Category — Bible Study

Well, it’s time for us to dive into the word of God again. I know many of you will probably skip past this because the truth is of no concern to you, but for those of you who love the truth, believe the truth, desire the truth, and live the truth we know, just as the Apostle Paul did, that the word of God (The Gospel):

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17 ESV

We are not ashamed or dismayed by the truths found in God’s word. We don’t shrink back from them nor avoid them because of the hardheartedness of men. We don’t care if we will be embarrassed or made fun of by those who would consider the word of God to be foolish or out of date. Why? Because we know that God’s word is the power of God unto salvation, and in it, the righteousness of God is revealed.

In this study we are going to deal with soteriology or the study of salvation. I want to present to you exactly what God’s word says concerning His salvation. May God’s word do exactly what He has ordained it to do….(brdavision)

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:1

I love how Paul always gets right to the most important point when he is teaching. In Ephesians chapter 1 he explains how we (those of us who believe) have received all spiritual blessings! This is a big contrast to the man centered preaching that goes on in the pulpits today. “God wants to bless you, all you gotta do is praise Him.” or “If you will just open your mouth and shout yes then God will move on your behalf no matter what you need.”

This types of apostate church vernacular plagues the pulpits and curses those who receive it. But I digress….

Paul lets these believers know exactly what state they were in before God saved them: “And you were dead….”. Today, many attempt to interpret Paul as merely saying that we were on sleep state or just dead in our minds. But upon further study of the original Greek we can know exactly what Paul meant. The word translated for dead is νεκροὺς pronounced {nek-ros’}.

The greek word means this: “one that has breathed his last, lifeless  1b) deceased, departed, one whose soul is in heaven or hell  1c) destitute of life, without life, inanimate  2) metaph.  2a) spiritually dead  2a1) destitute of a life that recognises and is devoted to God,  given up to trespasses and sins  2a2) inactive as respects doing right  2b) destitute of force or power, inactive, inoperative .”

Lets use our heads here: If a man has breathed his last or is lifeless, deceased, departed, destitute of life, inanimate, spiritually dead, inactive as respects to doing right and so forth then it is proper for one to understand that the Apostle Paul is not talking about a sleep state or mind deadening state here. But exactly what he says: “DEAD”. Paul lets us know that we were spiritually dead, unable to breath, move, and most importantly unable to chose God. Another word for this state is totally depraved. Paul said:

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

Dead people don’t chose life. They are unable to do so. I drive by an old cemetery every Sunday on the way to church, and I have yet to see a dead man rise from the grave, walk to my church and sit next to me in the service. If I do that will be another blog post….

Not wanting to be redundant but to stress my point, Paul refers to us (in our unregenerate, natural state) as dead. Unable to accept, nor understand the things of God. However, these Ephesians believers were now alive:

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14

How were they alive? Because the Gospel Message had been preached to them, and they had believed in the work of Christ on the cross. By their faith they had been sealed with the Spirit of God, who is the guarantee (not our works) of salvation until it is made manifest, with all glory going to God. In laymen terms He saved them, He gave them all the spiritual blessings, and He filled them with His Spirit. Therefore all the glory goes to Him.

Are dead men capable of doing this for themselves? Of course not. This gives further proof to the doctrine of regeneration. It is the Spirit’s job to give life to those who have been called. The bible says:

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Now this is a awesome truth! But we need some back ground to fully understand what Paul is saying here. This just so happen to be apart of my Pastor’s sermon this Sunday.

First Paul makes it clear that his ministry did not need to be affirmed by any human. His ministry was confirmed by those whose lives were changed by God through the preaching of the gospel.

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”2 Corinthians 3:5-6

Paul makes it clear that he is not boasting in himself but in God. And then he makes an interesting statement, one that he actually has been building upon for the two previous chapters. He is comparing Moses to Jesus, and making a solid argument that Jesus is indeed far superior. Moses gave us the law and that covenant which God made with him actually only leads to death. Which is why he says “the letter kills” and calling it a “ministry of Condemnation”. See Hebrews 3 and Romans 5 for more information.

Those who follow (work) the law of Moses will end up in Hell! But those who believe in Christ shall have eternal life. Those who make this transition from death (Moses and the law) to life (Christ and the cross) do so because of the power of God’s Spirit. We (me and you) were just as veiled as those who still follow the law but now, because of the “Lord who is the Spirit”, our eyes have been unveiled and can now behold the glory of the Lord! Praise God for His salvation!

This scripture (2 Corinthians 3:18) can be used to defend the deity of God the Holy Spirit.

This brings us back to our first point, as we walked this earth we were dead in sin. But God, who the bible says “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 1:24), has made us alive through Christ Jesus. Amen….

stay tuned for the next study!

Via Stephen Black and Oklahoma City based First Stone Ministries,  a message to Pastoral Care Leaders seeking to navigate the muddy cross sections of the Gospel and “gay Christianity.”

“The Gospel according to Jesus Christ is the same message for a gay-identified person, an idolater, an adulterer, a fornicator, a pornographer, a liar, a thief, a gossip, a slanderer or a murderer.  The message of good news–redemption into a love relationship with God–is the same for all sinners.^[1] Many “Christian” leaders communicate a message that is not Biblical, but instead is deceptive and eternally dangerous. It is certainly not a message of love to lead a person into a false hope.  Unfortunately, this misleading message of “gay Christianity” is spread by perhaps well-meaning but Biblically-illiterate leaders who present a message based not on the truth of the Bible, but on a man-made theology. Other leaders purposefully and deceptively spread this message, which is a much graver offense.  Deception–which leads people astray–is not love; it’s evil.^[2] I share this concern with the same grief-filled compassion as expressed by the Apostle Paul to the Romans in Romans 9:1-3^[3] when he wrote “with a great heavy heart and many tears.” Sincerely I write this article after much heart-ache and many tears. Paul reminded us that many will fall away from the faith in the last days.^[4] This perversion of The Gospel is an example of the message of ease, love of pleasure and living unrepentantly with which many will go astray.^[5] This article is equipped with many end-notes of Biblical references to back up the emphatic statements and is a Bible study with over 150 verses.  Please read the Scripture references with this article and let God’s word be your guide.”

The writeup contains a wealth of teaching, scripture and resources to equip pastoral leaders in the contemporary church. Many are unnecessarily falling victim to the seductively false doctrines of the gay christian movement. But the question comes down to this: will we believe the gospel or man’s replacement ideologies? Souls hang in the balance of our answer. Stephen Black succinctly fowards the challenge to believe the gospel of Jesus against the growing apostate teachings of the gay christian movement.

“Several church leaders^[40] embrace the emergent message of gay Christianity and present a gay Gospel.  Their teachings are not based upon the sound doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or New Testament Biblical instruction. They choose to embrace a false social gospel of a more palatable feel-good-God, a man-made theology, yet they do ‘good things’ under the banner of Christianity.  Unfortunately, rather than embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel of self-denial that produces a Spirit-filled life that really does do good,^[41] they are embracing a man-made theology promoting gay Christianity. Which gospel message will you embrace?  Will you follow a Biblical message that allows the human heart and soul to be transformed by the Word of God or a man-made theology that allows men to live in self-centeredness and indulgence?^[42] Shall we teach people that just praying a prayer and being a part of a community saves them eternally? Or shall we teach a true belief, that accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and following Him in discipleship will result in a life of righteousness? Which Gospel will you teach or follow?^[43] The true gospel of Jesus Christ, which leads to life, or a gay gospel according to man’s words, which leads to death? “There is a way that seems right to man, but the end leads to death.”^[44]

Any leader who follows or teaches any other gospel other than what has already been given to us is to be accursed (Gal 1:8).  Lies kill people and destroy souls but the truth of God delivers people from the snare of the devil into new life with Christ. Read the entire article here.

Today marks the close of our One Week in the Word Series. Whether you commented or not, we hope that you have been blessed, encouraged, enlightened and strengthened by the articles posted by our team of writers. Our purpose has been to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the eternal Word and the Giver of the Word.

Did you know that you don’t have to wait until Wednesday night bible study or Sunday morning sermon to get into the Word of God? Each believer is strongly admonished to “study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” 2 Tim 2:15. You should study, meditate, recite and memorize scripture on a consistent basis.

Feel free to take time and review all the bible study articles this week or our past ones for your own edification and equipping. The result of consistent, honest study of God’s word is a tremendous benefit to you.

Our prayer for you is that you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As always, your questions pertaining to any of these posts are welcome.

Behold, I come quickly

Seek and ye shall find me

Can you praise me now?

A fountain still flows

The blessings of justification

Good news for a bad world

Five promises from God you can believe in

I am the Lord and I change not!

I will not forget you

Knowing the will of God

In time with God

Purpose driven Joy

A beautiful conversation: talking with God

Loving you when you’re bad

Strive for mastery

Ready to live in a wealthy place?

Personal productivity: just do it

Walking in the Spirit

Understanding Church and Kingdom, part I

Understanding Church and Kingdom:Violence cometh, part II

Understanding Church and Kingdom, part III

Psalm 24:6,  2 Chronicles 7:14

The prolific 18th century Christian author and preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote:

[...]“true seekers are very dear in God’s esteem, and are entered upon his register. Even seeking has a sanctifying influence; what a consecrating power must lie in finding and enjoying the Lord’s face and favour! To desire communion with God is a purifying thing. Oh to hunger and thirst more and more after a clear vision of the face of God; this will lead us to purge ourselves from all filthiness, and to walk with heavenly circumspection.”

Seeking God, his face and the kingdom of God is a welcome and open invitation to all who truly desire to know God.

The drama in this story is so crazy it sounds like some cable TV reality show. But its not, its true, recorded in Genesis 29:16-35; 30:1-12 Note: the scripture doesn’t tell the story in true chronological form.

In summary, a man has got two women —two sisters— but he’s playing one of them. Having babies by her but not giving her the love she truly wants from him. She’s definitely not the woman of his dreams. Even after popping out healthy kids for him, she still cant get his love. His heart is with the other woman. The beautiful younger sister takes his breath away. But wait, there’s a problem. The other woman isn’t as sexually fertile as the one he doesn’t love. It gets so crazy between the three of them, even other women are brought in to be surrogate lovers.

Amid the many larger than life narratives in the Old Testament, the story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah is perhaps one of the more poignant ones. They are all, in a way, caught up in the drama, victimized and in the process passing on the hurt, pain and mistrust even to their offspring.

In the end,  the lesson learned by Leah and its revelatory resolution sticks out as one we all can take a moment to pay attention to.

The hurt inflicted upon Leah is obvious. Of no fault of her own, she is diminished and rejected despite her attempts to give Jacob what she thinks he wants. But from the beginning, Jacob never wanted to be with her.

When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” vs 25

You probably know people in this situation right now as youre reading this. You may have been there yourself. Trying to please someone, doing your best, but when you look in their eyes you can tell they aren’t happy. I’ve been there. You see it in the church as well as in the world. People are wasting away trying to get something that will never produce what they think it should.  It doesn’t matter if its a family member, friend, spouse, a pastor or a child some people will never be satisfied with you or what you do to win their affection.

This can cause a tremendous amount of emotional pain and lead to patterns of  broken relationships.

This may be more about learning who truly matters and who truly loves you more than anything. In our hearts, there is a place that can only be filled by the love of God. Its a place where the pains of our past must give way to praise because we finally realize that nobody can love us like Jesus can.

Verse 31 says that when GOD saw that Leah was unloved he caused her to concieve, but Rachel, the apple of Jacob’s eye, remained childless. Leah’s focus wasnt on God (like many of us) it was on getting a man to love her. When their first son was born, she knew that things would change

Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[b] for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.” vs 32

But it didn’t and eventually bitterness overtook her.

Don’t think that Rachel was unaffected just because she had Jacob’s affection. Not being able to bear him children, ate her up inside. Despite Jacob’s love she attacked him about it. It was considered a shame upon a woman not to be able to bear children for her husband.

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” Gen 30:1-2

Sometimes it takes us having to go through something to experience an irrevocable shift in our understanding.  We come to the end of ourselves. That’s what happened for Leah.

33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.

34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.

35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah.  Then she stopped having children.

When will you learn what God is trying to show you? Will you continue pursuing people, things, places, positions, popularity, giving up your body, your heart your soul to someone or something that will not love you back? And please don’t think this is a woman thing. Many men are emotionally and relationally broken as well.

If you can see what Leah finally saw, you can come to the same conclusion. Finally she realized that she could release herself from pining after Jacob and began praising God.

Some people think that praise is some sort of religious get out of jail free card.  While there are examples in scripture of praise releasing people from certain threats and bondages, its still not the purpose of praise. Praise isn’t intended to stop a problem, what it does is reposition your mind on God who is greater than your problem, whatever that might be. If God stops an entire army after you praise him that’s great. But even if he doesn’t do it, He’s still worthy. That’s what praise teaches you, no matter what happens or doesnt happen, God is still worthy to be praised.

Praise ascribes the worth to God for his mighty works. The benefit you get is that in the praise you (not necessarily your situation) are transformed.

That’s why King David had such a reputation as a man who gave God the praise. His life was riddled with troubles and issues. But in the midst of it all he blessed the Lord out of his soul, indeed all that was within him.

Remember Jacob still didn’t love Leah when she decided that she would praise God, but guess what?  Seeking his love was no longer her objective. Her focus now was exalting God who was greater than Jacob and greater than her past pain.

Hebrews 9:11-14, 14-22

[...]one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. John 19:34

I’m sure for those who stood at the cross watching this particular scene live, it must have been excruciating and horrifying to behold. But now that we know how deep his love for us was to shed his blood, it is a glorious thing see in the spirit.

First the natural

Blood has tremendous significance –and application— in the Word of God. Its meanings involve profound aspects for our spiritual lives. To wit, through the blood of Jesus,  supernatural transformation occurs for anyone who has been born shackled to the oppressive sin nature.

To understand spiritual implications, let’s look first at some functions of blood in your own body.

In one aspect, blood, in the most intimate way, is a unique factor associated with sustaining life. If a person loses his blood, he loses his life. When an individual’s blood becomes tainted by disease, the body and life again are threatened. Unless a tranfusion of new blood comes, life will surely end. Our blood performs many functions that help to keep our bodies healthy. For example,  blood dutifully transports nutrients from the digestive tract to the body’s many cells. It also moves hormones and assists in regulating the body’s temperature. If these functions were inhibited in any way, the consequences would set off a dangerous chain of reaction, which for the body,  could prove fatal.

When the blood encounters problems (whether genetic or otherwise) several medical anomalies could arise:  blood clots, HIV, sickle cell, leukemia to name a few. No one wants diseased blood.

Its no wonder then that the physical functions and significance of the blood finds a specific parallel to our spiritual life. Jesus’ blood was uniquely pure, innocent and had no diseases or defects. In order to redeem mankind from under the weight of sin, it took blood untouched by the disease of sin (Gal 5:19-21).  The blood of Jesus bridged the wide chasm that existed between sinful man and a holy God.

In the text, John writes that  blood and water gushed out of Jesus’ side as a result of his body being pierced by a soldier’s spear.  As brutal as that sounds to our sensibilities, the bible declares that it had to happen to fulfill the scriptures. You must understand that without the shedding of his blood, there could be no remission (or forgiveness) for sin.  Had the blood not been shed, we would be forever bound to sin’s deadly power with no hope of recovery.

Think about it. For every war that has been waged, it has cost the blood of someone’s life to gain victory and freedom. Its the same in the spiritual. The war between sinful man and holy God could only be satisfied with the price of blood. Someone who would give his life to save us all. Someone who’s love was of the highest order who would willingly take our sin upon himself and receive the punishment, so we could go free.

Thats why I’m glad right now, today on August 2nd, that there is still a fountain filled with blood and it still flows from our Savior’s veins. Sinners can still plunge beneath that flood and lose all their guilty stains. Its amazing that as dark as our sins are, his red blood can wash us white as snow!

If you want to stop right here and tell the Lord how much you love him for washing all your sins away, do it.

According to Hebrews 9, the blood of Jesus supercedes and surpasses the old system of sacrifice. Its greater than and more perfect than the blood of goats, bulls and birds. By virtue of his own sinless blood our High Priest was able to enter into the holy place and obtain eternal redemption for us. In plain words, he got the job done.
That’s why the blood will never lose its power and never cease its flow.

It has an equal opportunity flow and equal opportunity power. For the sick, for the diseased, for the homosexual and the prostitute, for the liar and the murderer, for the thief and the atheist. For me and for you it reaches to the highest mountain and flows to the lowest valley. I was one who almost 22 years ago came to Jesus sick, diseased, choking and drowning in an ocean of sin. But his blood made me whole.

Blood washed benefits

When the blood of Christ flows over you, the benefits are phenomenal.

1. It redeems you 1 Peter 1:18-19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect

2. It cleanses you 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

3. It justifies you Romans 5:8-9
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.