Justification

          Theologically speaking, justification means “to judge, regard, or treat as righteous and worthy of salvation”.

 

“God justifies with his forgiveness and grace the man who comes to him.” - Will Herberg *

 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 5:1 ^ESV

 

“...so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” – Titus 3:7 ^ESV

 

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” – Romans 5:9 ^ESV

 

            A phrase that has been used to simplify what justification, is “Just as if I’d never sinned.” Thru Christ’s blood, combined with God’s grace (undeserved favor), we have been absolved of all sins. Just as a stain on a garment is removed when cleaned, our soul is cleansed as if it had never been stained.

            Do you honestly understand what took place when you gave your heart to Christ? It’s like having a new engine installed into a car.  You are brand new on the inside. You have been cleansed completely, just like a car that’s been detailed. We must never take God’s grace for granted. A supreme price was paid to expunge our sin. A man, albeit a Godman, willingly gave His life’s blood for millions of people throughout time to permanently remove ALL sin. 

Keep your main focus on Christ and the Father and be ever mindful of the Holy Spirit, who resides within you. It is of paramount importance for you to grasp the significance of who you are in Christ and the fact that you are a child of God. 

You are never considered worthless to your Heavenly Father, but rather of incredible value. You are uniquely made in His image and are loved by God very deeply. And NOTHING will ever change that. No matter what you ever do.

Remain focused on the life giver, and share His love and kindness to all you encounter each day. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Definition came from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

*William Herberg (June 30, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was an American writer, intellectual, and scholar. He was also a social philosopher and sociologist of religion, as well as a Jewish theologian. He was a conservative thinker during the 1950s.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

 

            With these couple verses Jesus exposes those folks try to be good and say all the right things, thinking that is good enough and will actually matter in the end. On ‘Judgment Day’ it will only be our relationship with Christ; as in, our acceptance of Him as our Savior and Lord, and living in obedience to His standards that will matter. 

            Jesus didn’t suffer a gruesome death on a criminals cross so we could play some sort of game with salvation. This is very serious business. Our eternal destination hangs in the balance and is based on decisions we’ve made in this life.

            It’s interesting that the “believer” told Jesus that they prophesied in His name, drove out demons, and performed many miracles, yet Jesus stated in reply that He did not know them. Perhaps He knew something about them that made them unworthy. Something Matthew didn’t reveal. Perhaps the things they did in Jesus name was for personal notoriety. The crux of Christianity though is not JUST believing in Jesus, because scripture tells us in Matthew 2:19 NLT, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” 

            What is true faith? “True faith, which leads to salvation, is not merely an intellectual assent but a transformative trust that results in a changed life and actions that reflect God's character.” ^[1] A person’s salvation should exhibit evidence of a life that has been changed in a significant way. 

            By the way, when someone ‘tries to be good’, what criteria do they follow? Jesus said NO ONE IS GOOD, except the Father ^{(Mark 10:18)}. Are they following biblical principles or personally interpreted thoughts. Trying to get to heaven on your own is a fools errand. There is no profit in that at all. It’s like travelling a bridge to nowhere. If we could achieve eternal life on our own, then why on earth would Jesus have had to die? We need Christ. Without Him, we are very lost with no way to find redemption. 

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] www.gotquestions.org

Deductive/Inductive Reasoning

         A “deductive” method of studying the Bible involves picking a certain topic and then going through the Bible and finding passages that support the topic. This is related to the “topical approach” to Bible study. Another form of Bible study, in contrast to the deductive method, is the “inductive” method. Using an inductive method, students take a verse or a passage, break it down, and examine its details to draw out the meaning. Deductive reasoning moves from the general to the specifics. Inductive reasoning moves the other way, from the specific to the general.

Deductive reasoning starts with a general or universal statement and then goes looking for details to support it in order to make a specific application. So, someone might say, “All men are mortal. Bob is a man. Therefore, Bob is mortal.” The general statement “All men are mortal” is the starting point, and deductive reasoning leads him to conclude, specifically, that Bob is mortal. If the general starting statement and the second statement are true, then the specific application is also true. If either is false, then the specific application is invalid.

Inductive reasoning starts with the details and moves to a general conclusion. To illustrate, suppose a man has a bag full of objects and he pulls out one red stone from the bag. The next thing he pulls out is also a red stone, and so on. After four or five times of extracting a red stone, the man concludes that the bag is full of red stones. He has used induction, taking the specific detail of “a red stone” and applying it to the general case: “All stones in the bag are red.”

Deductive Bible study, then, is simply taking a general statement and then going to Scripture to find details that support (or disprove) it. Inductive Bible study does the opposite. It starts with the details of Scripture and then builds a general or universal statement based on those details.

An example of deductive Bible study might be to start with the general statement, “Sin leads to death.” The student of the Bible must then go to Scripture to find passages that support that statement. He might cite Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23, Ezekiel 18:20, and Jeremiah 31:30. If he finds that Scripture does indeed support his premise that sin leads to death, he can then make a more specific application: we are all in danger of death, because we are all sinners (Romans 3:23).

A weakness of the deductive method of Bible study has already been mentioned: if we start with a false premise, then we will not arrive at a proper conclusion. For example, we might start with the general statement, “All angels have wings.” We might even find a passage or two in Scripture that mentions angels’ wings, such as Isaiah 6:2. But if our conclusion is “Michael has wings, because Michael is an angel,” then we are on shaky ground. The Bible mentions Michael the archangel (Jude 1:9), but it never mentions Michael’s wings. In fact, the Bible never says that all angelic beings have wings; some angels do, but perhaps not all of them. Deductive Bible study, to be beneficial, must begin with a universal truth rooted in Scripture. If we begin with conjecture or our own ideas, then we end up with a possible falsehood.

When misused, deductive Bible study takes on aspects of deductive reasoning and biblical eisegesis. In other words, deductive Bible study can facilitate a person’s drawing a conclusion before studying the biblical text or reading into it (eisegesis) his own meaning. Obviously, such a practice is dangerous and irresponsible because the conclusions that one might draw are often premature, subjective, and false.

When used properly, deductive Bible study is the same as a topical Bible study. We take a general topic, such as the love of God, and find all that the Bible (or a book of the Bible) says on that subject. From those gathered details, we can draw a conclusion. In this way, deductive Bible study is a useful tool in studying broad topics of Scripture.

                  Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Source:  www.gotquestions.org

Christianity and Sin

Christianity is not the only “religion” that deals with sin. The concept of sin is present in various religious traditions, including Judaism and Islam, among others. In Judaism, sin is understood as a violation of divine commandments, and there are different categories of sins, such as deliberate sin, accidental sin, and sins committed by those raised in non-Jewish environments. In Islam, sin is viewed as opposition to Allah, rooted in human pride. Additionally, other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism address similar concepts through ideas like karma and moral transgressions. Each religion has its own framework for understanding, addressing, and atoning for sin.

Christianity IS the only “religion” where the remedy for sin is linked directly to Jesus of Nazareth, or more importantly, to His gruesome death on a cross. Saying you know Jesus needs to be that you truly know Him by all means possible. It means you are “all in” on the relationship. Christ needs to be your source for everything. If we allow God to mold you into all He knows you can be, then that is what this Christian thing is all about.

Sin needn’t be a hindering factor in your life. The deeper your relationship goes with the Lord, the easier it begins to become as you walk thru life. Persecution may be ramped up a bit, but that only means you are on the devils radar, and he’d like to snuff you out. Don’t let him. As the pressure goes up, the closer you should be to God. This world has no solutions for the issues Christians encounter. Society tends to be anti-Christ to a certain extent, with exceptions, of course. That all depends on what region of the U.S. you live or what country you hail from. Stand strong in the face of opposition, setting your face like a flint. 

“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” [Isaiah 50:7 ^NIV] “Setting your face like a flint means to follow in Christ’s footsteps, separate from worldly influences. It also means to be disciplined, being loyal to God and His truth above all else. We’re not oblivious to all that is going on around us, but we make a choice.” ^[1]

                  Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

[1]  www.biblestudytools.com

Judging Others 3

            What does the Bible have to say about judging others? It frequently warns its readers against hypocritical & harsh judgment of others. Scripture teaches that we should do some self-examination first. 

            Matthew 7:1-2 says: “Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Jesus more specifically calls out the sin of judging by appearance alone. John 7:24^{Amplified Bible} ... “Do not judge by appearance [superficially and arrogantly], but judge fairly and righteously.”

            The Lord illustrates His point regarding judging others with the parable of the speck and the plank when He asks the question, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?".  In other words, we need to spend more of our time making sure our spiritual ship is in order rather than critiquing another.

            The Apostle Paul echoed this, stating, "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things".

            All this begs the question, is it ever okay to judge another person? There is a fine line between judging and “fruit inspecting”. If you see someone sinning, through kindness, presenting the truth, you could show them where they are erring. If they reject you then don’t lose your cool, just politely excuse yourself from the conversation and make it a point to pray for them to see the error of their ways. 

            Many years ago when I was first saved (1979), there was a man in church who referred to using discernment as “being a fruit inspector”. The way situations of that nature should be handled is with gentle kindness. It’s all in the approach and delivery. This is just another reason I always say we should imitate Christ in our thoughts, words, & deeds.

            So judge not, but be a “fruit inspector” instead. When you judge others you are sinning. Even though as a child of God His grace is enough to remove any sin, we should still seek to purge bad habits that amount to sin.

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Judging Others 2

Thoughts on how to stop

 

“To stop judging others, practice empathy, cultivate compassion, and challenge your own assumptions. Shift your focus from perceived flaws to positive qualities, and remember that everyone is on their own journey. By understanding others and practicing self-compassion, you can reduce judgmental thoughts and build more positive connections.” 

 

1. Practice Empathy: 

 

a.  Put Yourself in Their Shoes: “Try to understand their perspective, background, and experiences. Imagine the circumstances that might have led them to act or look the way they do.” 

 

b.  Consider the other person’s feelings: “Think about how your words or actions might make them feel. Would you want to be judged in the same way?” 

 

2. Cultivate Compassion:

 

a.     Recognize that everyone is flawed: “Just as you have your own imperfections, so does everyone else. Instead of focusing on flaws, try to find their strengths.” 

 

b.     Show kindness and understanding: “Treat others with the same respect and compassion you would want for yourself.”

 

c.     Remember, their actions aren't always about you: “Their behavior is often a reflection of their own struggles or experiences, not necessarily a judgment of you.” 

 

3. Challenge Your Assumptions:

a.    Examine your own biases: “Beware of your own preconceived notions and how they might     

       influence your perceptions.” 

 

b.   Ask yourself what leads you to judge rather than understand a situation or person. 

 

c.      Seek to Understand, not judge.

 

Next we will look at what the Bible has to say about judging others. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Judging Others

What is the root cause of judging others?

                  I thought I would take a deeper dive into the “why’s” of being judgmental to see what the secular world has to say about it. 

 

·       “We judge others as a natural cognitive process, influenced by social norms, personal experiences, and psychological biases.” This seems pretty logical. I tend to agree with this based on my own specific situation.

 

^o     A bias is a “preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment.” ^[1] 

What causes a person to be very judgmental?

“Judgmental attitudes often stem from an individual's own insecurities and low self-esteem. People may find it easier to criticize others as a way to deflect attention from their flaws. This behavior can serve as a coping mechanism, providing a false sense of superiority or control over their insecurities.”  

 

What is the purpose of judging others?

                “People judge others to avoid reckoning with potential feelings of inferiority and shame. Since judging others can never give a person what they really need, they feel like they have to keep doing it. One can choose not to perpetuate the cycle of judgment.”  

 

                  While I don’t feel that being insecure, inferior, or having low self-esteem applies to my judgmental attitude, but it may apply to you. Think about it or better still, pray about it. Ask the Lord to show you how to overcome being judgmental with others. 

I’m going to keep digging to see what else I can find. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] American Heritage Dictionary.

Note: Information on being judgmental is sourced from Psychology Today online.