Morning Musings – Page 205

Morning Musings: Ephesians 2:8-10

October 27, 2017October 26, 2017Leave a comment

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship; created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (ESV – Read the chapter)

For anyone who would argue that our salvation has in even the tiniest of ways to do with our good works, this verse puts the lie to their position. Any individual, church, or even whole faith tradition that says otherwise is mistaken. That’s a pretty strong way to put it, but there really isn’t any other way around what Paul says here. Salvation comes by grace through faith and not by works. Period. We didn’t have anything to do with it being given to us beyond receiving the gift by faith. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Ephesians 2:4

October 25, 2017October 24, 2017Leave a comment

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you ever wondered how and why our God could be such a merciful God? Perhaps not. Perhaps you’ve wondered more often why God seems like such an angry God. If that’s the case, you haven’t been taught very well about the character of God. That’s not your fault. It’s a symptom of our culture. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 53:5-6

October 23, 2017October 26, 2017Leave a comment

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Here, some 700 years before it would happen, Isaiah declares what is perhaps the deepest wonder of the cross. On the cross, Jesus bore our sins. All the things we have done wrong were placed on His shoulders. He took the punishment that should have been ours. And by ours, I mean everybody’s. The sins of the whole world living at the time, of those who had died before He did, and of those who have lived in the years of human history since were credited to His account. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 45:4-6

October 20, 2017October 18, 2017Leave a comment

“For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

These verses and the few on either side comprise God’s message from Isaiah to the Persian Emperor, Cyrus the Great. It is a remarkable bit of Scripture for two reasons. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 42:6-7

October 18, 2017October 17, 2017Leave a comment

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Israel was always intended to serve as an invitation to the rest of the world to come and be a part of the people of God. They were to be a light for the nations. Unfortunately, they never quite managed to do that with anything resembling consistency. They got close under David and Solomon, but never other than that. Read the rest…