As It Was in the Days of Noah

 Luke 17:26-27

²⁶ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Usually, when these words are read, the emphasis is on what society will be doing as the Day of the Lord approaches. The wickedness of our generation is the primary focus, but what can the Church of God learn from this story about how we should conduct ourselves?

The Salt of the Covenant

In a recent Spiritual Snack, “The Fire of the Holy Spirit,” I explained one example of how Paul wove powerful symbolism from the Old Covenant law into his letters and, no doubt even more so, his teaching. Prior to his conversion, Paul was a Pharisee and an expert in the law. That’s why the fact that Jesus is the Messiah was so powerful to him: he already knew the Law and the Prophets inside and out, so that, when God opened his understanding, he was overwhelmed by the depth and intricacy of God’s plan. Because of this, I have no doubt that Paul used the law to teach the Gentiles, since this was, in effect, how he was taught. For this reason, I believe that many references in his and other New Testament writings that appear to have a connection to the Old Covenant law are deliberate.

The aforementioned article examined how the fire of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us can be compared to the fire on the altar of the God’s temple. Today, I want to look at another reference in Paul’s writing that caught my attention in a similar way

Saved by Grace, but Judged by the Law? (Part 2)

The scripture that sparked this entire discussion for me was Ephesians 2:8-9, the first verse that I quoted in part 1 of this piece, about being “saved by grace through faith.” The very next verse says the following:

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Saved by Grace, but Judged by the Law? (Part 1)

Two central themes throughout the bible are salvation and judgment. Some mistakenly assume that salvation is being saved from judgment, but the scriptures say otherwise. On one hand, the writings of the New Testament make it very clear that salvation is a gift:           

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.

On the other hand, the bible says consistently from cover-to-cover that we will be judged by our works:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Are You "in" the Church?

During the Feast of Tabernacles, for those who may not know, it is typical that hundreds of people, even thousands in some places, will be staying in the same hotel or resort for the duration of the 8 days of God's festivals. Some of these feast sites are located in the midst of a city (such as Daytona or Panama City Beach), but many are held in more secluded towns or at all-inclusive resorts. For feast sites that are more tightly knit, such as the resort that I stayed at in Jamaica last week, it is common to ask yourself a certain question whenever you see someone that you think you recognize: is that person in the church?

This turns out to be a profound question with a diverse range of interpretations and answers. First of all, let's establish what the church of God is.

Can Men Understand God?

Lately, I have found myself dwelling on 1 Corinthians 2 a lot. The subject matter of the chapter is the contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man, and it reveals a key to becoming a true follower of God.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

There are several lessons just in this short introduction.

Tithes and Offerings: What are they, and what are they good for?

Many people mistakenly do not distinguish between tithes and offerings - I myself thought that they were the same thing for most of my life! The usual picture that people get when they hear either of these words is an "offering plate" being passed around in a church on Sunday with people putting in various amounts of cash, and the ideas of tithes and offerings are one and the same. This modern tradition is not according to biblical understanding.

Do You Obey God Rather Than Men?

Christianity as a whole in today’s world has a diverse range of beliefs. It seems that some of them are so drastically far-removed from each other that the only thing that they have in common is that they claim to follow the same book. Is it really possible that all of these denominations are right? Is it okay for everyone to have his own interpretation of the bible? Not only do I believe that this is not okay – I can show you from the bible that it’s not okay:

1 Peter 1:20-21

No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

There was no such thing as a denomination in the day of the Apostles. There were groups of churches that were close enough together to keep correspondence and visit with one another, but they were all considered part of the “church of God” and they all held to the same doctrines. But which doctrines did they have? And how did they get them? Just as Peter stated in the above scripture, there is only one correct interpretation of the bible: God’s interpretation.

Unfulfilled Aspects of God’s Law: The Day of Atonement

This is a second installment of a series on unfulfilled aspects of God’s law, focusing on the Holy Days (the first part can be found here). To quickly review, the premise of this argument is that God’s Law cannot yet be taken out of effect because, according to Matthew 5:17, a new heaven and a new earth must come before even the smallest part of the law passes away. Furthermore, it says that this won’t happen until everything has been fulfilled. God’s Holy Days, commanded in Leviticus 23, are aspects of God’s Law that have not yet been fulfilled, which demonstrates that we should still be keeping God’s Law – ALL OF IT. The application and administration of certain things may change, such as how Christ is our once-for-all Sacrifice and our High Priest now instead of the Levites, but there is no scriptural evidence that any of it has been annulled. Therefore, we must strive to satisfy all of God’s law to the best of our ability and with the help of God’s Spirit. If you don’t already know about the Holy Days, I hope this gets your attention so that you’ll open your heart to understand. Remember what the scripture says:

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

The Second Commandment – Is it Different from the First?

It occurred to me that the 1^st and 2^nd of the Ten Commandments are redundant if you do not have the proper understanding of what each one means. Read them and think about it:

Exodus 20:3 – You shall have no other gods before Me.

Exodus 20:4 – You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them…

Depending on what you believe about how these two commandments are interpreted, they may appear redundant. The 1^st commandment says that you should have no other gods besides the true God. Some mistakenly assume that the 2^nd commandment is exclusively talking about idols. If so, then it is redundant, since an idol is a false god, and is therefore prohibited by the 1^st commandment. This begs the question: is the 2^nd commandment simply an elaboration on the 1^st, or is it addressing a separate issue?