To fully appreciate grace you must first understand original sin. Ephesians 2:1–5 (NIV) 2 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. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 15: The Doctrine of Original Sin We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. It is a corruption of all nature— an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy— not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the “body of this death.” Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation. Summary Dead. Not sick. There's a big difference between those two conditions. A sick person still has hope. The right combination of medicine, therapy and internal grit will bring her back to health and strength. But a dead person? Hopeless. Nothing more can be done; no amount of hospitalization can bring him back to life. This is the condition that you were born in: "dead in your transgressions and sins." There are few universal conditions that the Bible describes that apply to all people, living in all places, at all times in history, but this is one of them. "All of us," writes Paul, lived with the primary goal of "gratifying the cravings of our flesh [sarx] and following its desires and thoughts." Adam's sin corrupted humanity, as our Confession describes it, in a way that's "so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race." This might not seem fair to you, that a rebellious decision thousands of years ago that you had no control over contaminated you so thoroughly. That is, until you begin doing divine math adding up the sin you've piled on top of Adam's and realize all you've done is compound things. Yet the hopeless death that sin has set you in, as problematic as it is, isn't even your biggest problem. The bigger problem is the holy wrath of God, whose perfectly just nature makes it necessary for Him to lash out in righteous anger against even the slightest trespass (v3b). Even if, somehow, you could escape death, you'd still have to face a perfectly good God's unmitigated, yet fully justified, anger. Dig Deeper There's so much good stuff to read about in the Bible. It certainly is "a lamp for our feet, and a light on our path (Psalm 119:105)" providing endless wisdom and insight that improves our daily life. And it's good to dwell on and dig deep into this wisdom, and to focus on the practical aspects of what God has revealed to us in His Word. But all of that good stuff is beside the point. The point of every chapter and every verse of the Bible is to help you understand the hopeless condition that original sin has put you in, not to depress you or crush your spirit, but rather so that that you fully understand the significance of that tiny little aversive conjunction at the beginning of the fourth verse: But. This is the wonderful news of the gospel: that you were born dead - not just sick - in your sins and that, by your very nature, you are an object of God's wrath; BUT God, who is rich in mercy and because of His great love, made you alive in Christ even when you were dead in sin (v4-5). It's not until you truly understand this ugly doctrine called original sin that you can truly understand these most monumental words of scripture: "It is by grace you have been saved." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is great in love and rich in mercy; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will no longer follow the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 22

What in the world does it mean that the evil one controls the world? 1 John 5:19-20 (ESV) 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 15: The Doctrine of Original Sin We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. It is a corruption of all nature— an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy— not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the “body of this death.” Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation. Summary The way John put it doesn't sound right, does it. How could he write "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one?" Doesn't this seem to fly in the face of the two weeks we recently spent coming to understand how the doctrine of God's providence teaches that God ordains everything that comes to pass? How can the evil one control the world if God Almighty controls all things? The solution to our dilemma is understanding that the word 'world' has different meanings in different contexts. For example, the exact word John uses here is kosmos, which is the same word we still use to describe the entire world - not just our planet, but the sun, moon, stars, galaxies, and so forth. But clearly the evil one doesn't have power or control over any of these things! Another clue comes in how John used the word 'world' earlier, when he commanded us to "not love the world or anything in the world (1 John 2:15)." Clearly he doesn't mean we can't love spring wildflowers or the smell of a freshly tilled field, or other beautiful things or people in God's kosmos! What the Bible so often means when it uses the word 'world' in this sort of context is precisely what our Confession is currently unpacking for us: a world of people hopelessly addicted to sin. Such people certainly are "in the power of the evil one." His power is not absolute, and mysteriously, even the evil one is subject to God's sovereignty, but yet he has an entire arsenal of distractions, attractions, and lies that he uses to control people born with a comprehensive sin infection like puppets. Dig Deeper It's good to be reminded that "the whole world is under control of the evil one (NIV)," but that's not the primary point John wants you to remember from this passage. The big idea that John tells you here is that "we know that we are from God." In other words, because you have been chosen to be set apart by God before the creation of the world, and because your sin has been fully atoned for by the blood of Christ, and because your heart/mind has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer included in the definition of the word 'world' when it's used in this context. This means the evil one doesn't have one bit of power over you! John here explains exactly what it means to have your heart/mind regenerated. Jesus, the Son of God, "has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true." Whereas sin previously had blinded your mind to God's truth, you can now fully understand and know Jesus, who "is the true God and eternal life." Once again we see that the key to living as Christians is using the muscle between our ears. Since you've been "given understanding," keep doing what you're doing right now, "so that you may know him" more and more by learning to distinguish the beautiful kosmos God has created from the fallen, sinful world under the power of the evil one. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whom we are from and His Son, Jesus Christ who "is the true God and eternal life." ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the understanding He's given you, and pray for the discipline to exercise and grow your knowledge so you can separate yourself from the fallen, sinful world. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 21

Was the great flood a symbol of God's justice, or His mercy? Yes. Genesis 8:20-22 (ESV) CONTEXT: Noah, his family and all of the animals have just come out of the ark. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 15: The Doctrine of Original Sin We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. It is a corruption of all nature— an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy— not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the “body of this death.” Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation. Summary Was the great flood a symbol of God's justice, or His mercy? Yes. The flood narrative begins with these words from the sixth chapter of Genesis: 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. God certainly was justified in raining His justice down upon His rebellious creation drop by drop until the whole earth was inundated, snuffing out all life. Well, not all life; God in His great mercy preserved the life of Noah, his family, and two of every kind of animal. But as Noah and crew disembark their massive lifeboat and begin the process of resettling the newly 'washed' earth, it becomes immediately clear that the root of the problem persisted. That God immediately makes a covenantal promise to them shouldn't be surprising, for God always deals with His image bearers within a covenantal framework. But in the midst of the wonderful promises that God will never again destroy all living creatures in a flood, and that the seasons will continue without ceasing, God makes it painfully clear that the issue which precipitated the flood in the first place will continue: ...The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Dig Deeper Sin is not a learned behavior. Certainly many specific sins are the result of people replicating what they've seen done by others, which is why the example parents set for subsequent generations is so critically important, but our sinful condition is something we're born into. More than that, says King David. It's something we're conceived in (Psalm 51:5). So the story of the great flood is not just a giant 'do-over' opportunity that God gives to man. Just a paragraph after God seals this covenant with creation by setting a rainbow in the sky, Noah and his sons have already fallen into the most grievous of sins. They weren't imitating the sins of others, for there was nobody left to imitate; they were just following their heart. Sin and guilt is so intertwined with you that it's wrapped up in your DNA. This is why the New Testament emphasizes your need to not just change your behavior, but to change your very nature; you need to go from being in Adam and his sin to being grafted into Christ and His righteousness. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is fully just and fully merciful, and who provides His people with rescue, just as He did for believing Noah and his family; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that more and more you will die to the sinful nature you were conceived in and come to new life in Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 20

Death has come into the world, and it was man that held the door wide open. Find out how to escape. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (NIV) 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 15: The Doctrine of Original Sin We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. It is a corruption of all nature— an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy— not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the “body of this death.” Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation. Summary God is nothing if not true to His word. He told Adam that death would result from eating the forbidden fruit. The serpent, who Jesus would later refer to as the father of lies, twisted God's words, telling the woman that "you will not certainly die" upon eating the fruit, and sure enough, she didn't! In fact, she kept right on living! And so did Adam after he ate. Yet God would remain faithful to His word, and death would come. It's one of the first things He told Adam as the curses came raining down: "You [will] return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." And death did come. First to Adam's son Abel, at the hands of his brother, no less. But then nearly a millennia went by before Adam himself died when he was 930 years old (Genesis 5:5). But it's at this point that the way Genesis tells the story changes. The repeated refrain of "and God saw that it was good" that sets the pace for the creation narrative transforms into the phrase "and he died," repeated eight times in Genesis 5 alone. Death had come into the world, and it was man that held the door wide open. And although man's years are prolonged far more than we deserve, especially in those early generations, death ultimately is inescapable. Paul, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, makes that exceedingly clear: "In Adam, all die." Dig Deeper Paul doesn't write these words reminding us of the certainty of death just to rub it in and remind us that we're getting what we deserve. Quite the opposite, in fact! These words come in the midst of one of the strongest defences of the bodily resurrection of Jesus! These words come to announce the good news that the resurrection of the dead and new life in Christ are every bit as certain as what death is. Maybe you've noticed in our Bible reading plan over the years that we give a massive amount of attention to Adam. Today's passage is one of the primary reasons why we do! These verses help make clear that there are only two types of people in this world: those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ. All people are born in Adam, having inherited original sin, which instills in us a propensity to sin, and the wages of this sin is death (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23). But the heart of Christianity is that you can change your status before God. You don't have to be represented by Adam any longer! You can now be represented by another man, Jesus Christ. Just as Adam plunged you into death, Christ brings you resurrection. Just as the certainty of God's curse hangs over all who remain in Adam, "all in Christ will be made alive (v22)." Be absolutely sure that your life is "hidden with Christ in God (Ephesians 3:9)!" AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who keeps His Word perfectly; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for giving man a new covenant representative in His Son, and pray that you will cling to more to Him and less to Adam; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 19

You already know what a mess this world is... now find out why. Romans 5:12-15 (NIV) 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 15: The Doctrine of Original Sin We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. It is a corruption of all nature— an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy— not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the “body of this death.” Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation. Summary For the next two weeks we we have the unhappy task of understanding the concept known as original sin. That term can be misleading, as if 'original' refers to the very first sin, as it's recorded in Genesis 3. Certainly that 'O-G' sin in which Adam and his wife ate the forbidden fruit is the origin of every sin that followed, but the theological term original sin describes your nature more than it does your history. Original sin, as one dictionary puts it, is "that, as a result of Adam’s fall, all mankind are sinners by nature, having a propensity to sin that underlies every actual sin." Paul explains this in today's opening verse. When Adam broke God's command, "sin entered the world." In other words, Adam's transgression did not just make him a sinner, rather it infected the entire world (literally: kosmos). A few chapters after today's passage, Paul writes that "the creation was subjected to frustration..." and is in "bondage to decay (8:20-21)." Everything that God had declared to be good upon its creation was now smeared and tarnished. Understanding the doctrine of original sin helps make sense of the frustrated mess we see in our own lives and everything around us. We know this is not the way God created things, and we also get how things became the way they are. But all of these problems pale in comparison to the primary issue Adam's disobedience unleashed: death. "Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." Dig Deeper This doctrine is miserable. It was way more fun digging deeper into God's providential care, or coming to understand exactly what it means to be an image bearer of God. It's tempting just to skip over these next couple of weeks and just dive into the details of how it is that Jesus saved us. But that's just the thing; if you want to fully understand the wonderful details of your salvation, you have to first understand the miserable implications of the condition caused by "Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come (v14)." The better you come to know Adam and the original sin he unleashed, the better you will appreciate all of the wonderful complexities that Jesus accomplished in His life, death and resurrection. Jesus fulfilled every expectation that He had placed on that first man which He formed out of the dust. But He kept the command that Adam broke, and His perfect obedience became the perfect antidote for the sin and death resulting from original sin. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who makes grace possible for those infected by original sin; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the patience and endurance to understand ugly doctrines like original sin so that you can better appreciate the wonderful doctrines of grace and providence; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 18

God sovereignly puts new life into dead sticks like you. John 15:1-8 (NIV): “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man Man subjected himself willingly to sin, becoming wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is “given him from heaven.” For who can boast of being able to do anything good by himself, since Christ says, “No one can come to me unless my Father who sent me draws him”? Who can glory in his own will when he understands that “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God”? Who can speak of his own knowledge in view of the fact that “the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God”? In short, who can produce a single thought, since he knows that we are “not able to think a thing” about ourselves, by ourselves, but that “our ability is from God”? And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: “God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God’s understanding and will apart from Christ’s involvement, as he teaches us when he says, “Without me you can do nothing.” Summary Nobody would berate the branch of an apple tree laying on the ground, broken off for one reason or another, for not producing apples. Whether you understand the science behind it or not, it's more or less common sense to understand that this limb, which once pulsated with life, energy and the ability to foster the growth of delicious and nutritious fruit, is nothing more than a cold, lifeless stick once detached from the tree. So although Jesus' metaphor here (this passage isn't a parable, since it's a comparison rather than a story) seems to make sense, there is something quite odd about it. It's obvious that branches must remain in the vine to bear fruit, that unproductive branches are cut off, and that once detached they wither, are piled up and burned. Furthermore, it doesn't require too much imagination to understand how this applies to us as people who need to remain connected to our Creator. What's so odd is that Jesus needs to point this out. Our sinful instinct is so strong that we look past what ought to be so basic and straightforward - that our lives completely depend upon our connection to the giver of life - because we'd so much rather be our own independent tree rather than a measly branch. Jesus summarizes the entire Bible in v8. You were created by the Father to glorify Him by bearing much fruit, and the way you do that is by showing yourself to be Christ's disciple. In the hours right before His crucifixion, Jesus presents His disciples, both then and now, with only two alternatives: remain in Him and bear the fruit you were created for, or be broken off and thrown into the fire. Dig Deeper Certainly this teaching from Jesus has all sorts of applications, but we're reading it here today in the context of understanding that our ability to come to Jesus for salvation is fully dependent upon God's sovereignty. "Apart from me," Jesus tells us, "you can do nothing." In other words, on our own, as fallen, sinful human beings, we have all the capabilities of a dried out, dead stick. Just as it would be ludicrous to expect a broken off branch to elevate itself to its previous height and somehow graft itself back on to the tree, it's impossible for anybody to lift themselves back up to the sinless condition God created man in. As Paul puts it so plainly, "you were dead in your transgressions and sins" before being made alive (Ephesians 2:1). This is the miracle of how the Bible presents salvation. You were born in sin, as spiritually withered and lifeless as the broken off branches in this passage and the dried out bones piled up in Ezekiel 37. Yet God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, has picked you up, breathed new life into you, and reattached you to the "true vine," Jesus Christ, so that you might bear fruit. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is the gardener who cuts off branches that bear no fruit and prunes the ones that do so that they'll bear even more fruit; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for reattaching you to the true vine and pray that in Him you will bear much fruit; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 17

You're not all that different from a Blue Angels pilot. Seriously. Philippians 2:12–13 (NIV) CONTEXT: This passage immediately follows the famous passage about Christ that begins with "Who, being in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage..." and ends with "every knee shall bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father." 12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man Man subjected himself willingly to sin, becoming wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is “given him from heaven.” For who can boast of being able to do anything good by himself, since Christ says, “No one can come to me unless my Father who sent me draws him”? Who can glory in his own will when he understands that “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God”? Who can speak of his own knowledge in view of the fact that “the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God”? In short, who can produce a single thought, since he knows that we are “not able to think a thing” about ourselves, by ourselves, but that “our ability is from God”? And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: “God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God’s understanding and will apart from Christ’s involvement, as he teaches us when he says, “Without me you can do nothing.” Summary Thank God for that comma. We don't pay enough attention to punctuation in our day and age, but this little mark in the lower right corner of the word 'trembling' at the end of v12 is massively important. For if it was rounder - just a tiny little speck that indicated the end of a sentence rather than the end of a clause - it would deliver really bad news: "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" on your own. Period. Such a statement, especially if it ended the paragraph, would mean that your eternal salvation is fully dependent upon your efforts to bring it to completion. That certainly would be a good reason for fear and trembling. So be very grateful for the little tail added to the period that transforms it into a comma, because it means there's more to the sentence. It means there's more you need to know about how your salvation is worked out. And it's in that second half that the good news comes: you're not dependent upon yourself to fuel your efforts! It's "God who is working in you to fulfill his good purpose" of saving you! This idea of God working in you (not with you!) is not a unique idea presented only in this one passage. The NIV footnote in v13 points to five other examples of the same idea (Ezr 1:5; 1 Co 12:6; 15:10; Gal 2:8; Heb 13:21). Dig Deeper Certainly the Bible is not telling you here to live a life marked by terror and dread when it calls you to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Such a thought flies in the face of the dozens passages conveying peace and reassurance to frightened believers. I once got to talk to a Navy Blue Angels pilot at an air show. I had assumed that one is a Blue Angels pilot for years in order to master the intricate aerial maneuvers that must be carried out with perfect timing and form. But he told me that the pilots rotate in and out of the group annually so that they never grow complacent while flying. In other words, the Navy expects these pilots to fly with "fear and trembling" every time. It doesn't mean they're afraid; it simply means every part of them is dialed in every time they take off. This is what you're called to as a Christian. God is "working in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose," but you are not just a passive passenger along for the ride. Each day, dial yourself in with fear and trembling to utilize the power, ability and insights God has given you to bring your salvation to completion. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who works in you; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the work He's doing in you, and pray for an attitude of fear and trembling as you fly through life under His command; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 16

The Holy Spirit transforms your incompetence into confidence! 2 Corinthians 3:1–6 (NIV) CONTEXT: Some people in the Corinthian church questioned Paul's authority as an apostle. Paul here responds that the best 'letter of recommendation' testifying that the Holy Spirit was working through him would the transformed lives of these Corinthian church members themselves. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man Man subjected himself willingly to sin, becoming wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is “given him from heaven.” For who can boast of being able to do anything good by himself, since Christ says, “No one can come to me unless my Father who sent me draws him”? Who can glory in his own will when he understands that “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God”? Who can speak of his own knowledge in view of the fact that “the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God”? In short, who can produce a single thought, since he knows that we are “not able to think a thing” about ourselves, by ourselves, but that “our ability is from God”? And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: “God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God’s understanding and will apart from Christ’s involvement, as he teaches us when he says, “Without me you can do nothing.” Summary As we've read the Bible together this week, it hasn't exactly been good for our self esteem. We've been reminded that the only reason we accept God's gracious gift of salvation is because our Father has given us to Christ, and that if left on our own, our mindset is selfishly fixated upon what our sinful nature desires, and hostile to what God desires. As our Confession puts it, "Man subjected himself willingly to sin, becoming wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways." But today's passage reorients how you ought to view yourself. You're not to live wallowing in guilt and depression, rather you must live confidently "through Christ before God (v4)!" Paul quickly qualifies this confidence, writing "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves..." How could we possibly be confident in ourselves when even the best things we've done in our lives are as but "filthy rags" before our perfectly holy God (Isaiah 64:6)? This is what's meant when v6 says "the letter kills;" meaning that God's commands written in scripture, which we have not kept, testify against us! Yet you can live with confidence, because your very life is a "letter from Christ," revealing how people hopelessly mired in sin can have confidence before God because of Christ's salvation, which has been "written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (v3)." Dig Deeper This understanding of mankind's total inability to come to salvation on our own is a hallmark of Reformed theology (ideas which are often referred to as the doctrines of grace, or sometimes called Calvinism; yet as we've been seeing this week and will continue to see, these doctrines are not really an -ism at all, they're just straight up Biblical teaching). But there definitely is a tension in this teaching. On one hand, your will was so enslaved to sin that it could never be described as being free. But on the other, your salvation very much depends on you actively placing your faith in Christ, and furthermore you're to make every effort to grow this faith and cling to your salvation. You can, and must do these things, but remember that "our competence [to participate in our salvation] comes from God." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who "has made us competent as servants of a new covenant (v6);" ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your life will be a beautiful letter from Christ that others can read; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 15

What governs your mind? Romans 8:5-8 (NIV) 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man Man subjected himself willingly to sin, becoming wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is “given him from heaven.” For who can boast of being able to do anything good by himself, since Christ says, “No one can come to me unless my Father who sent me draws him”? Who can glory in his own will when he understands that “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God”? Who can speak of his own knowledge in view of the fact that “the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God”? In short, who can produce a single thought, since he knows that we are “not able to think a thing” about ourselves, by ourselves, but that “our ability is from God”? And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: “God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God’s understanding and will apart from Christ’s involvement, as he teaches us when he says, “Without me you can do nothing.” Summary Mindset; Worldview; Outlook; Attitude. These are just a few of the synonyms of the concept at the heart of this passage. What governs your mind? By what standard do you understand reality and make choices? Certainly there are myriads of perspectives to consider, and things get dicey quickly when you begin to favor one set of cultural inclinations against another while making aesthetic or even moral and ethical determinations, so it makes sense that our world has more or less given up in making any firm distinctions as to what is right and what is wrong. Paul, representing the whole of Biblical insight in this magnificent chapter, makes the choice clear. After all is said and done, there are only two ways to think: you can have your mind set on what the flesh (sarx) desires, or on what the Spirit desires. You can either be governed by death, or life and peace. There's no independence or middle ground, or 'free will' so to speak; you're in one camp or the other - you live either according to the flesh or to the Spirit. You're enslaved either to sin or to righteousness (Romans 6). We often refer to the famous first question & answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism to explain the purpose and meaning of life: "Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." Notice how a mind governed by the sinful nature (flesh/sarx) destines a person to a purposeless existence: "those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God." If you're unable to glorify God, you'll never be able to truly enjoy Him or anything He's made. Dig Deeper So why doesn't everybody make the clearly better choice and live according to the Spirit? Simply put, they cannot. The descendents of Adam are born enslaved to sin (Romans 6:17). In other words, the natural condition for a person is to have "their minds set on what the flesh desires," which results in a "hostility" towards God. Consequently, such people "do not submit to God's law" because they cannot do so, and since the ultimate expression of God's law is to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul, a person cannot independently choose to show love to God by living according to the Spirit's desires. This is what makes grace so amazing. Your Father, who knew you before the dawn of time, chose you to be His own, and put His Spirit in you to give you a new heart/mind, set free from its slavery to sin and governed by life and peace. This is why you, as a redeemed child of God, see and understand the world so differently than the people around you do, and why you have an obligation to live so differently than they do. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who overcame our hostility towards Him by giving us His Spirit; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will live with your mind set on what the Spirit desires; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 14

What do you think? Do you have free will or not? John 6:35-40 (NIV) 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” 41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man Man subjected himself willingly to sin, becoming wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is “given him from heaven.” For who can boast of being able to do anything good by himself, since Christ says, “No one can come to me unless my Father who sent me draws him”? Who can glory in his own will when he understands that “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God”? Who can speak of his own knowledge in view of the fact that “the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God”? In short, who can produce a single thought, since he knows that we are “not able to think a thing” about ourselves, by ourselves, but that “our ability is from God”? And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: “God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God’s understanding and will apart from Christ’s involvement, as he teaches us when he says, “Without me you can do nothing.” Summary "If God would only write my name in the sky, or send an angel to speak directly to me, or perform some other miracle, then I'd believe..." Such is the confession of an atheist or agnostic as they explain that there just isn't enough evidence for them to accept the premise of an all supreme, yet immanently personal God. But in today's passage, Jesus demonstrates that there will never be enough evidence. He's speaking with people who long for the bread of God from heaven (v32-33), but yet who refuse to believe in the Son of God, even though He's been performing all sorts of miracles and is now speaking to them directly. It's not a lack of evidence that makes Christianity, or even theism in general, so hard for some to accept. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands (Psalm 19)." The Son of God came and lived among us, performing any number of miracles, culminating with His resurrection and ascent back into heaven, as recorded by four very different Biblical writers and multiple extra-biblical records. No, the problem isn't with the evidence, it's with us. It's our sinful pride and arrogance, driven by the deep urge to make ourselves god, which we inherited from Adam. Man's sinful nature will never independently seek reconciliation with God. "No one has the ability to come to me," said Jesus, "unless my Father hauls them in (v44 - literal translation)." Dig Deeper Up till now, as we've tracked through the Belgic Confession of Faith this year, we've worked through doctrines that Christians from nearly every denominational tradition could support. But it's here in Article 14 that we've arrive at a fork in the road. As Reformed Christians, we confess that "we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will." For many Christians, this is a step too far. Their problem isn't that they don't think we need God's grace; They'd certainly agree that our sin makes us so sick that we'll die unless we feebly sit up and take the sweet medicine of God's grace. But they cling to our own free will as being the final arbiter of our eternal destiny: every person has a choice to either humble themselves and accept God's free gift of salvation, or to die in their sin, eternally at enmity with their Creator. The problem is that we're not just sick from our sin, we're dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1), and a dead man can't sit up and ask for, or even accept, help. Yet here Jesus says, "everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life (v40)." But isn't it the case that in and of ourselves we won't and even can't look to Jesus on our own? Sadly, yes. Sin has such a strong grip on you that on your own you'd resist Christ and look the other way. The good news here is that God overcomes your enslaved 'free' will and has "hauled you in (v44)." It's not that He drags you in kicking and screaming, against your will. We'll see over the next few weeks how He's given you a new heart and mind that now finds His grace irresistible. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has drawn us towards His Son, who will raise us up on the last day; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for patience and grace as we cover these difficult topics for the next few weeks, that you would understand all that God has accomplished for your salvation; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 13