Galatians 5:1-6 (NIV) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5  

Jesus is both God and man, so He stands for you before God. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NIV) 5 For there is one

You likely are in authority over some and in submission to others. Humble yourself before the Lord in both roles. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary This famous account of David being confronted with his sin makes for an excellent model for how parents ought to discipline as well as how children ought to submit themselves to that discipline. Remember what we were reminded of yesterday, that the fifth commandment obligates us to not only honor our parents, but all those in authority over us. King David is a powerful, rich and very well established monarch, and normally men in his position are above the law and able to do as they please. The fact that David humbled himself before Nathan is a tremendous example of how even people and institutions who have authority over some spheres of life must submit themselves in other spheres. Parents have authority over their children, but must submit to the government and the Church. The Church must submit itself to the Lord and, to a much lesser extent, the government. The government, in an ideal world at least, submits itself to the people and to a lesser degree, the Church. In this way, everybody who has authority must also simultaneously be in submission. Ultimately, like David, we must recognize that all authority is delegated by the Lord, so all submission is ultimately to Him. It's likely that David felt internal guilt for the sins he had committed, as he writes about it so poignantly in Psalm 51. Even so, the initial inclination of most of us when we're called out for something we instinctively knew was wrong is to deny we did it or make excuses for why we did it. Yet David does none of that. We're so used to seeing those with power squirm their way out of trouble when they've been caught red handed, but David instantly and genuinely confesses his sin against the Lord. Dig Deeper Nathan provides a beautiful example of how to discipline those you've been given authority over. He responds to God's call to insert himself in a very awkward and potentially dangerous situation to confront sin (this is a call we all have to one degree or another). He doesn't maliciously attack or impugn David's character, but instead he winsomely guides David into condemning himself. And he instantly communicates God's grace upon David's heartfelt repentance while at the same time holding David accountable for the awful consequences that come as a result of the sin. Keep both of these humble, godly men in mind as you exercise both authority and submission in your life. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who uses authority figures to call us out of our sinful ways; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the examples of David and Nathan and pray that you will fulfil the roles God has given you in a godly way; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Titus 3

These women faced a challenging dilemma because in Roman culture a wife was expected to adopt the religion Jesus living in a predominant pagan society or the 1st century wives of unbelieving husbands in the Roman AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: 1 Peter 3:12 - For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

able to do as they please with their bodies is nothing new; Paul begins this passage with sayings from Romans

Church discipline is increasingly unpopular, but it's increasingly necessary. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 85 Q. How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline? A. According to the command of Christ: Those who, though called Christians, profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives, and after repeated and loving counsel refuse to abandon their errors and wickedness, and after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers, fail to respond also to their admonition— such persons the officers exclude from the Christian fellowship by withholding the sacraments from them, and God himself excludes them from the kingdom of Christ. Such persons, when promising and demonstrating genuine reform, are received again as members of Christ and of his church. Summary Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is not a happy one, but rather a stern letter of correction. In a way we ought to be thankful for the brash incompetence of this early church, because were it not for Paul's rebukes which have been handed down in scripture, we'd likely fall into the same traps they did. This particular incident that Paul is responding to is one that would make even the pagans blush: a man in the church is in an incestuous relationship with his mother (or possibly step mother). What's worse is the reaction of the Corinthian church; there are no calls to repentance, rather they're proud of the situation (v2)! Paul doesn't recommend a bunch of books to help the rest of the congregation understand the man's peculiar attraction, or warn them of being overly judgmental, or set up a series of listening sessions to see how various members feel about this. Quite the opposite; he recognizes the imminent danger that tolerating such a gross, public sin creates in the church, comparing the situation to the way a tiny bit of yeast will work its way through an entire batch of dough. Paul's prescription for this ugly situation seems brutally harsh: the wicked man must be immediately expelled from the body (v13). Dig Deeper Church discipline is always painful, especially when it escalates to the point to where an unrepentant sinner is excommunicated - put out from the fellowship of believers and the sacrament that signifies and seals God's grace. But sin must not be allowed to fester in the body of Christ, and tolerating the sins of one in order to spare the pain of discipline will only result in more of the congregation becoming infected. Tomorrow we'll see that the goal of discipline is always that the person repent and be restored. That's why, in fact, Paul ordered the man's expulsion, so that Satan could destroy the man's Sarx (flesh / sinful nature) resulting in the salvation of the man's spirit (v5). In other words, sometimes the only thing that can wake a person up to repentance is hitting rock bottom after having lost everything else. These last few decades, the strongest arguments against church discipline have been coming from within the church itself - even from within our Reformed denominations. Don't let this popular swell sway you. Know that church discipline is one of the keys to the Kingdom of God. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who gives us His commands in His Word and expects our obedience, but who offers grace to sinners who come to Him through Christ; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that your church cares about you enough to discipline you if you begin to wander from God's truth. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 3

Reading that reminds me of Romans 5:10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him

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

Perhaps you have even memorized Galatians 5:22-23: “But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, Upon reading the desires of the flesh listed in Galatians 5, you may be tempted to become hyper-focused

If that does describe you, cling to the truth in 1 Corinthians 12.