Pray for the Good Things of Life and Preservation in Calamities

Matthew Henry’s “Method For Prayer”

Petition 3.39 | ESV

We must pray for the good things of life, with a humble submission to the will of God.

Lord, you have told me that godliness holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come; 1 Timothy 4:8(ESV) and that if I seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, other things will be added to me; Matthew 6:33(ESV) and therefore, I cast all my anxieties about these things on you, who cares for me; 1 Peter 5:7(ESV) for my heavenly Father knows that I need them all. Matthew 6:32(ESV)

We must pray to be preserved from the calamities to which we are exposed.

You, Lord, are my refuge and my fortress, Psalm 91:2(ESV) and under your wings will I find refuge; your faithfulness is a shield and buckler; let me therefore not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day. Psalm 91:4-5(ESV) Having made the Lord my refuge and the Most High my dwelling place, let no evil befall me nor any plague come near my tent. Psalm 91:9-10(ESV)

Let the LORD be my keeper, even he who keeps Israel and neither slumbers nor sleeps. Let the Lord be my shade on my right hand, that the sun may not strike me by day, nor the moon by night. Let the Lord keep me from all evil; the Lord keep my life; the Lord keep my going out and my coming in, from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 121:4-8(ESV)

Lord, put a hedge around me and my house and all that I have on every side; Job 1:10(ESV) and take sickness away from me. Exodus 23:25(ESV)

Pray for the Good Things of Life and Preservation in Calamities

Devotional for November 5, 2025 | Wednesday: Jesus’ Vicarious Suffering

Isaiah 53 This week’s lessons explain how Isaiah 53 clearly points to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant who would accomplish salvation for His people.

Theme

Jesus’ Vicarious Suffering

Beginning with verse 4, we have the Messiah’s vicarious suffering. Vicarious means “in place of another.” It goes back to the Latin word vicis, which means “a substitute.” We have it in the English Word “vicar,” which is what the Church of England calls its ministers. Thomas Hardy wrote a novel about The Vicar of Wakefield, for instance. The ministers of the Church of England are called vicars in reference to their priestly functions in which they are supposed to represent the people to God. Most other Protestant denominations do not use that term because they think it misconstrues what ministers are supposed to be. They talk about ministers or pastors, but not priests or vicars. The point I am making is that “vicarious” means “substitutionary,” and that this is the central meaning of the death of Jesus Christ.

Karl Barth, the Swiss theologian, once said that the Greek word hyper (“on behalf of”) is the most important word in the entire Bible. I suppose that the people who first heard him say that must have been stunned. It was like being told that the most important word in Shakespeare is “to” or “be” or “a.” But Barth explained. He said that hyper means “on behalf of,” which is the central idea in the Gospel. The Bible teaches that Jesus died “on behalf of” the ungodly. He died in their place. Salvation depends upon the fact that He did that. None of us can die to achieve our own salvation. When we die, all we collect is the wages of our sin. But Jesus, who did not sin, could die in our place and did. By His death we are saved. By His stripes we are healed.

If you look at what is probably the most important verse in Isaiah 53, verse 5, you will discover that in this one verse the vicarious or substitutionary atonement of the Messiah is stated four times: 1) “He was pierced for our transgressions,” that is, He was wounded not for his own sins but for ours; 2) “He was crushed for our iniquities”; 3) “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him”; and 4) “By his wounds we are healed.”

We find the same thing in verse 4: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” You find it in verse 6: “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Verse 8: “For the transgression of my people he was stricken.” Verse 10: “The LORD makes his life a guilt offering.” It is in verse 11, and in verse 12. It is the note on which the chapter ends: “He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” Is there any way that the Messiah’s vicarious or substitutionary death could possibly be emphasized more than it is in this chapter?

Another word that describes this vicarious work is propitiation. Propitiation means turning aside the wrath of God. God is wrathful against sin, but Jesus Christ steps into the gap for us. He turns God’s wrath aside by bearing it Himself.

These doctrines might take a long time to describe. We could trace the origins of the idea of sacrifice. We could discuss the development of the idea of propitiation. We could distinguish between the way propitiation was viewed by the heathen and the way it was viewed by Jews, between an unbelieving view and a biblical view. But complex as it may be, and greatly as it may stretch the minds of the greatest theologians, this is all also profoundly simple. It is stated in a very simple way in this chapter. I cannot think of a simpler statement of the Gospel than what we find in the very last line of verse 5: “By his wounds we are healed.” That is only six words. How can you say it more simply? We are not well. Jesus suffered so we could be healed. It is by His suffering on our behalf that salvation comes to us.

Did you ever think how simply God presents the Gospel when He calls upon us to believe? Once we come to believe, there can be a whole lifetime (even an eternity) of study before us. But when He calls on us to believe, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). The Bible says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). It is as simple as that. You do not have to understand a great deal. You only need to know that Jesus is the Savior and trust Him.

Study Questions

1. What does “vicarious” mean? Why is it an important part of the Servant’s work?
2. Explain the meaning of “propitiation.”

Application

Application: Are you prepared at any given moment to explain the Gospel to anyone who might ask you?

For Further Study: Download for free and listen to James Boice’s message, “God’s Purpose in Human Suffering.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)

https://www.thinkandactbiblically.org/wednesday-jesus-vicarious-suffering/

Covenantal Conditions and the Land: The Gospel in Deuteronomy 11 | Place for Truth

The future is, by definition, uncertain. That seems obvious—but if you actually stop and reflect on that for a moment, it becomes unsettling. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. In an instant, we could be gone. And so we try to secure the future through contingency plans and contracts. This is why we pinky swear as kids and sign legal agreements as adults. It’s our way of reaching into the uncertainty of tomorrow and trying to lock it down.

In many ways, these strategies mirror the structure of Ancient Near Eastern covenants—the same form that shapes the book of Deuteronomy. As we continue in the stipulations section of this covenant between God and Israel in chapters 5 through 26, here in chapter 11 Moses is concluding his exposition of the first and fundamental commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (chapters 6–11). And here Deuteronomy takes what we might call a covenantal turn.

While the covenant of grace remains front and center (God has reminded Israel he has redeemed them from Egypt and chosen them not for their greatness, but out of sheer love 7:7–9), Deuteronomy 11 introduces a typological layer of conditionality. Not for eternal salvation—that would be salvation by works—but for Israel’s national life in the land of promise. Their tenure in the land, their enjoyment of covenant blessings, would be contingent on obedience to God’s covenant law (which itself continually preached his grace through the sacrificial system).

That condition is stated most clearly in 11:26–28: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God… and the curse, if you do not obey” (ESV). God’s gracious covenant blessings, Moses shows, will be maintained by perfect, perpetual obedience to his law in his land. What follows are what I call covenantal cautions—a microcosm of the pattern we see throughout Deuteronomy as a whole, especially in chapters 27–28: the warning against disobedience’s curse, the wonder at the blessings offered for obedience, and the way to walk in obedience.

1. Warning Against Disobedience

If the covenant boils down to one thing, it’s this: life versus death. That’s how Moses summarizes it in Deuteronomy 30:19—“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life.” And as is regularly recognized, life can be boiled down to its essentials: water, food, and shelter. So the opposite of life—the curse of death results in the removal of these things: drought, famine, and danger.

To press this home, Moses appeals to the past and the future. First, he points to Egypt, where God turned the water of the Red Sea—normally life-giving—into an instrument of judgment. The Nile, Egypt’s pride and power as an everflowing source of water, could not save them. The very element that sustained their flourishing became the flood that destroyed their army (Deut. 11:1–4).

Next, he reminds them of the wilderness—a place defined by absence of food. That’s why God had to provide manna day by day. And the wilderness becomes here a picture of the curse: a generation died there because of their rebellion (v. 5).

Then he cites the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram (v. 6), when the ground opened up and swallowed not just people, but their tents—shelter itself consumed by judgment. These were vivid, terrifying displays of what covenant curse looked like. And then Moses says: you saw this with your own eyes (v. 7).

But he doesn’t stop there. In verses 16–17, he looks ahead: if Israel turns aside and serves other gods, “the anger of the Lord will be kindled… and he will shut up the heavens”—no rain, “and the land will yield no fruit”—no food, and eventually, they will “perish quickly off the land”—no shelter. Disobedience will lead to the curse of death: no water, food, or shelter.

Now, this warning was literal for Israel. But we should not flatten it into a generic prosperity gospel formula, as the health-and-wealth crowd does. The text is not saying: “Obey and God will give you a big house, a fat bank account, and a luxury car or healing from cancer.” The point is deeper: if God is the source of life and blessing, then to rebel against him is to embrace death. As Jesus says in Matthew 7, “The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction [i.e., death]… but the way is hard that leads to life.”

So this speaks to us today—especially in an affluent, comfortable society. It’s easy to assume that because our fridges are full and our homes are secure, all is well. But we can be materially nourished while spiritually starving. We can live in strong buildings and yet lack true spiritual shelter. We can enjoy steady rain and green lawns while our souls are withering. That’s why Moses warns, “Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them” (11:16).

For us, disobedience might not look like making golden calves. More often, it’s a slow drift—enjoying the gifts while forgetting the Giver. Neglecting the Word. Trusting in career, family, or security. The idols are subtler, but no less deadly.

2. Wonder at Blessings Offered

But Moses doesn’t just warn—he invites Israel and us to wonder at the blessings God promises to pour out for obedience. If the curse is the loss of life, the blessing is a lush life in of astounding abundance: a land saturated with water, overflowing with food, and secure from enemies.

First, the land will be well-watered. Verses 8–12 describe a land not like Egypt, which depended on hard irrigation, but a land of hills and valleys that drinks water directly from heaven. A land the Lord himself cares for. The imagery is Edenic: a place prepared and watered by God, where his eyes are always upon it.

Then, in 11:13–15, the Lord through Moses promises food: “grain, wine, oil… grass for your livestock… you shall eat and be full.” Imagine hearing that after forty years of manna. Might they not have longed for figs fresh off the tree, olives dripping with oil, grapes bursting with sweetness.

Then shelter—i.e., security and peace—is promised in 11:22–25. God himself would drive out the nations before them. Their territory would stretch beyond what they expected. No one would stand against them. The land would be not just rich, but secure.

These blessings would have stirred deep wonder and awe. But again, they point beyond themselves. God is the source of all good. He made us to live in communion with him. And that’s what the land of promise was meant to be—a holy place where God’s people enjoyed his presence.

Every idol fails because it cannot give life. Israel’s neighbors worshiped Baal, the storm god who claimed to bring rain. Or Dagon, god of grain. The temptation to hedge bets by honoring them would have been strong. Today, we bow to different idols of different names: achievement, affirmation, possessions, political power. But the logic is the same: we trust created things to give what only the Creator can.

Sadly, we too often become enamored of the fleeting, fading things of this world and fail to wonder at the spiritual blessings God promises to pour out on his people (Eph 1:3–10; 1 Pet 1:3–9). But following God’s law is not merely a moral duty—it is the path to life, peace, and flourishing. The idols we chase cannot bear the weight of our worship. They take and never give. But the Lord gives, and gives abundantly.

3. Way of Obedience

But how can Israel—or we—actually obey? Moses tells them in Deut 11:18–21: saturate yourself in the Word. Write it on your heart. Bind it to your hands and between your eyes. Talk about it with your children—when you sit, when you rise, when you walk. Place it on your doorposts and gates. In other words: let God’s Word shape your mind, your work, your home, your life.

And then God gives them a visual sign to reinforce it, much like we have in the sacraments. In verses 29–32, Moses describes two mountains they will see upon entering the land. Mount Gerizim, green and lush, would represent blessing. Mount Ebal, rocky and barren, would represent curse. The visual geography of the land itself would testify: life and death stand before you. And in Joshua 8, they do exactly what Moses commands here and commit themselves anew to obey God’s law.

Yet how did Israel do? Not well. The rest of the Old Testament is the history of covenantal failure. Disobedience. Idolatry. Neglect. And eventually, the curse of exile: drought, famine, and loss of the land.

Even when they returned—by grace—they still couldn’t keep the law. In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders worked hard to obey, but missed the heart. They fixed the outside, but their hearts remained far from God (Matt 23). As Jesus said, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). That’s the standard. Not effort. Not sincerity. Perfection.

Where does that leave us?

If covenant blessing requires perfect obedience, then we—like Israel—stand under the shadow of Mount Ebal. The mountain of blessing is across the valley, inaccessible. Left to ourselves, we are covenant breakers under the curse. Unless…

Unless someone can obey for us. And that’s the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! He came as the true and faithful Israelite. He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He embodied the law—he is the Word made flesh. His whole life was the life of perfect obedience.

He deserved every blessing. Yet he took the curse. He deserved water in abundance, yet on the cross cried out, “I thirst” (John 19:28). He deserved food aplenty, yet went hungry in the wilderness (Matt 4:2). He deserved perfect shelter, yet was persecuted in life (Matt 2:16; John 5:18; 7:1; 11:53) and had nowhere to lay his head (Matt 8:20). He was stripped, beaten, and crucified. Why? Not for his sin, but for ours. He stood under the curse of Deuteronomy 11 so that we might receive not mere earthly blessings of water, food and shelter—but everlasting, resurrection life!

Jesus didn’t just obey for himself—he obeyed for us. And now, by grace through faith, his righteousness is credited to us. The covenantal contingencies have been fulfilled in him. Our curse fell on him. His blessing falls on us.

And the blessing is not just a land. It’s him. He is the Bread of Life (John 6:25). The Living Water (7:37–38). The Good Shepherd (10:11). The Door (10:9). He is the Shelter that can never be shaken. The inheritance he offers far surpasses Canaan: it is an unshakable kingdom (Heb 12:27), an eternal home in the presence of God (John 14:2–3).

So the call remains: life or death, blessing or curse. Not of life in a geographical land of Canaan, but in the person of Christ. Not a one-time decision, but a daily call: Will I trust Christ today? Will I follow where he leads? Will I repent when I stray?

We have before us today and every day life and death. And life is found only in Christ. So choose life. Choose Christ—the Rock who gives water in the wilderness, the Bread who satisfies, the Shelter that endures forever. Embrace him and your future in the true Promised Land—the New Heavens and the New Earth—is absolutely certain.

Covenantal Conditions and the Land: The Gospel in Deuteronomy 11

What Role Does the Power to Draw and the Role of Justice Play in the “Problem of Evil”? (Podcast) | Cold Case Christianity

What Role Does the Power to Draw and the Role of Justice Play in the “Problem of Evil”? (Podcast)

J. Warner examines the role that evil plays in drawing people to God and the nature of evil and suffering as a consequence of sin. For more information about the cumulative case for the existence of God and the problem of evil, see J. Warner’s book, God’s Crime Scene.

In addition, here is the audio podcast (the Cold-Case Christianity Weekly Podcast is located on iTunes or our RSS Feed):

https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/38637865/height/128/theme/modern/size/standard/thumbnail/no/custom-color/174dbd/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes/font-color/FFFFFF

For more information about the scientific and philosophical evidence pointing to a Divine Creator, please read God’s Crime Scene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe. This book employs a simple crime scene strategy to investigate eight pieces of evidence in the universe to determine the most reasonable explanation. The book is accompanied by an eight-session God’s Crime Scene DVD Set (and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.

The post What Role Does the Power to Draw and the Role of Justice Play in the “Problem of Evil”? (Podcast) first appeared on Cold Case Christianity.

Will You Be Ruled by Your Circumstances or Perspective? | EPM

This is a repost of an article I wrote back in 1986, four years before Eternal Perspective Ministries existed. It was part of a book Nanci and I co-authored called Women Under Stress (now available as Help for Women Under Stress). We’ve updated a few minor things, but the article remains timeless. In fact, there’s a long history of articles on our website, and I hope you’ll explore more from our vast library of resources. (And by the way, 2025 marks 35 years since EPM began! You might enjoy this look at our 25th anniversary celebration back in 2015.)

One night a man heard a noise nearby and thought there was a burglar in his backyard. The stress was so great he died of a heart attack. Did the burglar cause his stress? No. There was no burglar. What caused his stress—and cost him his life—was not reality but his faulty perception of reality.

With two weddings in the Alcorn family that were planned in one summer, back in 2001, it’s appropriate to tell this story:

Joyce and Maria (not their real names, of course) both had daughters get married in June. Both women were Christians, both loved their girls, both wished them happiness. In fact, the two weddings were very similar. But Joyce and Maria had two very different experiences.

Joyce was a little nervous, naturally, but she was excited, joyful, and festive. This wonderful day in her daughter’s life was also wonderful for her. Not that everything went smoothly—the wedding coordinator was bossy, the photographer was late, the cake was different than she ordered, and the flowers didn’t look quite fresh. When the ring bearer stood on the wrong side of the platform and the groom forgot a line of the vows, Joyce laughed to herself and enjoyed the wedding all the more.

Maria’s daughter was married two weeks later in the same church. The wedding went just as well, perhaps a little better. But Maria was uptight, strung out, and ready to string up the photographer, the florist, and the cake decorator for their inexcusable foul-ups. She cringed when the candlelighters didn’t stay together; she trembled for fear that her husband would blow his one line (“Her mother and I”). Her stomach churned when the best man fumbled for the ring. It may have been the happiest day in someone’s life, but Maria was miserable. Why? Because of her circumstances? No, because of her perspective. Because of her point of view.

Before you write off the difference between Joyce and Maria as “just a difference in personality,” think about it. Maria will never be Joyce and shouldn’t try to be her, but she too can learn to develop a positive perspective on life. Indeed, if she is ever to be content and at peace, Maria must change. Unless she does, the same short-sighted perspective that ruined the wedding for her will inevitably ruin her entire life (not to mention make it unpleasant for everyone around her).

To overcome stress you must either change your circumstances or your perceptions. You can change some circumstances, of course, but many you cannot. The truth is that you have little or no control over the photographer, florist, cake decorator, flower girl, or best man. You can’t make your children get straight As, lower taxes, stop the rain, or cause a cease-fire in the Middle East. You can’t even get your kids to always load the dishes in the dishwasher or get your husband to put his dirty clothes in the laundry basket.

So, if you are to have any peace at all, any relief from stress, you must adjust to human problems, errors, weaknesses, accidents, and any number of things that life is certain to bring and which—if you don’t learn to accept them—are certain to drive you nuts.

Perspective

Our perceptions, much more than our circumstances, are the building blocks with which we construct our lives. There is a sense in which we literally create the world we live in. If it is empty, irritating, boring, hectic, or hurried, it is because we have perceived it that way, and—at least in a sense—made it that way. No matter what the circumstances, our view of life determines our level of joy and contentment.

Don’t misunderstand. I am not promoting “positive thinking” for its own sake. I am advocating positive thinking when and only when it is biblical thinking.

I’ve known some very ungodly people who are “positive thinkers.” They have no time for the doctrine of sin and the reality of true moral guilt and human accountability to God. These things are too “negative” for them. Unfortunately for them, unless they accept these basic biblical truths, negative as they might be, all the positive thinking in the universe won’t deliver them from the ultimate negative—hell.

I am also not encouraging something mystical or magical, the way some people view positive thinking. If you wish real hard and real long and real sincerely…you may still not get what you wish for!

Neither am I talking about the philosophy behind many of the success books like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. These books, and the innumerable seminars spun off from them, define success in terms of the accumulation of wealth (as do some “Christian” sales organizations). They quote freely from Christ and Aristotle and Buddha and “other positive thinkers” and refer to God only in the context of how He can make you wealthy (as if that’s His purpose for existing).

All thinking should be rooted in biblical fact. The truth is that in light of Christ’s victory over sin and death and God’s unalterable plan to rule this universe with righteousness, the biblicist is ultimately an optimist. He is not a positive thinker because pop psychology tells him he should be but because over and over again Scripture gives him reason to be.

If God is good and sits on the throne of the universe and everything that comes into your life is Father-filtered…how can you be anything less than optimistic?

The follower of Christ is not a pessimist, nor is he first an optimist. He is first a realist and then an optimist. In other words, the Christian is not optimistic because it is the most advantageous way to think but because it is the accurate way to think. The Christian’s optimism is based squarely on realism: God is real, the atonement is real, the resurrection is real, the second coming is real, God’s providence is real, and the gospel really is “good news.”

Perspective is what Joshua and Caleb had, and the other ten spies didn’t (Numbers 13-14). Joshua and Caleb entered Canaan and saw the land, the fruit, the potential for prosperity, and a place for their families to live and worship God. The other ten spies went to the same land and saw giants—great men of war, who made conquering the land seem impossible. Joshua and Caleb saw exactly the same giants. But somehow, to them, they just didn’t seem so big. The two saw God as bigger than giants. The ten saw giants as bigger than God. Because they saw God on His throne, Joshua and Caleb could look at the same set of circumstances and see a completely different picture than the others saw—a picture both realistic and optimistic.

A Test of Perspective

Our perspective may not be tested in terms of lands and giants and battle strategy. But count on it—it will be tested.

Many years ago Nanci and I went on a two-week vacation to California. We left the kids with friends, and took off on what was going to be our greatest vacation ever. We had everything planned, and we so deserved the time off (that’s what we told ourselves). We just knew everything would go perfectly.

Everything did go perfectly—for the first forty miles. Then our radiator blew up. We ended up spending the whole day in a small Oregon town which I won’t name for fear of offending someone, though I doubt anyone from this town would ever come across this story. Suffice it to say, it was not the Magic Kingdom.

We had left with a few hundred dollars in cash, and a little more in traveler’s checks, with one major credit card to use as a back-up. Most of the cash was safely hidden, but I put it in my wallet just for a few minutes in order to pay for the radiator. Then I found out we didn’t have enough cash for the radiator. They wouldn’t take a credit card, so we had to use all but one of our traveler’s checks. An hour or two after sunset, we were on the road again.

We drove all the next day and got in late to Santa Clara, California. We went out for pizza, finally ready to relax for the first time in two days. The next thing we knew my wallet had been stolen. That’s right, the wallet that still had all the cash in it from the day before. It also had the credit card. And, to top it off, it was the Friday night of Memorial Day weekend. No bank would be open until Tuesday, when we had reservations in another part of the state. Meanwhile, we had a grand total of one $20 traveler’s check to get us through the next three and a half days.

The rest of the trip was good news and bad news. The good news was that the sun shone the whole time. The bad news was that Nanci developed an extremely uncomfortable sun rash and couldn’t expose her skin to direct sunlight until we returned home to Oregon (where direct sunlight is rarely a problem for most of the year). Long sleeves, high necklines, and floppy hats were the only thing that allowed Nanci to escape from the hotel room.

What’s the point of this story? The point is, it turned out to be potentially the worst vacation we’ve ever had. But it turned out actually to be the best vacation we’ve ever had. Why? Perspective.

We cried, we prayed, we laughed, we grew. We counted our blessings and realized how much we had and how little we had lost. Once we let go of our ideal picture-perfect vacation and determined to enjoy whatever God had for us, He gave back to us a wonderful time and more. The circumstances didn’t improve because our attitudes improved. But, by God’s grace, our attitudes completely overwhelmed the circumstances.

As goes your perspective, so goes your vacation, your wedding, your job, your dishes, your ministry, your carpool…your whole life.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 18:14). A right attitude carries you through bad circumstances and poor health. But no matter how strong the body, how positive the circumstances, a crushed spirit will never experience joy. Perspective is what makes the spirit soar like an eagle even when the body is ravaged by accident, disease, and age.

What We Believe

Perspective is rooted in belief. We think and act based upon our beliefs. Our belief system is the blueprint around which we build our life and the lens through which we see our life.

This is why exposure to true Bible teaching is so important, and why it’s essential to attend a church that teaches God’s Word and to study it daily ourselves (Acts 17:11). The more our beliefs are established on God’s truth, the better the foundation for our entire life, and the less likely we will collapse under life’s stresses.

When I speak of beliefs, I don’t mean merely what we say we believe but what we really do believe. Most of us say we believe in a sovereign God. Our doctrine is correct, but the true test of our beliefs is when we have a week of rain on our long-awaited camping trip, or the car breaks down on the way to the airport, or the washer—with all of your best delicate clothes in it—is filled with muddy water from a broken water main (this happened to Nanci). Is God sovereign when He deals with the rise and fall of empires but not when my tent leaks or my favorite shirt is ruined? Is He sovereign just when I get my way, or is He always sovereign? The illustrations I’m using are small things. But the God who’s sovereign in small things also controls the big ones.

Hopefully, your beliefs are rooted in truth. But whether they are or not, they will determine your perspective. Ironically, sometimes non-Christians view life positively when in fact they are hopelessly lost without Christ. On the other hand, Christians who have every reason to be joyous may have very negative attitudes. The person going to hell may be relatively happy; the one going to Heaven may be miserable. Both have attitudes based on incorrect beliefs. But whether or not they are correct, beliefs do determine attitudes.

Rejoicing Despite Circumstances

Probably the biggest step in reducing and controlling stress is to realize once and for all that circumstances do not cause stress. It is our interpretation of and response to circumstances that cause stress.

Have you ever read the popular children’s story Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Read the story and at first you think Alexander did have an unusual number of terrible things happen to him, so no wonder he had a terrible day. But then you realize that the things that happened to Alexander are the usual kinds of irritations that happen to us all daily. They are simply part of being alive in this far-from-perfect world. It is our loss of perspective that magnifies out of proportion every little thing that goes wrong.

If today was difficult because “it wasn’t a normal day,” ask yourself, “When was the last time I had a normal day?” It was not Alexander’s circumstances but his interpretation of and response to those circumstances that caused his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Same with yours.

Circumstances aren’t what makes a day—or a lifetime—good or bad. What else can explain the fact that many people have beautiful homes, secure jobs, every material possession imaginable, financial security, perfect health, and yet are miserable, even suicidal? And that many others live in poverty, own nothing, have poor health, and yet are filled with the joy of life?

Most people rejoice when their circumstances are good and get depressed when their circumstances are bad. As Christians we are to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4-6). Do you know what the word translated “always” means in the original Greek? It means always. (That’s why it’s translated that way.) “Always” means we are to rejoice regardless of our circumstances-not because of them.

As Christians we always have reason to rejoice because of truths that are untouched and unchanged by outward circumstances. We are created by God, loved by God, cared for by God whether it rains or shines, whether there’s war or peace. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” whether the church splits, the pastor leaves, or there’s a terrible scandal.

Consider Paul and Silas when they were in prison at Philippi. Both men had been severely flogged and their feet were fastened in stocks in what in those days was a disease-ridden, rat-infested cell. How did they respond? “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). Keep in mind that though Paul and Silas later escaped through divine intervention, at the time they were rejoicing and singing they had no idea they were going to escape. In other words, their spirits were joyful even in the face of further beatings and death.

What would most of us have done in that prison cell? Some of us would mope and grouse and weep and kick the walls and cater our own little pity party. In other words, we would fit right in with the other prisoners. It’s when there’s something different about us, when we are filled with “the peace of God which transcends all understanding” that we draw the attention of discontent searching people in need of Christ.

Your baby is born with Down Syndrome, your family business is lost, your wife leaves, your house is burned to the ground. Am I suggesting these circumstances will not affect you? Of course not. I’m only saying they need not control you. You can rise above them, as Paul and Silas and many others have done, and as people of God are doing right now all over the world. When these things happen to you, the world will watch. And if it sees calm in the midst of storm, it will be drawn to the Christ you love.

Let God be God

Some years ago Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote the bestseller When Bad Things Happen to Good People. He concluded that since there is so much evil and tragedy and suffering, either God must not be all-good or He must not be all-powerful. Opting for God’s goodness, he decided God is not all-powerful.

The rabbi’s mistake was a familiar one: failure to believe Scripture when it teaches things we do not understand. The truth is that God is all-loving and all-powerful and that there are reasons He allows suffering. We cannot understand all those reasons, though sometimes we catch a glimpse of them. But our lack of understanding does not negate God’s attributes. It only proves what the Bible said all along:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

We need not and must not hedge on one attribute of God in order to preserve another. God cares about the pain and suffering of this world far more than we. One day He will make it all right. Until then we must learn to trust Him.

Source: Will You Be Ruled by Your Circumstances or Perspective?

November 5 Evening Verse of the Day

SCRIPTURE PROVIDES INSTRUCTION FOR SANCTIFICATION

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (3:16–17)

Before we examine the sanctifying power of Scripture, this crucial statement by Paul must be considered. Some scholars suggest that All Scripture is inspired should be translated, “All Scripture inspired by God is …,” which would leave open the possibility that some Scripture is not inspired by Him. But that rendering would make the Bible worthless as a reliable guide to divine truth, because we would then have no way to determine which part of it is inspired by God and which is not. Men would be left to their own finite and sinful devices and understanding to discover what part of the Bible may be true and which may not, what part is God’s Word and what part is human conjecture. Paul’s thought is that the Scripture that gives salvation must therefore be inspired by God. The words of men could never transform the inner person (Ps. 19:7).
In addition to the many other specific biblical references to the inspiration and authority of Scripture—some of which are mentioned below—it is important to note that similar Greek constructions in other parts of the New Testament (see, e.g., Rom. 7:12; 2 Cor. 10:10; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2:3; 4:4; Heb. 4:16) argue strongly from a grammatical perspective that all Scripture is inspired is the proper translation. Scripture is the revelation conveyed, inspiration is the means of that conveyance. In the words originally revealed and recorded, all Scripture is God’s inerrant Word.
The first predicate adjective that describes Scripture, namely, its being inspired by God, focuses on the authority of His written Word. Theopneustos (inspired by God) literally means, “breathed out by God,” or simply, “God-breathed.” God sometimes breathed His words into the human writers to be recorded much as dictation. He said to Jeremiah: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9). But, as clearly seen in Scripture itself, God’s divine truth more often flowed through the minds, souls, hearts, and emotions of His chosen human instruments. Yet, by whatever means, God divinely superintended the accurate recording of His divinely breathed truth by His divinely chosen men. In a supernatural way, He has provided His divine Word in human words that any person, even a child, can be led by His Holy Spirit to understand sufficiently to be saved.
It is of utmost importance to understand that it is Scripture that is inspired by God, not the men divinely chosen to record it. When speaking or writing apart from God’s revelation, their thoughts, wisdom, and understanding were human and fallible. They were not inspired in the sense that we commonly use that term of people with extraordinary artistic, literary, or musical genius. Nor were they inspired in the sense of being personal repositories of divine truth which they could dispense at will. Many human authors of Scripture penned other documents, but none of those writings exist today, and, even if discovered, they would not carry the weight of Scripture. We know, for instance, that Paul wrote at least two other letters to the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 5:9; 2 Cor. 2:4), but no copies of those letters have ever been found. The letters doubtless were godly, spiritually insightful, and blessed of the Lord, but they were not Scripture.
Many men who wrote Scripture, such as Moses and Paul, were highly trained in human knowledge and wisdom, but that learning was not the source of the divine truth they recorded. David was a highly gifted poet, and that gift doubtless is reflected in the beauty of his psalms, but it was not the source of the divine truths revealed in those psalms.
Scripture first of all and above all is from God and about God, His self-revelation to fallen mankind. From Genesis through Revelation, God reveals His truth, His character, His attributes, and His divine plan for the redemption of man, whom He made in His own image. He even foretells the eventual redemption of the rest of His creation, which “also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” and which “groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Rom. 8:21–22).
The Bible is not a collection of the wisdom and insights of men, even of godly men. It is God’s truth, His own Word in His own words. The psalmist declared, “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89). God’s Word is divinely revealed to men on earth and divinely authenticated in heaven. Peter declares unequivocally, “Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20–21). Those God-given, humanly recorded words became God’s written Word, inerrant and authoritative as originally given. Prophēteia (“prophecy”) is not used here in the sense of prediction but in its basic and broader meaning of speaking forth, of proclaiming a message. It carries the same inclusive idea as “the oracles of God,” with which ancient Israel had the marvelous privilege of being entrusted (Rom. 3:2). “Interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20b) translates epilusis, which refers to something that is released, sent out, or sent forth. In this verse the Greek noun is a genitive of source, indicating origin. In other words, no message of Scripture was originated and sent forth by men’s own wisdom and will. Rather, the godly men through whom Scripture was revealed and recorded were divinely instructed and carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Within the Bible itself, “God” and “Scripture” are sometimes used almost interchangeably. Referring to words spoken directly by God to Abraham (Gen. 12:3), Paul wrote that “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations shall be blessed in you’ ” (Gal. 3:8). Later in that same chapter the apostle again personifies Scripture as God, declaring that “Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (v. 22). In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul wrote, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth’ ” (Rom. 9:17).
When he first preached in Galatia, many years before he wrote his epistle to the churches there, the apostle had declared,

And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, “Thou art My Son; today I have begotten Thee.” And as for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: “I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.” Therefore He also says in another Psalm, “Thou wilt not allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.” (Acts 13:32–35)

THE INSPIRED AND INERRANT SCRIPTURE

Scripture is inspired and inerrant in both testaments. All Scripture refers to the New as well as to the Old Testament. As noted above, the hieros grammata (“sacred writings”) were the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), which Timothy had been taught from childhood (v. 15). Graphē (Scripture), on the other hand, was commonly used in the early church not only of the Old Testament but also of God’s newly revealed Word, in what came to be called the New Testament.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus gave powerful and unambiguous testimony to the divine authority of both testaments. The four gospels contain the first divine revelation after that of the Old Testament prophets, which had ceased some four hundred years earlier. Jesus’ declaration that “Scripture [graphē] cannot be broken” (John 10:35) applied specifically to the Hebrew Scriptures but also, as will be seen, to the totality of Scripture, that is, to both testaments, which together compose God’s written Word.
Early in His ministry, Jesus said of the Old Testament, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:17–18). Later He said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail” (Luke 16:17).
Jesus repeatedly used divinely revealed truths from the Old Testament to affirm His messiahship. He declared, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’ ” (John 7:38), and, “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” (John 7:42). As Jesus walked with the two disciples on the Emmaus road after His resurrection, “beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).
In addition to His teaching that “Scripture [graphē] cannot be broken” (John 10:35), Jesus said that “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me” (John 12:48–50). The words of the incarnate Christ are the words of God the Father; therefore, to reject Jesus’ words is to reject God’s Word.
The men whom God assigned to write the gospels would not have been able in their mere humanness to remember accurately everything Jesus said or did. For that reason Jesus promised that “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26; cf. 15:26–27).
The Lord would reveal additional truth after He returned to heaven. “I have many more things to say to you,” He said, “but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you” (John 16:12–14).
In 1 Timothy, Paul wrote, “The Scripture [graphē] says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,’ and ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’ ” (1 Tim. 5:18). It is important to note that the first quotation is from the Old Testament (Deut. 25:4) and that the second is from Jesus’ own lips (Luke 10:7), that is, from the New Testament.
The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) contains at least 680 claims to divine inspiration. Such claims are found 418 times in the historical books, 195 times in the poetic books, and 1,307 times in the prophetic books. The New Testament contains more than 300 direct quotations and at least 1,000 indirect references from the Old Testament, almost all of them declaring or implying that they were God’s own Word. The book of Hebrews opens with the declaration “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb. 1:1–2). The writer was speaking of both testaments, God’s speaking through “the prophets” representing the Old and His speaking through “His Son” representing the New.
Many New Testament writers directly testified that they knew they were writing God’s Word. Paul reminded believers in Corinth of a truth he doubtless had taught them many times in person when he ministered there: “[These] things we also speak,” he said, “not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:13; cf. 16). In his next letter to them he defended his earnestness as well as his authority, saying, “We are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 2:17).
Paul assured the churches in Galatia: “I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.… He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, … called me through His grace, [and] was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles” (Gal. 1:11–12, 15–16). He told the church in Colossae, “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:25–27). And to the church at Thessalonica he wrote, “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13).
Peter recognized that Paul, a fellow apostle, had been used by the Lord to write His Word. Referring to Paul’s letters, Peter wrote of “some things [in them that were] hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16, emphasis added). Jude attests that “the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” carried the weight of Scripture, divinely warning that “in the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts” (Jude 17–18).
No New Testament writer had a greater awareness that he was recording God’s own Word than did the apostle John. That awareness is affirmed with particular certainty in the book of Revelation, which begins, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw” (Rev. 1:1–2). A few verses later the apostle says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, ‘Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches’ ” (vv. 10–11). At or near the end of each message to those churches is the admonition “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). The apostle also makes clear in many other parts of that book that he is writing God’s explicitly revealed truth (see, e.g., 19:9; 21:5; 22:6).
It is both remarkable and significant that, although most, if not all, of the human writers were aware they were recording Scripture and sometimes were overwhelmed by the truths God revealed to them, they exhibit a total lack of self-consciousness or apology, in the common sense of that word. Together, the biblical writers make some 4,000 claims to be writing God’s Word, yet they offer no defense for being employed by God in such an elevated function. Despite their realization of their own sinfulness and fallibility, they wrote with the utter confidence that they spoke infallibly for God and that His revelation itself is its own best and irrefutable defense. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,” Isaiah proclaimed for God, “and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10–11).
Scripture is inspired and inerrant in its words. To deny that all of the Bible is inspired obviously is to deny that all of the words of Scripture are inspired. Just as obviously, such denial places man as judge over God’s Word, acknowledging as authentic and binding only those portions which correspond to one’s personal predispositions. Whether the human judgment about inspiration is made by a church council, church tradition, or individual preference, it is based on subjective, sin-tainted, and imperfect knowledge and understanding. When men decide for themselves what to recognize as true and worthwhile, as meaningful and relevant, they vitiate all authority of Scripture. Even when they concur with Scripture, the agreement is based on their own human wisdom.
Unless the very words of Scripture are inspired and authoritative, man is left to his own resources to ferret out what seem to be underlying divine concepts and principles. But instead of discovering what has been called “the Word behind the words”—that is, the divine truth behind the human words—that approach leads to the very opposite. It presumptuously and self-deceptively “discovers” man’s word, as it were, behind God’s words, judging God’s divine truth by the standards of man’s sinful inclinations and distorted perceptions. As Paul said to Titus, the commandments of men turn people away from God’s truth (Titus 1:14).
Even from a purely logical perspective, to discount the words of Scripture is to discount all meaning of Scripture. Not only is it impossible to write without using words but also is impossible, except in the most nebulous way, even to think without words. It is as meaningless to speak of thoughts and ideas without words as to speak of music without notes or mathematics without numbers. To repudiate the words of Scripture is to repudiate the truths of Scripture.
It is true, of course, that both testaments contain revelations whose bare words God intentionally made cryptic. In some cases, as with Jesus’ parables, the purpose was to hide the meaning from willful unbelievers. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke to the multitudes in parables, “He answered and said to them, ‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted’ ” (Matt. 13:10–11). In other cases, as with predictive prophecies, even the most godly believers, including the men to whom God revealed the prophecies, could not discern the full meaning. Peter explains, for example, that, “as to this salvation [through Jesus Christ], the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:10–12).
In other words, although Scripture never reveals truths apart from words, in some places it reveals words apart from their full truth. The point is this: The words of Scripture are always inerrant, whether or not they convey their full meaning to those who read them or can be fully understood by our limited comprehension.
When Moses protested to God that he was not qualified to lead Israel because he had “never been eloquent” and was “slow of speech and slow of tongue, … the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say’ ” (Ex. 4:10–12). When Moses continued to object, “the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, ‘Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently.… And you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and it shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him’ ” (Ex. 4:14–16, emphasis added).
In Psalm 147, the inseparable relationship between God’s Word and His words is clear. The Lord “sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel” (Ps. 147:15–19, emphasis added). It is only through words that God has revealed His Word.
Jeremiah testified: “The Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.’ … Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, ‘Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it will consume them.’ … Thy words were found and I ate them,” the prophet responded, “and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 1:9; 5:14; 15:16, emphasis added). Ezekiel made a similar affirmation, saying, “Then [the Lord] said to me, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me.… But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.’ … Moreover, He said to me, ‘Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I shall speak to you, and listen closely’ ” (Ezek. 2:3, 7; 3:10, emphasis added).
In reply to Satan’s temptation to make bread from stones in order to satisfy His physical hunger, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’ ” (Matt. 4:4, emphasis added). Man is fed spiritually by God’s “every word,” and every revealed word of God is found in His written Word, the Bible. In His last major public discourse, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35, emphasis added).
Earlier in His ministry, Jesus proclaimed the essence of the gospel: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24, emphasis added). “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing,” He said on another occasion. “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63, emphasis added). “For I did not speak on My own initiative,” our Lord again makes clear, “but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me” (12:49–50; cf. 14:24). Believing in the Father is believing in the Son, and the Son’s words are the Father’s words.
Scripture is inspired and inerrant in everything it teaches and reports. Some scholars maintain that, because the Bible is not a textbook on such subjects as history, geography, and science, it is inerrant only when it speaks on spiritual and moral matters. But like those who claim to accept the underlying divine concepts and principles of Scripture but not its words, these interpreters also determine by their own resources what is divine and infallible and what is human and fallible. Again, man becomes the judge of Scripture.
Through the centuries, some scholars have pointed to “mistakes” in the Bible, statements about people, places, and things that did not jibe with the accepted “facts” of history, archaeology, or modern science.
Until Copernicus’s discovery in the sixteenth century, men assumed that the sun rotated around the earth, because that is how it appears from our earthly perspective. Because we now know that the earth rotates around the sun, many scholars charge the Bible with factual error in reporting that Joshua successfully commanded the sun to stand still and the moon to be stopped (Josh. 10:12–13), whereas it must have been the earth that stood still. But highly trained meteorologists still speak of sunrise and sunset, especially when communicating with the general public. Those phrases are firmly established figures of speech throughout the world, and no sensible person accuses someone of being inaccurate or unscientific for using them. Not only that, but if God created the universe, stopping the rotation of the earth, the sun, or the moon—or of all three—would have been equally simple. It is significant that most people who question the reality of such miraculous events also question many of the clear theological and moral teachings of Scripture as well.
For many years some scholars charged the book of 2 Kings with error for reporting that “the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold” (2 Kings 18:14). They based that judgment on an ancient Assyrian record of the transaction that gives the amount of silver as being 800 talents. But later archaeological findings have revealed that, although the Assyrian standard for a talent of gold was the same as that used by Judah and Syria, the standard for silver was considerably different. When adjusted for that difference, the biblical figure was found to be accurate.
Not only is the Bible’s reporting of history unerring but so is its prediction of history. Ezekiel foretold in amazing detail the destruction of Tyre, first by Nebuchadnezzar, later by Alexander the Great (Ezek. 26:1–21; 29:18), and then by Egypt (30:10–26). In similar detail, Nahum predicted the devastation of Nineveh (Nahum 1:15–3:19; cf. Zeph. 2:13, 15), which was conquered and destroyed in 612 B.C. by the Medes and Chaldeans. Both Isaiah (Isa. 13–14; 21:1–10) and Jeremiah (Jer. 50–51) accurately predicted the ultimate destruction of Babylon, which would “never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation” (Isa. 13:20). That great city was conquered first by Cyrus, founder of the Persian empire and the man whom God prophesied would free His people Israel from Babylonian captivity (Isa. 44:28; 45:1–14). That noble king not only allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem, but, with an amazing awareness of his divine mission under the true God, charged them to rebuild the temple there and returned to them all the sacred and valuable temple objects pilfered by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezra 1). Other Assyrian and Persian kings successively conquered and plundered Babylon. Its final conquest was by Alexander the Great, who intended to rebuild the city but was prevented by his untimely death at the age of thirty-two. When the capital of the Syrian empire was moved from Babylon to Seleucia by Seleucus Nicator in 312 B.C., Babylon gradually died. By the time of Christ, the city was inhabited primarily by a small group of scholars, and bricks from its rubble were carried away to build houses and walls in surrounding towns. Today the almost barren site of ancient Babylon, located in the southern part of modern Iraq, is valued only for its archaeological significance.
As noted in the first point, God’s divine Word, revealed through His divine words, is not itself the means or the power of salvation, but is the agency of it. Near the end of his gospel account, John explained that “these [things] have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
As Peter declared to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem soon after Pentecost, “Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, … He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10–12).
In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul echoes the words of Jesus: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.… So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:9–10, 17, emphasis added; cf. James 1:18).
Christ also uses His Word to sanctify and cleanse His church from sin. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul said: “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” (Eph. 5:25–26, emphasis added). In his first letter to believers at Thessalonica he said, “And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13, emphasis added; cf. Phil. 2:16).
The second predicate adjective Paul uses to describe Scripture is profitable, which focuses on the sufficiency of God’s written Word. Profitable translates ōphelimos, which includes the ideas of beneficial, productive, and sufficient.
Scripture is sufficient in being comprehensive. Paralleled in the Old Testament only by Psalm 119 and confirmed by Joshua 1:8, these verses supremely affirm the absolute sufficiency of Scripture to meet all the spiritual needs of God’s people.
David understood the sufficiency of God’s Word, and in one of his most uplifting psalms he exulted:

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I shall be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. (Ps. 19:7–13)

In verses 7–9 David refers to God’s Word by six different titles: God’s law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear (referring to worship), and judgments. In those same verses, he mentions six characteristics of that divine Word: It is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true. Also included are six blessings that the Word brings in the believer’s life: It restores the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, endures forever, and produces complete righteousness. The remaining verses (10–13) extol the benefits of the work of the Word: It makes rich, delights, rewards, convicts, and protects. It is a marvelous mark of God’s loving grace that He has given us every truth, every principle, every standard, and every warning that we will ever need for living out our salvation according to His will.
Scripture also is complete. Jude admonished his readers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). John closes the book of Revelation, as well as the entire Old and New Testaments, with this sobering warning from the Lord: “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18–19).
False religious systems that claim to be Christian invariably expose their falsehood by their view of Scripture. Mormonism considers The Book of Mormon to be as divinely inspired and authoritative as the Bible, in fact more so, because they view that book as being a latter-day, updated revelation from God. Christian Science views Science and Health, With a Key to the Scriptures in the same way. Some charismatics claim to have received special revelations from God, which, if genuine, would carry the same divine authority as the Bible. For most of the twentieth century, a large percentage of members and a higher percentage of clergymen in most major Protestant denominations have not recognized the Bible as being wholly revealed by God and inerrant. Those views and many others like them share the common heresy of considering Scripture to be incomplete or inadequate.
It is because of such distorted and destructive views of Scripture within professing Christendom that biblical believers must, more than ever before, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). As in the early church, the greatest danger to the church has always been from within. Paul warned the godly, mature church at Ephesus, pastored first by the apostle and then by Timothy, and led by godly elders, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29–30, emphasis added).
In the remainder of verse 16, Paul declares that Scripture is profitable for believers in four important ways: for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

THE TEACHING SCRIPTURE

for teaching, (3:16b)

As mentioned in chapter 8 of this commentary in regard to verse 10, didaskalia does not refer to the process or method of teaching but to its content. In this context, as in most others in the New Testament, didaskalia refers specifically and exclusively to divine instruction, or doctrine, given to believers through God’s Word, which included not only the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the teaching of Jesus during His incarnation but also the inspired teaching of the apostles and New Testament authors.
“A natural man,” Paul explains, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them.” It is not that the unsaved person is intellectually inferior, but that such truths “are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:14–16).
While warning believers about the dangerous teachings and work of antichrists, John assures his readers: “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.… As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.… And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him” (1 John 2:20, 24, 27).
When it comes to godly living and godly service, to growing in “the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4), God-breathed Scripture provides for us the comprehensive and complete body of divine truth necessary to live as our heavenly Father desires for us to live. The wisdom and guidance for fulfilling everything He commands us to believe, think, say, and do is found in His inerrant, authoritative, comprehensive, and completed Word.
Even after conversion, trust in one’s own wisdom is a severe hindrance to correct understanding of Scripture and to full usefulness in the Lord’s service. The counsel to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5) is every bit as valid for Christians as it was for Old Testament saints.
Throughout church history, the Lord has uniquely and wonderfully sustained and blessed the spiritual lives and influence of believers who, because of imprisonment, illiteracy, isolation, or other restrictions beyond their control, could not study His Word. But the teaching of Scripture is the divine body of truth without which no believer who has access to it can live, minister, or witness effectively. Tragically, some of the most biblically illiterate believers in our day live in lands where God’s Word is readily available and where scriptural preaching, teaching, and literature are abundant.
It goes without saying that it is impossible to believe, understand, and follow what you do not even know. It is completely futile, as well as foolish, to expect to live a spiritual life without knowing spiritual truth. Biblically untaught believers, especially those in biblically untaught churches, are easy prey for false teachers. They are spiritual “children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14). Throughout most of redemptive history, God could have said what He said in Hosea’s day: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). It is for that reason, as well as for the even greater reason of honoring the Lord, that regular, systematic, and thorough study of the doctrine in God’s Word is imperative for God’s people.
We not only are to guard what we know but sincerely seek to learn more of God’s inexhaustible truth. We should pray with Job, “Teach Thou me what I do not see” (Job 34:32). That dauntless man of God had lost his children, his servants, his flocks, his health, and even his reputation. He was wholly unable to see why God permitted those calamities to come upon him, and he therefore wanted the Lord to teach him whatever he needed to learn in order to endure his painful existence and to profit from it spiritually.
Just before Jehovah’s covenant with Israel was ratified near Sinai, Moses “took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!’ ” (Ex. 24:7). Unfortunately, the people of Israel seldom again demonstrated such reverence for God’s Word. Shortly before they were to enter and take possession of the Promised Land, Moses reminded them again: “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it.… And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it” (Deut. 4:5, 14). God’s command to Joshua, Moses’ successor, applies to every believer: “Be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh. 1:7–8).
When the young but godly King Josiah heard read to him “the words of the book of the law,” which had been discovered as the temple was being repaired, “he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant saying, ‘Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us’ ” (2 Kings 22:11–13).
Although they did not believe their own words, the unbelieving and hypocritical Pharisees were completely correct when they said of Jesus, “You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any” (Matt. 22:16). It was because of His utter truthfulness and righteousness and His refusal to defer to anyone that those men, and others like them, put Jesus to death. Contrary to their godly forefather Josiah, they would not accept the teaching of God.
On a trip from Greece back to Jerusalem, Paul reminded the Ephesian elders, many of whom had ministered both with him and with Timothy, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, … how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.… For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:18, 20–21, 27).
Both the first and last pieces of spiritual armor that Paul mentions in his letter to believers at Ephesus pertain to Scripture. “Stand firm therefore,” he says, “having girded your loins with truth.” Then, after putting on the “breastplate of righteousness,” shodding our feet with “the gospel of peace, “taking up the shield of faith,” and donning “the helmet of salvation,” we are to equip ourselves with the only offensive implement mentioned here—“the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:14–17). Machaira (“sword”) refers to a short sword, or dagger, a weapon used in close combat that required skillful use in order to be effective. “Word” translates rhēma, which refers to a specific statement or wording, not to general truth, as does the more commonly used logos.
Our “wielding” of Scripture, as it were, should be as precise, accurate, and appropriate as possible. No matter how good our intentions might be, to interpret or apply a passage thoughtlessly or to quote it out of context creates confusion and uncertainty. It does disservice to the Lord and to those we are attempting to instruct. In order to present ourselves “approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,” we must handle “accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Careless use of Scripture, even by the Lord’s own people, can do great damage to the cause of Christ, as it often has done throughout church history.
During His wilderness ordeal, Jesus responded to each of Satan’s temptations with an accurate and carefully chosen quotation from Scripture (see Matt. 4:3–10). Because He was the incarnate Son of God, anything He might have said would have carried the same divine weight as Scripture. But as an example for His followers, He chose to quote divine truth that already was recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Following the pattern of our gracious Lord, our weapon against the temptations and deceptions of the devil should always be a careful and precise use of God’s revealed Word. It then goes without saying that, in order to use Scripture in that effective way, we must thoroughly know it and understand it. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we must “let the word of Christ richly dwell within [us], with all wisdom” (Col. 3:16).
The truths of God’s Word are spiritual wealth that we should continually be depositing into our minds and hearts. Like deposits of money in our bank account, those deposits of divine truth become spiritual assets that we can draw on readily when confronting temptation, when making moral choices and when seeking God’s specific will and guidance for our lives.

THE REPROVING SCRIPTURE

for reproof, (3:16c)

A second work of the Word in the life of believers is that of reproof. Elegmos (reproof) carries the idea of rebuking in order to convict of misbehavior or false doctrine. As with teaching, Scripture’s work of reproof has to do with content, with equipping believers with accurate knowledge and understanding of divine truth, in this context divine truth that exposes falsehood and sin, erroneous belief, and ungodly conduct.
Richard Trench, a noted nineteenth-century British theologian, comments that elegmos refers to rebuking “another with such effectual wielding of the victorious arm of the truth, as to bring him not always to a confession, yet at least to a conviction of his sin.”
Regular and careful study of Scripture builds a foundation of truth that, among other things, exposes sin in a believer’s life with the purpose of bringing correction, confession, renunciation, and obedience.
Using the same Greek word as Paul does in Ephesians 6:17, the writer of Hebrews speaks of the Bible as a divine sword that exposes sin in a believer’s life. “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword [machaira], and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:12–13). Scripture precisely and thoroughly penetrates the believer’s mind, soul, and heart.
Every Christian who has been saved for any length of time has experienced times of being sharply and deeply convicted by reading a particular Bible passage or hearing it preached or taught. Every experienced Christian also knows that during times of disobedience he is strongly tempted to forsake Bible study and worship and finds that fellowship with faithful believers becomes less attractive and comfortable. Looked at from the opposite side, decreased desire to study God’s Word, to worship Him, and to be with His people is reliable evidence of unconfessed and unforsaken sin. It is for that reason that a Bible-teaching, Bible-believing, and Bible-obeying church is never a haven for persistent sinners. As Jesus explained the principle to Nicodemus, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20).
Scripture has the negative ministry of tearing down and destroying that which is sinful and false as well as of building up and improving that which is righteous and true. Just as in medicine, infection and contamination must be excised before healing can begin. Paul told the Ephesian elders, “I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men.… Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears” (Acts 20:26, 31).
Reproving the wrongdoing of his people is as much a pastor’s responsibility as helping build them up in righteousness. At the beginning of the next chapter of this letter, Paul wrote, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:1–2). The first two of those three admonitions are negative, the first one being the verb form of elegmos (reproof). God’s minister, like God’s Word, must reprove sin and falsehood.
Scripture is the divine plumb line by which every thought, principle, act, and belief is to be measured. Paul reminded the Corinthian church what he doubtless had taught them many times. “We are not like many,” he said, “peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.… We have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 2:17; 4:2). Luke commended God-fearing Jews in Berea because they “were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). As every preacher and teacher should be, Paul and Silas were not offended but were greatly pleased that everything they said was measured against God’s Word.
“I have more insight than all my teachers,” the psalmist testified before the Lord, “for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Thy precepts” (Ps. 119:99–100). “From Thy precepts I get understanding,” he continues a few verses later; “therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (vv. 104–105). God’s Word steers us away from sin and toward righteousness.
Isaiah warned the people of Israel to “hate every false way.” “And when they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn [light]” (Isa. 8:19–20).
When we are constrained by God’s Word to reprove a sinning brother or sister, we should do so in humility and love. That always was Paul’s practice. “I do not write these things to shame you,” he told immature and disobedient believers in Corinth, “but to admonish you as my beloved children” (1 Cor. 4:14). If the holy Lord obligates Himself to reprove and discipline His disobedient children in love (Heb. 12:5–11), how much more are His children obligated to reprove each other in love.
It is just as important, although more difficult, to be gracious when we receive reproof, whether directly by God’s Word or from other believers who call us to biblical account. “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light,” an Old Testament saint professed, “and reproofs for discipline are the way of life” (Prov. 6:23). Like him, every believer should be as grateful for the reproving work of the Word as for its encouragement. It is impossible to genuinely seek righteousness and truth if we do not hate and renounce sin and falsehood.

THE CORRECTING SCRIPTURE

for correction, (3:16d)

Epanorthōsis (correction) is used only here in the New Testament and refers to the restoration of something to its original and proper condition. In secular Greek literature it was used of setting upright an object that had fallen down and of helping a person back on his feet after stumbling. After exposing and condemning false belief and sinful conduct in believers, Scripture then builds them up through its divine correction.
Correction is Scripture’s positive provision for those who accept its negative reproof. “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,” Peter admonishes, “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:1–2).
Perhaps the most extensive praise of God’s Word in all of Scripture is found in Psalm 119. Among the many well-known verses in that beautiful tribute to God and His Word, the unknown psalmist wrote, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word. With all my heart I have sought Thee; do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee” (Ps. 119:9–11).
“If we confess our sins,” the Lord assures us through John, “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace,” Paul told the Ephesian elders, “which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). When submitted to the Lord’s marvelous grace, our areas of greatest weakness can, through correction, become areas of greatest strength.
Shortly before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1–2). In order to make His people obedient, useful, and effective in His service, the Lord has to trim away not only things that are sinful but also things that are useless. He may take away things that are perfectly good in themselves, even things that seem necessary, but which He knows are a hindrance to our spiritual growth and service. They can sap time, attention, and effort from the work He has for us to do. Like His discipline, this process sometimes “for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful,” but also like discipline, “to those who have been trained by it” the Lord’s wise and gracious cropping of superfluous branches “afterwards … yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11).
As with reproof, godly believers, especially pastors and teachers, are often the channel through which the Word brings correction. Earlier in this letter, Paul reminded Timothy that “the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:25, emphasis added). In his letter to believers at Galatia, the apostle gives similar counsel: “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Despite the dreadful calamities with which God allowed him to be afflicted, Job affirmed to his friend Eliphaz that “he who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9).

THE SCRIPTURE THAT TRAINS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

for training in righteousness; (3:16e)

Training translates paideia, which had the original meaning of bringing up and training a child (paidion), but it came to be used of any sort of training. It also is rendered “correcting” (2 Tim. 2:25) and “discipline” (Eph. 6:4; Heb. 12:5, 7, 11). In the context of verses 16–17, it clearly refers to training in the broader and probably more positive sense, since the negatives are covered by reproof. It is directed at the ideas of instruction and building up. Until the Lord takes us to be with Himself, His Word is to continue training us in righteousness.
As with teaching, reproof, and correction, godly believers—especially leaders in the church—are instruments through which Scripture provides training for God’s people. After reminding Timothy that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4–5), Paul assured him that “in pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following” (v. 6, emphasis added).
Peter gives similar counsel to believers: “You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. For, ‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23–25).
And just as milk nourishes a baby in ways it does not understand, so God’s Word nourishes us in ways we often do not understand. No matter how deep our understanding of Scripture may be, we still should be able to affirm with the psalmist, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God” (Ps. 42:1). We should rejoice with Paul that “we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

THE ENABLING SCRIPTURE

that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (3:17)

The Bible can be of great value to an unbeliever. Most important, as discussed in the previous chapter, it will lead to salvation those who come to trust in the Savior and Lord it proclaims. But Paul is speaking here of Scripture’s special value for preachers, who are able, with the Spirit’s guidance, to understand and to proclaim the truths of God’s Word.
The apostle is addressing the man of God, a technical phrase used only of Timothy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it is frequently used as a title for one who proclaimed the Word of God. In this context, man of God refers most directly to Timothy and, by extension, to all preachers.
Artios (adequate) refers to persons who are complete, capable, and proficient in everything they are called to be or do. In Christ “you have been made complete,” Paul tells Colossian believers (Col. 2:10). The preacher who carefully studies and sincerely believes and obeys the truths of Scripture will stand strong in living and defending the faith.
Equipped for every good work could be paraphrased, “enabled to meet all demands of righteousness.” By his life he will affirm the power of the Word to lead men to salvation and to equip them for righteous living and for faithful service to the Lord. When the man of God is himself equipped by the Word, he can then equip the believers under his care. Just as “we are [the Lord’s] workmanship,” Paul explains, we also should be doing His work. We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Christ says to all those who belong to Him what He said to the Twelve: “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work” (John 9:4).
Whether our purpose is to lead men and women to saving faith in Jesus Christ, to teach God’s truth to believers, to refute error in the church, to correct and rebuild erring believers, or to train believers to live righteously, our supreme and sufficient resource is God’s Word. It not only gives us the information to teach but also shapes us into living examples of that truth.
One cannot help wondering why so many evangelical pastors of our day, like many Christians throughout history, have lost sight of that foundational truth. Every church, everywhere and in every time, should be totally committed to preaching, teaching, and implementing the Word, thereby pleasing and exalting the gracious and sovereign God who has revealed it.
Through the convincing and convicting power of the Holy Spirit, Scripture is God’s own provision for every spiritual truth and moral principle that men need to be saved, to be equipped to live righteously in this present life and to hear one day in the life to come, “Well done, good and faithful servant, … enter into the joy of your Master” (Matt. 25:21).

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1995). 2 Timothy (pp. 142–163). Moody Press.

Real Estate in Heaven | VCY

https://www.vcy.org/charles-spurgeon/2025/11/05/real-estate-in-heaven/

Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.Hebrews 10:34

This is well. Our substance here is very unsubstantial; there is no substance in it. But God has given us a promise of real estate in the gloryland, and that promise comes to our hearts with such full assurance of its certainty that we know in ourselves that we have an enduring substance there. Yes, “we have” it even now. They say, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” but we have our bird in the bush and in the hand, too. Heaven is even now our own. We have the title deed of it, we have the earnest of it, we have the firstfruits of it. We have heaven in price, in promise, and in principle; this we know not only by the hearing of the ear but “in ourselves.”

Should not the thought of the better substance on the other side of Jordan reconcile us to present losses? Our spending money we may lose, but our treasure is safe. We have lost the shadows, but the substance remains, for our Savior lives, and the place which He has prepared for us abides. There is a better land, a better substance, a better promise; and all this comes to us by a better covenant; wherefore, let us be in better spirits, and say unto the Lord, “Every day will I bless thee; and praise thy name for ever and ever.”

Thankfulness and the Will of God: Trusting His Sovereign Plan in Every Season | Servants of Grace

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” — 1 Chronicles 16:34

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve not always been the most thankful individual. One of the areas that I used to struggle in was being thankful for God’s plan for me. Before I began to seriously seek to mature in my faith, there were many times where I chose to complain to God about different aspects of the life He had chosen to give me. Over time, with the help of the Holy Spirit, God has taught me to be thankful for His Will for my life. My father told me once that God’s Will was what I’d want for myself if I knew all the answers. It was such a simple statement, yet the profoundness of it still amazes me. Thanksgiving is an excellent time of year to look back and reflect on what we’re thankful for. A spirit of thankfulness is something that all believers should seek to have. Indeed, 1 Chronicles 16:34 instructs us to practice this thankfulness:

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Knowing that, let’s look at three reasons why we believers can be thankful for the will of God in our lives, regardless of the trials and struggles we may face.

1) God’s Will is Rooted in His Perfect Knowledge

One thing all of us know is that there’s things we don’t know. God has put a drive and determination in all of humanity to seek knowledge. In a perfect world, our desire to seek knowledge leads us to an understanding of our need for our Creator, but, sadly, not everyone comes to that correct conclusion. There are those who believe that their “knowledge” and “intelligence” are the things that allow them to thrive and excel. The truth of Romans 1:22 rings true and some, professing themselves as wise, become fools. True wisdom comes in knowing that, while we may not know, God definitely eternally and infinitely knows because He made us.

Romans 8:28 offers some insight into what God uses his infinite and complete knowledge for:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

We can be thankful for the fact that God uses his perfect knowledge to work every situation we face in life ultimately for our good. “All” things means that both the good and the bad. When we face trials and challenges, it’s easy to question God and ask why. I’ve found great comfort in the specific wording God chose to use in this verse. The verse doesn’t state “all things ARE good for them that love God”. It states “all things WORK TOGETHER for good to them that love God”.

God’s knowledge encompasses both the good things that I will experience, as well as the bad. No tragedy or trial is unaccounted for in the plan He has for me. Because of the great love He has for me, He has engineered even my worst moments to be used to chasten me, instruct me, and equip me for life and godliness. When I sin and wander, the Lord chastens me and then draws me back to Him (Hebrews 12:6). When I face a problem, I have no answer for and prayerfully seek God’s direction, He always makes a way. He is true to His Word, continuously instructing me in the path of righteousness (Psalm 23:3). When I suffer loss or undergo challenge, God draws near to me (Psalm 34:18) and uses the pain to equip me to better empathize with others who feel that same pain. This allows me to better build trust and rapport with those hurting people, which then leads to more effective witnessing opportunities.

We can be thankful that God has a purpose for each one of us. His purpose for you and I is crafted from a knowledge far beyond what we can comprehend and there is incredible solace to be found in that truth. Those who live apart from Christ will wrestle the same “why” questions, but they will never find satisfaction in their answers apart from God. A person can’t find closure to the question of “Why am I here?” if they don’t believe in a purposed beginning or a purposed end. The prevalent “Big Bang” and “fade into nothingness” theories that are used to explain our start and end are grounded in accident and irrelevance. If someone truly believes their start had no purpose and their end has no purpose, then, by definition, the life lived in between the start and end can’t have purpose either. While this line of reasoning is quite depressing, take comfort in the fact that a life with no purpose is completely avoidable. If you are a child of Christ, God has called you to serve Him with specificity. He has given us each talents, abilities, and affinities to serve in specific capacities for the furthermost of His Kingdom. No two believers will serve the same purpose, but it will all be meaningful. The sphere of influence that God has placed me in will be different than the sphere of influence that you are in, but both are equally important in God’s grand plan of redemption.

2) God’s Will is Designed to Conform Us to Christlikeness

James 1:2–4, “2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

I can be thankful in every trial I face because I know that God will give me the strength to cleave to Him. Sometimes, it is God’s Will for us to go through times of pain and hurt. Remember, to conform means to be similar to. One of God’s stated goals is to mold us to be more like his Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He wants to make us more reliant, more communicative, more obedient, and more holy. There are times where we go through trials of our own volition, and times God specifically places us there, but God’s desire for us remains the same. He wants us to be perfect and entire in Him. Let’s briefly examine two examples of the trials we place ourselves in versus those that God divinely determines for us.

First, consider God’s Will for Jonah. God’s perfect will was for Jonah to go preach at Nineveh. Jonah, exercising his free will, chose to act within God’s permissive will, and travel to Tarshish against God’s command. As a result, God placed Jonah in a terrifying storm and then the belly of the fish. Even when Jonah went against God’s wish, God still brought his perfect work to pass within Jonah’s life. God still sought to conform Jonah to Himself. In Jonah 2:1, Jonah may have been sitting in putrid stomach acid in the pitch black dark, but God saw His child finally reaching out to Him in prayer and obedience, as Jonah should have done all along. As such, Jonah 3:5 shows us that God’s perfect will still came to pass. The people of Nineveh were brought to knowledge and faith in Him. I am thankful that my God overcomes my sinful shortcomings and brings His Will to pass. Both in my life and in the lives of those He has called me to touch.

Secondly, consider God’s Will for Joseph. He was a favored child who was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery in a foreign land, falsely accused of rape, and then forgotten in prison. Years of his youth were ripped from him, and he did nothing to deserve it. His brothers imagined evil against him, selling him to Ishmaelite traders and then faking his death. When he was sold to Potiphar, he served faithfully. He rightfully fled from Potiphar’s wife when she tried to sinfully seduce him, yet he was thrown into prison anyway. He helped the cupbearer regain his position at the king’s side, only to be forgotten again. When he finally came face to face with his brothers again as second-in-command in the kingdom, he didn’t call for their execution. In many ways, Joseph is the epitome of what following exhibiting Christlikeness in the face of trials looks like. I often wonder if his patience ever wore thin during those many years of tribulation he endured. Was he thankful to God when he was staring up from the pit or staring up from the prison cell? When he stared down on his brothers, the day they unknowingly came before him to beg for bread from the famine, I believe his thankfulness for God’s Will in his life shown through. We can get an inner look into Joseph’s thought process in Genesis 50:20:

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

As it was with Jonah, many people were saved because of the decision Joseph made to turn to God, even when his faith was tried and he was in a place he didn’t want to be. I can be thankful that, in the trials I face, God will always be there. While we’re here on this earth, God’s desire for us is conformity, not comfort. As believers, He will continually conform you and I into an image of godliness. There is joy in knowing God’s Will for me is structured in a way where I, as a child of His, will never be apart from Him. Because of his love for me, if I need correction, He will give it. He will also give me the strength and the patience to endure.

3) God’s Will is Backed by His Faithfulness

Lamentations 3:22–23, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

The original Hebrew word used in verse 22 was Chesed. Chesed means lovingkindness, steadfast love, mercy, loyalty, compassion, and goodness. It’s often used to describe God’s covenant love and active mercy toward humanity. Note that no single English word captures the full meaning of chesed; translations include “lovingkindness,” “mercy,” “compassion,” and “goodness”. So, if we were to use our English, we’d have to say its meaning goes beyond kindness to signify covenant faithfulness and undeserved generosity. A good example to think about is God’s relationship to Israel. That’s chesed.

I’m thankful for a God who is generous and faithful to me, even in the times where I fall short and am not faithful to Him. If you are a born-again believer, God demonstrates that same chesed love towards you that He did towards Israel. Why? Well, when you repented of your sins and believed on the righteousness of Christ, you entered a covenant with God the Father. When you repented and believed on Christ, you wholly acknowledge that your sins are covered by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, and you resolve to live a life that glorifies Him over yourself. As such, when God the Father looks at you, he doesn’t see your sin. Instead, He sees the perfect righteousness of Christ. As such, your name is written in the Book of Life, you are welcomed into the fold, and you become a child of His. You become an heir to the kingdom of Christ. The Bible tells us that He will always be faithful to uphold His end of the covenant. He is never slack concerning His promises.

2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

So if God is faithful in his covenant love towards us, we can rest assured that He will be faithful in bringing his Will to pass in each of our lives. What an awesome promise to give thanks for. If God will always be faithfully seeking to bring His perfect Will to pass in our lives, then the limiting factor becomes you and me. If we don’t give thanks for the work He’s doing, or if we use our freedom in Christ to run from Him, then we are in rebellion against the Lord. Because He is faithful, He will continue to draw us back, but we risk unneeded heartache in the interim. When I demonstrate thankfulness towards God for Him working his Will in my life, I put aside selfish goals and thus grow in Christ with His help (2 Peter 3:18). Remember, as Numbers 23:19 tells us, God is not fickle as we are, what He has promised, he will bring to pass. Always.

Are You Living in the Light of His Will?

I would encourage you today to make Romans 4:21–22 a focal point in your day.

“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

Romans 4 speaks of God’s promise to Abraham. As Abraham rested in the promised Will of God for Him, so should we. God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, and Abraham believed it, against all odds. Operating solely in human understanding, this seemed impossible. Yet we see God miraculously work, and Abraham’s wife, Sarah, conceived at 90 years old. This shows us that God operates outside what we believe to be possible and probable.

Our job is to give thanks, give glory, and have belief. Whatever you have going on today please remember that God’s Will is rooted in His perfect knowledge and backed by His faithfulness. Put another way, as you follow His plan for your life revealed in Scripture, the Lord will continue to mold and make you more like His Son. So, be strong in your faith in the Lord today and rest on the promises that He has given us in His Word. Resolve this day to live your life in the light of His Will as revealed in Scripture today.

 

Source: Thankfulness and the Will of God: Trusting His Sovereign Plan in Every Season

Does God Make People Spiritually Blind? | Escape to Reality

Have you ever wondered why some people never respond to the gospel?

You tell them God loves them, that he holds nothing against them, and he’s longing to share his life with them, and you get nothing. It’s like they’re asleep.

Well, apparently, that’s God’s doing:

Just as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.” (Romans 11:8)

“Stupor” means numbness and is sometimes translated as “slumber.” According to Paul, who was quoting Isaiah, God makes people spiritually numb or sleepy. He shuts their eyes and closes their ears so they neither see nor hear the good news.

John said something similar:

For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” (John 12:39–40)

Who blinds the eyes of unbelievers? Apparently, God does.

But before we start jumping to conclusions about the sovereignty of God, let’s look at how this same prophecy appears in other places. Here’s Jesus:

In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:14–15)

John said of the unbelieving, “God blinded their eyes,” but Jesus said, “They have closed their own eyes.” Big difference.

Interestingly, Paul echoes Jesus when talking to the Jewish leaders in Rome:

The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, “Go to this people and say, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’” (Act 28:26–28)

Was Paul contradicting himself?

Romans 11: God shut their eyes.
Acts 28: They shut their own eyes.

There is no contradiction. When Jesus and Paul (in Acts) say, “They closed their eyes,” they are saying, “Those who shut their eyes and ears to God’s goodness become insensible and hard of heart.”

And when John and Paul (in Romans) say, “God blinded their eyes,” they are saying, “God designed a world where unbelief has consequences.”

In his wisdom, God leaves no middle ground between faith and unbelief. Those who trust him get grace in abundance, but those who shut their eyes and ears to God’s goodness become insensible and hardened (Eph. 4:18–19). As a consequence of their unbelief, they become creatures of instinct, captive to their appetites (2 Pet. 2:12). God allows this to happen so that they might come to their senses and see their need for a Deliverer.

Here’s one more verse we must consider:

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

The devil does not go around poking the spiritual eyes of people – he’s not that powerful. But everything he does is designed to keep us in the dark. The good news is the darkness cannot overcome the light.

God does not blind people or put them to sleep. Far from it. Instead, he calls us out of darkness into his wonderful light so that we may shine and show the way for others:

But now, up on your feet – I have a job for you… I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. (Act 26:16–18, MSG)

Awesome!

Source: Does God Make People Spiritually Blind?

November 5 Afternoon Verse of the Day

THE SALVATION

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (19:8–10)

Luke does not describe the Lord’s presentation of the gospel to Zaccheus, or his response. But the salvation of the man is evident from the transformation of his life, which revealed itself in that part of his life where his sin was most openly manifested. Zaccheus stopped (the Greek word is better translated “took a stand”), acknowledged Jesus as Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9–10), and expressed his self-denial (cf. Luke 9:23–24) by saying to Him, “Half of my possessions I will give to the poor” (cf. 2 Cor. 8:3; James 2:15–16; 1 John 3:17). Further, his statement, “If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much,” declared his intent to make restitution for the wrongs he had committed, in keeping with the maximum amount required by the Old Testament law (Ex. 22:1; cf. vv. 4–14; Num. 5:6–7). The genuineness of Zaccheus’s salvation was made evident by the complete transformation of his behavior.
Jesus confirmed the reality of Zaccheus’s salvation when He said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.” Zaccheus had, of course, been a son of Abraham ethnically all of his life. But as the apostle Paul wrote,

He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. (Rom. 2:28–29; cf. 9:6)

Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.… And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:6–9, 29; cf. John 8:33–44)

Paul had been a zealous Pharisee, proud of his Abrahamic heritage (Phil. 3:4–6). But after his salvation he viewed all of that as “rubbish” (v. 8), and himself as the foremost of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).
So complete was Zaccheus’s transformation that he instantaneously went from being a thief to being a benefactor; from being selfish to being unselfish, from being a taker to being a giver. He became a true Jew, part of the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16), a Jew who was one inwardly. He was no longer just a son of Abraham by race, but a son of Abraham by faith. That very day he was justified by faith. The one who had been lost was saved and delivered from sin, death, and hell. The Lord gave him life and light to believe and repent and his conduct was transformed.
Son of Man, a messianic title taken from Daniel 7:13, was Jesus’ most common way of referring to Himself. It describes both His humanity and His deity. The verbs translated seek and save are infinitives, and express the purpose for which Jesus came into world. To save is to rescue from harm and deliver from danger. Lost translates a form of the verb apollumi, which means “to be ruined,” or “destroyed.” Sin has devastated all of humanity, leaving lost sinners marred, corrupted, evil, ruined, and headed for eternal damnation (Rom. 3:10–18; Eph. 4:17). But God, in His mercy, grace, and love, sent Christ to seek and to save those who face His own wrath and judgment. In the words of Philip P. Bliss’s hymn “Hallelujah, What a Savior!”:

           “Man of Sorrows!” what a name
           For the Son of God who came
           Ruined sinners to reclaim!
           Hallelujah, what a Savior!

When a sinner does seek after God (Jer. 29:13; Amos 5:4; Matt. 6:33; 11:28) he does so only because God has first sought him (John 6:44; cf. 1 John 4:19), called him “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9), and shattered his state of death by making him alive (cf. Eph. 2:1–3).

MacArthur, J. (2014). Luke 18–24 (pp. 74–75). Moody Publishers.

Mid-Day Digest · November 5, 2025

“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.

THE FOUNDATION

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.” —Samuel Adams (1781)

IN TODAY’S DIGEST

• Executive News Summary
• Featured Analysis: This Just In: Blue States Vote Democrat
• More Analysis
• Best of Right Opinion
• Best of Videos
• Short Cuts
• Today’s Meme

EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY

The Editors

• Election results in Virginia, New Jersey, Maine, etc.: Virginia voted on Tuesday to elect Democrat Abigail Spanberger as governor. Voters even allowed death-wisher Jay Jones to ride Spanberger’s coattails to victory as the new attorney general. Republican hopes were dashed in New Jersey, where Democrat Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli for the governorship. Maine approved a “red flag law” that will allow family members to petition to have guns removed from their kin without police consultation. The Pine Tree State also rejected voter ID and other election safety measures. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 5-2 Democrat majority was confirmed, with three justices surviving up-or-down votes. Colorado approved a wealth-redistribution measure that would have the wealthy pay for public school lunches. Overall, it was an excellent night for Democrats, with Texas’s reiteration of parental rights and citizen-only voting the only exceptions.
• Mamdani and the Dems’ future: Yesterday, in a result that was long predicted and should surprise no one, Zohran Mandani won the New York City mayoral election decisively. The Democrat socialist pulled in over 50% of the vote, easily besting Andrew Cuomo, the scandal-plagued former New York governor. While Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries recently denied that Mamdani represented the “future” of the Democrat Party, Tuesday’s election results suggest otherwise. Long has the Democrat Party capitulated to the demands of the radical Left fringe, a fringe that is fast becoming the party’s mainstream base. Deny as they might, the Democrats are the party of extremists. They are now the home of open, proud, and unrepentant Marxists like Mamdani, who believes that capitalism is the problem. No wonder hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents are now looking to escape from New York.

• Schumer Shutdown enters day 36, the longest ever: Not all records are meant to be broken, but the government shutdown orchestrated by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has surpassed the previous 35-day record. Both the House and the Senate are now seriously considering new funding legislation, as the current measure would only fund the government through November 21. House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected the idea of a December funding end date for the new bill, citing last year’s Christmas funding crisis, and instead favors a January date. Senate Majority Leader John Thune seems to be on the same page, favoring a January date. Thune is also hopeful that, after the Democrats used the shutdown to juice turnout in elections yesterday, they may be willing to reopen the government before the end of the week.
• Tariffs at SCOTUS: One of President Donald Trump’s favorite foreign policy tools is under threat of being pulled from his toolbox as the Supreme Court hears arguments challenging his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to enact his sweeping tariff agenda. Trump argues the IEEPA grants him authority to “regulate” imports in response to identified emergencies. A number of Democrat-run states and small businesses sued. The justices will be weighing the fact that in 1971, Richard Nixon employed the precursor to the IEEPA, the Trading with the Enemy Act, to justify imposing a temporary 10% tariff to protect American products from unfair exchange rates. In Nixon’s case, it was temporary, but Trump has been using the IEEPA to enact longer-term trade deals. A majority of Americans oppose tariffs, which have not helped lower prices while negatively impacting small businesses across the country.
• New evidence of Comey’s duplicity: A trove of new evidence released by prosecutors and the FBI belie former FBI Director James Comey’s claims that he’s the real victim in the Trump administration’s indictment. A slew of emails and notes from then-Director Comey show that he hoped to please Hillary Clinton, as he expected her to win the 2016 presidential election, and that he was aware of and cheered on media leaks he claimed he had not sanctioned. Comey also used a private email account to conduct FBI-related matters. In one email, Comey communicated with FBI special government employee Daniel Richman about influencing a New York Times reporter regarding the Clinton email scandal. In another instance, Comey misled Congress when he claimed he didn’t recall if he had been briefed on Clinton’s plan to tie Trump to Russia, when in fact he had taken handwritten notes of the briefing dated September 2016.
• More hate toward a Republican: Helena, Montana, unlike Virginia, decided not to elect a candidate who wishes death on Republicans. Haley McKnight, a North Carolina expat who was running for the city council in Helena, left a threatening voicemail for Montana Senator Tim Sheehy after he voted in support of the Big Beautiful Bill in July. Haley identified herself in the voicemail before launching into a screed of insulting invective. Calling an elected official a “coward and thief” is one thing, but most Americans agree that wishing for untreatable pancreatic cancer is over the line. McKnight cautioned Sheehy about meeting her in the street because “I will make you regret it,” before ending the voicemail with “F**k you. I hope you die.” Classy. Results are not yet final, but it seems clear that McKnight has lost her race, which can only be a relief for Montanans.
• SNAP funding confusion: Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was set to expire on November 1 due to the government shutdown, but then activist judges ordered the government to fund the program anyway. The White House acknowledged the court’s decision and suggested it would deplete emergency disaster funding to make 50% payments to the 42 million Americans on food stamps. Yesterday, though, President Trump confused the situation by suggesting that SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump’s rhetoric while suggesting that the White House is not defying the court order. Taxpaying Americans may disapprove of welfare payments being made while air traffic controllers remain unpaid, but a lack of clarity from the White House doesn’t improve the situation.

• EV sales plummet: One of the features in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was the elimination of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, which expired at the end of September. Unsurprisingly, EV sales in October took a massive nosedive, dropping roughly 80%. The EV tax credit was always a gimmick — an effort to push Americans to adopt the more expensive and inherently limited EVs, all under the guise of “saving the planet.” Instead of resting on free-market capitalism and trusting the American consumer to make the best choice for themselves, the government put its thumb on the scales, and as a result, everyone has ended up paying more for their vehicles, regardless of whether they chose the higher-priced EVs. Now that the EV market is in a massive slump, will automakers pull back even further on EV production? Many see 2026 as a make-or-break year for EVs.
• Harvard explosion: Two men from Massachusetts were arrested on Tuesday following an explosion at Harvard Medical School over the weekend. The Boston Fire Department said the explosion was intentional but that no one was injured. Police conducted a full sweep of the building and found no additional devices. The blast occurred on the medical school’s fourth floor, which includes labs and offices associated with the medical school’s Department of Neurobiology. Early Saturday morning, an officer who responded to a fire alarm encountered two people running from the Goldenson Building on Longwood Avenue, according to Harvard University Police. There was no structural damage to the building, and all the labs and equipment remain intact.

Headlines

• UPS plane disaster leaves at least seven dead, 11 injured (Fox News)
• FAA resumes flights at Reagan Airport after shutdown over United Airlines flight security threat (Just the News)
• Trump re-nominates Jared Isaacman to head NASA months after yanking nod (NY Post)
• Chris DeMuth resigns from The Heritage Foundation (National Review)
• Army’s clock must now start ticking faster when a soldier goes missing (Army Times)
• Satire: Mamdani announces plan to blame racism after his policies fail (Babylon Bee)

For the Executive Summary archive, click here.

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FEATURED ANALYSIS

This Just In: Blue States Vote Democrat

Nate Jackson

On the one hand, last night was a terrible night for the GOP. There’s no sugarcoating double-digit election losses when there was anticipation of real competition. There’s little silver lining when the party was wiped out in numerous state elections. On the other hand, Democrats won in very blue states and cities. Who didn’t expect that, and what will it really change?

Democrats certainly hope that winning governorships in Virginia and New Jersey is a harbinger of success in next year’s midterm elections. Democrat Abigail Spanberger soundly defeated GOP Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia by about 15 points. Democrat Mikie Sherrill likewise pounded Republican Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey by 13 points. Both Democrats roughly hewed to a non-radical line — they focused on the economy and the unaffordability that still dominates kitchen-table discussions while focusing a lot less on left-wing cultural insanity.

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race amplified this from the other direction. “I am Muslim. I am a Democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” he crowed in his victory speech. And why not? He won by nine points with more than 50% of the vote in a three-way race, primarily against New York’s former governor and run-of-the-mill Democrat, Andrew Cuomo.

The city that was attacked by radical Muslims 25 years ago has now elected a radical Muslim as its mayor — and one who didn’t hide it, visiting more than 50 mosques during his campaign. He could localize the intifada and make life very difficult for New York’s Jews.

Is this New Istanbul, or what?

Furthermore, Mamdani is an unapologetic radical Marxist, who won with what the Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn dubs “happy talk about free things.” When life’s expensive (because of Democrat policies), it turns out that “free” bus rides and rent control are popular.

“There are many who say that a democratic socialist vision of governance for New York is impossible,” Mamdani said on Monday. “To them, I say: We need look only at our past for proof of how socialism can shape our future.” Given socialism’s actual history, that’s quite scary.

Perhaps most alarming was this statement in his victory speech: “We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.”

National Review’s Noah Rothman calls Mamdani “the future face of the Democratic Party, whether Democrats like it or not.”

If that’s true, and there’s little reason to think it’s not, there could be a “bright side” in that Republicans will be able to point to that stark contrast in future elections. That’s what our Douglas Andrews hopes for, though he also offers a stern warning: “Between now and next November, Republicans had better learn how to turn out the vote when Donald Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot. And states like Ohio and Indiana and Kansas had better get on the stick and do their California-style redistricting to offset what Gavin Newsom just did. And SCOTUS had better rule constitutionally on racist gerrymandering. Or Trump’s presidency will effectively end on January 3, 2027.”

More on gerrymandering in a moment, but I believe Mamdani’s win in particular spells big trouble for all of us. He will drive Democrats further and faster left because now they know they can do so unabashedly and win.

Democrats will go with Spanberger and Sherrill when they have to, but their hearts are with Mamdani.

Virginia may be a blue state in presidential elections now, but Earle-Sears’s defeat was still a tough pill to swallow. Governor Glenn Youngkin won convincingly four years ago, and Earle-Sears is his lieutenant. His policies are popular, and Earle-Sears urged voters to “keep a good thing going.” She wasn’t especially adept at campaigning, however, and faced headwinds brought on by Trump’s unpopularity in suburban DC. Those Northern Virginia suburbs buy the Democrats’ lie that Trump is responsible for the shutdown that is hurting so many government employees in those areas. And they turned out in droves. Earle-Sears’s vote total was remarkably close to Trump’s approval rating in the state, and Democrats won every statewide race.

That includes Democrat Jay Jones, who won the race for Virginia attorney general despite having texted about fantasies of murdering his Republican opponent and wishing death upon his children. Here we are, two months after the assassination of Charlie Kirk and little more than a year removed from two attempts on President Trump’s life, and Virginia’s incoming chief law enforcement officer wants to shoot Republicans in the head.

As Jonathan Turley noted, “The election of Jay Jones as the next Virginia Attorney General shows that the key to rage politics is to hate the right people. Democrats just bulldozed any moral high ground in the debate over political violence and hate speech.”

As for Virginia itself, our Mark Alexander says, “I am grieving for the state of Virginia, the cradle of American Liberty, being ruled by the statist socialists in the Beltway burbs.”

Finally, back to gerrymandering. For decades, Republicans and especially Democrats have drawn congressional districts to their advantage. So what if a district snakes all the way across a state if it includes the necessary voters to elect a Democrat? Over the summer, Texas Republicans started aggressively fighting fire with fire, working to gerrymander the state so as to evict five Democrats from House seats.

In California, Governor and soon-to-be presidential candidate Gavin Newsom promised to fight back, as if this were some new Rubicon Republicans had crossed. He made no bones about the fact that he was trying to “neuter and neutralize what is happening in Texas.” Proposition 50 takes California districting out of the hands of an independent commission and gives the power to the state legislature, which is run by the dominant Democrat Party.

Prop 50 won handily yesterday, 64-36.

To wrap it up, Trump Derangement Syndrome prevails in blue states, a Muslim socialist just took over New York City, and California Democrats will add as many as five representatives in the House next year. It was a tough night for Republicans, to say the least. The good news is that none of those things will change the status quo much, and those of us who fight for Liberty will continue to do so tirelessly.

Follow Nate Jackson on X.

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MORE ANALYSIS

• Emmy Griffin: Pelosi’s Crazy Rant — The hateful former House speaker went on CNN, where she proceeded to call President Trump “a vile creature” and “the worst thing on the face of the earth.”
• Thomas Gallatin: What Is Christian Zionism? — Tucker Carlson claims it’s a “brain virus” and a “Christian heresy,” and he says that those who hold to this theological understanding are his least favorite people.
• Sophie Starkova: Illegals DO Get Healthcare Money — Despite Democrat objections and Leftmedia fact-checks in recent weeks, money is fungible, and federal money goes to states that pay for illegal aliens’ healthcare.
• Michael Swartz: Pot’s Still Bad for You, Man — We Have More Evidence — From mental health to vehicular crashes, legalization of marijuana across the country has yielded less-than-desirable results.
• Gary Bauer: Is Comey Cooked? — Emails and text messages show James Comey and his friend, Daniel Richman, celebrating their leaks to the NY Times and even coordinating other media leaks.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

• Betsy McCaugheyMamdani Win Will Ravage Entire State
• Byron YorkDick Cheney’s Complicated Legacy
• Ian HaworthFreedom of Speech Goes Both Ways
• Allen WestThere Is No First Amendment Right for Black Conservatives to Speak on Racism
• Tony PerkinsRenewing the Promise of Liberty: Unity, Victory, and Legacy

For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.

BEST OF VIDEOS

• This Candace Owens Rabbit Hole Is Deeper Than You Think — Muslim influencers celebrate the rise of antisemitism among the online Right.
• HE’S Offended at HER Costume? — A woke trans “woman” (man) is going viral for being offended at a woman’s Native American Halloween costume. The irony is unbelievably thick in this confrontation.
• ‘It’s Much Worse Than We Knew’ — Winston Marshall sits down with investigative journalist Zak Garner-Purkis for a shocking exposé on the London grooming gang cover-up that Sadiq Khan denied for years.
• The Final Step to Ending Wokeness in Our Country — Author Helen Andrews gave a speech at NatCon that speaks to the reason our culture has become so woke: women have taken over nearly every industry.
• What Should the Right Want? — Nick Freitas discusses Christian Nationalism with Doug Wilson.
• Triangular Diplomacy: Geopolitical Chess Move That Destroyed the USSR and Built China — Patrick Bet-David examines the U.S.‘s relationship with China and Russia.

SHORT CUTS

Dumb & Dumber

“We have a president who is looking to rip up the very fabric of this city.” —Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim socialist who was just elected mayor of New York City — the site of the worst Islamist terror attack of all time

“But as Eugene Debs once said, ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.’” —Zohran Mamdani, immediately and purposefully invoking the name of the Socialist Party of America’s five-time presidential candidate

“We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.” —Zohran Mamdani

For the Record

“A year from now, you and I, Clay, will be sitting here and saying, ‘Hey, guess what? Housing isn’t cheaper in New York. Food isn’t cheaper in New York.’ … If anything, it’s going to be more expensive.” —Buck Sexton making a guarantee to his co-host Clay Travis

“The election of Jay Jones as the next Virginia Attorney General shows that the key to rage politics is to hate the right people. Democrats just bulldozed any moral high ground in the debate over political violence and hate speech.” —law professor Jonathan Turley

“From [Gavin] Newsom’s perspective, Californians who support the minority party should not have any representation whatsoever. It’s harder to come up with a greater threat to democracy than that.” —Hans von Spakovsky

“I am not at all surprised that things went poorly for Republicans in four states that voted for Kamala Harris last year.” —Stephen Kruiser

Non Compos Mentis

“I just wanted to let you know that you are the most insufferable kind of coward and thief. You just stripped away healthcare for 17 million Americans, and I hope you’re really proud of that. I hope that one day you get pancreatic cancer and it spreads throughout your body so fast that they can’t even treat you for it. I hope that you die in the street like a dog. … One day, you’re going to live to regret this. I hope that your children never forgive you. I hope that you are infertile. … You are the worst piece of s**t I have ever, ever, ever had the misfortune of looking at. … God forbid that you ever meet me on the streets because I will make you regret it. F**k you. I hope you die.” —Helena city commissioner candidate Haley McKnight to Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy

Friendly Fire

“I think the mistake with it being Kamala [Harris] is that she had to run against her own record. And it’s very hard to do if the point of running is to say, ‘I’m not that person.’ … I think it was a mistake, quite honestly.” —actor George Clooney, who helped coerce Joe Biden into stepping aside

Political Futures

“Republicans need to play tough and they need to play smart — that’s how the president feels. And we know that Democrats, if they are ever given a chance at power again in this city, they will absolutely take away the filibuster.” —White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Trump’s call for Republicans to terminate the Senate filibuster

And Last…

“This is an ego-driven shutdown. Sen. Schumer’s poll numbers led to this goat rodeo more than any policy did.” —Sen. John Kennedy

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TODAY’S MEME

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For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.

ON THIS DAY in presidential election results, Abraham Lincoln (1860), Benjamin Harrison (1888), and Herbert Hoover (1928) were all elected.

“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.

Will International Force Disarm Hamas & Protect Israel? | CBN NewsWatch – November 5, 2025

The Trump Administration has sent a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to establish an International Stabilization Force to govern post-war Gaza; the force is supposed to demilitarize Gaza and prevent the military and terror infrastructure from being rebuilt, but so far Hamas has refused to disarm; remains of Israeli American Staff Sergeant arrived in Israel Tuesday night; Chris Mitchell talks about the Israeli reaction to the plan and if Israel believes it will be safe and secure with this force in place, why some Arab countries reportedly object to it being called a “peace enforcing” force rather than a “peacekeeping” force, which countries could be involved in the force, what role Hamas will have in postwar Gaza, and the Israeli reaction to the election of Muslim anti-Israel activist Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City; Democrats sweep the major elections Tuesday, including Mamdani in New York, along with the governor’s races in Virginia and New York; our Studio 5 conversation with recording artist, songwriter and music producer Donald Lawrence about his current work in the theater; and a revival event led by worship leader Sean Feucht was held near Louisiana State University – on Halloween.

Want more news from a Christian Perspective? Choose to support CBN: https://go.cbn.com/ugWBn

CBN News. Because Truth Matters™

Source: Will International Force Disarm Hamas & Protect Israel? | CBN NewsWatch – November 5, 2025

Headlines: How the West Was Lost | Stand Up For The Truth Podcast

NO VIDEO PODCAST TODAY! Tim and Mary take on the news cycle with an update on the November 4 elections. With the NYC mayoral behind us, many are saying the way of life in America is truly behind us as well. Aftermarket comments on social indicate people really didn’t do any research on Mayor-elect Mamdani’s beliefs, a trojan horse of Communism and Islam which will surely affect us all eventually. It’s shocking to read today’s comments from the average American, actually, wondering what all the fuss is about. Are constituents really that easily led? Even in the ‘flyover’ states, we will find that with Islam’s encroachment into Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan, the dominoes will fall eventually. We talk about what it all means at least for now, for America, Israel, and all those who love freedom. We also talk about freedom to be believers and Jews in today’s climate. Believers who have long watched prophecy never thought we would see the things we are seeing, but we are here for a reason – walk circumspectly, and occupy till He comes. He is ever on the throne.

The post Headlines: How the West Was Lost appeared first on Stand Up For The Truth Podcast.

Behind Democrats’ Sob Stories Is A Push For More Tax Dollars To Insurance Companies

It’s not a debate about lowering insurance costs. It’s about how much of our tax dollars the government will give to private corporations.

Source: Behind Democrats’ Sob Stories Is A Push For More Tax Dollars To Insurance Companies

Democrats Want Republicans To Bail Them Out Of Their Bad Political Gamble

By punting the issue into 2025, Democrats hoped they could secure a permanent extension of Obamacare subsidies. That plan backfired.

Source: Democrats Want Republicans To Bail Them Out Of Their Bad Political Gamble

Election Scheme Complete? ‘More Than a Dozen’ Senate Dems Working with Republicans to End Shutdown as Races Conclude

How convenient. According to a report on Tuesday evening from D.C. insider outlet Punchbowl News, there are at least 12 Senate Democrats willing to engage with Republicans on a plan […] The post appeared first on The Western Journal .

Source: Election Scheme Complete? ‘More Than a Dozen’ Senate Dems Working with Republicans to End Shutdown as Races Conclude

Democrats demand meeting to end government shutdown … the day after elections

Well, look who wants to talk now that the elections are over.

https://notthebee.com/article/chuck-schumer-and-hakeem-jeffries-demand-a-bipartisan-meeting-to-end-the-government-shutdown–the-day-after-the-elections/

LIVE: President Trump Delivers Remarks at the America Business Forum in Miami – 11/5/25

The America Business Forum will be held at the Kaseya Center in Miami, where President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks. Join us LIVE at 12:00 pm ET on November 5, 2025

Source: LIVE: President Trump Delivers Remarks at the America Business Forum in Miami – 11/5/25

Brutal Night for Republicans… Or Was It? | CRN

(Stephen Kruiser – PJ Media) What the heck, let’s come at this post mortem from a different angle. I assure you that I’m not concussed, drunk, or in some sort of Invasion of the Body Snatchers situation. True, things did not go well at all for Republicans on Election Night 2025. A commie jihadist was elected mayor of New York City. Virginia was a bloodbath. New Jersey elected another Dem to lead the state, and California voted to become even more politically California-ish.

That’s a whole lotta ugliness for Republicans.

I want to take a quick look at the bigger picture, though. This could be a coping mechanism, but these were some of the thoughts that were popping into my head as the results were coming in and the races were being called. View article →

Related

Yesterday’s Election – Bill’s Message of the Day – Bill O’Reilly

Source: Brutal Night for Republicans… Or Was It?

AOC Declares War on Schumer, Pelosi, Jeffries During Mamdani Victory Celebration, Promises to Leave Behind Dems Who Won’t Play Ball with New Socialists

Just in case you thought that Democrats were the big winner on Tuesday night, leave it to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to break reality to the party: The extremists won, […] The post appeared first on The Western Journal .

Source: AOC Declares War on Schumer, Pelosi, Jeffries During Mamdani Victory Celebration, Promises to Leave Behind Dems Who Won’t Play Ball with New Socialists