Grace vs. Law?

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."   -- Matthew 5:17-20

     Here is a place where Jesus speaks clearly to the crowd, and yet our human nature makes us want to say, "Well, that isn't what He actually means. After all, isn't it also written, '. . .  you are not under law but under grace?' So we do not have to worry about the Law anymore!"

     It is true that Paul penned those words in the book of Romans, but it is also true that those words comprise just a part of the story.  To flesh out Paul's thought a bit, we need to peek back one verse. Then we will see he wrote: "Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:13-14) It is not an end to the Law that Paul writes of, but rather an end to our enslavement to sin.

     When he says, "you are not under law but under grace," Paul is not saying that the work of Christ on the cross has put an end to the Law. If he did, he would have directly contradicted the words of the Lord and proven himself  to be "a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" as James puts it in chapter 1 verse 8 of his epistle. Rather, Paul is saying that, once you have accepted Christ as Lord,  sin no longer has a grip on you--it is no longer your master, but the Lord in His grace has now taken upon Himself that position, which was rightfully His to begin with. Instead of forcing obedience to His will, he merely uses the Law to bring to light our true nature and then ignites His grace as a brilliant beacon to show us the only safe path. It is, of course, our choice whether we will accept it or not, but once we have seen what the light of the Law has exposed in the dark parts of our hearts, we would be fools not to embrace His offer. For once the Law has illuminated us, we see that we are not merely knee-deep in sin, we are drowning in it. So grace is the lifeline offered to our pitiable state, and the Law is the means of exposing it.

     Jesus says plainly to us, "until heaven and earth pass away... not a dot will pass from the Law." This has not happened yet, and so we are still subject to scrutiny by the Law. So where is the good news in this story; where is the grace? It is just this--He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. We, at our dead-level best, can never hope to perfectly keep the Law. We see in the very first commandment our own death spelled out, for not a one of us has always, in every way, and in every thought put God first above all else.

     The hope is not in what we can do, but in the simple fact that Jesus did as He said He would--He fulfilled the Law. He kept it to the letter, never missing the mark nor obscuring some point of it with sin, self-righteousness, or by trying to justify what He knew was wrong. He very simply and very humbly kept the Law--then submitted to a gruesome death to appease for all time the wrath of God against sin. That is the very grace He offers--that we take His death as our own, and through it live a new life. He asks only that we live this new life as He did--utterly in compliance with the will of God, giving Him our utmost love and respect and receiving His glorious devotion and sublime peace in return. This gracious gift is ours to take, but we must commit our all to that lifeline, allowing Him to raise us up entirely, without trying to keep one toe in the sea of death.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."Galatians 5:1

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Abundance

"The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Abundance. It is something we take for granted in the good ole' USA--a land where we have water at our fingertips, several changes of clothing, so many foods available that we choose what we want for each meal, homes that typically have more than two rooms, and the list just goes on and on. In fact, we are so glutted with our abundance that we often rent separate buildings to store the things that do not fit into our houses!  Yet, according to a study by the World Health Organization, America is also near the top of the list for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. It would appear, then, that having abundant "stuff"-- or even abundant opportunity -- is not the key to happiness. . . 

So what is this abundant life that Christ talks about? Did He come so that we would have all our needs, all our wants, all our desires met? Does it include prosperity, good health, and an overall sense of happiness and well-being?

The short answer is "no."

The abundant life Christ talks about is a life focused and centered on Him and Him alone. Our desires may end up being met, but only because as we draw closer to Him, our desires are only for more of Him or become aligned with His desires for us. Will our lives change? Yes, emphatically! If we have decided to follow Christ and find we are the same person in a year as we were when we begun, than I can guarantee that we have somehow taken our eyes off Him and wandered off on our own path after all. Prosperity may come, or it may not. Health can improve or be stripped away.  In any and all cases, Christ still promises an abundant life--abundant in peace, in hope--abundant in the particular brand of love for which He came to set an example. It is an example, not of pleasure and self-serving, but of sacrifice and self denial.

Contrary to our instinct to grasp and hold,  this abundant life comes from letting go. Letting go of everything this world has to offer and putting our trust solely in God. Letting go of our wants--every single one, and yes, I mean even that one!--and trusting Him not only to meet our needs but to know what they are with no help from us. It means not obeying Him conditionally or because it feels good, but obeying no matter what we think about it nor how we feel. It is incredibly simple and yet we find oh, so many ways to complicate it in our attempts to shape into a more appealing form. We believe our Father wants what is best for us, but only the best we think we need. Whether we will openly admit it or not, many of us see God as an indulgent Father who will grant our every whim and see to it that we are surrounded by things both comfortable and pleasant. But because He is good, He does not spoil His children so. He knows better, and so He allows hardships and trials, not to punish us, but to bring us into a greater reliance on Him. He allows them so He can breathe His abundant, vigorous life into our weak and sickly souls.

The truth is, Christ does not call us to please ourselves at all, but rather to lay down our lives completely, not hanging on to the tiniest thread nor holding anything back. He calls us to die, and though it seems an oxymoron, die we must if we are to take hold of a real life--the life overflowing in joy, peace, hope, and love that exists entirely outside the stream of our circumstances on this planet.

Life abundantly is not life without pain or suffering, but life that thrives, swelling to fullness with peace and joy, quite in spite of pain. It is a life worth any sacrifice to gain--even should it mean letting die our fondest wishes, dreams, or hobbies. I assure you that we will find the greatest of these are proved shabby when held in comparison with the riches of grace He offers.  This year, my friends, let us resolve to drop our trinkets and open wide our hands to the treasures our Lord is offering!

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. . . "  Ephesians 1:16-18

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For Love of a Lamb

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."         Luke 2:8-12

I find it amusing that I can read the same passage of Scripture over and over, even recite it from memory, and suddenly one day, I will see an angle or way of understanding that I had not noticed before. It is like that with the Christmas story, and I marvel at it in a fresh way each year.
What struck me this year was the words of the angel to the shepherds: "You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." These were the messengers of the living God, a God that the Hebrew people held in such reverence that they never spoke His name, though He revealed it to them through Moses. The angel was delivering the message of the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah-- the King of the Jews; promised from the time of the Fall of man, promised to David that the throne of Israel would belong to his descendants forever (1 Samuel 7:16); promised through the Prophet that His reign would be forever and would bring peace, righteousness and justice (Isaiah 9:7). Many Jews of the time waited eagerly for this King, whom they believed would overthrow the oppressive Roman rule and bring political freedom to the people of Israel.

And so, it is no small detail that the heavenly messengers appeared and spoke these words to common shepherds--a necessary job, but neither an honorable nor highly-desired one--rather than to priests, to royalty, or to high society. Nor is it meager information that they announced that this Baby; this King-to-be who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace; was to be found lying in a feeding trough for animals. He did not come in power and glory, He was not born into wealth and comfort, He was not surrounded by cushions and splendor, born with the aid of the best midwives that could be found as one might expect a great and powerful ruler to be. Rather, He was born to a young woman, the betrothed of a skilled laborer, and born in downright squalid conditions where sheep and goats brought their young bleating into the world. The Lamb of God was born in much the same way as any lamb would be and in the same place. And he would not be difficult for these shepherds to find, as I am sure that it was not a Bethlehemian trend to lay one's precious, newborn infant in the same container where one spread the feed for the goats!

This Christmas, as I reflect on the one great Gift we were all given--the gift of Emmanuel who willingly laid aside glory, honor, and power we can scarcely imagine--I must also reflect on what this means to me, personally. If my great and mighty God, my King, was willing to be born in such conditions; if the Creator of the world would subject Himself willingly to the limits of His creation; if my Master would humble Himself to live as a helpless human infant, who had to grow, learn, be fed and changed as all babies do, what of me? What task is beneath me, if the One who created me would live so and also be born only to die -- for me? When I am given a love so fantastic and selfless as this, how can I ever think to withhold my love from another person? How can I ever think of love as mere emotion again? 

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

John 15:12

 Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tsunami

My poor, neglected blog. . .  Well, here I am, writing again and, Lord willing, I will soon commit myself to daily writing practice. I have a plan to blog daily for a month, but at present it is a feeble, half-formed plan not even in its infancy--an embryonic plan.

For a time, I was caught up in such a hectic schedule that there simply was no time to write--indeed, there was hardly time to think! This is the season of my life, I suppose, because writing cannot be allowed steal time away from my primary job and calling--the training of my children. They are by far the largest investment of my time as a homeschool mom, and I take their discipleship very seriously. They have all made a profession of faith in Christ and been baptized, and now it is my job to see that they begin to develop their relationship with the Lord and to disciple them to that end. My oldest is already half-way to becoming a man, and my part in his life will dwindle in the coming years. I feel so strongly the need to instill in him--in them all--the importance of daily prayer and time studying the Scriptures, in spending time with the Lord so they can learn to recognize His voice, and diligence to fix their hearts and wills on the Shepherd who will lead them in peace. I feel strongly, also, my ineptitude, my failures, and my lack. But I know that God will make up what is lacking and that He is teaching me while I teach them. I am learning, very slowly learning, to rely on Him and not on myself.  And each day that I stumble, I long that much more for that day in which every tear will be wiped away. . .

Speaking of tears, I have shed no small number recently. There is simply so much pain in this world that, from time to time, it overwhelms me. At a recent party I saw children who were growing up with no stable concept of what the words "family" or "father" mean. Instead, there are terms like "baby daddy" and "baby momma" to describe what once was a very straight-forward relationship. The idea of God as Father will be so much more remote to these children than it ever was to those whose fathers were merely abusive.

I also saw people who entered a room with suspicion and barely muted anger in their eyes. I saw loyal friends put on hold for a disloyal child parading as a man. I saw confusion and hopelessness, and I took away a feeling of sorrow for the many, many hurting people that I watched and spoke with and those they represent.

And then there are pangs that are closer to home. Friends who are hurting in ways that simply should not be. Marriages that are raw, open wounds rather than places of sanctuary, harmony, and peace. My own personal disappointments and the fading shame of my past that still mushrooms undimmed from time to time.

Inside all of this pain, however, there is a small core of perfect tranquility and calm--a very small one--upon which this pain breaks and must, of necessity, recede. This Rock is immovable and will not change, though I am being changed by it--the swells of pain are merely one of His tools. This Rock, unlike therocky shoreline which will gradually succumb to erosion, grows larger within me day by day. Pain is simply a part of the process of being remade more and more into His image, as we once were before the Fall. As such, I embrace it with mingled tears of unutterable joy and bitterest sorrow. It is the pain of the human condition.

In this I know that in some minuscule way, I am being allowed the merest and yet heavily veiled glimpse of His anguish in bearing the sins of the world. I could never endure more than the tiniest peek, much less the faintest pressure of it; but knowing this I only love Him all the more. I cannot even bring myself to wade in the ocean of suffering that surrounds me, but He willingly immersed Himself within it. It is His grace alone that keeps me from being dashed to pieces, broken and ruined by it. It is His ability to sustain the full brunt of it that saved me in the first place. But for His sacrifice -- but for His taking on the intolerable weight of this agony and paying the gravest of all penalties for it -- I would be an irretrievable castaway. How could I not love Him for this?

So I say to you, now, whoever you may be... if you do not know this comfort, this love, this joyful abandon of perfect trust, do you even know that you may? You may, if you choose, grow to know this Man who is Immanuel and who has already paid the price of your shame. You may accept His love and His gift--the free gift of salvation and the glory of knowing that someday all despair, suffering, cruelty, and all wrongs will be lost in the magnificence of eternal and inconceivable bliss. You may rejoice now in suffering, "knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." You may choose to grasp the hand that is extended to you as a lifeline... or you may choose to swim in the unpredictable, raging tides of man's fallen nature. He offers you life, and that abundantly. He offers, not an absence of hardship, but peace despite it. It is a choice you must make, and by refusing to decide, you do choose though not wisely.

I urge you, choose wisely, my beloved! This life is a mere breath, though it seems long. Choose obedience to the One who made you, not to the whims of your tormented heart. He offers you a delightful feast of life; I implore you, do not drink rank death instead. Whatever it is that enslaves you--anxiety, remorse, hate, fear, guilt, lust, greed, despair--whatever it may be, you are not bound to swim those murky waters. You can choose to know the Truth and surrender yourself to Him, and then, O prisoner! You will be free indeed.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Lovely

I began seriously thinking about beauty while in the car with a group of women on my first “girl’s night out” in many years. The topics of coloring hair, manicures, pedicures, and all the sorts of things common to the female of Homo sapiens americanus were broached and discussed. Of course, I had little to say except to mention a funny story in which I realized that my husband knew more about these things than I. It turns out that I am comically oblivious to both the commonality of such beauty rituals as well as to how isolated is my own non-participation in such acts of obeisance to the throne of Youth. As we all chatted, I couldn’t help but wonder why any one of these gorgeous women would want to change their appearance—as if beauty were something served up in identical, cookie-cutter batches!

Speaking of cookies, anyone who eats real food knows that cookies purchased in the plastic box taste more like the box and less like an actual cookie, and one would likely be better off eating the box. Similarly, anyone who understands true beauty would see it embodied in these marvelous women in their resplendent individuality. What of this magazine-cover Barbie-doll with the plastic skin and hair who airs her equally plasticized cleavage with the same shamelessness as a sow wallowing in the barnyard mud? Who on earth declared that tired, old image to be beautiful or desirable? An even better question is; why do we believe such a base and obvious lie?

Stretch marks, smile lines, gray hair-- there are so many marks of loveliness, so many evidences of a life lived. These merely physical changes can be something we can pour endless time and money into, desperately trying to erase what the relentless march of time will ceaselessly rewrite, or they can be embraced as tokens of maturity, of character, of individuality and the august touch of a creative God who loves us just as He made us. Each human being is a true work of art, sculpted by a most ingenious and loving Artist -- from the cradle to the grave, with every wrinkle and freckle in between. That’s right, ladies, exactly as you are, you are exquisite, stunning, and astonishingly beautiful--because you are made by Him, and what’s more, made in His image! It is true that the sin curse will exact its toll, but I must urge you to look less in the mirror and more to Him.  You will see that the more your gaze is fixed on Glory, the more gloriously your own image fades and ceases to matter.  He is the only true measure of beauty because He is the author of it.  

For my part, I also prefer to remember that the marks of time are simple reminders that this body is wasting away.  I think, instead, I shall concentrate my efforts on Paul’s “inner man” (and here must I stubbornly assert my right as a female to use “man” to refer to all human beings) who is—or should be—being renewed day by day. I have always jokingly spoken of my age as the eternal 29, but I see that even that must go. Though a joke, it is still a nod toward that ridiculous idol of youth (even if I did honestly believe that I was a year older than the calendar states!) and it is my duty not to feed the fires of that altar. Rather, as we enter the fall of this year, I will think of entering this portion of my life as a season, too. I have much time before the winter closes in, but things are already changing on the outside. Yet, they are changing in anticipation of new life to come in the spring!

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."Proverbs 31:30

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For Goodness' Sake

     This morning was not my favorite. I was exhausted and struggled to get out of bed when my furry alarm clock began her wake-up whimper. Once I was up, I let the dogs out, stumbled through preparations for our morning walk, and finally gave up and conked out on the couch for a bit. I did eventually gain enough consciousness to leash the dogs and tie my shoes, but rather than shaking me out of my lethargy, walking seemed to make me more tired than ever. It simply was not a good start.

     During my walk, I tried to intercede for others but I just didn't have it in me. Instead, I unloaded some pent-up frustrations on God and then talked to Him about how I knew He was good even though I felt miserable at the moment. I did not feel His goodness a single bit, but I knew it. And I was at least thankful that this was not a school day.

     As the morning passed and kids were fed, coffee consumed, family devotions done, and wandering around the house aimlessly accomplished with splendid precision, I found that I was beginning to feel a little more optimistic. The planned car wash for the day was called off due to a possibility of storms, and I decided to make a treat for the kids and then go do some yard work. However, there were different plans at work: My kids came running back from our neighbors asking to go roller skating with them. Well, thought I, it had been promised to them that we would go sometime, so sure! Why not? We had lunch and went to the skating rink.

     My poor neighbor was having a day of the sort that makes any parent want to consume their offspring on the spot, causing me to realize that despite my lingering sleepiness, I was no longer having a bad day. I felt for her, as I have been in the same predicament many times over, and so was able to sympathize. Her kids eventually cheered up and had fun, which made the next few hours pass more pleasantly for her. All in all, the roller rink was a great success and I got to say "yes" to something spontaneous. Things were looking up.

    When we arrived home, the kids actually asked for an apple to eat. Not a treat, not cheese and crackers, but an apple. That was a pleasant shock! We spent an agreeable hour sitting around the table and rolling onigiri for dinner. My oldest asked if he could prepare the side dish himself because he wanted to add his secret ingredient. So the kitchen was his, and we were all suitably impressed with his seasoning prowess.

      Once the meal was over, we all stepped out to refreshingly cool air and worked at clearing up the yard for mowing. I was walking with my youngest, scooping dog poop of all things, who had just told me how she liked to be with me when I spotted my middle child sitting on the grass and looking out towards where the sun was beginning to set. She looked over her shoulder, beckoned to me,  and patted the grass beside her, and I came and sat. Together, we admired the colors.

     Bedtime was late for the kids, and the littlest just kept her arms around me. Her eyes were tearing and she said, very matter-of-fact, "I don't even know why I'm crying." She made such a tragic and touching figure, handling her little 6-year-old emotions better than I often do. All three are tired by now, and I remain as worn as I felt in the morning. However, I can now say that I feel God's goodness as much as I failed to feel it shortly after dawn. And so, I will end the day the same way I began it by saying, "God, You are good!"

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!  Psalm 31:19

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Set Apart

"Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. . . " Exodus 19:5, 6a

To be "holy" means to be sacred or set apart. When God sent Moses with the above words for the nation of Israel, He was calling them to be set apart from the rest of the world; different from the other cultures and unique to Himself. If you read on, you will find that what follows for the remainder of the book of Exodus and the following book of Leviticus are specific guidelines that detail exactly how Israel will be, in a very literal sense, set apart as a nation. First, God gives them a quick summation of His Law, commonly called the 10 Commandments. This is followed by chapter after chapter full of details concerning the building, weaving, and making of the items of worship; consecration of the priests and the people; sacrifices for atonement; and numerous precise laws covering topics from clean and unclean foods to handling disease or dead things to appropriate responses in various social situations. The Nation was to be set apart indeed! They were distinguished among the cultures of the time by the very rigorousness of the Law.

It is a grave misfortune that so many in the Church today do not cling to this idea of holiness, of being set apart. Many outright reject it. It is even thought by some that the Old Testament has no bearing on the Christian of today. It is considered by some to be obsolete and no longer relevant because it is the old covenant. That is a blatant untruth. In the letter to the Roman church, Paul writes: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope," (Romans 15:4). Jesus, Himself, says, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me," (John 5:39). It must be understood that the Scriptures both Jesus and Paul refer are none other than those found in the Old Testament -- the documents known today as the New Testament simply did not exist when those words were spoken (though some of them may have been in existence when Paul spoke, they were not widely known by the Christian church at the time of his speaking). So the importance of understanding that old Covenant is seen in these two verses and can be seen in many others throughout the New Testament, especially as evidenced by the multitude of times it is quoted and alluded to by Christ, the apostles, and the early church fathers. 

And so my soapbox speech for the significance of the Old Testament to the modern Believer has been duly articulated. But what, you may ask, has this to do with holiness? I'm glad you asked!

For one, the theme of being set apart that runs through Exodus and Leviticus (and beyond) is a picture of what it should look like to the Christian of today to be set apart through the sacrifice of Christ. The words of Paul in Romans 12:-2b again illustrate this: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. . ." or in Romans 6: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" So it is by death we are set apart--by dying to sin and taking off the old man being made a new creation in Christ. We are not the same, and we should not look the same. By putting our faith in Christ and allowing Him to have His way in us, we should now understand that we are holy to God and set apart for His purpose.

When God commanded the Israelites to be holy and set apart, I have no doubts that He was looking forward to the day when His Son would die so that all those who put their faith in Him would become a people set apart for Himself. I do not think that there is a great chasm between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New--He is the same God, the unchanging Rock of our salvation; He is the Beginning and the End, and He has never wavered in His great purpose nor has He mellowed with age or in any way wavered or vacillated. Rather, everything in the Old Testament points to Christ, gives insight into the nature and character of God the Father, and is useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness for the believer today. It is as relevant as Romans, as practical as James. It is no coincidence that a letter written by Peter to the early Christian church contained an echo of the words of Yahweh to Moses:  "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.