AN ELEVATION OF WIVES

Ephesians 5:24 "Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."

“Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Paul compares the submission of wives to their husbands to the submission of the church to Christ. How does the church submit to Christ? Happily. Willingly. Faithfully. Constantly and consistently. Dependently. In this way the Christian wife submits to her husband.

But one more thing. Look at what Christ has done for the church. In a very real sense, Paul is actually elevating the status of the wife! The Gentile woman in Ephesus had no real rights at all. She was expected to stay in the house almost all the time unless she went out with her husband. She did not have rights of citizenship. She was not an important part of the guild or the temple. She was looked down upon and mistreated by all the men of the society. They were often in conflict with their husbands.

Paul is telling Christian wives that they are no longer to live like the Gentiles. They will no longer be in a position of servitude to society in general. They are to be devoted to their husbands and they are to offer their submission to their own husbands, not to society. They are no longer mere property, owned by their husbands. They are partners in their marriages and they can share with their husbands by voluntarily offering their submission to them. Paul says that Christian wives have great personal value. Christianity did not subjugate or oppress women when it came into Greek society. Christianity liberated women and elevated their status in both the home and the community!

Our society makes it very difficult for Christian women to offer submission to their husbands. Women are pressured to go out and live their own lives, to make something of themselves. Feminism cries out for women to shake off the centuries of oppression. The liberation movement demands erasure of the gender differences and wants complete equality. If Paul were writing today he would say, “Don’t live like the world lives. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and willingly and lovingly submit to one another. Christian wives, celebrate the high status given you in Christ and offer your submission to your husbands as an act of your worship of God.”

What if your husband isn’t a Christian? What if he is a selfish brute? What if he takes advantage of your submission and is completely unworthy of it? Those are very difficult circumstances. All I can give you are the words of Peter, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives” (1 Peter 3:1, 2). In those cases your loving submission is not only an act of worship offered to God but also a powerful tool for the Spirit to use in the life of your husband.

MEN, BE WORTHY OF HER SUBMISSION!

Ephesians 5:23

"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have had a Christian wife tell me how hard it is for her to submit to her husband. It is abundantly clear that there are many men out there who are certainly unworthy of their wives’ submission. I would like to look at what Paul says specifically to men in my next series of posts. But in 5:23 Paul hints at the kind of husbands Christian men should be, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” We should strive to be men who are worthy of our wives’ submission.

“Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” How did Christ serve as the head of the church? He gave everything to the church to the point of his own death! Every day of his ministry on earth Jesus was serving the church! Every decision he made was for the welfare of the church. He loved the church so much that he only did what was best for her! Jesus laid down his life to be the Savior of the church. Jesus was completely devoted to serving the church.

I am so grateful that my wife is gracious enough to offer her submission to me even though I often fail to be worthy of it. But if we want to be men who are worthy of our wives’ submission then we have to follow the example Jesus set for us. This is extremely difficult because we are fallen and selfish men! But with God’s help we can learn to serve our wives as Christ served the church. What kind of man makes a woman proud to submit herself to him? He looks out for his wife’s welfare. He seeks to do the things that are best for her. He is willing to lay down his own interests for her happiness. He is committed to being a servant-leader. Men, if you want your wife to offer her voluntary submission to you I suggest you be a man worthy of her submission! Be her protection. Be her provision. Treat her as the most important person in your life. Listen to her. Care about her emotional needs. If you will do these things you will make it much easier for her to offer her submission to you and you will help her in her walk with God.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBMISSION

Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord"

Paul writes, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” Remembering what we said about Christian submission, we apply it to this statement. Christian submission is voluntarily choosing to give up one’s will and rights for the benefit of another. In this case, Paul is telling the Christian wife that her submission is voluntary. Submission is something she offers willingly to her husband. Obviously, submission is not something that can be demanded or required so a husband does not have the right to demand or require his wife to submit to him!

Second, submission to her husband is an act of worship and submission to God on the part of the Christian wife. Paul says, “Submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” Often this has been misinterpreted to mean that the wife is to submit to her husband just like she would submit to the Lord! Paul does not mean that. He means that when a woman desires to submit herself to the Lord then she will offer her submission to her husband. It is an act of worship and reverence for God.

Third, the Christian wife’s submission is conditional. What do we mean by that? Do we mean that she just picks and chooses the situations in which she wants to offer her submission? No. It means that a Christian woman does not offer unthinking submission to her husband. If the husband were to ask the wife to do something that went against the word of God she would not do it. She cannot disobey God and blame it on her husband. The Christian woman first submits to God and then submits to her husband. Her submission is conditional because she must offer her first submission to God.

Fourth, the Christian wife’s submission is exclusive. In other words, the only man she offers her submission to is her husband. In some churches the leadership tries to put the women beneath all the men by using this verse. This verse cannot be interpreted to mean that all Christian women are to submit to all Christian men. Paul’s clear intent is to address Christian marriage, not gender roles in the church.

CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT!

Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord"

Remember the key to interpreting a passage of the Bible: context, context, context. An examination of the context will make the meaning of this passage clearer. Paul is in a lengthy discourse in which he is challenging the young Ephesian Christians to think about the way they live their lives. They are no longer to continue living the way they used to live before they were Christians. They are to live differently from the Gentiles who live around them. (Ephesians 4:17) Now they are to live like Christians. Their marriages are supposed to be different. Their marriages are to be a testimony to their Christian faith.

Paul mentions many ways in which their lives must change. There are so many things to be considered that it seems impossible! They must be wondering how in the world they are going to make so many and such significant changes in their lives. Paul explains that as well. He knows these young Christians will not be able to change their lives so drastically in their own strength. So Paul tells them that their only hope is to depend on the strength of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18) They need to be filled with the Spirit and the Holy Spirit will give them the strength and guidance to live like Christians.

One of the big changes that must take place is in their relationships. Before they became Christians they just looked out for themselves. They were willing to do whatever it took to advance themselves, enrich themselves, and improve their own standing in the community. But Paul tells them that they have to change all that. Now that they are Christians they need to learn to submit to one another. (Ephesians 5:21) They need to willingly surrender their own rights and will for the benefit of the body of Christ. The nature of Christian relationships is to give preference to one another. Christians want to put others before themselves.

This is the context of the verse we are studying, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” When he speaks to Christian wives he is telling them they are to no longer live like Gentile wives. Their old perspectives on marriage have to be taken off and they have to put on Christian perspectives. They should no longer do whatever they want within their marriage; they should be filled with the Holy Spirit and live like women who are following the Spirit. In their marriage relationships they should willingly seek to promote their partners by serving them.

A MISUNDERSTOOD TEXT

Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord."

For many generations this text has been misunderstood and abused. Abusive husbands have wielded it like a club over the heads of their wives, trying to find a biblical text that supports their bullying. Lazy husbands have used the text to try to force their wives to wait on them hand and foot. Husbands with authoritarian issues have used it just to feed their own need for importance. We have to understand at the very beginning, and of course our wives already know this, that men are sinful. Christian men are still fallen and sinful people. We are not above trying to use the Bible to make it say what we want it to say.

The problem, just like so many problems, goes back to Adam and Eve and the fall. Following their sin, God pronounced a curse upon them and all mankind who would follow. In Genesis 3:16 God told Adam and Eve how their sin was going to affect their relationship and all marriages yet to come. Speaking to Eve he said, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” At first glance, this just seems to be a curse for the innocent woman who wants her husband. However, when God tells Eve that her desire will be for her husband, he uses the same word that appears in Genesis 4:7. Cain is angry that God accepted Abel’s offering but did not accept his. God tells Cain, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Eve’s desire for her husband is a desire to own or to control. God is telling Adam and Eve that their relationship will be a struggle for leadership. Eve will want to control Adam and Adam will dominate her with his strength.

It is easy to see why Ephesians 5:22 is so misunderstood and abused! Sinful men twist it to mean what they want it to mean in order to help them have dominance over their wives. Fallen women hate it because it appears to give the dominance they want to their husbands!

Radical feminists don’t like this passage either. They don’t want to be seen as different from men. They want equality in everything. They don’t want to have any considerations made for gender differences at all. They misunderstand this passage because it appears to them to put women under men, making them something less than men. The people on the opposite extreme make this same mistake. They are hierarchicalists. In other words, they think along the lines of a hierarchy. They think that God has established roles and authority on something resembling a ladder. Those who are highest on the ladder have the ultimate authority and everyone else is below them. When these people look at this passage they see a higher and lower situation. Husbands are higher and their wives are beneath them. They don’t understand that Christian submission is not a matter of over and under or above and below. Rather, it is a matter of all believers seeking to serve and promote one another at the same time! Both the feminists and hierarchicalists misunderstand what Paul is saying here.

THE FAILURE OF MARRIAGE

The failure of the institution of marriage is one of the most serious developments of the last forty years. The family is the cornerstone of our society. When the family erodes and deteriorates the society is going to follow. Our society is actively dismantling marriage. When marriage is tossed aside to the curb the family disintegrates. Divorce has become commonplace. I can remember being in elementary school in the 1960’s and hearing the shocked whispers that the parents of one of the kids in our class were getting a divorce. Today, families are so splintered and complicated that it is refreshing to a teacher to have a student who comes from a traditional, nuclear family! Even Christian marriages are breaking up with fearful regularity.

The entire concept of marriage is questioned by our society. It is seen as a manmade institution which reflects the logical development of evolution and civilization. People see it as no more than the legalization of a natural human drive, an instinct, an impulse. It is called outdated. It is despised as a Puritanical, religious institution that no longer serves postmodern society.

Christians believe marriage was created and instituted by God. We say that our marriages are directed by God and that we are instructed in marriage by his word. We believe marriage reflects the relationship of the Holy Trinity. We profess that marriage also images the relationship of Christ and his church. What does the Bible say about marriage? What does it teach us about our roles and relationships in marriage? Will the teaching of the Bible help me to have a happier and more successful marriage?

Ephesians 5:22-33 is one of the best known passages of scripture about marriage. Paul addresses the roles and attitudes of Christian wives and husbands. He talks about the spiritual significance of marriage. He compares the relationship of the husband and the wife to the relationship between Christ and his church. This passage is often read at weddings. However, it is often quickly forgotten and it is frequently misunderstood and abused.

Ephesians 5:22-24: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

Please read previous posts and comments on this site. This will help you catch up with the discussion to this point.

Thanks to the team here at Bluecollar for allowing me so much freedom.

Dave Moorhead

Nourish and Cherish Your Wife

28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:...Ephesians 5: 28-29
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Nourish - to rear, feed. To nurture, rear, to bring up to maturity such as children. ... to train or educate. To shepherd or take general care of, to feed, to satisfy.

Cherish - Syn.: to care for, to give heed to, pay attention to, to minister, to warm.

From THE COMPLETE WORDSTUDY DICTIONARY New Testament Spiros Zodhiates
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Men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. They ought to nourish and cherish them as they would their own selves.

As I ponder these things I wonder if this nourishing and cherishing could and should be taken to the spiritual level as well. You see I have an appetite for the Word of God. That came about as a result of regeneration. There is this desire to live according to God's plan for my life. I wish to know Him better, to love Him more. O sure I have my bad days, days filled with rebellion against Him, days of falling into temptation; but the overall direction of my life is heading in the general direction of knowing Him better and learning more of His plans for my life.

As I read the Bible it becomes more and more clear that God's plan for every Christian is to be conformed to the image of His Son. See Rom. 8:29; 2Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19. It is also clear that each Christian is to play an active role in the conforming process. We are to study and prayerfully meditate on His Word. As we do so the Holy Spirit goes about to form Christ within us, 2 Cor. 3:18. As we behold Christ in the Word the Holy Spirit molds and shapes us into the image of the Son. The trials come, and as we keep our eyes on Christ in the Word, filled with worship and thanksgiving and offering up the sacrifice of praise so the conforming process takes place in our lives.

Now, husbands, those who have that desire to grow in the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, do you share your study and reading experiences with your wife? The gems you come across in His word, do you share them with your wife? Are you reading the scriptures with her, sharing your insights with her so as to see her become more conformed to the image of the Son?

Hmmmm.

TEAM ALERT

Bluecollar Team: Let us not leave this topic just yet. Please keep all posting on the marriage relationship

Spurgeon on Husbands, Love Your Wives

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church." Ephesians 5:25
What a golden example Christ gives to his disciples! Few masters could venture to say, "If you would practise my teaching, imitate my life;" but as the life of Jesus is the exact transcript of perfect virtue, he can point to himself as the paragon of holiness, as well as the teacher of it. The Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model. Under no circumstances ought we to be content unless we reflect the grace which was in him. As a husband, the Christian is to look upon the portrait of Christ Jesus, and he is to paint according to that copy. The true Christian is to be such a husband as Christ was to his church. The love of a husband is special. The Lord Jesus cherishes for the church a peculiar affection, which is set upon her above the rest of mankind: "I pray for them, I pray not for the world." The elect church is the favourite of heaven, the treasure of Christ, the crown of his head, the bracelet of his arm, the breastplate of his heart, the very centre and core of his love. A husband should love his wife with a constant love, for thus Jesus loves his church. He does not vary in his affection. He may change in his display of affection, but the affection itself is still the same. A husband should love his wife with an enduring love, for nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." A true husband loves his wife with a hearty love, fervent and intense. It is not mere lip-service. Ah! beloved, what more could Christ have done in proof of his love than he has done? Jesus has a delighted love towards his spouse: He prizes her affection, and delights in her with sweet complacence. Believer, you wonder at Jesus' love; you admire it-are you imitating it? In your domestic relationships is the rule and measure of your love-"even as Christ loved the church?"

Love And Respect

Continuing on with Mark's theme, let's look at Eph. 5:22-33

22. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
24. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26. so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27. that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
28. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;
29. for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,
30. because we are members of His body.
31. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.
32. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
33. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

First let's note the command to husbands. We are to love our wives by imitating Christ's love for the Church.

So here is exercise 1

Name how Christ has loved the Church.

For example, we could say that Christ loved the Church sacrifically. That is, He died for the church. For the husband to love his wife in like manner would be to show her a sacrificial love. A number one threat to that, I would think, would be something as gross as the viewing of internet porn. The vow of marriage is that you are to forsake all others, thus giving your wife the affections of your heart. The lust born from porn robs that and the heart becomes devided by the reality of a wife and the fantasies made by internet viewing. Another threat to loving your wife sacrificially would be demanding to have your way all the time.

Another example would be showing tenderness.

But that is the first exercise: Name has Christ has loved the Church and correlate that with how the husband is to love the wife.

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Alright. For the wives. How is a wife to love, or show love, to her husband? The text says two things, but I would think that the fist is really the fruit of the second. The first is submissivily. Now as I stated, I would say that is the fruit of the second thing stated. Why? Because one can be submissive to another and not love them. So what is the second thing that is stated? Vs. 33 commands "...the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."

2dn. Exercise:

Name how the wife should show respect for her husband.

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Hopefully there will be some fruitful discussion, as I think men and women differ to a degree in how each as a group experiences love, or how they would like to be loved. That is not to say that wives are to be untender to husbands or that husbands should disrespect their wife. What I am saying is that it seems that because there are differences between the sexes, the way love is experienced is different. Example: the husband will not sense a true love relationship if he is primarily disrespected by the wife. And it goes the other way: the wife will not sense a true love relationship without the tenderness and sacrificial giving of the husband. Both are needed.

Husbands, Love your Wives

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her... Ephesians 5:25

Wow! I am to love my wife JUST as Christ also loved the church. He gave Himself for the church. I am to give myself for my wife.

Self sacrifice? But, what's in it for me? Isn't she to bow and bend to my vision and life direction? Don't women realize that men must chase vision, accomplishment, goals, financial and physical? Don't wives know that men plain and simply get short with women by nature? Don't wives know that they are simply to put up with our shortness or short-comings in general?

Husbands giving time to consider their wive's needs? Unnatural!

Ah! But Christ was totally focused on the church!

Consider:

Verse 26 goes on..."that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word". The word is the agency. We hear the Word, believe, and are saved. As saved people we are washed from our sins. The word also has an ongoing cleansing effect in our lives as well. This all comes about because of the sacrifice of Christ for His Church.

Oh, the Focus of Christ as He set His face for Jerusalem. That final trip, knowing full well what the prophets had written, what was indeed in store for Him there. The spitting, the punching, the whipping, the crown of thorns, the nails.

He came, and He gave Himself.

"that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish". verse 27.

Husbands, do we really love our wives so as to do our part to present her to Christ glorious, spotless, without wrinkle or blemish? When we see something unChristlike in their lives, do we pray earnestly. Do we regularly teach them the word for them to be cleansed thereby?

These are matters I wish to consider in the days ahead.

Mark Pierson

THY KINGDOM COME

The word “kingdom” can cause us some confusion here. We can be led off on a rabbit trail of theology wondering what effect this prayer might have on our particular millennial view! “Kingdom” also means “kingship, royal rule, reign.”

What a lesson in prayer this was for those disciples! What would this prayer have meant for them? They were Jewish men looking for the advent of their Messiah. They lived in an Israel that had largely lost its relationship with God. They (along with almost all of their countrymen) were looking for a military/political Messiah who would free them from a pagan Roman rule. The righteous Jews were often referred to as those who were “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” They were waiting for the kingdom. Jesus taught them to pray, “Thy kingdom come!”

What did Jesus mean? He knew that in some sense the kingdom of heaven had already come. He was announcing the kingdom in towns and villages throughout the land. Yet he taught his disciples to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom. Whenever we see Jesus sad, grieving, or weeping, he is sorrowful over the godlessness of Israel and the unbelief of the people. His heart longs to see God’s name reverenced. He aches to see a people return to his Father. His passion is to see the kingship of God recognized and his royal majesty honored.

Do those circumstances sound familiar to 21st Century Christians? Is there a longing in our hearts, an ache in our souls to see God’s name worshiped? Does it bring any tears to our eyes that the people around us are perishing in godlessness? Then this should be our prayer:

O Father! Please let your kingdom come! Make people see your greatness and majesty! Turn the hearts of rebels so they will kneel before your royal rule. May the power of your reign grow so that people will not be able to deny your kingship. No matter what else may happen in our world, show yourself to be the sovereign ruler of all mankind! Let your kingdom come!

God Breathed

That is what scriptures are: God breathed.

We learn about God from reading what He has revealed about Himself in His Word. And it is His Scriptures where we find everything needed to know to live before Him.

You see, God teaches us in His Scripture that His words are pure and that nothing can be added to them. God teaches us in His Scriptures that His words are a light to our feet, a lamp to our path. Scripture teaches us very plainly that we are to hide His word in our heart so that we may not sin against Him. And Scripture also teaches us that our life is like a puff of smoke and then it vanishes.

And Scripture says that the Word of the Lord endures forever. Scripture gives us assurance because it teaches we have been born from incorruptible seed, not perishable flesh, which God in His Scriptures teach is like grass that withers, or a falling flower petal. No, God in His Scriptures teach that we are born again through the living and enduring word of God and by His purpose and desire. And Scriptures teach that we are redeemed not with perishable, futile, cheap things like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Christ spilled for us once for all time on a cross at a hill called The Skull.

Scripture teaches us how to live before others. Scriptures teach exactly who our neighbors are. Scriptures teach us to humble ourselves before God. Scriptures teach us about the armor we are to wear against the wiles of the devil, and Scriptures teach that if we stand firm and resist the devil, he will flee from us. In fact, we have God's word on it.

Scriptures teach keep oneself sexually pure. And Scripture teaches the kind of spouse we are to seek.

Scripture teaches us what sin is and how to please God. Scriptures teach us how to work at our jobs. And Scripture teaches us that God has given everything we need that pertains to life and godliness, and teaches us of His precious and magnificent promises.

Scripture teaches of the one in whom we have believed, by showing us His character, and convinces us that He is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him against that Day. And Scripture itself teaches that it is inspired by God, and is able to bring wisdom leading to salvation, correction, reproof, and for training in righteousness. It does those things so that the man of God may be equipped and adequate for every good work. Scripture teaches what it is to be a man, how to treat the wife, and how the wife is to treat her husband.

Scriptures teach about money matters, and about giving to the Lord's work.

In short, Scripture teaches us about everything that should not only be important in all our lives, but has also revealed what is important to God. To deny the sufficiency of God's perfect written revelation of Himself is to deny His very thoughts, and what He has told us concerning His very Being.

Bluecollar Team Awarded :)

(Mark, sorry for posting over you so soon)

But Team Bluecollar has received a really, really great award!




Daniel, from Doulogos has awarded us the "Oikodomeis Award" and you can read all about it here.

Thank you, Daniel. I'm sure I can speak for all of us when I say we are very honored!

Ya Gotta Check This Out!

What a great post I am about to link you to. Go look at it. I loved it!

http://nopearlsb4swine.blogspot.com/2007/04/psalm-1382-part-8-who-are-we-wrong.html#links

Welcome Cristina!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome "Baptist Girl" on board here at bluecollar. She is an excellent devotional writer. I'm glad to have met her through blogging. After reading her blog I thought it would be great to have her on the team.

Again, welcome, Cristina!

Her blog is...http://baptist-girl.blogspot.com/

The Resurrection: A Meditation on His Lordship

As we celebrate with friends and family the bodily resurrection of our blessed lord and savior, I’d like to offer what I plan for evening devotions with my family. While there are many facets of the resurrection that could be touched upon, my offering for now will just be this one: The Resurrection and Lordship of Christ.

We read in John 10:18

"No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

There are three things here to turn our attention, and each one comes under Christ’s lordship –

1) Referring to the death He would die, Christ states that no one will take His life from Him. As Lord over all creation, He is not only in control of each and every circumstance, He is also Lord over His own response. The Wicked One would deceive us with chaos so that we shudder with confusion and respond with that same confusion. His intent is for us to take our eyes off of our heavenly Father and thus sin by acting in despair. When we do that, we are not trusting in God. Not so with Christ. When the world appeared to be turned upside down with Satan achieving victory, Christ maintained the will of the Father. What appeared to sinful humanity was not in fact the truth of the circumstance. Though they were blind to it, they operated under the ultimate sovereignty of another – Christ, as humanity had no power whatsoever to take away His life. Christ maintained over circumstance because of who His is – the Designer and Creator of all the ages. His life was His to give; it was not for any to take away.

2) He laid down His own life with purpose. He acted as sovereign of His death and what His death would accomplish: the redemption of His people. The death of the God-man has infinite value. We are justified by His blood, just as it is His blood that gives us daily cleansing. His lordship supplies that value, just as it was an act of His lordship to bow His head and die.

3) In His lordship, He has the authority within Himself to take back up His own life. As Lord, He was active in His own resurrection from the dead. Christ proclaims Himself to be THE resurrection and THE life. Eternal life is not some vague gift; Eternal Life is a reality through union with Christ, as it is Christ who Himself is that life. His lordship is shown in His own self sustainment as God the Son, and is not dependent upon anything for existence. Christ is Lord!!! And as Lord He is risen indeed!!!!!!


May you and your family have a blessed time of celebration and worship of our most blessed resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ!

I Am Totally His-Forever

He bore our sins when He went to the cross, He died and rose again just so that We can say, "I am totally His-forever." There is nothing or no one that can take me away from Him.

Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


I am totally His!

I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His. Once I was a slave but now I am a son; once I was dead but now I am alive; once I was darkness but now I am light in the Lord; once I was a child of wrath, an heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven; once I was Satan's bond-servant but now I am God's freeman; once I was under the spirit of bondage but now I am under the Spirit of adoption that seals up to me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person and the salvation of my soul.

THOMAS BROOKS

Ephesians 1:13-14 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

We are His possesion!

Cristina
(Baptist-Girl)

Um...Hello, Douglas Mabry

Welcome Douglas!

I welcome Douglas Mabry to bluecollar!

Doug comes to us as "Gojira". He strikes me as having the heart of King David, pliable and contrite. Doug seems to have read more books than I know to exist!

Welcome aboard!

To the readers of bluecollar:

The people who post on this blog are encouraged to share their hearts here. They choose their own topics. The topics covered here can be challenging and or devotional. It is entirely up to the writers themselves. The posts will be displayed for between twenty-four to thirty-six hours before a new post goes up in order to have maximum exposure.

In the coming days, I, Mark Pierson, plan to take on a more conversational approach in the comments threads. I embrace The Doctrines of Grace. Many who read here do not. I wish to dialogue with them. Debates aren't won by brute force or by sarcasm. I have friends on the other side of this debate. The only way to win them over is by dialogue. That is the way of this blog beginning now. I have asked a non Calvinist if she would post here occasionally. I have a lot of respect for her as sister in Christ. The only way to clear up all the misconceptions is if everybody put it all on the table, as it were. If we would take the time to air out our systems, leaving no stone unturned, then, and only then, can misconceptions be cleared up. However Existentialists are not allowed here. Existentialism isn't even remotely Christian. Case closed.

Mark Pierson

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

This petition is literally, “Let your name be sanctified,” or, “Let your name be held as holy.” I keep in mind that a name meant far more in biblical times than it does now; especially when it came to the name of God. The name of God stands for all that he is; all his attributes and characteristics. When God responded to Moses’ request for his name he simply said, “I AM.” God’s name is who and what he is.

When I pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” I ask God to do what he has already said he will do. I am asking God to make his name huge all over the world. I am pleading with him to magnify his name in the eyes of everyone. I am begging him to glorify himself and make his name great. God told the prophets that this is exactly what he intends to do:

“For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.

How can I let myself be defamed?

I will not yield my glory to another.”

Isaiah 48:11

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.’” Ezekiel 36:22, 23

When I pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,” my heart cries out to God, “O LORD, your name is not held to be holy in my world, in my culture, or in my nation. Your name is demeaned. Your power and sovereignty is made small even by those who profess to be your people. People sit in judgment of you. They say you are unjust. They claim you are capricious. They say you are dependent on the wills of men. O LORD, rise up and make your name holy! Shake yourself, O LORD, show the holiness of your name and do not yield your glory to another!”

I am reminded Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” Following the battle of Agincourt the reports of the dead and wounded are brought to Henry and there are only a few English names on the list. He says,

“Come, go we in procession to the village.

And be it death proclaimed through our host

To boast of this or take the praise from God

Which is his only”

And then,

“Do we all holy rites;

Let there be sung 'Non nobis' and 'Te Deum;'”

The “Non nobis” is Psalm 115:1, “Non nobis Domine non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam.”

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to thy name give glory.”

Another question for non-Calvinists

The question for this post is in large bold print. It is not to debate TULIP. Here is the question.......
In the non-Calvinist’ theological system, does God make the playing field level by giving everyone an equal opportunity to come to faith in Christ?

The answer would seem obvious, but many non-Calvinists seem to think that God provides an equal opportunity to everyone. This is seen in the following quotes from non-Calvinists who have commented on this blog and their on blogs:

“God made the field level - everybody has the exact same ability to come to Christ.”

“I would say that God has sovereignly made a creation that is able to *respond* to Him.”

“Would it violate His sovereignty to give man latitude and freedom to rebel from Him or respond to His wooing and drawing?”

“God grants choice to people, who are made in His image.”

“Men and women have the ability to believe.”

“God is at work in this world through His Word, the testimony of Jesus Christ and the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit – without the intervention by God - no one would come to Him.”

I would submit the following reasons that the non-Calvinist theological system does not give everyone an equal and fair chance:

1. Age of death: The longer an unbeliever lives, the more time and opportunity he will have to respond to God’s wooing and drawing that the quotes above indicate that all men get. An 80-year old will have 60 more years than a 20 year old that dies in a car accident. The 20-year old unbeliever doesn’t even come close to having the opportunity as the 80-year old person.

2. Location of birth: Being born and raised in the heartland of America certainly affords a much better opportunity than being born and raised in Iran.

3. Parental circumstances: Being born with parents that are devout Christians affords a much better chance than parents that are atheists, Buddists, or Muslims.

Therefore, the non-Calvinist playing field is not level and an equal opportunity for even hearing the good news is not even close to being a reality. In contrast, the Calvinist’s theological system playing field is very level since all of humanity is dead in sin and unable, apart from God’s intervention, to come to salvation. Therefore, God shows grace and mercy by saving some. Paul in Romans 9 says God is not unjust or unfair in doing this and I am not going to accuse God of injustice either.

For those that do accuse Calvinism of being harsh and unfair, I would reconsider the so-called fairness of the Arminian or non-Calvinist system before making that charge.

Praise God for his mercy and grace in saving sinners as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the great salvation that Jesus Christ purchased for us this Easter Sunday.