1 Timothy 2:8

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; (ESV)

So if prayer is the goal, let’s examine it a bit.

What is prayer?

Prayer is a privilege.  Prayer is a direct line of communication and communion with our Father, the God of all creation, being facilitated by the perfection of his Trinitarian being.  The Spirit helps us convey our prayers even when all we can let out is a sob and a tear, or we are so confused and scared we don’t know what to say to God.  Our Lord Jesus Christ takes the prayers of an unholy sinner and covers them with his blood and forgiveness making them worthy to present to His Father.  Our Father God receives these prayers as a loving Father who listens to His children in pure and perfect love.  I pray because I want to talk to my Father in Heaven, not only out of Biblical commands, but also out of Joy that I am allowed unlimited audiences with the highest authority in the Universe.

(Read on …)

If one idea could be used to express the idea of how we should live our life as righteous Christians, what would it be?  Some may say to live every day as if it were your last.  Some may say it is the golden rule.  In my personal opinion the singular idea that can express how we should live as Christians is “Coram Deo”. What does it mean?  Well, it is obviously a Latin phrase, let’s take a moment and dissect it.

• Coram (preposition which takes the ablative case) = in the presence of
• Deo (ablative of DEUS, as CORAM takes the ablative) = God

So the combined idea here is “in the presence of God”.  I believe that if we understand and apply this one concept the rest falls into place; the golden rule, the commandments, everything.  We are to live every moment of our life as though we are living in the presence of God (Coram Deo).  Every thought, every action, every word said, every second of our existence must be lived in the presence of, under the authority of, and to the honor and glory of God.  You cannot compartmentalize your life having one portion for the  religious “God stuff”, and one portion for everything else.  If you try to do this you are missing the entire point of being one of His chosen people.  You either live your entire life and existence with God’s will and grace in sight, or you live none of it in His will or grace.  Does this mean you’re not allowed to mess up?  Not at all.  He expects it and always has the exact portion of grace needed to cover it.  You, however, are called to live a righteous and Godly life, period.  You are not called to make everyone happy, have tons of friends, and live in a nice four bedroom in the suburbs.  You are to be aware of the presence of God and also to be acutely aware of His sovereignty.  He alone is God.  Your friends are not God, your job or career is not God, your family and relatives are not God, but He does work through and in all those areas.  Especially when you live your life in a pleasing and glorifying manner to Him.

Coram Deo means that if a person fulfills his or her vocation as a farmer, attorney, or homemaker coram Deo, then that person is acting every bit as righteously as an evangelist or pastor who fulfills his vocation.

To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity. It is a life of wholeness that finds its unity in the majesty of God. A fragmented life is marked by inconsistency, disharmony, confusion, conflict, contradiction, and chaos.  God is not a God of chaos, but of order (1 Cor 14:33).

We are to consistently live the same life as if we are doing to before God himself (because we are).  You should be the same person out of church that you are in church.  Everything you do should be done as if you are doing it, not just in His presence, but for His glory and honor.  We are to live a life of humility and principle under the constant guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Living life coram Deo makes all the trifles in our day-to-day life seem very insignificant and helps us rightly realize God’s love and compassion to have a real relationship with us.  Be like Enoch and walk with God Coram Deo (Genesis 5:22,24).

I pray Shalom to you as you strive to live a Righteous Godly life Coram Deo.

What is God’s grace and how does it relate to salvation?
This is such a large topic; I will attempt to begin to scratch the surface of it in a method as worthy to God as I can while gleaning from many resources what I can to present this in an understandable method.

The word translated as grace in the the New Testaments of Scripture comes from the Greek word χάρις (charis [khar'-ece]). The Apostle Paul uses this word to refer to the unmerited and freely given favor and mercy which God bestows upon the sinner in salvation. Through this grace, the sinner is delivered from sin and judgment. Even though it is given freely this grace is very precious and costly since it was bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. A person who is saved by grace has no basis for boasting in his salvation for he has done nothing to earn or merit it. There is no amount of good works or lawful behavior that can earn salvation by this grace.

The gospel of grace is the only true gospel.

(Read on …)

Philippians 4:6-7

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

Why do we pray?  Is it because the Bible says to?  Partly, yes, but it goes much deeper than that to me.  Prayer is a privilege.  Prayer is a direct line of communication and communion with our Father, the God of all creation, being facilitated by the perfection of his Trinitarian being.  The Spirit helps us convey our prayers even when all we can let out is a sob and a tear, or we are so confused and scared we don’t know what to say to God.  Our Lord Jesus Christ takes the prayers of an unholy sinner and covers them with his blood and forgiveness making them worthy to present to His Father.  Our Father God receives these prayers as a loving Father who listens to His children in pure and perfect love.  I pray because I want to talk to my Father in Heaven, not only out of Biblical commands, but also out of Joy that I am allowed unlimited audiences with the highest authority in the Universe.

Is there anything that can hinder our prayers?  There certainly is.  This is not an all-inclusive list, but I will try to list some of the Biblical conditions for prayers to be answered, but remember all things are up to God and his plan, not your wanton desires.

(Read on …)

Sin is bad. I know I sound like a preschooler explaining sin, but so many people seem to miss the mark on sin that I felt I should get back to the basics. This post is not about sin per-say, but about how we sin in responding to sin. As a sinner, I know I’ve fallen short, but I also know that sometimes I sin when I’m responding to my sin and trying to repent of my sin. I will provide a very short, and nowhere near complete, list of some common sinful responses to sin. Not only will this help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls in responding to your own sin, but will also help you recognize brothers and sisters in Christ who are using the same tactics to dodge their own sin. We can’t love our fellow Christians if we are unwilling to help them in love. (I will discuss Biblical discipline and shepherding in another post.)

1. We minimize our sin. We like to say, “Oh well, at least I didn’t kill someone like that other person.” We like to make it seem that as long as there is someone else out there sinning worse than we are that we are fine and get ourselves out of our guilty feelings.
2. We legitimize our sin. We believe our sin is different from anyone else’s. We may even try to say that since God, in His gracious nature, used it for His grace and purposes, that it was good that we sinned in that way. This is a despicable lie to us, and a horrible affront to the grace of God. We are trying to use His grace to justify our sin as a good thing, not the evil it truly is.
3. We shift the blame. This is the oldest response to sin in the book. Literally. Adam and Eve did this right off the bat. Eve blamed Satan and Adam blamed Eve and God since he made her. We can see how well that excuse worked in Genesis 3.
4. We rationalize our sin. We try to rationalize some extenuating circumstances usually by wearing down listeners by speaking profusely. Trying to convince the listener with their perspectives, motives, and the conditions surrounding their sin. We try to convince others to sympathize with us so as to compel them to excuse our sin.
5. We distract from our sin. We try to backpedal with the someone misunderstood us, or we were just joking, or the person who brought it up was just being mean and jealous excuses.
6. We partially confess our sin. In pride, we only tell part of our sin when we should simply, clearly, honestly, and completely tell all that we have done. Remember, God knows what you have done, don’t act dishonestly with the one from whom your grace flows.
7. We limit the regret of our sin. This is what Paul refers to as “worldly grief” (2 Cor 7:10).  We don’t truly put our sin to death, we only regret the consequences, or effects, of it not the actual sin.

This should give you a bit to chew on. We are to love sinners. To be able to love sinners we absolutely must take their sin seriously, the same way God does. If we don’t we rob ourselves, and every other sinner, the divine dignity which God grants to us as His image bearers. This may be best summed up by Plantinga, “We ought to pay evildoers, including ourselves, of the ‘intolerable compliment’ of taking them seriously as moral agents, of holding them accountable for their wrongdoing. This is a mark of our respect for their dignity and weight as human beings.” Sin is a corruption of us, we were not meant for it. To allow ourselves or other sinners to respond to our sin by sinning further is unloving and even cruel towards us and God.

The temptation is to look for elements of human sovereignty in our deliverance, to theorize ways to hold God responsible for our mistakes, and to hope that there might not be some degree of truth in Satan’s claim that man can be “as God” (Genesis 3:5). We have to mature in the faith and become familiar with Scripture before we begin to overcome this temptation in our lives.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)