Edition 12 of the First Principles

Thursday, November 3rd

Edition 12 of the First Principles

Acts 2:22-24
22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Wicked (adj.):

1. Evil by nature and in practice.


2. Morally bad in principle or practice.


3. Having committed unrighteous acts.


4. Intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality.


5. Morally bad or wrong.

Note: How wicked am I? What does my past say about myself? Through rose colored glasses I can justify my acts. I can make whatever thing I see or do seem right. I can find wrong in the bible, dictionary, and any other literary work if I search hard enough, thus justifying my actions. With the power of the internet, I can even find supporters of my cause and/or thoughts to even make me feel better. So, in this day and age, wicked is relative to how your standpoint is. To most, child-molestation is wrong. But to the child-molesting circle, the children wanted it. According to the law, marijuana is wrong. But to those who like to get high, it should be legalized because it relieves stress. Wrong is relative to those who have different viewpoints. In the stance of Christ and the bible, I need to see wrong the way God does and thus see myself as a wicked person who crucified Christ.

Acts 2:36-37
36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Note: What does “cut to the heart” mean? I see it as seeing my sin and the wrongs I have done and then being motivated to take action to remedy the wrong. I see it as taking action to do the right thing. What can I do to take action? How can I change? It’s saying I’m sorry, how can I make this right? This should be the motivation of a Christian.

2 Corinthians 7:8-11
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while - 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Note: Godly sorrow brings repentance. Worldly sorrow brings death. Godly sorrow brings motivation to do right. Worldly sorrow lets you wallow in self-pity. Do I have self-pity or am I motivated to do the right thing? Do I have regret? Am I distressed over anything? Do I feel any sorrow? What sorrow do I have: Godly or worldly? What does my life say?

Regret (verb):

1. To feel sorry, disappointed, or distressed about.


2. To remember with a feeling of loss or sorrow; mourn.