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— The Supply of Grace Team

[14] Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

[15] That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

It is our Father’s desire that we be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of” this crooked and perverse world in which we live. And we are beseeched to worthy of who God has called us to be as sons and daughters in Christ. This calling is part of our “blessed hope,” and part of the “Spiritual blessings” that we are given by our Father to those who desire to be followers of Him as “dear children, and walk in love” as the perfect Man by Christ. And being “dear children” in the sight of God are those who are truly followers of God. And this is not the generic term of those who say that they are a ‘follower of Christ’ because they call themselves a Christian. Being a follower of God in this context are those who are not ‘just children’ in Christ, but those who desire to “cry Abba Father, and “walk in love, as Christ also.” And walking in His selfless identity we would also be that living sacrifice unto God as those who are “dear” unto Him.

Eph.5:1] Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

[2] And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Moreover, those who desire to cry “Abba Father” do so based upon an ‘endearing’ call unto the Father as not just “Father,” but Abba Father. And that is also the case with “children” who desire to be followers of God the Father, they too would be viewed as “dear” unto Him. But why is it that many do not see this inheritance? They view God’s word with a ‘different perspective’ than others. Two sons can have the same instruction from their parents, but the maturity and experience determines how the child will understand this knowledge, and how he will now walk. If the parent gives instructions to mow the lawn, the 18 year old son knows he will ride and operate the mower, and the 8 year old child knows that he will clean up and help, he knows riding the mower is for the mature son, and he is not “able to labor with the parents in this capacity yet. But the mature son also learns how to not only ride the mower, but he is able to put gas in it, and maintenance it, but also he himself now can teach the other ‘younger’ children how to clean and mow as well.

2Cor.6:16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

[17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

[18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

2Cor.7:1] Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Furthermore, notice the Father says, “and I WILL BE a Father unto you.” This is an adoption and a new identity as sons and daughters apart from the previous identity that they had in Christ “among” this world, and it is God’s desire that we would desire to come out from among this world and be ‘received’ by God to NOW educate us as His sons and daughters, but this can only be done when we are not being ‘fathered’ by this world. And the “riches of the glory of this inheritance” is what the son sees with “eyes” of his understanding, he knows what is the “hope of His calling,” and he also desires to operate upon the exceeding greatness of His power as a son. This son is a dear child who knows these things, and desires this “unspeakable gift,” and our Father predestined and foreknew that He would have a Body of “dear Children,” or a Body of “sons and daughters,” this is the adoption of children. These are the “promises” that we have as “sons and daughters” from our Father the Lord Almighty!

Eph.1:3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

[4] According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

[5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Therefore, ‘shining as His lights’ consists walking, and living as His sons and daughters in the midst of Satan’s “night,” and not longer being conformed to this world, but now being conformed to the image of His Son. And we are taught to “BE” transformed by the renewing of our mind. But transformed from what? We are told to “put on” the armor of light, and the whole armor of God, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are putting on as the elect charity; but what, or ‘who’ are we covering up? And we are told to ‘examine our selves, and prove ourselves,’ and Paul says, “know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in” us. And we ought to know that we are given the excellency of the power of God as salvation from this crooked and perverse world, and “hope” unto a new identity.

Eph.6:10] Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

[11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

[12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Finally, We have been given a “blessed hope” unto the life of “the adoption of children.” And we are given salvation from the darkness of Satan’s night, and from our being “tempted,” or “enticed” by this ungodly world. But we might not think that we could be walking according to the “course of this world,” but we must understand that we were saved out of Adam, and we are given His Word to save us from the “power of Satan,” and the identity of this world and the “power of the air.” But as we walk in the midst of Satan’s night, we are taught to “put on” the “whole Armour of God” that we may be “able to withstand in the evil day,” and we are right in the midst of that evil day today.

Eph.6:13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

[14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

[15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

[16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

[17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Rod Jones

When I was a kid I used to dream about one day finding a treasure map which would lead me to the greatest riches imaginable. I don’t think I was the only one to suffer from this grand delusion. Almost every ten year old boy, and some girls, had the same notion.

Unfortunately, many have taken the wild dreams of childhood into adulthood, and are still looking for buried treasure, using any tool of discovery at their disposal. I too continued on that same path, searching for purpose and worth.

Maybe the search for riches, so that I could have anything my heart desired?

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. - Ecclesiastes 5:10

Maybe happiness could be found through alcohol, or drugs?

I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. - Ecclesiastes 2:3

I could go on with the plight of King Solomon. But, I won’t.

King Solomon had the very same desires that we all have. And, he was the King, and beloved son of a great King. How cowuld he have the same issues as you and me? Solomon tried everything possible to find purpose. I think that if Solomon were around today he would have tried every possible product advertised to alleviate problems.

He came to discover his problem:

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. - Ecclesiastes 12:8

The problem would later be revealed by the Apostle Paul:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; - Romans 3:23

Each and every person has the same problem, as well as the same solution to the problem:

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. - Romans 3:24-26

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Romans 6:23

So many Believers struggle with life issues because they trust their flesh rather than the Lord Himself. They have been trained to look at their own works to “make sure of” their salvation.

They trust themselves rather than Christ.

Along with that they hold allegiances to the traditions they’ve been taught, rather than their knowledge of Christ Jesus. There are many that claim that we should not trust knowledge, but to let it go, and trust the experience. After all, just using the Bible is not authentic enough. We need the authentic practices of the mystics!

This is incredibly problematic in many ways. When we place experience over Biblical Truth, we’ve made that Biblical Truth irrelevant. The Bible is the source of knowledge of the Lord!

Regarding Israel, Paul said:

For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. - Romans 10:2

Had they had knowledge of their Scriptures they would have believed in their Messiah, and not stumbled at the Stumbling Stone:

What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. - Romans 9:30-33

The Believer has only the knowledge and understanding of the Gospel to minister to others - and self! What great treasure we have right now!

For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. - Colossians 2:1-3

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. - 2 Corinthians 4:5-7

You can stop searching for treasure in all wrong places. It’s not even buried, but it has been deposited into these broken, earthly vessels we possess.

The question is: Do you believe it?

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: - Colossians 2:10

What part of “complete” do you not understand (Thanks, Hal)?

Bob Picard

Pastor, God’s Grace Bible Church, Millbury, Massachusetts 01527

www.godsgracebc.org

info@godsgracebc.org

“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph 5:2).

It’s amazing to me that Paul speaks here of an offering and a sacrifice as if the Ephesian Gentile readers already had a basic understanding of the sacrificial system in the OT.

Under the law, there’s a distinction between offering and sacrifice. You can sum it up like this: all sacrifices are offerings, but not all offerings are sacrifices.

An “offering” is a broader category. A “sacrifice” is a specific kind of offering. An offering was anything presented or gifted to God. A sacrifice was an offering that required the death of an innocent life through the shedding of blood.

Every sacrifice was an offering, but many offerings didn’t involve any blood.

Offerings could include all kinds of things like grain, flour, olive oil, wine, incense, precious metals, or other gifts brought in worship. The primary idea of an offering was an expression of one’s dedication, one’s thanksgiving, fellowship, worship, and devotion to God. An offering represented the worshiper bringing the fruit of his labor and presenting it to God as an expression of gratitude, service, and submission.

A sacrifice, however, is a sacrificial victim whose life is taken to atone for another. A sacrifice required blood. A bull, a sheep, a lamb, or a dove would have its blood shed. The emphasis was atonement or substitution for the consequence of sin.

Because sin brings death, a life had to be surrendered in the sinner's place. The sacrifice testified that the wages of sin was death and that an innocent substitute had died on behalf of the guilty for sin to atone for the sin for which the consequence was death.

I’d argue that the sacrificial system had nothing to do with justification. Their justification was always by faith (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:2-3). But the sacrificial system had to do with staying God’s judgment here on Earth for mistakes in their walk. And that sacrificial system existed to teach Israel and all of us the principles of substitutionary atonement, which would help us understand how Christ had taken away our sins on the cross.

When Paul says that Christ gave Himself as “an offering and a sacrifice,” he is saying that Jesus fulfilled both types. Christ was the offering. His entire life was presented to the Father in perfect obedience to His will. Christ's entire life was one continuous offering of obedience and submission to the Father. Every thought, every word, every action, every moment of His earthly ministry was wholly devoted to doing the Father's will.

And Christ was also the sacrifice. On the cross, He did not merely present a holy life. He surrendered that life. His blood was shed. His death occurred. A substitute stood in the place of sinners for the consequence of sin. Christ became the fulfillment of the Passover lamb, the sin offering, the trespass offering, and every animal that ever had its blood sprinkled upon an altar. What those animal sacrifices merely anticipated, Christ accomplished once and for all. He did not just offer Himself. He sacrificed Himself.

This is why Paul uses both terms. These two distinct terms brought together in this verse reveals the fullness of Christ's work on the cross for us. He fulfilled every form of offering one can make to God including the sacrificial offerings.

A Sweetsmelling Savior

This brings us to the phrase “for a sweetsmelling savour.” This goes all the way back to Leviticus, when sacrifices were repeatedly described as a sweet savour unto the Lord. The aroma symbolized divine acceptance. The sacrifice ascended. God received it. God approved it. God was pleased.

Why would He be pleased in the deaths of so many animals for sin?

Because every death pointed the way to Christ and that greater sacrifice to come.

There’s a beautiful progression in Paul's wording in this verse that deserves our attention.

• First, “hath loved us”—that is the motive.

• Then, “given himself”—that is the action.

• Then, “an offering”—that is His willing presentation of Himself to God.

• Then, “and a sacrifice”—that is His substitutionary death.

• Then we get the phrase, “to God”—that is the recipient of the Lord’s life.

• Finally, “for a sweetsmelling savour”—that is the Father's complete acceptance.

Every phrase builds upon the one before it until we arrive at this phenomenal truth that Christ consciously and willingly offered Himself to the Father on our behalf, and His offering was so perfect it accomplished what every animal sacrifice could only foreshadow.

Grace living is an outworking of the doctrine formed in the inner man, whereby we are edified and fully persuaded. This becomes the mind of Christ and our boundry to walk as who we are in Christ. How we respond to challenges is determined by what we value and exalt. Spiritual adult decisions rely on the conscience, fortified by convictions in sound doctrine. Regularly dwelling on the grace teaching given to us enables the Spirit to lead, renew, correct, and empower us to live resurrection life.

So, as “an help meet” for our husbands (Gen. 2:20), we are to live by this as a guide in our hearts and minds, which is God’s power and wisdom. Godly love for our spouse will be stabilized, grow, and even flourish: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.” (Phil 1:9-10) Love will fulfill the law (Rom. 13:10), motivating love actions with submission unto our husbands, as unto the Lord: Ephesians 5:1-2.24 says: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour… Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”

This isn’t easy even in the best of circumstances, yet we are to live this heart attitude consistently, in the good times and bad. Many marriage vows include: ‘in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death us do part,’ yet are we ready to live this as a conviction unto the Lord? If made in the flesh, we cannot do it… we will fall short. However, we can reaffirm this vow each day, dear ladies, realizing it is only possible by Christ in us, walking by faith, relying totally on Him and His work in us. Pray on this today, making this your reality. Live Christ by honoring God in your marriage relationship, especially in the hard times. It is a tall order indeed, yet: “And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27) And, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

Be fully persuaded (Rom. 4:21), being strong in faith giving God the glory… patiently enduring and focused above to minister godly love. Sometimes a strong spiritual friend in the Body can help us tremendously, yet we have what we need to endure: His grace is sufficient. Christ’s power will rest upon us as we walk this out in life. (II Cor.12:9-11)

Is AI getting on your nerves?

Me too.

Have we not entered into a season of great frustration with “AI slop” showing up everywhere? Our FB feeds and photos and videos and memes are now filled with “AI slop.” And I’m seeing pushback against all things AI, and I can totally understand. Give me something real! Something true! I hate not knowing what’s real!

Almost feels like that’s the point, doesn’t it?

But I would ask you to not lump our AI Grace Songs with all the other typical “AI slop.”

We don’t press a button and a song pops out.

AI doesn’t do our thinking for us. We have to think through the concept and the lyrics and give AI direction. We work hard on our lyrics. We want the doctrine to be right. We want the words to be moving and the choruses memorable. We want it to be fun at times.

On the podcast, I make no bones about the fact that I’ll use any tool I can to create great lyrics - my wife, ChatGPT, rhyming dictionaries – I don’t care. I want great lyrics.

BUT we heavily revise our lyrics in Word. We have to. No one and nothing will ever give us lyrics that accurately reflect the doctrines of grace. We grace believers have to do the work. We have to be hands on throughout the process to get the songs right. We sometimes agonize over rhymes. And let me tell you - compromises you make just so you can have a clever rhyme can sometimes have bad theological implications.

We have to be hands-on to get the results we want.

But that is also great fun.

Then, we copy & paste our lyrics into Suno. We insert detailed descriptions about the type of music we want, sometimes even listing the instruments, and we define the vocals we want. Then AI takes all of our input and creates songs for us.

If the lyrics are bad, that’s on us, not AI.

Now I am absolutely capable of making mistakes in the lyrics (and I’m definitely capable of bad taste), but if I publish bad song, that is on ME, not AI.

AI doesn’t control our lyrics. AI doesn’t change our words and sneak in some anti-MAD BAD messaging. It follows our direction precisely and sings the lyrics we give it.

If at any point, we lose any aspect of our control, we will stop making music.

I know this gets said a lot, but it’s true. AI – in this case – is just a tool. AI is nothing more than a tool we use for the purpose of spiritual expression through song. A tool is not morally responsible — people are. A printing press can publish a Bible or pornography. A microphone can proclaim the gospel or heresies. Morality doesn’t lie in the tools themselves but in the hearts and actions of the people using them.

You know, the Bible warns about all kinds of stuff – idolatry, deception, false doctrine, etc., but have you ever noticed that God never warns against new technologies? Christians have always adopted new technologies - the printing press, radio, television, internet.

Of course, Satan has used books, speeches, printing presses, radio, television, and the internet to spread deception. But Christians have also used those same tools to spread the truth about the gospel and right division. The issue is not whether Satan is using certain technologies to deceive. The issue is whether believers are using it faithfully.

The Biblical concern has always been doctrine, not platform or method. The question isn’t, “How was this song generated?” The question is, “What does this song say?”

If a song glorifies Christ, proclaims Biblical grace truth, encourages believers, and communicates sound doctrine, I’d argue its worth should be evaluated on those grounds.

Do you think Satan is happy we’re creating grace songs for believers? Songs about the true gospel of grace, about our identity in Christ, our eternal security, our spiritual blessings, our perfect hope, and our eternal glory? Do you think Satan gets a thrill about grace believers feeling encouraged and strengthened by songs filled with truth and hope?

The only thing Satan is happy about is that we’re only getting 200-300 views per song.

If that.

We know of a lady who used an instrumental mp3 of our AI song “Grace is This,” and she sang that song in church and the people were blessed. Is that so terrible?

We are in the process of using AI to develop songs for children for a church’s Vacation Bible School. The songs are meant to coincide with the theme.

Is any of this somehow morally wrong because we’re using AI?

The End Times Argument

“But Joel!!! You don’t get it at all!!! AI is setting the stage for the end times!!” “AI will be used for the Mark of the Beast!!!”

No, dear saint, that is not the case.

Technology will be dead in the Tribulation. How do you think technology and AI is going to somehow survive during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation with all the wars, rumors of wars, economic devastation, plagues, famine, multiple global earthquakes, balls of fire, grass and trees burning up, water turning to blood, hail that’s on fire, freaky locusts with stingers getting into everything, AND there will be 200 million fiery horses from Heaven shooting fire and brimstone out of their mouths?

Make no mistake. Technology will be dead in the first half of the Tribulation.

So how will the mark of the beast be implemented? Demonically.

AI Exists to Deceive You Argument

“But Joel!!! You don’t understand! AI is different! AI is all about getting into your head and getting you addicted to it so that you’re letting it do all of your thinking for you and then you’ll be deceived! It exists for this reason! It’s already deceived people!”

Think about what you’re saying.

You’re not arguing against AI. You’re arguing for discernment.

Are you going to give up using the internet because it’s full of deception? No. How about TV shows, movies, books, articles? Are you going to avoid talking to people from now on because they might try to deceive you? No. Are you going to hide in a closet the rest of your life? No. Why not? How are you going to protect yourself from deception?

Through the Word and your ability to discern.

You will continue to use discernment like everything else in life. You can’t hide in a corner and avoid all the deception that exists in the world. You have to go out into the world, face the deception head-on having the Word of God built up in your soul.

Besides - if you’re letting AI do all of your thinking for you, whose fault is that?

Let me ask another question. How much do you really study your Bible? How many years have you let your pastor (or pastors on YouTube) do all of your theological thinking for you without studying the Word of God for yourself? And think for yourself?

The danger is not in the existence of AI. The danger is in your spiritual / intellectual laziness about studying the Word of God on your own for yourself.

A believer who is unwilling to think critically has bigger issues than AI. The real battlefield is not artificial intelligence. The real battlefield is in what YOU are doing with YOUR mind.

If someone told me, "AI is dangerous because people will stop thinking," my response would be: “Then don't stop thinking.”

Drums are Evil Argument

A few times I have been reminded that Satan was in control of music in Heaven (Ezek. 28:13). So… what? Does that mean we can’t have grace songs?

Some would argue that certain musical styles are inherently evil like the late night grace jazz album we put out. It’s just a female singer giving us grace songs in the style of jazz with a trip hop beat. And some would argue that this style of music is inherently evil. How is a style evil? Well, it’s guilty by association with how that style has been used in the past. What musical genre has NOT been used in some way to subvert minds?

Where are the Bible verses telling us that certain styles of music are evil? Does not the moral weight of certain music come from the total package – lyrics, intent, context, presentation, and the overall message that’s being communicated?

When it comes to pure grace music, I would argue that style is irrelevant. It’s just different colored wrapping paper around the same gift. In fact, I would suggest that there is no style that cannot be redeemed and used to glorify God with wonderful grace lyrics.

And then there was the time we were rebuked for having drumbeats because - drumbeats are evil. Where’s the Bible verse in which God laments the evils of a drumbeat?

This person couldn’t use Scripture to argue against a drumbeat. So his argument was that the most evil man alive, Aleister Crowley, loved tribal drums.

Therefore, drums are evil.

If we learned that Aleister Crowley loved cupcakes, does that make cupcakes evil? Do we judge what’s evil by the Word of God or by the personal preferences of Aleister Crowley?

By the way, they used drums in the OT. Have you not read about timbrels? “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances” (Exo 15:20). Timbrels were hand-held drums like tambourines. All the women used drums along with Miriam and danced.

Speaking of dancing - "And David danced before God with all his might" (1 Chronicles 15:29). Don’t you think there had to have been some high-energy rhythms in all that music for David to be dancing so hard? They were “shouting” and used “the cornet… trumpets… cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps” (1 Chron. 15:28).

Man, they rocked the house in a loud way. You can’t dance to old hymns.

David’s wife, Michal, the daughter of Saul, criticized David bitterly for dancing so hard he was exposing himself. God was not too happy with her complaining about David dancing, and she became barren (2 Sam. 6:20-23). I think God loves dancing.

AI is Putting Musicians Out of Business Argument

Can you name one musician alive now who has built a career on grace songs?

We, as a grace movement, have NEVER had that luxury! We’ve gone all our lives with hardly any grace songs. We have learned to live in a world without grace music.

Tell me, who exactly am I hurting?

Having said that, if a real musician comes along playing real instruments singing real grace songs, I will always elevate that person's work above mine. Real musicians should be elevated above digital creations. Not only that, any musician who wants to sing grace songs can have unlimited access to use any of our songs for free.

Stick with the Hymns Argument

I love hymns. I’m not anti-hymn at all, but we need to be intellectually honest with ourselves about hymns. Our hymn books are filled with Calvinist landmines.

No grace believer has ever written a classic hymn. All those classic hymns are, without exception, written by Calvinists or Armenians.

We’ve spent our lives compromising on Calvinist songs that didn’t push the TULIP too strongly, but we still encounter many problems. I can’t tell you how many times in our church we’ll sing a classic hymn, but we only sing 3 of the 4 verses because one of those verses is a doctrinal disaster because it’s filled with Calvinist nonsense.

Take John Newton's "Amazing Grace." My all-time favorite hymn! John Newton was a dyed-in-the-wool Calvinist. When he wrote "Amazing Grace," he was actually writing about "Irresistible Grace" - the "I" in the TULIP. He was, in fact, praising God for picking and choosing who gets saved and who doesn't. It’s subtle but - oh yes - it's there.

Except nobody interprets “Amazing Grace” that way, because Newton was not a great lyricist. And “Amazing Grace” has always been a Calvinist mantra.

Don’t you realize we have never had grace music to call our own?

This may be bold, but I'll take our song, "Saved by Grace," over "Amazing Grace." We're not singing about Calvinist nonsense, and we give a clear gospel in our song.

Conclusion

I would again beg you to not lump our AI Grace Songs with all the other “AI slop.” And I would also invite you to enjoy our songs simply for what they are.

And be encouraged.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 

Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 

Romans chapter 8 gives the unfortunate circumstances of the truth of every person who is born unto creation itself; and that is, we are all subject unto the bondage of corruption, and that we have no physical “hope” from the “pain,” and sufferings” of our bodies on the earth today. But Romans chapter 8 also teaches us that we have a ‘unseen hope’ that we are to ‘look’ for. We are taught that the hope we are to trust in is the “hope that we see not,” and this concerns the redemption of our body, not the healing of our physical bodies. And the question is, why is it that today's preacher teaches a false doctrine that God will physically heal the bodies of the believers to day? This all boils down to the pastor himself being a novice, and mishandling the word of truth, whether he knows it or not, he himself can become an enemy of the cross of Christ based upon his teaching the Saints to “mind earthly things.” And our earthen vessels are part of the earthly things that we could mind and place an importance upon instead of the Spiritual things that be of God and the Spiritual things that pertain to the inward man himself.

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Moreover, the hope we are given by our Father concerning our outward man is that our outward man will definitely perish. And this doesn’t mean that what Paul is saying is that it will eventually die one day. Paul mentions that concerning the ‘inward man,’ he has a “day by day” hope, and so does the outward man. But oftentimes, many feel that God has promised to ‘renew and refresh’ the bodies of the believers day by day, or whenever it’s His will to do so, this is not scriptural, and is actually contrary to what the will of God is for the believer today. But today’s religion teaches a false hope doctrine that says that, ‘God can, and will heal IF it’s His will to do so, not only does the this mean that they themselves do not know what the will of God is, but if this were true, how does the saints know ‘when’ He will do it. And if it were true, is there anything that the Saints themselves need to do, or not to do to receive God’s ‘will?’ And the question is, where is it in God’s Word of truth that He said that he will physically heal the Saints today? God’s will and hope is for our inward man only, and His love, His Word, and His power, is designed to work effectually within our inward man only, not the outward man.

2Co 5:1  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

2Co 5:2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 

2Co 5:3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 

2Co 5:4  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

Therefore, it is the vain imagination of the man today whereby he assumes that God would physically heal or intervene in the physical circumstances of the believers today. And this has become the case based upon the ‘high-minded’ nature of the Man. He assumes that God loves his flesh just as much as the man does. But as we can clearly see in the verses above and below, our outward man is an earthen vessel with no hope, and it is designed to ‘house’ the Word of God, and the life of Christ, but man instead assumes that our bodies are supposed to have an appearance of godliness, and our bodies is where true holiness is shown, and that is through health, wealth, and relationship. Today, the hope that we ought to pray for, and look unto is that our inward man have the renewed mind and that we be conformed unto the Image of His Son, not that we continue to abide in these earthen vessels, and that God would place an importance upon, and treasure and nurture this body for our benefit so that we can continue to “make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof,” but sadly enough, this is what man assumes whether he knows this is the case or not.

2Co 5:6  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 

2Co 5:7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 

2Co 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

Rod Jones

I learned something awesome last weekend.

I was prepping for my message on Eph 4:30 and “grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

I discovered that “grieve” is truly beautiful.

Consider Webster’s 1828 definition:

“GRIEVE, verb transitive [Latin gravo, from gravis.] 1. To give pain of mind to; to afflict; to wound the feelings. Nothing grieves a parent like the conduct of a profligate child. 2. To afflict; to inflict pain on.3. To make sorrowful; to excite regret in.”

“Grieve” is all about love.

This is a relational word. You can offend a king. You can disobey a boss. But you can only grieve someone who loves you.

You don't grieve electricity. You don't grieve AI. You don't grieve car, although my car is in a continual state of despair but that’s another story.

You can only grieve someone who loves you.

This one word grieve already says volumes about the Holy Spirit. You can be made angry by someone you don’t know at a distance, but grieving requires closeness. An enemy may anger you, but that enemy will never grieve you. Only someone you love, someone you have opened your heart to and invested in, has the power to cause you grief.

Therefore, when the Holy Spirit is grieved by our conduct or bitter words, “grieve” reveals to us that He is emotionally vulnerable about you. He’s not some cold, clinical, divine energy out there. He’s a divine Person dwelling inside of you and He has hitched His joy to the way you live your life.

It’s just amazing, isn’t it, that He possesses all the infinite power of the Godhead, and yet, He’s emotionally vulnerable about you. He can be grieved by your conduct.

This also tells us that the Spirit is actively engaged in your life right now. You cannot grieve someone who is absent or doesn’t care. You cannot grieve someone who has walked away. The very possibility of grieving the Spirit assumes His active presence inside of you as well as His active engagement in your life and how you serve the Father.

He is present with you in the middle of everyday life and all its highs and lows.

This also means that the Spirit is astonishingly patient. Because the very Spirit we grieve is the Spirit who remains. The very Spirit pained by our failures is the Spirit who still seals us unto the day of redemption. He is grieved— yet He stays. He is wounded— yet He continues His work inside of us.

2^nd Cor.2:11] Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Satan sought after “advantage” over the help-meet of God in the beginning and since then, he has sought to attack and usurp the power of God from the man. Those who were justified unto eternal life, they are those in which Satan desires to get an advantage of, they are those in which say and desires to take captive, he does not want the unsaved because they already belonged to him, he desires to first take captive of them, but if he cannot do that, he will speak reproachfully Of them when they are not walking according to the doctrine which is according to godliness. But we are given salvation from all that the adversary can do unto us, we are told in the verses above that Satan could not get an advantage of us if we are wise unto his plan of evil against us. We are also taught that his devices, and his Wiles, and his snare, and his power is no match for the word of God working effectually within us as sons!

1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Moreover, it is by the power of the word of God that we are given unmatched power, we are able to operate upon the most powerful thing in the universe today, and that is the living word of the living God. And the “spirit of this world” has had an effect upon the man since the beginning, and we need to understand the ‘intelligence’ that there is concerning the spirit of this world, this world began to ‘become’ the world of the ungodly, it’s in the heart of the unbeliever regardless how nice, charming, or upstanding he may seem, we are told not to be “ignorant” of Satan’s devices,” but church goers today will say “understand Satan! Why would I want to understand something demonic?” But if they don’t understand his objectives, they are already his. and taken captive by him at his will, and if Jesus Christ was here today, many wouldn’t know who He was either, and because of the “perilous times” we are living in today; they would kill Him too, and they would do it faster, they wouldn’t wait 3 years to do it, they would try to stop Him thinking He is the antichrist himself.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

QUESTION: What Are the “Wiles of the Devil,” and if we don’t know what they are, how do we know if we have fallen victim to them?

1. To counterfeit The Word of God

2.  To counterfeit The Will Of God

To Teach that a man can produce his own salvation from the debt and penalty of Sin. And when he sins (and he will), that he no longer possesses “the gift” given to him by God. (Justification)

Teaches that your sanctified “Walk” in Christ consists of God physically doing things for you:

(A) Giving you ANYTHING of a earthly, physical nature that we can see.

(B) God physically delivering us from ANY circumstance.

(C) God will give you knowledge, or insight, or talk to you outside of what is already written.

(D) Praying about physical carnal things like healing someone from sickness or a dire life-threating circumstance.

(E) Giving “praise,” “honor,” and “glory” in the flesh, by worshipping God in the flesh, and not in the “Spirit.”

(F) God’s ‘blessings’ are physical and are deserved by some who are the “highly favored.”

(G) God will pave the way for your success, in all you do, He will see that your “heart’s desires” are fulfilled.

(H) Good Health, Good wealth, Good relationship and Family= The Blessed Of God.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

QUESTION: What are the “Fiery darts of the wicked,” these are the blasphemous sayings of this world by the church, and taught by Satan’s ministers:

1. ‘God will make a way’: this insinuates that whatever we do, or whatever we need; Weather in our time of need, or not, God will ‘come through’ for us to make our physical circumstance turn out for the better.

2. “Put it in God’s Hands”: when things over whelm us, people will say things like this, as if God will make things work out for them, when in fact it is an ungodly thing for us to not want the sufferings! (yea, all that WILL live godly will suffer persecution)

3. “Blessed and highly favored” this blasphemous remark comes from those who are high minded, and thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think! They get this from Luke 1: Luk 1:28:  “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

4. “Have a blessed Day” As if God will physically bless them in their daily life, as if this is how He operates among the saints, that some are blessed, and some-not so much! But because someone says have a blessed day, this will bring God’s favor unto them! Some say “what’s the big deal, I don’t think that makes a difference, what does it hurt!” but we will see verses that talk about the damage that it causes like “and their words will eat as doth a canker”

5. “Never try to go ahead of God, wait on your blessings” this is taught to the saint who is has been promised physical blessings from the Lord, and time has passed, but their asking has not came to pass! So people say these things to reason with why things aren’t being fulfilled just like the preacher says, and what they carnally believe!

6. “God will never allow you to take on more than you can handle” this verse is misused by many to assume that when things get so bad where you can’t deal with these problems-God will take them out of the way, this is a feel-good type of doctrine. But this verse is talking about the saint not being tempted by this world, not the sufferings of this present time.

7. “God works in mysterious way” when in fact; we are told that God has “made known unto us the mystery of His will.” And He desires that we know “all things” according to His will today, as He has Paul say; “2Ti 2:7  Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

We have to view these verses with the same attitude that Paul and God the Father views His word, and that here has been given unto us a provision made for us to defend us against ALL that the “night” has produced in this world. But we must take His word, and standing by that ALONE, without this world’s Influences and ways but stand by His word alone in our decision making and how we “compare Spiritual with Spiritual,” and view His will is being done for our inner man only, and to His will and power working within us today. As you seen in verse 18, our prayers ought to be “in the Spirit,” not in our will, or our wants, or what we see this world prays for, and about today. The verses above show how true godly prayer ought to be accomplished today, and that is by “all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,” that means that all our prayers ought to be by His Word alone, for the “things which are not seen.”

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Rod Jones

“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know.” (From ‘A Study in Scarlet’).

Today is Sherlock Holmes Day!

I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan! I’ve read all the books – twice!

I have never felt that any actor perfectly portrayed Sherlock as he is in the books. He was far more engaging and sociable (at times) than we’ve seen in dramatizations. He could certainly be withdrawn, especially when he didn’t have a case ("My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work...") But he could also be very sociable at times, too. On those occasions of seeing Holmes engage others sociably, he could be very inspiring, dynamic with people, and even encouraging to people about developing the skills of deductive reasoning, which he was obsessed about mastering.

He could show compassion for victims, anger toward cruelty, admiration for courage, and even mercy at times toward some offenders. He was certainly proud bordering on arrogant, which Watson noticed immediately. He dismissed other detectives as rather unimaginative and slow, but his pride was often mixed with humor as opposed to total outright vanity. (He’ll say to Watson, “What do you make of that, Watson?” Watson would give his analysis. Then Holmes would reply, "Excellent!" Then after a pause, he’ll say, "There are one or two points of difference..." LOL That's very Holmes.)

Very few dramatizations ever got Watson right. It’s like writers never knew what to do with Watson. Whereas Holmes could be distant or aloof, Watson provided warmth. Sympathy. Ordinary humanity. Without Watson, Holmes is a puffy intellect. With Watson, though, Holmes can be more of a person. Sherlock was the mind. Watson was the soul.

Watson was also tougher in the books than he’s usually portrayed in shows and films. Watson always carried firearms with him. He had no qualms about entering dangerous situations and confronting criminals.

I also love deductive reasoning. And I loved the things Holmes would say about it like, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts” (From “A Scandal in Bohemia”).

Or famously: “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” (From “The Sign of Four”).

In the stories, Holmes might says things like:

• "You have been in Afghanistan."

• "You are a military doctor."

• "You came here by cab."

Then he explains the clues:

• military posture

• tan lines

• mannerisms

• clothing wear

• mud on boots, etc.

Holmes called this deduction, or deductive reasoning, although I’ve read that logicians would say a lot of that is closer to abductive reasoning. So what's the difference?

Deduction would teach, for example, "If all men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, then Socrates is mortal." You start with established truths and reach a necessary conclusion.

Induction would teach, for example, "I've seen a thousand swans and they're white; perhaps all swans are white." You move from observations toward a general rule.

Abduction would be like, "The lawn is wet. It probably rained." You infer the most likely explanation. Holmes often did this: Mud from this district + military bearing + medical bag + recent war reports = probably army doctor returning from Afghanistan.

But, of course, the big point is: “Given the evidence, what's the best explanation?”

Hermeneutical Holmes Principles?

I'd say good hermeneutics uses something very close to a Holmes-style method. You could almost call it “biblical detective work with rules.” The danger is that many people skip observation and jump straight to conclusions.

Holmes' process would be like this:

1. Observe carefully

2. Gather all evidence

3. Eliminate impossible interpretations

4. Draw conclusions

Good hermeneutics would work similarly:

1. Observe the text

2. Observe context

3. Compare Scripture with Scripture

4. Draw conclusions

The problem is that too many people reverse the process:

1. Start with a conclusion

2. Hunt for verses

3. Ignore contrary evidence

4. Declare victory

Here’s a nice comparison between Holmes & Paul. Holmes would teach: Observe → infer → conclude. Paul would teach, Doctrine → reckon → walk. Holmes would argue, "Facts before conclusions." Good hermeneutics would argue, "Context before theology."

Did you also know that Sherlock Holmes was a believer?

There was the occasional comment in a story about how Sherlock was known to spend a lot of time in the chapel at university. But there was one story in which he argued that logical reasoning and deduction demands that there must be a creator. That story is called “The Naval Treaty.”

A guy begged Sherlock to take on a case that was near impossible to figure out. An innocent man’s life was at stake. The evidence against him was overwhelming. Clearing his name seemed an insurmountable task. This case was so hard, Holmes wasn’t sure he wanted to take it on. It looked hopeless.

He walked to a window and stared at some roses. He got lost in his own thoughts.

He did that sometimes.

Everybody was looking at him thinking, “Are you going to take the case or not?”

Watson walked over to him.

Sherlock said, “There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion... It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.”

I love that. Atheism doesn’t come by reason. Atheism is the abandonment of reason (Psa. 14:1). We know that DNA molecules contain all the genetic instructions to form a living being. How can genetic instructions about how to create living beings come by chance and not from God? How can physical atoms and molecules create on their own human consciousness, which has no physical existence? Animals have a law in their nature but no ability to reason the morality of what they do. They do what they do by the laws stamped upon their spirits from a higher power. But we humans have a conscience, a moral compass. Why is that? Is not a conscience evidence of the morality and holiness of God? No nation ever existed in which all the people were natural atheists, because we all instinctively know God exists just as we know that all motion has a beginning, that there is no effect without a cause, and that order does not spring from chance. Every life is born. Every life dies. So from whence came our beginning? We have always known: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1)

Now logical reasoning would demand the existence of a Creator, but deductive reasoning would inform us that flowers assure us of the goodness of our Creator, because flowers are a total bonus in life, which is cause to always have hope. Necessities explain survival. Extras suggest generosity on the part of the Creator. Why would existence contain beauty beyond utility? Why does the world contain delight and not merely function?

He is essentially reasoning like this:

1. If existence were merely mechanical survival...

2. Necessities alone might be expected.

3. But the world contains beauty that appears extravagant.

4. Therefore perhaps reality reflects benevolence.

The rose becomes evidence — of the goodness of Providence.

I also love the fact that he says, "There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion." That is very Holmes. He isn't saying, "Believe without thinking." He’s saying, "Reason carefully." For Holmes, religion should not merely rest on inherited tradition or sentiment. It should be reasoned, observed, examined the way he examines… footprints:

• observe

• infer

• follow implications

And, of course, Sherlock took on the case and saved the man’s life. Come on! This is Sherlock Holmes, you know!

The game's afoot!

We ought to approach day to day living with abounding motivation and purpose, yet Satan’s tactics can wear us down, sidetrack us, and plainly take the joy out of life. The Lord intimately and graciously provides us with His wisdom and power, manifesting the love and grace to respond in faith to life situations. Ephesians 5 relays warnings, but also the to dos in order to stay the course for whatever comes.

Sisters, use this process for regular, personal examination to adjust:

1) Verses 1-2: Be followers of God as His dear children, knowing He is the Father of all, and as you walk through the challenges, manifest His love as a living sacrifice, following the example of Christ who loved you.           

2) Verses 6-7: Avoid two things: being deceived with vain words and being partakers with the ungodly children of disobedience.

3) Verses 8-10: Know who you are and walk as a child of light to manifest the fruit of the Spirit, proving what is acceptable with the Lord.                              

4) Verses 11-12: Have no fellowship with, nor speak about the works of darkness, rather reprove them, and flee from these things.

5) Verses 14-16: Stay awake and aware, walking with your eyes open, circumspectly, observant to all that is around as someone wise, redeeming the time, and not wasting this precious resource of time.                  

6) Verses 17-19: Be wise to know God’s will, not overcome with worldly things but filled with the Spirit, which creates an overflowing of His joy, peace and fruit of the Sprit.

7) Verses 20-21: We are to remain thankful for all things and be in submission one to another in the fear of God. Basically, prefer others above our own selves.

To Do: Read Ephesians 5 for yourself, write this process out, keeping it in front of your eyes as a remembrance of how to do this to please the Lord and have joy in your life. Of course, it’s all Christ in you so be in prayer, meditation, and daily in the Word, open to hear the Holy Spirit’s teaching you personally in your hear t. Now, be led by the Spirit by the Word in you.

There is a story that continues to gain traction on Christian websites. This started with an article by the University of Glasgow announcing that researchers have been working with an ancient manuscript and, through modern imaging techniques, have been able to recover some text that hasn’t been seen for centuries.

This manuscript has a name! CODEX H!

What is that? Codex H is a sixth-century Greek manuscript of the letters of Paul that was actually taken apart in the Middle Ages — its pages somehow cleansed of the writings, then re-inked, and reused as binding material for other books at a monastery on Mount Athos (in NE Greece) — leaving the original form of Codex H broken up and scattered across libraries in several countries used as binding in books.

These researchers found some old books. They looked at the binding and somehow realized that the binding had actual pages of Codex H – lost copies of manuscripts of Paul’s letters! They used advanced multispectral imaging, and they were able to digitally reconstruct the nearly invisible “ghost texts,” the original writings on the pages of Codex H, and they have effectively been able to restore about 42 missing pages!

Now we can see what those manuscripts contained!

Hence all the traction on Christian news sites with clickbait titles like this one at Biblical Archeology Society that says Paul’s Lost Words Recovered! Really. Huh.

Did they discover new words Paul had written that were lost? Have missing sections of the Bible been recovered? Do we now have verses we never read before?

No.

The recovered text contains all the known portions of Paul’s epistles. The Glasgow article freely told us, “While the recovered text contains known portions of Paul’s Letters, the discovery offers a unique insight into how the New Testament has evolved and been understood through the centuries.”

But hey — that’s still incredible, I guess.

They’re not discovering anything new. They’re uncovering really old copies of the same Pauline verses that already exist in our Bibles right now, which is a very good thing, because they’re discovery reinforces the principles Pastors Jordan and Ross and Reid and others have taught about copies and preservation.

They’re not restoring lost Pauline verses from missing sections of the Bible — they’re studying wonderful copies of something God already preserved.

And that’s a pretty important distinction, wouldn’t you say?

Now the academic world is happy to engage in clickbait about missing words of the Apostle Paul to bring attention to themselves and perhaps get some funding as if they’re inching closer to giving us undiscovered truths from lost sections of the Bible.

The truth is — God never lost His Bible.

He preserved it.

He promised to preserve it (Psa. 12:6-7).

It is still here. We can hold His preserved words.

And what we hold in our hands in the KJV isn’t simply the best we can get because God’s old book has somehow been largely lost over time — what we hold in our hands is the result of divine preservation working through history.

You can actually hold that miracle in your hands.

That's so cool we made a song about it.

* If you’d like to dig further into the subjects of preservation and translation, we would recommend the books of Pastor Bryan Ross, particularly his series called “From This Generation Forever” as well as his sundry of fantastic video playlists.

** We would also recommend the classic “Manuscript Evidence” courses (Part One and Part Two) by Pastor Richard Jordan as part of Grace School of the Bible.

1. Any suggestions to deal with life transitions as women age?

There are many things that adjust as we enter the last stage of our lives. For example, our children leave the nest and have their own lives, we retire from our jobs and many responsibilities, our bodies are breaking down and failing, and we are clear, we have limited time on earth. Yet, we also know that being with the Lord was never closer.

Each of us deal with adjust-ments differently, having trouble spots, such as our body’s decline. Thinking can be slower, losing words, but also having less energy and drive, though serving Christ is still to be our main purpose.

Personally, I have found, at age 71 I’m transitioning to a new stage, where my body and mind feel, dare I say it, more feeble. This can cause sadness and loss, yet can develop a deeper depend-ance on and relationship with Christ. Thoughts of weakness go to the background, as spiritual strength (II Cor. 12:9) in the inner man to handle battles are foremost. Christ is our power, peace, and com-fort. One day I’ll be home at last with my Lord, but now: “…to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” (Phil. 1:24)

Some thoughts: Refocus to think and regroup. Slow down to reflect and accept where you are so you can  be freed to press forward toward the mark and “high calling of God.” (Phil 3:14) Do self-care, by staying connected daily in the Word, led by the Spirit, and be not in fear: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II Tim. 1:7) Trust Christ to reflect, adjust, and walk by faith in the power and wisdom of God, especially when discouraged.

2.  How can I be free of challenges?

Dear sisters, we are ambassadors in a foreign land on God’s behalf. It is Satan’s world, so expect challenges and prepare as a good soldier by staying in the Word, prayerfully, as you meditate upon it for application.

 Trying to pray away difficulties and challenges is contrary to God’s way. He designed sufferings to work for our good to bring edification, learning, and glory: (Romans 8:18 & 28) We’re to progress to know how to go through tribulations: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

So, it is not to be our focus to get rid of sufferings but understand how they work in us to gain a godly attitude and contentment. “Therefore I take plea-sure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in dis-tresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (II Cor. 12:9)

3. Sometimes I feel stuck in the mud of life; what can I do?

As the entanglements and chaos of this world can blind, overwhelm, or distract us from being all of who we are in Christ, we do need answers.

 To remain at peace and focused above, we need confidence and wise patterns in place. In preparation for example, study daily with prayer, focus above (Col. 3:1-4), meditate, have candid self-examination of our hearts/walks, and trust in the doctrine being learned. We need to be ready and open to humbly reflect to adjust thinking and behavior to press toward the goal to glorify God: (Phil. 3:14)

Think on this:  If we choose to stay in the mud, Satan wins, so know this: We are to study to know how to use our spiritual armor, but also the many resources, even weapons for this warfare, given to us in the Word by God. We also may need a godly friend to help navigate the challenges. Consider reaching out to someone wise.

Warning: I’m just thinking out loud. I do that sometimes. I’m not sure I have all the answers to the questions I’m about to raise, but I can say with conviction that the traditional views on the chronology of Passion Week do not pass the sniff test.

What we’re going to cover does not affect the day the Lord was crucified. What we’re covering affects the events leading up to the day of His crucifixion.

You know the story. After the time in the Upper Room, the Lord and the disciples walked to the Garden of Gethsemane. He then prays in agony to the Father to let this cup pass from Him. Judas and his men show up. The Lord is arrested.

When this happens, I’m sure we’d all agree it had to be nighttime.

Then the traditional Christian view would have us to believe that over the course of that one night, the Lord stood before Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin Council, Pilate, Herod Jr., then back to Pilate again. And then Pilate negotiates with the angry mob, then the scourging, the verdict, and then Christ is on a cross by 9 a.m. (Mark 15:25 – see also Matt. 26:57-27:10; Mk. 14:53-15:1; Lk. 22:54-71; John 18:12-27).

There is no way all of that happened over the course of one night.

Consider these verses in Luke 22.

Luk 22:66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, Luk 22:67 Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: Luk 22:68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. Luk 22:69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. Luk 22:70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. Luk 22:71 And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.

Notice in verse 66 that the trial before the Sanhedrin Council began at daybreak. As soon as daylight arrived, usually around 6 a.m., they started the Lord’s trial.

Think about this. The Lord was brought before the Sanhedrin Council at daybreak. This was a daytime trial. There is no way He could have had His trial before the Sanhedrin Council starting around 6 a.m., go through that whole process of a lengthy trial, be sent to Pilate, then to Herod Jr., then back to Pilate, then the trial with Pilate, the negotiations with the mob, the scourging, the verdict, and then the Lord is on the cross by 9 a.m.

There is no way.

The Lord’s time before the Sanhedrin Council (and all those mouthy corrupt religious-political “leaders”) would not have been a quick affair. Mark 14:56 told us, “For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.” That alone would’ve taken hours. Mark 14:57 says, “there arose certain, and bare false witness against him…” They didn’t have people lined up to give their testimonies. This was a fluid, evolving process rather than a quick accusation and then He’s condemned.

The law demanded two or three matching testimonies by witnesses for the Council to be justified in condemning a person to death (Deut. 19:16-19).

Not only that, under the law, the witnesses were to be the executioners, too. "The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death" (Deut. 17:7). This was designed to deter perjury. If you were willing to lie to get someone killed, you had to be willing to take part in killing that life also, carrying the full weight of that "bloodguilt" if you were wrong, which meant you may come under God's judgment for doing that. I've no doubt that law added to the difficulties of finding people willing to give a false testimony.

Of those who were willing to testify, their testimonies never agreed with each other.

Even the liars couldn’t get their lies straight.

So the council struggled greatly to establish legally usable matching testimonies to condemn Him, and this process would have inevitably consumed a lot of time.

Consider also Mark 14:55 - “And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.” Mark tells us these corrupt men were also actively seeking liars with matching testimonies so they’d have their justifiable cause to condemn Him, but they couldn’t find any.

This took time.

Plus, they were spending time hearing a variety of testimonies that didn’t match up and those testimonies had to be tossed out for inconsistencies.

This also took a lot of time.

This was not a quick affair. That trial must’ve taken all day.

Then there is Pilate (Matt. 27:2, 11-31; Mk. 15:1-20; Lk. 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:16).

When Christ is brought back to Pilate a second time and He officially rendered His judgment of condemnation - that happened at noon. Consider these verses:

Joh 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour (noon): and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! Joh 19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

We know from Matthew what Pilate did after this. Mat 27:24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Mat 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Mat 27:26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. (See also Luke 23:18-24)

The guilty verdict by Pilate was rendered around noon.

We already know from Mark 15:25 that Christ is on the cross at 9 a.m., the third hour.

This means that Christ did not immediately go to the cross after Pilate’s verdict. It was likely not until the next day that Christ would be crucified, which makes sense. Rome would need at least a day to prepare for this very public execution of three criminals.

What does all of this mean?

It means His trials took days, not hours.

We know from Exod. 12 that Passover begins when the lamb is selected on the first day. The people were to observe that lamb for 4 days. Then they had to sacrifice that lamb in the evening of the 4^th day. They were to select the lamb on the 10^th of Nisan, observe it until the evening of the 14^th of Nisan, and then sacrifice that lamb.

I would just suggest that this period of observation for the Lord was not the time He spent in the temple before He was arrested. His period of observation were His trials, which probably took 3 days. Then He was on the cross on the 4^th day. This would also mean that the day the lamb was selected was most likely the same day the Lord was arrested.

Don't take my word. I may be wrong. I often am. Study it out.

If I’m wrong, then how could the Lord stand trial before the Sanhedrin Council starting at daybreak, go to Pilate, then Herod Jr., then Pilate again, and then have Pilate render his verdict at noon and yet – somehow the Lord is still on a cross by 9 a.m.?

There’s no way.

2^nd Cor.5:14] For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

[15] And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

1^st Peter 4:2] That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

There is a preacher named Joel Osteen, he has millions of followers, millions of dollars, and has sold millions of books. Some of the titles of his books are the power of I am,” “I declare,” and “your best life now.” And there are millions of people who not only have purchased these books, but have read them, and they live their Christian lives by his teachings. But is this the way that our father would have us to think about ourselves, is this the way that God would have us to walk, and to think, and to live our lives? This type of teaching is a self-centered thinking, and it has a me first type of thinking associated with this thinking. But where do the men like this get this type of thinking from? Is this what God's word teaches about ourselves, is this how the man will live godly today? As we can see in the verses above, our Lord and Savior teaches us through His word his selfless love, and that godliness is walking with selfless love and the Spiritual mind of Christ according to the living word of the living God that ought to live within us. And as we can see in second Corinthians chapter 5, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died for all that we which live should henceforth not live unto ourselves but unto him which died for us.

Rom.12:2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

[3] For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Gal.6:3] For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

And so, We are taught in the word of God that we ought to have the mind of Christ and walk with his loneliness of mind not only toward our father with selflessness, but also onto others as well with godly selfless charity. And as we can see in Philippians chapter 2, Paul says we ought to walk not high-minded, “but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” But this type of thinking is not according to the spirit of man which is in him, this type of thinking we are taught by the living word of the living God. This type of thinking is giving on to us and as we can see also in Philippians chapter 2 Paul says, “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” And by operating upon the word of God through the renewing of our mind as we see in Romans chapter 12, the Saint could “let” this mind be in him. This type of thinking is according to the Spiritual mind, it is according to the living word of God, and it is according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s mind.

2^nd Cor.10:3] For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

[4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

[5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Moreover, it is by the vain imagination of the man that he feels he ought to be ‘exalted,’ and thought of “more highly” than others. But this type of thinking goes after the attributes of Satan. This type of teaching is of the “doctrines of devils,” and those who take heed unto it are those that are “lovers of their own selves,” but could also walk with a “form of godliness” as well. And it is by man’s vain imagination that he assumes that he himself  is ‘entitled’ to receive praise from others, and that his goals and achievements ought to be at ‘the forefront’ above others. And this thinking is taught in today’s Churches as what godliness is truly all about. And as earlier mentioned, preachers like Joel Osteen teach that you are ‘blessed and highly favored’ by God (this is always based upon the Saint’s physical and health, and wealth, and standing among men), this teaching has the believers ‘believing in themselves' as God’s ‘chosen ones.’ And instead of understanding and appreciating the truth that God has ‘set us apart’ from those ungodly world, they assume that God has set them ‘above’ the men of this world.

2^nd  Tim.3:1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

[2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

[3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

[4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

[5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Therefore, it is by the spirit of man and his imagination, that he feels that the power of God, and the will of God is defined by God as it is by men. The men of this world assume that the things that are powerful and glorifying in his sight are also powerful and glorifying in the sight of God also. And because man claims that he is now saved, he feels that he walks with this ‘imaginary thinking’ that God will physically help, intervene, and protect, and bless him in his daily life. But God has not promised these things unto the man, but it is our inward man that God has promised to ‘renew day by day.’ But it is by His word alone that we are justified, and it is also by His word alone that we are sanctified unto holiness. And far too often many are ignorant unto the will of God, they have changed the truth of God into a lie that they have chosen to believe based upon the ‘lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life.’

Rom.15[1] We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

[2] Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

[3] For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Finally, we are beseeched to “let” our minds be renewed unto the selfless love of Christ. We are given Christ’s selflessness as an ensample to walk in.  We are taught about this identity for example in Romans chapter 15 as a Bible minister, and as we see in the verses above, Paul mentions bearing the infirmities of the weak, and he says that out of selfless love we ought to “please” our neighbors for their godly “good,” and not to please ourselves. And then we are shown the identity likeness of Christ, Paul says, “for even Christ,” this comparison is given us being likened as a Bible minister bearing infirmities of the weak to their good to edification. This is how God would have us to think today, and not with the ungodly thinking of, ‘I’m number one,’ or ‘I am His anointed,’ saying things like, ‘ God loves me because I love myself.’ And the doctrine of ‘self-love’ is not of God, but is of this world, and is a counterfeit way of godliness in the sight of God, but in the eyes of men this is how today’s Churches measure themselves as the blessed of God or not.

Phil.2:5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

[6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

[7] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Rod Jones

Let us describe the method for a woman to function consistently as who she is in Christ, negotiating life’s challenges, adjusting, and living resurrection life to live Ephesians. Basically, it is knowing, dwelling, and imple-menting the sanctification process of Romans 6-8 to be holy unto God and acceptable. Then we are to walk by faith in the circumstances.

1) Know your new Identity in Christ, with responsibility to choose wisely in each situation: We can be a servant to sin and our flesh, making carnal decisions or yield unto God and His way to manifest a functional spiritual life, pleasing to God in whatever we do. There is fruit to our decisions: some unto glory and everlasting life, and others unto death. (Romans 6)

2) Be aware the flesh desires to live under the law, apart from God and His provision: Pride leads us to try in our own fleshly efforts to live and solve problems as did the Nation Israel, trying to perform righteous living. This is religion and not acceptable to God: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Is. 64:6) Romans 7 teaches we will fail under the law.

3. Be led by the Spirit: Choose to beopen to reflect and learn through the challenges that arise, being conformed to the image of Christ so our mind can dwell on and live sound doctrine. As we let Christ dwell in us, we develop a love motivation to use our mortal bodies to serve God. Romans 8 teaches God quickens us to bring forth resurrection life as we live and make godly choices.

To Do: Read and meditate upon Romans 6-8 to understand this process to live it in your life.

One night, I purchased an e-book called Faith Forward CEO’s put out by the Barna Research Group, which was about how faith influences leadership styles of Christian executives. I thought, “That might make for an engaging topic for a podcast.”

Some of the points were interesting. “Faith forward CEOs” tend to prioritize vision (80%), culture (73%), productivity (71%), but only 37% feel responsible for employee work-life balance. They also are more likely to be:

• Purpose-driven (90% motivated by impact)

• Values-forward (faith, humility, love)

• Emotionally healthier (less burnout, more hope)

• Mentored (82% have had mentoring)

They also said that there are sometimes feelings of tension between faith and leadership. Their faith is present, but that faith is not always doing the leading. Sounds like a personal problem to me. In any event, only 51% say that their faith actively motivates leadership. It’s influential but often compartmentalized.

So, essentially, the report was saying, “There is a growing group of leaders who want to lead with faith and purpose—but they haven’t fully figured out how to integrate it into business leadership yet.”

I thought, “What would Pauline grace-based leadership look like? What verses would you use to guide a believer wanting to master grace-based leadership in the workplace?”

Here's a fancy-schmancy chart based on my list.

Without further ado, as a thought experiment, here are

10 Principles of Grace-Based Leadership.

1. Identity Before Performance

Ephesians 1-3

I suspect that grace-based leadership begins where Paul begins — in identity. Before there is instruction, there is position. Before performance, there is acceptance.

The leader who understands he is already “accepted in the beloved” would not be driven by insecurity, although he would happily work hard to prove himself in the sense of demonstrating his skills/abilities/leadership. He wouldn't build an environment designed to validate his worth or chase outcomes to satisfy his ego. Instead, he leads from a settled place of worth within himself. That stability should produce a calm, non-anxious presence — one that is not threatened by talent, not insecure, not reactive under pressure, and not dependent on validation.

2. Building Up People

Ephesians 4:16

Wouldn’t Paul’s teachings in Ephesians 4 reframe one’s style of leadership as supply to others to perform well like the Body of Christ, as opposed to taking over the spotlight for oneself? Grace leadership would not be about centralizing power — it is about distributing the responsibilities and supporting those who have those responsibilities. The grace leader would tend to want to equip, to develop others, and to delegate.

He knows he is not indispensable by design. In fact, he knows his organization's success is measured by how well all the others function (without him). I’ve seen how micro-managing control freaks at the top can totally disrupt a company, but supply and support from the head would instead strengthen those in the organization to perform better. Where micromanagement stifles, empowerment multiplies.

3. Accountability Without Fear

Romans 8:1

Believing in Grace does not mean you don’t have standards. In fact, grace requires standards met in the workplace, but grace could transform how those standards are enforced. In a grace-based culture, failure still has to be addressed. Mistakes still have to be corrected, but a leader would separate performance from personal worth. That leader would create an environment where people can admit error without fear of humiliation. This produces something rare in modern workplaces: psychological safety without moral compromises.

On the other hand, a leader might treat a poor performer as a pastor might treat a heretic – after the first and second admonition reject (Titus 3:10).

4. Emotional Stability Under Pressure

Colossians 3:12-13

Wouldn’t Paul’s call to forbearance and long-suffering translate directly into great leadership composure under pressure? Grace leaders are not governed by emotional volatility. They would not explode under stress, retaliate in conflict, or lead through intimidation. Instead, they function well under pressure. Their steadiness would embody the emotional thermostat of the organization.

5. Integrity Beyond Optics

2 Corinthians 8:21

Naturally, grace does not accept moral looseness — but inspires integrity. The grace leader would not be driven by appearances, branding, or public perception. He provides “honest things” not only in the sight of men but also before God. That means no manipulation, no deceptive practices, and no hiding behind technical legalities. Perfect transparency. His ethics will not be compromised under any circumstance.

6. Authority as Stewardship

1 Corinthians 4:1-2

We would have to conclude from 1 Cor. 4:1-2 that Paul frames leadership as stewardship, not ownership, wouldn’t we? Grace leaders would not view their position as something they possess, but it's something entrusted. They lead with a sense of accountability — not just to shareholders, but also to God. This should produce humility in authority, long-term thinking, and a refusal to build personal empires at the expense of others.

7. Excellence Without Legalism

Colossians 3:23

I’m sure we would all agree that grace-based leadership would produce a strong work ethic — but not a crushing one. Excellence is pursued, diligence is honored, and competence is rewarded. Yet performance is never confused with identity. The grace leader would avoid both extremes: laziness on one side and performance-based worth on the other. The result would be a culture of intrinsic motivation rather than external pressure.

8. Generosity Over Exploitation

2 Corinthians 9

Where grace is understood, generosity follows, right? The grace leader would resist the instinct to extract maximum value at the expense of people. He would seek fairness. He’d invest in others, and hold up both profit and generosity. He'd accommodate personal needs as much as possible. I don’t mean performative generosity for branding purposes, but a quiet, consistent liberality simply because he’s a grace believer.

9. Influence Without Coercion

Acts 17:2-4

Grace leadership would, I think, understand the distinction between influence and control. This leader would not awkwardly force spirituality into corporate structure. Instead, a grace-based leader would live out his/her conviction personally and consistently. Like Paul in pagan cities, a grace-based leader would lead by example with clarity, and without awkwardly advocating the gospel at all the wrong times.

10. Strength Without Harshness

2 Timothy 2:1

I suspect grace is often mistaken for weakness — but Paul presents it as strength. Grace leaders can make hard decisions. They absolutely uphold standards. They totally protect the organization. But they would do all these things without the kind of cruelty you might see in unbelievers, without an ego to bruise, and without unnecessary severity. Their authority is clear and not oppressive.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, I’d say grace-based leadership isn’t a technique — it’s a byproduct of identity. When a leader knows who he is in Christ — accepted, complete, and secure — he is not leading from a place of insecurity or feel he has to dominate to prove his worth. He can build people up, correct without crushing, lead without harshness, and influence without coercion. What Barna observed as “faith-forward” is a step in the right direction — but Pauline grace takes it deeper. It doesn’t just inform leadership. It transforms the leader. And from that transformation flows a workplace marked by his steadiness, integrity, clarity, and quiet power. Not trying to Christianize the system. Not trying to take over Rome. But manifesting Christ in the middle of it all — being faithful, consistent, without apology.

How does it help us to keep our focus on the blessings we have, such as those listed in Ephesians 1: 1-14? If we continually exalt and ‘mind’ the problems or calamities around us, we will become overwhelmed, but also anxious, irritable, lose hope, and take our eyes off the answer… the Lord Jesus Christ. As we function as daughters, wives, parents, employees, and friends, it is vital to honestly and deeply be committed to keeping our mind and hearts safe from Satan’s tactics. Realize we are each precious in God’s sight, and to focus above, renewing our minds daily in sound doctrine from Romans-Philemon. What we choose to regularly mind becomes our reality and truth. The Word is our armor of protection, displacing Satan’s devices.

This is different from merely having a storehouse of Bible data. It’s important to learn sound doctrine, but not to just gain new nuggets, but develop new thinking, conviction, and the ability to apply it. How?

1) Read the Word with prayer and meditation daily.

2) Dwell (meditate) on these things, thinking about them to live.

3) Allow the Spirit to teach, leading us moment by moment in thoughts and decisions.

4) Purpose to put them into practice, applying then adjusting as needed.

This ongoing, lifelong process can make a profound difference in our spiritual walk. This is God’s renewal method for our minds and hearts, becoming our armor of defense to deal with this life. Slow down to allow time to become God aware, self-aware, and application oriented.

How is it that we so easily lose sight of the powerful abundance provided to us? Satan has set in motion a very wise, deceptive plan for the course of this world to keep unbelievers blind and inhibit saints from growing, walking by faith, and being ambassadors. We can be side-tracked, overwhelmed, discouraged, and taught lies about ourselves and many things, which promotes fear and a loss of hope, displacing what is important. For example, as we listen to or read the news, it becomes evident that there is little reported that is encouraging and most is tainted. It discourages and derails, robbing us of our determination to stay focused above.

Corrective Doctrine: List as many blessings as you can from Ephesians 1:1-14 with their benefits. Now, take a moment to realize how these have and can further impact you personally. Decide to displace your focus on things of this world with thankfulness for the many blessing you have been given. Brainstorm how you can make changes in your life to minimize the impact of this world and dwell on the glorious gospel of Christ and the love and grace provided us. Assess use of your time: reading, what you look at, your friends, and what you are minding through the day. Become aware of where you are in your thinking, but also your goals and where you want to be as a faithful sister in Christ.

Ephesians 4:26 is a surprising verse, isn’t it? He actually says to “Be ye angry!” I’m pretty sure most of us don’t need to be told to be angry. A lot of us are pretty good at it, aren’t we?

What is Paul talking about?

To make matters worse, this word for “angry” in the Greek isn’t just translated as “angry” elsewhere in the Bible. It’s also on 3 occasions translated as “wroth.” “Wroth” means VERY angry. So Paul is using a word that means an active surge of anger or being very angry. He is instructing you- Be ye ANGRY!

A number of commentaries would try to argue that this verse doesn’t really mean what it says, that God doesn’t want you to be angry at any time ever.

Except for the fact that Paul says, “Be ye angry.”

Do we believe what he says here or not?

Some will teach that anger is always a sin. Anger is always wrong. You should feel guilty if you ever fall into the trap of feeling anger.

Tell me - how can you keep from feeling angry at times?

Plus, how do you explain Psa 7:11 which says, God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day? Is God a sinner for being angry with the wicked every day?

On the other hand, Col. 3:8 and Eph. 4:31 both say to put off all anger. Yet, here Paul says “Be ye angry.” What’s the difference?

Kevin Sadler, in an older issue of the Berean Searchlight wrote, “God does not want us to be angry with a sinful anger.” A "sinful anger?" What is that? Where does Scripture distinguish between good anger and bad anger?

This may be controversial, but I’d argue that the Word teaches that anger itself is not a sin. God Himself gets angry. Therefore, anger CANNOT be a sin. BUT God's anger springs from a holy nature. WE are living in sin-corrupted bodies. So, for us, anger isn’t a sin. We SHOULD be angry ABOUT sin.

What we do with our anger and how long we hold onto it is the problem.

Anger, for us, has to be managed, which is why Paul also puts up guardrails around anger and says, “let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Paul doesn’t say anger is wrong. He says anger has to be managed. It better be gone by sundown. It better be short-lived.

Let’s start with Webster’s definition of angry.

What did he mean when he said, “followed generally by with before a person?” He’s talking about how the word “angry” is grammatically used in a sentence. You’re not angry AT a person. You’re angry WITH a person. If it’s an object, you say “at.” You’re angry AT the computer. You’re angry WITH a person but angry AT an object.

Let’s also make distinctions between anger and hatred. Anger is a response. Hatred is a settled condition. Anger flares up when something is wrong. Hatred is a settled posture of the heart toward someone. Anger is immediate and usually just situational. Hatred lingers, chooses to stick around. Anger can be righteous. Hatred is always a sin. Consider I John 3:15 - "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." Anger is a feeling. Hatred is a choice you make. Anger can be resolved. You can let anger go. Hatred lingers and changes you from the inside out. Hatred hardens your heart. Anger knocks on the door. Hatred moves in, rearranges the furniture, and starts calling all the shots.

The issue isn’t whether anger shows up — it’s what you do with it when it does.

When we think of anger, we think of out-of-control outbursts, acting in the flesh, of verbal abuse, etc. However, what Paul is talking about in Eph. 4:26 is more of a fierce, even emotional, inner revulsion and opposition to sin itself, which is the best way to describe God’s anger. God gets angry, but He is also slow to anger (Psa. 103:8) and longsuffering. He’s slow to act upon His righteous indignation, which is meant to be a model to us. God’s anger is always justifiable, appropriate for the circumstances. His anger is righteous. It is a response to sin, injustice, and rebellion. But He is never impulsive or out of control.

When God carries out judgment for the wrong that was done, that wrath we see is actually the just expression of His holiness. His anger springs from His perfect, holy nature.

If God Himself feels wrath and anger about sin, why should it be such an unrighteous thing if we feel the same way about the same things?

The difference is we have sin-corrupted flesh tempting us to use that anger to act in ways contrary to everything we are in Christ. Thus, our anger has to be managed.

Be Ye Angry

When Paul says, “Be ye angry,” I’d suggest he's exhorting you to feel angry opposition to sin itself, especially lying. He wants us to feel God-like righteous indignation about sin.

Wait a minute.

In Col. 3:8, Paul says to put off anger. Down in verse 31 of Eph. 4, he says, Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. Yet, here in vs 26, he says “Be ye angry.” What’s the difference?

Context.

The other verses are about anger being a way of life out in the world. Anger isn’t your operating system anymore. Love is. But in Eph. 4:26, Paul is talking about anger as having this inner feeling of disdain and angry opposition to sin itself when it happens. That is a healthy response. It is healthy to feel an inner revulsion and anger about seeing depravity and sin. That’ a good thing. That should be a natural feeling for every believer in a sin-cursed world. If one is indifferent to evil or lying, that’s a problem, isn’t it?

Paul is permitting anger where it’s appropriate but then he immediately puts guardrails around that anger when he says, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. You should be feeling a holy fire about sin and evil in the world, but if you’re not careful, that fire can also burn your house down. The paradox of righteous indignation is that it requires a “holy heat” while maintaining a proper “temperature control.” So you better be disciplined about putting an end to that wrath before the sun goes down.

The irony of Ephesians 4:26 is that it instructs us to feel an emotion that we humans are notoriously bad at managing. But this also means that a healthy spiritual life should feel revolted by all that is sinful, which is meant to guide your walk. If you’re feeling repulsion about sin, that should help you to avoid sinning in your walk. “Be ye angry (about the right things)” but keep it under control.

There are things that will rightly provoke you — but don’t let that anger cross the line. The anger should be a momentary, truth-aligned, natural, spiritual response to sin and wrong that must be quickly resolved before it becomes sinful behavior on your part.

Sin provokes righteous anger… but unresolved anger can destroy the very relationships truth was meant to protect.

Sin Not

Then Paul writes, “and sin not.” This is a kind of anger that helps you live right. When Paul says, “Be ye angry, and sin not,” he’s not telling you to unleash your emotions — he’s telling you to let your anger about sin motivate you to not sin. You ought to be bothered by sin. You ought to feel something when you see what it does — how it dishonors God, damages people, and derails your walk.

But that anger is meant to produce conviction, not acting in the flesh. It should drive you to put off sin, not act it out. The danger is when your anger at sin turns into sinful behavior — when you start lashing out, holding grudges, or rationalizing the fact that you're acting in the flesh.

So yes, be angry — but let that anger push you toward holiness, not away from it.

Let Not the Sun Go Down Upon Your Wrath

Then Paul gets practical: “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” The word “wrath” here speaks of a lingering fury — anger that stays, resentment that simmers underneath. Paul is saying: don’t let anger settle inside of you. Don’t let it take up residence in you. Anger can visit your house — but don’t let it stay overnight. Because once anger lingers inside of you, that anger will transform you. What starts as a reaction becomes a state of being. What begins as a spark turns into a wildfire.

Paul is not forbidding anger — he is regulating it. Anger may happen. It’s perfectly natural, but it must never cross over into sin, and it must never be allowed to linger.

The renewed mind doesn’t deny anger — it processes reality through the Word of God. It resolves internally that issue quickly and refuses to let it take root.

[8] Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

One of the first steps of a child's process of education is learning to count. And as he taught to count, he then learns ‘what’ to count, and ‘how’ to count it. He is taught basic addition and subtraction, he is then taught division and multiplication, and as he grows, he is taught algebra and geometry, and trigonometry, and the like. But in each of these classes of ‘math,’ the object remains the same, the student ‘counts,’ whether by addition or subtraction. And we see the Apostle Paul doing just that in Philippians chapter 3, he counted things that he subtracted from his life. But these things were things that he counted as addition unto him, or as he called it; “gain.” And we have all heard the sayings, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ or ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ And we are taught how to “look” at things they way in which our Father sees them. We are taught to look ‘right through’ the things of this world, and to look at the unseen power and Spiritual things of God.

Phil.3:4] Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

[6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Furthermore, the things that we count as gain or loss are all based upon our thinking about the things in which we count. The Apostle Paul teaches that he too counted the things mentioned in verses 5 and 6 as great gain, and they were among the many millions of Jews of his day. And Paul and the many of his Nation trusted in the works of their flesh, and had no regard for the truth of the Word of God, but they ‘thought’ their worship was according to godliness, they thought they were doing the will of God and counted their achievements in their religion as gain and something to be celebrated, and sought after to be holy in God’s sight. Paul later learned how to truly count as our Father in godliness, he was taught what was “good” in the sight of God, and what was the “evil” in His sight as well. And we are taught our Father’s selfless love in Romans chapter 12, and we are also told to have a ‘godly abhorrence’ for the things which are evil, and we see Paul say, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

Phil.3:12] Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

[13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

[14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, there are the “things” that Paul now counts as a “prize,” and the things “which are before.” These are the things in which he now ‘counts’ as the things that are always “before” him. But he first learned the doctrine which is according to godliness to “renew” his mind by. He learned what was that “good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God,” and what was well pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God, and then he became “transformed by the renewing of” his mind. Paul now knew the things to ‘reach forth’ unto, and he also learned to “cleave unto that which is good” in the sight of God. We too ought learn what are the things that we need to “count” as “gain” in the sight of God, and what are the things that we ought to count as “dung” in the sight of our Father. And our Father compares the earthly things of this world in the likeness of “dung” in His sight, and we are given the example by our Father in which we too ought to view those things. And it is oftentimes the things that man’s flesh ‘cleaves’ unto that he seeks after as the “gain” in his sight, but those are the things in which our Father ‘abhors,’ and is the evil in his sight, and those ought to be the things in which we too abhor and “count” as dung unto us.

Rom.12:1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Rod Jones