In the arms of Jesus

   When I was eight years old, my mom had a third child.  My baby sister had to stay in the hospital in an incubator for a week because she was struggling to get oxygen when born.  I could not see my baby sister at the hospital since kids were not allowed in that area.  It was hard on me waiting to see my sister.  Yet the time came when she was able to come home.  My grandparents were in town, and they had taken me and my other sister out to dinner.  I was told that when we returned home, my mom would be back from the hospital.  Getting out of the car in the parking lot of our townhouse complex, my dad was there to greet us and said Mom and the baby were inside.  I immediately ran toward our townhouse.  I ran fast.
   Entering the townhouse, I ran up the flight of stairs.  Going into my parent’s bedroom, there was my mom with the baby.  I was so excited, and I told my mom I wanted to be the first one to hold the baby.  Mom had me sit on the edge of her bed, which was rather low to the floor.  Then she unwrapped the blanket a bit from the baby, and placed my baby sister in my arms.  Looking at that baby was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.
   Every Christmas is an opportunity to “look” upon the baby Jesus lying on hay.  Every Christmas is an opportunity to imagine holding the Savior of the world in your arms.  Looking at that baby, I go from being reminded of the miracle of life to being reminded of the overwhelming fact that Jesus, God the Son, came to us as a baby.  And that baby whom Mary held in her arms in a manger over two thousand years ago is now God who holds me in His arms when all hope seems lost.  Jesus was a man, yet He was no mere man, rather Jesus was the Christ, fully human and fully God.
   Christmas is a special opportunity to remember the birth of Christ, yet we now know the full story since that birthday.  Because of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, there is hope offered to all people.  Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitutional atonement for the wages of sin.  If you believe in Jesus, you will have everlasting life, and be held spiritually by Jesus forever.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

What if I do not feel like giving thanks?

I Thessalonians 5:18   “…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

   Recently I have not felt thankful much.  First, I have been unemployed for a marathon long time, which has been awful.  Second, it has been a longtime dream to be married, and this summer I attended a Christian singles group hoping to find a dating opportunity, but most in the group were older than myself, and I did not even come close to one date.  And further attempts to find a singles group for people in my age range in the Denver area came up empty.

   Jesus, when He was being crucified on the cross, did not give thanks He was saving numerous people.  Instead He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).  That is because as He took the sins of all people upon Himself, He suffered the consequence of separation from God the Father.  There was actually a separation in the very being of God for a period of time for the sake of people.

   Even Christians are not always going to feel thankful in this fallen world where separation has taken place, and due to our own sinfulness.  Yet we followers of Jesus are united with God, indwelled with the Holy Spirit, thanks to that sacrifice by Jesus.  Thus we can always be thankful in our hearts, if for only one thing, for the fact Jesus died for us.  Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitutional atonement for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death in h-ll.  Then He was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be forgiven of sins, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and you will have eternal life with Him.

Hunter

Colossians 4:18

Colossians 4:18    I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.  Remember my chains.  Grace be with you. (NIV)

   In doing this study on Colossians, I have grown to admire Paul more as I have further realized he went all out for proclaiming the gospel.  That passion ended up getting him “under chains” for a long time.  When he wrote this letter, he was under arrest in Rome where he had been transported in Roman custody from Caesarea.  Previously, he had been in prison in Caesarea for two years, from 57 to 59 A.D. (Acts 24:27).  The reason: for preaching the gospel, as is shown in Acts.

   Before being sent to Rome, there was a new governor in Judea.  That new governor had a king, King Agrippa, listen to Paul.  Paul gave a defense to the king, including a testimony.  After being interrupted by the governor, Paul addressed the king: "'King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?  I know you do.'

   Then Agrippa said to Paul, 'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?'

   Paul replied, 'Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains'" (Acts 26:27-29).

   Paul, after so much misery, could have quit.  Yet he continued proclaiming Christ crucified and resurrected before governors and kings, before common people, and in letters such as this one to Colossians.  And incredibly, his desire was for all to be saved, even those who had him in chains!  Because of his faithfulness, God used Paul to write Scripture which we are blessed by today almost two thousand years later.

   Tragically, a few years after writing this letter, Paul was executed for his witness of Christ under the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero.  Paul is in heaven now.  After studying this letter to the Christians at Colossae, if Paul were in the room I would give him a hug and say, “Thank you brother.”  And I conclude this personal commentary on Colossians by saying, “Thank You Jesus!”

Hunter

Colossians 4:7-17

Colossians 4:7-17    Tychicus will tell you all the news about me.  He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.  I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.  He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you.  They will tell you everything that is happening here.  My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)  Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings.  These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.  Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings.  He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.  I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.  Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.  Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.  After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.  Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” (NIV)

   I like the closings to Biblical epistles!  Many contain the names of people and places which give an exclamation mark to the fact Christianity consists of the family of God.  That is why the terms brothers and sisters are used.  True Christianity necessitates a relationship with Jesus, and receiving Jesus means being adopted into the family of God (John 1:12-13).  And Jesus enables us to be in loving family relationships.  A number of those family relationships are challenging, sometimes even hurtful, yet they are legit.

   A key insight into the family of God here concerns Onesimus.  That man left Colossae as a runaway slave, yet thanks to Jesus he returned to Colossae a brother in Christ.  Paul calls him a brother, going so far as to state Onesimus is “one of you.”  We learn further of how Paul stated Onesimus was no longer a “slave” rather a “brother,” in the letter which is Scripture which Paul gave Onesimus to give Philemon when they arrived in Colossae.  Christianity is about the dignity of every human being, since we were all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  The Bible is not advocating slavery.  The Bible is giving an invitation to join a forever family.

   I close by stating the obvious: Christianity is not one big happy family in this world.  Among Christians, there are sadly ample divisions and ample sins, which always lead to hurt.  Yet all people who have received Jesus in their hearts are ever growing in the love and knowledge of Jesus.  And one day when we are all in heaven, the family of Jesus will be perfectly loving, for real.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 4:2-6

Colossians 4:2-6    Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.  Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.  Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (NIV)

   As a follower of Jesus, I have long been convicted by Scripture and the Holy Spirit that the most important thing I can do is clearly explain the gospel, and to proclaim it from my heart.  Paul had such a conviction, and asked for prayers he would be enabled to do so.

   Thus for this unusually short piece, I give a Gospel message: Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus was the substitutional atonement for the consequences of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then on the third day Jesus was resurrected!  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 3:18 - 4:1

Colossians 3:18 - 4:1    Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.  Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.  Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.  Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. (NIV)

   Note there is a qualifier for the first instruction to wives by Paul, “as is fitting in the Lord.”  In no way is this promoting any kind of abuse.  Also, as I have written before, this is not giving men license to be bossy to their wife.  Jesus taught, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).  No one likes to be bossed around, so men, do not be bossy to your wife!

   Once I was at a Christian bookstore poking around a clearance section and saw a t-shirt which said, “I love my wife.”  It was on sale for dirt cheap, it was my size, and since I have long dreamed of having a wife, I wanted to buy it.  I did not, because I thought if any Christian single women saw me in it they would think I was married and then my chances of getting a wife would be zero.  Yet the fact is I have loved my future wife even though I do not even have a girlfriend.  I have waited for her by abstaining from you know what.  By God’s mercy and grace I have stayed away from pictures of naked women, which is challenging in this day and age with the Internet, yet it can be done.  It is a decision of the heart.  I have dreamed of talking with my future wife, serving her, and holding her.  Married men, if you want to glorify Jesus in your life, spend more time talking with your wife, serving your wife, and holding your wife.

   Regarding the raising of children, one thing I can assure you parents, if you love your children and you live a life of good behavior, your children are more likely to obey you out of admiration!  Children learn much from simply watching how their parents interact with each other and of course they learn from how their parents treat them.  If your life exhibits care and service towards your wife and children, trust me, your children will learn goodness from you.

   Then we get to the controversial slavery passage.  I have written before this is not approving of slavery.  Unfortunately Paul does not address the fact that slavery as a practice is morally wrong.  Instead he focuses on the behavior of individuals, telling slaves to work with a commitment to God, and telling “masters” they are to serve their “Master” in heaven.  However, I have addressed how slavery as a practice is morally wrong, and you can read about that in my one other blog concerning the faith of Abraham Lincoln: 

https://thefaithofabrahamlincoln.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-immorality-of-slavery.html

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 3:16-17

Colossians 3:16-17   Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever your do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (NIV)

   One of my favorite memories of my youngest sister is when she was in early elementary school.  There was a period of time when she would often dress up.  Once she was in an outfit on the 31st of October, and my family was at a mall in Virginia.  With complete confidence, my sister went on a stage right in the center of the mall and sang a song from a musical in front of numerous people.  She was great!  Kids often get encouraged to use their talents.  If only us adults would get more encouragement about using our talents.  Fortunately, when I was a young Christian, I learned God wants me to sing away to Him.  God is not concerned with our musical ability, rather He cares about the expression of our heart.  I did start singing to Him, and I liked it!

   Once when in an extremely challenging situation, I made an attempt to sing a song from my Christian song book every day.  Sometimes I was so tired, distraught, or lonely I did not feel like singing.  Yet I noticed that on the days I did, even when I did not feel like it, I honestly felt a little better prepared to handle the challenges of the day.  I have become more diligent in my singing practice, using a great song book I have.  Especially in this day and age where in many churches you cannot hear yourself sing since the rock bands are so loud, and some are unfortunately performance oriented, I think singing a song by yourself where you can hear yourself sing is great.  Whatever the circumstances, God can hear you sing.

   The primary author of this letter, Paul, sure practiced what he preached when he was in prison in Philippi.  “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25 NIV).

   Singing sure does go on in heaven as is shown in John’s vision.  “And when he had taken [the scroll], the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:8-9 NIV).

   Even Jesus sang hymns!  And He did so at the time right before His unimaginable agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.  After celebrating the Passover feast in the upper room, when Jesus instigated the Lord’s Supper, Scripture states how the meal was concluded: “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30 NIV).  Even the Messiah sang.  The sacrifice Jesus made for us gives us reason to sing.  Even more, the sacrifice Jesus made calls for us to allow the “word of Christ” to be nourished in our heart and to allow the Spirit of Christ to ever remind us of that sacrifice by Jesus.  Then we can do everything, with gratitude, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 3:15

Colossians 3:15    Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful. (NIV)

   The reason a follower of Jesus can have peace: first, our sins are forgiven.  Colossians 2:13 states: “…He forgave us all our sins…”  In the previous passage Paul listed numerous sins and stated: “Because of these, the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:6).  I have heard folks making light of “Judgment Day.”  Yet Revelation 20:11-15 makes it clear there will be a final judgment by God of people.  Those who turned away from Jesus are not saved by Jesus and will be permanently punished.  Thanks to Jesus, followers of Jesus will be innocent because our penalty was paid by Jesus!

   Secondly we can have peace since we are enabled to forgive others, which Paul commanded in Colossians 3:13.  I told about my grandma in the previous piece.  Soon after I moved to Denver after being away many years, I started spending time with my grandma who had only been a Christian for a short period of time.  Grandma normally was quite grumpy around holidays because she associated holidays with having a nice time with her husband, but he was gone.  They reminded her she was without.  Once when at her place, she was upset about something.  I do not remember any details, fortunately, but Grandma said something utterly hurtful to me.  I stormed out of her place and drove away.  I was so upset I soon turned onto a side street, parked, and went for a walk.  An affluent neighborhood near downtown Denver unfamiliar to me, I noticed all the houses were humongous.  Walking through the neighborhood, I calmed down.  I prayed I would forgive Grandma, and I did.  I finally drove back over to the other side of the metro area to my apartment.

   Only minutes after arriving home my phone rang.  It was Grandma, who apologized profusely.  I accepted her sincere apology.  Grandma and I went on to have a growing relationship in the love of Jesus.  When she passed away, I was the only one at her bedside.  Holding her hand, I sang to her as she passed into heaven.

   Thirdly, we can have peace since God keeps working to improve His children, in our hearts, being patient beyond belief.

   There have been periods in my life where there has seemed to be little for me to be thankful for.  Yet we can always be thankful Jesus died in our place to take the penalty we deserved, and we can be thankful Jesus made it possible for us to have loving relationships in this hurtful and hurting world.

+:  I thank You Jesus for loving us all!

Hunter Irvine

Colossians 3:5-14

Colossians 3:5-14    Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.  You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (NIV)

   Why does God have such a big problem with sin?  Sin blocks love.

   God is totally loving and God is totally holy, perfectly good.  To be in a permanent relationship with God, you need to be in a truly loving relationship with God, thus there can be no sin.  Jesus made that possible by His atonement on the cross.  Now people can be forgiven of all sins, and people can be changed to be holy by the Holy One.  Holiness is a call from God as Paul implies in verse twelve.  It requires being in Christ.

   We all have sinned, and we all have been hurt by the sins of others.  There is only one hope: Jesus.  Paul states: “…forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  Forgiveness is an aspect of love.  Jesus loves everyone.  Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitute for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  If a person believes in Jesus, and to truly believe is to receive, he or she is saved from h-ll, and he or she will have life with Jesus forever.

   And since a person who is saved is united with God, baptized with the Spirit of Christ, he or she is able to forgive others.  And he or she can improve with each and every sin listed.  It is a life long process, and it does require complete reliance on the Spirit of Christ.  Yet Paul is not soft on his language about what to do with sins; put them to death.

   Today on a warm and sunny mid-October day in Denver, I went for a walk by the retirement community where my grandma use to live.  Grandma passed away a decade ago.  We were close friends, and I was thinking about her.  Reading the list of sins in this passage, my grandma does not come to mind.  My grandma lived her life being faithful to her husband and she worked hard as a housewife.  But even my grandma struggled with sin.  Then when my grandpa died, she had much anger.  If my grandma was here today she would say she was not holy.  And she was not in a loving relationship with God decade after decade.

   In the wake of my grandpa passing away, Grandma moved into that retirement community and soon started going to a community church though she had not worshiped in a church her entire adult life.  My loyal grandma started attending week after week.  She had not read any of the Bible since a Sunday school back in the 1920’s.  Much of what the extraordinary pastor was teaching about was foreign to her.  Yet at some point, she started paying attention here and there.  Both of the ministers were kind to her, and she recognized that.  Eventually she gave her heart to Jesus.  My grandma in her late 70’s was forgiven by Jesus of all sins she had committed over many years.  And she was united with Jesus.  And though maybe not immediately evident on the surface, my grandma started to change.  Until she passed away, she still had plenty of struggles being a widow, but she became more and more loving as she grew closer and closer to Jesus.

   I add something personal here.  After that long walk yesterday, as I was driving by her building, I pictured her standing on her patio waving to me.  She use to do that when I would leave after spending the day with her.  I know the next time I see her do that will be a wave “hello” in heaven.

   Knowing Jesus will bring a desire to be more like Him, and He is holy.  God is not giving a list of sins to try and keep Christians from having fun.  The opposite, the Colossians were instructed to live a life of holiness, the result of which is a closer relationship with our great God, and a more loving relationship with our fellow human beings, who we are called to love.  Whatever your age, you can give your heart to Jesus today.  The decision is yours.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 3:1-4

Colossians 3:1-4    Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. (NIV)

   The standards and concerns of people in this world would comprise quite the long list.  The standard of God is succinct: be focused on His ways, and not on “earthly” ways.  The standard of God is to be ultimately committed to heaven.

   Being seated at the right hand of the Father symbolizes Jesus now reigns in heaven with the Father, because sitting down means royalty, and being at the right hand means power.  With boldness Paul exhorts us to follow Christ who is unseen, yet who was God incarnate, who was resurrected, who ascended into heaven, and who now reigns.  If you believed in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are saved by Jesus, and your life is in Christ.  Grow in Christ, since though your stature in the world may be slighted, your beautiful life “hidden” in Christ will one day be revealed.

   Driving by a car dealership near I 25 in Denver about one year ago, I read the large sign they have.  It stated: “Your true character is shown by what you do when no one is watching.”  I like that.  This statement does exclude God who can know what everyone is doing all the time.  And though your character is expressed by what you do, a person’s character is rooted in his or her heart.  And God knows all of our hearts.  He wants us to be the loving people He created us to be.

   Ever since my youth I have dreamed of being married, but it has yet to happen.  Thus few people know what I do throughout many hours of a given day.  Most do not know I almost always start my day by talking with God.  Most do not know I like to study the Bible in the morning.  Most do not know I talk some with God on frequent walks.  Most do not know I frequently ponder theological issues.  Most probably do not care.  God knows, and God cares.  Being focused on Him, our loving relationship grows.  And one day my relationship with Jesus will be fully revealed!

   All people are in utter need of God.  Having your life hidden in Christ does not mean your witness for our loving Savior should in any manner be suppressed.  Rather it means there will be complete exposure.  For example, by you reading my writing here on this blog, you know much more about me than the person in the grocery store who sees me wearing a cross and making a brief statement about Jesus during a window of opportunity in the check-out line.  Yet a simple witness for Jesus by you and me wherever could be the difference between someone opening his or her heart to Jesus.

   This is a fallen tragic world.  Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved, and you will share in His eternal goodness.  How incredible.  Praise be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!!!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 2:16-23

Colossians 2:16-23    Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.  These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.  Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize.  Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.  He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.  Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle!  Do not taste!  Do not touch!”?  These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (NIV)

   Teaching some students one Sunday as a youth pastor years ago, I read the Bible passage from Leviticus 11:9-12 which prohibits the eating of any sea creature which does not have fins or scales.  Then I asked one question: “Would you be sinning if you went and had shrimp at the local seafood restaurant after church?”  Then we had a big discussion which I thought was great.  Since this passage seems to contradict the Mosaic Law, I ask that question again now.

   God has always required people to obey Him, starting with Adam and Eve, yet without help from Jesus people were unable.  The Mosaic covenant was a covenant made by God with the Israelites, with Moses as the mediator.  No other people or nations were involved.  The Law within the covenant involved laws of various natures; moral, sacrificial, food, and civil.  Many Israelites worked to follow the Law, and many Israelites delighted in the Law, but none were able to perfectly obey.  Yet God did not give up on them.  Actually, He was using the Mosaic covenant all along to lead Jewish people, and all people, to the New Covenant.

   Foreshadowing of what God was going to do by the Messiah in the New Covenant was accomplished within the Mosaic covenant, and in other manners in the Old Testament, which was a manner of preparation.  For example, the Mosaic Law required a variety of animal sacrifices in a given year.  The fulfillment of all that animal slaughter was with Christ.  Animal sacrifices foreshadowed the eternal sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.

   The fulfillment of the entire Mosaic Law, which Jesus even furthered, was done by His life, His atoning death on the cross, and by His resurrection from the dead.  Now people of any nation can be obedient, because a believer in Jesus is justified and indwelled by the Holy Spirit who empowers a person to do good.  Moral laws, taught and affirmed by Jesus, still stand, and are possible for the follower of Jesus.  However followers of Jesus, including Jewish followers, are no longer restrained by the sacrificial laws, food laws, or civil laws of the Mosaic Law.  If you want to eat shrimp, you can, and will not be sinning.  We are to be following the teachings of Jesus!

   For Christians at Colossae, a number of whom were Jewish, it was hard for them to realize they did not have to follow the sacrificial, food, or civil laws of the Mosaic Law any longer.  For example, the Sabbath, a Saturday, was a day of worship and rest engrained in the Jewish culture.  Christians skipping synagogue or Christians doing something like laundry on Saturdays were seen by some other Christians as sinners.  Yet Paul is teaching they were not.  He is saying what is key is not when you worship, rather who you are worshiping.  Paul is teaching the focus needs to shift to Christ.

   I add many Christians started worshiping on Sunday rather than the Sabbath since it was the day Jesus was raised from the dead.  Once the synagogue was no longer a place where Christians were welcomed, they started corporately worshiping at the crack of dawn on a Sunday before the workday began.

   Regarding the worship of angels, Paul is stating what was strongly illustrated in the book of Revelation.  In the inspired vision of John, twice he started to worship an angel, and twice the angel rebuked him and proclaimed only God is to be worshiped!

   Lastly, Paul talks about the prohibitions which are “human commands and teachings.”  Living in the U.S.A. in this day and age, it is hard for me to completely grasp this verse.  For example, in recent years there is a swelling of states which have legalized a certain drug.  But having studied World Religions, I know many other cultures have a number of restrictions concerning diet and ceremonies which are considered religious and sacred.  It was hard for Christians who had previously been influenced by false religious traditions to give up those practices.

   When I was a young Christian, I went on a church wide retreat one October weekend.  I liked the humble speaker who was always brief in his talks.  One session he stated how the heart is the core of a person, and the place where a person initiates decisions.  Following Jesus involves desiring in your heart to do the will of God, and then living by His love to be enabled.  No need to do the will of God because you have to.  No need to do the will of God because you are trying to get some reward.  No need to do the will of God to impress other people.  You can do the will of God because you love Jesus.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 2:11-15 - the pinnacle

Colossians 2:11-15    In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (NIV)

   Though also a Roman citizen, Paul was Jewish.  Paul was even a Pharisee.  Jewish writing style at that time was quite “oriental,” differing from the Greek style.  Oriental writing had two distinctions: First, it was more indirect in style, and the author often employed metaphors.  Second, it often was more of a flowing monologue, with the main point often stored away in the middle.  Paul hits the central message here in the middle of this letter to the Christians at Colossae, which he built up to with leading statements such as in Colossians 1:20.  Jesus Christ is risen!  Christians in Colossae knew Christ was resurrected from the dead.  Yet just as we Christians can celebrate Easter in a sense every day, we Christians are always blessed when we hear the truth in love that though Jesus was crucified on the cross, He is risen!

   And this pinnacle message emphasizes we who have faith in Jesus have been forgiven of our sins, and we are risen with Christ.  It is a done deal.  He starts by saying the Christians at Colossae have had their nature circumcised.  (On the line of having our hearts circumcised as stated in Romans 2:29.)  Circumcision involves having a hood of skin, which covers a male sexual organ, cut off.  A requirement from God within the Abrahamic covenant, it is also a standard medical procedure in many hospitals in the west for male babies.  Once that piece of skin is cut off, it is a goner.  Giving a metaphor for a spiritual occurrence, Paul is saying believers in Jesus have had their hearts circumcised; the shield that blocked Love from entering is removed.  There is no going back; a follower of Jesus has been changed, because Jesus Christ forgave him or her of sins and changed his or her nature.  We believers in Jesus are forever forgiven!

   My heart was changed by Jesus 26 years ago.  Now I still sin, yet for 26 years, I have only become better and better!  On the surface the change may not be immediately evident.  I still like to watch Virginia Tech football games, I still hit to snooze button on my alarm, and I sometimes I am sad I never got married and do not have a woman to hold and care for.  Yet ever since I gave my heart to Jesus, I am not the same person I was for the first twenty-two years of my life.  Virginia Tech football games are not the determiner of my mood, I hit the snooze button fewer times on a Sunday than any other day of the week, a day where I use to sleep in, and sin in my life is a shadow of what it was before I was saved by Jesus.  Jesus changed my heart 26 years ago, and He has kept improving me since.  It all started with my sins being forgiven.

   If you give your heart to Jesus, your sin, all of it, will be forgiven.  Brace yourself that you will still have good days and bad days.  You will still have sin to struggle with. You will even have problems specifically because you are a Christian.  And your body will still know demise and then death in this fallen world.  Yet you will have a life in your heart which will only increase.

   Jesus Christ died on that cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the sacrificial atonement, taking the penalty of spiritual death in the place of us people who did and do wrong.  If you believe in Jesus, you are alive in your heart for good!!!

Hunter Irvine

Colossians 2:9-10

Colossians 2:9-10    For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (NIV)

   For people like me who did not grow up in a Christian family or going to a church, the proclamation of the deity of Christ can seem perplexing at first.  For example, hearing a few things about Jesus in my youth, especially at Christmas time, I learned Jesus is the Son of God.  Logically I assumed Jesus was a step down from God, otherwise I figured He would be called “God.”  I did not know then “Son of God” was a term fitting for the Messiah, the incarnate Savior.  Yet as a new Christian when reading the New Testament for the first time, I took notice Jesus said He was one with the Father.  Then I consistently learned and accepted the full Scripture teaching of what we call the Trinity.  And Jesus was fully human and fully divine.  For certain people threatened by His power throughout the ages, starting with many Pharisees, they have denied the divinity of Christ.  That continues today with some people saying Jesus is only a “son” of God, and not fully divine.  Jesus truly claimed divinity in John 8:58!

   And as God, Jesus is the Supreme ruler over all.  Jesus gives free will.  I am always humbled by the statement Jesus made to the twelve apostles after many disciples decided not to follow Him.  “’You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve” (John 6:67 NIV).  The fact that disciples turned away from Him is not teaching the loss of salvation because Christ had yet to make the sacrifice on the cross and there was yet to be a permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  This question does reveal Jesus was not dictating anyone to follow Him.  Yet though people and angels are allowed to choose what they will do, no one, in the spiritual realm or human, has control over God.  God, being three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is all powerful and the Supreme ruler.  He is the LORD God Almighty.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 2:1-8

Colossians 2:1-8    I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.  My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.  For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.  So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (NIV)

   Paul states he is struggling for the church at Colossae and at Laodicea.  Whenever I hear about the city Laodicea, I think of the letter to the church in that city in Revelation 3:14-22.  It was because of the lukewarm hearts of the Christians at Laodicea that God was ready to spit them out.  Here is what the people needed to prevent that: love.  And God offers love.  In fact, Jesus even says in that Revelation passage that He rebukes and disciplines those He loves.  Paul wants the Christians to be united in love.  And love enables a person to grow in Christ.

   Paul states, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”  Boy, where do I start with this one?  In the United States most of our public education system today is rooted in the basic principles of this world rather than Christ.  The only solution for those of us who follow Christ is to make sure we always are dependent on Christ.  The translation of “philosophy” is “love of wisdom,” and this passage teaches wisdom starts with Christ.  When we rely on Christ to be our ultimate teacher, our source of wisdom, and the One we turn to when everything seems to be going haywire, then we will not be led astray.

   Of the relevant issues argued today like drug use and sexual morality, we Christians can state our point in any classroom or at any lunch table, yet we will only convince people of the truth when our convictions are rooted in Jesus Christ.  He is the One who exposes and overcomes the deceptive philosophies which are void of true love.  The Bible shows Jesus loves everyone.  But you might ask: “Does Jesus really love everyone?”

   Do you know anyone who you think would die for you?  The fact is we cannot necessarily know if someone would die for us.  For example, there are people I would die for, but they might not even realize or believe that.  Maybe someone in your life would die for you whom you never even suspected.  And maybe during my life there have been people out there who would have died for me, and I did not even know it.  However the sad fact is I have never known a human being I thought would die for me.  No friends, relatives, Christians, or pastors come to mind when I try to think of a person who would die for me.  And if a human being did die for me, or if I died for someone, eternal life would not be the result.

   That is the sad news.  The good news is Jesus Christ died for us.  That truth, when accepted, exposes the false philosophies, traditions, and principles of this fallen world.  All people need love for eternal life, and Jesus offers just that.  Because Jesus loves everyone, He died on a cross as the sacrificial atonement for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus paid the penalty which all people deserved.  When a person believes in Jesus, she or he has a Savior, a Lord, and a true Lover.

+ Thank You Jesus for dying for us!!!

Hunter Irvine

Colossians 1:24-29

Colossians 1:24-29    Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.  I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.  To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (NIV)

   The “word of God” means Scripture.  It is to be distinguished from “the Word of God,” who is Jesus, though they are interconnected since the Spirit of Christ inspired Scripture.  So why did God wait until the first century A.D. to make possible and unveil the gospel, whereas it was a mystery before?  And why is it the Israelites got the word of God going back to the time of Moses, and the rest of the world did not?  I think we need to ponder the first verse of Hebrews: “In the past God spoke to your forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word" (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV).

   When this verse states “your forefathers,” it is specifically referring to the Israelites, and they were the only ones in the Mosaic Covenant.  No other ethnic groups were under that covenant.  Yet that covenant is what I like to call a “leading covenant,” leading to the New Covenant which is for Jewish people and every other ethnic group.  And the further back in time we go, we human beings all share the same “forefathers.”  We all are in the same family tree called the human race, created and sustained by God.

   Going back in history, God does not become more of a mystery.  The Bible reveals God was with people in Person in the Garden of Eden.  We are all related to Adam and Eve.  And even though the ultimate tragedy took place with Adam and Eve, God continued reaching out to people.  People throughout the pre-Christ ages were not abandoned by God and left hopeless.  Because of the separation and because of the straying of people, God specifically worked, even from the time of the “Fall,” to bring redemption to anyone through the atonement of Jesus that was to come.  God patiently revealed a redemption plan.  God reached out to Abel and Cain, giving them opportunity to make a sacrifice to Him to be in communion with Him.  Tragically even among the first two children in history there was a murder.  Yet God continued from that time to demand the need for sacrifice so people could be in communion with Him.

   Going back to “forefathers,” even more recently down the family tree we are all related to Noah and his wife.  God preserved humans by saving Noah and his family.  And what was the first thing Noah did after he was able to go back onto land after the flood.  He offered God a burnt sacrifice!  Then God made a covenant with the entire human race through Noah.  But even after the flood, many people kept straying further from God, including by creating their own “gods.”  Did God give up?  No, God made a covenant with Abraham, and even in making that covenant God stated how He would make Abraham the “father” of many “nations.”  Abraham was the father of the Jewish people, yet God was using him to reach out to the entire human race.

   Then God made a covenant with the Israelites through Moses as the primary preparation for the Messiah.  That “Mosaic Covenant” was only between God and Israelites.  Yet the work of God with the Israelites from the time of Moses to Jesus was His witness to the world.  In fact tragedy always resulted when the Israelites were disobedient to God, because they were not being the light for God to the world which God called them to be.  Yet individuals still had a living God who was revealing Himself, as is revealed in the word of God, from the laments of Job to the praises of a joyful psalmist.  God cared about people, even in the darkest hours of humanity.

   Now people through the pre-Messiah ages could not have the personal relationship with God in this world which is available now.  And to be honest, I do not know why God waited so long to reveal Christ.  And to be honest, I do not know why God has allowed so much suffering throughout history.  Yet at the time of Christ’s atonement, He gave all people who had lived in the history of the world the opportunity to be saved, as is told in 1 Peter 3:18-20.  And right now you can have Christ in you.  The Messiah mystery has been revealed.  There is forgiveness for the person who believes in Jesus, and a person who believes in Jesus is baptized with the Holy Spirit, being spiritually united with God.  Right now Jesus offers eternal life to anyone!  It is for Jewish people and everyone else, as is stated in Romans 1:16.

   My circumstances have been crummy recently!  For one month, every week has brought a struggle with some bad thoughts in the midst of being unemployed for a long time, and in the midst of not getting a job I interviewed for one month ago, a job I would have loved.  I have been a student of the Bible for many years, and writing about God often flows from me.  Yet it is hard to live.  I cannot always detect Christ in me.  Thanks to God, we have the word of God, Scripture, which reveals God who loves us and wants to be with us.  Thanks to God, we have the word of God which reveals to us the truth that we can live with hope in Christ, even when God seems to have abandoned us.  Christ the hope of glory is a reality who can be known in the hearts of those who open their hearts to Jesus Christ.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 1:21-23

Colossians 1:21-23    Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.  This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (NIV)

   Different people have different definitions about what is evil.  What does the Biblical term evil mean?  Evil is covered much in the Bible, and I give a few examples.  Evil was an issue shortly after the creation of people.  When God put Adam in the Garden of Eden: “… In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9 NIV).  Thus in only the second chapter of Genesis, we have “evil” contrasted with “good.”  We sure know a vast majority of Israelite kings “did evil in the eyes of the LORD.”  You read that phrase frequently in I Kings and 2 Kings.

   Jesus gave what has been popularly termed the “Sermon on the Mount,” and in Matthew 7:11, He called His listeners “evil.”  That is a courageous statement to make to an audience.  “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (NIV).  Again evil is contrasted with good.  And who were the listeners?  A crowd from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan, as is shown in Matthew 4:25.  In other words, simply people.

   Earlier in the “Sermon on the Mount” when Jesus gave the “Lord’s Prayer,” it included: “…but deliver us from the evil one,” or “from evil.”  So evil is so bad we are to ask God in prayer for deliverance.  And Paul states in Romans 12:9 – “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (NIV).  Now Christians are even instructed to hate evil.  And note the specific dichotomy of good and evil, the two terms in contrast in the tree in the Garden of Eden.

   I have to add since it stands out so much, there is the statement by Paul in I Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” (NIV).  Note this is often misquoted as money being the root of evil, yet Scripture states “the love of money.”

   I use to think of the word evil more in the context of horrible actions, such as what is flaunted in the horror section of many video movie sections, yet the Bible definition is more overreaching.  Jesus once made a radical statement about goodness.  “Why do you ask me about what is good?”  Jesus replied.  “There is only One who is good…” (Matthew 19:17 NIV).  Take this in conjunction with His statement that His audience was “evil” and I think we get an understanding of evil broadly consisting of anything apart from the will of God.  Thus evil is on the same lines as “sin,” though maybe with more intention.  If something is apart from the will of God, we should seek deliverance.  So when Paul is saying that before the Colossian Christians were saved by Jesus that their behavior was evil, such behavior may have involved common things like envying, lying, and being greedy.  Before being saved, the Colossian Christians were simply lost from the ways of the righteousness of God.  What is evil is bad according to God’s standards, and no one else.

   I gave my heart to Jesus about one year after graduating from college.  During college, I had a reputation for being “moral.”  I never had sex.  I was a hard working Resident Advisor who took his job totally serious.  I am still proud of how I once stopped a guy, a large guy, who was assaulting a woman.  No one at Tech ever called my behavior evil.  Rather they called me a strict R.A.  Yet in my heart, I was empty of God’s love, and I realize now I did some wrong things according to God’s loving will.  Thankfully, Jesus made it possible for us to be reconciled to God, and since I turned to Christ, He saved me from the spiritual punishment I deserved, and He has changed me.

   In addition to saying sorry for current sins, every once in a while I think about something wrong I did in the distant past, and I repent and ask for forgiveness from God.  How blessed we followers of Jesus are to know we are forgiven of sins of our entire past, even things that did not seem wrong at the time.

   Verse 23 seems to state that salvation can be lost even after a person is saved.  I can see how someone could take verse 23 here and argue such, however, as I wrote in the beginning of the last piece, we need to interpret Scripture with Scripture.  All people are given by God the opportunity to decide whether they will receive or reject Christ, yet then the Bible teaches the position which Christian theologians coin “eternal security,” the definition of which is once a person receives Jesus, he or she will never lose salvation.  Jesus said, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NIV).  So how do we continue in our faith?  Rely on Jesus, the One who enables goodness, and the One who will even carry His children in the darkest of times.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 1:15-20

Colossians 1:15-20    He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (NIV)

   A key rule for interpreting the Bible is to take a verse in the context of the passage, a passage in the context of the chapter, and chapter in the context of the book, and a book in the context of the entire Bible.  Or as many put it, including my pastor: “Interpret Scripture with Scripture.”  We need to do that here.

   The word “firstborn” and other aspects of this passage have resulted in a Bible interpretation conflict in past Christian history and in modern history.  A huge fight took place among Christians in the early fourth century.  An overseer in Alexandria, Egypt, named Alexander, stated there is complete unity in the Trinity. (1)  As explained in “A Historical View of the Council of Nicea” by Dr. Isaac Boyle, one of Alexander’s presbyters, Arius, refuted this claim: “… and replied with great asperity that if the Father begat the Son, the latter must have had a beginning; from which, he continued, it clearly followed that there was a time when he was not and that his substance was made from nothing.” (2)  This caused an epic dispute.

   Even before that early Christian fight, Eusebius Pamphilus, an overseer in Caesarea, had a view which agreed with Arius.  Though Eusebius of Caesarea was staunch in explaining Christ created all things with the Father, he early on advocated Christ was begotten as “the first and only Offspring of God,” and seemingly suggested Jesus was in a unique manner incorporated by the Father to be made divine, since he said: “…who has received power and dominion with divinity itself, and power and honor from the Father.” (3)  Yet Eusebius of Caesarea shifted his position at the Council of Nicea, and even agreed to the word “consubstantial,” meaning of the substance of God, to apply to the nature of Christ. (4)  And all but two present at the Council of Nicea renounced the doctrine of Arius.  Theonas and Secundus were the two who stuck with the Arius doctrine, and do note a few others apparently only relented from upholding the Arius doctrine to keep from losing their positions.  The unprecedented meeting of Christian leaders there in 325 A.D. fortunately resulted in strong support for unity in the Trinity, because advocates of Arius’ doctrine did not concede, rather they continued to fight for years.  And that meeting produced a creed which would later be elaborated and accepted as an important Christian creed which is even said in worship services in some Christian denominations today.

   In modern times, taking the Arius doctrine a step further, there are people who point to this single word in Colossians, “firstborn,” to claim Christ is the first son of God, but that He is not divine.  I know because I have talked with some of them on my doorstep in past years.

   I think the word “firstborn” should be taken as a designation as “heir,” indicating Christ who became God incarnate is the heir of all things because His Messianic work on the cross brought a new inheritance for God.  Yet the bottom line is the rest of this passage affirms the eternal divinity of Jesus.  If all things were created by Him, then He is God!  Jesus has been with the Father and the Holy Spirit for all eternity.

   Accurately understanding the nature of Jesus is imperative, since only our eternal and unlimited God who is sinless could be the sacrifice for the sins of multiple people.  It was only the victorious shed blood of God incarnate which could atone for the sins of anyone.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

(1) Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History,

trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, Massachusetts:

Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 388.

(2) Ibid., 388.

(3) Ibid., 5.

(4) Ibid., 399.

Colossians 1:10-14

Colossians 1:10-14    And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (NIV)

   Paul occasionally has a practice of writing or speaking in reverse chronological order.  At the beginning of these five verses, Paul is talking about good works, then at the conclusion he talks about the redemption from Christ.  By going from the subject of sanctification to justification, he gives an exclamation mark to justification.  Christ’s work on the cross made the forgiveness of sins possible and is the reason a believer in Jesus, who is baptized with the Holy Spirit, can do good works which bear fruit.  And good works are exactly what Paul is exhorting all followers of Jesus to carry out.  He is not addressing non-believers here, for they would not be empowered to bear fruit for God.

   All people who believe in Jesus, the Redeemer, have been rescued by the Father from the dominion of darkness and brought into His kingdom, authorized as citizens of heaven from the moment a person receives Christ.  Because of the transformation which takes place in the heart of a follower of Jesus, we citizens of heaven can now do good works in whatever country we are in here in this world until we are brought into heaven.

   I watched more of the Olympics this past summer than ever, and I enjoyed the competition as well as the personal stories.  How wonderful people from all countries have the opportunity to compete against one another.  Yet each individual athlete is a human being with dreams, hurts, and needs just like every other athlete from every other country.  All of those athletes have sinned just like the rest of us, and all need the love of Jesus for goodness.  Here in this fallen world where there has been a separation of people from God, Satan has much authority and influence in every country; the dominion of darkness is vast.  Yet thanks to Jesus, every person from every country has the opportunity to be rescued, and to have everlasting life in the dominion of light, which is the dominion of Jesus Christ.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 1:9

Colossians 1:9    For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (NIV)

   The “Lord’s Prayer,” recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 with a shorter version in Luke 11:2-4, was given by Jesus.  It was not a formula for prayer, rather Jesus was giving focal points.  I have worshiped in many past churches were we recited this prayer in unison as part of the worship.  A central focus of the Lord’s Prayer is “thy will be done.”  This is a call from God.  So naturally the will of God is what Paul and his brothers and sisters in Christ want the people at the church at Colossae to know so they may live it.

   After only being a Christian for several years, I started having some struggles after I was in love with a woman with whom things were not working out, and I realized I was off track in my “career.”  One evening after coming home from work, I sat on a stool in my little “efficiency” basement room.  I sat there for a while, still in my raincoat, feeling worn out on the inside.  I became convicted God’s will was the only way for goodness.  I then prayed to God saying, “Heavenly Father, I pray that I would do Your will and not my own.”  That prayer was a huge act in my early Christian life, since I opened a new door for growth in Christ.

   In carrying out the will of God, there has been much change in my life, much sacrifice in my life, and much unexpected hardship in my life.  Yet the result of doing so is I have been blessed to live by the love of God.  If you desire to do the will of God, goodness will result!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 1:7-8

Colossians 1:7-8    You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. (NIV)

   After hearing countless sermons, taking theology classes, and reading many Christian books, I have never heard anyone talk about Epaphras.  Yet he was a faithful minister of Christ, and he is also mentioned in Colossians 4:12 and Philemon 23.  I raise the question: Why be a servant for Christ?  The answer is because of love.

   Different people have different motivations for serving.  Sometimes people serve other people only for money.  Yet if you truly love someone, serving is a way of expressing your love.  I have always been single, yet I have long had the dream of having a wife.  Being single for so many years, sometimes I think about things I want to do if I get married.  For example, I have considered how I would like to surprise a wife on some random day by serving her breakfast in bed.  Strawberries, blueberries, and some unique cereal would be a good menu, assuring I would not burn any of the food.  As a single guy who has had breakfast alone for forty something years, I always thought that would be romantic.  Yet the point is I would be serving my wife; expressing my love.

   In the 2014-2015 school year, I had the privilege of doing college ministry work with a small yet loving group of Christians at Ithaca College, a college where the Christian fellowship is small.  There is a student there, Kristin, who loves Jesus and who loves people.  I am honored to call her my sister-in-Christ and friend.  She has a gift for serving people which is one way she expresses love.  She was willing to serve on the Leadership Team, she would always promptly respond to my emails, she drove students without a car to her church on Sundays, she drove me home from our student worship frequently, and she did many other things.  Yet first and foremost, I saw her greatest service in her gift of listening.  When I would talk on and on with her, she would listen.  If someone in the group had a problem, she would listen.  I remember once when a student announced to the group his parents were divorcing, Kristin was flooded with sympathy.  She cared about that person.  She cares about people because she loves people.  She is one of the great servants for Christ I have met, and in an unlikely place.

   Paul calls Epaphras a faithful minister of Christ.  That student, Kristin, is a faithful minister of Christ.  She has never taken a theology class that I know of, yet she is a faithful minister of Christ who wants to learn more and more from His word.  She is a witness for Jesus.  And that group I served with is filled with loving people, just as there were a bunch of loving people at the church in Colossae.  The love of Jesus was there in Colossae almost two thousand years ago, and it is in our world today, in some unlikely places.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Colossians 1:3-6

Colossians 1:3-6     “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you.  All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” (NIV)

   This letter starts out with terms galore such as faith, love, saints, heaven, grace, and gospel, yet they are all rooted in Jesus Christ.

   Regarding faith, Jesus is the object of their faith.  Many people who are not followers of Jesus have faith in all kinds of things.  The faith Paul is talking about is faith in Jesus.

   Regarding love, the reason they can love one another is because of Jesus.  Love is a word I heard much in the rock music I listened to during my youth.  The love Paul is referring to is the true love which comes from God in heaven.

   Regarding saints, they are believers in Jesus, the reason there were already a plethora of saints in only 60 A.D.

   Regarding heaven, that is the dominion of Jesus.

   Regarding grace, it is a gift of Jesus, a gift of love and life which came by the love, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

   Regarding the gospel specified here, it is not good tidings announced by a king or a sports broadcaster, rather it is good news Jesus made possible.

   I elaborate on this word gospel.  The hope of a follower of Jesus is rooted in the gospel.  What is the gospel?  The gospel is Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Paul is going to touch on this in Colossians 1:14 and Colossians 1:20.  Jesus was the substitutional atonement for the consequences of sins, which is spiritual death.  Jesus died in our place.  Then He was resurrected from the dead!  And Jesus ascended into heaven.  Because He shed His blood as the atoning sacrifice on the cross, salvation from sins and eternal life in heaven is available.  Why does Paul call this “gospel?”  Gospel means good news, and Paul’s application is specifically to the saving work of Jesus on the cross.  And the gospel is available to all people of all ethnic groups, as can be understood from 1 John 2:2.

   And even at that time around 60 A.D., Paul said the gospel was bearing fruit all over the world.  I find this to be evidence of the truth of Christianity, because all Jesus did was unprecedented in human history, and I would expect such truth to have an immediate impact in the world; it did.

   Do take this statement in context; for example Paul does not mean Christians were already in what is now the United States or Australia preaching the Gospel.  Yet in less than thirty years, because of the obedience of Christ’s early disciples, the Gospel was already being preached in distance places, and was changing lives, and that would continue!

   I close with a statement given by a Christian overseer in Caesarea at the end of the 200’s and in the early 300’s named Eusebius, who was the first Christian to attempt to write a comprehensive history of early Christianity.  His writing style is criticized by most, yet his historical information is valuable.  What Paul states in Colossians 1:6 is supported by a statement by Eusebius regarding the period of early Christianity: “Throughout every city and village, like a replenished barn floor, churches were rapidly found abounding and filled with members from every people.  Those who, in consequence of the delusions that had descended to them from their ancestors, had been fettered by the ancient disease of idolatrous superstition, were now liberated by the power of Christ through the teaching and miracles of his messengers.”(2)  Christianity was rapidly spreading all over the world!

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

(1) Eusebius, Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 39.

Colossians 1:2

Colossians 1:2  “To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” (NIV)

   Can you imagine if Paul the apostle were here today and he sent you a personal letter and addressed you by name and then called you a holy and faithful sister-in-Christ or brother-in-Christ?  Furthermore consider God knows right now whether you are a holy and faithful sister or brother.  This is my desire, and I know it requires me to rely on my Holy Father every single day.  Being holy and faithful is the call by God for every Christian, and our need is to submit to Jesus.

   This letter is addressed solely to Christians.  Note the city of Colosse is sometimes spelled Colossae.  What was once a prosperous city, which is now a “low hill in a field,” the city is not mentioned any other time in Scripture.(1)  Today the city of Colosse seems to be behind the scenes just like this book of the Bible, yet nearly 2000 years ago, it was a Christian mission field, and the souls of its people were of ultimate concern.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

(1) Clyde E. Fant and Mitchell G. Reddish, A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 173.

Colossians 1:1

Colossians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother…” (NIV)

   How exciting for me to be writing a personal commentary on the book of Colossians!  May it be a blessing to you!!

   Zero is the number of sermons I have heard on any passage from the book of Colossians in my 26 years of following Jesus.  Yet we will carefully exam this inspired letter.

   An epistle is a word for a letter written to a group of people, not just a single individual.  This epistle is introduced by Paul, who announces authorship, along with Timothy.  And Paul is bold in stating he is an apostle of Jesus.

   Starting with the issue of Paul’s identification as an apostle, I note the word apostle means “sent out.”  It was embraced as the title for a special leadership position for a small number of believers there in the first generation of the Church.

   Twelve followers of Jesus were the original apostles.  Sometimes they are even identified simply as “the Twelve.”  For me it is natural to think of them as the sole apostles.  Yet as special as they were, there were a few other folks who were privileged to gain that title in that first generation of Christians.  Note they needed to be people who had seen Jesus, in order to testify as eyewitnesses of the risen Christ.

   Now Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ was quite unique, and there is no record of Paul having seen Jesus when He was incarnate, in the flesh.  Now Paul defends his apostleship in the beginning of I Corinthians 9, yet what is also needed is affirmation from one of “the Twelve.”  Sure enough, Peter affirmed the epistles of Paul as Scripture, as recorded in 2 Peter 3:15-16.  That supports the apostleship of Paul because all Scripture of the New Testament needed to be written by either an apostle, or a disciple with an apostolic connection.  Thus that single statement by Peter is a key affirmation of the authority of Paul.  I add that Scripture means sacred writings.

   Secondly, Timothy is stated to be a second author of this epistle.

   Timothy was a disciple of Jesus who did much.  In addition to his contribution to this letter, Timothy assisted in the writing of Philippians, I Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.  And Paul wrote both I Timothy and 2 Timothy to him to encourage Timothy’s fruitful ministry work.

   Timothy accompanied Paul on Paul’s second missionary journey, as is shown in Acts 16.  We clearly know of Paul’s admiration for Timothy: “For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord…” (I Corinthians 4:17 NIV).  Now Timothy was not a physical son of Paul, as we know from Acts 16 where it states Timothy’s father was Greek.  (Timothy’s mom was Jewish, a woman who had become a Christian.)  Yet Paul cared so much for Timothy he viewed Timothy as a son-in-Christ.  Ultimately Timothy was a brother-in-Christ to Paul and all believers.

   This letter was written from Rome about 60 A.D. when Paul was imprisoned there.

   Having discussed the apostleship of Paul and the co-authorship of Timothy, I now address two questions.

   First, some people think Paul went overboard.  Was Paul a little crazy?

   Many years ago I worked at a place in Virginia.  My special boss was a man who, at the time, was a nominal church attendee with little interest in the Bible.  He later had a life crisis.  Afterwards we talked in an underground parking lot and he told me he had committed to the Lord.  Going back to a time before his commitment, in the midst of a workday we were talking about the Bible, and my boss made the statement: “Paul was a nut.”  I got riled up about that.  The fact is Paul was not a nut, rather Paul was a disciple of Jesus who was willing to preach the Gospel at all cost.

   We students of the Bible need to carefully interpret what Paul was saying, yet Paul has been honored by Christians in each century since the birth of Christ for his devotion to Jesus.  Paul was willing to get beat up for the sake of the Gospel, and he even died for Christ, being murdered under the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero.  Paul was a preacher for Jesus at the beginning era of the New Covenant when many people were putting their faith in Jesus, even though they were totally going against religious and cultural norms.  We have Paul and Timothy to thank still for being witnesses during that turning point time in history.

   Second, speaking of Timothy, in my past Christian years, Paul had a ton of attention, yet I hardly ever heard anyone talk about Timothy.  Did Timothy really accomplishment much at all?

   Though a disciple often in the shadow of Paul in our modern churches, may we realize his ministry work had an eternal consequence.  Some disciples of Jesus do their work out of the spotlight!  Different disciples of Jesus have different personalities and different gifts.  Yet their loving work in the will of God is of equal goodness.

   Paul and Timothy were loving friends who served Jesus in the historic apostolic age, and they are loving buddies now in heaven.  May we be mindful there are only two things believers will carry over from this world into heaven and that is our own soul bonded with Jesus and our loving friends-in-Christ.  Since the time when this letter was written, throughout many generations, there have been countless loving brothers and sisters-in-Christ.  The true love of God shared by friends is meant to be cherished.  Cherish your loving friends.

Hunter Irvine

Scripture Love Blog

Encouragement - Hebrews 3:13

Hebrews 3:13   But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (NIV).

   The 2016 summer Olympics are under way, and I watched several of the competitions today.  Back in 1996, I was living in northern Virginia, and the Olympics were in the United States that year.  The torch was run across the country to Atlanta, Georgia.  One day the local newspaper reported the people carrying the torch would come through our area the coming Saturday, and the paper included a map with the complete torch route and schedule.  I was excited to learn the torch would be brought right along the street where my apartment complex was.  At the time I rented an “efficiency” basement apartment which measured 22 feet by 13 feet, seriously.  It was efficient alright.
   Come that Saturday, about fifteen minutes before the projected time, I went outside to the street.  To my astonishment, up and down the street as far as I could see in both directions was a crowd of people.  I was amazed so many people lived in the block.  Day to day I would walk much, as I have for much of my life, and I would only see the average number of people here and there.  Yet it was as though all of Arlington had left their abodes to line the street.
   People around me were excited and friendly, and I talked with some nice folks next to me.  A few minutes later, I heard people cheering to the west, and it was obvious the torch was coming down Lee Highway.  Then the runner came within my sight.  He ran with upright posture holding the torch firmly before him, and he was smiling.  People cheered as he ran by!  I cheered!  It was cool.  Then it was over, and the crowd began to disperse.
   When athletes succeed in competition, people cheer.  Cheering for someone is one kind of encouragement.  Yet obviously there are more personal ways to encourage someone, and there are countless ways to encourage someone.  As I have gotten older, I realize the necessity of encouragement to live the Christian life.  As a follower of Jesus for 26 years, discouragement has been plenty and encouragement from people more sparse.  And spending time with God, reading the Bible, doing ministry work, and doing the will of God are activities which I sure do not get a ton of encouragement for from people.  Yet I can tell you the encouragement I have received from an array of brothers and sisters in Christ over all the years has been a treasure for me.  I needed it.  And I have worked to encourage others.
   I write all of this in the wake of a week where I received some rescuing encouragement.  Mounting stress as a result of being unemployed for a marathon time had reached a point last week where I could have had a meltdown.  Instead I received some totally unexpected encouragement which kept me from feeling despair.  From several different people last week, in a variety of manners, I was encouraged.  I am grateful to all those people, all of whom do not even know each other, for blessing me.  But what about those times when you are not getting encouragement from people.  First and foremost, we need to listen to God our Father to be encouraged.  He is always there.
   There is spiritual opposition for the person who does the will of Jesus.  Personally, I think especially since I have always been single and celibate, never having a loving wife, it sometimes feels like no one is cheering for me in lonely times.  Sometimes it is hard for me to recognize that in simply following Jesus, I have angels cheering for me in numbers greater than that Olympic torch bearer.  May you know that if you are following Jesus, you have the Creator and Sustainer of the universe not only cheering for you, yet also willing to give enabling help, and the reason is because He loves you. We followers of Jesus need to open ourselves to the encouragement of God. And we all need encouragement from brothers and sisters in Christ.  So may we rely on Christ to become enthusiastic about encouraging one another.  May each of us even encourage someone this week.
Hunter Irvine