God equates Scripture with Himself

We were studying Galatians 3 on Sunday, and as our pastor read through it, I noticed for the first time that in verse 8 the word Scripture is used basically as a synonym for God. Here is the passage:

Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

It says the Scripture 'forsees' and the Scripture 'preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand'. The Scripture, as in written scripture, was not written yet, but God Himself spoke to Abraham and gave the promise that through him all the nations would be blessed. In this passage the Holy Spirit teaches that God's word is synonymous with Himself. In Psalm 138:2 it says: I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Apparently God considers scripture to be an extension of Himself.

If I have not love, I am nothing

1 Corinthians 13

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

God gives His people wonderful gifts. He first gives us salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of the body of Christ (the church) to help us in this life. He gives us the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us to fulfill the commands He has given us to make disciples and to love, encourage and uplift the body of Christ. The gifts of knowledge, prophecy (speaking God's word), and understanding, and many others, are great gifts and very necessary. However the greatest gift is also the one that Jesus taught as the greatest commandment, which He gave us here in Mark 12:29-31: “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” God's plan from before the beginnning of creation was to create a people who would have this law of love in their hearts and so live to glorify Him and love Him and one another. There is nothing more important than this.
God has been gradually teaching me this lesson over the last year or so, and probably longer. I've gotten side-tracked sometimes by the cares and distractions of this life, but He keeps bringing me back to it. For me, it takes the form of learning that any knowledge and understanding I may have (or think I have) is nothing compared to the love that He showed me and that He commands me to show to others. He also, by grace through the Holy Spirit, gives me the ability to love others, and I need to keep walking in that love in my daily life as I interact with my family, other believers, and all that I meet.
The second form it takes is a continuation of the first, that I must give of the gifts and talents He has given me to uplift the Body of Christ, not giving in to fear and timidity. One of my precious friends once said to someone "Don't be a blessing stealer!' She meant 'you need to share what God has given so we all can be blessed.' That stuck with me. So ya'll pray for me as I try to walk in love. And forgive me for when I haven't but instead have used knowledge as a way to puff myself up. God bless all who come here!

Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Merry Christmas! Celebrate the Incarnation! Matthew 2:1-12

Here's a really good post by Ken at Beggars All:

Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Merry Christmas! Celebrate the Incarnation! Matthew 2:1-12

Isaiah 55

1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
5 Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the LORD your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “ For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

1 Peter 1: "For you who through Him believe in God"

1 Peter 1

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because


“ All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.”



Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

The Church doesn't build itself, nor is the 'Church' the authority for believers: God's Word is

John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

The Word and the Spirit: Eric of 'He was fragged for our sins' blog

Here's a good post by Eric of 'He was fragged for our sins' about how 'Word' church people and 'Spirit' church people can and should unite and help each other.

The Church and the Work: The Rest of the Old Old Story/Paul Pavao

The Church and the Work

This post by Shammah (Paul Pavao) was from an email sent to me as part of a conversation about the way the body of Christ should work and why it doesn't often work the way it should in most congregations. As Shammah said, I think the main reason is fear. Fear stems from pride which is the greatest sin. The opposite of these sinful emotions is love and humility. The word of God says 'The truth shall set you free' and 'Perfect love casts out fear.' We can only be set free from our sinful fear by the truth of God's word and the power of His spirit working in us. We can only love God and each other by that truth and power as well. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit work in each believer and each congregation to unite us into the Body of Christ.
The Lord has been stirring up alot of things in me that need to be dealt with from the past; there were issues in my marriage that had changed for the better but I recently realized I had not dealt with the feelings and effects from those earlier times. This has all come together with the realization that the church as a whole is failing to function as a body united by one Spirit, loving one another unconditionally, even as we know each other in all our faults and failures. The Body (church) has to work together with the Word of God (who is Christ Himself revealed in Scripture) and the Holy Spirit (who is in us) in order to function as Jesus intended. My failures can be healed and my gifts can be used only as I allow myself to be vulnerable within the church that God has put me and my family in. My extreme introversion makes me one of those who fails the most at this, but it also gives God the glory when He makes His strength perfect in me. To God be the glory!

The Word, the Spirit, and the Body Spread the Gospel and Make the Body One

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:4-6


1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Why You Have to Listen to the Spirit: Britt Mooney

'Why You Have to Listen to the Spirit', on Britt Mooney's blog, Drunken Mystic

The Word is Alive, By Casting Crowns: Video

Here's a video of another one of my favorite songs I found on Youtube. It's 'The Word is Alive' by Casting Crowns. I think of the Word first as Jesus Christ, who is the Logos or the Word who was begotten by the Father in eternity past, and is of one substance with the Father and the Spirit. The scriptures are the very words of God that came forth from His mouth and His Spirit and are an extension of Himself given to us for the purpose of revealing Himself to those who will believe and obey Him.