Truth Be Told: A Blog by Pastor Bill Alderson

  These were famous words uttered by Martin Luther King in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, his “I Have a Dream” speech. He concluded it with: “And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’" The freedom that MLK was referencing involved the issue of his day: civil rights. The reconstruction of American society since the Civil War has been slow and painful, yet King saw hope for the future, and that hope was in God. Believers' freedom in their relationship with Christ can transform lives and set people free from their failures and shortcomings. Paul saw it clearly when he...

  Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance [ kleronomia – inheritance, possession]. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve .                      Colossians 3:23-24 Like the Old Testament usages, the words for inheritance in the New Testament primarily refer to spiritual obedience as a condition for receiving an inheritance. Becoming an heir can come through a family relationship, through faith, or some form of obedience or merit. Nearly every occurrence of kleronomos – inherit includes either the presence or absence of some work or character quality as a condition of obtaining or forfeiting the particular possession. The account of the Rich Young Ruler below provides insight: Rich Young Ruler And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher [ didaskolos – instructor, master]...