The Strictest Discipline

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If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell —Matthew 5:30

Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that "if your right hand causes you to sin" in your walk with Him, then it is better to "cut it off." There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then "cut it off." The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.

When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, "What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!"

There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.

The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but inMatthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

-Oswald Chambers-"My Utmost For His Highest"

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Word of the day

Regeneration

[ree-jehn’-uh-ray‘-shun]

(Latin regenerare, “to reproduce”)

The doctrine of spiritual renewal, otherwise known as being born-again. According to Titus 3:3-7, in his mercy God saves us by washing away our old nature through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life, as verse 7 states. There is some controversy as to when regeneration happens in the ordo salutis (order of salvation). Calvinists assert that regeneration happens before faith; Arminians believe it happens after faith evidences itself.

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Word of the day

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Sanctification

[saynk’-tuh-fih-kay‘-shun]

(Latin sanctifare, “to consecrate” or “make holy,” from Greek hagiazo, “to purify”)

Refers to the state or process of being set apart for special use. In Christian theology, is in reference to the change brought about by God in the believer which began at the point of salvation (justification) and continues throughout the life of the believer until the final state of glorification. The word (hagiasmos=sanctifcation/holiness) occurs several times in the NT (e.g., Rom. 6:19,22; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Thess. 4:3,4,7; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2).

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Gold refined by fire

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“There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.—Now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.—“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Rev. 3:18; Mark 10:29, 30; 1 Pet. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 16:33

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Paul Washer - Are You a True Disciple?

Expiation

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[ek’-spee-ay‘-shun]

(Latin ex- as an intensive prefix + Latin piare, “to atone”)

Meaning “to atone, or make reparations for.” In Christian theology the term refers to the penal substitution of Christ on behalf of his people. Specifically it emphasizes the removal of guilt through the payment for the penalty of sin. This notion is coupled with the concept of propitiation, which refers to the appeasement or averting of God’s wrath and justice. Both concepts are seen together as two sides of the same coin.

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The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

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Isaiah 12

12:1 You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

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