Boasting", is here defined as proud, self promotion. God hates it. Romans l:29 and Proverbs 6:l7. He resists those who are guilty of it. 1'st Chronicles 2l:l-7, James 4:6, and 1'st Peter 5:5. It is lumped in the same contextual setting as greed, blasphemy, disobedience, unnatural love, hate, violence, gossip, and conceit. 2'nd Timothty 3:2. Paul says, by the Spirit, in Romans l:28-32, that those guilty of it are "worthy of death". In 2'nd Corinthians ll:l6-23, Paul bragged, but noted that he was bragging "as a fool", and "as a madman", and "not as the Lord would have it".

And now, with this background information, are there grounds for boasting? May Christians boast? Wherein is the boasting? In Ephesians 2:7-9, we read that salvation is the gift of God. It does not come from human effort, for if it did man could brag about earning it. And in Romans 4:2, we see that Abraham could not boast of human effort. The emphasis is clear. Salvation is not attainable by human effort. It is a free gift. It cannot be purchased. It is not a commodity of Trade as the rich young ruler would have it. Salvation demonstrates the goodness of God. It is not a demonstration of man's righteousness. But, even so, there are legitimate grounds for boasting. "We are the true circumcision, not they. We worship with God's Spirit. We boast in Christ Jesus. Our trust is not based on flesh". Philippians 3:3. "In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name forever". Jeremiah 9:24. "If I must brag, I will brag about my weaknesses". 2'nd Corinthians ll:30. This is a clumsy example, but it illustrates the point: The story is told of a little boy who stood behind the tall and comforting figure of his dad and announced, "my dad can whip your dad". The youngster's brag, comfort, trust, and confidence was in the strength of another, and so should ours be.

The absolute truth of the matter is that Christians have the very greatest reason for bragging, for we have been declared righteous by the definer of righteousness. Romans 3:26, 4:68, 4:ll, 4:25, and 5:l. We are favored. Romans 4:l6. We have been adopted into the blood family of the King. We have been exalted out of peasantry and proclaimed "joint heirs" with the King's Son. Mere words fall short in describing this marvelous transformation- lost to saved; dead but born again; death sentence reprieved; kidnapped but ransomed.

Our confidence should not be in our own accomplishments, but in the precious and powerful blood of Jesus. In this we can swell with confidence. Yes! We may brag. We should brag.

Please think on these things. I believe them to be true to the Word.

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