Paul’s Patient Love #2207

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11, NKJV)

Paul’s patient love for Mark compels us to ponder the breadth and depth of our love for brethren. Paul had not always considered Mark useful (good and profitable) for the service of the gospel. About 20 years earlier, John Mark had joined Paul and Barnabas on a preaching journey into Gentile regions, only to leave them and return to Jerusalem shortly after it began (Acts 13:4-5, 13). This failure to continue with them caused Paul to insist Mark would not be on his next preaching trip despite disagreeing with Barnabas (Acts 15:36-41). We should note that Paul did not “write off” Barnabas or Mark as unworthy Christians who did not love the Lord. The rest of the story makes this apparent. Paul was associated with Mark during his first Roman imprisonment (AD 60-62), sending greetings from him to the Colossian church and instructing them to welcome Mark if he came to them (Col. 4:10). Now, during his final days of life, Paul asked for Mark. The man he had refused to take with him roughly two decades earlier was now useful for the gospel’s service (2 Tim. 4:11). A great lesson of love’s patient endurance is staring us in the face (1 Cor. 13:4-7). Mark’s faith had matured, and Paul respected that. Paul loved Mark. Indeed, “love suffers long and is kind” as it rejoices in the truth. Love keeps on bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring all things, both in our attitudes and treatment of others. Love did not fail Paul and Mark. It will not fail us, either.

The Example of Obedience #2193

29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. (John 14:29–31, NKJV)

Jesus was caring for the faith of His apostles even in the shadow of the cross. Its trauma would shake their faith (Matt. 26:31). When they saw the risen Lord and heard Him explain His fulfillment of God’s promised salvation, their faith would be renewed (Lk. 24:36-47; Acts 1:1-8). Evil forces were coming, thinking to eliminate God’s Son by death. Satan and his servants would fail (1 Cor. 2:7-8; Acts 2:32-36). Jesus was about to show the world His love for the Father by voluntarily dying on the cross (v. 31). Here is our lesson. When we obey God, we show the world we love God. Jesus exalted obedience to the Father as a defining demonstration of devotion (cf. Jno. 14:15). The Father had commanded Him, and He willingly yielded His will in obedient love. God so loved us that He gave His Son to die for our sins (Jno. 3:16; 1 Jno. 4:10). The Son showed the world His love for the Father by obediently dying on the cross (Heb. 5:8). We love God when we keep His commandments (1 Jno. 5:3). Christian, set an example for the world by lovingly obeying the commandments of the Lord.

“Husbands, Love Your Wives” #2190

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25–27, NKJV)

Paul uses marriage to illustrate the relationship between Christ and His church (Eph. 5:32). We gain essential insight into the love a husband is to have for his wife from it. 1) Christ’s love for the church was sacrificial (v. 25). He gave Himself, His life, for her. There is no greater love (Jno. 15:13; Rom. 5:8). Husbands live (and are willing to die) for their wives. 2) Christ’s love for the church was purposeful (v. 26). His every act was unselfish. The salvation and spiritual safety of the church was foremost to Him. Every husband can improve his marriage by keeping his wife’s welfare as a fundamental priority. 3) Christ’s love for the church is constant (v. 27). Christ did not love for a day, a season, a moment in time. His love endures with the hopeful expectation of the church’s eternal glory (Rev. 21:1-4). Likewise, a husband vows “for better or worse” with a commitment to be constant and faithful to his wife. He is helpful as she tackles life, rejoicing in her triumphs and enduring in his affection. Her holiness drives his decisions. She is his life and love, and he cherishes her (Eph. 5:28-29). A God-fearing husband learns the love of Christ for the church and gives that love to his wife.

Husbands and Wives #2189

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22–24, NKJV)

Secular feminists think this is sexism, male chauvinism, and bigotry. This is a gross misunderstanding and misrepresentation. The relationships of every organization or institution include roles and assignments that enable it to function successfully. Without such structure, relationships fray and falter. So it is with marriage. God-given roles in marriage accomplish their God-given purposes (Gen. 2:18-25). The husband’s role in marriage is to be a servant-leader. He is “head of the wife” like Christ is to His church. The wife’s response to his role is submission. She willingly puts herself under his leadership, not as a fearful slave to an overbearing tyrant, but as a respectful helper who respects and trusts his leadership. Husbands strengthen their marriages when they step up and become spiritual leaders in their marriages. Wives strengthen their marriages when they respect and help their husbands do so. These divine assignments are not about superiority and inferiority. They are about mutual love and respect with Christ at the center of the marital relationship. Unselfish service is at the heart of successful marriage.

Don’t Kill the Messenger, Accept the Truth #2184

“Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16, NKJV)

Paul had a genuine love for the Christians in the churches of Galatia. There was a spiritual threat among them. False teaching was perverting the gospel that had called them to the grace of God (Gal. 1:6-9). They would fall from grace if they succumbed to the error (Gal. 2:4-5; 5:4). Many people say doctrine (what we teach and believe) does not matter. Yet, so real was the danger of yielding to the false teaching of binding the law of Moses onto Gentiles to be saved that Paul told the Galatians he was “afraid for you” and that he had “doubts about you” (Gal. 4:11, 20). Paul’s preemptive strike asking if he had become their enemy by telling them the truth must have pierced their hearts. When people reject the truth, they often target the messenger as the enemy. “Killing” the messenger is not new. Hardened hearts shift the blame away from themselves and use character assassination to deflect responsibility because they cannot answer the truth (cf. Stephen, Acts 6:8-14; 7:51-60). Like Paul, let us speak God’s truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Additionally, let truth convict us and convert us instead of attacking the one who loves us enough to tell us the truth.

Obedience from the Heart #2174

32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him. (Mark 12:32–34, NKJV)

Obedience is worthless when it does not come from a heart given to God completely. The scribe in today’s text perceived this truth when Jesus told him the first of all the commandments was to love God fully (Mk. 12:28-30). May we grasp this fundamental truth; Out of the heart comes the obedience that pleases God. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jno. 14:15). Without love for God in our hearts, our outward actions of obedience are null and void. Christ calls us to be obedient children, so we will not discount the place of obedience in the Christian’s life (1 Pet. 1:13-16, 22). Obedience from the heart pleases God and frees us from the bondage of sin (Rom. 6:17-18).

You Lack One Thing #2172

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21–22, NKJV)

Wanting to follow Jesus is not the same as actually following Him. That may seem obvious, yet we easily convince ourselves we follow Him when the evidence says otherwise. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Doing the Father’s will begins in the heart and produces conduct consistent with the heart’s intention and devotion. This man had kept the commands of God from his youth (Mk. 10:19-20). But he lacked one thing. His heart was greedy and he trusted in riches more than God (Mk. 10:24). His love for personal possessions controlled his conduct toward others. His unwillingness to sell and give exposed his selfish heart. Why do we emphasize complete obedience to Jesus? Not because it earns us treasures in heaven, but because it expresses a heart that loves God “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30; Rom. 6:17-18). One thing prevented this man from having heavenly treasures. If even one thing is hindering your obedience from the heart, repent, and do what Jesus says (Lk. 6:46). Jesus knows our hearts just like He knew this man’s heart. Do we (2 Cor. 13:5)?

Boast in the Cross of Christ #2149

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:14–15, NKJV)

In contrast to the false teachers whose agenda included boasting in converted Gentiles who were circumcised (according to the Law of Moses, Acts 15:1, 5), Paul refused to boast in anything except the cross of Christ. Christ had crucified the world’s lustful allurements in his life through the power of the gospel (which included selfish, arrogant boastings). He had been crucified to the world, no longer driven to fulfill its enticements. Paul’s declarative statement in Galatians 2:20 stands as a rebuke and a call to repentance to the false teachers who sought personal advantages over others: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The new creation is undoubtedly the new person converted to Christ, “created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 5:17). With similar language, Paul had previously said spiritual profit in Christ is “faith working through love” (not in circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses, Gal. 5:6, 1-5). Living by faith actively obeys Christ. Glorying in position, power, preeminence, and prestige over others is not like Christ. If these things matter to us, we must put off the old person “with his deeds” of sin and put on the new person created in the image of Christ (Col. 3:9-10).

Fellowship Between Student and Teacher #2140

Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. (Galatians 6:6, NKJV)

At first blush, this statement may seem out of place. Paul has been exhorting mature Christians to restore the fallen with the meekness of self-examination and a call to personal duty. Verse 6 is a particular application of “bear one another’s burdens” as we “fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). It stands in opposition to “let us not be…envying one another” (Gal. 5:26). Where envy exists, there is self-seeking, confusion, and every evil thing (Jas. 3:16). Lange says of today’s verse, “this is the very strongest antithesis to envying” (Commentary on Galatians, 150). Instead of “grudgingly withholding” from the teacher of God’s word, the student is to “share in all good things” with the teacher. Share (koinoneo) is the verb form of “fellowship.” The sharing of “all good things” is foundational for the Lord’s command, “that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). We ought to share in the material support of those who teach God’s word. No ill-will should form toward the teacher of God’s word in the heart of the student. Just the opposite. The fellowship of temporal support between student and teacher is the practical application of our charge, namely, “through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).

“Teach Them Diligently To Your Children” #2132

6 And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:6–7, NKJV)

Young minds are impressionable, pliable, teachable. Moses charged parents with teaching their children God’s law, and this responsibility remains true under the gospel of Christ (Eph. 6:4). Make no mistake; forces of error want to impress and persuade your children that sin is not sin. Even now, preschool children and older are being taught in public schools, through media, by friends, and parents that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender behavior is loving, good, and natural. Children are taught people should take pride in LGBTQ+ conduct. They are taught that to say otherwise is an act of bullying, bigotry, and hate. The Bible speaks on the subject, not with “hate speech,” but with words of truth and reason (Acts 26:24-25). It says such behavior is “against nature,” shameful, against the will of God, and dishonors the body’s natural use (Rom. 1:24-29; 1 Cor. 6:9-11). Many have exchanged the truth of God for the lie and are teaching children the lie is the truth (Rom. 1:24-25; Isa. 5:20-21). Real love tells the truth about the danger of sin, not lies that lead souls to hell. The one who tells you God’s truth is not your enemy (Gal. 4:16). The world teaches children God’s truth is a lie. Keep training your children with God’s truth and take nothing for granted.