CHANGING TIMES

CHANGING TIMES

Tuesday, September 10, 2013   

Psalm [MKJV] 103:11-19 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is His mercy toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, Jehovah pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our form; He remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place shall know it no more. 17 But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness is to sons of sons; 18 to those who keep His covenant, and to those who remember to do His Commandments. 19 Jehovah has prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all. 

  A saying I heard but didn’t comprehend as a boy was “Some people think there’ll always be a big market for buggy whips!”

  ”Change is consistent.” is no contradiction. It is a fact of life. Individual and cultural situation is in constant state of flux. Every century, decade, year, month, week, day, hour, is a new normal. Though mutability is commonly gradual, or at least seems to be, at times situation changes in the blink of one’s eye. To believe our life is otherwise is not realism, and it is impractical life-view.

  There are however constants:

~ Man’s sinfulness. I share from Scofield’s study notes on Romans 3:23: “The literal meanings of the Hebrew, and (Greek, "hamartanō", "sin," "sinner", etc), disclose the true nature of sin in its manifold manifestations.

Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil (Psa_51:1); (Luk_15:29); iniquity, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or not; error, a departure from right; (Psa_51:9); (Rom_3:23); missing the mark, a failure to meet the divine standard; trespass, the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority (Eph_2:1); lawlessness, or spiritual anarchy (1Ti_1:9); unbelief, or an insult to the divine veracity (Joh_16:9).

Sin originated with Satan (Isa_14:12-14); entered the world through Adam (Rom_5:12); was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted; (Rom_3:23); (1Pe_2:22); incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death; (Gen_2:17); (Gen_3:19); (Eze_18:4); (Eze_18:20); (Rom_6:23) and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ; (Heb_9:26); (Act_4:12) availed of by faith (Act_13:38); (Act_13:39).

Sin may be summarized as threefold:

     An act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God;

     A state, absence of righteousness;

     A nature, enmity toward God.”

~ The availability of God’s unchanging grace. For the unrepentant, their eternal future is unchanged. (Jn.3:14-18) For those that repent in response to and within God’s grace their eternal future changes, and is evidenced in the present in manner subtle and obvious. The Apostle Paul explained this to believers: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

  But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

  God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT Eph.2”1-10)

  Tomorrow, if I’m still available, I hope to share GotQuestions essay answering “What does the Bible say about fate / destiny?"  EBB4