Coram Deo: Other religions might say they respect Christ for being a good prophet or moral teacher, but Scripture will not allow us to stop there. Jesus is also truly God and worthy of our worship. To be a servant of Christ is to worship Christ as the incarnate Creator. Let us share the truth of His deity with those who claim to respect our Savior.
The law, in its first use, reveals the character of God, and that’s valuable to any believer at any time. But as the law reveals the character of God, it provides a mirror to reflect to us our unholiness against the ultimate standard of righteousness. In that regard, the law serves as a schoolmaster to drive us to Christ. —R.C. Sproul in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Christ is our Lord but He is not a master who is unapproachable or who does not understand us. Having taken on our flesh, He is able to sympathize with us and He knows what we need for strength in our weakness. Let us not be afraid to run to Him when we are being tempted or to rest in His strength. He can sustain us in all things no matter how difficult they become.
Coram Deo: Christ came not merely to restore us to what we were before Adam’s fall but to give us something better. As the last Adam, Christ restores what was lost and guarantees that we will never lose it again. He gives us His perfect righteousness and is now conforming us into His image. If we are in Christ, we should be thankful daily for all that Christ has brought back to us as the last Adam.
If I hate someone who is in Christ, I’m not only sinning against that person, I’m sinning against Christ Himself. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: Ultimately, the Israel of God is not an ethnic designation but a spiritual one. God’s covenant people includes all those who put their faith in the true fulfillment of Israel, Jesus our Lord. Together, Jews and Gentiles united to Christ have a common and exalted end. Let us rejoice in our status as the Israel of God and work to break down needless divisions in the body of Christ. God’s people are one Israel in the Savior.
Coram Deo: In his lecture on Isaiah 45, Martin Luther draws another parallel between Jesus and Cyrus: “Just as Cyrus would by his power and his expense set them free, so Christ would redeem us by His Word and grace, without cost.” Luther affirms that there is no cost that we pay for our salvation, for Jesus paid it all. Because God’s deliverance through Christ is perfect, there is no price we pay for eternal life. All we must do is believe in Jesus and we will be saved.
Coram Deo: From His first breath to His last, our Savior was committed to doing what was necessary for our salvation. He resolved always to obey His Father and never failed. Such commitment encourages us to trust Him with all that we have and are. If He is so committed to our salvation, we know that we are safe in His hands no matter what may come our way.
Beauty itself is not necessarily problematic. The problem is that humans are not good at recognizing true beauty when they see it. In a fallen world, even our perception of beauty has been corrupted by sin. This is nowhere more evident than in the magazine racks found at checkout lines of grocery stores. —Albert Mohler in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We are called to obey every command God has given us, but our obedience does not secure our salvation. Only the obedience of Christ can do that. Our obedience is a reflection of whether we are grateful for our Lord’s obeying God perfectly in our place. When we fail to obey, we are not showing gratitude for what Christ has done, so let us seek to obey God so that we may properly express thankfulness to our Savior.
Coram Deo: As we grow in our knowledge of and love for God’s Word, we grow in our ability to recognize the sin in our own hearts and to identify temptation when it confronts us. Growing in God’s Word also shows us God’s glory, convincing us that He is better than anything sin has to offer. If we want to grow stronger against sin, we must grow in our understanding of God’s Word.
Coram Deo: The suffering that Christ endured at the hands of other men was unjust, and yet He endured it. Although there are times when we are called to fight back against unjust suffering, there are times when we are to endure it for the sake of gospel witness. Discerning what we should do in a given situation is difficult, so let us be in constant prayer that God would give us discernment for when and when not to submit to suffering.
Coram Deo: History is filled with false prophets who deceived many people but were ultimately proven not to have a word from God. Christ, however, is the true Prophet whose Word is absolutely trustworthy and whose Word never fails to accomplish His purposes for it. He executes His prophetic ministry today through His inscripturated Word, and if we want to know God’s will for us, we must be committed to studying the Scriptures.
In order to be faithful stewards of what we have received, each of us needs to pass on to others what we have been taught. In other words, every Christian ought to be a teacher. No matter who you are, you can find someone who knows less than you and teach them. That responsibility is inherent in our Lord’s Great Commission: “Make disciples” (Matt. 28:19). —John MacArthur in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We find it difficult to know how to pray for ourselves, but Christ does not have that problem. He prays for us perfectly before His Father such that if we trust in Him, we cannot fail to persevere in faith. Our perseverance ultimately depends on Christ’s faithful prayers for us. If you are discouraged this day, know that if you trust in Jesus Christ, He is praying perfectly for you right at this very moment.
Coram Deo: God’s kingdom is a monarchy ruled over by the perfect King who will not fail to execute justice. Knowing this will sustain us as we face the many injustices this world has to offer. Christ sees them and He will set them all right in the end. He calls us to be ambassadors of His kingdom, to proclaim His reign of justice, warning people that they can enjoy the peace of His kingdom only if they bow the knee to Him today.
When we behold the face of God, all memories of pain and suffering will vanish. Our souls shall be totally healed. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: All people have a sense of guilt for their transgressions no matter how hard they try to suppress it. The only way to lose the weight of guilt is to have it removed through atonement. If you have trusted in Christ alone for salvation, you need not feel guilty before God this day, for He has paid for your sin. If you have not trusted Christ, your guilt will be removed when you rest in Him alone.
We must learn to see the Scriptures not primarily as texts to be interpreted in order to form our doctrinal understanding, however necessary that is, but as words addressed to the Lord’s disciples, words that to hear are to obey, and in the obeying of which comes true understanding and right knowledge. Like our first parents, our problem is not what we know or don’t know, but that we are disobedient. —Robert Ingram in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Christ died for all kinds of people; that is what passages telling us that He made propitiation for the world mean (1 John 2:2). But Jesus did not die for everyone without exception. God chose a particular people, including men and women from every tribe and tongue, and Christ died for them specifically to atone only for their sin. If you believe in Jesus, He had you particularly in mind when He made atonement for your sin. He loves you in particular that much.
Seeker-sensitive religion has been a monumental spiritual failure. The quest for worldly esteem leads to spiritual disaster. That itch for the world’s favor causes people to go to shameful extremes in order to avoid saying or doing anything that might cost them esteem in the eyes of unbelievers—even denying what they know to be true. However, Christ’s charge to us as believers is not to avoid the world’s contempt, but to respond rightly to it, as He Himself gave us the perfect example. —John MacArthur in Tabletalk Magazine
Hear the good news afresh today: your identity is centered on God’s disposition toward you, not your disposition toward God. Live freely today in the identity you’ve been given: beloved, called, saint. Who you are changes everything about how you live. —Melissa B. Kruger in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: We understandably think readily of the cross when we consider the saving work of Christ because the atonement pays for our transgressions and cleanses us from sin. But Christ’s resurrection is equally important. Without His resurrection, Christ’s death would have been no more significant than the death of any other person. Meditate on the resurrection today and thank God for how it guarantees your salvation.
Coram Deo: The ascension of Christ makes it possible for people all over the world to commune with Him both in His deity and His humanity. The whole Christ is present to us so that we can benefit from His humanity even though His physical body is localized in heaven. Let us fellowship with Him in prayer today, asking God to conform us to the image of His Son.
Coram Deo: Human beings try to ascend to heaven in various ways, always relying on their own merit for entry into eternal life. But there is no other way to God than through Jesus. We cannot enter heaven on our own merit; neither will Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna, or any other figure take us there. If we do not tell other people that Jesus is the only way to God, we are not truly loving them.
The Holy Spirit gives the supreme gift by which a person is united to Christ: the gift of faith. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: When we fall in love, we can hardly keep ourselves from talking about the object of our affections. Jesus is far greater than anything else, so we should have the same zeal to tell others about Him as we are able. If we find ourselves not speaking much of Jesus, it may be that we do not grasp His glory. Reading through the Gospels on a regular basis can help us recapture our knowledge of and affection for our Lord and Savior.
Coram Deo: Pilate’s question “What is truth?” betrays his lack of concern for the facts (John 18:38). Fallen people are willing to bend the truth in order to advance or protect themselves. Christians, however, must not imitate their example. Let us always love the truth and proclaim it even when it is not convenient for us.
If a person becomes persuaded, whether by a secular or a religious fear-mongerer, that “our very civilization is at stake,” then all ordinary restraints and civilities are easily put aside for the sake of the great cause of winning the war and preserving the civilization. Ironically, civility is then sacrificed to civilization. —W. Robert Godfrey in Tabletalk Magazine
As church members, we must integrate our lives with one another, show hospitality, and make sacrifices for one another. We must invite correction for sin in our own lives and be willing to give it to others. Neglecting church discipline undermines evangelism (see 1 Cor. 5:1-2). We must get equipped to share the gospel, share it, and then live lives that bless outsiders. —Jonathan Leeman in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: It is easy to think that someone will believe if we can just amass enough evidence or make the best argument. God can and does use these means to bring people to faith, so we should be diligent in apologetics. At the same time, we should always remember to pray that the Spirit will move. People will not believe unless the Spirit gives them faith.
Coram Deo: Do we really believe that no sinner is beyond the grace of God? If we do, then we will pray for our enemies and not turn away from the church anyone who professes faith in Christ and is seeking to live in a way that pleases Him. Our God is mighty to save, and He will redeem anyone He chooses to redeem.
What a privilege it is to belong to this millennia-old covenant family. If the Corinthians could be told that “Paul … Apollos … Cephas … the world … are yours” (1 Cor. 3:22), then we can surely add, “and Abraham … Elijah … Isaiah … Daniel … are also ours,” because we “are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” So, whenever we read the Old and New Testaments, we are looking at our family album. Learning about church history is simply visiting our relatives. —Sinclair Ferguson in May's Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Worship is the natural outflow of a true encounter with Jesus. If we are not motivated to worship our Savior, then we may not actually know Him. If we want to worship but feel something is amiss, it may be that we need a fresh encounter with Christ in His Word. Let us meditate on God’s Word that we might be reminded of Christ’s glory and be motivated to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
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