2007 picture of Ray SparreInsightful Musings on the New Testament
by
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67

Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.

Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray is following, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010.

Daily Reading Guide  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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29 Aug 10
           
Greetings, dear ones.
            Oh my! It’s now 2:47pm…and I’m supposed to be at Pheasant Pointe at 3pm for the Gospel Sing.  I’ll probably need to go alone as little Kaden, Thano’s son, just dropped off to sleep and it wouldn’t be a good thing to wake him.
            Blessings. Love.  Dad/Ray
 
29 August 2010
Passage: Galatians 1
Focus: “…who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age.”  Galatians 1:4.
           
There is a very obvious natural law in the world around us that says “LIKE BEGETS LIKE.”  Anyone can see that elephants beget elephants, turkeys beget turkeys, monkeys beget monkeys, dogs beget dogs, fish beget fish, frogs beget frogs, and humans beget humans.  Few would argue this point.  Is it any wonder that the same principle would apply to the moral, spiritual, and philosophical realms of mankind? 
            Understanding something of the revelation of God to man that identifies the sinful nature of man, I believe we can regard this as a substantial spiritual law:  SINNERS BEGET SINNERS.  But it is not a valid spiritual law to say that save and righteous people beget saved and righteous people.  For every person born is automatically a sinner by nature.  And every person who becomes saved and righteous must be saved or rescued from being a sinner.  Furthermore, the only one who can do the rescuing is one who holds greater power than the sinful nature of man.  The Bible clearly presents the rescuer to be the Almighty God Himself through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, saved and righteous parents may birth children to whom they lend influence and encouragement to also become saved and righteous people, but every human being must make a personal commitment to both the Rescuer and the rescue efforts of the Rescuer.  There are no options.  The wonderful benefits of this wonderful provision are GRACE and PEACE.  Pretty valuable commodities in this world of ours, I’d say.
            Those who accept and understand this Biblical concept will find it quite easy and straightforward to be saved and transformed.  Those who reject or misunderstand this concept can only face varying shades and versions of sin, but the nature and ultimate consequence is clearly the same.
            Let’s have a good look at the context for our thoughts in Galatians 1:3-5.  “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.”
            I think it would also be good to review a couple of the most famous passages in the Bible on the theme of Salvation from Sin:
            John 3:16-19.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
            Romans 6:23.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
            “Where one goes hereafter depends on what one goes after here.”