From 1 Peter 4: Use It!

“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” (v. 10)

I don’t know what it is, but I know you’ve got it.

God, in His grace and His live and His creativity, has given you a gift. It’s something specific to you: a way to serve, a way to love, the means to give, a thing to share. You have received of His diverse grace in a particular way.

Imagine if His grace made all of us exactly alike, if His redemption in Christ reshaped us with a Christian cookie cutter. That would be dreadfully boring! How could those people and that church sharpen one another while serving their neighbors? Where would the dynamism of our worship and service and prayers and hospitality and generosity and compassion all come from? We’d be flat!

Thank God for His diverse grace, then, which saves us by one Name to be one body of many parts. Because you and I are gifted differently—under the same Lord—we can serve with dynamic beauty. Some will teach, some will sing, some will heal—and many will serve in brilliantly creative ways, according to their gifting. That’s what makes the church so great!

Which brings me to the point:

Use your gifts.

Whatever it is, add it to the body. Volunteer it. Communicate it. And jump in.

It’s poor stewardship otherwise. And it robs the church—and the needy world.

— Tyler

From 1 Peter 3: A Good Question

“Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good?” (v. 13)

It’s a good question.

“Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing good?”

They might be confounded by you. They might be confused by you. They might even feel confronted by your example.

But it’s hard to want to harm the people who run to the hurting, who help the needy, who show compassion to the lowly, who adopt the orphan and who secure the widow.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be dangers. It does mean, however, that your faith’s most frequent critics will feel their criticism caught in their throats, as you and I go to those they would leave behind.

— Tyler

From 1 Peter 2: Silencing Ignorance

“For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.” (v. 15)

You’ve tried arguing, but that didn’t work.

You’ve tried politics, but that’s been a uniform letdown.

You’ve tried posting incisive content on social media, but it’s changed nothing.

You keep trying to silence ignorance with words…but ignorance rages on.

So try this:

Silence the world’s ignorance by doing good, in Christ.

Their slander can’t touch you if the evidence of your life disproves it. They can say whatever they want, but your testimony leaves nothing but generosity, servanthood, and compassion in its wake. They keep throwing words at you; you keep loving in the light of Christ.

When all their slander—borne of all their darkness—doesn’t shut up your Jesus-loving, neighbor-serving story, it falls silent.

Don’t let ignorance derail that. Serve on!

— Tyler

From 1 Peter 1: Minded for Grace

“Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (v. 13)

Whatever you set your hopes on, that’s where you will aim your actions.

If your hope is set on retirement goals, you’ll work and invest and tirelessly track your savings.

If your hope is set on how your kids turn out, you’ll read all the books and all the blogs—and you’ll center your life on their education and activities.

If your hope is set on material gain, you’ll spend and spend—and you’ll obsess over trends—as you pursue all the right stuff.

Whatever you set your hopes on, that’s where you will aim your actions.

What did Peter encourage the church toward?

Set your hopes entirely on grace—the Good News of salvation, known now and fulfilled in eternity—and aim your actions accordingly.

Forsake sin. Pursue holiness. Love one another. Be sober-minded, not hot-headed and not swayed by every argument. Serve in the light of the Gospel.

Because you know God’s grace in Christ, live for Him.

— Tyler

From Titus 3: Mercy upon Mercy

“For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us  —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy  — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (vv. 3-5)

I’m guessing you’re like me:

When you read that verse—“For we too were once….”—you could fill in the blank with a thousand things. What did your own foolishness look like? What were the hallmarks of your own disobedience?

My list is humbling, and I’m guessing your list is, too.

I thank God for the other side of this reality! I thank God for the centerpiece of the Gospel, which is mercy, poured out by Christ and made know to us by His Spirit. Mercy is my only hope, when I consider the weight of my foolish disobedience. And, just when the Word leads to comprehend that weight, it reintroduces me to the mercy that carries it away to the cross.

That is, by definition, mercy upon mercy.

— Tyler

From Titus 2: A Sound Message

“Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that any opponent will be ashamed, because he doesn’t have anything bad to say about us.” (v. 8)

How sound is your message?

In Titus, Paul is encouraging another young pastor, so that the church will be solidly organized and scripturally instructed. Among his encouragements, there is this: “Your message must be sound beyond reproach.”

What do you think he means by that?

Try this:

Instead of preaching opinions, preach the Word. Instead of cherry-picking your preferred passages, deliver its full counsel. Instead of proof-texting your predetermined points, exposit the text and its context.

All that, and…

…instead of using it like a reference, hold the Bible as wholly true, inspired, and authoritative.

If any of us—pastors or teachers or learners—root ourselves in that, then whatever we share with whomever we share it will be sound. Our message will always be grounded, and we’ll have the Bible’s own revelation (plus two millennia of faithful confidence) under our feet. Opinions can be assailed; truth cannot.

So…how sound is your message?

— Tyler

From Titus 1: Concerning Pastors

“An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.” (vv. 6-9)

Who should lead in the church? Who should be our pastors?

Here’s how a lot of churches are answering that question: job descriptions. If you happen upon a place that is looking for their next shepherd, you’ll find a ready rubric—and it usually highlights the ministerial expectations of preaching, teaching, leading, visiting, administering, attending, and serving.

The Word, however, has an entirely different rubric.

Every time the qualifications for pastor (or elder or overseer) are detailed, they detail matters of character, of faith and faithfulness, and of humility. They detail the primacy of morality and of family. They detail only one job concern—that he teach the Word of God faithfully—and, beyond that, they focus wholly on his Christlike character.

When we consider this God-ordained role in the New Testament church, let’s consider it in the light God gives it. Let’s be gracious regarding a man’s polish and performance, so long as he serves humbly and faithfully and fully. And let’s limit the value we place on superlative platform ministry. Instead, examine his character by the right rubric, and pray that the Lord raises up humble men to shepherd His church.

(And pray for them, please!)

— Tyler

From 2 Timothy 4: The Wrong Thing to Multiply

“For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.” (v. 3)

I don’t know how much attention you give to Christian denominations in America, but there’s this thing that has been happening for the last fifty years or so:

Ever time one of them aims for “progressive” doctrine, they find the slippery slope, and they slide. They remove their feet from the solid ground of Christ and His Word—and they wander toward whatever and whoever’s words please the times. They multiply teachers and platforms that, under the banner of affirmation, preach wholly unbiblical and unsound content.

Every time we aim to make the Word of God more appeasing to its hearers, we abandon it. And, worse, we abandon the very hearers we’d hoped to appease, for they are left without root and without truth and without life.

We ought to be multiplying the teaching—the faith once for all delivered to the saints—and not merely multiplying teachers. We have the Teacher, and by His Spirit, we have His Word. Beware the impulse to massage what He gives into what you want.

Hold doctrine. Uphold those who teach it in the church. And let your itching ears be confronted, rather than tickled.

— Tyler

From 2 Timothy 3: The “All” of Persecution

“In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (v. 12)

It’s unequivocal.

All.

As in, “All who live a godly life will be persecuted.”

This should raise some questions: Do you already see it around you? Have you tasted persecution for godliness yourself? How are we even defining “persecution”—and how are we defining “godly,” while we’re at it?

Two thoughts:

First, don’t water down the idea of persecution. Persecution isn’t political disaffection or disagreement. It isn’t rainbow flags or pornographic media. It isn’t even secularized school curricula. Persecution is the endangerment of freedom, relationships, and home for faithfulness. Go slow with claiming it.

Second, godliness isn’t merely moral abstention. It’s not hiding behind the church’s fortress walls. It’s not finger-wagging. Godliness is the pure pursuit of Christ’s Kingdom, calling others to repent as you yourself have repented. It’s a convictional, contrasting life, lived for Him where others don’t. Godliness isn’t a retreat into Christianity; it’s being rooted in Christ.

Everyone who lives like that will be persecuted here.

Which prompts the big question:

Are we part of the “all”?

— Tyler

From 2 Timothy 2: Civilian Life

“No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer.” (v. 4)

Be honest:

How entangled are you with civilian life?

Yes, you should be an informed citizen. Yes, you should be a quality neighbor. And yes, you should be interested and engaged and involved in your community.

But how entangled are you?

The Gospel calling calls us out. It challenges the worldly things we permit and pervert. It considers our political obsessions and our social media addictions and our rank materialism, and it puts them to shame. The Gospel calling sets the Lord as YOUR Lord—and that should be fundamentally unentangled.

Let’s let go of some of the “civilian” distractions. Instead, let’s serve the Commander, whose purpose of grace is wholly captivating.

— Tyler

From 2 Timothy 1: Hold on to the Truth

“Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (v. 13)

A professor once told me, “If you’re the first person to read it that way, you’re wrong.”

When it comes to truth—to the Word, to its message, to the Gospel we are called to guard—we aren’t talking about something new or novel. It has been given, taught, and proclaimed for two millennia. The Spirit still leads interpreters toward insightful illustrations, but the thing itself is unchanged and unchanging.

Paul, to encourage Timothy, warns the young man with a warning that is still relevant today: Hold onto to the teaching you have received! Don’t fall for every novel reinterpretation!

The plain truth roots us to the beginning while pointing us forward. And, by grace through the Spirit, that truth which has guarded and guided every faithful generation is sufficient for your generation, too.

Paul’s words are a caution to every interpreter since. May we listen as we are taught, may we pass every interpretation through the rubric of the Bible, and may we stand as another generation who have guarded it…while also giving it.

— Tyler

From 1 Timothy 6: An Indivisible Verse

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (v. 6)

Godliness without contentment could never be a gain: You end up obeying, yet believing you deserve something for it. You keep the rules, but you think riches are rightly yours. You claim grace, yet you crave, as if grace weren’t sufficient.

Contentment without godliness could never be gain: Self-satisfaction (and self-justification) would keep you in sin. Being satisfied without being submitted devalues the One who calls you to repent, and not just revel.

It’s why so many of us across so many generations have bookmarked this verse. It is indivisible, and unfailingly true.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

— Tyler

From 1 Timothy 5: A Motivation

“Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid.” (v. 20)

Do you ever worry that someone will find out? Does the notion that someone might uncover your sin and put it on public display terrify you?

Look, I don’t count the potential for shame as a great motivator in repentance, sanctification, and purity. But it is a motivator!

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul teaches the young pastor that an elder (or pastor or overseer) in the church should be publicly rebuked when he sins. Publicly! It’s because the shepherding ministry is sensitive, a weighty stewardship, and a bit of a high-wire act. The standard he is held to—and the pain he can cause in sin—demands dealing with his sin openly and frankly.

And we’re tempted to think, “Thank goodness that’s his standard and not mine.” What’s at the root of that feeling? The fact that we’re all sinners! It’s the reality that, if anyone started turning over the rocks of our lives to put our sins on public display, they would find some!

Yes, hold the elders in the church to that high standard, and may they lean into repentance and purity and goodness. Follow the Scriptures when addressing their sin.

But maintain a similarly repentant, similarly pure, similarly moral life of your own. Remain motivated, and live a life unworthy of rebuke, by grace.

— Tyler

From 1 Timothy 4: Training Benefits

“For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (v. 8)

I work out some. And I can attest:

It is of limited benefit.

Don’t get me wrong: It’s worthwhile. I feel better, I am stronger, and I remain healthier overall.

But does working out solve everything? Or are its effects permanent?

Certainly not.

Which is why we have to be reminded that there is a better pursuit, a better training, a better exercise. While honing your physical self through physical disciplines has some benefit, honing your spirit through spiritual discipline is better. Those efforts bring everlasting effects: wisdom and purity and generosity and service and witness. The physical is beneficial in a limited way, here and now. The spiritual is beneficial in every way, here and hereafter.

So, yeah, do a bit of both—but don’t neglect the greater.

— Tyler

From 1 Timothy 3: The Pillar and the Foundation

“But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (v. 15)

Add this to the ways you think about the church:

It is the pillar and the foundation of truth in the world.

We treat it like a community organization. We arrange it according to our preferences for religious goods and services. And, if we are getting it as right as possible, we uphold it as a house of prayer and a home-base for mission.

But get this back into the frame:

The church is the pillar and the foundation of truth in the world. It’s where truth stands firm, in a shifting-sands society. It’s where truth is proclaimed, in a cancel-ready culture. The church is the body, given by God, that upholds and elevates and defends and dispenses truth—even as the wider world slides into relativism.

The Gospel. Christ in our place. Conviction and repentance and grace. The purity of the Word of God.

Truth.

May our churches stand, pillars and foundations all.

— Tyler

From 1 Timothy 2: Praying for Leaders

“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (vv. 1-2)

Look again at Paul’s inspired instruction:

We are called to pray for, intercede for, and bring petition about our leaders and rulers and authorities. We are called to call out to God—specifically about our earthly officials. It’s a matter of prayer so vital that Paul brings it up as prt of the right conduct of men and women in worship.

Here’s the thing: we don’t actually have much of a problem doing it.

But are we doing it for the right reasons?

I think we often get caught praying wrongly for such authorities. We pray for little else beyond what we hope they will do (and that we will agree with it).

What we are called to pray about is this:

The preservation of just enough societal space for us to work. To live with godly dignity. And, ultimately, to evangelize—because God would have us match our priorities with His, and His priority is the rescue of the lost.

I am far less concerned about getting what I want politically than I am going with the Gospel. May my prayers for those who govern reflect that, as I pray for them to give us that ground.

— Tyler

From 1 Timothy 1: Bottom Lines

“This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’  — and I am the worst of them.” (v. 15)

When you consider our testimonies—each and every one of us—there’s a remarkable bottom line:

Salvation is a miracle.

Redemption is a gift.

What we have been given in Christ is grace, pure and simple.

Do you sympathize with Paul, like I do? If I dare to come anywhere close to an accurate accounting of my sin—what I have done and what I have thought and what I have said that violates God’s good instruction—the only logical conclusion is that I am the worst of sinners. It’s an overwhelming weight. It’s immense guilt. Thank goodness we aren’t subject to comparison, but I am confident that any comparison would mark me as the sinner of sinners.

Yet Christ died for sinners. Yet Christ died for me.

The bottom-line of our testimonies illuminates the height of His goodness, in the Gospel.

Does that comfort you, the way it comforts me?

— Tyler

From Hebrews 13: Because He Is

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (v. 8)

It’s quite the checklist.

You are called to persist in brotherly love—specifically in the church. You are called to hospitality whenever you gather with whomever you gather—on Sundays, and on the days in between. You are called to care for those in prison, though their offenses might offend you. You are called to purity in your marriage—which means you can’t bring lusting eyes and a wandering heart to bed with your spouse. You are called to limit the pull of money and things. You are even called to obedience under leadership in the church—even though those guys are living entirely by grace, same as you.

What a checklist!

How is it possible?

The Foundation:

Jesus Christ remains. He is unchanged and unchanging. He and His Word are sure. Jesus is our solid rock, our secure ground, the Cornerstone upon which our lives are set.

And if He is there—if He lives up to His promises to be with you and live in you and lead you into life and truth (and He does)—you can do these things. You can step out in faithfulness, because He undergirds your steps. And you can come home to morality, because doing what He says builds a home that stands.

You can do these things because He is, and He will be, for you.

— Tyler

From Hebrews 12: The Father’s Discipline

“No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (v. 11)

No one is asking you to enjoy it.

The season of struggle? The end of your independence and the reality of your utter dependence? Being shaped out of your sinful and shameful choices—and the painful fruit they bear? Tasting the suffering that identifies you with Christ, a mere taste of His own sacrifice?

No one is asking you to enjoy it.

At least, not in the moment.

But look up: The One who permits your needs also knew those needs before you did. He loves you as Father. He holds you and upholds you…while also holding you to a higher standard, a higher hope.

And look ahead: There is peace. There is righteousness. There is the assurance that His discipline is growing you toward better things—here, and hereafter.

When the Father shapes us with discipline, He’s shaping us into Christ’s likeness, and there is no one else I’d rather resemble.

— Tyler

From Hebrews 11: Fundaments of Faith

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (v. 6)

Let’s talk about the fundaments of faith.

Hebrews 11 is sometimes called the “Hall of Faith.” It’s a roll call of real lives lived with real trust in God. And it’s not even a thorough accounting: The writer stops before he even gets to, say, David and the prophets!

Every time I read this chapter, I learn more about what it means to live faithfully, from those who have gone before.

The fundaments, of course, can be seen in Enoch’s biography.

We don’t get to know much about him. All we know is that Enoch walked with the Lord—and the Lord apparently welcomed the man into His presence. That’s it.

And apparently that’s all that is asked. Walk with the Lord. It’s shorthand for the kind of faith that brings us near to Him. It’s a simple formulation as to what pleases God. Faith that—as the writer puts it—believes God exists and believes that He rewards the faithful is the heart of the matter.

Yes, that comprises the full counsel of the Scriptures, for they reveal the God we believe. And yes, it comprises the Gospel, which unfolds the great reward of life in Christ by grace…

…and through faith.

So walk with Him. And cling to faith that pleases God.

— Tyler