AN ANSWER TO THE LAW-GRACE FIGHT

 

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

 

AN ANSWER TO THE LAW-GRACE FIGHT

 

1 Peter 2:9

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

 

          Paul warned that the last days would be marked by a gross misunderstanding of what is or should be normal behavior. By normal, I am referring to behavior that grows from a relationship with and allegiance to the truth. Deviant behavior is the result of abandoning or altering truth.

 

Rom 1:18

18 For God's [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.

AMP

 

          It’s the false teaching of Antinomianism that teaches since faith alone is necessary for salvation, one is free from the moral obligations of the law.

 

          Typically, Antinomianism considers that law and freedom are opposed, that law is a restrictive mechanism, a product of civilization and therefore opposed to the free exercise of natural [animal] instincts. The New Testament declares that this distaste for law will lead, not to the promised freedom, but to slavery (2 Pet. 2:19).

 

          The word “peculiar,” in 1 Peter 2:9 is the Greek peripoiesis (per-ee-poy'-ay-sis) which actually means “purchased.” It has to do with acquisition and saving; to buy and to keep. The idea is that Jesus has purchased us with His own blood and intends to keep us because he deems us valuable.

 

          If the word “hold” in Romans 1:18 means to “retain” then the rest of the verse means to retain for a future time of difficulty. That is what too many try to do. They know that they will one day give an account and they “hold” the truth as a “get out of jail free” card. But if the word “hold” means to “hinder the truth and make it inoperative” we see a society exactly like the one we now see. Religion is wrapped around ourselves as the center. Rules confirm our behavior and never challenge us. The result is slavery to our desires.

 

Dear Lord, let me acknowledge Thy Law and obey it. Thank you for purchasing and preserving me. AMEN

 

HIS FOOTPRINT ON MY HEART

 

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

 

HIS FOOTPRINT ON MY HEART

 

1 Cor 10:13

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

          Because something is wrong, does not preclude my attraction to it! I am a man of two natures like the Apostle Paul. In Romans chapter 7 he painfully describes the struggle that rages in the heart of the man with two natures. What he wants to do he does not do and what he loathes to do he seems addicted to. In Romans chapter 8 he explains that the liberating difference is Jesus.

 

Rom 7:24-8:1

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

          Isaac H. Meredith, in 1900 wrote a hymn called Seal us, O Holy Spirit which conveys the thought of Christ’s image stamped on our heart. The first stanza is below.

 

Seal us, O Holy Spirit,

Grant us Thine impress, we pray;

We would be more like the Savior,

Stamped with His image today.

 

Dear Lord, walk through my heart and leave your footprints today. Be the difference between me and sin. AMEN

 

THE MIND OF CHRIST!

 

Monday, June 1, 2026

 

THE MIND OF CHRIST!

 

Phil 2:2-8

2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

 

Three times in this portion Paul uses the word “mind.” It is interesting to learn that they have different meanings in the New Testament’s original language. Each time, however, Paul emphasizes the fact that our actions begin in our thought processes. Let’s take a look.

 

Like minded – One accord – of one mind—THIS IS UNITY!

 

Couples who have been married for a long time have an uncanny ability to finish each other’s thoughts and sentences in a conversation. They are so intimately familiar with one another that they seem to share a single mind! This is the atmosphere Paul is promoting within the Philippians’ church. The meaning is UNITY.

 

What would happen if you did not have to ask a question because you already knew the answer? What would happen if you did not have to persuade or negotiate because there was no opposition? What if every action had a predictable and FAVORABLE reaction? This is the atmosphere Paul wanted for them.

 

1 Cor 1:10

10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

 

 

Lowliness of mind – THIS IS HUMILITY!

 

Paul explains himself in verse 4 when he says: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” What would happen if every member of the church weighed their ambitions in someone else’s balance? What if we consciously and intentionally thought of others more than ourselves? What if each time we prepared a cup of coffee for ourselves we prepared one for someone else – just the way they like it – two sugars and no cream? Think about the atmosphere in that church where every member functioned in this way!

 

The Mind of Christ – THIS IS SACRIFICE!

 

Without abandoning His awareness of His own equality with God, Jesus “took upon him [put on like a garment] the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” It was necessary for Christ to become man!

 

Rom 8:3-4

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

It was a tough job, as we say, but someone had to do it! This is the mind of sacrifice. Jesus willingly suffered loss that we might gain. Try, Paul was saying, to blend your affections and emotions – your mind – with this attitude held by Christ. The opposite of this “mind” is what I call the “greedy grab” mindset, and it genders strife.

 

James 4:1-2

4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

 

Dear Lord! Help me to develop a mind of unity with my brethren, a mind of humility with my peers and the mind of Christ in the world. AMEN