Bible Study on Galatians 4 Son vs Slave Discussion

Q1 What is the difference between Heir and Slave?

1. Heir: inherit estate, give orders, and take initiative
   Stages: children = slave = follow orders, son - matured - right time
2. Slave: work for salary (a living), follow orders, reactive

Q2 How do I apply this to my life now?

• Which stage of Son-ship am I? Child or a mature Son?
• Do I need a Mentor to guide me?
• Am I in any kind of bondage? Am I free to act rather than forced to act?
• I have ability and creativity
• Am I taking initiative rather than reactive?
• Am I complaining instead of doing something about it?
• Am I working and learning for growth?

Q3 What are the responsibilities of being a true friend?

• Telling the truth and doing it in the Right Way
• The Right way:

1. establish your identity, position & authority to speak, the credentials, such as the Bible
2. show evidences
3. show endorsements from relevant authorities
4. use illustrations to communicate better e.g. Nathan on David's adultery & murder.
5. packaged in love Eph 4:15. You need to earn the right to be listened to. Start with love, gain trust then earn the right to speak to be listened to.
6. The Way of Love (in Truth) is a more powerful way than just Confrontation which leads to mutual destruction. e.g. Gandhi for India, M Luther King Jr for the Blacks, N Mandela of S Africa.

Q4 What action do I need to take from this learning about true friendship?
Is there anyone I should I extend my love to? Are there improvements to be made in the way we correct someone?

Q5 What is the difference between the two covenants?

1. Law: Slave:
1. Performance for acceptance
2. Stressed to Perform
3. Become either proud when we think we do well and condemned when we fail.
4. Who set the standards?
• Other People – We become Men-Pleasers.
• Self Perception of God – A Judgmental God, all ready to punish.
• Satan instigation
  
2.  Grace: Son ship:
1. Performance from Acceptance
2. Joy to Perform
3. Standards according to God – God glorifying work.
4. Productive and fruitful work see Ps 127:2

Q6 How does this change my behavior?

1. Not have to do but I want to do.
2. Not minimum standard, but God glorifying standards
3. Not by my power, but according to God's direction and empowerment to accomplish innovative, impactful things obtaining favors & good relationships with people.

Bible Study 1 John Chapter 2 The Stages of Spiritual Growth

Stages of Growth
John tells clearly that there are three main stages of spiritual growth - little children, young men, and fathers. The implications of the stages of growth are:

1. Different levels of maturity - Not all believers are at the same level. Don't treat everyone the same way.
2. All start from the beginning stage. There is no shortcut or skipping step.
3. We can be stuck at a stage, or even regress to a lower stage.
4. Growth is a process that takes time and practice, to move from one stage to higher stages.

Stage 1 Little Children

1. Forgiven & righteous & holy. If we sin, we don't hide it but come boldly to God because we have Jesus who paid for our sins and is our advocate. We are forgiven not because we are great but because God is love. We don't earn or could even work for our salvation. Rebirth is by the grace of God only. (1John 2:1-2, 12)
2. Abide in Him - Know Him through Obedience. A key part of this stage is to know Christ through listening to Him and obeying Him - keeping His words. Obedience is the way to growth - the process of perfecting us to be like Christ. His Words for us are simple - love and hate not (2:9-11), stay and walk in righteousness (2:6, 2:29), and truth (2:4).
3. Know the Father (2:13). We know the Father through Jesus. The Father sent His Son Jesus for us. Knowing and experiencing the Father's love and presence is the ultimate aim of life. Jesus came to bring us back to the Father. Let the love of our Father so comfort us that we forgive and let go of all bitterness and simply cling on and enjoy His love. The Father's love brings deliverance, peace and joy, and overflowing love to others. Children must grow up in an environment of love so that they can be secure and become strong young men. Focus on the Father alone and not on any other (1 John 5:21).

 Stage 2 Young Men

1. Overcomer - Overcame the evil one. We are overcomers through abiding in the Word of God (2:14) and not through our physical or mental strength. The Word of God is internalized in us through our obedience in stage 1. 
2. Love the Father and NOT the World (2:15-17) 
• The world has 3 temptations for us to distract us from loving our Father.
1. Desires of the Flesh - There is nothing wrong with having pleasures of life. Our Father wants to give us that. But we are tempted to have pleasures outside the boundaries of God and go on to the extremes and be held in bondage rather than the promised satisfaction. e.g. sexual, drug, gambling addictions, etc. The senses of our flesh are the doors opened to temptations from the world and devils.
2. Desires of the Eyes - We see and we want them no matter what. We put our faith in things that are seen (and temporary 2:17) instead of unseen things that are spiritual and of eternal value. 
3. Pride in possessions and of Life - We put our value and esteem on what we get and possess. We seek glory and power from the abundance of things we own, specifically money. We are distracted from putting trust in God and we want to be our own God. Of course, we can never be God. It is only the devil's lie to us since the time of Eve.
3. Do the Will of God - Abide in God (2:17,24)
4. Have Knowledge & Discernment
• Know the enemy - the anti-Christ (2:18-23) and deceivers(2:26). There are many anti-Christs, not just one, throughout history and into the future. Know their lies - denying Christ had come in the flesh.
• Know the Truth and our Identity (2:20-25)
• Anointed of God - Holy Spirit within us 2:20,25-27
• Eternal Life (Zoe's, God's kind of Life) 2:25
• Listen to the Holy Spirit within us.

Stage 3 Fathers

1. Know the Heart of the Creator Father (2:13, 14). We have grown up to be a father, spiritual or earthly, and know the responsibilities and heart of being a father. 
2. True Love : The Father's love for us is true love. It is a love without conditions and is proactive, and sacrificing. There are additional things that we shall study in Chapter 4. 
3. Considering Paul's concept of "More than Conqueror", in The Meaning of "More than Conquerors", we can perhaps says that 'Young Men' are 'Conquerors' (winning by force of God) and the 'Fathers' are the "More than Conqueror"( winning by the transformation of the heart through the love of God).

Questions for Reflection:

1. What are the Stages of Growth? 
2. What are the characteristics of each stage?

Questions for Applications:

1. Which stage are you presently in?
2. What actions will you take to grow up into the next stage?
   What are the obstacles? What help do you need?

next:  Bible Study 1 John Chapter 3 Believers Behave Like...

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圣经学习约翰一书第2章属灵成长的阶段

成长的阶段

• 约翰明确指出属灵成长有三个主要阶段：小孩子、少年人和父老。
• 这些成长阶段的涵义是：
• 不同程度的成熟度 - 不是所有信徒都在同一水平上，不要同样对待每个人。
• 所有人都从起始阶段开始。没有捷径或跳跃。
• 我们可能停滞在某个阶段，甚至退化到较低的阶段。
• 成长是一个需要时间和实践的过程，从一个阶段迈向更高的阶段。

阶段1 小孩子

1. 蒙赦免、义和圣洁。如果我们犯罪，不要隐藏，反而要大胆地来到上帝面前，因为我们有为我们的罪付了代价并且是我们的拥护者的耶稣。我们得到赦免，不是因为我们伟大，而是因为上帝是爱。我们不能赚取或甚至努力为我们的救恩工作。重生只是上帝的恩典。
2. （约翰一书2:1-2，12）常在祂里面 - 通过顺服来认识祂。这个阶段的关键部分是通过听从耶稣并顺服祂 - 遵守祂的话语来认识基督。顺服是成长的途径 - 完善我们成为基督样式的过程。祂对我们的话很简单 - 爱别恨（2:9-11），停留且行在义上（2:6，2:29），并行真理（2:4）。
3. 认识天父（2:13）。我们通过耶稣认识天父。天父为我们差遣了祂的儿子耶稣。认识并经历父神的爱和同在，是生命的终极目标。耶稣来将我们带回父神那里。让我们父神的爱如此安慰我们，以至于我们宽恕和释放一切苦毒，单单依附并享受祂的爱。父神的爱带来解脱、平安、喜乐以及向他人的满溢的爱。孩子们必须在充满爱的环境中成长，这样他们才能够得到保障并变得强大。专注于仅有的父神，不要追随其他（约翰一书5:21）。

阶段2 少年人

1. 得胜者 - 藉着坚守神的话语（2:14），我们通过坚守神的话语而成为得胜者，而不是依靠我们的肉体或智力。
2. 爱父神，而不是爱世界（2:15-17） 世界有三种诱惑来分散我们对父神的爱。
1. 肉体的欲望 - 拥有生活中的快乐并没有错。我们的父神想要赐予我们这些。但我们被诱惑超越了上帝的限度去追求生活中的快乐，走向极端并被束缚，而不是所承诺的满足。例如：性、药物、赌博等上瘾。我们肉体的感官是敞开受到世界和魔鬼引诱的大门。
2. 眼目的贪恋 - 我们看到并想要不顾一切得到它们。我们将信仰放在所见之物（并且是暂时的2:17）上，而不是属灵且永恒价值的不可见之物。
3. 物财的傲慢和生命之傲 - 我们把价值和尊荣放在我们获得和拥有的事物上。我们寻求来自我们拥有的丰富事物，特别是金钱，的荣耀和权力。我们分散了对上帝的信任，而想成为自己的上帝。当然，我们永远不能成为上帝。自从夏娃时代以来，这只是魔鬼对我们的谎言。
3. 成就上帝的旨意 - 常在上帝里面（2:17，24）
4. 拥有知识和辨别力:
1. 认识敌人 - 反基督（2:18-23）和欺骗者（2:26）。历史上以及将来会有许多反基督，不仅仅是一个。认识他们的谎言 - 否认基督以肉身降临。
2. 认识真理和我们的身份（2:20-25）
1. 被上帝膏立 - 圣灵在我们里面2:20，25-27
2. 永远的生命（Zoe，上帝的生命）2:25
3. 听从我们内心的圣灵。

阶段3 父老

1. 认识造物者父神的心（2:13，14）。我们已经成长为父亲，不论是属灵的还是肉身的，了解做一个父亲的责任和心态。
2. 真爱：父神对我们的爱是真爱。它是无条件的爱，积极主动的，且是为人牺牲的爱。在第4章中，还有其他一些内容需要我们深入研究。
3. 考虑保罗关于“超越胜利”的概念，在《'超越胜利'的意义》一文中，也许我们可以这样说，'少年人'是'征服者'（靠上帝的力量获胜），而'父老'则是“超越胜利者”（通过对上帝的爱心来转变而获胜 - 把敌人变为朋友）。

思考问题：

• 什么是成长的阶段？
• 每个阶段的特点是什么？

应用问题：

• 你目前处于哪个阶段？
• 你将采取什么行动来进入下一个阶段？
• 有什么障碍？你需要什么帮助？

Bible Study 1 John Chapter 1 Walk in Fellowship with Jesus

Who is Jesus?
John began his letter with a clear statement on who Jesus is. He is with the Father (i.e. God), the Word of Eternal Life and He came in the flesh that he could touch, see and hear. Jesus came in the form of a real human being. God visited His creation.

The Gospel and Its Purpose
The good news, proclaimed by John, is that we can have fellowship Jesus, the Father and us (human beings) forever. We all can enjoy the goodness of God through Jesus.

Fellowship with Jesus is the Key for Victorious Living and staying sin free
A key attribute of God is Light (1:5). There is no darkness or sin with God. The key point is for us to come the light. The light will expose our sins. We can then confess our sin. without fear, to God because God is love and through Jesus' completed work on the cross Jesus has already saved us from our sins. There is no fear in love. We can be honest with God and with ourselves. Admitting our sins allows us to face it boldly and with Christ's grace be changed and be freed for victorious living. See Heb 4:16. Facing our sins allows us to be freed from them through applying the power from God. The secret for breaking away from sins is to walk in the light, have close relationship with Jesus.

Focus on fellowship and walking with Jesus keep us freed from the influence of sin.

Don't focus on the sin but focus on Jesus. Our preoccupation with Jesus will free us from the temptation of sin. Nevertheless, if we do sin, we can face it immediately and be freed from it. We cannot continue in our sin if we want to have fellowship with Jesus.

While Jesus has paid for and forgive our sins, the society that we live in does not. While spiritually there is no punishment for our sins, we still have to pay the penalties that our society levies on us for our sins. A thief can be forgiven in Christ but he may still need to face the punishment of imprisonment or fines.

v1:9 has been used by some to say that unless we confess our sins, our sins will not be forgiven. But v9 follows from v7 which says that as we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.  My personal view on confession of sin is that we must admit and face it to change and it was not for forgiveness as Christ had redeemed us from all sin. There are sins that we are not aware (unless someone or the Holy Spirit tell us), and hence we are not able to confess them. Does that mean if we die we could not go to heaven because of unconfessed sins? Certainly not. But unconfessed sins hold us in bondage and defeat. As we grow up into maturity in the likeness of Christ, we shall be aware of our other inadequacies as we conquer over them, one step at a time.


Questions for Reflections

1. Who is Jesus?
2. How do we have fellowship with Jesus?
3. What is the secret of victorious sin-free living?

Questions for Applications

1. What can I do to have closer fellowship with Jesus?
2. Write down an action plan to develop the relationship with Jesus. Be outcome(fruit of the Spirit) focus rather than just effort focused. 

For the discussion, see Bible Study 1 John 1 Walking in the Light Discussion
Next: Bible Study 1 John Chapter 2 The Stages of Spiritual Growth

Bible Study 1 John God is Light & Love

1 John is a first hand experience report of Jesus, God in the flesh, that visited the earth. A creator of the universe, larger than the universe He created, came into this little earth, as a man to communicate and save us. This is almost unimaginable. But John declared to us that the One, whom he touched with his own hands is the Word of Eternal Life that was with the Heavenly Father.

Christianity differs from other religions in one key aspect - Jesus Christ. If you remove Jesus Christ, Christianity is void. All other religions can still stand without their founders.

The main themes of 1 John are about Jesus Christ the Eternal Life, the Light and the Love. We who has fellowship with Jesus must walk in the light and in love. By walking in the light, we stay away from sin. Sin is revealed by the Light. Sin breaks fellowship. Sin and its effects, however, are removed by our confession. It is also about exposing the evil and staying away from the lusts of the world. Fellowship with Christ is also about love in action. Love is proactive - it acts first. Love is about obedience. Love is without fear. Our loving deeds assure us that we are of God who is Love.

I find John writing to be a bit repetitive. He tends to say the same thing in different ways. It shows that our language are too restrictive to explain the greatness of Jesus and His love.

The main title for the 5 chapters are :

1. Jesus, True God Came 
2. The Growth Stages
3. Believers Love like Their Father & Sin not
4. Discernment & True Love 
5. Our Identity & Authority

 It is exciting to discover the Love that Jesus had for us. It is also revealed slowly in our own life as we grow up from a child, young man and to fatherhood that we come to understand the Love of God. Let start with chapter 1... Bible Study 1 John Chapter 1 Walk in Fellowship with Jesus

Bible Study Galatians 3 Discussion

Additional learning from our discussion on Galatians Chapter 3 are shown in the mind map below:

There is nothing to add to the completed work of Christ but to receive in faith and showing the faith through our behavior. The Spirit ruling over our mind and body.

A main question is Q4 Do we still need to follow the Law after we are saved by Christ?
We don't have to follow the Law for our justification or salvation for we have been justified and saved by Christ. Following and living out the Christ in us actually surpassed the requirements of the Law. Nevertheless, the Law serves as a mirror for our behavior - a minimum standard. We follow the spirit of the Law. We also exceeds the Law as we love and forgive others.