"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if in indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

"Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this?

(Image courtesy of James Barker / FreeDigitalPhotos.net) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV) We were Dead. All of us.

This week in our L3 readings, we have been walking through the first chapter of Ephesians. In verses 3-14, we need to notice a theme that Paul repeats, as he tells us how our reality is changed because of Christ. Two words say it all: In Him (In Christ). Let's take a look at what Paul says we have because of Christ.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

One of the most misunderstood and potentially confusing passages of 1 John is 1 John 5:6-12.  The reason it is often misunderstood (or not understood at all) is that it may not be readily apparent what John means by two terms that are significant to John's argument: "water" and "blood". They prompt questions (and it is healthy and helpful for us to ask questions of Scripture when we are reading, because they push us toward understanding): Does "water" refer to Jesus' bap...

As we have begun reading through 1 John over the past two weeks, one of the recurring themes we see is the description of a true follower of Christ. As with every letter in the New Testament, 1 John was written to address a specific set of circumstances in the Church. In this letter, part of what John was addressing was Gnosticism (or a related belief system), which denied the value and reality of the physical realm and only emphasized the spiritual, or metaphysical, realm.

This week, our L3 journals covered Romans 10:5-17, where Paul explains how people come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. In this passage, we hear more about what it means to believe in Christ, how any of us have come to believe in Christ, and why it is important that we tell the world about what Jesus has done. These are some very critical teachings, and we need to pay close attention because our response will have an eternal effect and consequence.

This week our L3 Journal reading plan takes us through a passage of scripture that can be difficult to understand and potentially difficult to swallow. Romans 9:13 - "As it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'" Romans 9:17 "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.'" Romans 9:21-22 - "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lum...

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." (Romans 3:21-25a) This week in our L3 jour...

This week in our L3 journals, we have been reading through the first few chapters of Romans, and came across one of the foundational verses for Paul's entire case for the gospel through this letter, Romans 1:17. In this verse, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4: "The righteous shall live by faith." In this post, I just want to help clarify a few things, which will help us as we set out on our journey through the book of Romans. In the previous verse, Paul had just finished saying that the g...

JOHN 16:5-15 - So Close, Yet So Far Away This past weekend, Joe taught from John 14 about how the Spirit is our help from God to love and obey Christ. The Spirit empowers us to live a life of worship that honors our Savior. Our response are either to be led by the Spirit, to ignore the Spirit, or to deny the Spirit. This week in our L3 readings, one of the passages we read was in John 16, where Jesus continues to teach about the Holy Spirit, who would come to the disciples after His de...

John 7:37-39 and the Water from the Rock This week in our L3 journals, we read about something Jesus said on the last day of the Feast of Booths. He said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (Jn. 7:37).

John 4:1-45 (Jacob's well from John 4 - in a Greek Orthodox church building that has been built around the site) In our L3 journals this past week, we read John 2 through John 4. In John 4, we read of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan women at Jacob's well, on the outskirts of Sychar. As Joe shared this weekend, Jesus, exhausted from His journey and the noonday heat, began the conversation by asking her for a drink, then spoke of the "living water" that only He could offer, and then launche...

This week in our L3 journal, we read through the end of the Gospel of Matthew. In this portion of Matthew's Gospel, we find what is often called, the "Passion Week," where Jesus experiences the difficult journey to the cross for our redemption. In chapter 27:27-44, we see the focal point of the entire gospel message - the crucifixion of Jesus.

This week in our L3, we have been reading through Psalms 120-132. In these Psalms, we find songs of prayer for deliverance (120, 129, 130), songs of confidence in God's providence and power (121, 124, 125 - the Psalm from which the song "Those Who Trust" was written, 127, 132), songs of celebration (122, 126), a cry for mercy (123), a song of wisdom (128), and a song of peace (131). In your Bible, you may see a heading over each of these Psalms: "A Song of Ascents." These were songs that the peo...

In nearly every one of Paul’s letters to the churches (Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica), there are some recurring themes. The most significant of these themes is that of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ. In the last two letters we have read together in our L3 journal, Galatians and Ephesians, we see this theme very clearly.