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The "Much More" of "Life"

July 17, 2010 by Fritz

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10

God wants to do “much more” than just take us from being enemies to being forgiven. If being “saved” was just about forgiveness this verse would not make sense.

“Salvation” is not something we save up for and wait for like social security, it is a daily experience of the risen1 Jesus; living in the his kingdom now and forever. King David put it this way,

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” – Psalm 68:19

– fritz
1 – See “Resurrection of the Body” (July 6,2010)

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Algebra in the Bible

July 16, 2010 by Fritz

“[T]he kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. – Matthew 13:45-46

In algebra class we were given word problems. We had to express them in terms of variables (“x”, “y”, and “z”) then solve the equation. We considered them both enlightening and confusing – enlightening if figured correctly, confusing if our equation was wrong.

Jesus taught parables both illustrating and obfuscating reality, but they can be seen like heavenly word problems that, with the right correlation of variables, reveal their secrets.

Jesus, here, says there is a Merchant man, a valuable pearl, and currency to purchase it – “x”, “y”, and “z”. He also tells us the merchant man, “x”, is really the Kingdom of Heaven. What, then, could the currency of Heaven be? Not gold, that’s paving material, the valuable God had was his only Son.

“Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation]” – Galatians 3:13a (Amplified)

And the Pearl of great price, that would be you and me.

“… true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” – Jesus (John 4:23b NIV)

Do you see yourself as a valuable pearl? God does.

– fritz

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>Considering alternatives?

July 15, 2010 by Fritz

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Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard. – Proverbs 13:15

Following Christ can be hard but, considering the alternatives, life without Christ is harder and has no future.

“To depart from righteousness is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures, and disappointments, a life caught in the toils of endless problems that are never resolved…The “cost of discipleship,” though it make take all we have, is small when compared to the lot of those who don’t accept Christ’s invitation to be a part of his company in The Way of life.1

– fritz

1 – The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard

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