A Daily Devotional

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Mortified

"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." (Romans 8:13)

To mortify something means to put it to death. Paul taught in our text and in other passages that the "deeds of the body," or its fleshly actions and appetites, all that pertains "to the old man," should be mortified, or put to death.

This mortification is first of all judicial--Christ having been put to death in our stead. "Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6).

But the mortification must not stop there, with only a positional death. It must also be an actual mortification in practice, for "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:24, 25). "For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness" (Romans 6:19).

Elsewhere, Paul identifies specific deeds and attitudes which must be mortified. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence |or evil desires|, and covetousness" (Colossians 3:5). The first four listed will be recognized as various forms of sensual sins, indicating how detrimental this category of sin is to spiritual life. The fifth is covetousness, or inordinate love of money and material things. These five comprise deadly sins to men and women of any historical age--particularly our own. If they are not put to death, they bring death, "for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh" (v. 6).

The choice is clear! It will be either death to the flesh, or death to the spirit.

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Our Eternal Bodies

"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Philippians 3:21)

Only those religions which believe in special creation--that is, orthodox Judaism, Islam, and Christianity--also believe in a bodily resurrection. Of the three creationist/resurrectionist religions, however, only the Christian faith acknowledges that the resurrection can be possible only when the Creator Himself becomes the atoning Savior, dying for sin and thereby defeating death.

When Christ arose from the tomb, He could proclaim, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18). His resurrection body was the same physical body that had been in the grave, able to be touched and even retaining its crucifixion scars. Nevertheless, it was different, a "spiritual" body (1 Corinthians 15:42-49), controlled by spiritual forces. Our present "natural" bodies are controlled by natural forces, but the resurrected Christ could move quickly from earth to heaven, and could pass through closed doors (John 20:17, 19, 26).

But our resurrection bodies will be like His some day, according to the "working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead" (Ephesians 1:19, 20). By that same "working," He is able to subdue all things, for He is the Creator of all things (Colossians 1:16). Our "vile" bodies will become "glorious" bodies, no longer subject to sickness and aging, or lusts and evil passions. "This corruptible shall have put on incorruption" (1 Corinthians 15:54). "We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). This is the blessed hope of the genuine Christian.

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The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

"Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." (Proverbs 9:1)

The foundation of the house of wisdom is "the fear of the Lord . . . the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). One does not finally reach the Lord through much study and the acquisition of much wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the very "beginning of wisdom." Without a reverent trust in the God of creation and redemption, there can be no true wisdom. "For other foundation can no man lay than . . . Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Then, erected upon this foundation and supporting all the superstructure of the "house of wisdom" are seven mighty pillars, or columns. But what are these? The answer seems to be found in that New Testament book of wisdom, the Book of James, where it is said that, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" (James 1:5). Then, "a wise man and endued with knowledge . . . |will| show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13).

Finally, the seven great pillars seem to be listed in James 3:17: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." The first in the list or central column, carrying more weight than any of the other columns in the structure, is purity. Then there are six outside pillars. One is peaceableness; the next is gentleness; then comes reasonableness ("easy to be entreated"). The next phrase, "full of mercy and good fruits," connotes helpfulness. The term for "without partiality" actually means humility, and then the final pillar is sincerity.

Thus a life of genuine wisdom is a life founded upon the fear of the Lord and supported by genuine purity, peaceableness, gentleness, reasonableness, helpfulness, humility, and sincerity. Such a house will never fall!

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Under the Sun

"What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 1:3)

This is the first of 29 occurrences of the striking phrase, "under the sun," found only in the Book of Ecclesiastes. The question it asks is a common age-long question, for "there is no new thing under the sun" (v. 9). A man works to eat so he can work again, and what's the purpose of it all?

And this question was asked, not by a day laborer who lived from hand to mouth, but by King Solomon, reputed to be the richest and wisest man of all the ages. He set about to try everything which might bring fulfillment. Here was his conclusion: "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun" (2:11).

He was right, of course. There is no profit under the sun! The Lord Jesus Christ, however, is over the sun, for He made the sun. When we live for Him, there is eternal profit, but everything else sooner or later becomes "vanity and vexation of spirit." As Jesus said: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Solomon's conclusion was right, in so far as it goes. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). To the Christian, however, there is far more to life than even Solomon ever experienced. "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance" (Colossians 3:23, 24). "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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Bearing and Helping to Bear

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ . . . For every man shall bear his own burden." (Galatians 6:2, 5)

This is one of the most commonly cited Bible "contradictions." The apostle Paul commanding us, almost in the same breath, to bear other people's burdens and yet to bear our own burdens. There is, however, no real contradiction, and both commands are equally valid and important.

The problem is partly one of translation. There are two Greek words used here, baros and phortion, respectively. The first means "heavy load," the second, "responsibility."

When a Christian friend has been stricken with a great burden--whether sickness, financial need, death of a loved one, or even a grievous sin in his life which he has been unable to overcome by his own strength (see verse 1)--he needs desperately the love and support of his Christian brethren. The Scripture assures us that, when we help relieve this burden, we "fulfill the law of Christ." The previous chapter also notes this: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Galatians 5:14).

At the same time, the privilege of having Christian friends who will share and help with an otherwise unbearable load does not at all absolve us from the responsibility of doing our own part in carrying out our God-given responsibilities. There is no place in the Christian warfare for Christian beggars or Christian crybabies. "Study to be quiet, and to do your own business. . . . That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without" (1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12).

The preceding verse (Galatians 6:4) had urged that "every man prove his own work." Since God has both created and redeemed us, we can be sure He is concerned about us and will not allow trials, or place upon us duties which are greater than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).

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The Ministry of Reconciliation

"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:18)

The great work of reconciling lost men to a holy God has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, yet He "hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation," through which we, as His ministers (i.e., "servants") urge men, "be ye reconciled to God" (vv. 19, 20).

This wonderful "ministry of reconciliation" is outlined in 6:1-10, under three subcategories, totaling 28 characteristics. First, there is a ten-fold ministry of suffering. "In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings" (vv. 4, 5). On the other hand, it also encompasses a nine-fold ministry of godliness: "By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left" (vv. 6, 7).

These attributes of suffering, combined with the characteristics of godliness, produce what might be called the nine-fold paradox of the ministry. "By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (vv. 8-10).

The central paradox of these nine is the great central theme of the Christian life, centered in Christ: "As dying, and, behold, we live!" This is the ministry of reconciliation, for "they which live should . . . henceforth live . . . unto him which died for them, and rose again" (5:15).

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The Lost Tribes of Israel

"And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." (Revelation 7:4)

There has been much speculation as to what happened to the so-called ten lost tribes of Israel ever since these ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel were taken as captives to Assyria by the Assyrian king (2 Kings 17:6). The other two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) were later taken captive to Babylon, but eventually returned to rebuild Jerusalem and establish their nation in the land once again. Nothing is ever said about the ten tribes, however, and various theories have been offered as to what happened to them.

As a matter-of-fact, many individual members of the ten tribes did come back to Jerusalem and were assimilated with the two southern tribes, both before and after the Assyrian exile. Devout Anna, for example, who had watched for the Messiah for many years, was of the tribe of Aser (Luke 2:36).

In fact, immediately after Jeroboam led the ten tribes away from Rehoboam to establish his northern kingdom, there were many godly people in the ten tribes who opted to stay with Jerusalem. "And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to |Rehoboam| out of all their coasts. . . . And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers" (2 Chronicles 11:13, 16).

Numerous other references throughout the Bible confirm that most of the deported ten tribes, or their descendants, eventually came back to the Promised Land and were all called Jews (from the name Judah) in the time of Christ. The ten tribes were never lost at all.

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The Virtuous Woman

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." (Proverbs 31:10)

The famous passage on "the virtuous woman" (Proverbs 31:10-31) is often used on Mother’s Day, so the description of the attributes of such a woman is already well known. But it is not so well-known that these 22 verses were originally put together in the form of an acrostic, with each verse starting, in turn, with the successive 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is as though the compiler of Proverbs wanted to conclude the book with a special tribute to his own mother (v. 1), and to imply in so doing that it would exhaust all the resources of human language!

However, the translators have done something of a disservice by using the word "virtuous," which tends to make us think primarily today simply of moral purity. This woman was far more than just that. The Hebrew word, when used as an adjective or adverb describing a woman, was always translated "virtuous" (Ruth 3:11; Proverbs 12:4; 31:10) or "virtuously" (Proverbs 31:29). When used in reference to men, however (as it is far more frequently), it is always translated by such words as "strong," "valiant," "worthy," etc. Its most common translation is "army." Thus, an ideal woman is a strong, brave, industrious, trustworthy woman, worth an entire army to her husband and her children and her nation. This is woman as God intended woman to be. She is, most especially, a godly woman. "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised" (v. 30).

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her" (v. 28). This verse is usually acknowledged on Mother’s Day, but let us remember that "Honor thy . . . mother" (Exodus 20:12) means every day of the year as well!

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The Vine

"What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:4)

In Scripture we find many references to vines and vineyards, but there are three major passages which together reveal three aspects concerning the character of God and His love for His people.

The first, Isaiah 5:1-7, includes our text. Here we find that God, the owner, planter, and caretaker of the vineyard, cannot contain His disappointment, for despite the loving care showered upon the vine, it has brought forth improper, worthless fruit. In this parable, "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant" (v. 7), the chosen people who had seen more clearly than anyone else His abundant provision, but who had chosen to reject Him and not bear Him fruit. To them, and to those of us who reject His cultivating grace, He says: "I will lay it waste" (v. 6).

Psalm 80:8-19 gives us a picture of the abject desolation of the unfruitful vineyard once it is abandoned by the vinedresser. It is ravaged by enemies, wild animals, and fire, utterly helpless. The "vine" (Israel) may cry for help and restoration, but there are consequences to be paid. What a graphic picture this is, and what a reminder to believers today that we cannot for long ignore His will for our lives.

The last and most precious passage is found in John 15:1-16 and concerns fruitbearing. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (v. 5). Here are found the secrets of the believer's growth and fertility in glorious union with Christ.

"Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (v. .

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The Teacher

"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient." (2 Timothy 2:24)

Patience and gentleness are invaluable Christian virtues in any occupation. Teaching, however, involves other attributes as well, and these are effectively set forth by Paul in the second letter to young Pastor Timothy. Consider just four of these important exhortations to God-called teachers.

"Be straight." Soundness in doctrine is absolutely essential, the most vital criterion of all. "Hold fast the form of sound words. . . . Shun profane and vain babblings: . . . Preach the word; . . . Exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. . . . Endure sound doctrine" (1:13; 2:16; 4:2, 3). Straight doctrine is the basis of everything.

"Be strong." One can, of course, be strong and gentle at the same time, and this is what God requires. "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2:1). A non-gracious Christian leader is a dis-grace to his calling.

"Be studious." The Lord has given us His inspired word, and a "sound mind" with which to study it, as well as "the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us" (1:7, 14) to illuminate it, and He expects us to be diligent in its use. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2:15).

"Be steadfast." As he concludes, Paul foresees the awful spiritual and moral conditions of the last days--surely enough to intimidate and discourage any Christian. "But," he then says "continue . . . in the things which thou hast learned" (3:14). This exhortation is followed by the strongest passage on the full divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Scriptures to be found in the Bible. Regardless of circumstances, a Christian teacher must maintain sound doctrine, be both strong and gracious, be diligent in handling the Scriptures, and just "live there" in the Word of God.

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Reconciliation

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." (Romans 5:10)

It is interesting to note that as important as is the doctrine of the atonement in Christian theology, the word itself occurs only once in the King James New Testament. It is in the very next verse after our text. "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (v. 11).

The Greek word is translated "reconciliation" in 2 Corinthians 5:18. "All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." Thus the doctrine of atonement is the doctrine of reconciliation. Men are separated from our holy God both by their sin nature and also by their actual guilt of committed sin. But through the substitutionary death of Christ for our sins, "we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." That is, God has already reconciled sinners to Himself by the sacrificial death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem is that sinners are not actually reconciled to God until they personally accept this free gift of God's love to them.

But we who "have now received the atonement |that is, reconciliation| . . . joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:11). A part of that joy should be in the fact that God has now "given unto us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Thus, it has become our great privilege to tell others that they can be completely forgiven and eternally saved. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:20, 21).

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The Pragmatic Life

"And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13)

This "parable of the pounds" indicated to His disciples that they should not wait idly for the second coming of Christ, thinking "that the kingdom of God should immediately appear" (Luke 19:11), but that they should stay busy, using whatever abilities and opportunities they had in the Lord's service until His return. The word "occupy" is an unusual word, the Greek pragmatenomai, from which we derive our modern word "pragmatic," meaning "practical," and it only occurs this one time in the New Testament.

There is another related word, however, also occurring only one time, in 2 Timothy 2:4. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Here the word "affairs" is the Greek pragmateia, and Paul is cautioning those who would be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" against becoming involved in the pragmatic affairs of civilian or business life, if they would really be pleasing to their commanding officer.

At first, there seems to be a contradiction. Jesus says to stay busy with the practical affairs of life until He returns. Paul says not to get involved with pragmatic things.

There is no real contradiction, of course, if motivation is considered. Whatever may be our vocation in life, as led by the Lord, we are to perform that job and all the other daily responsibilities of life diligently and faithfully, for His sake.

If we allow these things to become an end in themselves, however, or use them for other purposes than for His glory, then we have, indeed, become tangled up in the affairs of this life, and this displeases Him. He desires that we be diligent in whatever He has called us to do until He comes, but to be sure it is for Him, not for ourselves.

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Follow God or Baal

"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." (1 Kings 18:21)

"Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing" (2 Corinthians 6:17). This has always been the standard for God's people, in every age; but in every age there have been those who yield to worldly pressures and rationalize compromise. The number of such compromises is great, but the most serious is that of trying to accommodate the worldview of pagan pantheism (represented in Elijah's day by the Canaanite religion and in our day by "scientific" evolutionism) within the worldview of biblical monotheism. God's view of such compromise has not changed since Elijah's confrontation with the priests of Baal and the embarrassed Israelites.

The seven churches of Revelation represent all churches, and the letter to the last of the seven, Laodicea, is addressed to what might be called "neutralist" churches--outwardly orthodox and successful--but actually blind and naked spiritually because of their compromises. The Lord said concerning it: "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16). In addressing it, He identified Himself as "the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God" (v.14), thus indicating that an untrue witness concerning creation was the church’s most serious compromise.

This is surely no time for compromises by Christians on such vital issues as evolutionary humanism. It is time for such churches and other Christian organizations to return unreservedly to an undiluted creationism. "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:.

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The Name above Every Name

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." (Philippians 2:9)

There are three primary names for God used in the Old Testament: Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai. In the New Testament, both Jehovah and Adonai are translated as "Lord" (Greek, kurios) and applied to Christ. This word is also applied occasionally to human "lords," but is specifically used as a name or title of God or Christ no less than 663 times.

His human name, of course, was Jesus ("Jehovah is Savior"), but this name is used by itself only 22 times in the epistles--always with special emphasis on His humanity. Although it was the common name used repeatedly in the gospel narratives, it is significant that the disciples and other believers almost always addressed Him personally as "Lord," never simply as "Jesus." Unbelievers and demons, on the other hand, never addressed Him as "Lord."

The name "Christ" means "anointed one" and is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. Thus, "Christ" is His divine title, as God's "anointed" prophet, priest, and king; "Jesus" is His human name, as our example and Savior; "Lord" is His title of spiritual relationship to those whom He has saved. All three names are of paramount importance; thus, Peter said: "God hath made that same Jesus . . . both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). His "full name," so to speak, is therefore "the Lord Jesus Christ." This complete name is used over 100 times; "Christ" and "Lord" are used even more.

In the great testimony of His coming exaltation, Paul says He has been given "the name" (the definite article is in the original) above every name. At this "name of Jesus" (with the "of" indicating the possessive--that is, "the name now belonging to the man Jesus who died on the cross"), every knee must bow, and every tongue must someday confess "that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10, 11).

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What Christ Looks Like

"His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire." (Revelation 1:14)

The only biblical description we have of the physical appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ is of Him in His glorified body as described in Revelation 1:13-16. The four gospel writers tell much of what He said and did, but give us not one word of His physical appearance. This was possibly to guard against idolatry, but more probably because, as the Son of man, every man is thereby able to visualize Him better in terms of His own personal culture and individual needs than if he knew specifically what He looked like on earth.

In the Song of Solomon, there is a beautiful symbolic portrait that many have applied to Christ. "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, His locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. . . . yea, He is altogether lovely" (Song of Solomon 5:10-16).

In contrast, there is the terrible picture given prophetically by Isaiah: "His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. . . . he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. . . . and we hid as it were our faces from him" (Isaiah 52:14; 53:2, 3).

Thus, one sees in Christ what he wants to see! But one day, we shall see Him as He is, and the way He is, is described in Revelation: "His countenance . . . as the sun shineth in his strength" (Revelation 1:16). One day, "every eye shall see him . . . and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him" (Revelation 1:7). However, when He shall appear to us who love Him, we shall be made "like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).