31) says that in Christ there is a salvation from sin that is a righteousness (the thing we need) obtained through faith (the way it has actually always been). But Paul anticipates some objections that might be made by Jewish people in regard to valued elements from their revered history. They might ask, “Well what about stuff like good works, circumcision, and the Law – aren’t these things good for something? And aren’t they really important to something like SALVATION?  Hmm?”

So Paul begins to answer this anticipated objection by saying, “Let’s look at Abraham.” Hey, if there is anyone who should be OK with God by some means other than faith, surely it is this incredible guy. But Paul will shoot down their objections 1-2-3 … refuting that Abraham got any merit for salvation from (first) the doing of good works (verses 1-8), secondly circumcision (verses 9-12), and thirdly the Law (verses 13-15).

Paul blows up the idea of works by pointing to the moment of salvation for Abraham in Genesis 15 where the Scripture says that he believed God – not that he DID ANYTHING! – and that faith was what gave him righteous credit. And David is quoted as affirming the same principle.

Then, regarding circumcision – a subject I hate preaching about, but which was a big deal to the Jewish people – Paul points out that Abraham was credited (with imputed righteousness) BEFORE the rite of circumcision was given – like, 14 years before, to be exact. So that didn’t earn him any merit.

And finally, regarding the Law – again a big, big deal to the Jews. Well, it gets even sillier to believe that this contributes to salvation, because the Law would not be given to Moses until about 430 years after the time of Abraham’s faith. For example, that is a longer span of time than it has been to when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth or the King James Bible was authorized! Beyond that, we have already written in this series that the Law brought condemnation, not grace.

Christ has done the work for us on the cross. Our part is to receive the gift in faith. This righteousness is imputed to our account, and we have justification – we are declared righteous. And we don’t earn it.

Romans 4:1-15 – Abraham Justified by Faith

4:1  What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

The Childless Father Abraham (Genesis 15:1-21)

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Down in my neck of the woods locally in what might be called River Rat Country along the Potomac border of Maryland and West Virginia, so many of the long-time locals have unique nicknames. And no, I’m not just talking about “Bubba and Cooter.” Guys often got their names very early in life and have been unable to outgrow them – like one kid named “Pockets.” I don’t think anyone in Williamsport actually knows what his real name is – hopefully his parents remember. They named him that because he always had his pockets full of stuff when he was a tiny kid. And then there was this other boy everyone simply called “Tubby.” You would think that he was a rather rotund fellow, but the last I saw him he was rather small in height and weight for his age – which I am guessing was dissimilar to his shape as a toddler. There are tall guys named “Shorty” and chubby guys named “Tiny.”

There was likewise a fellow in the ancient Near East who had such an unusual name relative to his appearance and circumstances. It was “Exalted Father” (Abram). The problem was that, until age 86, he had no children; and beyond that, the child came through a means other than his wife. And then, before his second child was born 13-14 years later, God came along and changed his name to “Father of Many” (Abraham). This name changed actually occurs two chapters after our passage today:

17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

Imagine what it was like for him when he used his credit card at the local Home Depot. The cashier would look at it and say, “So, Father of Many, of how many are you the father?”  And Abraham’s face would turn as red as if burnt in the desert sun. (I’m not sure if she then said, “You can do it, we can help.”)

Though it must have been difficult at times to sustain, on the bottom line at the end of the day, Abraham had a promise from God that his offspring would number like the stars of the sky. And his faith was solidly placed in that promise that it would indeed happen. This faith was “credited to him as righteousness.” It was imputed to his account (to use the word from last week).

The content of his faith in God’s promise secured for Abraham his standing with God, so it would be true to say that he was indeed justified (declared righteous) by faith. And that is a definition of our word for this week – justification: it is a declaration of righteousness applied due to faith in God’s revealed truth.

There were a lot of circumstances to challenge Abraham’s confidence. Years of childlessness did little to bolster any natural security that this was going to happen. At the beginning of today’s reading, Abram simply states his reality – that without children to inherit his estate, it would fall to the steward of his household, a guy named Eleazer. But God restated his promise (originally given in a covenant in chapter 12), and Abram believed in it. God reaffirmed the covenant, and though the fulfillment would ultimately come, there were to be even more challenges of passing time and circumstances.

So over the next several days, while talking about our cross word of justification, we are also going to see the incredible reality of Abraham’s faith … along with God’s reward.

Are you waiting for something in your life? Are you feeling like you’ve been put on hold by God? Stay faithful with the last word you had from him, do what is right and in keeping with biblical holiness, and God will be faithful to you and reward you in ways beyond your imagination.

Genesis 15:1-21—The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15:1  After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi <river> of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

PUZZLE REVELATION DAY

Today is the big day for figuring out the word search puzzle. For those viewing this on a devise, you may have to go to your computer. and probably the best and easiest thing to do would be to print it out and work on it in that fashion.

There are two final puzzles … find all 68 words from this list and there will be 17 letters remaining. These letters can be unscrambled to make a phrase in the first puzzle. The 17 letters in the second puzzle spell out one long theological word. The first person to get the answer to one or the other (or both) is a winner. Email the answer to me at randy@tristatefellowship.org

The words:

Adoption / Agape / Aloes / Assurance / Atonement / Blood / Curse / Dark / Deity / Efficacious Grace / Elect / Eloi / Eternity/ Evil / Expiation / Faith / Fall / Favor / Finish / Forgiveness / Freedom / Glorification / Glory / God / Good / Gospel / Grace / Hell / Holiness / Hope / Imputation / Innocence / Jeshua / Jesus / Judgment / Justification / Lamb / Law / Love / Mercy / Nails / Noon / Open / Payment / Peace / Propitiation / Pulse / Pure / Ransom / Reconciliation / Redemption / Restoration / Regenerate / Righteousness / Sacrifice / Salvation / Sanctification / Satan Denied / Sin / Sonship / Thief / Tomb / Torn / Tree / Truth / Veil / Vicarious / Wrath

PUZZLE 1 – this is fairly easy

puzzle day 21a

PUZZLE 2 – this one is difficult!

puzzle day 21b

Just Put it on my Bill (Philemon 1:1-21)

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If you read the passage first today, I know what you’re thinking: “Really Randy? You had us read this little personal letter at the end of a week of devotionals on the theological topic of imputation?”  Yep! Since I’m writing this way in advance of when it is seen by you, I might just even preach on it on April 7th… although it will be difficult to not use Romans 5.

Have you ever wanted someone to do something, all the while realizing that it is indeed going to cost them some money to make it happen? Perhaps it is a scenario where you know something is good for them, or perhaps it is simply the right thing to do – though you are not sure they will quite see it the same way as you do? You hope so, but you’re not quite sure how they will react when you present it to them. In that you have a high view of them, you expect that it will be well-received, but you can’t quite be positive. So, to make sure that the proper deed will be accomplished, while asking and challenging the person to be responsible and take the high ground position, even with its costs, you finish off your request by saying, “If you won’t pay for it, I will.” 

That is what is happening in this personal letter from the Apostle Paul to a fellow named Philemon. This recipient of the letter – an apparently wealthy individual who lived in Colossae and was a part of the church of the Colossians – had a slave named Onesimus who had run away. In the course of God’s sovereignly-directed events, Onesimus comes into contact with Paul, is converted to the faith, and is now being sent back to his owner Philemon.

There is not time now to talk about the issue of slavery in the Roman Empire. Understand that it was not exactly like slavery in American history, and in fact more than half of the population were slaves. Owners and slaves were in the same church together, and Paul did not write to upset these conventions. Though we might picture it more like indentured servitude, it was a crime to do as Onesimus had done.

So Paul writes to implore Philemon to accept him back. Paul speaks of the great benefit he has received from Onesimus, and he tells the owner that he will now not only have a better worker, he will be welcoming back a brother in Christ.

The reason this passage is being used in this series is because of verse 18 – If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.  Paul is saying to Philemon that if it is a matter of not accepting him back because of financial loss, that the owner should charge the loss to Paul’s account and he would make good on the debt. This is an example of imputation – the placing of a debt to another’s account, and the consequent transfer of credit that frees the person from the pending execution if the debt is not paid.

So we finish this week on the great doctrine of imputation, thankful – as was the theme in the sermon – that we have a new identity by being “in Christ” … we have Christ’s righteousness which gives us a standing as God’s children. That’s a pretty good deal for a bunch of broken sinners!

Philemon 1:1-21

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

12 I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Here is a final set of cross words before all the words are given in the next devotional on Monday. There will be additional words there in a master list that were never listed or defined over the past four weeks:

Glorification – This is a word that defines the final result of our salvation, where our earthly bodies are replaced by eternal spiritual bodies.

Regenerate – or Regeneration – speaks of the actual giving of new life – the very moment of salvation. See Titus 3:5.

Forgiveness – No secret meaning here, as this is our great need as sinners; and to be forgiven by God is the ultimate forgiveness.

Holiness – This is the character of God and is the goal of our lives to grow more and more in this direction.

Sanctification – The process of growing in holiness is called sanctification. There is positional sanctification = our perfect standing before God based upon the cross. There is progressive sanctification = the ups and downs of becoming more and more like Christ. And there is perfect sanctification = the reward of the perfect bodies we receive on the other side.

puzzle day 20

Back to Egypt Syndrome (Galatians 3:1-10)

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Over the years of coaching high school kids I have had some who start out with the cross country team in the fall of their freshman year and really perform well. They meet a whole new group of good kids and friends, and their high school career is off to a great start. But along the way, something happens to interfere with their early success. Usually it is something to do with a relationship – like a girl getting involved with a guy who distracts her from the disciplines of academics and athletics, or it could be a guy who simply chooses to travel with a bad crowd. It is terribly sad to see someone who started so well and had so much potential get off the tracks in the wrong direction.

But it has not only been with adolescents that I have seen this happen. Over the decades as a pastor I have sadly seen people come to know Christ, walk with him and serve well for a time, but ultimately make choices or be drawn away to a different crowd of people and perspectives. You can see them disintegrating in front of everyone and you can even confront it, but the attraction is strong and it often takes folks away from a healthy place in life.

We might term this spiritual declension “Back to Egypt Syndrome.” There were a number of times in the Old Testament where God’s covenant people ran off to Egypt when things got tough in the land of promise.

And in our passage today, Paul is writing to essentially ask the Galatians what happened that had taken them away from their previous strong position of faith in Christ. The issue was that a group of teachers had come into the assembly to promote the idea that along with the gospel message of Christ, the Old Testament Law requirements still needed to be kept. And Paul is battling this heresy by asking them in our reading today how they had come to faith originally – was it through Christ? or through the Law? … well of course it was through Jesus and their faith in him and his cross work on their behalf.

To support the argument, Paul tells them that their connection to God is not based upon their works of keeping the law, but rather upon faith. And the great father Abraham was likewise the same – not having his good standing imputed to his account because he performed a long series of prescribed deeds, but because he believed in God’s promise to him. His faith was credited (imputed) as righteousness.

The fact is that salvation has always been the same; it has always been by grace through faith. What has changed over time is the content of the faith. For Abraham, it was in God’s promise; and for the Galatians, it is in the work of Christ. But in neither case was it by the Law – which was not yet even given in Abraham’s day, and which served only to point out sin and the inability of man to be perfect. It was an instrument of condemnation, so why would they want to trust in that when they had the better way of knowing God through Jesus Christ?

People still do go “back to Egypt” spiritually. You have all that you need in Christ and by means of his righteousness imputed to your account.  Trusting God – even in the hard times – is the way of living by faith as well as being saved by faith.

Galatians 3:1-10

3:1  You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?  4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”  9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 

Cross Words for today to add to the word search puzzle:

Elect – This is a controversial word, as is the doctrine of election. But the Bible says that believers are the elect, and it is a word that does mean choosing. The argument is about what is election based upon, and that is a subject for another day!

Adoption – This is a wonderful cross word and concept – to have been taken into the very family of God as his own children!

Sonship – The New Testament speaks often that believers are members of God’s family, and this is called sonship.

Gospel – The Good News.

puzzle day 19

One Check that Pays all Debts (Hebrews 10:1-18)

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Here we are just five days away from the most odious of all days on the calendar – April 15th. To be honest with myself and you, it is not just that it involves the payment that it does – though I support the Reaganesque concept of economic growth resultant from lower tax rates. The bigger problem is the actual annual headache it produces in terms of the piles of paperwork and meetings with accountants, etc. This is all greatly exasperated by family business ownership ventures along with unique tax categories for the clergy part of it – involving employee status for the IRS but self-employed status in terms of social security (I’m not making that up!). It is a mess to sort out!

It would be so wonderful to have a situation where it was simply not necessary anymore. Imagine that! Think about what it would be like to not have to pay so much money toward a government that spends so much of it (along with our kids’ and grandkids’ future money) in ways that are far from necessary or honorable. Imagine never again having to gather financial information, tax forms, accountant appointments, etc. That would be fantastic! It is said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The annual experience of dealing with the latter makes you want to experience the former!

In the Old Testament / Old Covenant system of worship, it must have been a similar sort of pain to have to deal with sin. After arguing with his wife about whether the sheep in the backyard were a flock or a herd (either is correct), the worshipper was always having to pick out the best young lamb for yet another sacrifice. In honest self-evaluation, it was unjust to be angry about the situation – after all, as a sinner there was no ground for any attitude other than humble contrition and gratitude that a method existed for paying the great debt of sin. It was an annual reminder that a final payment had not been made, and that the best that could be found was always only temporary and short of the perfect ideal.

But in Christ, a new day has come. A new priest has come. This priest was like no other; he was of a different sort. He also brought a new sacrifice unlike any other. It was not some dumb bull or goat (like all the priests heretofore had done). He himself was the sacrifice, as well as the priest. The debt of the old system was paid and an entirely new system established. The new way had no necessity for annual or regular payments, all because there was no more debt to be paid. In fact, the debts have not only been paid, they have been erased and forgotten forever.

So, aren’t you glad that this coming Sunday you don’t have to bring a goat, sheep, bull, turtledove or whatever and slit its throat and sprinkle blood all over the place and burn it on an altar?  Yep!  And … uh … you ARE going to be there at church, right? I mean, after all, isn’t that the least you could do in light of what we’ve been studying about these cross words?

Now that I have gotten this far with these thoughts, and fearing that you might think I’m laying a guilt trip on you that is self-serving, I’m going to ask you to read just a bit farther in the chapter through verse 25.  Here it is: 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

OK – YES, I’M YELLING NOW! AND I’M DOING IT FROM THE HIGH GROUND OF BIBLICAL TRUTH! AND I DO NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT IT AT ALL. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT VALUING REGULAR ATTENDANCE WITH GOD’S PEOPLE. YOU NEED US; WE NEED YOU! DON’T GET INTO A HABIT OF NOT DOING IT! BE THERE!  I’LL SEE YOU SUNDAY.

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a]

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Cross Words for today …

Vicarious – This is really another word for “substitution” … the idea of how Christ took our place. In theology it is often used with the word atonement. So, to say “vicarious substitutionary atonement” would be to almost pile up redundant modifiers.

Assurance – The concept of the once-for-all final payment of Christ gives us assurance of salvation.

Efficacious Grace – This means that God’s grace has efficacy = sufficiency… that it works!

puzzle day 18

The Ultimate Innocence Project Client (Isaiah 53:1-12)

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It would be a terrible thing to be falsely accused of a crime, tried by jury, found guilty, and sentenced to death. But it does happen; and if it happened to you, it would be your desire to have someone contend for your innocence. There is an organization called “The Innocence Project,” defined on their web page as “a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent further injustice.” There have been 305 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States… 18 of whom were on death row. In about one-half of cases, the actual perpetrator of the crime has been identified.

It is one thing to be falsely accused and sentenced for someone else’s crime, but it would be even more incredible to willingly offer oneself as the substitute for the guilt and death sentence of another – and to do it in such a manner as to not murmur nor complain in any way. And that is what Jesus Christ has done for us as he has taken our place as our substitute – having our sin imputed to his account that he may make the substitutionary atonement for it – done willingly in love.

Throughout this series we have talked about the Old Testament / Old Covenant method of a lamb taking the place of the guilty sinner. We have seen this on the Day of Atonement and the Passover event and commemoration. As well, we recall to mind the Scripture that Christ is the Lamb of God and the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And today, we see this incredible passage from Isaiah – written by the prophet hundreds of years in advance of the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross.

We see Christ depicted as an ordinary man who had placed upon him the transgressions of mankind. The scene was terribly gruesome, the suffering too difficult to view. See the verbs deployed by Isaiah: punished, despised, stricken, afflicted, pierced, crushed, oppressed, cut off.

The passage abounds with sheep references as well, speaking of how we in our humanity resemble the stupid side of sheepdom – the capacity for wandering away and getting lost in the self-absorbed activity of eating and engaging in creature comforts.

The lamb illustration is also used of Christ’s work, though it is not a perfect picture. Only one aspect of a lamb is selected to make one point – that being the silence of the animal when not complaining about what is going to happen to it. But unlike the daft lamb, Christ knew what was to come in bearing the sufferings of the cross. He wrestled mightily with it in the Garden of Gethsemane, but having dealt with it there, in total submission and obedience to the Father, Jesus set his face to go to the cross willingly as our substitute.

Our sin – imputed to us from Adam, and then transferred from us to Christ’s account – has been judged and God has been propitiated. So why not receive the imputed righteousness of Christ that makes us adopted children of God? The ultimate Innocence Project guy has taken your place and the debt is fully paid. You can be free!

Isaiah 53:1-12    

53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppressionand judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of lifeand be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,and he will divide the spoils with the strong,because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Cross Words for today:

Peace – Often the Scriptures speak of the new condition of peace that exists when the work of the cross has made and opened a restored condition of peace between God and man.

Torn – This word is used of the body of Christ upon the cross. It fits well with the verbs used in today’s Isaiah passage.

Pure – A state of innocence exists when something is pure – free from the stain, filth, and debt of sin. 

puzzle day 17