Exodus 24:7 and Deuteronomy 26:17
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient” . . . Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgements, and that you will obey His voice.
What of Today’s Verse…
God’s word (which is “the word of His grace”) is characterized by heavenly capability: “which is able . . . and is profitable for.” By God’s grace at work, the scriptures can bring us increasingly into the wholeness that is ours in Christ, as well as fully equip us for service unto Christ.
All of the word of God’s grace is divinely inspired. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Although written through the instrumentality of men, its message is what God wanted to say. Therefore, the word is able to bring great spiritual profit into our lives: “and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” God’s word “is profitable for doctrine.” This involves the teaching ministry of the word, revealing to us the path of godliness. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psa_119:105). Also, God’s word “is profitable for . . . reproof.” This involves the admonishing ministry of the word, telling us when we are drifting from God’s path. “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition” (1Co_10:11). Further, God’s word “is profitable for . . . correction.”
This involves the restoring ministry of the word, calling us back to the straight and narrow path of godliness. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa_55:7). Finally, God’s word “is profitable for . . . instruction in righteousness.” This involves the transforming ministry of the word, moving us on down the path of Christ likeness. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror [the mirror of the word] the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2Co_3:18).
As we allow God’s word to carry on this profitable, four-fold process, His grace is bringing us into a greater experience of the wholeness that is available to us in Christ: “that the man of God may be complete.” Additionally, this process is preparing us comprehensively to serve the Lord in any manner that He desires: “thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Let us Pray:
Dear Lord, I need the word of Your grace at work in my life daily. Please impact my life by the supernatural ability of Your word. Teach me, reprove me, correct me, and instruct me in righteousness that I might walk in Your wholeness and serve for Your glory, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
The Message
Here is the message of the Christ of the cross and the still more glorious and precious Christ of the resurrection.
It is beautiful and inspiring to note the touch of light and glory with which these simple words invest the cross. It is not said I am He that was dead and lives, but “I am He that lives and was dead, but am alive forever more.” Life is mentioned before the death. There are two ways of looking at the cross.
One is from the death side and the other from the life side. One is the Ecce Homo and the other is the glorified Jesus with only the marks of the nails and the spear. It is thus we are to look at the cross. We are not to carry about with us the mould of the sepulchre, but the glory of the resurrection. It is not the Ecce Homo, but the Living Christ.
And so our crucifixion is to be so complete that it shall be lost in our resurrection and we shall even forget our sorrow and carry with us the light and glory of the eternal morning. So let us live the death-born life, ever new and full of a life that can never die, because it is “dead and alive for evermore.”
I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, “I am alive for evermore,” Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Revelations 1:18
