A Life Worthy

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain  (1 Corinthians 15:2).

Huh?

In vain?

For crying out loud, Paul! Couldn’t you leave well enough alone? I was feeling all warm and fuzzy and gospely, and then you had to go and throw in, “Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” Does this mean I can lose my salvation?

Breathe, Beloved.

Go back up and read the whole verse.

The condition is there–if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. What word is Paul talking about? Well, he’s going to go into that in a minute, but for the nonce let’s focus on this phrase.

Do you hold firmly to the gospel, Beloved?

I mean, have you staked everything on it? Is the truth of Christ’s love at the very center of your identity?

Then you’ve got nothing to worry about.

But

if you want to tell me that Jesus is a great addition to your life, that he’s your buddy, your copilot, your spiritual counselor…

then you’ve got issues, because Jesus allows for none of that.

He is, first and last, your King

your Lord

your God.

The world doesn’t believe it, but then you are not of the world, are you?

Are you?

Happy Monday, Beloved

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way  (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).

The sun rises and sets.

The tide comes in and goes out.

The stars are so firmly set in their patterns that we can know what the night sky looked like 1000 years ago and how it will look 1000 years from now.

Rain will come the day I wash my car.

Beloved, we have been given a world of order, by a God of order.

So often, it is we who bring chaos.

One of the great arguments in favor of the existence of God is the very nature of the world around us, the abundant evidence for a divine design. 

That Designer does not emulate us; He calls us to emulate Him.

When we enter His sanctuary, our worship should not be random or tumultuous, but should reflect the God we worship.

Don’t get me wrong–I’m not saying that God is predictable. My life is full of “Well, I never saw that coming” moments.

No, He is not predictable

but 

He is consistent.

He is trustworthy,

like sunrise

or gravity

or grace

Happy Thursday, Beloved

In the Law it is written:

“Through men of strange tongues 

And through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

But even then they will not listen to me,”

says the Lord.

Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers  (1 Corinthians 14:21-22).

Paul is quoting Isaiah here, which seems only fair since so many people quote Paul. In the quote, God seems to be saying that through outsiders–Assyrian invaders, in this case–God was going to speak judgment upon His unrepentant children.  By extension, Paul says that tongues in general are a sign to those who do not follow God. Prophecy, on the other hand, was for believers. They trusted God to speak through His prophets, and would listen to His word through them.

I don’t know about your local church, but I am unlikely to see either tongues–Assyrian or other–or prophecy in my church on a Sunday morning. Does that mean that we are way out of biblical compliance?

Well, we might be–but I don’t think it’s because of this.

Beloved, I’ve told you before that I am not going to weigh in on whether or not the gifts are still active in the Church. I just don’t feel competent in that particular arena. What you read in these lines–both of you–are simply the musings of Michael and his big fat study Bible. Besides, I think that focusing on these gifts is missing the point. At least part of Paul’s message here is that God is at work, through His Holy Spirit, to draw both believers and unbelievers closer to Himself. As the next few passages will show, He wants an orderly worship service, both because it reflects His nature and because He doesn’t want people thinking church is a carnival. Let’s keep our eyes on that particular ball, shall we? God wants our worship to glorify Him and to draw all people closer to Him.

That, I can get my brain around.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved