Thursday, June 30, 2005

Wake Up!

Therefore He says, “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

Ephesians 5:14

Today’s verse quotes what the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 60:1: “Arise, shine, for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” That verse looked forward to the Messiah, and Paul’s interpretation looks back to what Christ has done.

Many Bible commentators believe that Ephesians 5:14 is a line from an Easter hymn sung by the early church. They see it as an invitation—a gospel presentation. The sinner is the one who sleeps, and the invitation is to awake and arise. The Savior is Christ, who will give light.

Like Rip Van Winkle, men and women are sleeping through an age—an age of grace. When they wake up it will be too late. So Paul encourages them, as should we, to awake and arise from the dead.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 199). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Exposing Sin

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

Ephesians 5:11

Rather than doing what people in the world do, we ought to be exposing their evil. You could call us the spiritual CIA: our job is to expose the crimes of darkness. Our tool is the Word of God: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16, nasb; emphasis added). Our life and our words should expose evil.

Sometimes just the way you live can expose the evil in people’s lives. Have you ever walked up to people who know you’re a Christian and who happen to be in the middle of a filthy conversation? Does it suddenly turn clean? When some unbelievers I happened to be playing golf with found out I was a pastor, their words and attitudes changed immediately.

We also are commissioned by God to verbally expose the evil of the world. We must diagnose it, confront it, and then offer the solution. Sin is a cancer that must be removed. You aren’t helping anyone by ignoring it. People need to be convicted about their sin before they will ever see their need for a Savior.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 198). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The Proof's In The Light

Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:10

The joy of a Christian is to be a living example of God’s truth—to be a living verification of what is pleasing to Him.

When I was in Damascus, I discovered that the shops don’t have windows. If you want to buy something, you have to take it out into the street and hold it up to the light to detect any flaws. Similarly, the only way to evaluate our lives is to expose every action, decision, and motive to the light of Christ and His Word.

When I go to the airport and put my suitcase through the scanner, I never worry about what the guard might see. I don’t have anything to hide. I don’t carry any guns or bombs. That’s the way we ought to be as Christians. We shouldn’t mind having the light reveal what we are, because it should only verify the truthfulness of our identity. We ought to be willing to expose our lives to light so that it will prove that we are light.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 197). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Monday, June 27, 2005

Avoid The Cave

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

John 12:35

When a Christian sins and engages in the deeds of darkness, it’s as if he has had a relapse.

Imagine yourself lost in a cave. As you attempt to find your way out, you only proceed deeper and deeper into the network of tunnels. Soon you’re in the belly of the earth. You’re scared. Your heart is pounding. Your eyes are wide open, but all you can see is an oppressive blackness. You grope for hours, and the hours become a day, and then another day. All hope seems lost. Suddenly, off in the distance, there is a pinpoint of light. You move toward it, groping lest you fall into a deeper pit. Finally the light begins to widen and you find yourself at an opening in the cave! With your remaining strength you charge out into the daylight. You then know a freedom like nothing you had ever conceived was possible. However, not long after your escape you decide there were several things you enjoyed in the cave. So you go back in. How foolish! Yet that is essentially what a Christian does when he follows after deeds of darkness.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 196). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Sunday, June 26, 2005

Satan's Bill Of Goods

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Ephesians 5:3-4

God’s love and the love of His children is forgiving, unconditional, and self–sacrificing, but you can be sure Satan will pervert that. Worldly love is shallow, selfish, sensual, and sexual, and Satan has sold that definition of love to the world.

In contrast to the world’s love, today’s verse concludes by indicating that we are to give thanks. Paul said, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes 5:18). When we are thankful for everything, we step outside ourselves, because thanksgiving is directed toward God.

Instead of taking from people, love them in a way that communicates thankfulness. Remember, God’s love is unselfish and thankful, but the world’s love is selfish and thankless.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 195). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Saturday, June 25, 2005

The World's Search For Love

Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Colossians 3:14

The people of the world want love very much. Loving, being loved, and making love are viewed as the ultimate high. Love is seen as the way to experience emotional extremes: you’ll never be as happy nor as sad as when you’re in love.

Today’s music feeds that quest for love. Throughout much of it is the same underlying message: either the fantasy of a love sought or the despair of a love lost. People continue to chase that elusive dream. They base their concept of love on what it does for them. Songs, plays, films, books, and TV programs continually perpetuate the fantasy—the dream of a perfect love perfectly fulfilled.

The world’s love is unforgiving, conditional, and self–centered. It focuses on desire, self–pleasure, and lust—the very opposite of God’s perfect love. People search for love, but it’s not true love; it is Satan’s perversion.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 194). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Friday, June 24, 2005

Unconditional Love

Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet–smelling aroma.

Ephesians 5:2

The Bible doesn’t refer to Christian love as an emotion but as an act of self–sacrifice. A person who truly loves someone else doesn’t try to get anything out of that person. That’s because godly love is never conditioned on a response—it is unconditional.

The world often defines love in terms of what it can get. But God loves even if He never gets anything in return. If that kind of love characterized our marriages, the divorce rate wouldn’t be what it is today. If those who claim they don’t love their spouses anymore would commit themselves to loving them unconditionally, they just might find that they can recapture or rebuild their love. Our Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t love us for what He can get out of us; He loves us in spite of the hurt we cause Him. Make unconditional love your goal, and be humble, obedient, and self–sacrificing.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 193). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Thursday, June 23, 2005

The Depth Of Love

Above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

1 Peter 4:8

Christians are to love to the limit, which involves covering a “multitude of sins.” Sin must be dealt with but must also be forgiven. That’s what “cover” implies. We are to put a blanket over past sin that has been dealt with.

Examine yourself. Do you hold a grudge against someone in your house? If you do, remember that Jesus already paid the penalty for whatever that person did wrong. Your inability to forgive belies your love. And if a lack of forgiveness is characteristic of your life, you may not be a Christian.

Inevitably, those who have the greatest sense of forgiveness are quickest to forgive others. The people who know they’ve been forgiven much are able to forgive much. I hope that’s true of you.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 192). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Measure Your Love

God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.

Ephesians 2:4

The greatest measuring rod of love in the life of a Christian may be forgiveness. That’s because God showed His love to us in terms of forgiveness. The Bible could have taught us that God so loved the world that He made pretty flowers or trees or mountains. But it teaches that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He gave His Son to forgive us. That certainly shows God’s love more than flowers, trees, or mountains.

Measure your love. Ask yourself, Do I love? If you don’t, you are not one of God’s own because the children of God love others (1 John 4:7-8). How can you know whether you are characterized by love? Ask yourself, Am I bitter toward someone because of something he did to me? Do I often get angry with people, either externally or internally? Do I speak maliciously behind people’s backs? Those are characteristics of your old lifestyle—characteristics you must get rid of in order to love and forgive others.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 191). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Be A Mimic

Be imitators of God as dear children.

Ephesians 5:1

Imitating God may be easy to discuss, but it is difficult to do. You cannot do it in your own strength. But Jesus gave us the starting point for imitating God in the Sermon on the Mount. We need to mourn over our sin with a broken and contrite spirit. When we are overwhelmed by our sinfulness, we will hunger and thirst for righteousness. So there is a paradox: we are to be like God, yet we must know we cannot be like Him on our own.

Once we are aware of the paradox, then we know there must be some other power to make imitating God a possibility. The apostle Paul prayed that God would strengthen us “with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16). The Holy Spirit provides the strength “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19). We can be like God (in terms of His character), but we can’t do it on our own—that is the Spirit’s work.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 190). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Monday, June 20, 2005

God's Standard

You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Leviticus 11:45

The Christian life could be summed up in this one statement: be mimics, or imitators, of God. Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Mat 5:48). The apostle Peter reiterated that high standard when he said, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”

The more you know God, the more you’ll under–stand who He wants you to be, so the primary pursuit of any believer is to know God (Phil 3:10). That can be achieved only when we study God’s character as it is revealed in Scripture.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 189). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Sunday, June 19, 2005

Living Our Message

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:17

Unbelievers might pay more attention to our gospel message if we gave them something special to notice. We could start by not lying and always speaking the truth. What if we never became angry in a sinful way but always acted in love; never stole but always shared; and never spoke in a coarse manner but always spoke edifying words? Can you imagine how the lost might react if we never were bitter, wrathful, resentful, violent, or slanderous but were always characterized by kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness? Perhaps they would pay more attention then.

Examine your own actions. Do you speak the truth? Do you have control over your anger so that it operates only in righteousness? Do you share your resources with others? Do you speak graciously? Are you kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving? If you are a new man or woman in Christ, you will live like that.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 188). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Saturday, June 18, 2005

A View Of Forgiveness

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

God was kind and tenderhearted toward you, forgiving you even when you didn’t deserve it. If you base your attitude toward people on what they deserve, you’ve missed the point. Don’t yell at people, slander them, or get angry with them, even if they deserve it. Those who exemplify God’s character are loving, kind, tender, and forgiving. That’s the kind of attitude God expects from those who are His new creations in Christ.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 187). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Friday, June 17, 2005

Our Gracious Spirit

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30

The Holy Spirit grieves (is saddened) when believers don’t exchange their old lifestyle for the new one. He is grieved when believers lie and obscure the truth, when they’re angry and unforgiving, when they steal and refuse to share, and when they speak corruptly and lack a spirit of graciousness.

When you were saved, the Spirit of God put a seal on you, declaring that you belong to God forever. Since He has been gracious enough to give you eternal salvation, seal you forever, and keep your salvation secure until the day of redemption, how could you willfully grieve Him? He has done so much for you that, as a token of gratitude, you should not grieve Him.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 186). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Thursday, June 16, 2005

Edifying Words

What is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Ephesians 4:29

If you allow Christ to keep watch over your lips, whatever you say should build up others. You should encourage and strengthen others spiritually. Is that what happens when you talk with people? Do they go away built up in Jesus Christ? Mothers, when you are with your children throughout the day, do your words build them up? Fathers, when you take your children out for the day, are your conversations with them edifying and encouraging?

Today’s verse also indicates that we should give others “necessary” edification, meaning that our words fit the need. When I was growing up, whenever I would say to my mom, “Do you know what So–and–so did?” she would respond, “Is that necessary to know?” Often what I wanted to say was interesting, but it certainly wasn’t necessary.

Finally our speech should “impart grace to the hearers.” Do your words bless those who hear them? Is there graciousness in what you say? You can be sure that if you allow the Lord to set a watch over your tongue and let His Word dwell in you, then your words will be His gracious words.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 185). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Useless Speech

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth.

Ephesians 4:29

Rotten fruit smells terrible and is worthless. You don’t want to get near it, let alone eat it. The same thing is true of rotten language. Whether it is off–color jokes, profanity, dirty stories, or crude speech, in no way should it characterize a Christian.

Psalm 141:3 tells us how to eliminate such speech: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” If Jesus Christ is the doorkeeper of your lips, He will be the one to determine what comes out of them.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 184). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Work Hard

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

Ephesians 4:28

Theft is a common problem in our world. Shoplifting has become such a problem that a significant percentage of the price of commercial items covers the amount lost from stolen goods. Whether grand theft or petty theft, robbing from the store, or stealing money from a rich man or a family member, it is all stealing.

Christians are to “labor,” which refers to hard, manual work. Hard work is honorable. As Christians we should work hard so that we will have enough to give to those in need, not so that we will have more of what we don’t need. The worldly approach to wealth is to hoard what we acquire. But the New Testament principle is to work hard so we might do good and give to those who have needs.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 183). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Monday, June 13, 2005

Righteous Anger

Be angry, and do not sin.

Ephesians 4:26

You might be surprised to hear that there is such a thing as righteous anger—that is, being angry over what grieves God and hinders His causes. But we are not to be so angry that it results in sin.

Don’t be angry for your own causes. Don’t get angry when people offend you. And don’t let your anger degenerate into personal resentment, bitterness, sullenness, or moodiness. That is forbidden. The only justifiable anger defends the great, glorious, and holy nature of our God.

Anger that is selfish, passionate, undisciplined, and uncontrolled is sinful, useless, and hurtful. It must be banished from the Christian life. But the disciplined anger that seeks the righteousness of God is pure, selfless, and dynamic. We ought to be angry about the sin in the world and in the church. But we can’t let that anger degenerate into sin.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 182). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Sunday, June 12, 2005

The Importance Of Truth

Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.

Ephesians 4:25

Why is it so important to tell the truth? Because we are members one of another. When we don’t speak the truth with each other, we harm our fellowship. For example, what would happen if your brain told you that cold was hot and hot was cold? When you took a shower, you’d either freeze to death or scald yourself! If your eye decided to send false signals to your brain, a dangerous curve in the highway might appear straight and you would crash. You depend on the honesty of your nervous system and of every organ in your body.

The Body of Christ can’t function with any less than that. We cannot shade the truth with others and expect the church to function properly. How can we minister to each other, bear each other’s burdens, care for each other, love each other, build up each other, teach each other, and pray for each other if we do not know what is going on in each others’ lives? So be honest, “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:15).

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 181). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Saturday, June 11, 2005

Be Truthful

You shall not bearfalse witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

A Christian should never tell any type of lie. The most familiar kind of lie is saying something that isn’t true. But there are other kinds, such as exaggeration. I once heard the story of a certain Christian man who shared a powerful testimony, but one day he stopped reciting it. When asked why, he said that through the years he had embellished it so much he had forgotten what was true and what he’d made up.

Cheating in school, in business, at work, and on your taxes is a form of lying. So is the betrayal of a confidence, flattery, making excuses, and remaining silent when the truth should be spoken. There’s no place for lying in the Christian life. We are to tell the truth.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 180). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Friday, June 10, 2005

A New Attitude

Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:24

When you came to Christ, you acknowledged that you were a sinner and chose to forsake your sin and the evil things of this world. But Satan will dangle the world and its sin in front of you to tempt you to return to it. Paul warns us not to return to it but to put it off and instead, put on righteousness and true holiness.

That’s not something you do once; it’s something you do every day. One way you do so is described in 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” If you want to live correctly, expose yourself to the Word of God. It will help you deal with the traces of the world still present in your life.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 179). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Thursday, June 09, 2005

A Renewed Mind

Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Ephesians 4:23

When you become a Christian, God gives you a new mind—but you must fill it with new thoughts. A baby is born with a fresh, new mind, and then impressions are made in the baby’s mind that determine the course of his or her life. The same thing is true of a Christian. When you enter into God’s kingdom, you’re given a fresh, new mind. You then need to build the right thoughts into your new mind. That’s why Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” We have a renewed mind, not a reprobate mind.

Instead of having a reprobate, vile, lascivious, greedy, unclean mind, we have a mind filled with righteousness and holiness. And that should naturally characterize the way we live.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 178). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Wednesday, June 08, 2005

A Christ-Centered Life

You have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him.

Ephesians 4:20-21

As Christians, we are no longer controlled by a self–centered mind; we learn from Christ. Christ thinks for us, acts through us, loves through us, feels through us, and serves through us. The lives we live are not ours but are Christ living in us (Gal 2:20). Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” An unsaved person walks in the vanity of his own mind, but a saved person walks according to the mind of Christ.

God has a plan for the universe, and as long as Christ is working in us, He’s working out a part of that plan through us. Paul noted that He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph 3:20). Every day should be a fantastic adventure for us because we’re in the middle of God’s unfolding plan for the ages.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 177). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Tuesday, June 07, 2005

The Importance Of Repentance

Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

Acts 2:38

No one can come to Jesus Christ unless he repents. Jesus began His ministry proclaiming the need for repentance (Mat 4:17), and both Peter and Paul continued to proclaim it. Repentance is a conscious choice to turn from the world, sin, and evil. It is crucial!

If you came to Jesus Christ thinking all you had to do was believe but didn’t have to confess your sin or be willing to cut yourself off from the evil of this world, you have missed the point of salvation. Many people’s lives haven’t changed at all since they supposedly believed in Christ. For example, some acted immorally and still act immorally. Some committed adultery and continue to commit adultery. And some committed fornication and continue to commit fornication. Yet according to 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, fornicators and adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God. If you are really saved, you will make a conscious attempt to break away from the things of the world.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 176). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Monday, June 06, 2005

Examine Yourself

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4

Are you still hanging onto the lifestyle you followed before you became a Christian? As today’s verse reveals, if you didn’t make a conscious effort to cut yourself off from this world when you came to Christ, you have reason to question whether your salvation was genuine.

First John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” When you become a Christian, your desire should be to cut yourself off from the world. Certainly the world will continue to tempt you from time to time, but you’re to forsake the devil’s evil system.

To say that a person can come to Christ without making a break from the world is a lie. There must be a change of lifestyle! It’s not an easy thing to do—Paul commanded us not to live as we did before we came to Christ (Eph 4:17). But we can live this life because we have a new nature.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 175). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Sunday, June 05, 2005

Living In Light

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:14

The apostle Paul looked at the evil pagan world and concluded that its self–centered, useless thinking leads to darkened understanding and a hard heart. That, in turn, leads to insensitivity to sin and shameless behavior, which then leads to unblushing obscenity. And it’s not really much different today.

As believers we shouldn’t even dabble in any of the evils characteristic of unbelievers. We are to be a light on a hill, separate from the evil around us. We are to be different. A city that’s set on a hill can’t be hidden. We must stand as salt and light. But if we’re corrupted by the system, we become useless.

Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ purchased us at the cost of His own life. He gave us a new nature that is holy, undefiled, and sanctified forever. He simply asks us to live up to what He has given us by discarding our old lifestyle and taking on our new one.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 174). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Saturday, June 04, 2005

Think Differently

You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.

Ephesians 4:17

Salvation is—first and foremost—a change of mind. The apostle Paul says to believers, “You have not so learned Christ” (Eph 4:20). Christianity is cognitive before it is experiential. A person needs to consider the gospel, believe its historic facts and spiritual truths, and then receive Christ as Savior and Lord.

The first step in that process is repentance, which means that you think differently about sin, about God, about Christ, and about your life than you used to think. The Greek word for “repentance” means “to change one’s mind.” As it is used in the New Testament, it always refers to a change of purpose, specifically a turning from sin.

That change should result in a change of behavior, which also is based on the mind. In today’s verse, Paul says that unregenerate people live “in the futility of their mind.” Proverbs 23:7 says, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” So when you think differently, you will act differently.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 173). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Friday, June 03, 2005

Conforming To Christ

Do not love the world or the things in the world.

1 John 2:15

As Christians, we are new creations and members of the church of Jesus Christ, and therefore unique. As a result, we should not live like people in the world. The world is proud; we are humble. The world is fragmented; we are united. The world is impotent; we are gifted. The world is hateful; we are full of love. The world doesn’t know the truth; we do. If we don’t walk any differently from the world, we won’t accomplish Christ’s goals. If we live like people in the world, we essentially are imitating the dead (Eph 2:1-5), and that doesn’t make sense.

Christians are like a new race. We have a new spiritual, incorruptible seed, and we must live a lifestyle that corresponds to it. We are new creations who have been suited for an eternal existence. As a result, we can discard our old lifestyle and be conformed to the life of Christ.

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 172). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Thursday, June 02, 2005

The New Nature

Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.

1 Peter 1:23

When we become Christians we are not remodeled, nor are we added to—we are transformed. Christians don’t have two different natures; we have one new nature, the new nature in Christ. The old self dies and the new self lives; they do not coexist. Jesus Christ is righteous, holy, and sanctified, and we have that divine principle in us—what Peter called the “incorruptible” seed (1 Pet 1:23). Thus our new nature is righteous, holy, and sanctified because Christ lives in us (Col 1:27).

Ephesians 4:24 tells us to “put on the new man,” a new behavior that’s appropriate to our new nature. But to do so we have to eliminate the patterns and practices of our old life. That’s why Paul tells us to “put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness” (Col 3:5).

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 171). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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Wednesday, June 01, 2005

A Change of Nature

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

When you receive Jesus Christ, are born again, and enter into God’s kingdom, you become a totally different individual. The change that occurs when you’re saved is more dramatic than the change that will occur when you die because then you already have a new nature and are a citizen of God’s kingdom. Death simply ushers you into God’s presence.

In his epistles, the apostle Paul says that when God transformed us, He gave us a new will, mind, heart, power, knowledge, wisdom, life, inheritance, relationship, righteousness, love, desire, and citizenship. He called it “newness of life” (Rom 6:4). Some teach that when a person becomes a Christian, God gives him something new in addition to his old sin nature. But according to the Word of God, we don’t receive something new—we ourselves become new!

MacArthur, J. (2001). Truth for today : A daily touch of God's grace (Page 170). Nashville, Tenn.: J. Countryman.
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