Read Bible for Yourself

My Philippians Gist Paul’s imprisonment experience in Rome is giving him a clearer view of the convicting power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he is writing to urge the church in Philippi, who have been partners with him since “the early days of the Gospel” (1:7; 4:15), to imitate the way his salvation was working out: As he walks in righteousness under involuntary restriction, the evidence of his salvation is becoming clearer both to himself and to others. Though imprisoned under false charges, his grateful joyfulness and upright conduct has convinced everyone that he is a good man put in chains not for a bad cause, but for a different cause, which must certainly be good. He is shining in the dark imprisonment environment. A Desire to Depart He is so peaceful with the Lord that he yearned to depart from the body, and therefore had no fear of the worst possible outcome that awaits prisoners. Indeed he would welcome death as a crown for his faithful service (2:17)...

Freed to Serve God When God is your Shield, you are set absolutely free to do God’s will alone. Within His protection, you only fight when and how He asks you to. Under the New Covenant He does not allow us to attack even those who attack us. In the most difficult situations, we are under obligation to affirm our faith in God as the Saviour of the world, of all people, of all nations. Abraham and His Offspring Insured Survival warfare was the order of the day when God called Abram to make him a blessing to all nations. Fundamental to the assurance that made Abraham move out of safety zone was God’s assurance of his safety, that “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse” (Gen 12:3 ESV). The Lord reiterated this assurance after Lot left Abraham for Sodom, saying, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." (Gen 15:1 ESV) For Abraham to fulfill God’s mission, he had to leave his own mission of eking out su...

Matthew 1:29, Hebrews 7:22-25 •         Jesus is called the Saviour today, because none can save like Him. Some time ago, Israel thought they had saviours - the Passover Lambs - but they were not born for the purpose. They saved Israel from Egypt but could not save them from their sins. Jesus, however, was born just to save us and continues to save us well after His blood has atoned for our sins. •         The Passover lambs were killed to save the Israelites from death on the night God exacted the death of firstborns as the ultimate miracle that moved Pharaoh’s hand to set Israel free. But, on their journey to the Promised Land, only two of the people aged 20 years and above who left Egypt arrived in the Promised Land led by Joshua (whose name incidentally has the same meaning as Jesus). To Canaan and to Heaven - Similarities •         The parallels between Israel’s j...

Main Readings: 1 John 5:1-16, Acts 1:6-8 Anybody who has really given his or her life over to God though Jesus has felt the need of assurance of eternal life (also called assurance of salvation) at a point in time. This is because coming to Christ involves leaving some unrighteous lifestyle and support system to put your trust entirely in Jesus in order to inherit eternal life. The question tends to be “What in this life will guarantee that God has received me and written my name down in the Book of Life?” (Mat 19:27-29, Ac 1:6-8). When these questions are answered correctly and the person knows that he or she has eternal life, he or she is no longer afraid to lay down his or life down also for Christ. In our zeal to assure converts of their security in Christ, we sometimes erroneously point to promises made to Israel under the Old Covenant as assurance of such security (See Deut 28:1-14). Eternal life however is a far greater promise made under the Old Covenant and its assura...