FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!
Category Archives: bible study
THE GIFT OF GOD
But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. — Romans 5: 15-21
Even though there is chaos, confusion and anarchy rampant in our nation today, Jesus Christ, by His grace is ready and willing to give you His free gift of eternal life!
HOLY SPIRIT COMFORT US!
Understanding the Holy Spirit seems to be a lost art today. The Holy Spirit is mentioned in hundreds of scriptures and accomplishes many things but seems to hold “hind seat”, if you will, to Jesus and the Father, yet is fully part of the triune God. I can’t count the number of people I have met in the Church who shy away from getting too involved with the Holy Spirit. He has kind of gotten a bad reputation because the Holy Spirit is associated speaking in tongues, something many Christians don’t understand. There are certain sects of people who believe that you need to speak in tongues and handle poisonous snakes to be saved; all being associated with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, many Christians don’t get involved with the Holy Spirit not wanting to be thought of in that way.
But just how important is the Holy Spirit?
No matter how much you may shun the Holy Spirit, if you are a child of God, you always have Him in you!
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Jesus let the Pharisees know in no uncertain terms how important the Holy Spirit was when they were very near blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Mark 3:28-29 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” —
God is love and He sent His Holy Spirit to give us the same love. Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
We all need the Holy Spirit. He does all kinds of things for us every day. He gives us understanding of God’s Word. He prays for us about things we don’t even know about. He reveals knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. He is the one who comforts us when we are persecuted. He is the power of our faith! We need Him very much!
I pray that the Holy Spirit will comfort you! Amen!
BE AN OVERCOMER
Be an OVERCOMER, don’t join the deceived group! James 4
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Even though there is chaos, confusion and anarchy rampant in our nation today, Jesus Christ, by His grace is ready and willing to give you His free gift of eternal life!
ALL SLAVERY IS NOT BAD!
Today slavery is a very hot topic amongst the BLM (Black Lives Matter). The BLM is protesting slavery and anything or anybody connected with owning slaves. In the United States slavery was abolished in 1862.
“The Emancipation Proclamation, or Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, during the Civil War.” Wikipedia
The first time slavery is mentioned in the Bible the whole nation of Israel were slaves of Egypt. (Leviticus 26:13)There are still all kinds of slaves in the world today. Human trafficking is the worst of the lot!
Even in the true Churches of God today there is slavery!
What does Jesus have to say about this slavery? First we must realize how slavery in the Church came about. Jesus first teaches us that we are baptized into the body of Christ (the Church)!
Romans 6:3-5 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.
When Jesus died on the cross He conquered death and death does not have power over the body of Christ (the Church). Jesus shed His blood so that all the worlds’ sins are forgiven past present and future. Those who have repented and surrendered to Christ and confessed that they are sinners and receive the free gift of grace from Him are no longer under bondage or shackled in slavery to sin but have eternal life.
Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9-10 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
God created man for a very high calling to be His children forever. Wouldn’t you rather want to receive the free gift of Jesus Christ than to be burned in Hell? Get on your knees now and ask Jesus to come into our life and if you are really sincere He will give you the gift of eternal life!
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE BY THE APOSTLE PAUL
The basic scriptures above are taught by just about all Christian Churches. This is the one common tie between all of the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul thought it was necessary to go over these scriptures to affirm that the Corinthian Church thoroughly and correctly understood the Gospel message. It does us good to study and reflect upon Christ’s Gospel so we will also stay on the right course and not let anyone miss lead us by teaching a different gospel. Blessed be the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who with His own body established the Gospel!
GODS TWO COVENANTS
This is an intense bible study and will require prayer and much study to understand all of the spiritual content however it is a condensed version of this incredible study. Most church people I ask about the covenants don’t really know much about them and how important they are to our spiritual lives and the impact it has on Christian teachings especially the Lords Supper where it was all changed by Jesus on that fateful night of the last Passover.
Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Wow! What a statement! His Spirit is in my inner man, in me? What does this mean? Am I two people? What is God saying?
This is a reminder that we must understand the two covenants. This is the least understood subject in the Church today and it is imperative that we take a brief study of the covenants to learn how the change came about.
About the Covenants
Hebrews 9:8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle (A shadow of our corruptible body) was still standing.
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (The inner man, 1 Cor.12:27), that is, not of this creation.
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant (Forgiveness of our sins), that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Hebrews 10:9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
We are not under the Law of Moses, not even the Ten Commandments! We are under the Spiritual New Covenant Laws of Jesus Christ as enlarged upon in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’
22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.
Matthew5: 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Under the Old Law you literally had to commit the offense to be guilty, but under the New Covenant Laws of Christ if you harbor the offense in the heart you are guilty.
10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
The Spiritual laws of Jesus Christ as referenced in the Sermon on the Mount.
17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Jesus shed His blood for the remission of all sins, past, present, and future. Jesus took all sins to the grave and buried them there forever.
18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
This is where the covenants changed from the Levitical priesthood of the tribe of Levi to the Judean priesthood of the tribe of Judah with Christ as the High Priest.
Hebrews 7:11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies: ” You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus who is our high priest today rebuilds us into a holy spiritual body.
Once we have received Christ into our lives and have eternal life, we have entered into the body of Christ. There was never anything like this ever mentioned by Moses in the Law. They would think it blasphemous to say we have a holy body like God. That’s why it is necessary to know about the two covenants. Now we can return to learning how we are spiritual
1 Corinthians12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
It is staggering to learn that we are of such importance to God that He would make us Holy as He is holy. The Apostle Paul says he labors in birth until Christ is formed in us. (Gal.4:19) The Apostle Peter said that we are living stones used to build a spiritual house and holy priesthood. (1Peter 2:5) The Apostle Paul tells us to accept to being conformed to the new body the perfect man formed in us by God.
Ephesians 1:24 and that you put on the new man(The inner man) which was created according to God,
We are a spiritual construction job built on an everlasting foundation powerfully anchored by Christ and built of perfect building blocks of eternal strength fitted together to form a Spiritual structure for the holy habitation of our God and Father. We are the building blocks and Christ is the builder and we will be the dwelling of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. In the Kingdom of God there is no temple, for God and the Lamb are the temple and we are the body of the Lamb. (Rev. 21:22)
Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
I pray that god blesses the understanding of those who read this bible study as it may be the most important study in these times that make it more clear what happened the night that Jesus kept the last passover and changed the elements and instituted the Lord’s Supper. Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Amen!
BUILDING STONES FOR CHRIST
Have you become petrified or, are you a living, building stone for Christ?
Christians are all part of the body of Christ and have an important role to play in God’s plan. Ask Jesus everyday what He wants you to do? Seek His guidance in everything. Be a useful stone in the building of the Church. Even in the wilderness the Israelites relied on a Spiritual Rock.
1 Cor. 10:3-5 All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. FOR THEY DRANK OF THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM, AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST!
When Christ started His ministry and began building His Church, He selected twelve apostles to train in building His Church. Jesus chose Peter as the chief apostle and rock of the Church to start His building!
Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.
The Church has grown in two thousand years to about two billion Christians on the earth. It is still growing as you the building stones of the Church are spreading the gospel of salvation to reach the lost of the world.
Again I ask are you petrified or are you a living stone for Christ? Are you using your life to reach others who are lost? Are you planting and watering so God can give the increase? That is what He commands!
1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
Ephesians 2:20 Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. Thess. 1: 6 You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, WITH JOY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Be moved by the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit dwells in you! Let Him use you as a fruitful building stone for Christ.
MYSTERY OF MAN’S PURPOSE
God made a time for everything! Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
From the beginning to the end! WOW! The historical lifetime of man is extremely short compared to the lifetime of God! Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
God has a great and Holy Plan by which He created the heavens and the earth and created man to inhabit the earth. So the age old question that has been asked: “What is man and what is his purpose?” The purpose is a great mystery that is now revealed by the Holy Spirit to those in Christ! God created man for an extremely high and holy purpose, but He left it to man to decide whether he wanted to partake of His glory. So what has man done with the earth he has inherited? He has just about totally polluted it. The earth, air, water, sound, etc. you name it and man has tainted and contaminated it. Man’s understanding of things from above is polluted and perverted as well. God wants to share His glory with those who choose to do so through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE AND UNDEFILED and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus changes everything by making anyone who chooses Christ and is born again into new life an INHERITOR of the Kingdom of God. They will receive a new body, name, residence, job, eternal life, a great reward, is a king and priest, sharing the glory and throne of God!
HOW MUCH GREATER CAN A PURPOSE BE?
HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR BAPTISM?
Have you ever observed someone being baptized and heard the pastor make a statement that baptism is not important and that you are not saved by baptism that it is only a symbol of publicly receiving Christ as your Savior? I have and I always wondered why they felt that they had to tell everyone this every time they baptized someone as if they might do something wrong if they didn’t. I have thought on this subject many times and have always wondered about it!
The bible teaches that there are certain important major Church doctrines that we ought to obey. In the book of Hebrews God very thoroughly explains to us what the “new covenant” is all about. The church of God is no longer under the old covenant after the order of the Levitical Priesthood as given to Israel by Moses. We are now under the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek! Our high priest is Jesus Christ who is from the tribe of Judah which was never even mentioned by Moses that there would be a priesthood other than the Levitical Priesthood. Now Christ teaches us in the bible that there are new covenant doctrines that we need to learn and follow. Hebrews 6: 1-2 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the author of the Holy Bible and that it is the infallible truth of God! When He makes it a point to tell us about the major doctrine of baptism in context with the resurrection of the dead we need to pay attention and understand what Jesus is saying! When God sent His Holy Spirit down to the earth to inhabit the hundred and twenty believers on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire) the Apostles went out and started preaching to the multitude of people in Jerusalem and the very first thing Peter told them in Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be BAPTIZED in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and YOU SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHEN YOU ARE BAPTIZED YOU RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT! Don’t you think that makes baptism rather important to a Christian? But always remember that with God all things are possible! If He chooses to give you His Holy Spirit some other way He can but you still need to be baptized. (Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord).
I encourage anyone who has not done so, to get on your knees and ask God what baptism is all about and He will answer and lead you into a life so wonderful and will infuse you with a new power that you never knew existed. Jesus changes everything! SEEK HIM NOW!
