Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”

Malachi 1:2-5

Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!” Malachi 1:5

I return to my study of the last four books of the OT using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book, moving on to Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament.  Today, I complete a commentary-assisted review of Malachi 1:2-5 by reading the text accompanied by the commentary's introduction to this book, as well as commentary specifically for 1:2-5 - which has three divisions.  

In the introduction, the commentary shares the following excerpts:

• "Throughout Malachi we will see how God, as a loving Father, confronts, corrects, and challenges the people of Israel about straying from Him. No one is excluded."
• "Malachi is a call for Israel to return to God before the Messiah comes to earth, for it was written to a people who lived in expectation of Him, but who had not yet seen Him."
• "Fortunately, the message of Malachi is not only for those who hadn’t yet encountered the Messiah, for its message is not merely, “shape up, because the Messiah is coming”; it is, “evaluate yourself, for you are not measuring up to what is required of you.” Just as the people in Malachi’s day were to introspectively evaluate their walks with God, we must take an inventory of our lives as well."
• Malachi in the text is referred to as "My Messenger" or "My Angel," and this reference has multiple meanings including word of the Lord to Israel, word of the Lord to the priesthood, the forerunner to the Messiah, and the Messiah Himself.
• Malachi was a contemporary of Nehemiah - see also this overview of the book of Nehemiah.
• The audience of the book is a unified Israel and written during 450 and 430 BC after Cyrus of Persia's decree that all Jews return to the land of their forefathers. 
• The temple has been rebuilt and the priesthood reestablished.
• Moral degradation is at all-time high.
• Malachi looks forward to the Messiah.
  

Looking at the text 1:2-5, the commentary outlines the following divisions:

• 1:2a God substantiates His love for His people through His declaration: Although throughout the OT Israel often misses it, God repeatedly asserts His love for His people by protection of Israel and punishment of its enemies.  One such example is how God rescued Israel out of bondage from Egypt while Pharaoh and his armies drowned in the Red Sea.  Of course, there are MANY others! For believers, we should be reminded that God loved us first and while we were still sinners, hostile and an enemy to Him!
• 1:2b God substantiates His love for His people through His election: Our actions do not determine our faith - instead our faith is a gift from God delivered as a result of God's purpose alone.  The commentary points to how the text uses the example of Esau and how Paul describes God's love for Jacob (vs Esau) in Romans 9:10-12 and shares: "God’s election, then, is not influenced by human interaction or cooperation. He chose Abraham out of all the people of the world. He chose Abraham’s son, Isaac, instead of his half-brother, Ishmael. He chose Jacob over his older brother, Esau. He chose the Israelites over all other nations. But He did not choose them based on their merit....The point is not that God loved Jacob more than Esau, but that He desired to make a covenant with Jacob instead of Esau. Consequently, the reason why election is referred to in Malachi 1 is not to create a sense of exclusion. Instead, election is deployed by the prophet to comfort and reassure the people of God."  
  
• 1:3-5 God substantiates His love for His people through His rejection: "God’s rejection of Edom is a response to their wickedness. There is a contrast in the text between wicked Edom and blessed Israel....God’s love for Israel should not be left to speculation. He pointed the people to a historical event to prove His love: the people of God had been brought back from Babylonian captivity while the land of Edom remained in perpetual ruin."
  

The doctrine of election is intended to humble us, reminding us that God's love for believers is not the result of anything we did or do.  We should not respond with a sense of entitlement nor arrogance and we should not be self-reliant as God alone provides - John 15:5 reminds us that apart from God we can do nothing.  We should also see how God loves us even in our punishment, and that He welcomes back those who repent as the commentary closes with a reference to the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.   

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and love me - not because of anything I do or did, but simply because You are full of grace.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of my salvation nor any of the blessings You pour out for me. My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family,  my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Acts 13:48

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48

While I have completed my study of Zechariah and it's time to transition to Malachi (as part of my study of the last four books of the OT using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book), I pause before moving to Malachi to study Acts 13-14 as preparation for my Sunday school discussion this upcoming Sunday. For today, I lean on DesiringGod.com's Look at Book video for Acts 13:48 (Part 1 of 2) where John Piper unpacks the text looking at the doctrine unconditional election.  The key question at hand is who or what was the decisive cause of our faith? The text is clear on this question - not just with this verse which describes how many Gentiles "were appointed to eternal life [and] believed."  It is God who is of course doing the appointing or election and this election is unconditional because there is nothing we can do to earn this election.  Piper refers us to John 10:26-27, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:24-26 which support this doctrine.  To conclude the lab, Piper then shares how there are several takeaways from the text in terms of how it should move us: (1) we should be humble because we know it is God who gives us faith and it is not of our own doing, (2) we should be thankful because it is a gift God gives us to us and it is of course of value (an understatement!) and a blessing, and (3) we should have hope for others, even the hardest of sinners because there is no obstacle to faith that God cannot tear down for someone to come to faith.  This also reinforces a key theme I've been looking at with Acts 13-14 - that Paul and Barnabas, as the travel on their 1st missionary journey, are persistent in sharing the Good News with others, even when some reject it.  When you allow the Holy Spirit to work through you to speak boldly about the Good News of Jesus Christ, it is Christ who is the decisive cause of whether someone listening will become one of God's elect.  When someone does not believe, it does not change our mission to continue sharing the gospel - our job is to share the Good News, not to soften hearts, bring someone to repentance, or to bring about election - these are all the job of God and Him alone.  We may be an instrument of His but not the decisive cause.  

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God and my Savior! Thank You for the gift of my faith!  I am not deserving!  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 24-25

I proceed with my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my study consists of a review of Jude 24-25, the final verses of Jude, typically used as a doxology.  A doxology is defined as a short-praise hymn that is part (typically concluding) of a worship service. Concluding words are certainly in order as Jude wraps us his letter focused primarily on warnings about false teachers and teachings.  Jude tells us in vv22-23 to show mercy to others, including those who doubt the gospel, and those who desperately need it and who are dangerously close lost-ness forever.  In vv24-25, Jude comforts believers with these parting words about how God protects believers from falling away, and how He sees us blameless - not condemned (see also Romans 8:1). These verses also share how God presents us to Himself with great joy (similar to how God the Father was pleased with Jesus at His baptism. Finally, Jude provides us with a portrait of Jesus Christ as our only God, our savior, worthy of all glory, majesty, with dominion and authority over all, as the Alpha and Omega. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loved me while I was still sinning, hostile to You, and then saved me and made me a child of God.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.   Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus[.]

Ephesians 2

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus[.] Ephesians 2:4-6

This morning, I pause my study of 1 Corinthians to use DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today explores the the pre-salvation state of believers and how our salvation is a "totally unconditional and utterly free act of God....This freedom is the very heart of grace."  In describing our pre-salvation state, John Piper shares that "we were dead to God. We were unresponsive; we had no true spiritual taste or interest; we had no spiritual eyes for the beauties of Christ; we were simply dead to all that ultimately matters." Piper then shares that "[t]hen God acted — unconditionally — before we could do anything to be fit vessels of his presence. He made us alive. He sovereignly awakened us from the sleep of spiritual death, to see the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). The spiritual senses that were dead, miraculously came to life." Using Ephesians 2:4-6, Piper then emphasizes "the free-ness of grace" by pointing to verse 5 (and how Paul says the same thing in v8). Piper concludes the devotion by sharing rhetorically a question that looks at believers' election and says  an "what act could be more one-sidedly free and non-negotiated than one person raising another from the dead! This is the meaning of grace." Soak in this grace and love God for being rich in mercy!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for  - saving me!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such grace and compassion and mercy.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13

I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today looks at questions many believers have, which is how can I be assured that once God chooses me as one of His elect that I will also endure and persevere such that I can have final salvation.  Piper frames the question this way: "[t]he Bible speaks of our election — God’s choosing us — in Christ before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4) before we had done anything good or evil (Romans 9:11). Therefore, our election is unconditional in the strictest sense. Neither our faith nor our obedience is the basis of it. It is free and utterly undeserved. On the other hand, dozens of passages in the Bible speak of our final salvation (as opposed to our election in eternity past) as conditional upon a changed heart and life." Piper answers this question, using 2 Peter 1:10, Deuteronomy 30:6, and Ezekiel 36:27, by sharing that election is the start of God working in my heart and life, and it is not the end as God.  God will cause and bring about obedience to Him and continue the sanctifying work over the course of your earthly journey with Christ. Piper wraps the devotion by writing: "[e]lection is God’s eternal commitment to do this for his people. So, election guarantees that those whom God justifies by faith he will most assuredly glorify (Romans 8:30). This means that he will unfailingly work in us all the conditions laid down for glorification." Important question and encouraging indeed!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - thank You Jesus for never leaving or forsaking me and for the ongoing work of sanctification in my heart and life.  I am not deserving of such blessings and love and grace.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me and help me turn from and overcome such sin by turning to You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

Isaiah 42-44

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:19

I continue with my deep dive of Isaiah, based on the Precept Upon Precept study series. Today, I continue with Lesson 16, wrapping up the remaining lesson questions from Day 4, where the focus is Isaiah 43-44:5. My commentary raises the concept of reprobation, which I had never learned prior. The commentary raises this concept in the context of Isaiah 43:19 where God says that He saves believers but does not save others. This of course makes our own salvation even more amazing because as John Piper points out in DesiringGod.com that "[God] doesn’t choose to save certain people because they are better than others (unconditional election), [and] neither does he choose not to save certain people because they are worse than others (unconditional reprobation, or double predestination). Rather, everybody is lost in sin and no one has anything to recommend them to God above anyone else."  Believers rejoice and be thankful for the amazing grace He has poured out for us!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who saved me - not through my own actions but out of only amazing grace - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You love me nor of my salvation.  My sin continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

Acts 16

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. v14

As a follow up to my post from a few days ago, I once again have another example of unconditional election - in Lydia.   See also John Piper's use of Lydia as an example.

I gain much peace from this morning's scripture because I worry alot about the faith of Zach and Dustin - yet I must understand that faith is a gift from God and that my worry will not help - only prayer that God will produce a miracle of faith in Zach and Dustin.  I must focus on my own faith.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who gave me the gift of faith and who adopted me into Your family - thank You Jesus!  I am blessed beyond what I deserve.  I worry and I have other sin.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium.

Acts 13

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. v48

In Acts 13, we see Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus (with John Mark), proclaiming the word of God in the Jewish synagogues (v4).  They encounter a sorcerer and false prophet, confront him, and this interaction triggers belief in those who witnessed it (v6-12).  They then travel on to Pisidian Antioch where they were invited to stay for at least two Sabbaths and Paul and Barnabas encounter both a warm reception and hostility; they respond boldly to this hostility (v46) and we see v48 which raises the question of "unconditional election" and John Piper gives us five reasons to embrace unconditional election. 

I recently posted on how faith is a gift from God.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, what an awesome God You are that You gave me faith - thank You Jesus!  Thank You for transforming my heart and life and for giving me a new heart!  I am undeserving.  I worry and I have other sin.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.