”Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” 1 Corinthians 8:1

We know there is only one true God, who created all, and that we do not sin if we happen to eat food that another has devoted to a false god. But charity (selfless love) will move us not to vaunt our knowledge and be a cause of sin to weaker brethren who do not yet have such understanding. As believers in Christ, we have great freedom but, in love, we do not use our liberty in such a way as to cause those who do not yet have such knowledge to sin against their own consciences.

We thank Thee, O God, for the divine truth You reveal to us in the Scriptures. Do not let us become puffed up in that knowledge but, in selfless love, live in such a way that we do not cause our fellow believers to sin or fall from the faith but rather edify and build them up in the truth. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:16-18

Though our sins stain our lives like scarlet and crimson, God offers us mercy and forgiveness in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, if we but repent of our sins and look to Him in faith for pardon and cleansing. We read in 1 John 1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Have mercy upon me, O God, and wash me thoroughly from my sin, granting me pardon and forgiveness in the shed blood of Jesus, my Savior. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:6-7

It is not the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who are the children of Abraham but those who share in the faith of Abraham and are counted righteous by God through faith in Jesus, the Messiah and Savior promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Grant that I trust in Your promises of forgiveness and life in Christ Jesus, O God, that I may be counted righteous by faith, as was Abraham, our spiritual father. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. … And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.” Isaiah 1:11,15

God does not desire sacrifices and religious service from those who are impenitent and continue in their wicked ways. He will not accept their worship or hear their prayers. He desires that we repent of our evil ways and look to Him for mercy in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His Son and mankind’s only Savior. Only when we repent of our sins and trust in Christ will God accept our worship and hear our prayers.

Grant that I see my sinfulness and disobedience to Your Word, O LORD, and move me to repent and look to You for mercy and forgiveness in the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus for the sins of the world. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21

To add requirements of the law to the gospel message of forgiveness and life eternal through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice is to oppose and nullify the grace of God. If the way to be righteous in God’s eyes is by obedience to the law, then why did God send His Son to fulfill all righteousness for us and then die in our stead as a sacrifice to atone for our sins?

Grant that I trust in Christ alone for my salvation, O God, and not look to my own faulty works under the law. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]