Good morning. We left off with Paul saying that God had not
rejected His people. In fact, Paul said, I am a descendant of Abraham. God has
not rejected His people whom He foreknew. It looked like it when they were in
Egypt and were enslaved. During Elijah’s time, he said, everybody has turned
away from You but me. God told him that He had kept 7000 people who had not
bowed the knee to Baal. And so God had kept for Himself a remnant. In the same
way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to
God‘s gracious choice. Sometimes it looks like there is not anyone who follows
God. This has been true throughout history. But even through the dark ages, God
had people who followed Him. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the
basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. What Israel is seeking, it
has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were
hardened. Father thank You that we were chosen and obtained Your grace. Help us
to live in that grace.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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