Ronnie Floyd

Archive for the 'Bible Studies for Life' Category

September 3rd, 2013

The Greatest Love in the World

There may be no more misunderstood concept in the world than that of love. Boys and girls who know only feelings whisper “I love you.” Teens in the midst of raging hormones say “I love you” with little thought to the weight of the words. Even some adults entering marriage have confused love with infatuation. Abused women endure wave after wave of physical assault because, “He says he loves me.”

Music and movies do us no favors in navigating these all-important waters. Characters fall in and out of love while lyrics too often confuse love and sex.

God’s Love is Different

Love is a basic theme of the Bible and a far too important concept to leave to uninformed definitions. When we read, “God loved the world in this way” (John 3:16, HCSB), is it the kind of love that is emotional, logical, or hypocritical? Or, is it different than the love we see portrayed in pop-culture?

We are not left to guessing as to the “way” in which God loves the world. Romans 5:6-8 describes it:

“For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person – though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!”

God’s love is giving. It is sacrificial. It is provisional. As Ben Mandrell has written, “The love of God is more than sentiment. Objective, historical evidence of God’s love presents itself in the cross of Christ. Jesus put Himself in harm’s way and endured the incredible pain of the crucifixion. This reveals the ocean-sized, other-worldly nature of His love.”

We cannot speak of God’s love – the greatest love in the world – without acknowledging its generous and sacrificial nature. God gave His Son for us. This is no small thing.

Why Does God Love People in Such a Way?

Because it is His nature to do so. God cannot love in any way other than that which is generous and sacrificial. To love in a lesser way would cease to be like God. This is how God’s love is described throughout the Bible.
God loves people is this way because it took this kind of love to provide the ground for salvation. The Bible describes people without Christ as “lawless” (Romans 4:7), “corrupt” (Psalm 14:3), “evildoers” (Psalm 14:4), and “lost” (Luke 19:10). We were far from God, separated from Him and unable to make things right on our own. When we were unlovely, unloving and unlovable, God loved us.

This is the greatest love in the world.

Bible Studies for Life: Do Over drives this home. We will never know God until we have accepted His love fully expressed in Jesus. We cannot save ourselves and no one else’s love can save us. Only God’s love can, and He has made the way.

Yours for the Great Commission,

Ronnie W. Floyd

Senior Pastor, Cross Church

General Editor, Bible Studies for Life

Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

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August 27th, 2013

How Americans Think About God and Second Chances

Bible Studies for Life

Jonah. Moses. Peter. Thomas. David. All received second chances.

Last week, we saw that most Americans (84%) believe that God offers second chances. Among Christians, the percentage is higher, and in some sub-groups is nearly 100%.

But when you drill farther down into why people think God gives second chances, the research shows widely varied answers. Some of the answers do not seem to be biblical.

Some respondents indicated that God would give a second chance if the person did good enough. Others said “if a person makes restitution,” while still others said God would extend a second chance if an offending person “promises not to make the same mistake.” A few said a person would have to endure some kind of punishment first, while still more said God would give a second chance if a person depends only on God.

In all, some 44 percent of respondents believe God’s offering of a second chance depends on some kind of human action. This does not seem to rely at all upon God’s grace. This view expects a person to be victorious in gaining God’s favor, and is not dependent upon His divine blessing. This does not negate the possibility of receiving a second chance according to God’s will, but we should not live as if second chances are automatic or dependent upon ourselves.

In a new small group study from Bible Studies for Life, Ben Mandrell takes us through the Book of Romans, showing us that the apostle Paul argued persuasively that Jesus Christ alone can cancel a person’s past. Through the blood of Jesus, new mercies are available each and every day.

The problem with trusting in one’s self to gain a second chance from God is that we cannot trust ourselves to get it right. Perhaps we should remember how often we do not fulfill the commitments we make the first time. How many times do we beat ourselves up over our mistakes? Why put extra pressure on ourselves to fix things? We shouldn’t.

God is gracious in His dealings with us, and, like all His works, a second chance is an act of grace. We may get a chance to get it right, but it is not dependent on our ability to get it right. It is completely unearned and undeserved.

The most scriptural response to a failure is to ask God to intervene to accomplish His will. Sometimes that will include us, and sometimes it may not. But God’s glory is more important than any second chance we may ever get.