In a practical exhortation based on the great theme of God offering salvation to all men through the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul instructs, “Be not wise in your own conceits” (Rom. 12:16).  Christ’s church at Rome had some Jews and some Gentiles.  Because of their background, the Jews had a tendency to look down on the Gentiles, as Paul describes in Romans 2:17-20:

Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

In reaction to this attitude, the Gentiles in the church were tempted to boast that they were chosen to be part of God’s people while many Jews, who did not believe Jesus, were rejected.  To these, Paul wrote, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25).  Also many Greeks, filled with their own wisdom, patronized those not acquainted with Greek culture, (called Barbarians), but Paul wrote, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise (Rom. 1:14).

In summary, there were many temptations for the brethren at Rome to be lifted up with pride against one another.  The letter to the Romans has as one of its main aims to halt this pride by showing that all glory belongs to God.  Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23); therefore we have no grounds to boast in ourselves as faultless (Rom. 3:27).  It is on the basis of obedient faith in Christ that we may stand before God (Rom. 5:1-2). God’s love, not our own accomplishments, is the basis of our hope of salvation (Rom. 5:6-9; 8:31-32).  When we consider how God had this plan of redemption in His mind all along and worked it out through human history, all we can do is marvel at His wisdom and give all glory to Him (Rom. 11:33-36).

Christ’s church at Flatwoods needs the exhortation of Romans 12:16 as well.  I need to remember that I have no room nor need to boast in my own abilities.  God loves me though I have sinned.  He has given me forgiveness in Christ.  Pride is the greatest enemy to peace in the church.  Recognizing our dependence on God and being thankful for His forgiveness is the path to humility and peace among His people.

–Mark Day

Philippians 3:20 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (NKJV).  Whatever our earthly situation, Christians can rejoice in the fact that we are citizens of heaven.  Before we were in Christ, we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, but contact with His blood changed all that (Eph. 2:12-13).  Now God has gathered people of all nationalities into His Son and made a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9), Christ’s church, the true Israel of God (Gal. 6:16).

How do people become citizens of heaven, so that their names are written there (Heb. 12:23)?  Well, by birth.  Citizenship has always had a connection with birth.  Birth was how the apostle Paul became a Roman citizen, “Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born” (Acts 22:27-28).

While the path to becoming a citizen of an earthly nation can be by birth or through naturalization (which may involve applications, waiting lists, and various other prerequisites) the uniqueness of citizenship in heaven is that everyone today must be naturalized by birth.  Nicodemus was born an Israelite, and through hard work had become not only a Pharisee, but also a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1); thus, he probably thought he would certainly be a citizen of heaven because he was a descendant of Abraham (cf. Mt. 3:7-9).  However, when Nicodemus approached Jesus one evening, he heard the truth, which radically challenged his beliefs.  Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  This new birth was not a second physical birth, as Nicodemus obtusely queried (John 3:4), but is a spiritual birth of water and Spirit (John 3:5).

When one is ready to submit to the Savior, water baptism brings new life (Rom. 6:4), makes one a child of God (Gal. 3:26-27), washes away sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16) and saves (1 Pet. 3:21).  Truly baptism is this new birth, the washing of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5), at which point one becomes a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus is the one and only path to the Father (John 14:6), and baptism puts one into Christ (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27); thus, the one path to heavenly citizenship is defined.

While many may give most of their time and effort to the affairs of earthly commonwealths, trying to make their government the best it can be according to their views, the Christian must always place citizenship in heaven first.  Are we working to help people become citizens of heaven?  Christ is our loving monarch, who rules in righteousness as Isaiah 32:1 prophesied.  His is the only perfect kingdom, and the only one that will matter in the end (1 Cor. 15:22-24).

-Mark Day

David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22); thus, he prayed “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD” (Psalm 19:14).  Controlling our thoughts and words is one of the most demanding, but essential endeavors we must pursue if we will be pleasing to God.  Certainly one leads to the other, for as Christ noted, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mt. 12:34).

There are certain words that a Christian should never use.  God does not specify a list in the Bible because meanings of words in different languages and cultures change throughout time.  God’s word could not possibly list all the words that constitute profanity for all cultures for all time, but in principle the Bible gives some guidelines.  Christians are not to allow “corrupt communication” to proceed out of the mouth (Eph. 4:29).  These words are evil or corrupt in a moral sense.  We know what these words are, and the righteous will know what is acceptable to God (Prov. 10:32).  “Foolish talking and jesting” are also off limits (Eph. 5:4).  This would include stupid speech and vulgar, off-color jokes.  No filthy communication should come out of our mouths (Col. 3:8).  Any obscene speech that disregards social and moral standards is shameful.  A Christian should be ashamed to ever utter such language.

James 3:5 instructs us that the tongue, though a little member, can do great damage.  While many members of the Lord’s church would never use a curse word or tell a vulgar joke, gossip is so tempting and seems so innocent.  It is passed along many times without a second thought.  But it is a spreading fire and deadly poison (James 3:6, 8).   A church member by the name of Diotrephes wanted to put himself first (3 John 9).  Because he was power hungry, he resorted to verbally attacking the apostle John, “prating” against him with “malicious words” (3 John 10).  The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Prov. 18:8).  We must be careful not to spread lies, even if we do not know it is a lie.  A “lying tongue” is one of the things the Lord hates (Prov. 6:17).  “A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” are two others (Prov. 6:19).  What we must ask ourselves before we say anything is: Is it true?  Is it kind? Is it needed?

Since I will give an account of every word I choose to let out of my mouth in the Judgment, I must exercise extreme caution with my speech (Mt. 12:36).  It is wise for me to watch my mouth, because God certainly is.

-Mark Day