“The Whole Story”

Everyone has a life story and unfortunately, there are times when others focus only on half of a person’s story.  Many people highlight the faults of the early apostles.  However, that is not the END of their story.  As we study history we discover that each of the apostles, with the exception of John, were killed because of their refusal to reject their faith in Christ.  It is common knowledge that Peter denied Christ three times before Jesus was crucified but in the end, Peter was crucified upside down because he refused to deny Christ.  Thomas is frequently referred to as “doubting Thomas” because of his skepticism regarding the resurrection of Jesus.  But he was stabbed with pine spears and burned to death by the enemies of Christ because he fully believed in the risen Savior.  The other apostles abandoned Jesus while He was being held as a prisoner, but in the end they were beaten to death, stabbed to death, stoned, crucified, and beheaded because they would not abandon the Gospel of Christ. 

Paul was known to imprison and murder Christians prior to his encounter with Christ.  However, the second half of his life was spent evangelizing in order to lead more people to Christ than he had killed because of their belief in Jesus.  God sees us as the individuals He created us to be and forgives us of the sins we have committed along the way when we are repentant.

Romans 3:23-26

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness,  because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; ²⁶ for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 8:28-30

²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; ³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

 

“The Knowledge of God”

No one can ever obtain true knowledge of God until they have first submitted themselves to His righteousness. Having zeal alone will not give us the ability to know or understand God.

Romans 10:1-3

¹ Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

² For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 

³ For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

 

“The Importance of Self Denial”

When Steven was being stoned, he prayed that God would not charge the men with their sin:  his murder. 

Steven was a humble man and full of the Spirit.  If he had requested that God avenge him instead of denying himself, God may have obliged him.  If that would have happened, we would not understand the requirement of salvation, or recognize that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18, 10:9).  We would not understand that the most important attribute to have and display is love (1 Corinthians 13).  We would be oblivious of the fruit of the Spirit that God requires us to have (Galatians 5:22-23).  We would not be aware of the armor of God that is essential for us to wear while engaging in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:13-17).  We would not know to meditate on the things that are noble, pure, just, true, lovely, and of a good report (Philippians 4:8).  We would not understand how to address sin and the necessity of avoiding sin (Colossians 3:1-17).  We would not understand that not only do we need to avoid evil; we need to abstain from all APPEARANCES of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22).  We would not understand that we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  And we would not understand sound doctrine (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). 

The reason we would be ignorant of all of this DOCTRINAL information is because Paul is the person who instructed us in these areas.  He was present at the time of Stephen’s murder and would have suffered God’s wrath if Stephen would have prayed for vengeance and God would have honored his request.  Stephen’s self-denial has benefitted the Body of Christ for the past 2 millennium.

It is difficult to experience ill treatment by others and refrain from retaliation.  Although we may desire to “handle” the situation our way, God expects for us to respond righteously.  We have to remember that our vision is myopic, but God has a panoramic view.

Romans 12:17-21

  ¹⁷ Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸ Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.

²⁰ Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
    If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
    burning coals of shame on their heads.”

²¹ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.