pursuinggod

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14 things Galatians taught me about Gospel

1. There is no other Gospel. Anything other than the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is a false gospel. 

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ (Gal 1:6-7)

2. The Gospel is not from man, but from a revelation of Jesus Christ.

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal 1:11)

3. God entrusts the Gospel to His disciples to preach.

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles (Gal 2:7-8)

4. Justification by faith in Christ is the heart of the Gospel.

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles (Gal 2:12)

5. The Gospel is God making us right with himself through Christ by faith.

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose (Gal 2:21)

6. The Gospel is a story of God’s redemption and grace beginning with Abraham.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed (Gal 3:8)

7. In the Gospel, God saves both Jews and Gentiles.

so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith (Gal 3:14)

8. Believers are made Sons of God through the Gospel.

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal 3:26-27)

9. The Gospel proves that God shows no partiality in saving both Jews and Gentiles

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise (Gal 3:28)

10. The Gospel secures our adoption as sons, making us all heirs through God

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Gal 4:6-7)

11. Paul preaches the same Gospel Jesus did.

You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus (Gal 4:13-14)

12. Through the Gospel, Jesus sets believers free.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Gal 5:1)

13. The Gospel gives believers power to live in freedom of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:22-24)

14. The Gospel is grounds for boasting for Paul, and the centrepiece of the Gospel is the Cross of Jesus Christ

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal 6:14)

Some other things that I got from Galatians: 

The Gospel produces true converts who live out what they believe. 

The Gospel converted Paul from an opponent to a proponent of Jesus Christ.

It has always been God’s intention to saved by grace through faith. That’s the big story of the bible beginning even from Abraham all the way to Jesus.

This is an amazing study even in a short book. We have gleaned so much but there is still so much to learn from it. The bible is inexhaustible. 

[pursuinggod]

“Discipleship is joy”. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The key words to focus on is entirely. Oh, how we often give up at the sign of trouble, distress and hardship. We need persistence, grit and single-mindedness in our discipleship with Jesus.  Only He knows the way, for He is the way.

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What now after Easter?

In our lifetimes, there's a slim chance that any one of us will be in a situation in which someone lays down their lives for us. For most of us, this likely won't happen. Any of you here today because someone died in your place? This not an every day occurrence.

Jesus' life, death and resurrection - the essence of the Gospel - changes everything. Yes, the Cross of Jesus Christ changes everything. His sacrifice perfectly and completely satisfies God's wrath, purchased us from slavery to sin, redeems us to a right relationship with God. More than that, He gives us new life - a life to live for Him as part of His family. A life empowered by the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead. A life that lives by that resurrection faith. This is a wonderful miracle! We are thankful.

Yes, thankfulness and gratefulness for this gift of grace is one appropriate response, but is it enough?

Is it only enough to be thankful when someone gives up His life for you? In the recent death of a famous statesman from Singapore, someone was asked this question "How can we repay him for what he has done for us?" His response was "Follow his vision, remember his deeds and carry out our core mission." If Jesus life, death and resurrection changes everything - is just saying thank you enough?

I've seen many social media posts about people being thankful to Jesus for Easter. While being thankful is the right posture, its the beginning of something more.

Don't continue to live in that habitual sin, but rely on His resurrected power to overcome. Don't just live carelessly, but live with intention and on mission for God. Don't just be thankful, but let the Gospel infect and affect all of our heart, mind, soul to love God and people.

Let us live in that resurrection faith. Let us live on mission for Him, to do it all for His glory. Let us like Paul say "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20)

Let us live as if the Gospel really did change everything.

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Our biggest IBS class so far. Well done all! 

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What a week it has been! Great teaching and learning together with youth leaders from all around Sydney. Here are the Malaysians at @nextgen_kcc (at Katoomba Christian Convention - kcc)

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Flying to Manila for the Global Discipleship Conference this early morning. Seeing the early peek of a #sunrise (at Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT))

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O my spirit longs and sings, To be in the courts of my King, Keep me broken and contrite, Send your Spirit Lord be my light.

[pursuinggod]

Simplicity yet specificity in songs for worship

Songs that are used for worship, goes without saying, have to be theologically sound, theologically rich and speak the truth about God. Preferably, they ought to be God-centered as compared to man-centered, as it is easier to sing about God than about my sinful, selfish, prideful response to Him. Of course, if my spirit has been made alive by His Spirit, even more should my response be to praise His glorious grace!

Worship songs that are simple, don't have to be lyrically and theologically poor. They should and must be easy to be sung by the congregation, however they must also be rich enough to reach the depths of describing and comprehending our indescribable God. Simple words that describe God may become almost generic and general in nature, describing attributes outside of the fullness of Him. It could be praises for His acts of grace and mercy. It could be thankfulness for His initiation of salvation. I contend to have simple songs that captures the essence of His acts and character despite their simpleness. Words should be used to describe the fullness of every unique act of grace, and every unique act of love, and every unique act of mercy. And they should describe in detail all of these individual acts that might result in a response of awestruck praise of an eternal God. A simple song though true may describe a generic, general and shallow god. But a simple song that state specifics over generics, individual acts of grace over general acts of saving, will result in giving worshipers new means of praising and worshiping God in song. There will be more hope to believe in, more thanks to be grateful for and more humility in knowing our place in relation to the Almighty.

Only then, I believe that we can begin to really enjoy God. To be thankful for every individual act of His grace to overcome our spiritual deadness and make us alive so that we might enjoy Him forever.

[pursuinggod]

Prologue

Musings of a pilgrimage that all of us go through in this temporary journey towards eternity with an eternal Being, who created the whole universe and made us in His image.

Born out of that awe-inspiring image of the invisible Creator birthing out stars by His breath, with the heavens as His throne and the earth His footstool, and whom by which ALL things were created by Him, for Him and indeed through Him. His supremacy belies everything including our own pursuit of Him, as He is for Himself, for He is most glorified in us as we are most satisfied in Him.

This is a self discovery of satisfaction in the only Being that is able to satisfy our thirst for enjoyment, for He satisfies us by giving us the one thing most able to satisfy our pursuit of satisfaction - Himself. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

God's satisfaction is in His glory, and the praise of His glory is the outcome of us being satisfied in Him. Let His joy be in us and that may our joy be complete in Him.

As I grow in treasuring God as the ultimate treasure, I hope His glory will be most magnified in me. This blog is chronicling that desire.