Category Archives: Life

Bible, Christ, Death, Eternal Life, Grace, Life, Scripture

DEATH REIGNED

ROMANS 5:14

“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

You may have heard the expression “There are two absolutes in the world – death and taxes.” That is true. We will all face a physical death one day. I had that discussion recently with some family members. As a believer and follower of Christ, death does not frighten me. Now, the way in which I die can cause some anxiety, but not the actual death part. I am certain where I am going afterwards. I know death will come for me one day.

The word translated “reigned” is the Greek word that means exactly that. It means to rule, to reign, to have dominion over. Paul knew the finality of death. He was there when Stephen was stoned to death. He had witnessed some of the other early martyrs being killed for their testimony. And he knew that behind all that death was sin. Sin had entered mankind through Adam and has traced its way through the centuries.

APPLICATION

Did you know we can ward off the sting of death? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, “55 WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; 57  but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Death’s reign has been defeated by Jesus Himself. Praise God!

In direct contrast to the reign of death is the reign of Christ. Look at what the angel Gabriel told Mary about her unborn son when he brought her the news about the immaculate conception. In Luke 1:33 it says, “‘and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’” The day Jesus burst forth from that sealed tomb, death’s reign ended.

But…until you have given your life over to the reign of Jesus, you remain under the penalty of death because of your sins. Do you understand that? If you do and you have given your life to Him, don’t waste any time telling everyone around about Him. Physical death is coming for everyone, but spiritual death can be averted through the blood of the Lamb. Are you ready?

Lord, I am thankful that I have been purchased by You and my future is sealed.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Bible, Death, Eternal Life, Jesus, Life, Scripture, Sin

CONTAGIONS

ROMANS 5:12

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—”

How could we ever forget Covid-19? It was a worldwide epidemic that cost many lives. It doesn’t matter which side of the vaccine mandate you were on, we all knew people who lost their battle with this flu-like disease. It was very contagious and easily passed from person to person. Masks were mandated everywhere. Churches emptied, many of which held online services only. It was a scary time for many.

Paul tells us in today’s verse just how contagious sin is. Because of Adam’s and Eve’s original sin, all mankind was “infected.” The end result of that infection is death. It’s a terminal disease. The only cure is Jesus (we’ll see that later in this chapter). The Greek word translated “spread” is dierchomai. The Topical Lexicon gives this picture. “The entrance of death is pictured as a relentless traveler moving through humanity.”

APPLICATION

The same word is used in Hebrews 4:14 to describe Christ’s movement into the heavens. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession.” Of course, Christ’s passing through the heavens is a lot better than sin passing to us, isn’t it?

The word is even used by Jesus to describe the movements of unclean spirits (demonic spirits). In Matthew 12:43 we read, “‘Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it.’” We need to know how to stop this movement, don’t we? Well, we must be born again by the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit dwells, evil cannot. The Holy Spirit fills us completely. We can be oppressed and fall under the influence of demonic forces, but they can never indwell us again.

Listen, your sin is contagious. Your actions have ripple effects. Fathers, your sins will affect your children. Mothers, your sins will also. We are not held responsible for our father’s or mother’s sins, but we can feel the consequences of them. That is why we must be very careful to guard our hearts and our lives. Let’s pass on the good stuff, not the bad.

Lord, keep me spiritually sanitized from the strains of sin that so easily comes against me.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Bible, Christ, Death, Life, Sacrifice, Scripture

WHO WOULD DIE FOR?

ROMANS 5:7

“For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die.”

I would not hesitate to give my life to protect my family – any of them. I love them that much. I even have some friends who I would die for. I pray I never have to make that choice, but if I do, I pray that I would not blink an eye. After all, death for a believer is just a portal into an eternal life with Christ. I am not in a hurry to die, but I am also ready to go whenever.

Paul isn’t trying to paint a morbid picture of death. He is setting up a thought which we will see in tomorrow’s verse. He does give us something to think about, though, in today’s verse. Would you die for “righteous person” or a “good person”? Albert Barnes says it well. “It is an unusual occurrence, an event which is all that we can hope for from the highest human benevolence and the purest friendship, that one would be willing to die for a good man. There are none who would be willing to die for a man who was seeking to do us injury, to calumniate our character, to destroy our happiness or our property. But Christ was willing to die for bitter foes.”

APPLICATION

It is important to explain what Paul meant by “righteous person.” He was not referring to someone made righteous through Christ, but rather one who is righteous in his own eyes. They may be moral outwardly and do what is “expected.”. Perhaps Paul was thinking about the Pharisees he used to be a part of. They seemed righteous on the outside, but inwardly they were just rule keepers.

“A good man” referred to someone who as Gill describes as “a liberal and beneficent man, who was very bountiful in his charitable distributions to the poor, and very liberal in contributing towards the charge of sacrifices, repairs of the temple, &c. and did more this way than what the law obliged to.” Paul says by chance someone might die for that man.

The whole point of this verse will be revealed in the next verse (which we will see tomorrow). Laying down our life for someone is a big decision. Some people are easier than others to die for. Let me ask you – who would you die for? If giving your life for a perfect stranger meant that person coming to Christ, would you do it? Christ did!

Lord, I lay down my life for You. Take it and use it however You think best.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Bible, Death, Eternal Life, Life, Promises, Scripture

AS GOOD AS DEAD

ROMANS 4:19

“Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;”

When you hear the phrase, “You’re as good as dead,” what do you think about? I think about as kids when you are out playing and you jokingly say that to a friend who just “one upped you.” Maybe you’re shooting hoops and they just went up on the score. So, you issue that challenge “You’re as good as dead” meaning you are about to take them down. It is never meant that you wish them harm in any way. It’s just a phrase.

But in Abraham’s case, it was true. His chance of siring offspring was pretty much nil. He was “about a hundred years old” and his wife Sarah wasn’t far behind. If he told his buddies he was about to become a father, they would have probably just laughed at him. The Greek word used here is only found two other times in the New Testament (Colossians 3:5 and Hebrews 11:12). The word is nekroó, and it means to view something as a corpse, lifeless. That doesn’t give much hope for a child, does it?

APPLICATION

“The same God who began Israel with a barren couple later raised Jesus Christ from the tomb; in both cases death or deadness only highlights His sovereignty.” (Topical Lexicon) You see, a lifeless corpse doesn’t mean God can’t do something. Think about the miracles in the Bible where someone who was dead was brought back to life. I won’t begin to list them all here. Do a study on your own and you will see that time after time, God intervened and brought life back.

God gave Abraham and Sarah a child, one born from parents who should not have able to be parents. Life belongs to God. He determines who has life. Every breath we take is a gift from God. He gives us life. Don’t ever think someone is without hope if God wants to give them life. Now, He doesn’t always give life here. Sometimes He wants to give life eternal. Isn’t that better anyway? For a believer, it is.

I want you to take a minute and give God thanks for the life He has given you. It may not be the life you had planned for yourself, but it is still life. God has a plan for this life. He has a plan for a future life also, if we will accept it. Have you? Have you taken ahold of the life that is truly life? Only God can give that. One is awaiting you.

Father of life, thank You for giving me life here and the promise of life eternal.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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LIFE TO THE DEAD

ROMANS 4:17

“(as it is written: ‘I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist.”

Some people have a super green thumb. What do I mean by that? They can take a plant that looks completely dead and can bring it back to life again. They feed it and water it and nurture it back to life. Those are plants that I toss in the garbage can, but to the eye of the trained green thumb, they see life where there is no life. They don’t give up on it.

Today’s verse has a phrase that we need to look at. It’s towards the end of the verse. It says, “who gives life to the dead.” What in the world was Paul referring to? We will see more about this in verse 4:19, but to put it bluntly, there was no way Abraham and Sarah were going to have a child at their age. You may know someone who got pregnant in their 40’s or even 50’s. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? But nothing is too difficult for God.

APPLICATION

And we were dead before Christ. Ephesians 2:1 and 5 tell us that pretty clearly, “1 And you were dead in your offenses and sins,…5 even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” God took us off of death row when we gave our lives to Christ. We were doomed, damned to an eternal hell (and yes, it is real).

We are told in John 14:6 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. It goes on to say that no one will get to heaven unless they believe in Him and follow His commands. Death to life! It’s hard for our finite minds to comprehend. How can He do that? Because He created us in the first place. He knows every single molecule of our bodies. He can refire us into brand new creatures in Christ.

In John 5:24 Christ says, “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.’” From the very mouth of God the Son. We have to hear. We have to believe, and we have to follow. Where are you right now? Are you still dead to Christ? Turn to Him today and gain new life in Him.

Father, I am so thankful for my new life in Jesus. Praise Your name.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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LIFE AND DEATH

PHILIPPIANS 1:21

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

This verse has a special place in my heart. My wife and I had the verse reference inscribed on our daughter Cathleen’s headstone. Cathleen only lived six hours and died back on 9/11/87. We did not lose a child. We know exactly where she is. And one day when her mom and I get to heaven, she will introduce us to Jesus (rather than the other way around). She is not dead. She is fully alive!

Paul was ready to die for Christ. He was trusting in His all sufficient mercy and grace to release him from prison. But if not, he was ready to die. God did indeed have mercy, and Paul was released after two years of his house arrest imprisonment. Of course, we know Paul was arrested a second time and was martyred sometime in A.D. 66. Paul was ready to live or die for Christ.

APPLICATION

Most, if not all, of you reading this blog today will not have to make the decision to live or die for Christ. What exactly does it mean for us then? What did Paul mean when he said, “to live” and “to die” for Christ? First, Paul says “to live is Christ.” His reason for living was to glorify Christ. Albert Barnes gives four purposes for Paul’s living for Jesus. “1) a purpose to know as much of Christ as it was possible to know, 2) a purpose to imitate Christ, 3) a purpose to make his religion known, as far as possible, among mankind, and 4) it was a purpose to enjoy Christ.”

Then Paul says, “to die is gain.” Now, humanly speaking that makes no sense, does it. We tend to see death as final. We even say someone has “checked out” when they die. But Paul saw it differently. The word “gain” is kerdos and it means a profit or advantage. Paul knew all he had invested in this life would produce a profit – eternal life with Christ. Who could ask for more?

While we are here, we should live every day with a purpose (as Barnes mentioned above). We should seek to glorify the only One worthy of glory. And then when the day comes to “cash in our chips” we should lay it all down without pause. We are about to enter our reward. To live or die – it’s all for Christ!

Father God, give me the courage and peace to live or die for Christ each and every day.

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Bible, Death, Life, Scripture, Transgressions

FROM DEATH TO LIFE

COLOSSIANS 2:13

“And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings,”

Once you are dead, you are dead. Right? Well, maybe not. There have been thousands of individuals who have physically died but were brought back to life by CPR or through a defibrillator. Many tell of seeing a bright light while others talk about darkness and screams. One thing is for sure, though. If Christ does not return before we draw our last breath, we will experience that physical death here on earth.

Paul, however, tells us we were already dead in our wrongdoings. What does that mean? The Greek word translated as “wrongdoings” is paráptōma “(from parapíptō, see there) – properly, fall away after being close-beside, i.e. a lapse (deviation) from the truth; an error, ‘slip up’; wrong doing that can be (relatively) unconscious, ‘non-deliberate.’” (HELPS Word Studies). These wrongdoings, these slip ups had us heading straight towards damnation, but Christ intervened.

APPLICATION

Think about that for a minute. We were all doomed to both a physical and spiritual death in our sins. We had no hope. We could never do enough good to wipe away our failures. Romans 5:17 tells us these wrongdoings, these transgressions are the result of Adam’s fall. But if we “receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness” we will have new life in Him.

Paul tells us He makes us “alive together with Him.” In yesterday’s verse we saw the same preposition that is used here. The Greek word here is suzóopoieó, which contains that preposition sun, the inseparable “with.” We have been made alive together with Christ and nothing can separate us.

Aren’t you grateful for the new life you have in Christ? Aren’t you grateful He saw your wretched state and gave you a way out. That way out is only found in Jesus. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. We were dead, and now we are alive forever more – all because of Him. Praise the Lord!

Thank You, Lord, for my new life in Christ.

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Bible, Death, Forgiveness, God's Will, Life, Scripture

DEATH TO LIFE

EPHESIANS 2:5

“even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” 

Some of you who read my blog know my health history. I’ve been through two (count them – two) stem cell transplants. To describe these succinctly, they basically bring you to the point of death and bring you back. All your bone marrow is destroyed, and you are isolated for a number of days. You have no strength, no energy and not much will to live. It’s hard. But if it’s successful (and both of mine were), you get a new lease on life. You are “reborn” with new bone marrow.

Paul describes our new birth in Christ similarly. He says we were already “dead in our wrongdoings.” The Greek word for “wrongdoings” is paraptoma, which means an error or transgression that was unintentional or willful, sins of omission or commission. The good news is we are made “alive together with Christ.” Now, I really like this Greek word for “alive together.” It is suzóopoieó. It literally means to reanimate, to make alive together with someone else. It’s like our DNA was joined together with Christ spiritually. It’s His life in us that makes alive.

APPLICATION

The only other place that suzóopoieó appears is Colossians 2:13. “And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings,” (The Greek for “wrongdoings” here is the same as in Ephesians 2:5). This verse in Colossians is almost the same as our verse today. You can see that all through these two books. Many of their verses mirror each other.

But what does this mean to us as followers of Christ? It means we have a new lease on life spiritually. Getting saved, coming to Christ, accepting Jesus, however you put that into words, does not change you physically. You are still the same person outwardly. But spiritually, you have been reborn. You have been rebooted. You are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 is a familiar verse, which has a similar message. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” So, we need to live like that. We are new. We aren’t old. We haven’t been discarded on the garbage heap of life. Christ has come into us and given us new life. Now, live like it.

Praise You, O Father, for giving me new life in Christ.

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EATING AND DRINKING

ZECHARIAH 7:6

“‘And when you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?’”

One of my favorite past times is eating and drinking. Can I get an Amen? Lol. Seriously though, I do enjoy that. I have always pursued it with gusto. Give me a large stuffed crust meat lover’s pizza anytime. But today’s verse isn’t criticizing this necessary part of our life. We all must eat and drink to sustain life. No, God is going to address something else here.

This verse is in direct contrast to yesterday’s verse about fasting. He moves from not eating and drinking to just the opposite. The people would have their feast and pretend to make it all about God. In reality, it was all about them. They would gorge themselves and drink to excess. It wasn’t a feast to celebrate God. It was simply a hedonistic practice to please themselves.

APPLICATION

Can you guess where I am going with this? In Luke 12, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man who built bigger barns for his crops. Verses 19-21 say, “‘“19 And I will say to myself, ‘You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is demanded of you; and as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’ 21 Such is the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich in relation to God.’”

Our life is not about pursuing earthly pleasures. It’s not about making ourselves feel better. Our life in Christ is all about a relationship with God. We don’t have to obey to please Him. We obey because WE want to please Him. There is a subtle difference. Do you see it?

Sure! You can eat, drink and be merry. There is nothing wrong with eating and drinking or being merry. But if those are your life’s pursuits, you have a problem. I have found that when I strive to live for Christ, He provides all I need to be happy. He wants me to live a life full of joy and excitement. He truly does. That can come in all sorts of ways, some of which the world would never understand.

O Lord, I know You have my best in mind at all times. I will enjoy Your presence.

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FREE ACCESS

ZECHARIAH 3:7

“‘The LORD of armies says this: “If you walk in My ways and perform My service, then you will both govern My house and be in charge of My courtyards, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here.”’”

What does “free access” mean to you? I picture going to an amusement park and having a ticket that allows you to ride all the rides, eat all the food you want, drink all you want and having reserved parking in the parking lot. But even with that you still would not be allowed behind the scenes of these rides or in the offices of those who made all the decisions.

The LORD of armies is saying through the angel that if Joshua would “walk in My ways and perform My service” then he would have free access. But to where? He would be promised to be with the angels who were around him when he died. Eternal life, promised heaven. Who wouldn’t jump at that offer, right?

APPLICATION

We are promised the same if… Our “if” is receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. There is no other way to gain free access to glory. Jesus tells us that in John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

Paul says something similar in Romans 10:9. “…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;…”

You can’t get much plainer than that. Free access comes one way – through Jesus. Let me ask that question again. Who wouldn’t jump at that offer, right?

You may be surprised. Many think coming to Jesus will cramp their lifestyle. They will have to give up too much. They don’t understand the freedom they could have in Christ. That’s where you come in. You have to tell them. You have to show them. You have to live in such a way that they come to you asking you about your freedom. Free access is available to all. Help others come to it.

I am free, Father, to live my life pleasing You. I can’t wait to see You face-to-face.

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