Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 15th​

Dead to Sin​

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Romans 6:1-2

Notice three things about this question: Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? First, notice that the question is logical. This is a very good question. If your gospel does not arouse this question in somebody's mind, there is likely something wrong with it, for it is the kind of question that ought to be asked at this point. There is something about the grace of God that immediately raises this issue. If sin is so completely taken care of by the forgiveness of Christ, then we don't really need to worry about sins, do we? They are not going to separate us from Christ, so why not keep on doing them? It is a perfectly logical question.

But, second, notice that even our very nature would have us raise this question. It is not only logical, but it is also natural. That is because sin is fun, isn't it? We like to do it. Otherwise we wouldn't keep on doing it, we would not get involved in it. We know sins are bad for us, but we like to do them. Otherwise we would not. Therefore, any kind of a suggestion that tells us we can escape the penalty for our sin and still enjoy the action arouses a considerable degree of interest in us.

We must understand that Paul is talking about a lifestyle of sin, not just a single act or two of failure. He is talking about Christians who go on absolutely unchanged in their lifestyle from what they were before they were Christians. The word for go on sinning is in the present continuous tense. It means the action keeps on happening. Paul is talking about a habitual practice. Can we go on living this way? Finally, notice that this question is put in such a way as to sound rightly motivated and even pious. Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? This suggests that our motivation for sinning is not just our own satisfaction — we are doing it so that grace may increase. God loves to show his grace. Therefore, if we go on sinning, he will have all the more opportunity. This question is not asked by a complete pagan, but by someone who seems intent on the glory of God. Having said that, we come now to the answer, the positive answer of Paul.

Paul immediately reacts with a very positive statement, bluntly put: By no means! We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? This does not mean that sin is dead in me. It doesn't mean that I have reached the place where I cannot sin. Neither does Paul mean by this that we are dying to sin; that we are gradually changing and growing, and there will come a time when we will sort of outgrow all this evil. It doesn't mean that at all. Again, we must face clearly the statement the apostle makes. He puts it in a once for all way: We died to sin. It is impossible for your lifestyle to continue unchanged when you become a Christian. It is simply impossible, because a change has occurred deep in the human spirit. And those who protest, and say they can go on living this way, are simply revealing that there has been no change in their spirit, there has been no break with Adam. They are still in the same condition.

Thank you, Father, for the grace of our Lord Jesus, who has the power to break the grip of death upon my life.

Life Application​

Are we using God's Grace as a pretext for continuing in our sins? What are three reasons why we continue this subterfuge? Are we choosing to live in Christ's Resurrection Life rather than sin and death in Adam?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 16th​

True Baptism​

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6:3-4

It is always interesting to me that when some people hear the word baptism they immediately smell water. When I was a boy in Montana, I had a horse that could smell water from farther away than any animal I ever saw. There are people who are like that. Whenever they read these passages, and see the word baptism, they smell water, but there is no water here. This is a dry passage.

This passage is dealing, of course, with the question of how we died to sin, how we became separated from being in Adam, how we became joined in Christ. No water can do that. That requires something far more potent than water. It is, therefore, a description for us of what is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink, (1 Corinthians 12:13). He says twice that all believers were baptized into one body. We were placed into Christ. You are not a Christian if that isn't true of you. People today who say you need to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit after you become a believer do not understand the Scriptures. There is no way to become a believer without being baptized with the Spirit.

Notice some things that Paul says about the baptism of the Spirit in this passage: First, he says that we are expected to know about it. Don't you know... Paul asks. He expects these Roman Christians, who had never met him or been taught personally by him, to know this fact. It is something new Christians ought to know.

Notice also that the apostle says, This is how we died to sin. The great statement of this passage is that when we became Christians, we died to sin. Paul is still discussing the question, Can a believer go on sinning? No, answers Paul, because he died to sin. How did we die to sin? This is how, Paul explains: The Spirit took us and identified us with all that Jesus did. That means that somehow this is a timeless event. The Spirit of God is able to ignore the two thousand years since the crucifixion and resurrection and somehow identify us with that moment when Jesus died, was buried, and rose again from the dead. We participate in those events. That is clear.

Therefore this is not theological fiction; it is fact. Adam sinned, and we sin. Adam died, and men ever since have died. The apostle is saying that what was true in Adam has now been ended and now we are in Christ, by faith in Jesus Christ. Once Adam's actions affected us; but now what Christ did becomes our actions as well. Christ died, and we died; Christ was buried, and we were buried with him; Christ rose again, and we rose with him. So what is true of Jesus is true of us. Here Paul is dealing with what is probably the most remarkable and certainly the most magnificent truth recorded in the pages of Scripture. It is the central truth God wants us to learn. We died with Christ, were buried, and rose again with him. That union with Christ is the truth from which everything else in Scripture flows. If we understand and accept this as fact, which it is, then everything will be different in our lives. That is why the apostle labors so to help us understand this.

Lord, thank you for this assurance that, having been baptized in the Holy Spirit, I can rest assured that I am dead to sin and alive to you.

Life Application​

Can water baptism bring us out of our death in Adam and into new Life in Christ? What is its purpose? What essential and transforming truth does the baptism of the Holy Spirit signify?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 17th​

A New Master​

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Romans 6:14

Why does Paul bring in the Law? He brings in the Law because he is dealing with one of the most basic problems of the Christian struggle, the thing that often depresses and discourages us more than anything else — the sense of condemnation we feel when we sin. The Law produces condemnation. The Law says that unless you live up to this standard, God will not have anything to do with you. We have been so engrained with this that when we sin, even as believers, we think God is angry and upset with us and he doesn't care about us. We think that way about ourselves, and we become discouraged and defeated and depressed. We want to give up.

But Paul says that is not true. Believers are not under Law, and God does not respond that way toward us. We are under grace. God understands our struggle. He is not upset by it; he is not angry with us. He understands our failure. He knows that there will be a struggle and there will be failures. He also knows that he has made full provision in Christ for us to recover immediately, to pick ourself up, and go right on climbing up the mountain. Therefore, as his beloved child, you and I don't need to be discouraged, and we won't be.

Sin will not be your master because you are not under law and condemnation, but under grace. And even though you struggle, if, every time you fail, you come back to God and ask his forgiveness, and accept it from him, and remember how he loves you, and that he is not angry or upset with you, and go on from there, you will win.

I will never forget how, as a young man in the service during World War II, I was on a watch one night, reading the book of Romans. This verse leaped out of the pages at me. I remember how the Spirit made it come alive, and I saw the great promise that all the things I was struggling with as a young man would ultimately be mastered — not because I was so smart, but because God was teaching me and leading me into victory. I remember walking the floor, my heart just boiling over with praise and thanksgiving to God. I walked in a cloud of glory, rejoicing in this great promise: Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Looking back across the years since that night, I can see that God has broken the grip of the things that mastered me then. Other problems have come in, with which I still struggle. But the promise remains: Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

How grateful I am, Father, for this word of assurance that as one who is in Christ I need not be discouraged and need not fail, for there is nothing that can separate me from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Life Application​

When our sins are exposed by the Law, where do we go with our burden of guilt? Are we learning to live in the forgiveness and liberating power of God's grace? Are we captured by God's unrelenting Love?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 18th​

A New Husband​

Do you not know, brothers and sisters — for I am speaking to those who know the law — that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

Romans 7:1-3

Paul uses an illustration to teach us the way to be free from the Law. The woman is us. She has two husbands, one following the other. Notice what the death of the first husband does to the woman's relationship to the Law. When the first husband dies, the woman is released from the Law. Not only is she released from her husband, but she also is released from the Law. If her husband dies, the Law can say nothing to her as to where she can go, and what she can do, and who she can be with. She is released from the Law. The death of the husband makes the woman dead to Law.

The first husband is Adam, this old life into which we were born. We were linked to it, married to it, and couldn't get away from it. Like a woman married to an old, cruel, mean husband, there is not much she can do about it. While she is married she is tied to that husband. She cannot have a second husband while she is married to the first. She is stuck with #1, and she has to share his lifestyle of bondage, corruption, shame and death. That is why we who were born into Adam have to share the lifestyle of fallen Adam.

If this woman, while she is married to her first husband, tries to live with another — for this lifestyle is sickening to her — she will be called an adulteress. Who calls her that? The Law does. The Law condemns her. It is only when the first husband dies that she is free from that condemnation of the Law and can marry again. When she does, the Law is absolutely silent; it has nothing to say to her at all. Verse 4 says, So...you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

What a fantastic verse! Here is the great, marvelous declaration of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Notice how Paul draws the parallel: So ... you also. We fit right into this. The key words here are you also died to the law through the body of Christ. The body of Christ refers to the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.

Paul is referring to what the Scriptures say in many places — that on the cross the Lord Jesus was made sin for us. He took our place, as sinful humanity, on the cross. In other words: He became that first husband, that Adamic nature to which we were married. When he became that, he died. When he died, we were freed from the Law.

The Law has nothing to say to us anymore. We are free to be married to another, no longer to our Adam-like flesh, but instead to the risen Christ. Our first husband was crucified with Christ; our second husband is Christ, now risen from the dead. We now share his name. We share his power. We share his experiences. We share his position, his glory, his hope, his dreams — all that he is, we now share! We are married to Christ, risen from the dead. The Law, therefore, has nothing to say to us.

Thank you for this Father. I pray that I may understand more fully that I am not under condemnation. Even though I struggle and don't always act on the principles revealed to me, nevertheless, you don't reject me, you don't cast me aside.

Life Application​

How did Christ's death change our relationship to the Law? How did Christ's resurrection change our identity? How does this profoundly affect the way we deal with both sin and guilt?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 19th​

The Continuing Struggle​

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Romans 7:18-20

Paul says that as a Christian, redeemed by the grace of God, there is now something within him that wants to do good, that agrees with the Law (because the Law describes God's holy nature), that says that the Law is right. There is something within that says what the Law tells me to do is right, and I want to do it. But also, there is something else in me that rises up and says No! Even though I determine not to do what is bad, I suddenly find myself in such circumstances that my determination melts away, my resolve is gone, and I end up doing what I had sworn I would not do.

So, what has gone wrong? Paul's explanation is, It is no longer I who do it; it is sin living in me. Isn't that strange? There is a division within our humanity. There is the I that wants to do what God wants, but there is also the sin which dwells in me. Human beings are complicated creatures. We have within us a spirit, a soul, and a body. These are distinct. Paul is suggesting here that the redeemed spirit never wants to do what God has prohibited. It agrees with the Law that it is good. And yet there is an alien power, a force that he calls sin, a great beast that is lying still within us until touched by the commandment of the Law. Then it springs to life, and we do what we do not want to do.

This is what we all struggle with. The cry of the heart at that moment is: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24) Right here you arrive at where the Lord Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Blessed is the man who comes to the end of himself. Blessed is the man who understands his own spiritual bankruptcy. Because this is the point — the only point — where God's help is given.

This is what we need to learn. If we think that we have got something in ourselves that we can work out our problems with, if we think that our wills are strong enough, that we can control evil in our lives by simply determining to do so, then we have not come to the end of ourselves yet. The Spirit of God simply folds his arms to wait and lets us go ahead and try it on that basis. And we fail, and fail miserably — until, at last, out of our failures, we cry, O wretched man that I am! Sin has deceived us, and the Law, as our friend, has come in and exposed sin for what it is. When we see how wretched it makes us, then we are ready for the answer, which comes immediately in verse 25: Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Who will deliver me from this body of death? The Lord Jesus has already done it. We are to respond to the feelings of wretchedness and failure, to which the Law has brought us because of sin in us, by reminding ourselves immediately of the facts that are true of us in Jesus Christ. We are no longer bound to our sinful flesh by the Law. We are married to Christ, Christ risen from the dead. We must no longer think, I am a poor, struggling, bewildered disciple, left alone to wrestle against these powerful urges. We must now think, I am a free son of God. I am dead to sin, and dead to the Law, because I am married to Christ. His power is mine, right at this moment. Though I may not feel a thing, I have the power to say, No! and walk away and be free, in Jesus Christ.

Thank you, our Father, for the simple and clear teaching of this passage. Help me to understand that I am freed from the Law once it has done its work of bringing me to the knowledge of sin. I cannot control myself by that means or deliver myself from evil, but I can rest upon the mighty deliverer who will set me free.

Life Application​

What is the purpose of the Law? What affect does our new identity as Christ's bride have on our desire to live pleasing to Him? Do we have the power to resolve the continuing conflict of spirit vs. soul and body? Are we surrendering our incompetence to His all-surpassing power?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 20th​

No Condemnation​

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 7:25b-8:1

Paul says, I want to do good. I believe in it. I delight in God's law — God's holy nature — in my inner being. I am changed; I agree that the law is good, but I find I can't do it. In his mind Paul is awakened to the value and the righteousness of God's law, but set against that is this sin that is in his flesh that takes hold of him and makes him a slave to the law of sin, even though he does not want to be.

How does Paul break this hold? Paul is saying though we struggle at times, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The reason there is no condemnation is given in just one little phrase: in Christ. That goes right back to our justification by faith: We came out of Adam, We are in Christ, and God will never condemn those who are in Christ. He never will! We have to understand what no condemnation means. Certainly, the most basic element in it is that there is no rejection by God. God does not turn us aside, he does not kick us out of his family. If we are born into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has come to dwell within us, and he will never, never leave us. Another thing no condemnation means is that God is not angry with you when this struggle comes into your life. You want to be good, or you want to stop doing bad, but, when the moment of temptation comes, you find yourself overpowered and weak, and you give way. Then you hate yourself. You go away frustrated, feeling, Oh, what's the matter with me? Why can't I do this thing? Why can't I act like I want to? And though you may condemn yourself, God does not. He is not angry with you about that.

The beautiful figure is that of a tender, loving father, watching his little boy begin to take his first steps. No father ever gets angry with his little son because he doesn't get right up and start running around the first time he tries to walk. If the child falls and stumbles and falters, the father helps him; he doesn't spank him. He lifts him up, encourages him, and shows him how to do it right. And if the child has a problem with his feet, maybe one foot is twisted or deformed, the father finds a way to relieve that condition and help him to learn to walk. That is what God does. He is not angry when we are struggling. He knows it takes awhile — quite awhile, at times. And even the best of saints will, at times, fall. This was true of Paul, it was true of the apostles, and it was true of all the prophets of the Old Testament. Sin is deceitful and it will trip us at times. But God is not angry with us.

Heavenly Father, I am forever grateful that you are slow to anger when I continue to run and follow things of this world. Thank you for your patience and the abundance of grace I receive each day.

Life Application​

What do we do with the guilt inevitably resulting from our sin and failure? Do we seize the pre-paid grace-gift of God's forgiveness? Do we then live free from condemnation and free to the quality-control of His Spirit?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 21st​

Good News​

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by our sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the sinful man, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to our sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:3-4

This is a beautiful description of the good news in Jesus Christ. Paul says the Law is powerless to produce righteousness. It cannot do it. It cannot make us good — no way. It can demand and demand and demand, but it cannot enable and it never will. This, by the way, is why nagging somebody never helps. Nagging is a form of law, and God will not let the Law nag us because it doesn't help. It only makes it worse. If you try to nag your husband or wife or child, you will find that the same thing happens there. Nagging only makes them worse. Why? The reason, Paul says, is because the Law only stirs up the power of sin. It releases this force, this beast within us, this powerful engine that takes over and carries us where we don't want to go. That is why nagging, or any form of the Law, will never work. It is not because there is anything wrong with what is being said — it is because of the weakness of the flesh that it cannot work. Paul says in First Corinthians 15, The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, (1 Corinthians 15:56). The Law keeps sin going, it stirs it up.

To break through this vicious circle, Paul says, God sent forth his own son. There is a beautiful tenderness about this. He sent his own Son. He did not send an angel, he did not send a man — he sent his own Son as a man, in the likeness of sinful flesh. Notice that. He did not send him just in the likeness of flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. Jesus had a real body, a body like yours and mine. Since sin has been done in the body, it has to be judged and broken in the body. Therefore, Jesus had a body. But it was not just a body of sinful flesh, it was the likeness of sinful flesh. It was like our sinful bodies, in that it was subject to infirmities (Jesus was weak and tired and hungry and weary), but there was no sin in him. Paul preserves that very carefully here.

In that body of flesh, without sin, he became sin. As we read here, he was offered as an offering for sin. And in the mystery of the cross, which we can never, never understand, no matter how long we live, somehow the Lord Jesus, at the hour of darkness, gathered up all the sins of the world, all the terrible, evil, foul, awful injustice, crime, and misery that we have seen throughout history, from every person, gathered it into himself, and brought it to an end by dying. The good news is that somehow, by faith in him, we get involved in that death.

Father, thank you that the way out of my struggle with sin is not by forcing myself to be different, but by seeing that I already am different. I have been cleansed and purified and made whole in Jesus Christ. He is my life, and I belong to him and always will. Help me to believe it and to act that way.

Life Application​

Are our lives being sculpted by the power of God's amazing grace? Do we live as ones liberated from the dead works of performance and demand? Is this freedom evident in our relationships with others? Are we responding with awe and gratitude to both the mystery and reality of God's gift in His Son?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 22nd​

Two Possibilities​

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Romans 8:5

There are two possibilities as Christians that will determine if we manifest the righteousness of God, depending on whether we walk according to the Spirit or according to the flesh. The difference is what you set your mind on, i.e., what you are thinking about all through the day, what is important to you. Is it the viewpoint of the flesh, which governs the thinking of the world? Or is it the viewpoint of the Spirit — God's viewpoint — on life? That is the determining factor — what you do with your thinking. Where you set your mind is going to make the difference.

What is the mind set of the person who lives according to the flesh? You only have to look around to see what that is. It is the natural viewpoint of life. People want to make money, because money provides comfort and conveniences that we would like to have. People want to have fun. People want pleasure, money and fame. People will give their right arm to gain influence and prestige. People desire to fulfill themselves. They want to manifest every capability that is within them. That is what the world lives for. And it wants it all now, not later. That is the natural point of view.

You say, What's wrong with that? There really is nothing wrong with that, unless that is all you want. If that is all you want, then it is very wrong. This is what the Scriptures help us to see — that there is another point of view, which is life viewed according to the Spirit. Ah, you say, I know what that means! That means you have to forget about making money and having fun and fulfilling yourself. All you do is go around memorizing Scripture and thinking about God all day long. You go around reciting Scripture verses and telling people what is wrong with their lives.

Many people think that is what we are talking about when we say that we are to have our minds set on the things of the Spirit. But, of course, if you see people like that, you soon discover that kind of life does not produce the results this passage tells us should be there. That is really nothing but another form of being run by the flesh — it's a religious form of it, but it is the same thing.

What does it mean, then, to have your mind set on the Spirit? It means that, in the midst of making money, having fun, gaining fame and fulfilling yourself, you are primarily concerned with showing love, helping others, speaking truth, and, above all, loving God and seeking his glory. The trouble with the world is that it is content with just making money, having fun, and fulfilling itself — that is all it wants. But the mind set on the Spirit desires that God be glorified in all these things. When your mind is set on the Spirit you look at the events of life from God's point of view, not from the world's. Your value system is changed and it touches everything you do. The important thing in seeking to fulfill your needs, is that God be glorified. That is what makes the difference. That is the mind set on the Spirit. It does not remove you from life — it puts you right back into it. But it does it with a different point of view.

Thank you, Lord, that even though I struggle there is no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus. Grant me the mind set on the Spirit.

Life Application​

Is the chief end of our lives the glory of God and our enjoyment of Him? How does this affect our reactions to losses and gains of earth's treasures and pleasures? Do we need to seriously reassess our priorities?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 23rd​

The Spirit and the Body​

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Romans 8:10-11

Notice the helpful teaching about the Spirit here. He is called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Then it is made clear that the Spirit actually is the means by which Jesus Christ himself is in us. By means of the Holy Spirit, Christ is in you. And if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin.

The problem is, our bodies are yet unredeemed. As a consequence, they are the seat of the sin that troubles us so. And the sin that is in us — still there in our bodies — affects the body. That is why the body lusts, the body loves comfort, and the body seeks after pleasure; that is why our minds and attitudes react with hate and bitterness and resentment and hostility. Sin finds its seat in the body. That is why our bodies keep growing old. They are dying, dead, because of sin.

But that is not the final answer for the Christian. The spirit in the Christian is alive because of the gift of righteousness. Christ has come in and we are linked with him. Paul puts it so beautifully in Second Corinthians 4:16: Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. That is the joy of being a Christian. Though the body, with the sin that is within it, is giving us trouble and difficulty, tempting us, confounding us at times, nevertheless, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Sin has its seat in the actual physical body, and it rises up like a powerful beast. But we have an answer. It is put very beautifully in First John 4:4: The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world, (1 John 4:4). The Spirit of God within us is stronger than the sin that is in our bodies. Therefore in Christ, we have strength to control the body.

Unfortunately, many of the commentators say that verse 11 refers to the promise of the resurrection at the end of life, when God is going to make our bodies alive. But that is not what Paul is saying. He is talking about the Spirit in us, giving life to our mortal bodies. A mortal body is not yet dead. A mortal body is one that is subject to death. It is dying, but it is not yet dead. Therefore, this is not talking about the resurrection. Later on Paul will come to that, but here he is talking about what the Spirit does in us now. He says that though sin in our mortal bodies is going to tempt us severely, and at times rise up with great power, we must never forget that because our human spirit has been made alive in Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God himself dwells in us, we have the strength to say, No! to that expression of evil.

We cannot reverse the processes of death — no one can. Our bodies are going to die. But we can refuse to let the members of our bodies become the instruments of sin. We can refuse, by the power of the Spirit within, to let our members be used for that purpose: We don't have to let our eyes look at wrong things. We can say, No. We don't have to let our tongues say evil, hurtful, sarcastic, and vicious things. We can say, No, to that. We don't have to let our ears hear things that are hurtful. We don't have to let our hands be used for wrong purposes. We don't have to let our legs and feet lead us into places where we ought not to be. We have been made alive in Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God himself dwells in us!

Father, you have made me alive through your Spirit. Teach me to yield to him rather than to my flesh.

Life Application​

Describe the radical differences between the two mind sets. What are the two different sources of power controlling them? What response to sin's slavery is characteristic of those who are led by the Spirit of God? What is the result of choosing to live according to the sinful nature? Shall we then choose Life?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 24th​

Children of God​

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

Romans 8:14-15

We are all creatures of God by natural birth, but Paul is careful to use a different word in Romans. Here the word is children (sons) of God. We are in the family of God, and this is a very distinctive term. This is something that God intends for us to return to when we are in trouble. If you are having difficulty handling your behavior — whether you are not doing what you want to do, or doing what you don't want to do — the way to handle it is to remind yourself of what God has made you to be.

In other words, in the struggle that you have with sin within you, you are not a slave, helplessly struggling against a cruel and powerful master; you are a son, a son of the living God, with power to overcome the evil. Though you may be temporarily overcome, you are never ultimately defeated. It cannot be, because you are a child of God. That is why Paul could say in Romans 6, Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace, (Romans 6:14 KJV). In this gracious relationship, we are made sons of the living God. No matter what happens to us, that is what we are. Nothing can change that.

It is important also for us to see how we become sons of God. Paul says the Spirit of God found you, and he adopted us into God's family. Some of you may be saying, What do you mean when you say we are adopted into the family of God? I have been taught that I was born into the family of God. The truth is that both of these are true. You are both adopted and born into the family of God. God uses both of these terms because he wants to highlight two different aspects of our belonging to the family of God. You are said to be adopted because God wants you to remember always that you are not naturally part of the family of God. We are all children of Adam by natural birth. We belong to the human family, and we inherit Adam's nature. All his defects, all his problems, all the evil that came into his life by his disobedience. So by nature we are not part of God's family. This is just like those today who were born into one family, but were taken out of that family and were adopted into another family. From then on they became part of the family that adopted them.

This is what has happened to us. God has taken us out of our natural state in Adam, and has made us sons of God. He reminds us that we are in his family by adoption so that we might never take it for granted, or forget that if we were left in our natural state we would not have a part in the family of God. It is only by the grace of God that we come into his family.

But it is also true that we are born into God's family. Once we have been adopted, it is also true that, because God is God, he not only makes us legally his sons but he makes us partake of the divine nature and we are born into his family. Peter puts it this way: We have been made partakers of the divine nature, (2 Peter 1:4 KJV). So we are as much a part of God's family as if we had originally been born into it by the grace of God.

There is nothing more wonderful to remind yourself of each day than this great fact: If you are a Christian, you are a son of the living God, adopted and born into his family. Because you are his son, God loves you, God protects you, God provides for you, God plans for you, God hears you, God claims you and openly acknowledges you.

Thank you, father that you have made me your child. I have been both born into your family and adopted!

Life Application​

Have we made the critical transition in mind-set from our identity in Adam to our identity as children of God, in His family? Think of some of the resulting vital distinctions in perspective toward life, death, destiny, calling, etc.

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 25th​

Assurance​

And by him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Romans 8:15b-16

What Paul describes here is our deepest level of assurance. Beyond the emotions, beyond the feelings, is a deep conviction that is born of the Spirit of God himself, an underlying awareness that we cannot deny that we are part of God's family. We are the children of God. I think this is the basic revelation to which our emotions respond with the cry, Abba, Father. That is our love to him, but even more this is his love to us. It is what Paul refers to in Romans 5 when he speaks of the love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit which is given unto us, (Romans 5:5 KJV).

As I look back on my own life, I can understand how this is true. I became a Christian when I was about eleven years old, in a Methodist brush arbor meeting. I responded to the invitation, and, with others, came and knelt down in front and received the Lord. I had a wonderful time of fellowship with the Lord that summer and the next winter, and there were occasions when I just would be overwhelmed with the sense of the nearness and dearness of God. I used to sing hymns until tears would come to my eyes as the meaning of those old words reflected on the relationship that I had with God. Then I used to preach to the cows when I would bring them home. Those cows were a very good audience too, by the way — they never went to sleep on me. But that fall we moved from this town where I had Christian fellowship to a town in Montana that didn't even have a church. Gradually, because of that lack of fellowship, I drifted away from that relationship with God, drifted into all kinds of ugly and shameful things — habits of thought and activity that I am ashamed of. I even developed some liberal attitudes toward the Scriptures. I didn't believe in the inspiration of the Bible. I argued against it, and during high school and college I was known as a skeptic. But all through those seven years there was a relationship with God I could not deny. Somehow I knew, deep down inside, that I still belonged to him; and there were things I could not do, even though I was tempted. I could not do them because I felt that I had a tie with God. This is that witness of the Spirit. Calvin called it the testimonial of the Spirit, which we cannot deny and which is especially discernible in times of gross sin and despair. First John 3:20 says, If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, (1 John 3:20a KJV). He knows all things. There is a witness born of the Spirit which you can't shake, which is there along with the ultimate testimony that we belong with the children of God.

This is where to begin when you get into trouble. Go back to this relationship. Remind yourself of who you are. You can see it in your experience as you look around. You are led by the Spirit of God. You can feel it in your heart. There are times when your emotions are stirred by the Spirit, and you can sense at the level of your spirit that you belong to God.

Father, help me to understand these things. Thank you for the work of the Spirit. What a wonderful thing it is that you have called me a child of the living God. Help me never to forget it, and to walk worthy of such a calling.

Life Application​

Our adoption as God's children is far from simply theoretical -- so what response does it evoke from us? Do our lives bear witness to our shared inheritance with Christ? How do we share in His sufferings?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 26th​

Our Present Sufferings​

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18

The theme of that verse and the next nine verses is that incomparable glory lies ahead — glory beyond description, greater than anything you can compare it with on earth. A magnificent and fantastic prospect awaits us. All through the Scriptures there has been a thread of hope, a rumor of hope that runs all through the Old Testament, through the prophetic writings, and into the New Testament. This rumor speaks of a day that is coming when all the hurt and heartache and injustice and weakness and suffering of our present experience will be explained and justified and will result in a time of incredible blessing upon the earth. The whisper of this in the Old Testament increases in intensity as it approaches the New Testament, where you come to proclamations like this that speak of the incomparable glory that lies ahead.

We tend to make careful note of our suffering. Just the other day, I received a letter from a man who had written out in extreme detail a report of his recent operation. He said he had to listen to all the reports of other people's operations for years, and now it was his turn! We make detailed reports of what we go through in our sufferings. But here the apostle says, Don't even mention them! They are not worthy to be mentioned in comparison with the glory that is to follow.

Now, that statement would be just so much hot air if it didn't come from a man like Paul. Here is a man who suffered intensely. He was beaten, he was stoned with rocks, he was chained, he was imprisoned, he was shipwrecked, starved, often hungry and naked and cold. Yet it is this apostle who takes pen in hand and says, Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that shall be revealed in us. The glory that is coming is incomparable in intensity.

Our sufferings hurt us, I know. I am not trying to make light of them or diminish the terrible physical and emotional pain that suffering can bring. It can be awful, almost unendurable. Its intensity can increase to such a degree that we scream with terror and pain. We think we can no longer endure. But the apostle is saying that the intensity of the suffering we experience is not even a drop in the bucket compared with the intensity of glory that is coming. You can see that Paul is straining the language in trying to describe this fantastic thing that is about to happen, which he calls the revelation of the glory that is coming.

This glory is not only incomparable in its intensity, but it is also incomparable in its locality. It is not going to be revealed to us, but in us. The word, literally, means into us. This glory is not going to be a spectator sport, where we will sit up in some cosmic grandstand and watch an amusing or beautiful performance in which we have no part. We are to be on the stage. We are going to be involved in it. It is a glory that will be revealed into us, and we are part of it.

This is the incredible glory that God has prepared for those who love him, that he has given to us — not because we have been faithful, not because we earn it, but because we are heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. All Christians suffer. There are no exceptions. If you are a true and genuine believer in Jesus Christ, you will suffer. But we are not only given the privilege of suffering with him now, but also of sharing in his glory that is yet to come. We can endure the suffering, and even triumph in it, because we see the glory that is to follow.

Lord, thank you so much for the glory that awaits me. Help me to endure suffering with joy because of the hope you have given me.

Life Application​

What affect does the expectation of promised glory have on our view and experience of suffering? Did the Apostle Paul's suffering make him more, or less, self-focused?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 27th​

All Things​

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:26-28

Never separate these verses. The Spirit prays according to the mind of God, and the Father answers by bringing into our lives and working through the experiences that we need. He sends into our life the experiences that we need, no matter what they may be.

Now, that means that even the trials and tragedies that happen to us are an answer from the Father to the praying of the Spirit, doesn't it? You may be in an automobile accident today. Someone may steal your purse. You may find your house is on fire. There are a thousand and one possibilities. What we need to understand is that these things do not happen by accident. They happen because the Spirit which is in you prayed and asked that the Father allow them to happen — because you or someone close to you needs what God will accomplish in them. These are the results of the praying of the Spirit.

The joys, the unexpected blessings, and the unusual things that happen to you are also the result of the Spirit's praying. The Spirit is praying that these things will happen, he is voicing the deep concern of God himself for your needs and mine. Out of this grows the assurance that no matter what happens, God will work it together for good. This verse does not tell us that everything that happens to us is good. It does say that whether the situation is bad or good, it will work together for good for you if you are one who is loved and called by God. What a difference that makes as we wait for the coming of the glory! God is working out his purposes within us.

Paul is telling us here that we can wait with patience because nature testifies of his glorious coming, and our own experience confirms it as well. We are being prepared for something — we can't really tell what it is, specifically, but we are getting ready for something. One of these days, at the end of our lives, if not before, we will step out of time into an incredible experience of glory, something that begs description — a glory that Christ himself shares, and that we all shall share with him.

This is what God is preparing us for. No wonder the apostle then closes this passage with one of the greatest paeans of praise in the Scriptures, in vv.31-39. As we face the sufferings we are going through now, what a blessing, and what a help it is to remember the glory that has been granted to us. We have been counted worthy to suffer for his name, that we may also share in the glory that is to come.

Thank you, Father, for these mighty promises. I pray that I may understand them, and thus be able to endure patiently and with thanksgiving what I am going through now, knowing that it is the very suffering that is working and producing the glory.

Life Application​

In what ways does this promised partnership with the Spirit change our perspective on our prayers? Are we learning to confidently receive all aspects of our lives as God's loving, perfect will?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 28th​

From Eternity to Eternity​

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8:29-30

These are the five steps that God takes, stretching from eternity to eternity — far greater than any of our individual lives would suggest. The first step is that God foreknew us. A lot of people talk about how God foreknew what we were going to do, he foreknew that we would believe in Christ. This verse is not dealing with that. This verse is concerned with the question of existence. It is telling us that from among the tremendous number of human beings that have been spawned onto this earth since the creation of man, God foreknew that you and I would be there — as well as all the believers who have preceded us or who will follow us in the course of history.

Then, Paul says, the next step is that God predestined: Ah, you say, I know what that means! That means God looked over the whole group and said, Now these will go to hell, and those will go to heaven. Predestination has nothing to do with going to hell. Predestination has to do only with believers. It simply tells us that God has selected before hand the goal toward which he is going to move every one of us who believes in Christ. That goal is conformity to the character of Christ. Everything that happens to us focuses on that one supreme purpose.

The third step is that God called us: This is where we get into the act. I could not begin to describe to you the mystery and wonder that is involved in this. This means that the Holy Spirit somehow begins to work in our lives. We may be far removed from God, we may have grown up in a non-Christian family, we may be involved in a totally non-Christian faith, or we may be from a Christian home. It does not make any difference. God begins to work and he draws us to himself.

Fourth, those God called, he justified: Justification is God's gift of worth. Those who are justified are forgiven, cleansed, and given the position before him of being loved, accepted, wanted, and endeared. By the cross, God was freed to give the gift of righteousness. Had he given it apart from the cross, he could have been properly accused of condoning sin — but the cross freed him. It established his righteous justice on other grounds, so that he is now free to give to us the gift of worth without any merit on our part.

Then, finally, those God justified, he also glorified: Paul writes as though this had already happened. It has already begun, and God counts it as true. Glorification is the exciting day which the whole creation is anticipating, when God is suddenly going to pull back the curtains on what he has been doing with the human race. Suddenly, the sons of God will stand out in glory.

There are none lost in the process. Those whom he foreknew, before the foundation of the world, he also predestined to conform to the likeness of his Son; the same number of people he called; and the ones he called, he also justified; the very ones he justified, he also glorified. No one is lost in the process, because God is responsible for it. It is going to involve pain and toil, but it is going to happen, because what God sets out to do, he does — no matter what it takes.

Father, I am so grateful for your eternal purposes which allow me to rest in deep gratitude for your grace and mercy.

Life Application​

What are five aspects of God's eternal plan for those called according to His purpose? How does this radically change our 'time-management' perspectives?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 29th​

Who Condemns You Now?​

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Romans 8:33-34

This is a reminder of the work that God has done. We love God when we trust in the full effect of his work on our behalf. Paul is looking back over the letter, and sees two great works that God has done. The first is justification. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Who can? It is God who justifies. Justification means that nothing and no one anywhere can accuse us successfully before God.

The devil is the accuser of the brethren. He will try to accuse us constantly. This verse tells us that we must not listen to his voice. We must not listen to these thoughts that condemn us, that put us down, that make us feel that there is no hope for us. These thoughts will come — they cannot be stopped — but we do not have to listen to them. We know God is not listening to these accusations. Who can condemn us when God justifies us? Therefore we refuse to be condemned. We don't do this by ignoring our sin or trying to cover it over, or pretending that it isn't there; we do it by admitting that we fully deserve to be condemned, but that God, through Christ, has already borne our guilt. That is the only way out. That is why Christians should not hesitate to admit their failure and their sin. You will never be justified until you admit it. But when you admit it, then you also can face the full glory of the fact that God justifies the ungodly, and therefore there is no condemnation.

Then Paul raises the question, Who is he that condemns? Who is going to do this? The only one who has the right is Jesus — and Jesus died for us. And more than that, he was raised to life for us, he is now at the right hand of God in power for us, and he is also interceding for us. So there is no chance that he is going to condemn us. This is a reference to the power that we have, by which we take hold afresh of the life of Jesus. Not only is our guilt set aside, but we have power imparted to us — his life in us, his risen life made available to us now. So we can rise up and say No! to the temptations that surround us and the habits that drag us down; we can be a victor over them. That is not a mere dogma; we are in touch with a living person. That is the glory of Christianity. The unique distinction of Christians is that we have Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, that there is no one who can condemn me because of all that you have done for me in Christ.

Life Application​

Are we being held hostage to condemnation instigated by the enemy? What response to God's forgiveness frees us to fully experience freedom from condemnation? What power is available to withstand both the temptations and the accusations from the enemy?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for September 30th​

How To Love God?​

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Romans 8:35a

How do you love God? You love him by answering this question. Who or what is going to separate us from the love of Christ? Is there any force, anywhere, that can come between you and Jesus? Who can remove us from Christ, once we fully come to him? Paul's answer is, Let's take a look at the possibilities.

First, can all the troubles and dangers of life separate us from his love: Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? (Romans 8:35b) That is life at its worst. Will that do it? Will hardship do it? That means the tight, narrow places we have to go through sometimes. Will persecution do it? That is hurt deliberately inflicted on us because we are Christians. Will famine, lack of food and money do it? Will nakedness, or lack of clothes? Will danger, or threat to our lives? Will the sword (war, riot, uprising) do it? No, Paul says, In these we are superconquerors. Why? Because rather than dividing us from Christ, they draw us closer to him. They make us cling harder. They scare us and make us run to him. When we are independent and think we can make it on our own, these things strike, and we start whimpering and running for home, and we cling all the closer. We can never be defeated then, so we are more than conquerors.

What about supernatural forces? What about people and power and demons and strange forces? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) There is nothing left out of that list, is there? Everything is there — demons and dark powers, black magic and angels, truth and error, death and life — whether in this creation or any other creation. Paul takes everything in and says that nothing, no being or force, is capable of separating us from the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

So we love God when we say, If God be for us, who can be against us? We love God because of what he himself has done for us, and the nature of that commitment is that he loves us. Nothing can separate us from that. This is the highest point of the letter. Obviously, Paul cannot go beyond this, and neither can we. What can you say? What can you do but love when you are confronted by a God like that?

Father, thank you for the security you give in your great love. Let your love be the thing that fuels my own love for you through the challenges of life.

Life Application​

Is it fair or accurate to assess God's Love by comparing it with our fragile, conditional human love? Do we respond to His unrelenting Love by loving Him with all our hearts, souls, minds? Do we in gratitude extend His Love to others?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 1st​

Called Into Fellowship​

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:9

This is the key verse of First Corinthians. The rest of the letter revolves around it. It is a statement that God had called them to a very important relationship, and that this is the reason for all of the problems in the church. They had not understood the implications of their calling, and the relationship they personally had with Jesus himself. Instead, beginning with the very next verse, the apostle has to deal with divisions, scandals, lawsuits, immorality, drunkenness and quarreling. It is very clear that, despite the fullness of provision which they had received, they were experiencing a great failure in the church. They had all this ability to do all these mighty things in the Spirit, but not much was happening out in the city. Instead of making an impact on Corinth, Corinth was making an impact on the church. All these ugly attitudes and actions that were going on every day out in the city were beginning to infiltrate into the church, and instead of the church changing the city, the city was changing the church.

This reminds me of Peter Marshall's very vivid description of contemporary Christians. He says, Christians are like deep-sea divers encased in suits designed for many fathoms deep, marching bravely forth to pull plugs out of bathtubs! What was wrong was the Corinthians lack of understanding of what it meant to have Jesus Christ living among them. The major struggle of most churches is right at this point. They have lost the sense that Jesus is among them, that they have an individual relationship to the Lord of glory himself. They no longer live their lives in the awareness and the excitement that they are partners with Christ in everything they do. When that begins to fade from the Christian consciousness, all these troubles that the Corinthians were experiencing begin to crowd in. This letter is written to call them back to an awareness of what it means to have fellowship with Christ.

Fellowship with Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is his task to take the things of Christ and make them known unto us, to make the person of Jesus real in our daily experience. That is what Paul is talking about here — Christ made real to the heart, enabling him to satisfy the thirsts of the soul; Christ providing the power that it takes to do and meet the demands of both the law and the love of God. Fellowship with Christ is not only direction in what to do, but it is dynamic — it is how we are able to do it.

Often churches fall into the habit of trying to obey the Lord with no awareness of the great provision he has made. It is not only guidance he gives us, but resource as well. It is not only an understanding of life, but an undergirding, so that we might perform it. It is not only a program that he sets before the church, but the power to carry it out. That is what these Corinthians had lacked. That is what we lack. When any one of us forgets this, we drift into that syndrome of recognizing the Lord on Sunday, and from Monday through Saturday living our life without any recognition of his presence with us. He is no longer Lord of all our life, but only a part of it. If he is not Lord through our life all day long then he is Lord only of the margins, only of the weekends. What the church is called to is an understanding of the presence of Christ in the human heart to supply to it that sense of adventure that opens doors in unusual and unanticipated ways that lends adventure and color to life.

Lord, may my heart be always willing to come back into fellowship with the Lord Jesus and rely completely on the indwelling of your Spirit.

Life Application​

What is the primary aspect of our calling as Christ's ones? Are we giving preeminence to anything less than our privileged and needed fellowship with Him?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 2nd​

Behind Divisions​

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

1 Corinthians 1:10

Paul always expresses great concern about the possibility of a split in the church. In a similar passage in his letter to the Philippians he says, So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind, (Philippians 2:1-2 RSV). In writing to the church at Ephesus, he exhorted the elders there to be careful to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, (Ephesians 4:3 RSV).

Church unity is a very important matter. Paul puts it first in the list of problems he has to deal with here at Corinth. Many of the other problems were flowing out of this division within the congregation. Here in Verse 10 he briefly shows us the ground of unity, and the nature of unity in a church. The ground, of course, is the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I appeal to you, he says, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their relationship to Christ was the unifying factor of the church. There is no other name big enough, great enough, glorious enough, and powerful enough to gather everybody together, despite the diversity of viewpoint and the differences of background or status in life, than the name of Jesus. That is why the apostle appeals to it. He recognizes that we share a common life if we have come to Christ; we are brothers and sisters because we have his life in us. He is the ground, always, of unity. And more than that, we have a responsibility to obey him, to follow his Lordship. Therefore, the only basis upon which you can get Christians to agree is by setting before them the Person of the Lord Jesus.

He describes the nature of unity this way, that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. That does not mean that everybody has to think alike. With all the differences among us, it is impossible to get people to think alike. The church is never called to having everybody think exactly alike. Yet the apostle says they are to be of united in mind. How can that be? The letter to the Philippians helps us here. Paul says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:5). He then goes on to describe for us the mind of Christ, which is a willingness to give up rights and personal privileges and give in and take a lower place. Then comes that great Christological passage where he describes how Christ, ...though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8 RSV)

That is the mind Paul is talking about. When everybody decides to put the things of Christ first, and is willing to suffer loss that the honor and glory of Christ might be advanced, that is what brings harmony in a congregation. That is always the unifying factor in a church, and that is the mind we should have, the mind that does not consider itself the most important thing.

Thank you, Father, for your word. Let it do its great work of cutting down and eliminating from my life the things in which I take pride and which separate me from others. Help me to judge these in the light of the cross, and to walk before you in unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Life Application​

Are we confusing equality with authentic unity in Christ? Do we need to re-think our personal responsibility for building walls of separation and disunity, choosing rather to be peacemakers?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 3rd​

God's Nonsense​

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.

1 Corinthians 1:18-19

The theme of this section is the power of the cross, and Paul is going to show clearly what the cross does in human thinking and in human affairs. The cross has become the symbol of Christianity today. Women wear it on chains around their necks; we use it as decorations. We have become so familiar with the cross that we have forgotten much of the impact it had in the first century. It was, for these early Christians, and for those among whom they lived, a horrible symbol. If you had used it then as a symbol it would have made people shudder. We would get much closer to it today if we substituted a symbol of an electric chair for the cross. Wouldn't it be strange driving across this country to see church steeples with electric chairs on top?

The cross is significant in Christianity because it exposes the fundamental conflict of life. The cross gets down below all our surface attempts at compromise and cuts through all human disagreement. Once you confront the cross and its meaning, you find yourself unable to escape that final judgment of life as to whether you are committed to error or committed to truth.

We must understand what Paul means by the word of the cross. First of all, it means the basic announcement of the crucifixion of Jesus. There are many religious groups based upon various philosophical concepts. But when you come to Christianity you do not start with philosophy, you start with facts of history that cannot be thrown out. One of them is the incarnation of Jesus, the fact that he was born as a man and came among us. Another of the great facts of our faith is the crucifixion. Jesus died. It was done at a certain point of time in history and cannot be evaded. This is part of the word of the cross. He did not deserve it, but by the judgment of the Romans and Jews alike he was put to death for a crime that he did not commit.

Paul is pointing to the judgment that the cross makes upon human life. When you say that Jesus was crucified you are saying that when the finest man who ever lived takes our place, he deserves nothing but the instant judgment of God. And that is a judgment on all of us. That is what people do not like about the cross. It condemns our righteousnesses. It casts aspersion on all our good efforts.

The word of the cross always produces two reactions. First, the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. It is silliness, absurdity, nonsense, to those who are perishing. If you have ever tried to witness to somebody who has a sense of sufficiency about himself, you have discovered the folly of the cross. To come and tell such a person that all his efforts and all his impressive record of achievement is worth nothing in God's sight, you will immediately run into the offense of the cross.

The other reaction is that the cross is the power of God to those of us who are being saved. To us who are being saved, the cross is the key to the release of all God's blessing in human life. It is the way to experience the healing of God in the heart, the deliverance from the reign of sin, and the entry into wholeness, peace, and joy. The cross is an inescapable part of that process.

Thank you, Father for the cross. Thank you that I no longer have to prove myself worthy of your love, but that through the cross you are changing me into the likeness of Christ.

Life Application​

What are the two inescapable implications of the Cross of Christ? What provision does Christ's sacrifice make for us to live as new creations, in the liberty of forgiveness and the power of His indwelling Life?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 4th​

Not Many​

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

The apostle is dealing with the wisdom of the world versus the inscrutable, marvelous wisdom of God. These believers who were living in ancient Corinth were exalting the wisdom of the world. The Greek custom of philosophizing about everything had penetrated the church and they were dividing into various factions, following certain men, quarreling, boasting, dividing, glorying in men's ability and men's power, men's insight and men's wisdom.

To deal with this the apostle shows us how God works. He sets it in very simple contrast and he uses these Corinthians themselves as his Exhibit A. He says, Look at yourselves, consider your own call, look what has happened in your own life. He then points out two rather obvious, but very important, facts they were evidently overlooking in their thinking. First, he says, There are not many mighty among you, are there? Fortunately, Paul did not say any mighty. Lady Hamilton, who was an evangelical believer among the English nobility in the early part of this century, used to say she was saved by an m, because if it had said not any mighty or any noble, she would not have made it, but the m changed it all and let her in. There in Corinth there were a few who had some standing in the community, but not many. Many of them were slaves, perhaps, unknown people, plain, ordinary people, like you and me.

Some of them were weak, the apostle says, i.e., they had no political or military clout; they were not men of influence; they had no in at city hall. They were without power, apparently, to affect life around them, but God chose them. They were made up of what we would call the working classes — artisans, tradesmen, the little people of the world. So, if you are feeling that nobody recognizes you, you ought to rejoice that you are a Christian because power and influence are not necessary to be greatly used of God. God delights in setting aside the impressive things of men.

This does not mean that God does not often use people of status and stature as well. He does, but only, remarkably enough, when they have learned that their usefulness does not derive from their position or their abilities, but rather from his presence in their lives. Is it not strange that we think so highly of the wisdom of the world when God thinks so little of it? Jesus said once, That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15 KJV), and all that Paul is saying here seems to flow from that fact. God works in different ways, and what men put great store by, and emphasize as so necessary, is often set aside totally by God; it is abomination in the sight of God.

Thank you, Father, that you although there was nothing to commend me to, you have called me to be your child.

Life Application​

Do we base our worth on the message from the cross, or on worldly wisdom? What is the essential difference between God's wisdom vs. the world's legalistic system of human achievement?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.