Gary Gleans

This is one of the most important chapters in all of Scripture because is clearly defends both the resurrection of Christ and the believer's resurrection.  These are vital truths to every child of God and are a part of the foundation on which our faith rests. THE RESURRECTION IS CENTRAL TO THE GOSPEL: The Gospel of Christ is a very simple thing.  Christ died, was buried and rose again.  His death paid the price of sin and His resurrection is proof that God was satisfied with this payment.  As long as Christ was in the tomb the forgiveness of sin could have been logically question for the payment of sin (death) was still being paid.  However, when God rose Christ from the grave it was His declaration that sin no longer had any claims to make for the full price was paid.  Failure to believe in the resurrection is failure to believe the Gospel.  The resurrection is the GOOD NEWS for all who believe. THE RESURRECTION IS OUR SOURCE OF HOPE: Since Christ...

Speaking in tongues is one of the most controversial subjects in the church today.  It has been very divisive throughout the history of the church and continues to be so even today.  I suspect that both the charismatic and the traditional side have made serious mistakes in their treatment of one another.  The relationship between the two has suffered because of unbiblical attitudes as well as misinterpretation of the Scriptures.  I believe that the Scriptures indicate that the gift of tongues, for the most part, has ceased during this particular stage in history.  There may be places in the world where God may make use of this gift and I believe He will make great use of it during the Tribulation period.  However, today's passage regulates the use of the gift of tongues.  So... IF the gift of tongues were active today it would need to subjected to these biblical principles. THE PROBLEM WITH TONGUES WAS CONFUSION: Paul states that the gift of ton...

Priorities are vitally important in every aspect of life.  Every organization or ministry must have a clear understanding of their purpose and priorities in order to be successful.  When we consider our own lives, what should we, as Christians, consider to be the quality that we most need to develop in our lives?  God's answer to the question is LOVE! THE PRIORITY OF LOVE DEFENDED: Paul shows us that love is a greater priority than exercising his spiritual gifts or making great financial or physical sacrifices.  Once again, it is important for us to understand, as believer, that God cares more about who we are than the things we do.  We have a tendency to be task oriented and we measure our success by the number of our accomplishments.  Certainly, God wants us to be productive in our ministries and exercise our spiritual gifts, but all of these accomplishments and sacrifices are eternally counted as little more than wood, hay, and stubble if they are not ...

It seems amazing to me that in addition to the salvation we receive in Jesus Christ, we also are blessed with spiritual gifts.  God is in the process of forming a body of believers that He equips for the purpose of growth and edification on the part of the body.  He gives us gifts so that the body might be perfected and become more effective at bringing glory to Him. THE SPIRIT GIVES A VARIETY OF GIFTS: There are many different components that go into the formation of the various parts of our physical body.  In the same way there is a variety of gifts that go into making up the body of Christ.  Believers are unique in their giftedness.  Paul says that the Spirit gives to "each one" according to His desire.  I believe that indicates that we as believers have a combination of many different gifts that form our individual gift.  All of us probably have at least a little bit of most of the gifts yet we are stronger in certain areas.  The different p...

God has created this world with an amazing order that is evident in all of creation.  He also desires that His church operate according to the order that He has revealed.  The instructions  of this chapter are designed to help us operate within the church in a way that pleases Him. ORDER IN LEADERSHIP AND SUBMISSION: God has set an order of male leadership within the church.  This order is not because men are superior to women in value or even more important in function.  He has established this rule of leadership so that the church could function efficiently and accurately reflect His glory.  In light of this standard Paul instructed women to cover their head in church as a symbol of submission to authority and for men to keep their hair cut short as a sign of their leadership.  I don't think that coverings and hair length are the key issues, but I do believe that male leadership is vital to the...

What is our purpose and how can we order our lives so that they are pleasing to God?  This is the subject to which Paul turns.  The children of Israel were not pleasing to God in many ways and their story should serve as a warning and example to us.  Here is what we should do with our lives in order to please God. SANCTIFY OURSELVES: God wants a people who are set apart for His honor and glory.  He has revealed what He wants us to do and how He would have us to live.  As we learn from the children of Israel, we are to separate ourselves from idolatry, immorality, testing God and grumbling.  God punished all of these sins very severely in His people, and we can expect Him to do the same in our lives.  Unfortunately we live in a society where all of these things are readily available and are seen as the normal way of life.  However, no matter how much we may be tempted in one or more of these areas, God has promised to provide His children with re...

Paul's priority in life was the advance of the Gospel.  In order to make that happen he was willing to make all kinds of sacrifices.  I am amazed and challenged by both the depth and the variety of sacrifices he made and find myself asking if I am even in the same ballpark when it comes to sacrificial service for our Lord. FAMILY SACRIFICES: It seems that Paul truly desired to be married, but he was willing to give up the joy of marriage in order to better serve the Lord.  He makes it clear that marriage is not wrong and that not all ministers were to make such a sacrifice, but he was willing to do so.  I am sure that he had many lonely times in his life where a wife could have been such a huge comfort and help to him.  Those of us who are married should appreciate our wives and thank God for the joy He gives us in our families. FINANCIAL SACRIFICES: As a minister Paul had every right to be paid by the people to who he was ministering.  He spent his tim...

Liberty and freedom are blessings that believers hold as very precious.  However, they can be abused and result in great weakness in the body of Christ.  We must always be careful not to allow the use of our liberty in Christ to be a source of sin in our lives or a temptation to sin in the lives of others. LIBERTY COMES FROM TRUTH: The truths taught in God's Word provide great liberty to the life of a believer.  We no longer need to worry about keeping a list of regulations or following a set of rituals in order to please are be accepted by God.  We have been liberated from the law and are now free to pursue a relationship with God where we can please Him due to our faith in the work of Christ.  Once we have knowledge of the truth taught in God's Word we can experience a freedom in our hearts that is different than anything experienced by those of other faiths.  We have been set free by the truth. LIBERTY CAN OFFEND OTHERS: Though we experience a w...

Marriage is wonderful gift given to us by God.  However, like most of God's gifts, Satan has done all that he can to destroy or pollute this gift.  Paul gives us some very important basic principles about marriage that will help us enjoy God's gift to the fullest. THE PRIVILEGE OF SEX IN MARRIAGE: This gift from God has been brutally attacked in many different ways.  Prior to marriage, today's society has made sex out to be the most vital part of the relationship.  God says that the physical relationship is to be preserved until marriage, yet the very thought of abstinence in today's world is thought of as almost a joke.  This effectively destroys God's purpose in this precious gift as it treats it as common or cheap.  After marriage, far too often, this gift is treated as if it were impure or even as a weapon to be used or withheld as a tool of manipulation within marriage.  God has given this gift within marriage to be enjoyed freely with...

The Gospel is a life transforming message that ought to have a radical effect on every aspect of our being.  All of our relationships, reactions and our behavior ought to be impacted by the Spirit of God and should make us far different than we were before as well as make us stand out in the world.  BELIEVERS ARE TO BE SUBMISSIVE TO THE SAINTS: When we have disputes with other believers, and it is very likely that we will, we must not resort to opening lawsuits against our brother in Christ.  As brothers we ought to be able to resolve our conflicts with one another.  When that is not possible, we are to take the dispute to other mature believers who can help us come to agreement.  As believers we must be submissive to the authority of the leaders that God has placed over us in the church.  We may not always understand or agree with their decisions, but that does not give us an excuse to take our dispute to the secular courts.  It would be far better ...

One of the hardest things that we have to face as believers is dealing with sin in the life of those who claim to be brothers in Christ.  Since we are acutely aware of our own short comings we are often hesitant to judge the sins of others.  Most of us are also not very fond of confrontation.  However, far too often people in the church take advantage of this reluctance to use grace as an excuse for open sin.  Paul show us in this passage both how and why we must deal with sin decisively in the church. DISCIPLINE RESULTS IN THE CONFRONTATION OF SIN: If sin is left unchecked in the life of a brother in Christ he will continue in that sin.  The problem with prolonged sin in our lives is that slowly but surely we become desensitized to it.  The person who is sinning has been rationalizing his sin for so long that they do not even feel that it is wrong.  Our jobs as brothers in Christ is to grab the bull by the horns so to speak and confront the sin in t...

One day all of us will stand before Christ who will judge our lives and ministries on this earth.  In light of that reality we should all pay very close attentions to many things about our lives.  This chapter tells us at least four areas of our lives and ministries to which we must pay close attention. WE MUST BE FAITHFUL: Christ will not judge us based on results or based on the abilities of someone else.  God knows all about our abilities and opportunities and will judge us accordingly.  We have the tendency to compare ourselves to others, but God will not do that.  He only requires that we be faithful with that which He has given us.  Those who have many gifts and many opportunities will be judged differently than those who have fewer gifts and fewer opportunities.  All God requires of us is faithfulness. WE MUST HAVE PURE MOTIVES: Christ has the ability to know that which no one else can see.  We are unable to judge the motives of others ...

God has called us to cooperate with one another in the body of Christ for the purpose of advancing the kingdom and bringing glory to God.  Unfortunately, far too often, our own egos get in the way of this purpose and we allow our focus to drift from a God centered relationship to a man centered religion.  This is the tendency that Paul was combating in Corinth and the tendency that we must wage war upon in our own hearts.  Here are a few thoughts that might help us in this battle. JEALOUSY DEMONSTRATES IMMATURITY: Jealousy and strife in our lives and relationships with one another indicate that we have been distracted from the purpose of God's glory and the spread of the Gospel.  We begin to compare one ministry against another and almost make the ministry a competition between those who minister.  We think so and so is the best preacher and we want our group to be the most effective.  The ministry becomes a pursuit of whatever is "bigger or better."...

The Gospel causes a variety of reactions.  Some people are offended by it, some are curious about it and some are transformed through it.  It is not the Gospel that changes, rather it is man's reaction and response to the Gospel.  Paul describes the Gospel in this passage. THE GOSPEL IS SIMPLE AND POWERFUL: Paul's ministry was one of revealing the truth of the Gospel to men.  Paul was highly educated and capable of impressive and intellectual conversation.  However, he did not use some sort of aloof position or complicated vocabulary when presenting the message of Christ.  The power of the Gospel is in the simplicity of the truth.  Clever speech and gimmicks are not needed, in fact they distract from and end up hiding  the truth.  God's power is available through the Spirit of God to all who believe and is able to transform sinners into saints for the glory of God. THE GOSPEL IS SPIRITUAL AND PROFOUND: The simplicity of the Gospel sh...

Paul's love for the church in Corinth is obvious, but his tone is clearly different than it was in the book of Romans.  He is clearly concerned for this church and way that they are allowing sinful attitudes and actions to rob them of the vitality of their Christian walk.  This leg of our journey promises to be both sobering and stimulating as we evaluate our own sinful tendencies in light of those of this church. THE DIVISIVENESS OF PRIDE IN BELIEVERS: It is easy for us to allow pride to creep into our hearts for what may seem to be noble reasons.  Pride comes naturally to us, so our tendency is to "Christianize" our pride and call it by names such as loyalty.  It is easy for us to identify ourselves by the names of certain denominations or declare our loyalty to a prominent Christian leader from the past or present.  The Corinthian believers we doing precisely that.  Some were loyal to Paul, other to Apollos while I am sure still others to Peter.  ...

The ministry is always about people.  It is amazing how many people that Paul mentions by name in a church that he had never visited.  Obviously many people had moved to Rome from other places where they had met Paul.  Even still, I am very impressed with how well Paul stayed connected with all of these people without such things as e-mail, skype and telephones.  In a day when travel and communication was MUCH more limited than ours, Paul managed to have a truly global impact.  As we close this marvelous book, just a couple of thoughts come to mind. THE PRIVILEGE OF PARTNERSHIPS: Two things stand out to me in this long list of names.  First of all I am impressed with the fact that Paul recognized his need of partnerships in ministry.  He was not a "lone ranger" missionary.  He worked with many people in many places.  He depended on them and he invested in their lives.  Second, I am curious to know more about so many of these people tha...

God calls us to be a people who focus on others as opposed to just thinking about ourselves.  Selfishness in bound up in each of our hearts, but we are called in this passage to step away from this sinful practice and turn our attention to others. PREFER THE WEAKNESSES OF OTHERS: Paul continues his teaching from the previous chapter on how to deal with those who may be sensitive to certain practices.  The standard of Scripture is simple enough to understand, we are to prefer others over ourselves and to be especially considerate of those who might be weak in the faith.  Liberty should never be flaunted, rather we should be extra careful to make sure that we do not offend or cause others to stumble. PRAISE THE LORD WITH OTHERS: Christ has given us an abiding hope through the teaching of Scripture and that gives us great motives to glorify God with all the saints.  Jews and Gentiles who have trusted Christ are called to join their voices in praise to the Lord....

Even as believers, we should not be surprised when we see things differently from one another.   We all come from different backgrounds.   Our paths of sin took us different directions and our paths to Christ are unique.   We also have had varied experiences since we have trusted Christ and have studied God’s Word in different ways and proportions.   This passage gives us great advice as to how we should handle these things. DON’T DISPUTE OVER THE DIVERGENT: The key is to not allow our diverse views on the non-essentials to become disputes.   As long as we are disputing with one another, we will not be focused on promoting the kingdom of God.   There truly are areas that are not clearly defined in Scripture in which we have liberty.   In Paul’s day these things were Jewish holidays and food.   In our day it might be entertainment and what we drink.   We will find that different cultures will treat these things in different ways.   For ex...

There is a certain code of conduct by which members of a family are expected to walk.   Being members of the family of God is no exception.   The family traits are to be unmistakable evidences that we are rightly related to God.   It affects the way we think, the way we talk and the way we walk. WALK IN SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY: We may not like the political leaders under which we are required to live.   However, no matter how ungodly these men and women may seem, the Bible clearly states that they have been appointed to their position by God.   We may think that we elect our own official, but the truth is that there is only one vote in the universe and it belongs to God.   As such, we are called by God to submit to their authority.   There may be times where these authorities prohibit what God commands or command what God prohibits, where we are called to suffer the consequences of disobeying human authority in order to obey God’s; but apart from those...

One of the most important questions that we can ask ourselves as we study God’s Word is: “So what?”   Paul has taught us some of the most amazing and profound doctrines in all of Scripture in these first 12 chapters of Romans.   Paul now turns to the application of these truths as well as the implications that these truths have on our day to day lives.   These are the commands of Scripture that ought to dictate how those who have been justified by faith should now live. SERVE ONE ANOTHER: Since we have been transformed by the power of Christ, we should now offer our lives and all of our talents as a sacrifice on the altar of God to serve one another.   Christ has purified our sins and now we must work together to bring about the holiness of the body of Christ with which we are now associated.   The spirit gives us gifts, not so that we can be proud and draw attention to ourselves, but that we might humbly serve one another.   The Christian life was never me...

Since Israel has rejected Christ, some would argue that the promises made to the nation Israel have been lost and that they are now without hope.   However, Paul argues against this thinking by demonstrating that God still has a plan for His chosen nation.   Paul makes three compelling arguments that outline the reason for Israel’s hope. ISRAEL’S REJECTION IS PARTIAL: Paul uses himself to prove this point that not all of Israel has turned from God and lost His favor, because Paul is a Jew and yet was saved by God’s grace through faith.   Paul then reminds us that in every generation God has always maintained a remnant of His people who are faithful to the truth.    Even in the days of Israel’s darkest idolatry, there was a remnant that walked in the fear of the Lord.   The same remains true today.   There are many Messianic Jews who have recognized that Christ is the Messiah and they have been justified by placing their faith in Him.   It should b...

Paul continues his argument with the Jewish objections to justification by faith.  These are excuses  with no foundation but important arguments for us to understand. THE GOSPEL IS AVAILABLE TO ALL: The Jews are insisting that righteousness is only available through the works of the Law.  However Paul insists that this is ignorance and the result of a hard heart.  God has revealed a righteousness through Christ that is available to all who believe.  While the Law was only available to a few, faith is available to all.  Those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.  We only call when we recognize that we are in need of help.  Those who think that they are good on their own believe that they have no need of calling.  However, when men come to an end of themselves they call out for God.  But in order for them to call they must have heard the Gospel.  Paul is defending his ministry to the Gentiles whereby he preaches to them t...