Category: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 2:21

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“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Verses like this one are a big part of why protestants tend to be so radically committed to salvation by faith alone.  Look at what Paul is saying here closely because this is really important.  If we could somehow get ourselves into a right relationship with God by means other than the grace of God as mediated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, then His death was without purpose.  It was entirely pointless. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 2:11

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“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

Two things really stand out here to me. One is obvious, the other is not so obvious. First the former. It took a lot of courage for Paul to call Peter out for his obvious deviation from the Gospel. Peter was clearly wrong, most everybody there knew it, but nobody wanted to say anything until Paul spoke up.  Because it was Peter.  Would you have wanted to call Peter out for this? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28

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“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This refrain echoes four different times in this Psalm.  “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”  This was the God they served and the people of Israel experienced it over and over and over again.  They found themselves in all kinds of trouble, most of which was of their own making.  Each time they fell headlong into the mess and from the perspective of the moment, it looked like they were going to be goners. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Isaiah 29:13-14

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“And the Lord said: ‘Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again to wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Throughout the book of Isaiah (and really throughout all the prophets), there are three sins that are consistently held up as triggers for the judgment from the Lord the people were facing.  The first is injustice.  God is just.  Justice and righteousness are fundamental parts of His character.  He is passionately concerned about what is right.  When we violate that by doing what’s wrong (taking advantage of the poor and weak, for example), judgment will ensue. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 106:16-17

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“When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Reading through verses 16-31 here leaves a couple of strong impressions, both of which are important for us today.

The first is that the people of Israel were stupid.  There were times they were misled and times they were weak or short-sighted and even times when they were deceived.  But on many occasions they made the wrong decision in full awareness of the consequences and without any prodding from the enemy.  They were stupid.  They turned away from the Lord constantly.  And they did it in spite of what we can now see as His obvious action in their midst.  They did it in spite of experiencing the consequences of such actions in ways that were both dramatic and, often, immediate.  It’s like they were dead set on going their own way instead of in the direction the Lord was leading them.  They couldn’t even receive the good things He wanted to give them.  Again, they were stupid. Read the rest…