Old Sandals

Philippians 3:9
…not having my own righteousness, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

Our righteousness, our right-standing with God, is not really ours at all. Christ is our Righteousness before God.

Philippians 2:3
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

No saint worthy of the name in church history, from Clement of Rome down to the present day, has ever wanted to steal God’s glory, or reserve some of the credit for his soul’s salvation.

We esteem those we truly love, even above ourselves.  The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.  Let us esteem Him. To God be the glory—all the glory!

Philippians 1:8
For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

With the affection of Jesus Christ.

We know of God’s love, how He so loved the world.  We think of His compassion, as the Good Shepherd for his poor sheep.  But his affection—that word connotes a closeness, a personal concern that somehow gets down to our level.  The love of God for His creation, the pitiful compassion of Christ for His sheep, these are terms which, for all the comfort they communicate, can sometimes still convey the emotions of a still too-distant God.

But his affection, his “Hey, I’m concerned about how you are to-day” conveys a closeness, a real closeness that at first seems incompatible with our understanding of the way an infinite God should be.  But this is not any god, you see.  This is the God who, when His glory is finally, fully revealed, will receive such an explosion of praise and wonder that, as the psalmist said, even the trees of the forest will clap their hands…

Ephesians 6:24
Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.

How sincere—really, is my love for you, O my Christ? You know all things.

Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

“We do believe the birth of God,
sprung from the sacred virgin’s womb;
he bore the sins of all the world,
[and rose victorious from the tomb!]”

St Ambrose

Ephesians 4:1-2
Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness.

Lowliness. We are to be lowly, following the example of the Lord Jesus who was “lowly in heart”. Lowly in heart, not lowly in station.

Lowliness is giving place to others. Being concerned and involved in their things, not continually obsessing about your own. Lowliness is having a servant’s heart, as did our Lord, who said, “Yet I am among you as one who serves.”

Ephesians 3:16-19
[May Christ] dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

What a wonderful benediction!

Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

God is rich, rich in mercy! His love is great, great!  The Church has always held that the Word, who was consubstantial with God (i.e., of the same essence, ousia in Greek), became flesh, thus becoming consubstantial (i.e., of the same essence) with us.  How this can be is a mystery, but surely it indicates that He died for all mankind.  All mankind.

Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us…in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,… having predestined us to adoption as sons…according to…His will.

He chose us in Him. The apostle Paul does not just say “He chose us”, but rather, “He chose us in Him“.  Paul writes in Ephesians that we are “accepted in the Beloved”.  What is Paul talking about here?

Is God choosing us, i.e., you and me as individuals, before the foundation of the world, unconditionally?  If His choice is truly unconditional, how, since not all are chosen, is it not discriminating?  How is it not arbitrary?  Yet we know God is not a respecter of persons.

It is interesting here to note that the Roman Catholic Bible (i.e., Douay-Rheims 1899) translates verse 11 as:

In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will.

By lot?  Really?

Galatians 6:2
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The law of Christ. This is one of his commandments which I must keep if I truly love Him.

And if I fail, what then? Surely I must strive to keep his commandments. I am not saved by my good works, but neither am I saved without them. There is no assurance of salvation without obedience—to his commandments.

“And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.”