Romans 1:16

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – Romans 1:16  

Paul is a man who gave up everything for Christ.  And in his day, he was probably one of the least expected to do so.  He was a zealous Jew, who knew all the law and the components that came with it in regard to strict adherence to it.  Before he committed himself to the work of Christ, his name was Saul from the city of Tarsus.  Paul was a disciple of Gamaliel, a Jewish rabbi in the first century and a leader in the Jewish Sanhedrin, of which Paul would eventually become a member.  Gamaliel was well respected, being a grandson of the famous Rabbi Hillel who wrote a commentary on the Torah; the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.  This relationship with Gamaliel no doubt provided Saul much solid teaching of Jewish law and beliefs.  We see Him first at the stoning of Stephen for his supposed heretical belief in Jesus as the promised Messiah, where he held the robes of those throwing the stones and thereby approving of Stephen’s execution.  He was on his way to arrest many more Christians in order to rid the world of this cult when Christ made Himself visible to Saul who then realized all he had done was wrong and offered himself totally to the work of Christ.

Because of this Saul, who I will now refer to as Paul, was cast aside by the Jews as an apostate.  And by the wise of the Gentiles, “when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.” 1 Corinthians 4:13.  However, even though he was considered worthless to the Gentile leadership and the Jewish nation, where before he was regarded with much applause by both, he was not ashamed.  “According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20. Hope in this context refers to that which is expected with assurance and conviction.  It is not something wished for.  What Paul is saying is that no matter what befalls him, he will, with boldness and a steadfast strength, not in any way deny the truth of the gospel or water it down, even before emperors or kings, Jewish or Gentile leadership.  He will never compromise even in the least.  Christ will be magnified and declared the only way of salvation.  What drives him forward in this boldness?  The fact that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes, both to the Jews and the Gentiles.

This should be what drives us as well.  The truth of the gospel is the most important message ever given to mankind.  It shows the only way of salvation.  It is absolute truth, and we should not be ashamed of this message but should be ready and anxious to declare it to a lost world.  Just as Paul lived a life totally contrary to this truth prior to his conversion, we also lived a life contrary to the truth prior to our conversion.  And the life we live now is infinitely greater than before.  We should never be ashamed of the gospel.  The word “ashamed” has the idea of, in the past tense, embarrassed or guilty of one’s actions, characteristics, or associations.  And in the present tense, reluctant to do something through fear of embarrassment or humiliation.  Are we reluctant to share the truth in certain situations?  Have we been ridiculed and become ashamed of a time where we shared the truth?  We all need to examine ourselves and see where we are regarding this.  To share God’s truth with boldness should be seen as a great privilege because this is our calling from the infinite God who exists and is there with us.

In closing, let us remember the words of Peter, where he wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.  If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.  Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” 1 Peter 4:12-16.  Whatever we suffer in this life for the cause of Christ will glorify God and will be a source of rejoicing when He returns.  We must not focus on its effect on us, but how it glorifies God and how we will rejoice in the end.

However, I cannot end without these words of Jesus, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38. No need to comment on this one, it pretty much speaks for itself.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

John 3:16

Verse of the Day Devotion: John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

This verse is probably one of the most recognized verses in all of scripture.  This shows how much God loves us and wants to be reconciled with us.  He loved us even though we did not love Him.  He loved us even though we refused to follow His ways.  However, His love for us does not constitute an approval of our conduct.  It shows that He loved us in spite of what we do.

This was a gift, the most valuable gift that can ever be conceived.  This was not just a book of rules or laws.  It was nothing we could ever have imagined.  And it was a free and undeserved gift.  It was a gift given for the sole reason that He loved us beyond all measure.  It was an act of pure love and eternal compassion.  It was because He did not want us to perish, to be separated from Him forever.

And what was this unimaginable gift?  It was His Son, His only begotten Son.  Something man has no claim to.  And again, something that was so amazing and incredible, it is inconceivable to the minds of men.  Imagine someone you know who committed a great crime that was punishable by death.  Someone you love and desire to fellowship with, even though they do not care to fellowship with you.  You then find out that someone who has not committed a crime could pay for the man’s crime by suffering the consequences that man deserved.  And you have a child who is completely free from any wrongdoing and could set this man free by dying in his stead.

This is what God did.  He conceived a child in the womb of Mary for the sole purpose of having Him die to pay the penalty for the sins we had committed.  He loved us before we could ever have loved Him.  Note this verse, “We love, because He first loved us.”  1 John 4:19. The basis of our love for Him is because He first loved us.  However, let’s go a little farther with this idea.  “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” Revelation 13:8.  Our names, us who have accepted Christ and are Christians, have been written in the Lambs book of life from before our world was created.  And this is due to God’s foreknowledge of our accepting Him, not His indiscriminate choice.  And because our names are there before the foundations of the world, so must have been the plan to give His Son for us in sacrifice.  He loved us before we were even created, before Christ came to die.  And because He came to die, we have the immense honor to love Him.  Remember, we love Him and others because He first loved us.

This beautiful and powerful verse has so much in it, we could contemplate for a long time and still not understand the full ramification of its meaning.  He loved us before He created us.  He knew we would fall away, and He still created us.  He provided the means of salvation before we even sinned, and it was through the death of His only begotten Son.  And anyone who believes in Him and the work He did on the cross will have eternal life.  There is no greater love than that which God gave.  “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. This will be a difficult question, but is this the kind of love we have for others?  Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

John 11:25

Verse of the Day Devotion:  John 11:25

“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,” – John 11:25  

Over the next few weekdays, we will be looking at seven verses where Jesus declares “I AM”, and then gives a metaphor regarding what He is.  Today, we will look at the fifth of these, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

This chapter tells the story of the death of Lazarus and his eventual resurrection.  His sisters Martha and Mary knew Jesus from a past meeting.  “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.” John 11:1-2. And because they knew Him, they sent for Jesus to come because their brother Lazarus was extremely sick.  When Jesus received the message, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” John 11:4b.

However, though He loved the three of them, He stayed where He was for two additional days.  This was done for the purpose of revealing Himself to them in a way they had not seen and heard before.  Then He tells the disciples it is time to go to Judea.  “The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” John 11:8.  However, Jesus answers them by saying, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.” John 11:9.  This statement refers to a comment He made in chapter nine.  “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5.  What He was saying is that His time was drawing near, and He must do the work He was sent to do prior to His death.  Now, in speaking of Lazarus Jesus said that he was asleep, and He needed to go and wake him up.  When He said this, the disciples thought He meant He was asleep and said He would recover and wake up.  However, Jesus then came out and said, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” John 11:14b-15.

When Jesus arrives in Judea, Martha goes out to Jesus and said, “Your brother shall rise again.” John 11:23.  Martha responds, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” John 11:24.  She believed in the resurrection in the last day, but Jesus was referring to the present.  Then our focus verse, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,”  following up with “and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:26. She then answers, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” John 11:27.

She believed He was the promised Messiah.  And Jesus shows her that neither Death nor time is an obstacle to Him. While standing outside the tomb with the stone rolled away, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, Come Forth.” John 11:43. And Lazarus came out  He came forth after being dead for four days. Jesus proved that with Him, death is but sleep. Paul says the following, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. Death has no dominion over Him who is Life itself, nor does death have dominion over those who are in Him. “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting.” 1 Corinthians 15:53-55.

Jesus’ statement that He is the resurrection and the life provides a Godly perspective on several spiritual matters. Martha believed that the resurrection is an event; Jesus showed her that the resurrection is a Person. Martha’s knowledge of eternal life was an abstract idea; Jesus proved that knowledge of eternal life is a personal relationship. Martha thought victory over death was a future expectation; Jesus corrects her, showing that victory is a present reality. And we must learn the same lesson Martha did.  He is the resurrection, and all who are dead and followers of Christ will rise again from temporary “sleep” to an eternal life.  He is the resurrection and the life.  He essentially said, “I [and no other], regarding the future resurrection, is not an impersonal fate that is to take place at some future time, but a personal effect proceeding from Me who is present with you. It is even now present and active in Me.  And the life in the absolute sense will awaken both the body and the spirit.  If your body has died, in the resurrection you will have a new body for your spirit will still be alive.  And if the body does not die, then you will receive a new body which is eternal, just as the those whose body has died. 

Therefore, we are not to attach a merely spiritual meaning to the two propositions, just because Jesus is speaking of faith. For instance, he that believes on Christ shall rise again spiritually, and he that hath received life shall retain it forever, which would, again, involve the idea of the resurrection.  And He makes this happen because e is the resurrection and He is the life. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

John 5:24

Verse of the Day Devotion:  John 5:24 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” – John 5:24

This verse addresses the fact that salvation is the result of hearing His words and believing them, and then ultimately acting upon it.  Salvation has nothing to do with any acts or deeds, as the Jews believed, but it was wholly the work of God.  To “hear” in this passage speaks not of just hearing physically, but it involves receiving the word in the heart, believing it to be truth and then obeying it.  Many people hear the gospel, but few see it as a truth they wish to obey.  They must see it as a truth they must obey, because they believing it is the only way to please God and receive salvation.

And the idea is that we believe God the Father who sent Him to fulfill His will.  The Father provided a way that we can receive eternal life with Him, and that is to provide a means by which the penalty of our sins have been paid.  “For the wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23a.  Note He says “The wages of sin is death.”  When God created man He placed them in the garden declared one thing they were not to do.  “The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.” Genesis 3:2-3.  He told them what they would receive, denoted by Paul as wages, if they disobeyed Him.  Unfortunately, they did and received exactly what God told them they would.  Not necessarily instant death, but they would have a limited lifespan. 

And this was what Paul was referring to.  Because they sinned, they received the wages for their actions.  They no longer had life eternal, but a time where life would eventually end.  And He also declares there would come one who would be capable of addressing this problem.  “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15.  This refers to the coming Messiah who would address this great fall of mankind.  “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!“  John 1:29.  So, as you can see, this was the plan of the Father and He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son to address the sins of all mankind.  And the only way He could pay the penalty for us is if He did not need to pay it for Himself.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 1 Corinthians 5:21.

So, going back to our focus verse, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life,” if we hear the words of Jesus regarding our situation, that being we are dead due to sins, and we believe the Father that the death of His only begotten Son will redeem us if we accept this truth, then we shall no longer die but will live eternally with Him.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17. 

We have all sinned and were thus under the penalty of death.  However, if we hear, accept and obey what Jesus said, and believe the Father that if we do this He will forgive us, then our penalty has been placed on Christ, who never sinned and thus can pay our penalty.  And when He does this, then we have eternal life.  Not that we will have eternal life, but we already have it.  It is life begun and expanded.  We, as Christians have already entered this inheritance which is everlasting.  What a glorious life we are assured of going forward.   

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

1 Corinthians 13:7

Verse of the Day Devotion: 1 Corinthians 13:7 

“Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:7

Here Paul is wrapping up His discussion on what love is.  He chooses four ideas that describe true love to our fellow man.  In each case, the verb is followed by the same object of the verb, which is “all things”.  None of these are limited to a subset of things.  They refer to all things, and this is the beauty of love as defined in chapter 13, that there is no one who is to be exempt from this love we have.  And before we look at each, I also want to point out that this is not limed to a specific time period.  The first and fourth items deal with present circumstances, while the second and third look to the future.  And they all have the idea of addressing the past by not thinking negatively of those circumstances that have occurred.

First, love bears all things.  The word translated “bears” has the idea of protecting and covering up with silence.  If this is the sense here, then it means that love is disposed to hide or conceal the faults and imperfections of others; not to give any undue publicity to them.  It means to bear the trials that are the fault of another yet concealing who did the fault and what it was.  Adam Clarke the theologian puts it this way.  “A person under the influence of this love never makes the sins, follies, faults, or imperfections of any man, the subject either of censure or conversation. He covers them as far as he can; and if alone privy to them, he retains the knowledge of them in his own bosom as far as he ought.”  We are to suffer through without letting it out.

Next, love believes all things.  We must endeavor to believe the best of everyone.  That we unsuspiciously believe all good that is not clearly false.  We should never assume a wrong that we have no clear evidence for.  It cannot mean that we make no discrimination in regard to things to be believed and are thus prone to believe something that is false.  But it must mean that in regard to the conduct of others there is a desire to put the best picture on it; to believe they intended no injury. 

Thirdly, love hopes all things.  This word hope is the same Greek word found in Hebrews 11:1.  It has the idea that when we have no evidence for believing good regarding them, that we anticipate at some point that the transgressor will repent of their wrong and we continue to do what we can to bring this about.   We must continue to  pray that God will bring a good out of the evil, including a change of heart regarding the transgressor, that they will give their life to Christ and serve Him.

And finally, love endures all things.  That we work to sustain ourselves during difficult times, and not complaining about our situation.  That we persevere under all persecutions at the hands of men; whether it be friends, enemies, or those we do not know.  If God allows it, then we must submit with perfect resignation until God delivers us from it.  We have no idea what God has in store for us or those who afflict us, but we must remember what Paul wrote to the Roman church, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.  If we truly trust and believe this, we will be able to endure much for the cause of Christ.

In closing, as our focus verse states, love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” I Corinthians 13:7.  This means that we must love all people no matter what happens.  We must bear all faults or wrongdoings that anyone does to us, keeping it to ourselves to maintain any opportunity to make things right.  Next, we are to believe good about everyone, unless there is absolute evidence to the contrary.  And we must believe that there is always hope that they will change their ways, repent for what they have done, and give themselves to Christ.  And finally, we must endure any hardship caused by another, understanding that God is in control and if He allows it, then there is a good to come from it.  We must love in such a way that we choose to endure anything so that if possible, the one who causes us to endure can be exposed to the gospel message.  These are hard things, but possible if we place our trust and our situation into God’s hands.   

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 1:16

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 1:16 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – Romans 1:16           

Paul claims here that he is not ashamed of the gospel.  Why does he think he needs to say this?  He declares in his first letter to the church in Corinth the following.  “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,” 1 Corinthians 1:22-23. 

Regarding the Jews, Adam Clarke writes in his commentary on 1 Corinthians the following, “There never was a people in the universe more difficult to be persuaded of the truth than the Jews: and had not their religion been incontestably proved by the most striking and indubitable miracles, they never would have received it.”  In essence, if the Jews had not seen the miracles, they would never had received the message God gave them.  Remember the parting of the Red Sea. “As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Exodus 14:10-12. They would not believe what God had told them because they saw the Egyptians and they feared.  Then, God parts the Red Sea.  We see this pattern throughout the Old Testament.  And this does not just refer to the Jews in the Old Testament.  “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;” Matthew 12:38-39.

As for the Greeks, the best example was Paul’s visit to the Areopagus.  They were more interested in wisdom than truth.  Paul gave a compelling argument regarding God, Him being the creator, that He is not in need of us but desires for us to seek after Him. However, when he brought up the resurrection, we read, “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” Acts 17:32.

As we can see, the Jews required a sign, and the Greeks were seeking wisdom.  Paul was ridiculed by the leadership of both, essentially saying that he could not prove to them what he was saying.  They found his declaration ridiculous.  However, he continued preaching the gospel.  He did not stop because they laughed at him or called him silly. The Jews did not see a viable sign that Jesus, a meek, lowly and impoverished man would save the world, and the Greeks saw no wisdom in his words.  Do we not see the same thing today?  Are we strong enough not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, or do we hide our belief from those who may ridicule or despise us because of the gospel?  It is important that we show there is no cost we will not pay to share the truth with anyone, and to share it with boldness and surety.  God is real, Christ is real, and the gospel is real.  Let’s show it by our not being ashamed of declaring the reality of it and not backing down. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.