Live the Word Bible Studies

Galatians Study 6: 6:1-18

Dear Student of God's Word,

I missed an installment two weeks ago when I was in Kenya, so now it is time to catch up.  I just could not find time to post this one online.The good news is that I had a chance while there to edit our next study, which will be on Philippians.  This unit concludes our study of Galatians and so I include my closing remarks to this seven-part study here:

6:17 – Paul did indeed suffer for Jesus.  Read his account in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28:

Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.   Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

Paul was probably referring to his near death experience when he had been among the Galatians in Acts 14:

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe (Acts 14:19-20).

I think Paul had the marks of Jesus on his body, don’t you?  That should sober anyone who talks about or treats the apostolic lightly or as a means to personal gain or prestige.  The apostolic is about more than a reserved parking space and the respect of people.  It is about pain and suffering for the sake of Christ.

6:18 - As we close the study of this letter, I urge you to examine your life and see if there is any legalism operating there.  Are you putting your faith in any doctrine, church or movement instead of  Jesus?  Are you avoiding persecution for the cross of Christ?  Have you given up doing good, despairing of any ultimate reward?  If so, then it is time to set things straight.  Confess, repent and move on.  Use this letter as an incentive to get back on track and don’t receive any doctrine or teaching that conflicts with the One who bought you with His blood.

May His grace, mercy and peace be yours.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.

Download Galatians Study 6

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If these Bible studies have been a blessing to you this year, then please don't forget to express your thanks by helping with THE BIG GOAL during December to raise $10,000 toward feeding, housing and providing educational resources for Kenyan orphans and widows.  I have already received more than $1,000 so we are on our way!  You can read about it here, and then give through this site using the Chipin widget or Paypal, or send a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA  15221-0882.  Every penny goes right to the people in need with no overhead.  At right is a picture of my wife last week in front of the Operation Chicken Coop shed where 500 chicks will take up residence on December 16. She is pictured with five of the orphans and three of the orphanage founders, who are so excited about the help you are providing. God is helping us make a difference in one small part of the world. Thank you and God bless you as you remember the widows and orphans.

Galatians Study: 5:6-26

Dear Student of God's Word,

It is time once again for your regular dose from God's word.  No matter what "ails" you, God's word has the answer and antidote.  We are almost finshed with our Galatians study and this week we see Paul's remedy for problems of the flesh.  This week I wrote on part four of this seven-part study:

5:16 – It is not sufficient not to walk in the flesh.  For example, if you say, “I will not lie” you will probably lie because you are focusing on a negative, on what you won’t do in your own power.  What would be better to say is, “I will tell the truth.”  That sets your focus in the right direction.  You cannot lie if you are telling the truth—living by the Spirit will not allow you to gratify the desires of the flesh, for you cannot do two things at once! 

I have worked with many people who were trying to stop bad habits.  The more they focused on the bad habit—smoking, eating, cursing—the more they seemed to do that very thing.  It wasn’t until they took their eyes off those actions and put them on the desire behavior that they began to follow the Spirit and have some measure of release and success.

5:17 – There is conflict between the Spirit and the sinful nature.  The sinful nature can never, ever accomplish the will of the Spirit.  They are mutually exclusive.  That is why I often counsel people that they must stop expecting Christian behavior from a non-Christian.  A non-believing boss or partner cannot possibly do spiritual things in a spirit of kindness or patience if they don’t have the power of the Spirit in their lives, but neither can you.  Stop trying to do God’s will and instead say, “God, I cannot do this.  I cannot love this person.  So I am asking that you come into my life and love this person through me.  I will cooperate with your Spirit to do your will where this person is concerned.”

That does not mean that people are totally evil.  There is a concept called common grace and that does allow that people will do good things for no apparent reason. They are not believers, yet they exhibit godly deeds and attitudes.  Thank God for this, for the world would be a terrible place without common grace.  Yet you cannot expect ongoing, spiritual behavior from unspiritual people.  That is an unrealistic expectation.

5:18 – If you are led by the Spirit, you cannot follow the Law at the same time.  As I wrote in verse 17 above, they are mutually exclusive.  The law of the Spirit will enable and empower you to fulfill the requirements of the Law but it is actually God doing those things through you as you put your faith in Him.  I am not negating discipline or doing the right thing even when you don’t feel like it.  The goal is Spirit-led living and not just a disciplined life, pure and simple.  I want to obey the Spirit’s leadings and then rely on the Spirit to help me fulfill what I have decided to do.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.

Download Galatians Study 5

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No donations came in this past  week for Operation Chicken Coop, the Sophia Fund or the Deborah Foundation. I received the email below yesterday from Pastor Francis, founder of the Upako Center (Pastor Francis is pictured to the right next to me last August, and some of his children lined up for lunch are pictured below left).

Thank you so much for your help

God's peace and all that is good be with you. As Upako Children Centre, we are very grateful to you for making it possible for us to live on despite the many challenges that we have been faced with as a least community. Through you God has manifested Himself and we have been able to find our identity in the Christian family. May you realize how God has used you in a special way in embracing the lost and in getting involved in practical ministry in our land.

The end of this year is fast approaching and people are busy planning on how best they can do things this holiday. As much as you have other important plans this season, we still appeal to you for a little help to at least buy food/clothes for at least one of these orphans and give them a reason to celebrate together. it is not a must that you give towards this so feel free to engage us in some other levels as this is just apart of the long journey to see these children fulfill their human goals. We all love and appreciate you. Blessings

If the Monday Memo has been a blessing to you this year, please consider a token of appreciation that will help HIV/AIDS orphans and widows in Kenya as we approach this holiday season.  Read how you can do something significant for them here and here.  Thank you!

P.S. I will be back in Kenya November 27 to conduct more seminars for The Pacific Institute.  Make plans to invest in your future and self-development while I am there. 

Galatians Study Four: 4:10-5:5

Dear Student of the Word,

It's that time again, and this week we go even deeper into our study of Paul's letter to the Galatians. As we enter chapter five, Paul's theme remained the same.  He urged the Galatians not to accept any teaching that was contrary to his!  In this week's study, I wrote in part six of this seven-part study:

4:27 – Paul quoted Isaiah 54:1.  The entire passage reads:

"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the Lord.  "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.  For your Maker is your husband--the Lord Almighty is his name--the Holy one of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:1-5). 

This passage called for faith, for the recipient of this word is directed to enlarge and expand based on the promise that the barren woman will bear fruit.  Faith without action is dead and useless (see James 2:17).  If you get a promise from God, there is always something that you can do to make room for the provision of the promise.  If God has promised you a car, then you must shop and find the model He will give you.  If you are going to India as a missionary, then you must study and prepare before you leave.  Too many people are waiting for God to do what only they can do.  Is this your tendency?

4:28 – You are like Isaac, children of promise. You who believe in Christ—and not Israel—are the promised children of Abraham.  Believers are the fulfillment of the promise that the children of the barren woman will be more than the children of the fruitful woman with a husband.

4:29 – Ishmael and Hagar were a source of persecution for Abraham and Isaac. 

“But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." (Genesis 21:9-10).

Paul likened the teachings of the circumcision party to the persecution that Isaac received from Ishmael.  Legalism does not like freedom; it hates freedom and persecutes those who enjoy it.  The circumcision party was angry that the Gentiles did not have to follow “the rules” as they had to as Jews, so they were determined to bring the Gentiles under the same yoke that they endured.  Legalists are often angry and bitter people, who hate seeing anyone enjoy the fruits of grace, fruits that they feel should be worked for.

4:30&31 – What do you do with the effects of legalism and the persecution from legalistic people?  You shake them off!  It is up to you to reject, avoid and escape from any bonds of legalism that may try to hinder you.  You are to “get rid of” the slave woman and her children.  You cannot wait for someone else to set you free from the bonds of legalism; you must free yourself. 

Are you under the oppression of some religious system?  Does someone or a group of people hold you hostage so that you cannot freely serve God’s will and enjoy His benefits?  Is your mind held captive by guilt, confusion or some misapplied or misunderstood teaching?  Then this instruction from Paul is for you:  Get rid of the slave woman. She is not your mother.  Faith in God is your mother, so to speak.  Stop acting like a “wimp” and take steps to free yourself.  You got yourself into this, now you can get yourself out of whatever it is you are in.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.

Download Galatians Study 4

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$500 came in for Operation Chicken Coop and some other donations came in this past week for the Sophia Fund and Deborah Foundation.  Thank You, Lord!  Pictured to the right are some of the children at the Upako Center who are impacted by your generosity (that is a classroom they are in; some of them even sleep there.)

If these Bible studies have been a blessing to you this year, please consider a token of appreciation that will help HIV/AIDS orphans and widows in Kenya as we approach this holiday season.  Read how you can do something significant for them here and here.  Thank you!

Galatians Study Three: 3:10-4:9

Dear Student of God's Word!

It's time once again for your Bible installment from the New Testament.  This week we look into part three of our study of Galatians, which is one focused arguement for the supremacy of faith in Christ.  Paul had many opponents who were urging his followers to adhere to the Jewish Law and Paul would have none of it.  He was adamant that faith in Christ was and is enough to reconcile anyone to God (and enough to keep them reconciled).  In this week's installment, I wrote in part four of the seven-part presentation:

3:22 – The promise of God in the Old Testament was Jesus!  The Law gave everyone an awareness of sin without any permanent power to deliver man from this imprisonment, for the sacrificial system had to be repeated again and again whenever a sin was committed.  God always intended faith in Christ to be the way out of man’s dilemma.  Faith isn’t just the entrance; it is a way of life!  Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

3:23&24 – The Law held men captive through rules and regulations that were endless and impossible to keep perfectly.  These rules were all God’s will, but too much for sinful man to comprehend and fulfill. You see that the problem wasn’t the Law, but rather sinful man.  The Law was our tutor that led us to Christ; the Law taught us that there was a better way to God than through the sacrifice of animals, circumcision and the keeping of holy days.  Man, however, is a religious being in his fallen state.  He yearns for a system that can simplify and systematize our way to God.  Thus some people prefer the legalistic tutor rather than freedom in Christ.  Faith, however, is the only means to God.  Are you walking in faith?

3:25 – As stated earlier, believers are not free from righteous living that the Law described because they walk by faith.  In many ways, the law of the Spirit is more exacting than the Law.  The Law said not to commit adultery; the law of the Spirit says don’t even consider adultery in your heart.  The Law said to give ten percent of your income to God; the law of Spirit says to obey the Spirit and give what He directs (which could be everything!)  The difference between the Law and he law of the Spirit is that the Spirit empowers the believer to do God’s will in the power of God and not in the power of human strength. 

So the Law was a righteous system that was impossible to keep without God’s help. God sent the help in the form of His Son and the Spirit and now those two empower anyone who puts their faith in Christ to keep and do the will of God.  No other religion, so to speak, can offer that kind of help. All others tell man, “Keep these rules or else!”  Those who follow Christ are told, “These are the rules and I will empower you to keep them.  This is my will:  I will show you what it is and then help you to do it!” 

If you can find a better “deal,” I urge you to take it.  The point is that those who followed after Paul and told people they had to obey the Law of Moses were indeed looking for a better offer than Paul had originally made to the Galatians, and Paul was furious!  He knew that what he was preaching and teaching were the will of God; what his opponents were offering sounded good but was pure error.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.

Download Galatians Study 3

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if these studies have been a blessing to you this year, please consider a token of gratitude by helping HIV/AIDS orphans and widows in Kenya as we approach this holiday season.  Read how you can do something significant for them here and here.  Thank you!

Galatians Study Two: 2:6-3:9

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been ten days, so it is time for your next dose of my verse-by-verse studies, this time from Paul's letter to the Galatian churches.  This week we go into chapter two and read the passionate appeals Paul made to the believers in Galatia who were considering whether or not they had to follow the Law after they put their faith in Christ.  Paul was adamant they did not, and used every argument possible to dissuade them from the course they were considering.  Paul was a good pastor and apostle. 

In this study, I wrote in part five of this seven-part installment:

3:1 – The word “bewitched” here literally means “to fascinate by false representations.”  There are excellent teachers who can build elaborate systems that they claim represent service to God; but they are liars, infatuated with their own intelligence.  The true gospel is the good news that Jesus was crucified on our behalf, and it is faith in this historic event and the living Christ that opens the way to God. 

It is amazing how often I have tried to complicate that message.  I pray regularly that I may present the basic truths to people in understandable ways, always looking to exalt Christ and His finished work in the life of the believer.

3:2&3 – Paul made one excellent argument after another to refute the claims of the circumcision party.  I think of the verse that states, “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him” (Proverbs 18:17).  I have often not taken the time to examine all sides of an argument or report of the truth and have been guilty of rashly siding with the first interpretation I heard.  This has led to wrong conclusions and misunderstandings.

Here he asks the Galatians what they did to merit the Spirit of God when Paul came to them.  They received the Spirit by faith and he then urged them not to make faith an event, but a way of life.  How about you?  Are your faith testimonies recent and full of life, or are your testimonies relics placed under glass in the museum of your mind and heart, reminders of a day gone by when you had faith in God?

Paul asked them a question that is a good question for you and I to ask from time to time.  Is there something you began in the Spirit but now are carrying on through human effort? 

This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5).

Anything that has the scent of human effort is cursed in the sight of God.  It is not capable of winning His approval.  Only performing those good works that He assigned you to do can win His favor, and then only when you are performing in the power of the Spirit.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.

Download Galatians Study 2

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BORN TO FLY:  Last year I helped promote a day for worthy cause and it's time to do it again. Diana Scimone is holding a Twitterthon on October 10, 2010, asking people around the world to give $10 to help stop human trafficking on that day.  You can read about 10/10/10 here and then I urge you to give on or before October 10 to help the cause.  I am on the board of Born to Fly and Diana is my sister-in-law, so I can vouch for the cause, the organization and the leader. They are all worthy of your support.

Galatians Study One: 1:1-2:5

Dear Student of the Word,

It's time to start another study, this time of Paul's letter to the Galatians, which many believe to have been his first epistle sent to one of the church plants in the Gentile world.  Paul wrote this letter to address a problem and that problem was an attempt by some to pervert the gospel of faith that Paul preached and on which the church was founded. Paul is passionate and uncompromising as he refuted the gospel aberration and insisted that his gospel presentation was the only one the Galatians were to follow.  Anything else was heresy!

In this first seven-part study, I wrote in part six:

1:21 – Paul was a man on the move.  He was an apostle.  I do not understand modern-day apostles who don’t go anywhere.  They pastor a church or get on the conference circuit and go from place to place preaching.  They do not, however, plant churches or do much to personally engage the people except from the pulpit.  I don’t understand this.  Paul did not pastor a local church and also try to travel to speak in churches.  He focused on his apostolic travels.

1:22-24 – Paul once again tried to distance himself from any connection with the Jewish church that would allow others to connect him in a favorable way to the heresy he was confronting.  He had met with Peter once and had not even visited churches in Judea.  The churches were worshiping and praising God because of Paul’s testimony, but they had never met him. 

Paul had been quite an enemy of the Church when he was Saul.  By his own testimony Paul was a nasty man when he was opposing the church of Jesus Christ:

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9).

No one is beyond the reach of God’s redemptive touch. That fact should encourage you and me to pray and have faith and hope for even the most hardened person who opposes the gospel. In fact, someone’s running “hot” against the gospel is actually preferable to them not caring at all, as Jesus informed us in Revelation:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Revelation 3:15-16).

The early church was praising God for what He had done to convert Saul to Paul.  Praise always comes from who God is and what He does.  What are you praising the Lord for these days?  I praise Him every morning for allowing me to write thee studies and send them along to you!

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger (Psalm 8:2).

I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies (Psalm 18:3).

I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you (Psalm 22:22).

In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever (Psalm 44:8).

I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints (Psalm 52:9).

Perhaps it’s time for you to take a praise inventory?  How often are you praising the Lord?  What are you praising Him for?  What have you forgotten that He has done for you for which you can praise Him? 

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.

Download Galatians Study 1