Monthly Archives: December 2022

Daily Bible Study

December 12, 2022 Bible Study — Those Who Refuse To Believe The Truth Embrace Wickedness

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Thessalonians 1-3.

In his second letter to the Thessalonian Believers, Paul begins by refuting the claim that Jesus had already returned.  Paul makes clear that there will be no doubt when Jesus has returned.  It will be clear to everyone.  Further, he writes that Christ’s return will be preceded by the rise of “the man of lawlessness”.  When I read what Paul writes here I go back and forth between believing that when Paul refers to “the man of lawlessness” that he is referring to a singular individual, or to society becoming lawless in its entirety.  In any case, Paul tells us that God will allow “the man of lawlessness” to spread delusion to those who choose to embrace wickedness rather than believe God’s truth.  If you look around at the people you know you can see how those who refuse the truth of the Gospel instead easily believe lies, often because they wish to embrace wickedness in one form or another.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 11, 2022 Bible Study — Those Who Follow Christ Should Not Fear Death

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Thessalonians 1-5.

In his letter to the Thessalonian Believers, Paul repeats his warning against sexual immorality, and contrasts it with living a holy and honorable life.  He, also, connects it once again with taking advantage of others.  As he transitions to other topics Paul contrasts sex outside of marriage with loving others.  Paul directly contradicts the idea in our society that having sex with someone other than your spouse is an act of love.  Paul emphasizes that one aspect of loving others is minding your own business and having a productive job.  We should live our daily lives in a way which generates respect from those who are not Believers and avoid, as much as possible, being dependent on others.

Paul then goes on to what I believe is the main point of his letter.  He encourages his readers not to grieve over the death of their loved ones who are Believers.  We need not grieve because we know that God will raise those who have died in Christ, just as He raised Christ.  We have God’s promise that He will do this when Christ returns.  Further, those of us who have not yet died will be transformed into heavenly beings and live with Christ for eternity.  Aware that his reference to Christ’s return will cause some to attempt to determine when that will occur, Paul tells us that the time will come like a thief in the night, echoing Jesus’ statement that no one knows the day or the hour.  Nevertheless, those of us who are Believers should be prepared for it when it comes.  We should live our lives as if Jesus will return at any moment, because He indeed might.  As my father used to say, we should live our lives as if this day will be our last, but prepare for the future as if we will live indefinitely.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 10, 2022 Bible Study — Do Not Treat Others As Objects, Or Objects As More Important Than Others

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Colossians 1-4.

I have always struggled to explain Paul’s advice to not to be bound by rules with his condemnation of sexual immorality and greed.  I understood his point but found it hard to explain the difference between the rules we should not let bind us and the “rules” which should bind us.  I realized today that the rules Paul tells us to ignore are about items, what we eat or drink, following specific rituals, taking certain actions on specific days.  While the “rules” he tells us to follow are about how we treat, or think about, other people.  Sexual immorality involves treating other people as no more than objects to satisfy our desires.  Greed involves treating objects as having more importance than others.  Anger, malice, slander, and lies involve believing that others are less important than ourselves and our desires.  Foul language makes us feel that our anger and rage are justified.  Instead of those we should act with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  All of these can be summed up, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, as love.  As I noted yesterday, if we make the effort to be thankful for the good we have received we will find it ever easier to do as Paul writes.  That is, the more we remember to be thankful for the undeserved grace which we have received from God the easier it will be to patiently, humbly, treat others with compassion and kindness.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 9, 2022 Bible Study — Rejoice In The Lord Always

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Philippians 1-4.

Everything Paul writes in his letter to the Church in Philippi can be summed up by three things: be humble, don’t worry, and rejoice.  Paul starts out by rejoicing that he is imprisoned, because his imprisonment has inspired others to proclaim the Gospel without fear.  Some of them did so out of envy of, and rivalry with, Paul, but for Paul that doesn’t matter.  All that matters to Paul, and all that should matter to us, is that Christ is preached.  Further, Paul was under significant threat of being executed at that time (and we know that he was executed not long after this letter was written).  Yet even that was cause for him to rejoice.  On the one hand, he might be delivered to go on living and doing the work which God gave him.  On the other hand, he might die, in which case he would be with Christ, which would be even better.  Both possible outcomes were sources of joy for Paul.

Paul then turns his attention to his readers and writes that they (and we) should value others above ourselves and look out for the interests of others against their own (our own).  We should not grumble or complain about what we do, nor do anything for our own glory or honor.  Whatever we have attained in this world, let us release so that we can fully embrace Christ.  Paul writes that we should not be anxious about anything, rather we should present everything to God in prayer.  He even gives us a hint about how we can pray so as not be anxious.  If we give thanks to God about what He has already done for us while we are praying about our currently perceived problems, we will be less likely to worry about the troubles we currently face.  In addition, Paul writes that if we focus on the positive things around us, we will find ourselves too busy rejoicing to worry.

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I love that list of things we should be thinking about.  If we fill our minds with such things, we will not have time to think about that which might lead us to worry, and we will find ourselves rejoicing.  Let us learn, as Paul did, to be content with what we have, whether little or much.  When times are bad, let us rejoice because God has seen fit to allow us to suffer a little bit like Christ did.  And when times are good, let us rejoice because God has given us that which we can share with others.

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 8, 2022 Bible Study — Humbly Putting On The Armor Of God

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ephesians 4-6.

At the end of his letter to the Church in Ephesus Paul writes that we should put on the full armor of God.  He describes that as the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, fitting our feet with the readiness which comes from the gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith, wearing the helmet of salvation, and wielding the sword of the Spirit.  All of that is a good summation of how we can be prepared for battle against the spiritual rulers, powers, and authorities of this dark world.  However, I think truly understanding that armor requires us to look at Paul’s instructions from earlier in today’s passage.  We learn the readiness of which Paul wrote by being humble, gentle, and patient.  We truly wear the belt of truth when we speak the truth, and not just any truth, but that truth which is helpful in building up others.  We should never use the truth as an excuse to hurt others (NOTE: sometimes truth which others need to hear in order to become better people hurts, but sometimes we tell ourselves we are telling the hurtful truth because we are trying to help, but we really just want to hurt the other person).  We cannot put on the helmet of salvation until we get rid of bitterness, rage, brawling, slander, and every other form of malice.  Finally, we must put aside all sexual immorality, greed, and idolatry in order to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 7, 2022 Bible Study — Reconciled To God, And Through Him, To All Other People

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ephesians 1-3.

Paul writes here that we are saved by grace, through faith.  But, that faith is a gift from God as well, so we cannot even boast to be better than others because of our faith.  Paul emphasizes that we are not saved by works, we are not saved by doing good.  Our salvation is entirely a gift from God, our actions have no impact on that salvation.  However, Paul’s next sentence puts an interesting twist on this.  God has given us these gifts in order that we might do good works, works which God prepared in advance for us to do.  As a result of Paul’s teaching about salvation by grace, many people think that we have no reason to do good.  So, Paul writes that we are not saved because of the good works we do, or anything else we have done or will do, but that our salvation results in us doing good works.

Paul points out that before our salvation, before our adoption as children of God, we were divided up into various groups and tribes in conflict with each other.  However, God reconciled us to Himself, and, through that reconciliation to God, to each other.  No longer are we strangers, foreigners, or enemies of anyone who has also accepted God’s gift to be adopted into His Family.  Rather, we are citizens together with them of the Kingdom of God.  I find an interesting corollary to this.  Since our citizenship in the Kingdom of God did not result from anything we did, or anything we were, we should not view anyone as a foreigner, stranger, or enemy, because how can we know that God will not extend His gift of adoption to them through gifting them with faith in Him at some point in the future, if He has not done so already?  Anyone we meet and/or interact with may be, or may soon become, a piece in the building of God’s Holy Temple, no matter how they act, or what they look like.  Let us be reconciled to all others, even if they refuse to be reconciled to us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 6, 2022 Bible Study — Let Us Not Become Conceited

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Galatians 1-6.

Here, in his letter to the Galatian Believers, Paul warns against following teachers who fail to preach Christ crucified.  Paul writes that we have been freed from the Law of Moses by putting our faith in Christ.  He tells us that we have been freed from the Law by putting our faith in Christ.  We should not allow ourselves to be enslaved once more.  However, our freedom does not mean that we should allow ourselves to be caught up once more in doing sinful things.  Our faith has allowed the Spirit to live within us, so we should live within the Spirit and according to the Spirit.  We should not gratify our fleshly desires by partaking in sinful actions such as sexual immorality, selfish ambition, factions and envy, and the other sins Paul lists here.  Instead, we should follow the Spirit and serve our fellow Believers with humility.  As I read this, it seems that the preachers against whom Paul was writing suggested that it was okay for one to indulge in the fleshly desires Paul described here as long as one followed the rituals of the Law of Moses (such as getting circumcised).  I am going to finish with a few verses from this passage which I find inspiring:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 5, 2022 Bible Study

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Corinthians 9-13.

Today’s passage begins with Paul reminding the Corinthian Believers about the importance of giving generously to help those in need.  He tells us that we should give only what we willingly and happily desire to give, not out of a feeling of obligation.  He then writes that God will reward us according to how we give: if we give sparingly, we will be rewarded sparingly, if we give generously, we will be rewarded generously.  Further, the more we do for others, the more we will be able to do for others.

Having written that, I want to focus on Paul’s warning against being sucked in by those preachers who distort the Gospel message in order to benefit themselves.  In fact, some of those he is writing about take his very comments about God rewarding us for generous giving to make change the Gospel to be about material wealth.  Let us test the message of exciting preachers against Scripture; does the message they preach align with the message given us in Scripture?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 4, 2022 Daily Bible Study — Now Is The Day Of Salvation

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Corinthians 5-8.

Today’s passage begins with Paul continuing where he left off in yesterday’s passage.  Today he discusses how our earthly bodies are designed as temporary homes, tents, but that we will be resurrected into heavenly bodies which will be designed to be permanent, houses, if you will.  In our current bodies we are, to a degree, separated from God.  That separation comes about because of sin, but Christ died on the cross in order for us to be united with God, to be reconciled with Him.  We are separated from God because we did wrong, nevertheless, God took the action to be reconciled with us.  God has offered to make us anew if we are willing to be reconciled to Him.  This letter represents Paul’s attempt to do the same with the Believers in Corinth.  He writes that he regrets that he hurt them by his previous letter, but that he does not regret what he wrote because it lead them to repent from their sins.  Paul writes that he bears them no ill-will about the incident which led him to write that letter and asks that they hold a similar feeling towards him, and towards those involved in that incident.  Paul tells them, and us, that now is the time to be reconciled to God, and to each other.  It is not something we should put off for another day.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 3, 2022 Bible Study — Do Not Allow Our Emotions To Overcome Our Reason

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Corinthians 1-4.

When Paul writes about his planned visit to Corinth, he explains why he chose not to make that visit.  Apparently, he had heard about members of the Church in Corinth using the man who was sleeping with his stepmother as an example of how tolerant and loving they were and this infuriated Paul.  As I understand what he writes here, he was afraid that if he visited them he would say the wrong things to the wrong people.  He was afraid that he would speak with anger to people with whom he was not angry, hurting their feelings and creating a rift between him and them.  Which teaches an important lesson about not allowing our emotions to overcome our reason when dealing with others.  Closely related to that, Paul has apparently heard news indicating that the man at the root of the problem has turned from his sin and instructs the Church in Corinth to forgive him and bring him back into fellowship, another important lesson for us.

Paul transitions to speaking about the source of his confidence.  His confidence does not come from his belief that he had particular talent.  Rather, Paul’s confidence came from his trust in God.  Paul did not believe that he had any competence in and of himself to accomplish God’s will or to spread God’s word.  He believed that God would use him to accomplish God’s purposes and he believed that we should share his confidence.  And if we put our confidence in God we will not use any sort of deception or lies in an attempt to promote the Gospel.  In fact,  we should recognize that everything we do should be done in service to God, and that our ability to serve God only comes from God working within us, not from any skill or ability for which we can take credit.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.