• Do not ever be ashamed….

• Be a fellow sufferer…

How? In accordance with divine grace and purpose. The line to shamelessness and beneficial suffering is in the God

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, Timothy 1:9

The saving and the calling are decided before the world began. God knew exactly what he was going to do for .the human race and he knew when he was going to do it. Therefore they cannot be amended by people locked in time and space. This is why the gospel is defined as eternal or everlasting.

Shame on the but-phobic

If you are living your life on the basis of a daily verse offering with or without commentary you may have fallen into the trap of liking the fattty, sugary, artificially flavored snacks that are popular. People are slow to acknowledge the positives of God’s existence and message. They find his buts and rebukes are less attractive. Very often, the only way for a daily (memory or devotional) verse to make sense is for the user to be familiar with the context. Just saying the verse with no reflection is like spinning ones wheels or like blowing hot air into a cold room.

I pick this verse, 2 Timothy 1:9, as an example of how a thought can be carelessly twisted or disconnected to say something compact. A sentence beginning with “who” is likely to be treated as a question. Who hath saved is one word and who hath saved is another. Two words the writer uses to identify the God whose testimony is the only hope we have for covering our vulnerability.

The King James preserves the intent of the writer by beginning the verse with the relative “who“, because the main thrust of the passage are the COMMANDS (1) stop being ashamed (2) be a fellow-sufferer.

The reader is being encouraged to be in accordance with the power of God. Verse 9 answers to “what God?” Verse 10 contrasts the mystery with appearance and death with life. Verse 11 identifies Paul’s appointment to a ministry to non-Jewish people.

Ashamed of fresh testimony and prisoner status

It is fairly easy for Yeshua to become too much trouble when the easy way is being embraced by the majority. The pressure on many believers today is to talk less about Yeshua and more about God or Yahweh. If he exposed your national treasure as an oppressive fraud you’d think twice about calling him “Lord”.

Verse 9 is intended to identify the GOD (saving and calling)

1. Of whom one needs not be ashamed

2. With whom one needs to suffer

Let us never be ashamed of the Lord’s testimony or his prisoners (our leaders), but let us be fellow-suffers alongside the God who saved us, even if presently many leaders are neither giving Yeshua’s testimony nor are facing imprisonment by the state or other authorities.

What name are we calling?
From the top?
Before creation there is salvation.
This is the first of divine mysteries 1 Timothy 3:16.

THE INCARNATION.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
There is no track leading anywhere except where the INCARNATE WORD has trod.
1. Justified in the Spirit
2. Seen by angels
3. Preached to the Gentiles
4. Believed in the world
5. Received into glory
It is all Messiah!

Earliest mystery

1 Corinthians 2:7-8
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world (prior to the ages) unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The earliest mystery is not the law. That, we have found, is an addition that succeeds the promises. The law has nothing to do with faith.
The name of necessary interest is the name above all others. “Son” is separate from all other entities. The name Yeshua sets the Saviour apart from all entities. There is only one Saviour. Only God can be Saviour.

I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. Isaiah 43:11

Jewish opinion was that a man could not be Saviour, while the record shows that Moses, Joshua, and the judges were just that: saviours.

How sad it is that having named Christ as personal Saviour we turn to the broken vessels (prophets, kings, patriarchs, and plagiarists).

The top 3 of departure from Christ are
1. Self-reliance
2. Ignorance
3. Playacting

Let us make sure we clean house of these.

Love, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit

Joshua divided the land among the tribes but the critical element of expelling the people of the land was never realized. It could not be because the Gentiles were going to be the test of gospel truth. The goal of loving God and neighbour has been kicked down the road for successive generations. Without Gentiles there was not going to be a family of all earth’s peoples.

Joshua 23:7-9 is clearly about Gentiles.

That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.

Love, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit

Joshua divided the land among the tribes but the critical element of expelling the people of the land was never realized. It could not be because the Gentiles were going to be the test of gospel truth. The goal of loving God and neighbour has been kicked down the road for successive generations. Without Gentiles there was not going to be a family of all earth’s peoples.

Joshua 23:7-9

That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.

Spiritual inheritance has a different set of problems. While evangelists and others receive recognition and reward for their work in introducing people to Christ the delivery of the promised life and associated gifts is entirely God’s prerogative.

1. He gives the Spirit

2. The Spirit gives us our portions of Jesus (John 16:14-15)

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The vast majority of transactions and arrangements in the churches of the 21st century are either levitical priestly hot air, secular and oppressive financial schemes, or loud theatrics.

Land in Canaan has shown us that xenophobia is a birth crime and sin and its persistence is due to blind pride in vanity.

Land and all of the things we can see and touch and smell and hear are potential idols. Love, joy and peace, when they are rooted in the Holy Spirit, can never become idols.

Spiritual Inheritance

Spiritual inheritance has a different set of problems. While evangelists and others receive recognition and reward for their work in introducing people to Christ the delivery of the promised life and associated gifts is entirely God’s prerogative.

1. He gives the Spirit
2. The Spirit gives us our portions of Jesus (John 16:14-15)

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The vast majority of transactions and arrangements in the churches of the 21st century are either levitical priestly hot air, secular and oppressive financial schemes, or loud theatrics.
Land in Canaan has shown us that xenophobia is a birth crime and sin and its persistence is due to blind pride in vanity. Land and all of the things we can see and touch and smell and hear are potential idols. Love, joy and peace, when they are rooted in the Holy Spirit, can never become idols like circumcision, festival, food and drink, clothing, law and prophecy.

Serving in love, joy and peace

Romans 14:18-20
For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.

He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour. Proverbs 21:21 KJV

https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.21.21.KJV

This saying is rare because finding life etc. was not a popular activity. That’s like saying Noah’s salvation (he saved the world) was through faith in the Crucified. Neither Solomon nor any of his generation (or any in the previous generations of Jewish people) believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They persecuted his prophets just as the modern wise ones in Christendom persecute and reject apostolic teaching. They did not believe Moses. Solomon followed neither David nor Abraham.

The chances of anyone finding these three – life, righteousness, and glory – is slim in deed.

• Life: you cant say I’m alive therefore I’ve found life

• Righteousness: we have none except that given us through expiation

• Honour (glory), none exists beside the glory of the incarnate Word

The attraction to Solomonic maxims in the modern era is disturbing. Did Solomon not know that ISRAELITE RIGHTEOUSNESS was doing everything God required?

And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. Deu. 6:25

There was no pursuit of this kind of justice (tsedeqah) and grace (chesed, חסד ) the king’s lifestyle. Sure, he completed the building project his dad wanted, but we are not familiar with the temple as a place where life was the priority. Since blood is the face of life then righteousness never enters the picture with Israelite covenants (neither circumcision, nor the Tablets, nor the host of statutes and judgments) brought any life, righteousness or lasting glory.

Someone who pursues righteousness and mercy is a fool if he has heard that there is a Saviour for all men. Or do we want to propose that our pursuit of righteousness and plea for mercy are our contribution to salvation.

Israel sought righteousness by saying, at Sinai, “we will do everything Yawheh says”. Israel also sought righteousness by insisting that they can do all that God commanded, when Joshua plainly told them that was not possible. They had spent the years from Sinai up to the borders of Canaan going after other gods. Joshua saw the whole shebang. At thep time of the entry into Canaan, Joshua was still saying to them “Choose today: make up your mind”. Joshua knew what he was saying.

Who do we suppose Scripture describes in Romans 3:10-18 as (1) unrighteous (2) ignorant (3) not seeking God (4) out of the way (5) unprofitable (6) bad (7) death-throated (8) liars poison- lipped (9) murderous (10) unfamiliar with peace and (11) irreverent?

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

I would rather take it from Yeshua, who said many righteous men and prophets desired to see a slice of messiah’s operations but did not see it. I’d rather take it from Paul who made a personal choice to discard his Jewish treasures for the excellence of getting to know Christ.