Which is most important?
Today’s devotion is based off of week 2 of Unlikely Heroes: A Teacher (WATCH HERE)
Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Did you ever ask this question in school?
When your teacher presented a multi-page review of the material needed for the upcoming test, did you ask, “Do we need to know all of this? Or what is most important?”
As you think of this question, perhaps behind the question is really the desire to exert as little effort as possible to pass the test. If we know what is most important, we can focus on that and not worry about the “non-essential” material.
A teacher of the law in Jesus day was familiar with all of the law given to Moses. They would spend their days studying the law of Moses and offering their understanding and interpretation. If there was a dispute, they could act like lawyers and determine which law or application took precedence. So you can understand the question of this teacher to The Teacher. Which of the commandments is most important.
Don’t you want to know too?
Wouldn’t it be easier if Jesus woud identify a couple of the 10 and say, “If you can’t keep all of them, at least keep this one.”
In some ways, it seems like many have adopted their own answer to this question and identified the three or four they “can keep.”
Have you heart or thought..
- I haven’t killed anyone.
- I haven’t committed adultery.
- I haven’t stolen anything.
If these three were “the most important” many would be good, right?
Maybe it’s this way of thinking the teacher of the law was expecting Jesus to mimic with a few of the ten.
Rather, Jesus, the best teacher answers with two commands, neither of which are listed as part of the ten:
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
These are definitely not the easiest two, nor maybe the ones we were hoping Jesus would identify. But clearly “loving God” and “loving neighbor” ARE the two most important commands.
The profound aspect of these two commands seems to only scratch the surface for our Christian lives. However, the total inclusive nature of these two commands shows not just the profound nature of these commands, but the challenge to keep them.
Love for God is first.
Love for neighbor follows.
If the teacher told you this answer, would you pass the test? Perhaps writing these two as an answer may give us a good score from a knowledge standpoint. But as we will see, following and iving them gives us a true challenge.
Apply: As you contemplate these two commands, what do they look like as they are implemented in your life.
Prayer; Lord, thank you for your love that led you to give your laws for us to follow and by which we are blessed.
Thank you Veterans…Thank you Lord
(This devotion reposted from November 11, 2021)
“The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”
After over four years of brutal warfare in Europe, Germany surrendered to the Allied powers ending World War I, at 11:00 AM November 11, 1918.
Perhaps this summary of the impact of World War I is a sobering reminder on this day we thank all our men and women who are willing to serve us by putting themselves in harm’s way.
World War I took the lives of more than 9 million soldiers; 21 million more were wounded. Civilian casualties numbered close to 10 million. The two nations most affected were Germany and France, each of which sent some 80 percent of their male populations between the ages of 15 and 49 into battle.
The political disruption surrounding World War I also contributed to the fall of four venerable imperial dynasties: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Turkey.
World War I brought about massive social upheaval, as millions of women entered the workforce to replace men who went to war and those who never came back. The first global war also helped to spread one of the world’s deadliest global pandemics, the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, which killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people.
World War I has also been referred to as “the first modern war.” Many of the technologies now associated with military conflict—machine guns, tanks, aerial combat and radio communications—were introduced on a massive scale during World War I.
The severe effects that chemical weapons such as mustard gas and phosgene had on soldiers and civilians during World War I galvanized public and military attitudes against their continued use. The Geneva Convention agreements, signed in 1925, restricted the use of chemical and biological agents in warfare and remains in effect today. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history)
Every war is ugly, brutal, deadly, disruptive and evil. Yet we have men and women who are willing to be ready to engage today to defend our Constitution, protect our freedoms, and combat evil where it exists. The last of World War I veterans died 10 years ago at the age of 110. There are still over 240,000 World War 2 vets alive (of the 16 million that participated). To all these and those that fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other battles around the world, you have my deepest appreciation, “Thank you for serving me…serving us.”
Service in place of self is a noble characteristic. Certainly there can be many motivations to be part of our military, but I have to think that two passages from Scripture are in many of our veterans:
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Freedom can be used for many things. Thank you for using your freedom to serve others. Love can manifest in many ways. Thank you for loving your country enough to be willing to lay down your life for it, for us.
On this Veterans’ Day, remember the gift of our country is one we ought not take for granted. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Let us not just thank our veterans today, but our gracious Lord who has allowed our country to be a beacon of freedom and hope to many. Then with the freedom we have in our United States, let us be an army of God’s people who combat sin and evil not with the swords of steel but with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
Thank you Lord! Thank you veterans! Thank you for the freedom and love you all share with us!
Apply: Certainly take time today to thank a Veteran who has had a part in protecting the freedoms we enjoy. Resolve to use the freedom God gives to share Jesus with others around you.
Prayer: Lord thank you for men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect mine. In your mercy, preserve our nation and the freedoms it allows. Disrupt and put an end to all who wish evil and harm on people and through it all let the power of your Gospel prevail. AMEN.
A teaching worth defending!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Unlikely Heroes – A Monk (CLICK HERE)
“The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls. The article that is so important that he said, that if we lose it, we lose Christianity. If you don’t have the doctrine of justification by faith alone, you don’t have the gospel, and if you don’t have the gospel, the church has no reason to exist. The church itself ceases to be a church and falls into apostasy because it is the article that answers the question, what must I do to be saved?”
While these exact words may not be an exact quote of Luther, they were certainly his sentiment. This quote summarizes what is at the heart of the Bible’s teaching and the theology of the church.
Truly it is the essential teaching of the Bible on which the Church was formed and upon which the church stands. It is the only teaching of grace that gives true peace and comfort and any hope of an eternity in heaven.
Human nature will work as hard as it can to assure itself of God’s satisfaction. Yet personal effort will always leave a person desiring to know, “have I done enough.” Human nature will lower the standard and say that the standard of perfection is too much and that all God desires is a best attempt, yet inside there is an emptiness because God never said that or lowered the standard. Human nature will hope that if there is a dividing of the population, somehow they end up on the “sheep” side of the judgment rather than the “goats” but yet can never really be sure.
Unfortunately, the church at Luther’s time spoke of grace, but it was a grace that only forgave guilt, but not punishment of sin, that was up to you. Grace gave you the opportunity to overcome your sins on this earth or in purgatory. In fact they would teach that the system of works was a gift of grace…and still do today. Here’s a quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 1473: The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the “old man” and to put on the “new man.”
This is why Luther wrote the 95 Theses. Indulgences were directly contrary to the doctrine of justification by grace. Theses 62: The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of
the glory and grace of God.
The gift of the Lutheran reformation is God using an ordinary man with a spiritual struggle to connect with the power of the Gospel and become so convinced of the truth of the Word and the true answer grace gives to the guilt of a soul that he dedicated the rest of his life to proclaim it, defend it and ensure as many people as he could heard it.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Faith in the Gospel of God’s grace is what you and I and every person need for certainty, hope and peace in our eternity.
The Gospel of God’s grace is worth believing and for us to defend and boldly proclaim in our generation and era.
May we have the conviction of the importance of grace and defend it as clearly and vehemently as Luther did:
Martin Luther – Diet of Worms 1521: Since your most serene majesty and your highnesses require of me a simple, clear, and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is clear that they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God’s word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.
Apply: What does the pure Gospel of God’s grace mean to you?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for taking my sin and putting it on Jesus. Strengthen my faith in the Gospel and lead me to proclaim it boldly and clearly to all who will listen. AMEN.
When the Gospel wins…
This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Unlikely Heroes – A Monk (CLICK HERE)
Luther was just operating with the truth the church was teaching him. Jesus was the Savior who gave him an opportunity to overcome the temporal punishment his sin deserved. They taught a purgatory to which an individual would go for long periods of time and endure suffering until the pope or church would declare them justified and free to go to heaven.
He believed this and with every ounce of his strength tried to obtain a righteousness of his own to avoid the judgment of a righteous God.
When people don’t have access to the truth, they have to believe those that claim to be distributors of the truth. In Luther’s day, the church led by the pope was the source of truth. What they said was to be believed and lived. For the few that had objected, they were excommunicated at best, executed at worst.
Until the Gospel wins and exposes the lies of Satan (even within the church) and leads a soul to see the truth.
For Luther, it was in the tower of the monastery in Wittenberg. As a professor of theology, he had the privilege to have access to a Bible. Due to the expensive nature of books, only the academia had access to a copy of the BIble. Luther took advantage of it.
As he was reading Romans 1:16-17, God opened his eyes and heart to see and believe something he never had heard before.
The righteousness that God demanded is the righteousness that God gives.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The Spirt of God opened the heart of Luther to receive this truth. God GAVE him the very righteousness he demanded. Rightly so, his soul was unburdened with the weight of guilt and the prospect of never-ending suffering. The message of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, the message of grace revealed God’s truth to Luther’s heart.
Our souls yearn for the same thing. Without the truth of grace, our hearts are burdened by guilt, by a hopelessness, by a searching for truth, but never finding it.
But when the Gospel wins in our hearts…
God’s truth prevails over human lies.
God’s grace prevails over human effort.
God’s love prevails over selfish focus.
When the Gospel wins, we experience freedom to live a life that is identified by our place in God’s family with a purpose to serve God’s mission. When the Gospel wins, our lives take on a focus of learning and sharing the Gospel with others who are burdened by the weight of sin and guilt.
When the Gospel wins, we know the biggest problem we could ever face has been defeated. When the Gospel wins, we have a hope and peace that transcend all human promises. When the Gospel wins, our hearts are set free to live in the confidence of faith and the conviction of God’s truth.
Enjoy living as a winner today!
Apply: How would you finish the phrase, “When the Gospel wins in my heart, … “
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for revealing your truth to my soul. Spirit of God thank you for leading my heart to believe the Gospel and find the freedom it gives. Son of God, thank you for taking on my unrighteousness and giving me your righteousness. AMEN.
Who’s going to win?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Unlikely Heroes – A Monk (CLICK HERE)
Who’s going to win?
At the time of this writing, we do not know who the next president of the United States is. Returns are coming in and we will soon understand who will be in the White House and control the Senate and House and many other state and local positions.
Campaigns seek to capture the heart of an individual and persuade them to support a certain candidate. The question is which direction your mind and heart will go.
Bigger than any platform of a political candidate is the soul of every person. Two candidates vie for the primary spot in your heart: the Lord and Satan/self. Their platforms could not be more opposed and really there is no compromise between the two.
This past Sunday we looked the life of Martin Luther and his spiritual battle and what convinced him to abandon his past beliefs and align with the Lord.
The campaign that Satan ran in Luther’s heart is one that he runs in the heart of every human being. Satan loves to convince the human heart, that longs to have a true connection with the Lord, that an individual can work their way into God’s favor. This puts the onus on each individual to try to obtain perfection. The challenge is captured in this verse: There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, … (Romans 3:22-23) The lie that Satan loves to give is that you can be different. But what stands before us is the reality of Jesus’ words: Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Luther tried as hard as he could to be the best monk he could. He cleaned. He tended the garden. He went to confession. He went on pilgrimages to earn more indulgences that could spare him some temporary punishment on earth or in purgatory. He realized the truth of Psalm 130:3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? He felt Psalm 32:3-43 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Luther realized that his heart was captivated by despair. He felt unworthy. He felt it impossible to win the righteousness that the Lord demands. Even though he was very spiritual and part of the church, Satan was winning the campaign in his heart.
Can you relate? While we are 500 plus years after Luther, we can have the same feelings and thoughts of despair when we consider the justice of God and his right to punish sinners. If the Lord kept a record of my sins, there is no way I could stand before a holy God. The same is true for you.
Satan’s campaign continues in our heart until the Spirit of God shows us a campaign of grace. This is what God showed to Luther as he read Romans 1:16-17.
Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
More tomorrow…
Apply: What is the campaign that is winning in your heart? Is it time to replace the lies of Satan with the truth of the Gospel?
Prayer: Lord, overcome the campaign of Satan’s lies in my heart with the power of your Gospel truth. AMEN.