JOURNEY OUTSIDE THE CAMP

A doulos of Christ Jesus

I like the way the Apostle Paul identifies himself in his epistles. In Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1 and Titus 1:1, he begins the letter by referring to himself as "a servant of Christ Jesus". The English word servant doesn't do the Greek term justice. Bondservant is better but still incomplete. The word in Greek is doulos. A doulos was a slave who was the property of the slave master. The slave master (called kurios) bought the slave and thus had complete rights over the slave. He could order the slave to do anything; he could even order the death of the slave at no penalty to himself. The doulos was like chattel.

Paul explains that people are all slaves. They are either slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness (i.e., God).

A group of men in white clothes

A dear friend shared an amazing testimony with us. Her mother had a heart problem which needed surgery. But she could not have the operation as she had other complications that included being underweight and then there was water retention in her lungs which meant among other things, caused her to be short of breath. She was admitted to the hospital for treatment and late one night, she couldn’t sleep so she took out her hymnbook and started to sing.

Why evangelize if God knows who will be saved and who won't?

Question from the youth life groups:

Why do we bother to evangelize if God knows who will be saved and who will not be saved?

This question is akin to a previous post on why pray when God is all-knowing? God does indeed know who will be saved and who will not be saved. He is the one who decides. He is after all, sovereign. He has not left it to the whim of men. Some people think that salvation is the choice of man but if we read the Scriptures honestly, we will see that it is God who chooses. This way, he gets the glory for our salvation. For example in Ephesians 1 and in Romans 9:

Ephesians 1:4–6
[E]ven as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace...

Romans 9:15–16
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

In love he predestined us. For what purpose? For the praise of his glorious grace! When he chooses us to be saved, God is showing mercy and we get to glorify him. Remember now, no one deserves to be saved. If everyone single last person on earth were sent to hell, God will be fully justified. Everyone has a guilty verdict on him. (Romans 3:23). But in his mercy, God saves.

Is money dangerous?

Is it just the love of money that is dangerous or are riches in themselves dangerous? Some people feel that there is a difference between having riches and having the love of money. They feel there is nothing wrong with having a lot of money so long as their hearts are not set on it.

But here’s a thought: one evidence that you have the love of money in your heart is that you have a lot of money. Why say it like this?

The issue of money and lifestyle is not a side issue in the Bible. Randy Alcorn in his book, The Treasure Principle, says that “fifteen percent of everything Jesus said relates to this topic—more than his teachings on heaven and hell combined.”