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Monthly Archives: February 2026
Our Eternal Rewards – Part 2 | Daily Radio Program with Charles Stanley…
C. S. Lewis’s Prophetic Warning Is Coming True In The Age Of AI | Religion Unplugged
(ANALYSIS) In 1945, C. S. Lewis published a strange, unsettling novel called “That Hideous Strength.” It was marketed as fiction, but it read like prophecy.
At the time, many critics dismissed it as eccentric. Too symbolic. Too mystical. Too suspicious of science. Lewis, they said, was overreacting to modernity. The war was over. Progress was inevitable. Reason would prevail.
Lewis disagreed. Calmly. Firmly. And, as it turns out, accurately.
READ: C.S. Lewis, AI And The Temptation Of Easy Wisdom
“That Hideous Strength” isn’t really about technology. In truth, it is about the objects of our obedience. It’s about what happens when humanity stops kneeling before God and starts bowing to its own tools. Lewis understood something many clever people miss: rejecting divine truth doesn’t make people more rational. If anything, it leaves them exposed, more vulnerable, more easily led.
The novel centers on an institution called the N.I.C.E., which stands for the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments. It presents itself as scientific, humane and forward-looking. It promises efficiency. Improvement. A better future, scrubbed clean of superstition and sentiment.
Behind the glass walls and polite language, however, darker intentions take hold. The organization seeks to “recondition” humanity. To reshape desire. To erase conscience. To replace moral limits with technical control.
Lewis saw where this road leads. When science proceeds without reference to anything beyond itself, it doesn’t remain neutral. It fills with myth. Bad myth. Ancient forces wearing modern lab coats.
The leaders of N.I.C.E. don’t worship God. They worship power disguised as progress. In the end, they openly submit to demonic intelligences, though they dress this submission in the language of evolution and inevitability.
Lewis’s point was as unambiguous as it was unsettling: When people stop believing in God, they do not believe in nothing. Instead, they believe in anything.
Fast-forward to our own moment, and the novel no longer feels imaginative. It feels documentary. In Silicon Valley, some technology leaders speak openly about “awakening” artificial intelligence. About communion with non-human intelligences. About revelations delivered not through prayer, but through code.
Some have dedicated their creations to ancient gods. Others speak of consciousness emerging from machines as if it were a spiritual event. The vocabulary changes. The impulse does not.
Lewis, an Oxford University academic who converted from atheism to Christianity wouldn’t be surprised. He warned that superstition doesn’t vanish with faith. It mutates. When humility disappears, fascination rushes in. When reverence fades, obsession takes its place.
In “That Hideous Strength,” the villains aren’t crude tyrants. They are administrators. Experts. Committees. They speak eloquently. They promise safety. They insist they are beyond good and evil because they operate on a higher plane.
Lewis recognized this tone. It is the voice of people who believe themselves absolved by intelligence. People who think cleverness is a moral category. People who confuse capability with permission.
Against this rising darkness stands an unlikely hero: Dr. Elwin Ransom. He doesn’t win through superior technology. He doesn’t out-innovate his enemies. He relies instead on ancient wisdom. On deference. On humility before a reality that cannot be engineered.
Ransom understands that the real battle is not about machines, but allegiance. Who or what deserves veneration. Who sets the limits. Who defines the good. This is where Lewis’s warning cuts deepest for modern readers. The danger is not artificial intelligence itself. Tools are tools. The danger is what happens when human beings begin to treat tools as oracles.
Lewis warned of the abolition of man, not as a sudden catastrophe, but as a slow diminishment. Not destruction by force, but erosion by pride. When basic decency is discarded, those who hold authority no longer judge human behavior; they redefine what it means to be human — reshaping instincts, limits, and desires according to their own designs.
Lewis also understood temptation. The N.I.C.E. doesn’t conquer by terror alone. It seduces. It flatters. It tells people they are part of something important. Something advanced. Something inevitable. Something better.
For religious readers, Lewis’s message is bracing but clarifying. Faith is not merely a private comfort. It is also a public anchor. It insists that there are things we may not do, even if we can. That not every problem is technical. That not every mystery should be solved.
When that anchor is lifted, society drifts into darker waters. Lewis was not anti-science. He loved reason. He respected discovery. What he rejected was scientism, a belief that technical solutions are self-justifying. That efficiency is wisdom.
We now live amid the consequences he described. Machines that promise transcendence. Experts who dismiss limits as obstacles. Lewis would urge us to slow down. That reverence is not ignorance. That the human soul is not raw material.
“That Hideous Strength” ends with judgment. Not the judgment of machines, but of God. Lewis was clear about this. False worship collapses under its own weight. Idols fail. They always do.
The question isn’t whether technology will advance. It will. The question is whether we will remember who we are while it does.
John Mac Ghlionn is a researcher and essayist. He covers psychology and social relations. His writing has appeared in places such as UnHerd, The US Sun and The Spectator World.
Source: C. S. Lewis’s Prophetic Warning Is Coming True In The Age Of AI
The Terms Defined | From the MLJ Archive on Oneplace.com
Romans 11:16-17 — In Romans 11:16–17, Paul provides more evidence of why the rejection of Israel was not final. Israel’s stumbling was only temporary and because of their fall, the gentiles have received salvation. Paul explains that Israel’s belief will be like coming to life from death. In this passage, he uses two illustrations to explain the Jews’ and the Gentiles’ relationship to the truth. In this sermon on Romans 11:16–17 titled “The Terms Defined,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones breaks down both illustrations and defines the words and context of the words. In essence, if one is part of the whole, and the whole is holy, then they, too, are also holy. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that the term “holy” does not always mean sinless, but it means set apart by God. Some parts of the “dough” or “branches” (as used in the illustrations) have been cut off, but can once again be grafted in and take the blessings of the whole. God has the power to remove something once and for all, but He can also graft a part back into the whole. This is what will be done with the Jews. It will be a glorious day when all of Christ’s followers and those who believe the true gospel will be raised up and reunited with the whole.
Source: The Terms Defined
Ep. 10 Part 2 | How Can I Know Jesus Actually Rose from the Dead? | Segment 2 | Ankerberg Show on Oneplace.com
In this segment, Sunder and Shyamala examine how the resurrection transformed James, Jesus’ skeptical brother. They also present a few other facts that are inexplainable apart from the resurrection and reflect upon its personal implications.
Source: Ep. 10 Part 2 | How Can I Know Jesus Actually Rose from the Dead? | Segment 2
“Prayer as Worship” | Grace to You on Oneplace.com
There is no more natural response for the believer saved by grace than to praise and worship God in prayer. Still, for most of us, prayer probably is not as spontaneous as we’d like . . . but it’s a discipline we need to work on.
Source: “Prayer as Worship”
How Grace, Freedom and Consequences Work Together in God’s Plan
Explore the profound connection between a toddler’s first steps and the profound spiritual journey of walking in God’s grace and freedom. Discover how understanding grace, freedom, and consequences can guide you to make responsible choices that lead to a blessed life.
Source: How Grace, Freedom and Consequences Work Together in God’s Plan
A Prayer When You Fail Yourself – Your Daily Prayer – February 25
You will fail yourself. The real question is what you believe about yourself afterward. Discover the hope that holds you steady when shame tries to write your story.
Source: A Prayer When You Fail Yourself – Your Daily Prayer – February 25
Faith vs. Faithfulness — What’s the Difference? | Beautiful Christian Life
Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
God’s children can get confused regarding the difference between faith and faithfulness. They know they have faith—knowledge of God’s salvation in Christ, assent to that glorious truth, and a hearty trust in Christ their Savior—but they may also worry about whether they are being faithful—true to God, a devoted follower of Christ.
What are we to make of Jesus’ words, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13), and do we need a certain amount of faithfulness to endure to the end?
We can’t truly rest in Christ if our eternal hope depends on our own personal faithfulness.
Some people think that God saves us by grace through faith in Christ but we must be obedient—faithful—to keep God’s grace fully. In other words, we need to do something in addition to Jesus’ finished work on our behalf to be saved and have eternal life. Yet, if this were true, no one could truly have peace in Christ in this life because the final outcome would depend on their own personal faithfulness, and these words below that Jesus spoke wouldn’t make sense:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)
Mercifully, the Bible teaches that salvation comes from outside of us through the work of Christ, not from anything we do (for some examples, see Rom. 5:1; 6–8; 15–17; Rom. 8:1–11; 2 Cor. 3:4–5; 5:17; Eph. 2:8–9; Titus 3:4–7).
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is evidence of a person’s adoption into God’s family in Christ.
When James writes about the relationship between faith and works in the second chapter of his epistle, he is referring to the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of believers:
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18)
These works that show faith does nothing to save a person; rather, works are evidence of a person’s adoption into God’s family in Christ. All believers bear the fruit of the Spirit because they are branches attached to the vine of Christ (John 15:4–5; Gal. 5:22–23; Col. 1:10).
True faith—the saving faith that is God’s gift to us in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9)—always produces faithfulness. It isn’t the size of our faith or the amount of works we do that guarantees our status as children of God. The believer’s confidence rests in God’s faithfulness to his promise:
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:39)
And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. (1 John 2:25)
A true believer will have sorrow over his or her sin and want to live a life that is honoring to God.
Believers will experience true sorrow over their sin because they have the Spirit indwelling them (Rom. 7:14–25). If a professing Christian consistently excuses his or her sin and is living the unrepentant lifestyle of an unbeliever, then there exists the possibility that the person has not actually been regenerated to new life by the Spirit. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul specifically addresses the importance of self-examination in the Christian life:
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Cor. 13:5)
The apostle John addresses the state of those who depart from the Christian faith:
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)
Two evidences that believers are growing in holiness are an increasing awareness of their own sin and a corresponding desire to stay away from all ungodliness. Christians show gratitude to and love for God by keeping his commandments (John 14:15; Heb. 13:15; 1 John 2:3; 5:3). This obedience is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving the believer offers up to God; it is never a means to keep—or earn—God’s grace.
While all Christians are called to live faithfully, salvation is completely the work of God alone.
Just as sometimes children disobey their parents and are disciplined accordingly, God disciplines us because we are his beloved children in Christ and our status never changes, and he will use our failures to teach us through the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself. (2 Tim. 2:11-13)
Dear Christian, as you strive to live faithfully, to honor and obey God in your daily comportment, remember that your faithfulness isn’t what causes you to endure to the end. Rather, you are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—nothing of yourself. And it is God’s faithfulness—not your own—that keeps you safe and secure in Christ now and forevermore.
This article has been updated since its original publishing date and is adapted from “Faith vs. Faithfulness” from BCL’s April 2022 monthly newsletter.
Related Articles:
- Works in the Book of James—“Fruits and Evidences of a True and Lively Faith”
- 2 Kinds of Cheap Grace You Need to Avoid
- Sanctification in Christ—the Rest of Your Story
- Got Peace Right Now? 7 Things You Need to Know about Your Justification in Christ
The post Faith vs. Faithfulness — What’s the Difference? appeared first on Beautiful Christian Life.
How to Experience a Personal Revival
Have you ever felt distanced from God? Many Christians experience a “slump” in their Christian walk, so today the guys encourage listeners by discussing personal revival and coming back to a vibrant relationship with the Lord.
This clip is from the Living Waters Podcast, hosted by Ray Comfort, Emeal “E.Z.” Zwayne, Mark Spence, and Oscar Navarro. Join us as we explore hot topics, Christian living, theology, and evangelism. You can listen to the full podcast on all major streaming platforms, and now you can also watch full episodes and stream all our content on Living Waters TV.
The Glory of the One and Only Gospel | James Coates
This sermon walks through the selected passage by first establishing its theological foundation and then carefully applying it to both individual believers and the church body. The preacher emphasizes faithful interpretation of Scripture, highlights core doctrinal truths, and calls listeners to humility, obedience, and trust in God’s sovereignty. The message balances warning and encouragement, urging believers not only to understand biblical truth but to live it out in daily faithfulness and corporate unity.
Six Gospel Antidotes to Anxiety | For The Church
We live in an anxious world. While these are certainly challenging times, in Christ we do not have to be anxious. We have a Father in heaven who knows us, loves us, and provides for our needs. Our Father is not anxious, and neither must we be. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us six antidotes for the spiritual ailment of anxiety (Matt. 6:25–34).
- Repent of the Sin of Anxiety
Three times in Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus commands us not to be anxious: “Do not be anxious about your life” (v. 25), “Therefore do not be anxious” (v. 31), and “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow” (v. 34). Anxiety has become an accepted sin in our day. It is often treated as a purely physical condition rather than a spiritual issue. But humans are a composite of body and soul. Our physical bodies affect our spiritual well-being, and our spiritual well-being affects our bodies. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is eat, drink, rest, or sleep (see 1 Kgs. 19:4–8). Alongside these practical steps, we are called to trust God and turn from the worry that displaces faith in Him.
- Rely on God’s Loving Provision
In verse 25, Jesus asks, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” He argues from the greater to the lesser: if God has given you life and a body (the greater), He is certainly capable of providing food and clothing (the lesser).
In verse 26, He points to nature: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Birds wake up each day with enough to eat. If God cares for the birds (the lesser), He will certainly care for us (the greater).
In verses 28–30, Jesus gives a second illustration about clothing: “Consider the lilies of the field… even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field… will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” If God adorns the grass and flowers with beauty (the lesser), He will surely clothe us (the greater).
- Realize Anxiety’s Ineffectiveness
In verse 27, Jesus asks, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” The answer is obvious: nobody. Anxiety accomplishes nothing; in fact, it is counterproductive. Psalm 139:16 reminds us, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” The Lord has sovereignly ordained the number of our days before we were even born. Worrying about our life will not extend it beyond the days that God has given us.
- Remember God’s Omniscience
In verses 31–32, Jesus says, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” God knows and provides for our needs. While we may think we understand what we need, He sees the full picture far better than we ever could.
- Rank Spiritual Needs Over Physical Needs
Verses 31–32 show that the Gentiles prioritize food, drink, and clothing. Secular people are often preoccupied with their physical needs at the expense of their spiritual wellbeing. It is no accident that Jesus taught about storing treasure in heaven rather than on earth just before addressing anxiety. The more we accumulate earthly treasures, the more tempted we are to worry about protecting, increasing, and holding onto them. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”?
But what does Jesus call us to do instead? In verse 33, He says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” To seek the kingdom of God is to submit to Christ’s rule and reign in our hearts. It means turning in repentance and faith to King Jesus and pursuing the practical righteousness of God—bringing every aspect of our lives under His will. Seeking the kingdom means prioritizing His rule over building our own, trusting that God will provide for our needs as we faithfully follow Him.
- Refocus on the Present
In verse 34, Jesus says, “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Here, He highlights that anxiety is often future-focused. Instead of worrying about what is ahead, we are called to focus on the present, because God has given us enough grace for today’s challenges. Just as the Israelites collected manna daily, and as Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer—“Give us this day our daily bread”—God provides for each day in its time. He desires a daily, trusting relationship with us. We are to live fully in today, not wishing it away for tomorrow, and be content with what the Lord has graciously given.
Source: Six Gospel Antidotes to Anxiety
Christian Meme Collection February 25, 2026
Wednesday Prayer Guide
Adoration
I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
O fear the Lord, you His saints,
For those who fear Him lack nothing. (Psalm 34:8–9)
I thank You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
And my soul knows it full well. (Psalm 139:14)
All Your works will praise you, O Lord,
And Your saints will bless You.
They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power,
So that all men may know of Your mighty acts
And the glorious majesty of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures through all generations. (Psalm 145:10–13)
Blessed are You, O Lord, God of Israel, our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of all things. In Your hand is power and might to exalt and to give strength to all. Therefore, my God, I give You thanks and praise Your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:10–13)
Pause to express your thoughts of praise and worship.
Confession
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has resisted Him without harm? (Job 9:4)
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity
And in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to You
And did not hide my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:1–5)
Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live before Him. (Hosea 6:1–2)
Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation;
In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
Renewal
Lord, renew me by Your Spirit as I offer these prayers to You:
May I not profane Your holy name, but acknowledge You as holy before others. You are the Lord, who sanctifies me. (Leviticus 22:32)
May I be a person of faith, who does not doubt the promises of God, and not a double-minded man, who is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6, 8)
May I abound in love and faith toward the Lord Jesus and to all the saints. (Philemon 5)
May I be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)
Pause to add your own prayers for personal renewal.
Petition
Father, using Your word as a guide, I offer You my prayers concerning my love for others.
Concerning love, You have said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37–40)
Whatever I want others to do to me, may I also do to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy; love does not boast, it is not arrogant, it does not behave rudely; it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4–8)
May I love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. (Matthew 5:44)
May I be an imitator of God as a beloved child, and walk in love, just as Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1–2)
May I sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks me to give the reason for the hope that is in me, but with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)
I should walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. My speech should always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5–6)
Is this not the fast You have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the cords of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
Is it not to share our food with the hungry
And to provide the poor wanderer with shelter;
When we see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to turn away from our own flesh?
Then our light will break forth like the dawn,
And our healing will quickly appear,
And our righteousness will go before us;
The glory of the Lord will be our rear guard.
Then we will call, and the Lord will answer;
We will cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” (Isaiah 58:6–9)
May I not let any corrupt word come out of my mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may impart grace to those who hear. May I not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom I was sealed for the day of redemption. May I put away all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander, along with all malice. And may I be kind and compassionate to others, forgiving them just as God in Christ also forgave me. (Ephesians 4:29–32)
May I do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility may I esteem others as more important than myself. Let me look not only to my own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3–4)
May I be of one mind with others and be sympathetic: loving them as brothers and sisters, being compassionate and humble. May I not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but blessing instead, because to this I was called, that I may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8–9)
Pause here to express any additional personal requests, especially concerning relationships with others:Greater love and compassion for others Loved ones Those who do not know Christ Those in need
My activities for this day
Special concerns
Intercession
Lord, I now prepare my heart for intercessory prayer for evangelism.
May I devote myself to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. I pray that God may open to me a door for the word, so that I may speak the mystery of Christ and proclaim it clearly, as I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2–4)
I pray that words may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:19)
In the spirit of these passages, I pray for those who do not know Christ:Friends Relatives Neighbors Coworkers Special opportunities
Affirmation
Feed my mind and heart, O Lord, as I affirm these truths from Your word concerning my life in Christ:
You have shown me what is good;
And what does the Lord require of me
But to act justly and to love mercy
And to walk humbly with my God? (Micah 6:8)
Though I walk in the flesh, I do not war according to the flesh. The weapons of my warfare are not fleshly, but divinely powerful to overthrow strongholds, casting down arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3–5)
May I not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but of the world. And the world and its lusts are passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)
I will not lay up for myself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But I will lay up for myself treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where my treasure is, there my heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21; Luke 12:34)
I make it my ambition to please the Lord, whether I am at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:9–10)
Pause to reflect upon these biblical affirmations.
Thanksgiving
For who You are and for what You have done, accept my thanks, O Lord:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us who through faith are guarded by the power of God for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5)
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25–26)
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 42:11)
I call this to mind,
And therefore I have hope:
The Lord’s mercies never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21–23)
Pause to offer your own expressions of thanksgiving.
Closing Prayer
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
God is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to His power that is at work within us. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. (Ephesians 3:20–21)
Boa, K. (1993). Handbook to prayer: praying scripture back to God. Atlanta: Trinity House.
The Mailbag: Communion Questions | Michelle Lesley
Originally published June 20, 2023
Is it biblical for women to administer communion to other women in a local church or a parachurch ladies gathering? It it biblical for a couple to administer communion at a social gathering in their home?
Communion.. the Lord’s Supper… the Lord’s Table… the breaking of bread and drinking of wine (or grape juice) as a memorial to our Lord’s suffering and death is an extremely solemn and serious ordinance of the church.
I mean, in the Corinthian church, people were getting sick and dying because they weren’t handling the Lord’s Supper in a godly way.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
1 Corinthians 11:27-30
Take a moment and meditate on what that means. How seriously does God take the Lord’s Supper?
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the gathered church, just like baptism is. You wouldn’t (I hope) baptize people at your Tupperware party or even your weekly women’s Bible study, and you shouldn’t be observing the Lord’s Supper in those sorts of venues either.
Look at the language in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 and how it differentiates between eating outside the church gathering (at home) and partaking of the Lord’s Supper inside the worship gathering of the church. The language assumes that the Lord’s Supper takes place in the church gathering: “When you come together…” (17, 20), “When you come together as a church…” (18), “Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God…” (22), “when you come together to eat” (33), “if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together…” (34).
When you unbiblically remove the Lord’s Supper from the worship gathering of the church body, you immediately cheapen it. It becomes lesser. Just some little thing we do so we can feel like we’re being holy, or because we crave ritual. It’s reduced to the level of hors d’oeuvres or a party game. The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is for the gathered church to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (26).
And because it is an ordinance of the church, those who shepherd the church – pastors and elders – are responsible for administering it in a biblical way. That responsibility has not been given to any Tom, Dick, and Harry (or Dawn, Pat, and Mary, if you will) who decides he or she wants to offer it at a private shindig. It is a pastoral responsibility, which includes fencing the table.
So the answer to all of your questions is no. The Lord’s Supper should not be observed at parachurch meetings or social gatherings at all. (Or weddings. You didn’t ask about that, but I’m going to throw that in there, too, for the same reasons.) And the only reason I can think of that a church would have women administering the Lord’s Supper during a worship service instead of the pastor, elders, and/or deacons is either to appear egalitarian or because they are egalitarian, so that’s a “no” too.
What about situations like COVID, when the church can’t gather? Is “online communion” (taking the Lord’s Supper at home with whatever elements I have on hand while watching the pastor “administer” it online) OK?
No. First of all, as we learned from COVID, while there may be very temporary emergencies, the church can gather if it is being obedient to the Lord. Sometimes obedience is costly, but it can be done. Just ask our Savior, whose obedience cost Him torture and death.
Second, there’s no requirement for how often the church must observe the Lord’s Supper. Jesus said “as often as you do this,” not “every week” or “twice a month”. Once the temporary emergency is over the church can come back together and observe the Lord’s Supper as a body, in person, as indicated by Scripture.
“What about homebound, hospitalized, or dying people who are Providentially hindered from gathering with the church? Can a pastor administer the Lord’s Supper to those people outside the church gathering?”
I would leave that to a pastor’s discretion, but, if I were a pastor, I would be very reluctant to do so. Personally, I would urge those people, as well as anyone else who wants to observe the Lord’s Supper outside of the gathering of the church body to consider why they want to do that. I mean, dig deep and do some serious introspection about your reasons and what you actually believe about the Lord’s Supper.
I suspect some Christians, without even realizing it, may hold some Roman Catholic-adjacent or superstitious beliefs about the Lord’s Supper.
It’s not the thing you do right before you die (or any time) to make you right with God, forgive your sins, or secure your place in Heaven. That’s what Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection were for. And if you’re placing your faith for any of those things in partaking of the Lord’s Supper instead of, or in addition to Christ’s finished work on the cross, that’s idolatry.
It’s not something you do to assuage misplaced guilt about not being physically able to attend church (or, for that matter, to assuage appropriate guilt about forsaking the assembly when you actually could be there). If you are legitimately Providentially hindered from faithful church attendance, God knows that. He’s the One who allowed or placed you in that situation in the first place. You don’t need to “make it up to Him” or try to get “back” into His good graces by performing for Him by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Rest. Rest in His grace, mercy, and divine Providence. You can partake when you’re able to go back to church, or when the whole church is one day gathered for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
It’s not something you do to somehow conjure up or invoke God’s presence into your midst. That’s a variant of necromancy or witchcraft. God is omnipresent. There’s not a millimeter of the universe in which He is not present. He’s at your social gathering. He’s at your parachurch meeting. What you want to do at those events is to pray, not observe the Lord’s Supper. In prayer, you recognize God’s presence, submit yourselves and your gathering to Him, and ask Him to guide your meeting. And, no, observing the Lord’s Supper isn’t “leveling up” on “just prayer”. Prayer and the Lord’s Supper are two different worship practices with two different purposes.
And, finally, the Lord’s Supper isn’t something you do to secure God’s blessing on whatever activity or venue you’re observing it in. It’s not a talisman. It’s not like rubbing a rabbit’s foot for luck or a baseball player going through his superstitious pre-game rituals so he’ll play well and win the game. Participating in the Lord’s Supper with your church family is a blessing – it’s the blessing of unity in Christ and the fellowship of proclaiming His death together until He comes, but you don’t do it to get God’s blessing on your marriage, your dinner party, or your pro-life meeting.
What would you say to a church not using unleavened bread for communion? The last time we took communion the bread was Italian bread, obviously had yeast in it. I don’t want to take the Lords supper with bread with yeast in it because yeast represents sin and Jesus has no sin in Him, and if we are to remember what He did, how can we use just regular bread. I did ask the pastor, he thought I had a good point, but I haven’t heard from him yet.
It’s great that you asked your pastor about this. That’s exactly what I would have advised you to do. I would encourage you to submit to his leadership on this issue.
Leavened bread is not a reason to abstain from the Lord’s Supper any more than grape juice instead of wine (or vice versa) is a reason to abstain. My personal opinion (not biblical mandate) is that unleavened bread and wine should be used because they are more historically accurate and truer to the details of Scripture than leavened bread and/or grape juice. That being said, I’ve never been a member of a church that didn’t use grape juice, and I have participated in observances of the Lord’s Supper that used leavened bread, and it didn’t bother me in the least.
We need to remember that the reason unleavened bread was used was not because leaven represented sin, although we do see that symbolism later, but because the Lord’s Supper began as the Last Supper, which was an observance of Passover. Unleavened bread was used for Passover because it memorialized the Israelites’ flight from Egypt. They did not have time for the dough to rise before the exodus. That’s where the unleavened bread for Passover, the Last Supper, and the Lord’s Supper came from. It had nothing to do with Jesus’ sinlessness because Jesus had not yet come at the time of the exodus.
We can also remember that Jesus used leavened bread when He fed the 5000, and in that very context of leavened bread, He Himself said, “I am the bread of life.” If leaven always represents sin, why would Jesus, who was sinless God, have referred to Himself in the context of everyday leavened bread?
If leavened bread is the only reason you’re abstaining from the Lord’s Supper, I would encourage you to stop abstaining and partake joyfully with your church family, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes.
We recently moved and have been attending a Southern Baptist church. They have not had communion for over two months. Isn’t it the norm to have communion at least once a month? …since we are new to this church we are still waiting and learning our place. We hesitate to make ourselves known as possibly unsubmissive or question why they do things the way they do. (From The Mailbag: Potpourri (…SBC Communion…))
These are such great questions because they help me, as a Southern Baptist, think about the way we do things and how those practices might be perceived by visitors or new members.
Every Southern Baptist church is autonomous, so each church has its own policy or practice about how often the Lord’s Supper is observed. There are some SBC churches who hold the Lord’s Supper every week and probably others who hold it only once or twice a year, although I don’t personally know of any who hold it that infrequently.
In my experience, most Southern Baptist churches observe the Lord’s Supper several times a year, usually on a schedule like the first Sunday of the month, once a quarter, or every “fifth Sunday” (in months that have five Sundays). In addition to these scheduled observances, many churches also observe the Lord’s Supper at their Christmas Eve, Good Friday, or Easter service.
I would encourage you and your husband to set up an appointment with the pastor and ask away! It is certainly not unsubmissive to sit in his office and politely say, “We’re new here and we were just wondering about…” Most pastors I know would love for potential members to do this.
We run into trouble when we start trying to “improve” on God’s Word and His ways. The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the church, to be observed in the gathering of the church body, and to be rightly administered by the pastor, elders, and/or deacons. Let’s leave it at that – nothing more, nothing less – right where Scripture leaves it.
Additional Resources:
The Last Supper ~ The Lord’s Supper
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
Devotional for February 24, 2026 | Tuesday: When Unbelief Is Rewarded
Matthew 28:11-15 In this week’s studies, we note the contrast between Jesus’ enemies and friends concerning the resurrection, and the price worth paying to be a witness to Christ.
Theme
When Unbelief Is Rewarded
The soldiers had left their post, and the tomb was empty. They must have been terrified, wondering what was going to happen to them. After the religious leaders met together, they did not seek to have the soldiers punished. Instead, the guards were told to lie about what had happened. They were to go out and say nothing about angels or a stone being rolled away, but simply to say that while they were asleep, His disciples came and stole the body. This is the way the text says it: “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And if this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’”
Interesting, isn’t it? Instead of punishments, which they had every right to expect, these men received rewards—so determined were these enemies of Jesus Christ to suppress the truth that concerned the resurrection. Now, of course, it was a very foolish story. The soldiers themselves must have seen how foolish it was. They were to go out and say that while they were asleep the disciples came and stole the body. But if they were asleep, how did they know it was the disciples? Oh, they could have assumed that and had tried to locate the disciples and recover the stolen body. However, they did not do that, because that is not what happened.
Calvin says in one place in his commentary on this text that they would certainly have been punished if there had been an upright, judicious governor in the land. But, of course, that’s exactly the point. Pilate was not upright and judicious, nor were the scribes, Pharisees, or chief priests. None of them was.
You see, it wasn’t a case of the religious leaders failing to believe in the resurrection for a lack of evidence. On the contrary, it was quite the other way around. These men repressed the evidence because they were determined in advance not to believe in the resurrection. These men received a greater witness to the resurrection than anybody could have possibly received. They did not want to believe Jesus’ words because they hated Him. Nor would they believe any of Jesus’ disciples. But here the testimony had been brought by the soldiers, and the soldiers had nothing to gain and everything to lose from that kind of story. Obviously, it had happened, but these men didn’t want to face what had happened. They hated the truth, and so they had the guards substitute a lie for the truth, and meted out rewards rather than punishment in exchange for a false account.
Now what I want to suggest is that it is always that way in the world. Unbelief is always rewarded, and faith is always punished. The reason for this is that men and women are not open to the truth about Jesus, but prefer a lie. If Jesus is raised from the dead, then Jesus is God, and therefore is the King and Lord of all. He has a claim on us, but because people don’t want to acknowledge this claim they assert that the resurrection never happened. And unbelievers reward anybody who can give any reason, however unreliable and unbelievable it may be, as long as they give a reason that will substantiate people’s rejection of the truth.
There was a nineteenth century French scholar by the name of Ernest Renan. He was born in Breton and was educated as a priest. He had a conservative upbringing, but he became enamored with the rationalist philosophy of Georg Friedrich Hegel and of Emmanuel Kant. Fed by their rationalism, he began to look at the Gospels, in particular, within that naturalistic framework. His whole career was one of explaining away the miraculous elements of the Gospels.
He published a book called The Life of Jesus, which gained him a great deal of fame. In it he tried to explain away the resurrection by suggesting that the idea came about because of Mary Magdalene. Renan maintained that she was unstable mentally and was also in love with Jesus. And when she was there in the garden and saw the gardener, in her grief she assumed that this was Jesus and so imagined that she heard Jesus call her name.
Renan said in another work called The Apostles, “Heroes never die.” What he meant by that is that the faith of a hero’s followers helps his memory to live on. Well, you would think, being a Catholic priest and living in the nineteenth century, that a man like Ernest Renan would have been rebuffed quite properly and his theories disregarded. But quite the opposite was the case. When he published The Life of Jesus, Renan received instant fame. Sixty thousand copies of that book were sold in just the first few months, a prodigious number for the nineteenth century. He became the darling of the Paris salons. He was appointed administrator of the prestigious College de France. He was even made a member of the French Legion of Honor, which was about the most prestigious thing that could happen to him.
Study Questions
- How did the religious leaders decide to deal with their problem of the empty tomb and the soldiers’ testimony?
- What does the religious authorities’ handling of the situation reveal about their spiritual condition?
- What is the basic idea behind Renan’s The Life of Jesus?
Application
Reflection: What other examples can you give of how unbelief or unrighteousness is rewarded?
Key Point: If Jesus is raised from the dead, then Jesus is God, and therefore is the King and Lord of all.
For Further Study: Download for free and listen to James Boice’s message from Ephesians 2, “Risen with Christ.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
https://www.thinkandactbiblically.org/tuesday-when-unbelief-is-rewarded-3/
Understand the Condemning Nature of your Sin
Matthew Henry’s “Method For Prayer”
Confession 2.18 | ESV
We must judge and condemn ourselves for our sins, and own ourselves liable to punishment.
And now, O my God, what shall I say after this, for I have forsaken your commandments? Ezra 9:10(ESV) I have sinned; what have I done to you, you watcher of mankind? Job 7:20(ESV)
I know that the law curses everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them; Galatians 3:10(ESV) that the wages of every sin is death; Romans 6:23(ESV) and that for these things’ sake the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 5:6(ESV)
And I am accountable to God; Romans 3:19(ESV) the Scripture has imprisoned me under sin; Galatians 3:22(ESV) and therefore you might justly be angry with me until you consumed me, so that I should neither be of your remnant, nor able to escape. Ezra 9:14(ESV)
If you should make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line, Isaiah 28:17(ESV) you might justly separate me to all evil, according to all the curses of the covenant, and blot out my name from under heaven. Deuteronomy 29:20(ESV)
You might justly swear in your wrath that I should never enter your rest; Psalm 95:11(ESV) might justly strip me naked and bare, Hosea 2:3(ESV) and take back my grain in its time, Hosea 2:9(ESV) and put into my hands the cup of staggering, and make me drink even to the dregs of that cup. Isaiah 51:17(ESV)
You have been righteous in all that has come upon me, for you have dealt faithfully and I have acted wickedly. Nehemiah 9:33(ESV) Indeed, my God has punished me less than my iniquities deserved. Ezra 9:13(ESV)
You therefore shall be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment; Psalm 51:4(ESV) and I will accept of the punishment of my iniquity, Leviticus 26:43(ESV) and humble myself under your mighty hand, 1 Peter 5:6(ESV) and say, “The LORD is righteous.” 2 Chronicles 12:6(ESV)
Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Lamentations 3:39(ESV) No, I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him. Micah 7:9(ESV)
A Little Bird Told Me — The Power of His Presence
Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
Ecclesiastes 10:20
Verse 20, I am sure, is the origin of the popular saying a little bird told me.
This may also be the first recorded instance of the government’s bugging a home! It clearly reflects the modern saying even the walls have ears.
Do not complain about the government even in your bedchamber or in your innermost thoughts. This is not implying that if you do, your complaining might get back to the king and he will be angry with you and punish you. Rather, it is the idea that your constant complaining about problems in government creates a condition that spreads dissatisfaction with, and distrust of, government. We are living with a generation that, by and large, distrusts the powers and rights of government. This may be because young people who are now entering into legal adulthood have heard us older ones grumbling so much about the government that they have learned to distrust it, to feel that it is an unnecessary evil, and to react violently against it.
It is remarkable that any American president is able to serve more than one term in office. The media so focuses upon the president and criticizes so vehemently everything he does and every word he speaks: that no president is able to stand the glare of such adverse publicity. The American way is to elect a man to office, give him six months to change everything, and if he does not do it, spend the next three-and-a-half years complaining about it. There is a destructive element in complaining and griping all the time about what government does.
I was blessed and encouraged when several of our staff wrote letters to the mayor of San Francisco to commend her for her vetoing an ordinance that would be destructive to the social fabric. Against much of the popular opinion of the hour, the mayor found the courage to veto that measure. What a difference it makes in the quality of government if we show our support for those who are in office. The appeal of the Searcher is that if you want to be wise and in view of all that God provides in life as revealed in this book, then try to be supportive of the government.
Forgive me for my complaining spirit, Lord. Teach me to spread a spirit of confidence that You are at work through the leadership of our land.
https://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/ecclesiastes/a-little-bird-told-me
2 John: Do Not Run Ahead | Today in the Word
| Tuesday, February 24 | 2 John 1 On the Go? Listen Now! |
| Brands protect their reputations vigorously. They work hard to hire the best spokesperson and generally pay that person well. But if that representative does something to tarnish their image, brands will release them from their contracts just as purposefully as they hired them. Associations matter and brands understand that association with the wrong people can hurt.In this brief second letter, John warns his readers to be on guard against people who associate with Christians but reject a core doctrine of the faith. They do not believe that Jesus Christ appeared in the flesh (v. 7). By this time, the gospel had spread widely enough, and different communities developed in different parts of the Roman world. As a result, strange teachings about Christ began to appear. One argued that Jesus Christ was not actually a flesh-and-blood human being but only appeared to be such. False teachers were spreading this doctrine as they travelled.John feared that his readers would give in to this false teaching, and he would lose what he worked for and the reward that comes with faithfulness in Christ (v. 8). These people are deceivers (v. 7)! His advice is simple: Stick with what you have been taught. Stay with Christ who leads through His teaching. Reject Christ’s teaching, and you reject God. There are many details about the Christian life that God has not fully explained. Avoid speculation!But what should we do with the false teachers who want to associate with us? Do not welcome them or even bring them into your home (v. 10). This may seem harsh, but the consequence of such friendship is clear. If you associate with them, you associate with their wickedness. |
| Go Deeper Are you connected to people who question your confidence in Christ and God’s Word? Might they be in a position to influence and even deceive you? How does John suggest we respond? Expanded Reading: 2 John |
| Pray with Us Holy Spirit, give us discernment and wisdom to reject false teachers who reject Christ. Help us stay rooted in Christ, follow Him faithfully, and remember our first love. |
February 24 Evening Verse of the Day
SALVATION IS WITH A PURPOSE
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (2:6–7)
Salvation has a purpose, in regard to us and in regard to God. The most immediate and direct result of salvation is to be raised up with Him, and [to be] seated with Him in the heavenly places. Not only are we dead to sin and alive to righteousness through His resurrection in which we are raised, but we also enjoy His exaltation and share in His preeminent glory.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead His first instruction was, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:44). A living person cannot function while wrapped in the trappings of death. Because our new citizenship through Christ is in heaven (Phil 3:20), God seats us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. We are no longer of this present world or in its sphere of sinfulness and rebellion. We have been rescued from spiritual death and given spiritual life in order to be in Christ Jesus and to be with Him in the heavenly places. Here, as in 1:3, heavenly places refers to the supernatural sphere where God rules, though in 6:12 it refers to the supernatural sphere where Satan rules.
The Greek verb behind seated is in the aorist tense and emphasizes the absoluteness of this promise by speaking of it as if it had already fully taken place. Even though we are not yet inheritors of all that God has for us in Christ, to be in the heavenly places is to be in God’s domain instead of Satan’s, to be in the sphere of spiritual life instead of the sphere of spiritual death. That is where our blessings are and where we have fellowship with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and with all the saints who have gone before us and will go after us. That is where all our commands come from and where all our praise and petitions go. And some day we will receive the “inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [us]” (1 Pet. 1:4).
The phrase in order that indicates that the purpose of our being exalted to the supernatural sphere of God’s preserve and power is that we may forever be blessed. But it is not only for our benefit and glory. God’s greater purpose in salvation is for His own sake, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That, too, is obviously for our benefit, but it is first of all for God’s, because it displays for all eternity the surpassing riches of His grace (cf. 3:10). Through His endless kindness toward us in Christ Jesus the Father glorifies Himself even as He blesses us. From the moment of salvation throughout the ages to come we never stop receiving the grace and kindness of God. The ages to come is different from the age to come in 1:21 and refers to eternity. He glorifies Himself by eternally blessing us with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (1:3) and by bestowing on us His endless and limitless grace and kindness. The whole of heaven will glorify Him because of what He has done for us (Rev. 7:10–12).
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1986). Ephesians (pp. 59–60). Moody Press.
Risen with Christ
Ephesians 2:4–7
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Have you ever coined a word because you wanted to describe something for which no existing English word seemed adequate? Some people have done this. Nearly two hundred and forty years ago, in 1754 to be exact, Horace Walpole coined the word “serendipity,” which he defined as “the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.” I find that word in my twelve-volume Oxford English Dictionary, but even today it is not in the smaller Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
Another coined word is C. Northcote Parkinson’s “injelititis.” It means “induced inferiority,” the “disease seen in those who intentionally attempt little and achieve nothing.”
The apostle Paul also coined words from time to time. In Ephesians 2:5–6 there are three of them. Paul had been discussing the radical change in our situation brought about by the unmerited kindness of God. Before our conversion we were “dead in … transgressions and sins,” but now we have been “made … alive with Christ.” Before, we were dead; now we are alive. Before, we were enslaved by our sins and carnal nature; now we are emancipated. Before, we were objects of wrath; now we experience God’s love. What words can adequately describe this great change? What terms can express it? Since nothing like this had been known in the history of the world before Christ, it is not surprising that in Paul’s day adequate words did not yet exist to describe what happened.
So Paul invented some. He took the Greek prefix syn, meaning “together with,” and combined it with three words used elsewhere to describe what God did with Jesus after his crucifixion: (1) “make alive,” (2) “raise up,” and (3) “sit down” by him in heaven. The results were this:
1. Synzōopoieō, which means “to make alive together with”;2. Synegeirō, which means “to raise up together with”;3. Synkathizō which means “to sit down together with.”Taken together, these words make one of the most significant statements in the Bible of what has happened to Christians as a result of their union with Jesus Christ in God’s great work of salvation.
A Difficult Doctrine
As with most New Testament teachings, the seeds of the doctrine of the union of believers with Christ are in the recorded words of Jesus—often as metaphors. On one occasion Jesus compared our union with him to the union of branches and a vine: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 6:35). Other metaphors refer to eating Christ, as one would eat bread (Matt. 26:26–28; John 15:4–5), or drinking him, as one would drink water or wine (Matt. 26:26–28; John 4:1–14).
How Christ’s followers will be received or rejected by the world also suggests this union, for it is said to be a reception or rejection of Christ himself: “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me” (Luke 10:16).
In the great prayer Jesus uttered for his followers just before his arrest and crucifixion, the Lord referred to this mystical union explicitly: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me” (John 17:22–23).
The doctrine received its greatest development and emphasis in the writings of Paul. At times, as in Ephesians 2, Paul seems to have coined words to express it. At other times he speaks merely of being “in him,” “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus,” phrases which occur 164 times in his writings. By his use of these phrases, Paul teaches that we were chosen “in him before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), redeemed “in him” (Eph. 1:7), justified “in [him]” (Gal. 2:17), sanctified “in [him]” (1 Cor. 1:2), and enriched “in every way” (1 Cor. 1:5)—all by virtue of that mystical union.
This doctrine is so important that one commentator rightly called it “the heart of Paul’s religion.” John Murray wrote, “Union with Christ is the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation.”2 Arthur W. Pink is even more emphatic: “The subject of spiritual union is the most important, the most profound, and yet the most blessed of any that is set forth in sacred Scripture.” But he also rightly notes that “sad to say, there is hardly any which is now more generally neglected. The very expression ‘spiritual union’ is unknown in most professing Christian circles, and even where it is employed it is given such a protracted meaning as to take in only a fragment of this precious truth.”
The mere fact that this teaching is prominent throughout the New Testament does not mean that we understand it. Many cannot escape feeling that when Paul speaks of our being “made … alive with Christ” or “raised up with Christ” or “seated … in the heavenly realms in Christ” somehow this is all just word games. They ask, “What does it mean to say that we are made alive in Christ? In what sense have I actually been raised with him or seated with him in heaven?”
Two Types of Union
One way to understand it is to see our union with Christ as a federal or covenantal union. This refers to what we might call our technical position before God as a result of Christ’s work for us. It is described in detail in Romans 5:12–21, in which we are said to have been in Adam before our salvation but to be in Christ afterward. Adam had been established by God as a representative or federal head of the human race. He was to stand for us so that, if he continued in righteousness, we would also be considered as having continued in righteousness in him. But if he fell by transgressing God’s command, we would be considered as having sinned in him—and his judgment, death, would pass to us. Adam did sin, and that is what happened. Death passed upon the race. It is proof that God considered us to have been in Adam and to have fallen by his transgression.
By contrast, Jesus stood firm, not merely demonstrating a practical and perfect righteousness in his own life but also dying for those who would be united to him by faith. Thus, those judged sinners because of Adam’s sin are now judged righteous because of Christ’s righteousness. Because he is justified, we are justified. Because he is raised, we are raised. Because he is exalted to heaven, we too are exalted to heaven. As Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father in glory, so also are we seated.
This doctrine is called “federalism,” because it is analogous to the way a citizen is involved in the actions of his country or federal government. As citizens of a country, we suffer the liabilities and enjoy the benefits of actions taken by earlier generations of citizens.
But that is only one way of explaining what the Bible means by our mystical union with Christ, and it is not always necessarily the most useful way of thinking of it—certainly not in studying Ephesians 2:4–7. A second way to describe our union with Christ is as a vital or experiential union. This refers to the actual effects in us of this relationship. The chief New Testament teaching in this respect is Christ’s illustration of the vine and branches, referred to earlier. When Jesus compared himself to a vine and us to branches, he was not thinking of a mere technical position attained as a result of his work. He was thinking of an actual difference in our lives. As a result of our union with him we are enabled to pray to God and receive the things we pray for (John 15:7) and to bear spiritual fruit to God’s glory (v. 8).
All Things New
This is the sense in which Paul’s coined words in Ephesians 2:4–7 must be taken and in which they yield their richest treasures.
- Made alive together with Christ. Of the three words, this term most clearly requires an experiential rather than a federal interpretation. The point is that we were once dead and that we now live, as a result of our union with Christ. A dead person is unconscious of what is around him, inactive, and in a process of bodily decay. This was true of us spiritually. We were unconscious of God, inactive in God’s service, and decaying morally. Now we are alive to God, working for God, and growing in practical righteousness. This is the most profound transformation imaginable, and it is true of all Christians. If this change has not taken place, the person involved is not a real Christian.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes this change as God’s giving us a new disposition, not new faculties: “The difference between the sinner and the Christian, the unbeliever and the believer, is not that the believer, the Christian, has certain faculties which the other man lacks. No, what happens is that this new disposition given to the Christian directs his faculties in an entirely different way. He is not given a new brain; he is not given a new intelligence, or anything else. He has always had these; they are his servants, his instruments, his ‘members,’ as Paul calls them in the sixth chapter of Romans; what is new is a new bent, a new disposition. He has turned in a different direction; there is a new power working in him and guiding his faculties. This is the thing that makes a man a Christian.”
We cannot explain this other than to say that it happens by our union with Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). - Raised up together with Christ. The words “raised up” are sometimes used of the resurrection, and quite properly. But here the words apply not to the resurrection but to what we more normally call the ascension. Having been raised from the dead, Jesus was taken up into heaven, and we are said to have been raised up to heavenly places in him.
How so? This concept is a bit more difficult to grasp, but we can explain it this way. Our being raised from the dead with Christ means that we have been given new life or, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, a “new disposition.” Our being taken up into heaven with Christ, our ascension, means that we have been given a new environment. We are no longer creatures only of this world, bound by what we can see and touch and smell and hear and taste. We are now creatures of the greater, heavenly realm who now, because of our union with Christ, think and work and speak in spiritual categories. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that the Christian “is lifted up into an entirely new ‘thought realm.’ And he judges everything now in the light of it. He has a new standard of values; he assesses things in an entirely different way. What he wants to know about anything now is, not what sort of a ‘kick’ he will get out of it, not what sort of pleasure will it bring him; but rather, what is its value to his soul?”
More than that, the Christian recognizes that he belongs more to heaven than he does to earth. Charles Hodge derives this from the key phrase “in the heavenly realms,” which he rightly says relates to “the kingdom of heaven” as opposed to “the kingdoms of this world” or “the kingdom of Satan.” “We are within the pale of God’s kingdom; we are under its law; we have in Christ a title to its privileges and blessings and possess—alas! in what humble measure—its spirit.” He says, somewhat whimsically, that “though we occupy the lowest place of this kingdom, the mere suburbs of the heavenly city, still we are in it.”
Again, this is by union with Christ. Apart from that union we would not even be aware of God’s kingdom, let alone be a part of it. We would adjust our thoughts of heaven (such as they might be) to our worldly orientation, rather than the other way around. - Seated with God in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. The last of these three coined words carries the thought of what it means to be united with Christ to the highest peak, showing that we are not only raised in him but that we have also been seated with him in heaven next to God the Father. The verb is in an aorist or past tense. It means that we have already been made to sit with God in Christ. That is our position now. That is where we have arrived, and we are to live accordingly.
There are many aspects of this. The seat next to God in which we have been seated with Christ is a throne, which means that we reign with him. We are extensions of Christ’s presence and authority in the world. This is the seat described in Psalm 110:1, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” ’ (cf. Matt. 22:44; Acts 2:34–35; Heb. 1:13; 10:13). This seat speaks of victory. It involves security, privilege, rejoicing, accomplishment.
Still, I do not think this is what Paul chiefly had in mind. Let me explain what I think he meant. Do you remember that beautiful account of the Last Supper included by the apostle John in his Gospel? Do you remember how he describes himself as reclining next to Jesus? As John describes it, Jesus had announced that one of the Twelve would betray him, and Peter, disturbed at this revelation, motioned to John to ask Jesus which of the disciples he was speaking about. John then wrote of himself, “Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ ” (John 13:25). Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish” (v. 26). He then dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot. John was seated by Jesus and was therefore the one who received the revelation.
Now read Ephesians. “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (vv. 6–7). That place, in Christ at the right hand of God the Father, is the place of intimacy and revelation. It is where God opens up his heart. And notice: It is where we are now. We are seated with God in Christ in the heavenly realms now. Now God is speaking to us intimately.
This is the great privilege Paul had chiefly in mind as he composed this portion of Ephesians.
Are You in Christ?
I close with these questions. First, have you been made alive with Christ? Has God put his new principle of life within you? Do you sense a new spiritual disposition in what you do? Are you born again? If you cannot answer these questions affirmatively, by all means seek after God until you can. For that is Christianity. Christianity is not mere doctrine or a sense of having been forgiven or even believing that God will forgive you. Christianity is Christ—Christ alive in his people, Christ in us. No one who has been made alive with Christ can ever be the same afterward. No one who has been united to Christ can ever again die to God or take up with old sins as before.
Second, have you been raised with Christ so that your orientation is now heavenly, rather than being only earthbound? If you are a Christian, you must think of things in relationship to God. You must know yourself to be a member of his kingdom and responsible to his laws. You must live for him and represent him wherever he sends you.
Finally, have you been seated with God in Christ in the heavenly realms? That is, have you made your true, blessed, and intimate home with God? Do you talk to him there? Does he talk to you? That is a far more intimate place than “the garden” described in C. Austin Miles’s hymn, though the sentiments are the same:
He walks with me, and he talks with me,And he tells me I am his own;And the joys we share as we tarry there,None other has ever known.If you have enjoyed that intimacy, you will no longer set your affections on things on this earth but on God’s glory.
Boice, J. M. (1988). Ephesians: an expositional commentary (pp. 57–62). Ministry Resources Library.
- This is true because vivification does not stand by itself, for the apostle continues: and raised us up with him and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Christ’s resurrection and exaltation to the Father’s right hand in “the heavenly places” (here and in 1:3 the heaven of the redeemed is meant; contrast 6:12) not only foreshadows and guarantees our glorious bodily resurrection and all the consequent glory that will be our portion at the great consummation, but is also the basis of present blessings. Whatever happens to the Bridegroom has an immediate effect upon the Bride. This effect has reference not only to the church’s state or legal standing before God’s law, but also to its condition, the latter because from the place of his heavenly glory and majesty Christ sends forth the Spirit into the hearts of believers, so that they die to sin and are raised to newness of life. Therefore, both as to state and as to condition we can say that with Christ Jesus we ourselves were tried, condemned, crucified, buried (Rom. 6:4–8; 8:17; Col. 2:12; 2 Tim. 2:11), but also, made alive, raised, and set in heavenly places (Rom. 6:5; 8:17; Col. 2:13; 3:1–3: 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4). To be sure, there is a time factor. Not at once do we receive this glory in full measure. But the right to receive it fully has been secured, and the new life has already begun. Even now our life “is hid with Christ in God.” Our names are inscribed in heaven’s register. Our interests are being promoted there. We are being governed by heavenly standards and motivated by heavenly impulses. The blessings of heaven constantly descend upon us. Heaven’s grace fills our hearts. Its power enables us to be more than conquerors. And to heaven our thoughts aspire and our prayers ascend.
- What now was the purpose which God had in mind when he bestowed on us this great salvation? Paul answers: in order that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace (expressed) in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Therefore, God’s purpose in saving his people reaches beyond man. His own glory is his own chief aim. It is for that reason that he displays his grace in all its matchless beauty and transforming power. To some this may seem somewhat cold or even “selfish.” Yet, on rereading the passage one will soon discover that God’s overshadowing majesty and his condescending tenderness combine here, for the glory of his attributes is placed on exhibition as it reflects itself “in kindness toward us!” We are his sparkling jewels. Illustration: A Roman matron when asked, “Where are your jewels?” calls her two sons, and, pointing to them, says, “These are my jewels.” So also, throughout eternity the redeemed will be exhibited as the monuments of “the marvelous grace of our loving Lord,” who drew us from destruction’s pit and raised us to heights of heavenly bliss, and did all this at such a cost to himself that he spared not his own Son, and in such a manner that not a single one of his attributes, not even his justice, was eclipsed.
In Christ Jesus this divine kindness was displayed in various ways, mostly, of course, in the death on the cross. It was displayed also in such sayings as are recorded in Matt. 5:7; 9:13; 11:28–30; 12:7; 23:37; Mark 10:14; Luke 10:25–37, to mention only a few; and in such attitudes and actions, among many others, as are commemorated in Matt. 9:36; 14:14; 15:21–28; 20:34; Luke 7:11–17, 36–50; 8:40–42, 49–56; 23:34; John 19:27; 21:15–17.
Paul does not say “God’s grace,” nor even “the riches of his grace,” but “the sur- (super) passing riches of his grace.” This is characteristic Pauline language. Earlier he had written to the Romans, “Where sin abounded, grace super-overflowed” (Rom. 5:20). During the present imprisonment he was going to tell the Philippians about the peace of God which “sur- (super) passes all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). And, during his brief period of freedom between the first and second Roman imprisonments he would write to Timothy, “And it super-abounded (namely) the grace of our Lord, with faith and love in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:14). See also 2 Cor. 7:4; 1 Thess. 3:10; 5:13; 2 Thess. 1:3. As Paul sees it, there is nothing narrow about this grace of God, nothing stingy. Its loving arms embrace both Gentile and Jew. It reaches even to “the chief of sinners” (Paul himself), and so “rich” is it that it enriches every heart and life which it touches, filling it with marvelous love, joy, peace, etc.
God will display the surpassing riches of his grace “in the ages to come.” But what is meant by these ages? In the main, there are three opinions:
(1) The ages that will precede Christ’s Parousia. The expression ages to come “must not be understood to refer to ‘the future’ world. Paul is speaking about the earthly dispensation which has not yet run its course” (Grosheide; cf. Barry). A possible objection to this view would be that in that case Paul would probably have spoken about “the fulness of the times” (as in 1:10) or about “this age” (as in 1:21). Though not even in his early epistles did he proceed from the assumption that the second coming was the very next item on God’s program for the history of the world (see 2 Thess. 2:1–12), nevertheless, it was not his custom to posit continuing lengths of time that would intervene between his own day and Christ’s return.
(2) The ages that will follow Christ’s Parousia. With variations as to detail this view is held by Abbott, Greijdanus, Lenski, Salmond, Van Leeuwen, and many others. In its defense an appeal is made to 1:21: “the coming age.” However, it is debatable whether this argument is valid, for in 1:21 a contrast is drawn between “this age” and “the coming one.” That is not the case in 2:7. Also 1:21 has the singular aeon; 2:7, the plural aeons. And when, with one commentator, these post-Parousia ages, as they affect us, turn out to be “the timeless [?] aeons of eternity,” while another—perhaps forgetting that in that glorious life there will be no more sin and misery?—in his comments on the grace that will then be expressed “in kindness toward us,” interprets this to mean personal pity shown to those in need, one begins to wonder whether, after all, the restriction of “the ages to come” to the post-Parousia era is legitimate.
(3) All future time. In commenting on this passage John Calvin says, “It was the design of God to hallow in all ages the remembrance of so great a goodness.” Scott expresses the same idea in these words, “The new life now begun will endure forever, so that the manifestation of God’s grace will be always renewing itself. To bring out more forcibly this idea of goodness that will extend through all eternity Paul speaks not of the ‘age’ but the ages yet to come.” And Hodge states, “It is better therefore to take it [the phrase “in the ages to come”] without limitation, for all future time.”
Since nothing in the context limits the application of the phrase to any one period either before or after Christ’s return, and since the apostle himself when he dwells more fully on the church’s lofty goal (chapter 3) speaks about both the gathering in of the Gentiles in the present pre-Parousia age, and of the ultimate perfection of the church in the coming age, I regard explanation (3) as the best. The purpose, then, which God had in mind when he bestowed on us this great salvation described in verses 4–6, was that “in Christ Jesus” (see on 1:1, 3, 4) throughout this entire new dispensation and forever afterward he might place us, Jew and Gentile alike, on exhibition as monuments of the surpassing riches of his grace expressed in kindness of which we are and forever will be the recipients.
Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Ephesians (Vol. 7, pp. 118–120). Baker Book House.
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