membership; The Church depends on you using the gift you've been given to function properly (v14, 18, 27

You'll never understand how clean you've been made till you understand how filthy you were! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 73 Q. Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins? A. God has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that the blood and Spirit of Christ wash away our sins just as water washes away dirt from our bodies. But more important, he wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that the washing away of our sins spiritually is as real as physical washing with water Summary Once again we're reminded as we read God's Word that sin is a serious problem. Far from being little indiscretions that the kindly 'Old Man in the sky' sort of snickers at, and much more impactful than just keeping us from living our best life now, we read that those who are unrighteous (wrongdoers) will not inherit the kingdom of God (v9)! Paul defines what it means to be unrighteous using what's often been called a 'vice list' - that is, a list of significant sins that often show up in Paul's letters. Understand that this isn't a comprehensive list, meaning that these nine sins are not the only nine sins possible. They're just a representation of the whole. Paul uses these vice lists to shine the light on the filth of humanity. But the primary purpose of this passage isn't to warn you of the massive danger of unrepentant sin (although it does), rather Paul's point here is no matter how filthy these sins have made you in the past, you've now been washed, sanctified and made righteous. (v11). Dig Deeper Most of us experience baptism in the context of a newborn baby being brought forward by her parents. The baby is soft & cuddly, beautifully dressed and in the arms of her proud parents. Often the grandparents look on with big smiles on their faces. It truly is a time of celebration as a new covenant child is welcomed into the congregation. We'll dig deeper into why it is that we baptize the children of believers in our Reformed churches later this week, but one of the big difficulties that we must work past in bringing babies to be baptized is that they don't look anything at all like the type of sinners Paul described at the beginning to today's passage. But even though they've not yet committed the gross sins in Paul's vice lists, they are completely covered in the filth of sin. When you fail to realize just how sinfully filthy you are from the moment of your conception, you fail to realize how dire your circumstances are apart from Christ, and how disgusting it is for your Father when you take what the Holy Spirit has washed clean and make yourself filthy all over again. If you've been baptized, thank God that He, through Christ, has washed you clean in the same way water removes filth. If you've not been baptized, what are you waiting for? Reach out to your elders or pastor so you can experience first hand the tangible reminder of how you've been washed in the blood of Christ (plus, God's commanded you to do so!). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our holy and righteous Father, who will not bestow His Kingdom on those who remain in the filth of their sins; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that you've been washed clean by Christ, and pray that temptations are kept far from you so that you don't fall into the filth again. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 5

BibleHub.com Genesis 1:27-3:22 (ESV) 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 2:9  And out of the ground the LORD God made The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 2:15 Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Article 1 - God's right to condemn all people Today: Mark 1

to task for tolerating such an ugly sin and instructed them to "expel the wicked man from among you (1 ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 4

the likeness of man, humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross (paraphrase of Phil. 2: One of the very first things God assigned Adam to do was to name the animals (Gen 2:19-20). other details from the "only true God," all while working and taking care of all that God has made (Gen 2:

2  Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. 3  Sound the ram’s horn at Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election 1 - God's right to condemn all people 2 - God behavior in worship ought to be reverent and subdued ( God is in His temple, all within keep silent, Hab. 2: 20), and then there are times where we're to begin the music, strike the timbrel, and play the melodious He genuinely wants all people to return to Him ( 1 Timothy 2:4 ).

Summary A of the primary themes in the book of 1 John is love.

Galatians 2:16 (NIV) [We] know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 23: The Justification of Sinners

Habakkuk 2:4-5 (NIV) “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but (Part 2) Our good works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable to God, since (1:2) As we look across our world and even our own communities today, many of the complaints Habakkuk But it's God's response in 2:4 that catches our attention today. Today: 1 Corinthians 4

Colossians 2:13-14 (NIV) 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, sort of Greek literature is in the passage we read yesterday in the letter he wrote to the Ephesians (2: Today: Matthew 23