Love Fulfilled Ministry

Whatever things were to me gain I consider them loss because of Christ . 1 Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, the things that were gain Paul considered loss. Knowing Christ was of more worth than anything else he had valued. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ . What things did Paul consider lost? being circumcised, a descendant of Israel, a Hebrew, a Pharisee, a zealot, and a righteous person under the law. 2  What had been gain for Paul, he had to count at loss. Paul counted fleshly circumcision a loss, For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. In the old ,  God had established a covenant in the flesh, if anyone broke this covenant they would be thrown out from the people. 3  In the new, God has established an everlasting covenant in the Spirit, our hearts are circumcised through the ...

In freedom, Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore and do not again tangle yourselves in the yoke of slavery . 1 Freedom comes in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus we are no longer slaves but sons, joint heirs with Christ. The heir is no longer a slave but a child. A child is like a slave, under managers and tutors, until the time set by the Father.  In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 2  But when the time came, God sent forth his son born of the flesh, born under the Law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 3   Like orphaned children who have become sons and daughters, we have received the redemptive love of God, of family.  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  Sin no longer defines a child of God, we are no longer a slave to sinful nature and are new creations, in our i...

If you have died to elemental principles of this world why as if living in the world do you submit to decree ? 1 This word for decree is dogmatizó , which means I subject to regulations, it is from dogma which means a decree, edict, or ordinance; specifically of the rules and requirements of the law of Moses. There are elemental principles that Christ has set us free from. These principles are a shadow of things to come, but I am not to subject to such things. Paul writes that if I do, I sever myself from Christ, I fall from Grace. 3  Oh but I live in this body where sin dwells in my members,  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?   I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 4   There is a law of God that sets us free from sin. It is not a law that states do not sin but one that states if you follow this law you will not sin. Th...

The righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ, there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, and we are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ. 1 In the old covenant the place of propitiation (a sin offering, a covering) was the the mercy-seat where the blood of a vicarious lamb appeased God's wrath, on unrighteousness. 2  In the new, God set forth Jesus as a   propitiation through faith, he is its' author and brings about the righteosuness of God within us,  Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested . 3 This implies there was a righteousness by the law but now it is being manifested apart from the law, in Jesus Christ. 4  The law and the prophets borne witness to this righteousness, the law pointed to this redemption of man. 5 Christ appeared as a high priest, he came into being,  gínomai , which means to emerge, become, transitioni...

For YHWH is our God, he is our Judge, he is our Lawgiver, he is our King; he will save us . 1   The heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. 3 The earth will fear when he rises to save the humble. 4 For with fire and his sword he will execute judgement on the earth, many will be slain by him. 5 Blessed is He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, he will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. And will say to the Lord, “ My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust .” 6 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are you that judge another? 8 The LORD stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people. 9 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 3 I will praise his name and declare; I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Hence, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on t...

In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land.. . 1   God from the beginning set forth his plan to bring forth His righteousness on earth. God's spirit roamed the earth looking for a righteous person, but ultimately Jesus would fulfill prophecy and be this branch of  righteousness. It was the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of those who cared not for their lives, that would overcome. We see God's plan in the beginning. The day is coming, God says, when you (not just your offspring) will be defeated and removed from the earth. The offspring of this woman will crush you (see Romans 16:20 and Hebrews 2:14 ). That decisive blow was struck by the perfect offspring, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross. This is one of the reasons why the eternal Son of God had to become a man—because it was the offspring of the woman who would crush Satan. 2 God es...

Years ago a child was born, no one bothered to cut her navel cord, nor cleanse the blood and wrap her in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied her, to do any of these things for her, to have compassion on her, but she was thrown out into an open field to die. The child was loathed on the day she was born! Someone passing by saw her lying in filth and said to her, Live! Spreading their wing over the child; nurturing, washing, and covering its nakedness. The man swore an oath to the child and entered into a covenant with her and she became his, an adopted child. The father adorned the girl in jewelry of silver and fine clothes of costly fabric and embroidered cloth. She became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. Her fame spread among the people on account of her beauty and her beauty was made perfect by the splendor the father had given her. She was for a time, a light unto the world, proclaiming the glory of the father. But she trusted in her beauty and used her fame so that oth...