Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Active commands found in Philippians

1. Let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ. (1:27)
2. Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. (1:27)
3. Be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (2:2)
4. Let each esteem other better than themselves. (2:3)
5. Look to the things of others. (2:4)
6. Have the mind of Christ. (2:5)
7. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (2:12)
8. Hold forth the Word of Life. (2:16)
9. Hold faithful ministers of the gospel in reputation. (2:29)
10. Rejoice in the Lord. (3:1)
11. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. (3:2)
12. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded [pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus]. (3:14-15)
13. Whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. (3:16)
14. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (3:17)
15. Stand fast in the Lord. (4:1)
16. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. (4:4)
17. Let your moderation be known unto all men. (4:5)
18. In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (4:6)
19. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (4:8)

Active commands found in Ephesians

1. Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meekness. (4:1-2)
2. With longsuffering forbear one another in love. (4:2)
3. Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (4:3)
4. Put off the old man that waxes corrupt after the lusts of deceit. (4:22)
5. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. (4:23)
6. Put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. (4:24)
7. Put away falsehood. (4:25)
8. Speak truth each one with his neighbor. (4:25)
9. Be angry, and sin not. (4:26)
10. Let him that stole labor, working with his hands the thing that is good. (4:28)
11. Let what is good for edifying proceed out of your mouth. (4:29)
12. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. (4:31)
13. Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other. (4:32)
14. Be followers of God, as dear children. (5:1)
15. Walk in love. (5:2)
16. Give thanks. (5:4)
17. Walk as children of light. (5:8)
18. Reprove the unfruitful works of darkness. (5:11)
19. Walk circumspectly. (5:15)
20. Redeem the time. (5:16)
21. Be understanding what the will of the Lord is. (5:17)
22. Be filled with the Spirit. (5:18)
23. Speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (5:19)
24. Give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (5:20)
25. Submit yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (5:21)
26. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (5:22)
27. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. (5:25)
28. Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. (5:33)
29. The wife see that she reverence her husband. (5:33)
30. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. (6:1)
31. Honour your father and mother. (6:2)
32. Fathers, bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (6:3)
33. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ… As the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will doing service, as to the Lord. (6:5-7)
34. Masters, do the same things unto them. (6:9)
35. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (6:10)
36. Put on the whole armor of God. (6:11)
37. Take unto you the whole armor of God. (6:13)
38. Stand. (6:14)
39. Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. (6:18)
40. Watch with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (6:18)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Active commands found in Galatians

1. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. (5:1)
2. By love serve one another. (5:13)
3. Love thy neighbor as thyself. (5:14)
4. Walk in the Spirit. (5:16, 25)
5. If a man be overtaken in a fault, restore him, considering yourself. (6:1)
6. Bear ye one another's burdens. (6:2)
7. Let every man prove his own work. (6:4)
8. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things. (6:6)
9. Do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. (6:10)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Active commands found in II Corinthians

1. Come out from among them, and be ye separate. (6:17)
2. Cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (7:1)
3. Abound in this grace [giving money to help other believers in distress] also. (8:7)
4. Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; (9:7)
5. He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (10:17)
6. The parents ought to lay up for the children. (12:14)
7. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. (13:5)
8. Be perfect. (13:11)
9. Be of good comfort. (13:11)
10. Be of one mind. (13:11)
11. Live in peace. (13:11)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Active commands found in I Corinthians

1. That ye all speak the same thing… perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1:10)
2. He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (1:31)
3. Let every man take heed how he builds upon the gospel foundation laid by another. (3:10)
4. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. (3:18)
5. Keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (5:8)
6. Set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. (6:4)
7. Flee fornication. (6:18)
8. Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit. (6:20)
9. To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. (7:2)
10. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. (7:3)
11. Defraud ye [husbands and wives] not one the other. (I Cor. 7:5)
12. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows… if they cannot contain, let them marry: (7:9)
13. Let not the wife depart from her husband… and let not the husband put away his wife. (7:10-11)
14. As the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. (7:17)
15. Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak. (8:9)
16. Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. (9:9)
17. They which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. (9:14)
18. Run, that ye may obtain. (9:24)
19. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (10:12)
20. Flee from idolatry. (10:14)
21. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. (10:24)
22. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake. (10:25)
23. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. (10:27)
24. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (10:31)
25. Be ye followers of me [Paul], even as I also am of Christ. (11:1)
26. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. (11:28)
27. When ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. (11:33)
28. If any man hunger, let him eat at home. (11:34)
29. Covet earnestly the best gifts. (12:31)
30. Follow after charity. (14:1)
31. Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. (14:1)
32. Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. (14:12)
33. Let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. (14:13)
34. In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. (14:20)
35. Let all things be done unto edifying. (14:26)
36. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. (14:27)
37. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. (14:29)
38. If they [women] will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home. (14:35)
39. Covet to prophesy. (14:39)
40. Let all things be done decently and in order. (14:40)
41. Awake to righteousness. (15:34)
42. Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. (15:58)
43. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him. (16:2)
44. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. (16:13)
45. Let all your things be done with charity. (16:14)

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Active commands found in Romans.

I went through the book of Romans and listed all the active, explicit commands. What are not listed are the passive commands (the "do not"s), implied commands, or commands that were obviously only for the Roman church ("Greet Priscilla and Aquila). Maybe this can be a help to someone else as well.

1. Reckon yourself dead to sin. (6:11)
2. Yield yourself unto God. (6:13)
3. Yield your members servants to righteousness. (6:19)
4. Take heed, lest God not spare you as he spared not Israel. (11:21)
5. Behold the goodness and severity of God. (11:22)
6. Present your body a living sacrifice to God, holy, acceptable unto God. (12:1)
7. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (12:2)
8. Think soberly. (12:3)
9. Prophesy according to the proportion of faith. (12:6)
10. Attend to ministering, teaching, and exhortation. (12:7)
11. Give with simplicity. (12:8)
12. Rule with diligence. (12:8)
13. Show mercy with cheerfulness. (12:8)
14. Love without dissimulation. (12:9)
15. Abhor that which is evil. (12:9)
16. Cleave to that which is good. (12:9)
17. Be kindly affectioned with brotherly love. (12:10)
18. In honor, prefer others. (12:10)
19. Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. (12:11)
20. Rejoice in hope. (12:12)
21. Be patient in tribulation. (12:12)
22. Continue instant in prayer. (12:12)
23. Distribute to the necessity of the saints. (12:13)
24. Be given to hospitality. (12:13)
25. Bless them which persecute you. (12:14)
26. Rejoice with those who rejoice. (12:15)
27. Weep with those who weep. (12:15)
28. Condescend to men of low estate. (12:16)
29. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. (12:17)
30. Live peaceably with all men. (12:18)
31. Feed your hungry enemy. (12:20)
32. Give your thirsty enemy drink. (12:20)
33. Overcome evil with good. (12:21)
34. Be subject unto the higher power. (13:1)
35. Pay tribute. (13:6)
36. Render to all authorities their dues. (13:7)
37. Love one another. (13:8)
38. Cast off the works of darkness. (13:12)
39. Put on the armour of light. (13:12)
40. Walk honestly. (13:13)
41. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. (13:14)
42. Recieve the weak in faith. (14:1)
43. Be persuaded of the importance (or lack thereof) of holy days in your own mind. (14:5)
44. Follow after things which make for peace and edifying. (14:19)
45. Bear the infirmities of the weak. (15:1)
46. Please your neighbor for his good to edification. (15:2)
47. Recieve one another. (15:7)
48. Mark and avoid them which cause divisions contrary to true doctrine. (16:17)

Monday, November 11, 2013

Was typhoon Haiyan God's judgement?

As substantial news begins to trickle in about the wreckage left in the wake of one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall, the massive scale of the damage - particularly the potential of the final numbers - is truly staggering. It is feared that 10,000 may be dead already in one city alone, and as relief teams begin to penetrate the more rural areas that number may not be simply added to, but multiplied. All of this fails to account for deaths that potentially may come in the following days and months from disease, malnutrition, and starvation as the realities of looted hospitals, unburied bodies, and deserting personnel sets in.
As Christians, nay as humans, it is natural for us to ask why. Not a meteorologic why, but a philosophic why. What is the purpose for all of this suffering and death? The humanistic evolutionist would tell you that there is no rhyme or reason, that it is all an unfortunate accident of blind nature and chance. But as Christians, particularly those of us who believe in an all sovereign God who designs and commands the weather (Psalm 135:6-7 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.) we cannot accept that as a suitable answer. Why would God direct Typhoon Haiyan into this disaster-prone country with inadequate infra-structure to deal with such devastation? The first conclusion we jump to is that God must be judging this nation! Yes, that must be it, these people with their strange blend of Roman Catholicism and cultural mysticism have finally been judged by God with this massive wall of water, figuratively washing away the sins of these people! We've already decided that was God's purpose behind Hurricane Katrina and the indonesian tsunami, here again we pat ourselves on our collective backs for being bright enough to figure out what God is doing, and we nod our heads in consent to the grand justice those people received. However, let me insert a word of caution before we become too settled in our minds that this is the certain answer.
Job's friends were all in consensus that his material, familial, and physical devastation had come upon him as judgement from God for some particular sin. Though not one could put a definitive finger on just what it was, that did not stop them from making lots of guesses and never swayed them from their first and now deep-seated impression that it was God's judgement. The problem is, at the beginning of the story we're given a behind-the-scenes look at what really was going on between Satan and God and at the end of the narrative we find God rebuking Job's friends for making false accusations about both Job and more importantly God himself!
Roughly 2,000 years later, Jesus ran into the same assumptions by his followers on multiple occasions, was the man blind because God was judging him or his parents for sin? (John 9:2) What grievous sin had the Galilaeans committed that God caused them to be killed by Pilate? (Luke 13:1) Or what were the heinous crimes perpetrated by those whom God crushed under the fallen tower of Siloam? (Luke 13:4) And every single time Jesus had the same answer for them, this was not judgement from God for any particular sin but a result of sin in general which reminds us that we all must repent and thus bring glory to God.
While I do agree that sin has built in consequences that are not pleasant, and while I do not disagree that God has and may still judge individuals and nations by acts of nature, let me also point out that almost every time someone in scripture thought they knew the mind of God in the midst of a tragedy, appropriating judgement as the necessary answer, they were wrong. Do the Phillipines deserve judgement more than America? Do we imagine that since we stamp "In God We Trust" on our fiat currency, he will excuse the "Against God We Rebel" stamped on our hearts? Does our official pledge (of allegiance to a piece of cloth representing an earthly kingdom... But that's another discussion altogether) of "one nation, under God" blind him to the fact that we refuse to be under his Lordship and make a mockery of his commandments at every turn? No, but unless we repent, we shall all likewise perish!
Secondly, why do we assume that large catastrophes equal God's judgement but small ones do not? Many who assert that this storm was an outpouring of God's wrath against sin would be appalled if we we made that same claim if a single child drowned in a stream. But because this was so large, so far away, and thus so impersonal, we have many who find it easy to stay atop their holy perches and dictate to us all what exactly God is doing in this situation.
Lastly, the assumption that this typhoon was God's judgement on sin, is a very light opinion of sin. Every one of the people who have died in this storm or will die as a result of it were going to die eventually anyways. Many of these people may have died a much quicker and less painful death than they would have had the storm never blown their way. God judges sin in two ways, by pouring out his wrath against it on Jesus as he hung on the cross and by pouring it out on those who rejected Jesus for an eternity in hell. A typhoon does not begin to compare with the gravity of either of those.
Instead of trying to figure out why God judged the Philippines, why don't we let God be God and we his servants obedient to his commands. Which are,
1. To repent ourselves, seeing what misery sin has brought into the world.
2. To love our neighbors as ourselves, look into how you can help the people of the Philippines.
3. To preach the gospel to all people, rejoicing with those who accept it and mourning for those who reject it, knowing that they will face a final judgement that makes the largest typhoon on record look like a gentle rain.