Bible Study 1 John Chapter 5 Identity & Overcoming Power

This is the last chapter of 1 John and John is summarizing the key points.

Qualifications to be Children of God
Whoever believes in Jesus as the Christ (Messiah, 1Jn 5:1), as he Son of God has eternal life (1Jn 5:13). That is all there is. Just believe. So easy. You don't need to be highly educated to understand it. You don't need to do anything good to earn it.  Good acts will come later. It comes by first receiving Jesus who paid the penalty and gave us the new godly life.

Evidence for our Faith
John is not asking us to believe in hearsays but in true evidences of blood, water and Spirit (1Jn 5:6-10). The God in the flesh is testified by John in 1Jn 1:1-3.

How can One be sure?
When we love God by obeying His commandments, we get to know (by reality of experience) Him more and His love for us. John points out that His commandants are not burdensome as others and the devils would like us to believe. James call those commandments the Laws of Liberty. I called them the opened secrets of success in life. See Principles & Insights from the Ten Commandments

A Digression about Laws and the Giver of Laws
There are preachers that tell us to know the author behind the principles rather than the principles themselves which may lead to legalism. Such kind of message is true in one aspect (to love the giver rather than the gifts, the author rather than his/her books) but create distortion in another aspect as if the principles are to be thrown away and not be followed. Such kind of one sided message can be easily exploited to justify sinning (don't follow the laws or principles, follow the author). Not only those messages are misleading, they are shallow and irresponsible. They are emotional charged. They sounded good but really lacked wisdom. How do we truly know the authors without his principles? Aren't the principles a reflection of the character of the author. Let see what Jesus say.

• John 14:15 If you love me, you will obey my commandments.
• John 14:21 He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
• John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; just as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

We know the author of the principles by obeying the principles. By following, we get to experience that the principles are for our good and we may know His love deeper and His wisdom towards us. We don't follow the principles per se for justification. We follow the principles to experience the love and trustworthiness of God. Are God promises true and trustworthy? Are God true to His words? Does His words really work? We can only tell by following and acting them out in faith.

Don't listen to preacher and messages who preach one-sided messages. Truth is holding extremities in balanced or in tension. God is both love and just. There is justice and truth in love and truth has love in it. Get rid of simplistic A or B narrow minded thinking that forces one to take side, create strife and leads to heresies and cults . Any issue is multi-faceted and we need to adopt a better thinking approach. Learn to appreciate the differences and have discernment.

True Children of God Overcome

Children of God overcome three things:

1. The Devils. Earlier chapter 4 says we have overcome them because of the Holy Spirit in us. 1Jn5:18 says that we are protected by Jesus and devil cannot touch us. We can boldly go out to conquer (Eph 6:15 shoes of gospels, Isa 52:7, Rom 10:15).
2. The World. Instead of being tempted by the world as in 1Jn 2:16, we leads the world in glorify God. We take leading positions in influencing the Arts & Entertainment, Businesses, Churches & Religions, MeDia & News, Education, Family and Government bringing God's Kingdom practices in them.
3. The Sins. Does not keep on sinning 1Jn 5:18.

True Children Get their Requests Answered - A Life of Faith in Action
By obeying God's commandments in practice, we get to know the heart and mind of God and we grow in our confidence in Him. We will also get to think and feel like God and will ask things according to His will and get the answers from Him. (1Jn 5:14-15). Fruit of the Spirit takes time to produce. The answer to the request for patience comes in the form of greater irritations and delays. It is not that God did not answer us immediately but that we fail to perceive His answer!


True Children Love their Brothers & Sisters -  They are their Brothers Keepers
A typical tendency we find in churches are the quickness to gossip about the wrong or bad behaviors of brothers and sisters behind their backs but not having the guts to confront their wrong doings. They did not give them a chance to explain themselves. By their gossiping behind their backs they already pass the judgments. This is not what John tell us to do here. We are to ask God first and get guidance to bring life back to him. (We are the likely agent God uses to give life back). God can give revelation to the person so that he can be awaken and face up to his sin. There is much discussion about what the "death" means. I will just take it physical death. Persistent in sinning without repentance will bring forth physical death see 1 Cor 5:5. It is our responsibility to correct our brother in the right ways but we cannot be responsible for his repentance.

Final Summary of the Greatest Truth for Life
John re-summarized the gospel again. Jesus, the Son of God, the Eternal Life, came to us so that we may know Him and have eternal life too. Jesus is the true God and we need not seek other idols. For the present days, the typical idol is money and it could disguise as career. Watch for the warning of 1 John 2:16.


Questions of Reflections & Applications

1. What do the believers overcome?
2. What does each overcoming mean?
3. What difference does it make to your life? How can you reap the benefits?
4. Give a one line statement of the Good News according to John. 
5. What are you going to do about the knowledge of the Good News?

See also Bible Study 1John 5 Identity & Overcoming Discussion

Bible Study 1 John Chapter 4 Discernment & True Love

Discernment first then Love (4:1-6)
A major part of this chapter talks specifically about true love (vs our common love that is self-centered and performance based). However, it begins with discernment first. It is telling us that we need to discern first before we blindly love. In the world of increasing complexity and exploitation of good heartedness, where robberies use people in distress to lure and rob kind people  who come to help, we need discernment.

When people are fed up with hypocrisy and seek a true spiritual experience, they are likely and easily be deceived by the evil spirits disguised as angels of light. John tells us how to discern the spirit - whether it is from God or from the anti-Christ. Here is the list:

1. confession of Jesus Christ as Son of God and existed as a man (come in the flesh) v2. (v14 shows John testifying the real man Jesus that is from God as in Chapter 1).
2. worldly and Godless mindset  v3 (they speak from the world).
3. following the Bible or not v6. (listen to us).

Christians tend to focus too much on the coming anti-Christ rather than anti-Christs, the false prophets, now. John is very clear about the anti-Christs existence all through the times. v3 says they are now in the world already!

The spirits work through man and hence we must discern the spirit behind the man. This was made obvious in Jesus' rebuke of Satan that was behind's Peter's words (Mat 16:23).  

We may have to fight the evil spirits behind the person. John assured us in 4:4 that the Holy Spirit within us is greater than the evil spirit outside. We can love a person but not his/her life styles, thoughts or definitely not the evil spirits instigating him/her. Be wise and discerning so that we don't unknowingly become the instruments or victims of the evil spirits behind the people. We cannot be more loving than God. God hates evil. We are in a spiritual battle (Eph 6:12) not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces. Wise up!

True Love

1. It is from God and we love with and as God's love v7. God is love v8.
2. God's love is planted in us through Jesus v9
3. It is pro-active. It initiates. It loves first. It is not a respond or reaction to love. v10,19
4. Love is unconditional. It is not based on your performance or the value you provide. God loves us while we were yet sinners. Our good behavior is good for us. Our sinful behavior is bad for us. Our behavior does not cause God to love us more or less but does cause us to be joyful and free or not.
5. Love brings love. We love with God's love v11
6. Love is action in the tangible and visible world of one another human beings. v12,21
   Anyone who hates his brother cannot say he has love. Loving our living people reflects our love for God v20.
7. As we love in practice, we get to know and experience love more and our love grows towards perfection v12.
8. Assurance of His Spirit in us is through our love. Love is abiding in God. v 13
9. God set the example by giving His only Son to the world to pay for our sins v9-10.
10. We CAN LOVE because (there is no excuse for us)
• We are of God (of LOVE) v15,16
• We believe the Love of God for us. v16
• As He is so are we in this world v17.
• LOVE has no fear. Perfect love cast out fear. We can boldly love. v18
• God loves us first then we may in turn love others v19.

Discern the right spirit and love the person in the right way. Love is truth. Love is other-centered. Love has no fear ( It has decided on the price to pay).

Questions for Reflection

1. How do you discern the spirit of God or spirit of Anti-Christ?
2. What are the attributes of True-Love?
3. What is not true-love?

Questions for Application

1. From the above list, what specific actions do you need to take in building a harmonious relationships? Who-What-When-How-Where. Why is answered - because you are love. Love wisely and rightly.

(Please be careful about how you love. You should not impose your own standard on others and insisting on people doing exactly as you like. There are culture, personality differences. May be your 'love' is too imposing and a loving act to do is to give space. Love wisely - according to the loved culture and preferences in the context of truth and Godliness).

See also Bible Study 1 John 4 Discernment & Love Discussion

Next: Bible Study 1 John Chapter 5 Identity & Overcoming Power

Bible Study 1 John Chapter 3 Believers Behave Like Their Father

Believers are Children of God
1John 3 begins with a declaration that we are children of God v1. We are like Him in appearance (as glorious as Him when he comes) and we should naturally behaves like Him.

The Behavior of Him
There are two aspects of His behavior pointed out in this chapter. Namely,

1. Purity - Righteousness - Sin free and hence Sin NOT (v3-10). Sinning is of the devil (v8) and righteousness is of the God(4,6,9). Our outward behavior is the result of our inward character. He who is born of God will not enjoy and stayed in sin. Sin should be unnatural to him.
   
2. Love one another in deeds & truth (v11-24)
• Jesus set the example by laying down His life for us. We are to do likewise 3:16
• Love not just in words but in action (v18)- 2 types of action:
• Giving to those in Needs (3:17) according to our ability.
• Correcting those in sin (5:16)
• Love is in Truth (v19) according to the Word of God. 
• put on the breastplate of righteousness Eph 6:14. Eph 4:24 ...to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
• Let the Word of God rules our hearts that we ask according to His will and receive the result from Him (3:22). God cannot give us things that violate His character and His words. We cannot force God. We follow Him.

The Greatest Commandment of God for Man- Believe Jesus and Love like Him
This topic is so important that I put it into a new paragraph. We are supposed to follow God's will. What is God's greatest desire and commandment for us? It is to believe His Son Jesus Christ and love one another (1 Jn 3:23). Our believe in Jesus is shown in our following all His commandments and thereby abiding in Him or more specifically in His LOVE (v24). We love as and with His love for us. The following chapter goes into a detailed discussion of the True Love of Jesus. This commandment is the upgraded version of OT love God and love others as yourself. To put it in internet term:

Commandment 1.0 - Love God and love others like yourself.
Commandment 2.0 - Believe in Jesus Christ and love others like Him with His love.

Jesus does not ask us to do things without giving us the power to do. He rebirth us with His Spirit and give Himself to us that we may be like Him by living out the Christ in us.

Questions for Reflection:

1. In what ways are we like our Father?
2. How can you tell you are of your Father?
3. What is the greatest commandment for man now?

Questions for Application:

1. How do we love one another?
2. List down some specific actions you need to take in the coming week for any member or your family, friends or even your enemy.

See also Bible Study 1 John 3 Discussion
Next: Bible Study 1 John Chapter 4 Discernment & True Love.

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.

Bible Study - James 5 Brotherhood

Warning about Wealth
The foundation must be right for having good relationship. James mentioned wealth again (The earlier mention was in James 2:1-4 about our bad behaviour of favoring the rich). It is about how we should not do with wealth.  

1. We should not hoard it --> Use it for good.
   We can immediately recall the Parable of Rich Fool and Jesus' exhortation for us to lay up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. What are treasures for heaven? James covered them later in addressing the Brotherhood (5:13-19).
2. We should not use its power to exploit the others. Treat other fairly - pay fair wages and uphold righteousness.
3. We should not be self-indulgent. It is not that God is against our enjoying of wealth but that we should be concern about others welfare. We should not be used by wealth but use wealth to bless others.

Personal Conduct First
In order to be able to help others, we must be able to manage ourselves first. Here are a few pointers for maturity:

1. Be patient - be like the farmer who sows and wait for the harvest. Invest now for future gains.
2. Be steadfast in the work of the Lord despite the suffering, knowing His purpose and His love.
3. Do not grumble against one another.
4. Be honest and do not try to impress with empty promises - over promising and under deliver. Don't boast.

Brotherhood
As the church - the body of people belonging to Christ, we must be concerned about the affairs of our brothers and sisters. Look for them and minister to their needs accordingly.

1. People who are suffering - encourage them to pray and to pray with them
2. People who are cheerful - encourage them to celebrate and to celebrate with them.
3. People who are sick - pray for them with faith and anointing of oil. Help them to repent and forgive if needed.
4. Sharing each other burdens and keeping each other accountable.
5. Praying for one another - for healing to be whole in spirit, soul and body. How to pray effectively is covered here as well.
1. Righteousness - Elijah was like us. Our righteousness is in Christ. Praying for the right cause and using the right methods.
2. God's will - Elijah knew the will of God. Be sure it is God's will. There are many right things to do. But we must do the right things at the right time in the right way. Let God leads us. See Joh 15:7, Mat 6:7
3. Fervently - Don't give up. Pray till the peace or answer come. See 1 King 18:45 Elijah prayed seven times before the sign of rain was seen.
6. Bring the wanderer back.

Questions for Reflection

1. How should we handle riches?
2. How to live the Christian Life?
3. How should we pray?
4. What are our responsibilities towards brothers?
5. How are we to convert those who err, those who wander away?
6. What is the best thing learned today? How do I put it into practice? 

See Bible Study - James 5 Brotherhood Discussion for the answers. 

BIble Study - James 4 Conduct

Continuing with the earthly wisdom discussed in Chapter 3,  Chapter 4 begins with consequences - the bad conducts....

Bad Conducts

1. Quarrels and fights for selfish gains - ask not or ask wrongly for selfish lusts.
   This verse teaches us God does not say 'yes' to all our prayer requests. God can only answer our requests according to His own character. Hence, if we ask for things that are no good to us or to others, God's answer will be no. God is not our magic charm and can be manipulated by us. We are to change our thinking and will to submit to God to be Christ like.
2. Friendship with the World
   Our values should follow God's and be not for the world. The Spirit of Christ in us will guide us. We have the responsibility of responding to His guidance. We just need to be humble and seek and listen to His voice. The easiest way is to start with reading the Bible and let God speak through the Bible to our heart. We will not be distracted or misled when guided with the Bible. For the matured, with many years of walking with the Lord, the Bible is internalized, and we can recognize who is speaking. But for the beginners, let start with the safer route - start with hearing God from the Bible.
3. Speaking against another.
   In the context, the speaking against, or speaking evil against in some translation, is about gossiping and saying bad things behind others' back. This is opposite of 5:16 where we are told to confess our sin one to another. The word 'judge' should be better translated as "condemn without fair investigations". Most Christians are confused and claimed that the Bible teaches us not to judge. That cannot be so because we are our brothers keeper and we are encouraged to 'save' our brothers from their sins. Without making right judgment, how could be know our brothers are in sins? see 5:19, Gal 6:1, 1John 5:16, see also To Judge or Not to Judge people? That's Irrelevant... for a set of guides to know how to judge rightly.
   
   How does speaking evil of another is being linked up with judging God's laws?
   
   a. Because we are using our own set of standards, rather that God's standards to speak evil of and to condemn another. When we do that, we actually considered our standards better than God's standards.
   
   b. If the standards we use are in fact God's laws, then we are not speaking 'evil' but are 'correcting' the bad behavior. But the way we correct another needs to be done properly, with love.
   
4. Omission is sin!
   5:17 Knowing what is right and failing to do it is sin! This is beyond the Law but within the New Commandment of Love. This is also true humility - see  Humility is Forceful Too

Repent and Change

1. Know that God cares about you - He gives you Grace-Power.
   We will not repent when we loose hope. But when we know someone cares for us and is able to help us, then we will change. That someone is God. God cares and He will give us the grace - the power to change. 
2. Ask God for the Grace Power to Change.
   God give grace to the humble - those who know they can't help themselves and acknowledge the reality, seeking help from the Source of Life. v8 assures us that we draw near to God, He will not reject us and draw near to us.
3. Submit to God - Obey God and Say NO to the Devil or Temptations.
   The Bible assures us that the devil will flee from us. But we must first draw near and obey God.
4. Attitudes for Drawing Near to God
1. Cleaning our hands i.e. repentant heart.
2. Pure - Single Minded i.e. only God not God and some sinful pleasure.
3. Remorseful - Sorry and disgusted with our sins
4. Humility - Admitting that we can't overcome our sinful habits. Ask Him for the grace-power.(Grace is power that God freely give to those who ask for it to do the right things that we could not).
5. Outcome - Victory.
   God will exalt you - vs 4:10

Living in Victory
The key to living in victory is to know the will of God daily. We don't boast about what we want to do and fall back to the devil's trap. Instead, we find out what God want us to do and do it heartily with His grace powering us.

Questions for Reflections

1. What are the bad conduct or sins?
2. What should we do about them?
3. Where is the strength based development? Are we too sin conscious to be stuck in sin all the time?
4. Should we plan since we can't be sure of the future?
5. What is a best idea that you learned? What action can you take to put this idea into practice?

See the discussion of this chapter at Bible Study James Chapter 4 Discussion

Bible Study James Chapter 3 Tame the Tongue

The Criteria for Teachers.
Chapter 3 started with an advise that many should not rush to become teacher. This is because teacher is subjected to stricter standard. Teacher talk more and hence greater opportunity to commit error. The talk has to be measured with the work done else we become a hypocrite. When we talk, we have the tendency to add salt and sauce to spice up our message trying to create an impression. That kind of 'boasting' is lying. Nevertheless, James did not suggest that we should not become a teacher. He is telling us that teachers need stringent criteria. We must choose the mature and those with self-control to become teachers.

The Measure of Maturity - Self Control
v3:2 He who does not stumble with tongue is a perfect man - able to control the whole body. Our tongue, or more accurately, our speech, is probably the best measure of our self-control and maturity. We can easily sin with our tongue by telling lie, gossip, curse, and just exaggerate. Tongue is just the external interface from our inner self. The tongue reveals our inner self. We must carefully listen and reflect on messages coming out of our tongue.

Power of Control - It is not the Size but the Position.
It is the position, the bit of horse, the rudder of ship, the spark at the right place that determine the outcome. We tend to judge thing by the external size rather than identifying the true source that control the whole body. A Chinese proverb says that to catch the robbers you must catch the chief. To control the behavior of a person, we must influence the inner man, expressed through the tongue and hands. This is done through wisdom from above. It is actually not the tongue but the person.

Taming the Tongue - Godly Wisdom
We are the product of what we believe. What we believe comes from what we learned. To have godly conduct then we must have Godly wisdom. It begins with humility - I don't know and I need to learn or to be taught (v13). If pride be the original sin then humility or meekness is the solution. James has a list of what Godly wisdom is like.... pure (single-minded devotion to God), peaceable (reap fruits of righteousness v18), gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, goodness, impartial (fairness), sincere (faithfulness). We can compare it with the list from Paul's fruit of the Spirit. You will find that Paul's list has patience and joy. But joy and patience are covered right up in Chapter 1 - count it all joy when we face trials because they will produce patience and strength.

Worldly Wisdom
Worldly wisdom is also described as earthly, unspiritual and demonic! What are these?

1. selfish ambition
2. jealousy
3. boastful

The outcome will be disorder and vile practices. More details are described in chapter 4.

The common thread that link the above 3 is actually "I", or more specifically, our EGO. We must know how to let it go, from self centeredness to Christ centeredness.

Questions for Reflection

1. What are the qualifications to be teachers of the Word?
2. What are some of measures to know we have self control?
3. How to tame our tongue?
4. How can you judge a wisdom is from above or hell?
5. What is the best idea that you learned? What next action will you do to put this idea into use?

See Bible Study James Chapter 3 Discussion for more details.

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Bible Study - James 2:14-2:24 Work Actualizes the Inner Faith

This short 10 verses causes much controversies.

2:17 faith by itself without work is dead & 2:26 faith apart from works in dead
2:20 faith apart from work is useless.
2:24 a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Faith is something we have on the inside. It cannot be seen by man (only God knows). How can we show others we have faith? How can we know someone else have faith? Our inners self is expressed through our outer body. We show our inner self through our speech and our action.

James spent much time talking about speech (tongue) and action (work). He first pointed out speech without corresponding work is useless, dead, of no effect (no justification). He covered speech extensively in the following chapter 3. But now he want to address work. He is covering his subject backward - first, he talked about trails overcoming good work, then work counts more than speech, and then controlling your speech.

Why are we justified by work and not by faith alone?
Our inner faith is shown through our speech backed by corresponding work. Speaking A and not doing A or doing B instead is a lie and our inner faith is not A but B. Our true self is not expressed by our speech but by our work. Hence, James can conclude that we are justified by our work and not by our faith-alone (or more accurate, our proclaimed faith alone). Our children know this best. They follow what we do rather than what we say! Show me the child and I can tell what the parent truly is like. Our actions speak louder than our words and our work reflect our true self - whether we have the true faith. Our work completes our faith v22. James pointed out that our belief is not good enough. Satan also belief God and shudder. It is what we do to our belief that counts.


Work comes from our True Faith - Our Beliefs
Nevertheless, our work comes from our beliefs and hence we must make sure of our beliefs and guard our hearts.

I will ask some tough questions for your own reflections. Feel free to share your answers with us.

Questions

1. Why are we justified by work and not faith alone? Does it contradict Eph 2:8 we are saved by faith and not of work?
2. How was Abraham justified?
3. How was Rahab justified?
4. Are those who have said the sinners' prayers saved?

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             Next: Bible Study James Chapter 3 Tame the Tongue

Bible Study James 1:1-2:13 Behavior of the Matured

Behavior of Matured Believers
Instead of following chapter by chapter, I think it is better to regroup them into logically linked topic. So we shall cover James 1:1 to James 2:13.

Check#1 How You Handle Trials and Temptations
1. Attitude:
Mature believers faces trials with joy. They welcome trials. What are the kinds of trials that we face? It could be verbal or physical attacks on you to stop you from doing the work that God has called you. They ridicule your hardworkingness like staying late as being stupid because the boss is not watching. Some may even want to stop you from setting the standards. In certain places, they may put you in jail for your sharing of the gospels. For those of us who enjoyed religion freedom, our persecutions tends to be ridicules for our faith. But, have you known the secret of using turning every ridicule into an opportunity for sharing the gospel truth? Sometimes we just keep quiet and response with a smile. Sometimes we bring out truths that they may be shocked. The worse reaction is to attack back which shows that we are no different from them. Your sincerety and integrity in your workplace is a good testimony for Christ. Friends shared that colleagues approach them for help and advices because they can see that they truly caring and have wisdom.

Mature believes welcome trials because trials are like physical training for our body.  Physical training builds stronger muscles. Trials produces steadfastness and make us complete and prepare us to receive the crown of life in future. Paul's version in Rom 5:2 tells us it produces endurance, character and hope and reality of God. Peter's version in 2 Pet 1:5-7 says the testing of our faith brings virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, kindness and love. They are stages of our spiritual growth.

2. Method:
We tend forget about the Christ in us when we faces trials. We try this and that and approach God as a last resort. This should be reversed. The first thing to do is to ask God. Ask God for wisdom and the grace to handle the trials. We must ask in faith. It is ok to have doubts. But we must handle them. Resolved doubts produces stronger faith. Doubt is believe in the opposite of faith. Our faith is not increased by our trying to believe. Bible tells faith is increased with presentation of more envidences -the Word of God. Find the promises of God and stand on them. The worse thing to do is sit on fence and vibrate between faith and doubt. Handle your doubts with prayers, the reading of Bible, and consult your spiritual mentors or just brothers and sisters around you who may be able to present you Godly evidences to remove your doubts and strength your faith.


3. Outcome - by what yardstick?:
We cannot use the worldly standards to judge the outcome. Worldy standards uses money-wealth, popularity-glory as measures of success. By worldly view, Christ's death on the cross is the greatest defeat (that was what Satan thought too). But Christ's death is the greatest victory for men - for the price of our sins was paid in full. James warn us often not to trust in riches and using wealth as a yardstick. Wealth is temporary. Christ tell us to use the temporary wealth to exchange for true lasting tresures in heaven. Don't be enslaved by wealth so as to pursue and hoard them as security, get wealth to use them on building the kindgom of God.

Check#2 Temptations
James is quick to point out temptations are different from trials. Temptation comes from our own desire, not from God. We can partly blame it on the devil who know sour weakness and leads us to sin but we hold the final decision on whether to yield or not. Sin brings bondage and finally death.  Temptations are bad. Only good things come from God. Don't blame God for your sins and failures.  Here is quick comparison.

Check#3 Good Behavior List

• Quick to Hear
• Slow to Speak
• Slow to Anger
• Humble to learn
• Doers of the Words and not hearer only

There is big Know-Do Gap. Most people confused knowing as doing. Minutes are written and the boss thinks that things will be done. Such is an imature boss. Leaders, Elders and Preachers suffer this most. They know so much and hence must do a lot more to consumerate with the knowledge. Hence, James later tell us to rush to be teachers. Talk without corresponding action is a lack of integrity - it is falsehood and hypocrisy. If you get this, it is easy to understand why James later say that faith without work is dead or even stronger - we are justified by our work.

Check#4 Not to Do List - No Excuse Please

• wickedness and filthiness - (we are keep away from worldly standards and practices)
• partiality (different treatment for different class of people)

The Law is indivisible though we can see subset of it. It is like a human being. We have eyes and toes. But cutting away our toes make our incomplete as a human being. Hence, breaking a little law means we break the Law. To justify ourselves, we play the game of size and degree thinking little things does not matter. But a black dot on a white sheet destroy the white sheet. It is no longer truly white. Let not have excuses for us to sin even before we sin! Even though we are not yet perfect, we cannot therefore say the little sin is not sin or is not important. Maturity means taking care of the details too. Christ warned us that he is that is not faithful in little will not be faithful in the large.

Check#5 Accountability
How can we manage our lives? Who is to prevent us from going astray? The key is to have accountability. We are accountable firstly to God for all speech and actions. In Chapter 5, James tell us that we are accountable to one another in Christ. Accountability to God is also being accountable to the authorities in the roles we play in our lives. Husband and wife are accountable to each other. So are bosses and staff, parents and children and between friends too.


Questions for Reflections:

1. What are the differences between trials and temptations? How do we handle them?
2. What are the behavior of mature believers? List the do and don't.
3. What is the meaning of accountability? What are the elements involved?

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Bible Study - Book of James - True Faith is Just Do IT

We started with the book of Ephesians which covered the basic doctrines, the conduct and the overcoming life. A good tagline for Ephesians is Sit-Walk-Stand by Watchman Nee. I think a slight improvement could be "Sit-Walk-Overcome". Ephesians talkes about what should be. The book of Galatians teached what should not. It correct the common error of adding work to the completed work of grace of Christ making Christianity a legalistic religion rather than a vital personal relationship with Christ. We now go on to the study of the book of James. James talk about practical faith. It is about putting our faith in action. Our faith should be reflected in the work we do and not just in our confessions only.


True Faith is manifested in Good Work -Not just Talk only
Some people think that James is preaching justification by faith. This is not correct. James is preaching our inward faith should be shown in outward behaviour. True faith is more than just talk. True faith can be seen in outward behaviour. True faith will manifest itself in the good work done or in Paul's words, bearing out the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Or using Jesus' term, the salt and light.

True faith is Walk your Talk.

Main Teachings

1. Trials bring Growth - Face it with Joy. 1:2-4
2. True Believers are doer, not just hearer of the Words. 1:22. They are quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, learn the Word, help the needy, pure (as unstained by the world), impartial and be accountable to God in speech and action.
3. A person is justified by true faith shown in the work 2:17,24.
4. Self-control starts with and best measured with our tongue - our speech.
5. Godly wisdom starts with devotion to God, and is peaceable, gentle, rational, merciful, bearing good fruits, impartial and faithful (sincere) 3:17
6. Worldly wisdom results in fights caused by passions, jealousy, selfish ambition. 3:14,4:1
7. Believers are transformed by : be humble, ask God for grace, submit to God and resist the devil 4:6-10
8. Believers should help and care for others - change from self-indulgence (pursue of and hoarding of riches) to caring and saving others. James 5.

James' letter has no farewell benedictions. May be that part was lost. But the message is clear - live out your faith - Just do it!

Next:  Bible Study James 1:1-2:13 Behavior of the Matured...

Galatians 6 New Creation Living

This chapter can be divided into the following:

1.   Care for One Another 6:1-6
2.   Sowing & Reaping - Do Good Always 6:7-10
3.   Boast in the Cross not Circumcision - Dead to World & New Life in Christ 6:11-15
4.   Farewell 6:15-18

Care for One Another 6:1-6
We have responsibilities to care for our brothers and be ready to help them in gentleness when they are trapped in sins.

But first, we ourselves, must be spiritual. We must be able to bear our own loads first before we can help carry others loads. Our estimation of ourselves should be based on evidences not self-evaluation, be compared with our own calling, measuring against the goals God set for us, making progress, and not comparing against our neighbors.  When we compare with those neighbor weaker, we will feel proud. When we compare against those better than us, we may be depressed or give up.

Confucius has a teaching on this ...《论语 雍也-29》己欲立而立人，己欲达而达人 - We must be able to stand on our own in order to help others to stand. We must reach our goals so that we can help others reach theirs. Love requires us to be others-centric and not just self-centric.

Paul added another responsibility, which is to support our teachers. Believers frequently ask me who should they give their tithes to? The answer is provided here - give to where you received your teaching and development, usually, it will be your local church.

Sowing & Reaping - Do Good Always 6:7-10
Sometimes I received sharing that they were cheated by certain ones and the ones seem to prosper even more. They have doubts about the working of God - the evil ones seem to get away. Here in Gal 6:7, Paul stresses that God is not mocked and we be not deceived. We will get what we sow. The law of sowing and reaping works for good and evil. Our sins will find or expose us. It is a matter of time. Our good work will bring great rewards. So, continue to do good to everyone, starting from those near us, and not to give up even if the going is tough. Because, it due season, we shall reap the harvests of our good work.


Boast in the Cross not Circumcision - Dead to World & New Life in Christ 6:11-15
Boasting can only be seen in the outward bodily signs. Internal strength is not so obvious. Instead of building up our internal strength, we tend to go for the faster and more obvious signs of doing something with our body so that we can show off. But God is not deceived. Circumcision is of the heart and not of the body. Our boasting is not about accomplishments but about our dead and the life in Christ. In Philippians, Paul said he counted all his past accomplishments as garbage in order to gain Christ.

The key of the Gospel message is repeated here, it not about following a set of rules or work, it is about new life in Christ received by faith. Focusing on the New Life, living in relationship to Christ, will surpass the requirements of the laws.

Farewell 6:15-18
Ephesian tells us salvation is by faith in Christ (Eph 2:8-10). Galatians added faith in Christ only is sufficient. There is nothing else to add. All additions are distortions of the Gospel. Yet, how often we find them in churches.  New life will and must produce the new fruit of the Spirit which Paul had much to show. What about us?

Questions:

1. What are our responsibilities towards others? How to do them?
2. What is the Law of Sowing and Reaping? What should we do then?
3. What is the summary verse for Galatian? What does it mean?

Galatians 5 Freedom & Fruit

We find 3 main ideas in Chapter 5.


1. Freedom in Christ Gal 5:1-10

When we think of man as made up of 3 parts of Spirit, Soul and Body or roughly Heart, Mind and Body, we can understand things better. The circumcision was given by God to the Jews was an outward body sign of their covenant with God. Their will and heart comes first and then the external sign follows. Baptism is the outward testimony of our inward faith in Christ. Without the inward heart, external sign has no true effect. There are people who go through the salvation prayer and baptism in order to marry the Christian girl friends that they like. Subsequently, they broke off and they also left the faith. So Paul said earlier that circumcision should be of the heart and not of the body only.

Christ came to set us free from having to follow the law to gain righteousness (Gal 5:5). If we accept circumcision as the way to salvation instead of Christ's redemptive work, we have to go back to follow all the law and have left the grace of God. The consequence of such act is fatal (eternal death) and Paul in Gal 5:10 said he has confidence that the Galatians has no such intention. They were just confused by others to add unnecessary burden on them.

The key first is Gal 5:6, the thing that count in Christ is "Faith working through love". If we are looking for an outward sign of our salvation, then it is found in "love" out of faith in Christ. John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

2. Love Exceeds the Law Gal 5:13-15
Our freedom is not a license to sin freely but freed to serve and love others freely. With the confidence of our new life in Christ, we can change from being self-centered to others-centered. Those who sin deliberately are condemned Gal 5:21. 5:14 said that the whole law is summarized in one word "love" - loving others as yourself.

3. Spirit vs Flesh Gal 5:16-26
The secret to true life and victory is not about following the law but about living in the Spirit - being led and walking in the Spirit. We have to die to the idea that we can fulfill the demand of the law by ourselves. Because, unless we die to our flesh, the desires of the flesh will cause us to sin. By following the Spirit, we bear the good fruit of the Spirit - the fruit is more than the requirements of the law. We can make a list of comparions about the two fruits - of the flesh and of the Spirit. In v26, Paul pointed out the root cause of our sins - our pride. We need to step down on our throne and let Christ sits on it. Christ has shared His throne with us.

Questions:

1. What does freedom in Christ mean?
2. What does "faith working through love" mean to you?
3. Contrast the Work of Flesh vs Fruit of the Spirit.
4. How should one live ? 

Next -- Galatians 6 New Creation Living

Galatians 4 Sons vs Slaves

This chapter can be divided into 3 main parts.

Sons vs Slaves Gal 4:1-11

We got adopted as sons of God through Jesus Christ who was born under Law at the right time. In the past, we did not know God and were enslaved by false gods and adopted practices such as observing the seasons and times to do certain things. A typical Chinese in the past will consult the "Calendar" to see what could and could not be done on a particular day.

How can we be sure that we are true sons of God? If we can call God, our Father, we have His Spirit and we know we are saved for sure Gal 4:8.

We then don't go back to the past of slavery and should live in the freedom and rights of sons. We note however the exhortation given by Paul in 1Co 6:12  "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything and 1Co 10:23  "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. We don't let our freedom be a stumbling block for the baby in faith yet we should not live our lives by the 'baby' standards. We should help the baby to grow-up as well.

Love Needs Truth Gal 4:12-20

Paul have to bear the risk of becoming the Galatians enemy by telling the truth because of his love for them. Love is not about covering up and letting the person we love continue their lives in illusions and suffering for it. However, telling the truth may incur wrath from the very friend you love. It needs to be done with much wisdom and caring love. What can we learn from Paul in this book of Galatians about correcting the error of the Galatians? We should bear this mind as we study this book and hopefully we can summarize the lessons at the conclusion of this study. So far we learned we need to love them first as Paul did, then show them the truth - define our identity, support it with evidences, get agreement which those in authority(get the consultants in the typical company) and use illustrations (as Son vs Slaves in the next paragraph; as Nathan did with David 2Sa 12:1-7.)

The Two Covenants illustrated in Hagar and Sarah Gal 4:21-30

The Covenant of Law of Performance is illustrated by Hagar the slave woman - we have to perform in order to be accepted. The Covenant of Grace of Promise of God is seen in Sarah. It is received by willing acceptance and not through performance. We are freed from performance to get accepted and we are energized to perform to show God's glory. We are freed from the bondage of sin-nature which performance by the law could not remove. The new nature of God empowers us to excel in life. From performance for acceptance to performance from acceptance. We are saved for good work and not work to be saved.

Questions for Reflection

1. What is the difference between Heir and Slave?
2. What is the difference between the two covenants?
3. What are the responsibilities of being a true friend?

Next Galatians 5 Freedom & Fruit

Ephesians Chatper 5 Walk in the New Life Part 3 Roles in Life - Discussion

Reference: Eph 5:21-6:9

The Hebrew word for Worship and Work is the same word Avodah. 
Our work is our worship to God. Our worship to God is much much more than the singing of worship songs in Sunday services or even attending Sunday Worship services. True worship to God is expressed in the way we lead our lives on earth.

The are three main relationships in our lives where we expressed our worship to God where others could clearly see our true worship. Anyone can act holy and worshipful in Sunday Worship singing. But our spouses, our parents or children, and our bosses or colleagues are the ones that can see our true colors - what God really means to us.

Here Paul clearly lay down the ways of worship to God in our these 3 relationships. Interesting, first 2 relates to family and the third relates to our career or work life. The order is also interesting. You must first have husband and wife, then you have parents and children. After family then comes your career. Chinese has a saying, "成家立业" , we start a family and then build your career. Becoming a parent has a important influence in the way you build your career.

All the relationship principles come under the greater will of God (Eph 5:21 in the fear of God, 5:22, 6:7 as unto the Lord). So a wife need not submit to her husband's command to do things against the will of God. However, a wife cannot use the husband failure in one area, e.g getting drunk, and not fulfill her duty like cooking a dinner for him. Under abuse, the wife has the right to report the police and seek protection. Nevertheless, it is important that the wife must help her husband to make wise decisions, giving him the possible scenarios and factors that her husband did not consider. A wise wife respects and help build her husband to be a confident and successful decision maker.

The key tag-lines for the relationships are:

• wife respects and husband loves.
  All doing their part concurrently. It is 100% covenant. Each part do 100% irrespective of whether the other does his/her part.
  2Ti 2:13  if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself. 
• children honor and parent nurture.
  Children honor their parents by being obedient and respectful. Parent nurture by guiding and helping their children to make wise decisions - internalizing the values of God. Parent provoke children by forcing them do their parent's will against the theirs without explaining and gaining their children understanding of the parent's will. The parent must be able get the child willing submission, at least, if the child could not understand fully, has the trust in his/her parent decision that it is good for him/her.
• employees and bosses serves one another with their hearts.
  Employees works from the hearts as unto Christ. Bosses lead by serving them as unto the Christ too. Leader leads for the goodness of the body. Followers obeyed willingly for the interests of the body. Leaders take the initiatives to resolve problems of insubmissiveness by extending his service. This servant leadership is explained well by Jesus in the gospels.

Galatians 3 Faith in Christ Alone - Not works of Law

Back to the Beginning 3:1-5
When we have lost our ways or are confused, we should go back to beginning or the starting point. We need to recall our original mission and purpose. In the business of daily activities, a life without constant reflection, we will be slowly led away from our original mission. Here Paul reminded the Galatians to reflect on their initial experience. How have they receive the Spirit and the Miracles? It was simply by faith and not of work to earn them. As typical error of Christians is to trying to live the life of sanctification by our own effort and then complaining that it is too difficult. It is pointed out in Gal 3:3. Grace is for our salvation and our sanctification. If we could have sanctification by our own effort, i.e. righteousness by work of the laws, we would not have needed Jesus Christ.

Example of Abraham-Man of Faith 3:6-9
Abraham is used as the example, since they all claimed to be children of Abraham, of righteousness through faith alone. All by faith, not of works, are true spiritual children of Abraham and receive his blessings.


The Just Shall Live by Faith in Christ 3:10-14
The key verse is Gal 3:10 "The righteous shall live by faith" in Jesus Christ who redeemed us from the curse of the law 3:13.

Promise before Law 3:15-21
The promise of faith that came before the Law is not nullified by the Law.  The Offspring that will bring the blessing is Jesus Christ. What is the promise? It is the promised Spirit v14, leading to new life v21 and righteousness v21.

Purpose of Law - As Guardian 3:22-25
The Law is given as guardian and has an expiry period - it expired when Christ came. With our new birth by the Spirit in Christ, we don't follow the law but follow the Spirit that is within us. 

Faith Come Already - All Under Christ 3:26-29
We are always tempted, as believers, to add additional touches to the master painting completed by Christ, to make it more beautiful. Such additional touches by us do not add beauty, for it is already perfected by Christ, but create distortion and ugliness. It amazed me that believers go through great length to argue about the right bread and wine for the Holy Communion. We try to get physical to show off. But God want us to be of the heart. Do we need to follow the law anymore? No and Yes. No because Christ has fulfilled the requirements of the Law for us and make us righteous. Yes, in the spirit of the Law, because that is perfectly naturally for our rebirth spirit. Our rebirth spirit is a righteous spirit and will lead us to things naturally that surpass the requirements of the Law. The Law becomes a minimum checklist for us. The love of Christ that is in us will exceeds the requirement of the laws. To love or simply to forgive is not even stated in the Law. But if we bear bitterness in our heart, then we know we have not allow the love of Christ to fill us completely yet. Seek Christ for the power to forgive.

Questions for Reflections

1. When we have lost our ways, what is a good advice to follow?
2. Which comes first, promise or law?
3. What is the promise? 
4. What is the purpose of the Law? Do we still need to follow the Law?
   Will following Jewish practices make you a better Christian?  DIscuss. 

Next Galatians 4 Sons vs Slaves

Galatians 2 Validation of Paul's Gospel

2nd Validation Gal 2:1-10
I am not sure the reference starting point of the 'after 14 years' - was it from Paul's conversion or after the 3 year in Arabia. Nevertheless, it was a long time. Because of the proximity of verses, we tend to read Bible events as if they happen instantly or quickly. We need to remind ourselves that events may take place over a long time. The waiting period for God to answer us may be over years rather than days. Pual had been preaching the gospels for 14 years. He did not see the need for the 2nd validation until God told him.

Paul pointed out a few things about the authenticity of his gospels:

1. the Jerusalem leaders added nothing.
2. Titus a Greek was not asked to be circumcised proving there is no need for circumcision for salvation.
3. the Jerusalem leaders endorsed Paul's mission to the non-Jews. (with Barnabas 2:9)
4. It is the same God that worked through Peter and Paul (2:8)

The Open Correction 2:11-14
Paul openly corrected Peter's hypocrisy. There is no issue with pointing out the error. But there are issues raised about the manner of correction.  Perhaps Paul should do it with more love and do it in private. See A Good Teacher, Paul & Peter. Did Paul do the right thing here? Who else are being corrected as well? If we are committed to friend we will defend him. Truth that is distorted just a little bit will not be the truth. Hence Paul took much effort in defending, not yielding to error, that resulted in him suffering much persecutions. At present, in the name of peace and unity (it is more uniformity than true unity) we are pressured or asked to conform and compromise. That is not the way of Paul. True unity is actually unity of differences in harmonious interactions. We can respect others viewpoints but we cannot compromise our own viewpoints.

Justification by Faith & Not By Work of  the Law 2:15-19
We are justified by believing in Jesus Christ and not by work of the law ( repeated 3 times in v16!). Then the typcial question arises - If it is not by work, then how can we stop people from sinning? May be we should ask the other way round. Has knowing the laws stop people from sinning? The answer is obvous - we know the laws and yet we still break it. Knowing the laws has not much impact in stopping us from breaking it. Paul said it well in v19, we just have to give up the idea of following the laws will make us ok. There should be another way, the way of God's empowerment. We die to the idea of trying to live by laws but instead to live by the grace of God. Paul gives the secret of victorious living in v20.

The Right Christian Living 2:20-21

This is the key verse of the book. It should be broken down and studied. Here is mind map.

Questions

1. What was the outcome of Paul's Jerusalme visit?
2. How should we defend the gospel?
3. Is grace not a license to sin? Explain.
4. What is the key for right Christian living?

Next Galatians 3 Faith in Christ Alone - Not works of L...

Ephesians Chatper 4 & 5 Walk in the New Life Part 2 Discussion

Eph 4:17 – Eph 5:20 Christian Living – Self & Community

Pam classified the verses into two groups - one set is for self and one set for living in the community.

We are reminded first in Eph 4:1 to live worthy of our calling. Here are additional points in our discussion.

1. To live in the fullness and reality of what Jesus had purchased for us.
2. Difference between grieving vs filling by the Holy Spirit. Persisting in sins is grieving and following God's will is in filling of the Holy Spirit.
3. 7 deadly sins is used as a check list. It missed out the sins of omissions - things that we should do but did not.  We also know sins such as lying are secondary manifestation of primary sin. People lies to protect or to get something. We need to find out the true reason behind so that we can fix the root of the problem.
4. Another checklist is 3G –Glory, Gold, Girls, 1John2:15-16 not love the world, or things of the world: lust of the flesh(Girls), lust of the eyes(Gold - Seeing and Wanting. Envy), pride of life(Glory). (we will discuss these in details  in our future study in 1John).
5. Best is living in intimacy with Christ - to know Jesus more - who is the truth. Jesus  will lead us and let us know His will so that we can redeem our times, living life with a purpose to fulfill our calling.
6. Sometimes to put off the sins and evils in our reflections, but mostly to put on. It is easier to put on - know the will of God, focus on the right and we will not be detracted and tempted by the evils.
7. We are to expose the evil works.  When handling people, follow Eph 4:15 speaking the truth in love.