Bible Study 5-30-13 Galatians 2

I suppose this was a quick scripture to remind us to be who we are. If we're in Christ, let Him shine through. In Galatians 2, Paul is recapping his memoirs of who he was, and how he came to be. At the time this letter was written, Paul had no concern with anyone else's status, be they Jew or Greek. He was who he was, and Christ had compelled him to preach the unadulterated gospel. It made no never mind that "leaders" sent false brethren to spy out their freedom. He was who he was, and encouraged the folks at Galatia to be the same. He reminded them that he even had to call Peter out on his hypocrisy--eating with the Gentiles until the Jewish leaders came onto the scene. 

Why did Paul care about Peter's testimony? Apparently, it wasn't just Peter being affected that was the problem. This little hypocritical act of Peter's not only messed himself up, he had led Barnabas astray as well. In fact, several other Jews got on the bandwagon against the Gentiles--when the leaders came in. 

What about us? Are we more cautious, or allow the opinions of others to persuade us into doing things not quite right? Do we succumb to peer pressure?Do we give in to religious bullying? 

This particular mindset gives me courage to stand up to church bullies or religious bullies. Although I won't engage in an argument, and argue doctrine with religious leaders who feel they have the corner market on the gospel, I don't want to be one of the ones that deny the Holy Spirit that lives within me, just to avoid conflict. 

We were once told that if we find ourselves going through a particularly unpleasant circumstance, where our faith in God is called into question, hang in there, God will give us grace for that moment. There is grace for every need. However, until that time comes... just relax. 

Bible Study 5-23-13 Galatians 1

Having finished up the New Covenant Bible Study put out by the ministry formerly known as People to People (Now called BasicGospel), G decided to take us back through the book of Galatians. We've all read it before. One thing we all agree on, is that no matter how many times we read certain scriptures in the Bible, God never fails to instill some little tidbit that we'd not seen before. 

One such incident was Paul saying that if we listen to some other gospel other than what he's preached, then it's no gospel at all. A passage we'd read many times before, but as I sat and contemplated this, I thought how subtle some of these "different gospels" are. Of course we can roll our eyes at the obviously false doctrines, but what about those who are "almost" right? Sadly, we have these in our denominations today when it comes to being made righteous, and a big one--that concerning forgiveness and eternal life. 

Salvation by reciting the sinner's prayer? Baptism? Eucharist? Good works? Speaking in tongues? Most every assembly will be quick to claim the verse, "By grace are you saved and not of yourselves" and nod with their competitors in agreement. Then the "but" comes in. 

• "But you also have to pray and ask God..."
• "But you also need to be baptized in order to..."
• "But you actually receive Christ through the Eucharist..."
• "If you don't speak in tongues, you're not really saved...."

On and on it goes. Not only does it cause strife among the people who call themselves Christians, it winds up being just a bit different than the gospel Paul and the other Apostles preached. Just a bit different, not too much. 

But what did Paul say?

 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!   

Not even the least little bit would he allow the gospel to be changed.
What about us? Do we allow our ears to be tickled by the gospel + our denominational persuasion? 

Bible Study 5.5.13. Living Out Our Identity

Tonight's scripture all revolved around our identity in Christ. What makes a Christian a Christian? Is being good, good enough to be called a Christian? Perhaps going to church or giving monies to charities? Exactly what differentiates a Christian from a Protestant or catholic?

We become Christians when we put our trust in Christ's finished work. When that happens, several things take place:

1. We pass from death to life.
2. We are conformed in Christ's image.
3. We now have permission to call God Abba, Father.
4. We have a new name "God's children"
5. We become part of the Body of Christ.

There was much discussion on who we are, and how our lives reflect that. Give a listen!

Bible Study 425-13

So, I only thought last week was to be my last vlog for a while. (vlog??) Things worked out where I am able to post a bit.

Tonight was just effervescent. We started off talking about the plum line for righteousness was perfection. Verse after verse was read about how people were to be perfect in bringing their sacrifices  and if the weren't, they were to be cut off from their people. Nothing less than perfection would do. Since none could obtain perfection through works, mankind was a lost hope, right?

Maybe not.

Back in the day,  a person could still obtain God's forgiveness by bringing a sacrifices. The priest could attend his duties, and for a short while, the said person would be absolved. This was all under the Law, though. We talked about now how that we're not under the Law; Jesus freed from it, and therefore it has no hold on us.

We spoke of how easy it is to not do the 'big' sins... well, for the "average Joe", and we could easily  name the "nasty nine" and "Dirty dozen", but what about when God says, "do", and we "don't'? What then?

Good discussion about how discouraging some groups of believers could be. It was said that if all we hear from the pulpit was how bad we are, and how we need to get our act together, and how we need to try  harder, what's the use? If we're also told we can't do it, why try? Why does it matter?


Salvation was compared to the new wine skin. How new wine isn't poured into old skins, otherwise, the new wine would case the old skin to burst, and both wine and bag would be lost. New wine still has some fermenting to do. Salvation, (new wine) is just the start of this wonderful journey in our relationship with God. We "ferment" when we grow in God. Heather admitted she had an awful lot of fermenting to do. I agreed with her.

Have a listen if you can--long, but fun!

Bible Studies 4-18-13

This was a wonderful study, and lively discussion. This will also be the last Thursday Night Bible Study I'll be uploading for a while. Time is in scarcity for a bit, and there's none left to devote to these uploads or blogs. 

However, I do hope you'll give this a listen to. 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

What about the people who are unable to speak aloud? Stroke victims? Deaf? Mute? What say you?

Bible Study 4-11-13

Tonight was rather long, but enjoyable. It was good to have my niece with us. We talked about the reason that the crucifixion was necessary, and exactly how did this sin thing come about?
Lively discussion as to whether or not Eve was present when God gave the commandment to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We know God said don't eat it, but did He really say don't touch it? Does it matter? Take a listen and see for yourself..

Bible Study 4-4-13

The theme around this study was the validity of the Bible. How can we trust it to be true? Can we really depend on the contents between the covers to be accurate? True?
It was brought up that, without the Holy Spirit, the Bible is just going to be another book to study on an academic level.

Personally, through my years of studying and living, I've realized that as a young girl, I worshipped "The Bible", without realizing it. While I do appreciate the Bible, it's with God that I need to rest my dependency on. The Apostle Peter reminds us that although we ourselves are but temporal, the word of God endures forever.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God. 

God's word is eternal, without beginning or end, but this book we call "The Bible" is not.
The prophets wrote down what God told them to wrote down, and it was accurate. In the New Testament, some of the apostles that were close to Jesus wrote down their account, their diary, if you will, of what life was like with Jesus. After His ascension, the Apostles wrote letters, not necessarily to us, but for the new converts of the day. I wonder if Paul, Peter, John, and the others had a clue that the letters they wrote to the different people, would wind up in a collection of readings we call "The Bible"? Sure, they said, "Go spread the gospel," but did  they realize their written words would be used as a tool to know of this Gospel that saves?

Interesting ponderings.