Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 4, Day 5

Question of the Day: According to Romans 5:20, what happened where sin increased?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 10:1-18; (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 10:1-2; Romans 5:20-21)

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.[a] For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have[b] no further consciousness of sin? But in those sacrifices[c] there is a reminder of sins year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. So when He came into the world, He said,

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body you prepared for Me.
Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings You took no delight in.
Then I said, ‘Here I am:[d] I have come—it is written of Me in the scroll of the book—to do Your will, O God.’”[e]

When He says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings You did not desire nor did You take delight in them”[f] (which are offered according to the law), then He says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.”[g] He does away with[h] the first to establish the second. 10 By His will[i] we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands day after day[j] serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this Priest[k] had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, He sat down at the right hand[l] of God, 13 where He is now waiting[m] until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.[n] 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying,[o] 16 This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put[p] My laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”[q] 17 then he says,[r] “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.”[s] 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Romans 5:20-21

20 Now the law came in[a] so that the transgression[b] may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 4, Day 4

Question of the Day: I love Hebrew’s constant reminders that our “Hope is Secure” in Christ! What’s something you love about this study?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 9:15-28 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 9:27-28)

 And so he is the mediator[a] of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised,[b] since he died[c] to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven.[d]17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.[e]19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.”[f]21 And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 So it was necessary for the sketches[g] of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices,[h] but the heavenly things themselves required[i] better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation[j] of the true sanctuary[k]—but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. 25 And he did not enter to offer[l] himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 27 And just as people[m] are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment,[n]28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many,[o] to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin[p] but to bring salvation.[q]

Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 4, Day 3

Question of the Day: According to today’s LGG Devotional, how can Christ cleanse us from sin eternally?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-14 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 9:13-14)

Christ’s Service in the Heavenly Sanctuary

But now Christ has come[a] as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured[b] eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity,[c]14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our[d] consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 4, Day 1

Question of the Day: One of our SOAP passages today says that the new covenant isn’t based on the letter but on the Spirit? What’s the difference?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 8:7-13; 2 Cor. 3:4-6 (S.O.A.P. Heb. 8:7-8; 2 Cor. 3:5-6)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.[a] But[b] showing its fault,[c] God[d] says to them,[e]

Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant[f] that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put[g] my laws in their minds[h] and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people.[i]
11 And there will be no need at all[j] for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.[k]
12 For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”[l]

13 When he speaks of a new covenant,[m] he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.[n]

Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 3, Day 3

Question of the Day: How is Jesus, our High Priest, unique from the Levitical priesthood? (see today’s devotional on the LGG app)

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 7:1-10 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 7:3)

The Nature of Melchizedek’s Priesthood

Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him.[a] To him[b] also Abraham apportioned a tithe[c] of everything.[d] His name first means[e] king of righteousness, then king of Salem,[f] that is, king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. But see how great he must be, if[g] Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe[h] of his plunder. And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office[i] have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen,[j] although they too are descendants of Abraham.[k] But Melchizedek[l] who does not share their ancestry[m] collected a tithe[n] from Abraham and blessed[o] the one who possessed the promise. Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior, and in one case tithes are received by mortal men, while in the other by him who is affirmed to be alive. And it could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid a tithe through Abraham. 10 For he was still in his ancestor Abraham’s loins[p] when Melchizedek met him.

Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything: Week 3, Day 2

Question of the Day: What or Who is the anchor for our soul?

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 6:19-20)

God’s Promises Bring Hope

For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

14 “I will certainly bless you,
    and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”[a]

15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Posted in LGG Study

Day 5 – Jesus Our Everything

Question of the Day: What was the purpose of Christ’s suffering? (Hebrews 2:10-12)

Scripture of the Day: Hebrews 3:1-6 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 3:3-4)

Jesus and Moses

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters,[a] partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess,[b] who is faithful to the one who appointed Him, as Moses was also in God’s[c] house.[d] For He has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all God’s[e] house[f] as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. But Christ[g] is faithful as a son over God’s[h] house. We are of His house,[i] if in fact we hold firmly[j] to our confidence and the hope we take pride in.[k]

Posted in LGG Study

Jesus Our Everything

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-4 (S.O.A.P. Hebrews 1:3-4)

After God spoke long ago[a] in various portions[b] and in various ways[c] to our ancestors[d] through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son,[e] whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.[f]3 The Son is[g] the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word,[h] and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.[i]4 Thus he became[j] so far better than the angels as[k] he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

Posted in From the Insideout

You Should Love One Another

To love wasn’t new. Certainly, throughout the Old Testament we ar, taught to love God. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” If that sounds familiar, it should – because in the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus was asked “what is the most important commandment?” He replied,

“The most important commandment is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one30 Love[a] the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Ok, so to “Love one another” must be the new part – right? No, even this was taught to the people of God long before Christ said it to His disciples. God told Moses to use the same words to teach His people about love in Leviticus 19:18:

You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

So, if “Loving one another” isn’t new why did Jesus say this was a “new commandment”? Because here in John 13:34, Jesus clarifies the command with these words:

Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

The “new commandment” was and is, Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one anotherThis means I have to know how He loved. What did He do? What didn’t He do? Why and how and all of the other explorative questions we can think of must be examined. It is only in knowing these answers that we will be able to fulfill this commandment, a command that Jesus references in His response to what the greatest commandment is.

One final note, in case, for even a moment of time, we think this applies to only the people that are good and nice to us – in case we want to justify not loving those who have mistreated us, spoke evil of us, or worse – we must remember that when we were the enemies of God, Christ came and died for us. It is to that end that we must live and love like Jesus.

For a good synopsis of how Jesus loved, check-out 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 , John 13:14-15, and Philippians 2:5-8.

Posted in Quiet Time

John 13:31-35

Today’s Scripture: John 13:31-35 (S.O.A.P. John 13:34-35)

Question of the Day: How can we love one another like Christ loved us?

31 When[a] Judas[b] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him,[c] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him right away.[d] 33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me,[e] and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders,[f] ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’[g] now I tell you the same.[h]

34 “I give you a new commandment—to love[i] one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.[j] 35 Everyone[k] will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”