Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 6:12-19.

“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.  And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:  Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother;  and James and John;  and Philip and Bartholomew;  and Matthew and Thomas;  James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;  Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place;  and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases;  and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.  And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.”  Luke 6:12-19.

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We can follow Jesus’ example and pray in the middle of the night.  We can also read Scripture in the middle of the night.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, God will convict me of a specific sin.

“3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.  Selah.”  Psalm 32:3-4.

And, God will grant me repentance and cause me to get up from my bed and pray, confess my sin, and repent.

“I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.  Selah.”  Psalm 32:5.

Other times, I will wake up around 1:00 am to 2:00 am, or thereabout, for about 20 minutes to read the Scripture and write brief notes about what I think that I will write for the daily devotion that I will write the next day.

But late last night about 5:00 a.m., I woke up feeling empty and distant from the Lord.  I thought it was best to get up to pray.

As soon as I knelt to pray, the Lord graciously and immediately remind me of the topic of our Sunday Bible Study class yesterday:  “Preservation of the Saints” also known as “Perseverance of the Saints”, the “P” of “TULIP”, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  I instantly felt better and amazed at the providence of God to cause the timing of that topic to be the answer to my prayer.

I then went to my Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions website and the “head note” section and link titled “TULIP” and read what I wrote about “Preservation of the Saints”.  I then edited this section to add verses.  It all further comforted me greatly.  Here is the link if you want to check out “Preservation of the Saints” under the following “TULIP” link – https://reformeddoctrine.com/tulip/

Article 3.  By reason of these remains of indwelling sin, and the temptations of sin and of the world, those who are converted could not persevere in a state of grace, if left to their own strength.  But God is faithful, who having conferred grace, mercifully confirms, and powerfully preserves them herein, even to the end.

Article 9.  Of this preservation of the elect to salvation, and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers for themselves may and ought to obtain assurance according to the measure of their faith, whereby they arrive at the certain persuasion, that they ever will continue true and living members of the church;  and that they experience forgiveness of sins, and will at last inherit eternal life.  The above Articles 3 and 9 are in the FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Perseverance of the Saints of Canons of Dordt.

In conclusion, we cannot trust our feelings, but we can trust God’s Word.  We cannot trust our actions including even our prayers, but we can trust God’s providence.  We cannot trust our perseverance on our own strength, but we can trust God’s preservation of us which includes God continuing to give us grace and causing us to persevere, even to the end.  

“For the LORD loves justice
And does not forsake His godly ones;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.”  Psalm 37:28.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely;  and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”  1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 6:6-11.

“On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching;  and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.  The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.  But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!”  And he got up and came forward.  And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”  After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!”  And he did so;  and his hand was restored.  But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”  Luke 6:6-11.

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The scribes and Pharisees were more intent on serving the letter of the Law than they were serving the Spirit of the Law.

The scribes and Pharisees were more intent on how they appeared to others than what they did for others.

“And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”  Verse 9.

“After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!”  And he did so;  and his hand was restored.”  Verse 10.

“…  we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:6.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:4-6.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;  for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”  Galatians 5:16-18.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;  against such things there is no law. ”  Galatians 5:22-23.

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 6:1-5.

“Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath;  and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.  But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”  And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”  And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”  Luke 6:1-5.

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Jesus is not only the Lord of the Sabbaoth;  Jesus is also the Lord of all the other ten commandments and all other rule and authority.

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;  …  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us;  and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come;  but the substance belongs to Christ.”  Colossians 2:9-10 and 13-17.

“He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.  …”  Ephesians 1:9-10.

“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”  Galatians 3:24.

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”  Galatians 4:4.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”  Romans 7:4.

“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ;  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”  Galatians 2:19-21.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free;  therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.  …

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law;  you have fallen from grace.  For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”  Galatians 5:1 and 4-5.

“…  If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:  circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews;  as to the Law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;  as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,”  Philippians 3:4-9.

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 5:36-39.

“And He was also telling them a parable:  “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment;  otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins;  otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.  And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new;  for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”  Luke 5:36-39.

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Faith in the Law and man’s ability to obey the Law is like the old garment and old wineskins.

Faith in Christ and the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith in Christ is like the new garment and the new wine.

You cannot combine the two.

“Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”  Galatians 3:3.

“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law;  you have fallen from grace.  For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”  Galatians 5:4-5.

And, other doctrine based on man’s works, or based on even as little as man’s will, is also like the old garment and old wineskins.

And, Reformed Doctrine based on God’s work and God’s will to provide all that we need for salvation is like the new garment and the new wine.

You cannot combine the two.

Q. 30.  Do such then believe in Jesus the only Savior, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or anywhere else?

A.  They do not;  for though they boast of Him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Savior;  for one of these two things must be true, either that Jesus is not a complete Savior, or that they who by a true faith receive this Savior must find all things in Him necessary to their salvation.  Heidelberg Catechism.

Those who live by the Law or other doctrine are like those who drink old wine and think it is good enough.  

God’s grace makes us new creations and enables us to leave the Law and live a new life in Christ.

“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”  Galatians 3:24-25.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”  Romans 7:4.

God’s grace also gives us new understanding that Scripture is best summarized by Reformed Doctrine and enables us to leave other doctrine and cling to Reformed Doctrine.  God’s grace gives us faith in God’s work and God’s will to provide all that we need for salvation.

“And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.”  Luke 8:10.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;  the old things passed away;  behold, new things have come.”  2 Corinthians 5:17.

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”  Romans 6:4.

Today’s devotion comes from Luke 5:27-29.

“After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”  And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.”  Luke 5:27-29.

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Today’s Scripture presents a more powerful example of Jesus’ power and authority over men.

It is impressive that Jesus could command simple fishermen to follow Him and they immediately left their nets and followed Him.  See Mark 1:16-20.  But, it is more impressive that Jesus could command a shrewd tax collector (who was a professional at resisting the pleas of taxpayers and who also was a sinner who was not afraid of God nor man) and he left everything and followed Him.

It is impressive that the fishermen left their livelihood.  But, it is more impressive that the tax collector “left everything behind” including both a very lucrative source of income for himself and the responsibility for which he could be held accountable for leaving whether to Rome or to another government entity for whom he had the responsibility to collect taxes.  It is reasonable to infer that he risked being punished by death or by imprisonment.

If Jesus had such power and authority over a tax collector named Levi, we can every confidence in Jesus’ power and authority over us. 

Other doctrine teaches man’s alleged free-will.

But, Reformed Doctrine teaches God’s “Irresistible Grace”. 

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”  John 6:37.

“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 1:6.

God accomplishes all of His good pleasure.  Total Perfect Triumph.

“9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken;  truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it.”  Isaiah 46:9-11.