"Keep Seeking"

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, 

keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated 

at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, 

not on the things that are on earth. 

(Colossians 3:1–2)

God’s grace toward all mankind is unconditional: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11; cf. 2 Pet. 3:9). But God’s mercy in final judgment is conditional: “Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off” (Rom. 11:22; cf. Gal. 5:4; Rev. 2:5). In other words, not everyone who simply wants to go to heaven is going to be rewarded an eternity in heaven (Matt. 5:10–12).

Paul made this point very clear: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9–11).

The remedy to sin is God’s grace (Eph. 2:4–10). And we do not respond to His gift of grace and thereby merit salvation. “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’ ” (Lk. 17:10). “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5–7).

The difficulty of our own salvation is not so much at the beginning of the process; it is in the middle in which we are to eagerly continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior (cf. 1 Pet. 2:2). The fuller admonition from the apostle is: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand [that some distort the Scriptures to their own destruction], be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:17–18).

Too often we put ourselves on spiritual cruise control, and believe we’re okay with mediocre service to King of kings. We choose not to sing with zeal; we pray half-heartedly (whether publicly or privately); our giving is limited (whether money or time); the Lord’s Supper is all about “been there and done that” … In other words, we do those things we know “we have to,” but our heart is not in it the way it should. “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘ This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’ ” (Matt. 15:7–9).

• The Lord is with us when we worship (Matt. 18:20). What does He see from our worship?
• What does our worship mean on Sunday morning when we’ve chosen to live like the world all week long?
• Have we made time to study at all during the week?

Sometimes we may wonder about the generation of those following us—often they do what they have learned from us! Why is it that we expect our children and grandchildren to “get it” when we don’t? We might well be stuck with the elementary principles when we should be zealously growing. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12–14).

I believe many who expect heaven will be surprised in the final judgment because they did not keep seeking.

The Bruising of Jesus' Heel

Messianic prophecy didn't take long to develop in the Bible. The first reference to God's work through Jesus comes pretty early in the text of Genesis: After Satan's deception of Eve, and Adam's consequent sin, God said to Satan — "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." (Hebrews 2:14-15)

God is not trying to save our bodies! He created these "tents" from the "dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." (Genesis 2:7; 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 5:7)

"… when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him." (1 Peter 3:20-22)

The brutality of crucifixion is attested throughout history. I don't think anyone today would find crucifixion an acceptable form of execution. That Jesus was crucified was necessary:

• "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. …" (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
• Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Galatians 3:13)

The apostles do not hide the fact that Jesus was hanged on a tree (Acts 5:30; 13:29; 1 Peter 2:24). Again, it was needful for Him to die in this manner; not just that He died in some way, but in this specific way so that He would become the curse for us, and remove the curse from us.

How incomprehensible it must have been to Satan when Jesus, by the glory of the Father (Romans 6:4), was raised from the dead!

It is no wonder, then, that we must DIE to sin, be BURIED, so that we too might walk in NEWNESS of LIFE (Romans 6:1-7).

And here's a simple outline from the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul:

• FAITH (Romans 4)
• GRACE (Romans 5)
• BAPTISM (Romans 6)

Faith and baptism are connected by grace (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7). 

The Most Difficult Thing To Do

One of the most difficult things to do in life, at least for me, is to ask for help. Why? Because asking for help clearly indicates I need help.

The issue is vulnerability, I guess. No one really wants to be vulnerable because this manifests weakness, and weakness is the worst.

Here's a reality: we are all in need. Sure, most of us—and, yes, the male species is a bit more obtuse about this—don't want to admit it, but we are in need. "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment" (Proverbs 18:1).

Realizing that we need help, we also need to realize who to go to for help. This depends on what it is we're in need of. And I would believe that if we can't go to friends for help, then they're not much of a friend—whether or not they can help is not necessarily the issue; it's more that we can go to them and at least find a place to be heard.

It should be that if a friend comes to us asking for our help, that if we can, we should. And we should not feel that it's an obligation being fulfilled, but a friendship maturing. (How good we would feel for helping, and how good our friend would feel for being helped, knowing they can count on you.)


But it's not just about helping friends—"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:9-10).


We live in a time when we're basically cynical of others' motives. I wish I knew exactly what to offer to fix this cynicism. We (and I mean "I") definitely need the heart of the servant Jesus and not be so quick to condemn (Luke 6:37), but much quicker to help.


Do we lose anything by helping others? Even if we "get taken," do we lose? Maybe we're afraid to lose money or time or effort … But do we really lose when we help someone, anyone?


"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).

The Real Story of Noah

I vacillate in deciding whether or not to see the movie. When we see previews to movies we quickly assess whether we will not see it at all, rent it, or go see it as soon as Tuesday comes (Tuesday is the cheapest day of the week for the family to see a movie here in South Florida).

This post will be short.

My point is: read the Bible's narrative of Noah—it's far more exciting, positive (mankind actually does have a good purpose in the mind of God, 1Thessalonians 5:9-11, and is not the blight on the created earth that the movie apparently portrays).

You can find Noah's story in Genesis 5 – 9. And Hebrews 11:6-7; 1Peter 3:20-22; 2Peter 2:5.