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Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
November 19, 2013 | 
Author Gen 1:1
”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” – Heaven and earth have not existed from all eternity, but had a beginning; nor did they arise by emanation from an absolute substance, but were created by God. This sentence, which stands at the head of the records of revelation, is not a mere heading, nor a summary of the history of the creation, but a declaration of the primeval act of God, by which the universe was called into being. That this verse is not a heading merely, is evident from the fact that the following account of the course of the creation commences with w (and), which connects the different acts of creation with the fact expressed in Gen 1:1, as the primary foundation upon which they rest. בּרשׁיח (in the beginning) is used absolutely, like ἐν ἀρχῇ in Joh 1:1, and מראשׁיח in Isa 46:10. The following clause cannot be treated as subordinate, either by rendering it, “in the beginning when God created…, the earth was,” etc., or “in the beginning when God created…(but the earth was then a chaos, etc.), God said, Let there be light” (Ewald and Bunsen). The first is opposed to the grammar of the language, which would require Gen 1:2 to commence with הארץ ותּהי; the second to the simplicity of style which pervades the whole chapter, and to which so involved a sentence would be intolerable, apart altogether from the fact that this construction is invented for the simple purpose of getting rid of the doctrine of a creatio ex nihilo, which is so repulsive to modern Pantheism. ראשׁיח in itself is a relative notion, indicating the commencement of a series of things or events; but here the context gives it the meaning of the very first beginning, the commencement of the world, when time itself began. The statement, that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, not only precludes the idea of the eternity of the world a parte ante, but shows that the creation of the heaven and the earth was the actual beginning of all things. The verb בּרא, indeed, to judge from its use in Jos 17:15, Jos 17:18, where it occurs in the Piel (to hew out), means literally “to cut, or new,” but in Kal it always means to create, and is only applied to a divine creation, the production of that which had no existence before. It is never joined with an accusative of the material, although it does not exclude a pre-existent material unconditionally, but is used for the creation of man (Gen 1:27; Gen 5:1-2), and of everything new that God creates, whether in the kingdom of nature (Num 16:30) or of that of grace (Exo 34:10; Psa 51:10, etc.). In this verse, however, the existence of any primeval material is precluded by the object created: “the heaven and the earth.” This expression is frequently employed to denote the world, or universe, for which there was no single word in the Hebrew language; the universe consisting of a twofold whole, and the distinction between heaven and earth being essentially connected with the notion of the world, the fundamental condition of its historical development (vid., Gen 14:19, Gen 14:22; Exo 31:17). In the earthly creation this division is repeated in the distinction between spirit and nature; and in man, as the microcosm, in that between spirit and body. Through sin this distinction was changed into an actual opposition between heaven and earth, flesh and spirit; but with the complete removal of sin, this opposition will cease again, though the distinction between heaven and earth, spirit and body, will remain, in such a way, however, that the earthly and corporeal will be completely pervaded by the heavenly and spiritual, the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, and the earthly body being transfigured into a spiritual body (Rev 21:1-2; 1Co 15:35.). Hence, if in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, “there is nothing belonging to the composition of the universe, either in material or form, which had an existence out of God prior to this divine act in the beginning” (Delitzsch). This is also shown in the connection between our verse and the one which follows: “and the earth was without form and void,” not before, but when, or after God created it. From this it is evident that the void and formless state of the earth was not uncreated, or without beginning. At the same time it is obvious from the creative acts which follow (vv. 3-18), that the heaven and earth, as God created them in the beginning, were not the well-ordered universe, but the world in its elementary form; just as Euripides applies the expression οὐρανὸς καὶ γαῖα to the undivided mass (οπφὴμία), which was afterwards formed into heaven and earth.
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Rare Jewel
‘In whatsoever state I am’- The word ‘estate’ is not in the original, but simply ‘in what I am’, that is, in whatever concerns or befalls me, whether I have little or nothing at all.
‘Therewith to be content’- The word rendered ‘content’ here has great elegance and fullness of meaning in the original. In the strict sense it is only attributed to God, who has styled himself ‘God all- sufficient’, in that he rests fully satisfied in and with himself alone. But he is pleased freely to communicate his fullness to the creature, so that from God in Christ the saints receive ‘grace for grace’ (John 1:16). As a result, there is in them the same grace that is in Christ, according to their measure. In this sense, Paul says, I have a self- sufficiency, which is what the word means.
But has Paul got a self- sufficiency? you will say. How are we sufficient of ourselves! Our Apostle affirms in another case, ‘That we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves’ (2 Corinthians 3:5). (RareJewel)
The Lexham Bible Dictionary
“Ark of the Covenant (בְּרִית־הַאֲרוֹן, berith-ha’aron). A golden chest that contains the covenant tablets. It served both a practical and a symbolic purpose, and was instrumental in both rituals and miracles. The Israelites believed the ark of the covenant was symbolically Yahweh’s throne—representing His very presence on earth.
The Hebrew word for “ark” (ארון, ‘rwn) designates a chest or coffin. However, the Bible makes a clear designation between the ark of the covenant and a common chest. While the most common name for the ark is “ark of the covenant,” it is also referred to as “the ark of God,” “the ark of might,” “the holy ark,” and “the ark of testimony” (or simply “the testimony”).”
http://ref.ly/o/lbd/632218 via the Faithlife Study Bible Android app.
GFL Study Forum • View topic – Chuch Growth
Chuch Growth
by Theophilos on Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:56 am
How do churches grow? For many people, growth in numbers is “the” measure of success.
There are many ways churches grow and sometimes it may even be due to the working of the Holy Spirit.
A charismatic motivational leader can motivate high achievers in the congregation to be part of making a “successful” enterprise. It doesn’t matter how.
Most of the “Mega” churches in America have written books and have leadership programs for how they did it.
There is a broad spectrum of believers in a congregation, from the truly born-again and mature Christians; to those who are immature, others who havn’t really gotten it yet, and those who are just committed to religious doctrine. This spectrum is not only in the level of their understanding of scripture and life in Christ, but also in the interpretation and meanng of various passages of scripture. Where each individual is in this spectrum, largely depends on the particular “path” of discipleship, or whether there ever was any real discipleship.
So, do highly motivational evangelistic outreach programs work for church growth? Yes, they can, given the time to develop that as the leadership model for the church.
Because of the diversity in thinking, there is always conflict between the leadership and certain segments of congregants. Just like the members of a union don’t all agree with the politics of there leadership. In the Gospels this conflict is seen between the jewish followers of Jesus and the Jewish leadership who wanted to get rid of Him.
This diversity conflict will be minimized over time as a church builds a consensus on the “core-values” of the church and the people either agree with that or leave.
The “core-values” of each member will not only be different from the leadership but also from each other. Everyone will have a slightly different view on how ”it” should be done.
The goal for success is to have a congregation where the “core-members” are of “one accord” on what their “core-values” are. This takes time and consistency, discernment and fortitude. There will always be people with their own agenda who will want to change things. This can easily divert the energy away from the main thing. In some cases, it might be strong enough to cause a “fire-storm” of controversy.
Trying to move a church according to the “success” model of another church is a form of legalism. In order to develop as part of the Body of Christ, a church needs to identify spiritually gifted leaders rather than using just any one who wants to volunteer for key leadership positions. With this model, maybe the church will develop Holy Spirit inspired “core-values” rather than just charismatic motivational effort.
To have Spirit led motivation, the members come to understand that what they believe is really real for every area of their life. They are excited about what they believe, therefore it is “good news” for everyone else. This is the Gospel.
The “core-values” of a church can be Holy Spirit led or they can be motivated by the “flesh” just like an individual can walk in the Spirit or the “flesh”. The imaginations of the “flesh” for motivating are limitless.
But can’t we just get along with everyone, can’t we have something for everyone? No, we can’t. “core-values” means some are going to need to change.
The real measure is……
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
GFL Study Forum • View topic – Church Muddle
Church Muddle
by Theophilos on Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:10 pm
We usually speak of the church as the building, or as a group of people in “the” building who are all “born again” and have a common understanding of their faith.
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The Church, which is the spiritual body of Christ in the New Testament, is not the same as our denominational “Christian” churches.
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I have heard of statements from prominent preachers that “ninety percent of the people in churches are not saved”. I am not sure I agree with this. I will agree that ninety percent of the people in churches don’t exhibit an understanding of what it means to be “in Christ”. I attribute much of the blame for this on what new Christians are taught. Being “in Christ” is spiritual, how do people learn to understand their spiritual relationship with God when they are taught organizational planning, and denominational doctrines and methods?There are many different types of believers in every local denominational congregation.
There are a few who are “born again” believers who understand grace and live according to the grace of God.
There are those who live according to law and works,
There are those who are “burned out” on denominational striving and manipulation and are now inactive.
There are those who are false believers and teachers, messengers of Satan.
There are those who don’t know who they are in Christ. All they do is attend a worship service.
There are a few who are still searching.
The first, second and fourth groups are the ones who are very active in the church. They may represent only ten percent of the church, while the third and fifth groups may represent as much as ninety percent of the church. The second and fourth groups will always want to be in control of everything. Another view of this model is shown in the “Three Types of Christians” study.
Most people “attend” church rather than develop personal relationships with other Christians.
They attend church for something other than spiritual reasons.
Most are attending for what they get out of it, as kind of a shallow hope that they won’t go to Hell, or as a place to be involved which is a little different from their secular life. They are there for a secular type of relationship (entertainment and activites), not for a closer spiritual walk with the Lord.
Many “churches” are like secular organizations, kind of like a community service club. They are running an organization the same way the “world” runs a business. They sell the church with programs and promotions. They become purpose driven rather than Spirit lead. Many churches are simply a group of people who like the charisma of the pastor.
Many people are attending church as a religious thing, and they control how involved they become. They want it that way. They don’t want to get too close to God. They don’t want a personal relationship with Christ which means He is with them all day, every day.
They believe that their secular life must be primary, or they won’t be able to keep up. Their church life is some relief from the stress in the world and an indication that they are searching for something and at the same time they are afraid to get too close to it.
Their spiritual life is void, because they don’t know how to experience it. They have been taught many “cliche” doctrines, which allows them to pretend to be as close to God as any one else. They have not been taught how to win the battle between the spirit and the flesh, and experience the Holy Spirit in their life.
These people have a special need. They are a mission field. Scripture
How do we know them? By what motivates them (their attitude) and their concern for others.
Do they have a desire to share the gospel.
Do they have a desire to minister to the spiritual needs of others, helping to assimilate visitors into their fellowship.
Do they seek to get involved with the hardships of others?
Do they tend to emphasize their spiritual gifts rather than spiritual maturity in love.
Do they promote physical things, such as organization, growth, buildings, motivational methods, entertainment, rather than how to understand their spiritual relationship with Christ.
Do trials cause them to fall apart emotionally or morally, to get mad at God and others, or does it draw them closer to God and others.
We need to teach scripture in terms of church problems which Paul addressed (we have all the same problems, but we don’t try to deal with them) and teach on how to have a spiritual relationship with Christ and others, not on church activity, motivation and ministry.
Our life in Christ and in the church with brothers and sisters in Christ, should be the best thing in our life.
When we preach, teach and learn the spiritual, everything else happens in the right way. Christianity is spiritual. If we don’t learn to walk in the spirit and talk in the spirit, what we do is nothing.
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
Law and Grace
Law and Grace
by Theophilos on Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:54 am
The law (moral and ceremonial) is what God required of Israel
under the old covenant.
John 1:17 Gal 3:23-25 Heb 8:1010:20
Legalism is a self-defined, or religiously defined
set of laws (works) and expectations
for satisfying our commitment to God
based on a misunderstanding
of how we come to God
and how we walk as Christians.
Rom 6:11-14 Gal 2:20-21 Mark 7:5-9
The “law” and legalistic terms always speak to our “old nature” the“flesh”.
Grace is god acting in our life to reveal, by the Holy Spirit, spiritual truths in the Word of God.
Understanding pure grace, is understanding that our Christian walk (Faith) is responding to the revealed truths which God puts into our heart.
We can experience God’s grace in every thing we say and do every moment of our life. It is not just a one time event. It is an every moment relationship with the life of Christ in us. “By bringing every thought captive …”What God puts into our heart is a lot different than what someone else puts into our mind.Motivating people to commitment and obedience before they understand faith is teaching them to sin. (People are to easily confused and spiritually dumb to hear a sermon on commitment one time and grace the next. Maybe the Holy Spirit didn’t have anything to do with training some clergymen.)There are two aspects of learning pure grace.First you have to understand what it is, then you have to learn how to experience it.One of the keys to understanding what it is, is that you must understand that there is nothing for you to do except “abide” in Christ. God is not expecting you to do anything in your own way or according to how the “world” does it.
If we don’t understand this truth first, then we won’t have a correct understanding of any of the other teachings of Christ.
Abiding will just be us trying to abide, rather than responding to what God puts into our heart about abiding.
Love will just be us trying to love, rather than responding to what God puts into our heart.
Commitment will just be us doing it, rather than Christ living his life through us.
This is not good news. This will be a very discouraging Christian life.
When we don’t understand how the grace of God works in our life, then we do the works and give the credit to God. Pretty soon Satan is telling us “look what you are doing for God” and then pretty soon we don’t even give credit to God, We say “look what we are doing for God”.
When we understand God’s grace, we will wait on the Lord. It is hard for the flesh to wait. The flesh wants us to take off with our ideas and effort, so we can take the credit and get the recognition. But, if we really want, we can recognize the attitude of our heart, it is like a part of me wants the recognition, but a small part of me wants to do it to edify others. If we bring these selfish thoughts to the Lord and do our thing in his time, in response to what He puts into our heart, then we will be doing it for others.
I think most people are not happy about being motivated to works. It may last for a little while, but eventually they see how they are being used in the name of religion for the egos of the leaders.
But, when they see the leaders teaching and living by the grace of God, they want that. That is what people are looking for, the grace of God. Jesus said we would do greater works than what he was doing. Jesus was doing physical works, when we allow Christ to do his spiritual works through us, we are doing greater works.
Since understanding this Spirit to spirit relationship is a key to having a correct understanding to everything else, then every lesson and sermon should explain that everything we do and say should be by the grace of God and how this grace of God works in our lives.
It is not easy to grasp this. The Holy Spirit has to open the eyes of our understanding. But, if we as pastors and teachers don’t teach it, or, God forbid, we are always teaching works, then they will be so deceived by these teachings it will be very difficult for them to come to the truth.
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Whether they know it or not, this is what people are looking for, the grace of God. This love and dependence on God is the real meaning and purpose for their life.
What they are looking for is an understanding of the grace of God by which they can live and walk.
HOW DO WE FALL FROM GRACE?
Sin? No, we fall from grace by doing works. #Gal 5:4-6 We not only repent to be saved and receive faith, we can repent from works of the flesh to return to grace.When the light of God’s grace comes on, we need to be careful our excitement can incite us to works. We should let our excitement incite us to rejoicing and letting God’s grace shine.It is not us praying about it then acting on it and if God doesn’t shut the door then it is the right thing to do. What does this have to do with understanding Christ in us.
I think many Christians think that they have faith when they do something good and give credit to God.
There is nothing for us to do except really understand being in Christ. We can’t love God or anyone until we understand this and then learn how to let this grace work in our heart.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power Col 2:6-10 (KJV)
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
The Human Conscience
The Human Conscience
by Theophilos on Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:46 pm
The function of conscience is knowing right from wrong coupled with an expectation that we should act accordingly.
The first part of this function tends to make us feel autonomous. We don’t need any one telling us what to do,especially God, and we certainly don’t need, nor do we even believe in, absolute standards.This puts us right up there with God, doesn’t it? I mean all I need to do is be true to myself and I will…, will what?
The problem is that our concept of what is right is not even close to what God says is right. When the rubber hits the road, we are always going to look out for our own. God says, in the Bible, that in His ideal society, we should have an attitude which puts others first. It is our nature to do what pleases us.
Conscience is also coupled with the idea that we should always act accordingly. This is one of the problems. We may think that we know right from wrong in a limited sense, but we will not keep on doing the right thing. We do not have that power. That is not in our nature.
This leads to another function of conscience which is to produce feelings of guilt when we don’t act according to our conscience. Conscience not only responds to some wrong which we did, but also to something which we believe we should have done and didn’t, or even something which we believe we should have been and weren’t.
Conscience is that part of our nature which causes us to think that we don’t really need God, because we know what is good.Conscience coupled with pride produces feelings of autonomy.Conclusion: Conscience is not from God and it is not how God speaks to us.When we don’t do things consistent with who we believe ourselves to be, conscience produces feelings of guilt, shame, inferiority, anxiety, or fear; resulting in some form of defensive behavior, self-punishment, hiding, avoidance; or repression, rebellion, compulsive activity, or obcessive thinking. (Because of a function of the mind called imagination, what we believe ourselves to be may be completely unrealistic.)There is a difference between being guilty and feeling guilty. Our mind can make us feel guilty, due to unrealistic expectations from ourself or from others. On the other hand, we can also be guilty without feeling guilty.Conclusion: Guilt feelings should never be used to motivate others, whether it is preaching or parenting.
Following is scripture from the 2nd and 3rd chapters of the Bible, this is probably one of the best known passages in all of the Bible. I believe this tells about what happened to humanity. It also shows that God created Adam and Eve with freewill, the freedom to choose. They chose to be disobedient in the hope of becoming like God and thereby be independent of God.
Genesis 2:15-17
5 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:24-25
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Genesis 3:1-6
1. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Genesis 3:7
7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Genesis 3:8-13
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself. 11. And he said, Who told thee that thou [wast] naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
It seems pretty clear to me that Adam and Eve changed, they were different and their relationship with God was different. I believe Adam and Eve received exactly what was intended, through their disobedience they realized a conscience. They obtained a degree of knowledge of good and evil. They did not, however, receive power over it.What was the last thing God asked them? Would He have asked that if He knew they already had a faculty for knowing it before they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
What was their feeling? They experienced shame, fear & anxiety.
What did they do? They covered themselves and they hid.
We should also note that this fear did not bring them to repentence.[1] This fear is not the same as how we are to fear God. The change described here is their death, the presence of God is no longer in them. The condition is still present in all of us, because we are born in the image of Adam. It is also our death. It is the death part of “Guilty and Dead”. We are not only guilty of disobedience, but we are spiritually dead, because, unless we have been “born again”, we are missing the image of God.
HUMANISM:
This new characteristic is the basis for people to think that they don’t really need God, because they are pretty good.
This new character (which is known as the “fallen” nature, or the “Flesh”) is the basis for all humanistic religious philosophies and systems. Even Christian humanism which uses a biblical vocabulary, to establish a system which teaches “If it is going to be, it is up to me”. Understanding our human nature, is one of the primary requirements to come to an understanding of our condition before God.
In this day, it is not difficult for us to imagine someone, even a neighbor, killing us over an argument, or cheating us out of our property, destroying our property for the fun of it, or saying things to hurt us. If we really think about it, it is not difficult to know that we have had, and responded to, similiar thoughts based on retaliation, envy or ways that we can succeeed at someone else’s expense. The Bible says everyone is like this. This is how we are born.
Our condition before God is all bad, but our conscience might have us believe otherwise.The whole biblical message is about this condition in humanity and what God did about it.
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SEARCHING FOR MEANING AND PURPOSE, STRIVING FOR SUCCESS:
Because of some part of our nature(conscience), we are driven to be accepted by others(no one wants to be rejected). Thus we are driven to do things which are expected by others in order to be accepted by them, or to get our way with them. There are two ways to look at this, we can be either the driver or the drivee. Relative to each relationship which we have, we are creating the expectations or we are responding to the expectations of others. We usually want to be the dominate person in a relationship. We want our way.
God’s way is just the opposite. We are to think about the well being of others and put them first. Down deep inside, we all yearn for this type of peaceful, noncompetitive life, but this is only found in the spiritual relationship with God.
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
How Do We Increase in Faith?
How Do We Increase in Faith?
by Theophilos on Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:51 am
Christian faith is not our intellectual resolve and commitment to something, this is just religious belief.
Faith is not our hope in a promise.
Faith has to do with our experiencing the object of our faith in our heart.
God has never spoken to me, or anyone I’ve ever known, verbally, or through any means of direct revelation. But, I know Him through a “spiritual” communication in my heart. I believe God speaks to us spiritually with a still small voice deep in our inner being which is also called our heart.
If this is true, then faith should be defined as “responding to what God puts into our heart”.
This definition of faith is consistent with scripture and clarifies how faith should work in our life. It is consistent with Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”, so our faith has to be responding to God’s grace which He puts into our heart. It also explains Romans 14:23b “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”, so no matter how good we think it is if we are not responding to what God put into our heart, then it is not of faith and it is sin. So, not only is faith without works dead, but works without faith are sin.
We are not only “saved” by faith, but we are to walk by faith.
Galatians 3:1-5
1 ¶ O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Think about this. If faith is responding to what God puts into my heart, can I increase my faith by my resolve and commitment? Do I increase my faith by doing more for others? The answer is no.
We increase our faith by knowing and responding to what God puts into our heart. And there is a big difference between what God puts into our heart and what someone else puts into our mind.
How do we know what God puts into our heart? I believe it takes time. We must learn to ignore our own thoughts and imaginations, and the thoughts and imaginations of others, and this is not easy. Our tendency is to get on with it. We have a hard time waiting and seeking. I believe when we hear God we will feel enlightened and it will be about something that will make a difference in our life. It is not like pondering the meaning of a scripture and coming to some understanding of it.That is knowledge.
Knowing what God puts into our heart, will have to do with understanding the fulness of God’s grace in our life.
Faith is responding to what God puts into our heart. # Eph 3:14-16, Php 3:13-16
Walking by faith, in the Spirit, not the flesh. # Rom 1:5, 1Cor 2:4.5, Gal 2:20-3:3 5:4-6, Col 2:6.7
SAVING FAITH: is responding to what God puts into our heart concerning our fallen, lost and spiritually dead condition.
WALKING FAITH: we walk the same way we came responding to what God puts into our heart.
Following are some statements relative to this definition of faith:
It is not just an intellectual decision.
It is not initiated by us.
We must learn to know how God speaks to us.
There is a big difference between what God puts into our heart and what someone else puts into our mind, we must be discerning and not just accept any teaching.
Requires thoughtful and prayerful consideration.
Requires humility and setting aside of all self-interest (desire) and self-effort, coming to rest.
Allows grace to be grace, “God acting in our life”. God initiates and we respond as we walk.
It is not necessarily a frequent occurance. If God is not dealing with us in a matter, then we are free to live and choose according to our own decisions being consistent with who we are.
2 Peter 1:3
It is consistent with “whatever is not of faith is sin”. If we are not responding to what God puts into our heart, then we are doing it for some other reason (self-effort, self interest) and that is sin.
It is consistent with “faith without works is dead”. If we are responding, we are doing something. If it is not responding to God, then the faith is dead no matter what we are doing.
People not responding to what God has put into their heart have no faith. They may have a lot of works and pretending, but it is not of faith.
The key to growing in faith is to spend enough time to get to know God personally, not what preaching says and not copying what others claim and pretend, but personally. To learn to know God and how He acts in our life in a personal relationship, we may need to discard some things which we have been taught on how to “look” and “act” like a Christian.
Walking by faith is not trying to do the things Jesus did or doing “Christian duty”, or trying to clean up the flesh to be as good as Jesus is. We are to be “like” Jesus in His attitude. His attitude was that He could do nothing except what came from the Father. Making Jesus lord Vs. living by grace
How do we grow in faith?
Increasing faith is not increasing duties or spiritual disciplines. Jesus said if we had faith as a grain of mustard seed we would move mountains. How many of us are moving mountains? So, it is increasing our connection to or dependence on God, understanding how God works in our lives which increases our faith. There are a lot of views about this. It takes a lot of discernment, prayer and study to sort it out.
Faith increases as we increase our understanding of how God works in our heart.
NOT
Doing more in a denominational congregation,
Volunteering for a mission field
NOT
By cleaning up the “Flesh”
NOT
By doing more for others
Do we grow by doing more for church, God, others and cleaning up our “flesh” or by understanding how God teaches us spiritually?
It is the attitude of the heart not what we do.
How do we grow in understanding the fulness of God’s grace?
Humility – we must be open to God and have a teachable spirit.
Scripture
Testing
Edification by God and by others
Seeking truth
Depending on God
**********
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
Lordship Salvation – What is Saving Faith?
What is Saving Faith?
by Theophilos on Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:37 am
We know God does the saving, but what is our part? We repent and believe. Does repenting mean we must make a commitment to make Jesus the Lord of our life before we are saved?
Listen to this seven minutes of a sermon on why a Pastor thinks that a man he is talking to can’t be saved. Click on Sermon to play audio.
That is a classic example of “Lordship salvation”.
Our problem is not our sins. How can we ignore the many scriptures which say that the sin issue was removed from the world by Christ’s death on the cross? Our problem is that we are spiritually dead. We need spiritual life. We are saved by the life of Christ, not the death of Christ.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:8-10 (KJV)
What we repent of is unbelief. What we believe is.
1 John 4:1-2,4-6 NIV
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. [2] This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, [4] You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. [5] They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. [6] We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
What we receive is a new life in Christ.
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
GFL Study Forum • View topic – What is the Gospel?
What is the Gospel?
by Theophilos on Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:29 am
What is the Gospel?
I asked this question in a Bible study group with about twenty people. I gave them time to write out their answer. The answers were unexpectedly varied indicating that there is little common understanding of what the gospel is. Can “the gospel” have different meanings? Paul said, there was one gospel which is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. 1Corinthians 15:1-4
The term is frequently used in preaching, teaching and Bible studies and many times seems to imply more than Paul’s statement. When used in this way, it is a term which people will define by projecting their particular idea into it, similiar to the terms “hope” and “change” which politicians use.
How many passages in the Bible can be considered the gospel, or “good news”? Many denominations preach the “Sermon on the Mount” as applicable to Christian living.
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:17-20 (KJV)
Was that “good news” for the Jews He was teaching?
Here is what Jesus said to Martha in Chapter 11 of John’s Gospel.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 11:21-26 (KJV) (My emphasis in red.)
So what do you say the Gospel is?
John MacArthur’s book “the Gospel According to Jesus” is about “Lordship salvation” and “making” Jesus Lord in our life. Is that “Good news”?
Jesus is Lord of our life; we don’t make Him Lord of our lives.
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
GFL Study Forum • View topic – What is Growing in Grace?
What is Growing in Grace?
by Theophilos on Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:00 pm
There are several terms used for essentially the same process in a Christian’s life, “increasing faith”, “growing in grace”, “spiritual maturity”, and “sanctification”.
Increasing Faith # 2 Pet 1:5-12 Eph 4:14-24
When we talk about increasing our faith, we are talking about spiritual maturity in terms of “putting on” something new. When we were “born again”, we didn’t get a new old (old being the Flesh). We were not made righteous in the Flesh. By the grace of God, we are being changed from the image of Adam into the image of Christ. This change comes by responding to what God puts into our heart by the Holy Spirit enlightening us as to the meaning of Scripture. He is not looking for “sacrifice” but a contrite heart. The Psalms 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart”. I think this means He is changing the desires of our heart, not giving us what we want.
Spiritual maturity # Rom 1:1-5 Eph 1:17,18 1 Joh 3:2 Col 1:15,18 Col 3:10 Php 3:20,21
We (the NEW MAN), because of Christ, are righteous before God.
We, in spite of the OLD MAN, are being changed –
BY PUTTING ON THE NEW – Eph 4:22 Col 2:9-11 Rom 6:6
BY RENEWING OUR MIND – Eph 4:23 Rom 12:2
BY WALKING IN THE SPIRIT – Gal 6:8 5:16-18,25 Rom 8:1-4
BY TRIBULATION – Rom 5:1-5 2 Cor 12:9-10 Php 1:29 James 1:2-3,12
BY TRUTH – John 8:32 1 Pet 1:22 John 14:17 16:13 Eph 4:15
BY KNOWING HIS LOVE – Gal 2:20 Rom 5:8-10 1 John 2:15-16
Discuss how these can be prioritized. (Spirit – Truth – Love)
What difference does it make?
In us – We should experience the fruit of the spirit and grow by coming to know God and depend on Him more and more. Gal 5:22-26 Eph 1:17-23
In others – We share this GOOD NEWS with others, in love. Rom 12:10 Joh 13:34,35 Gal 5:6-13 6:2
If faith is responding to what God puts into our heart, how do we increase our faith?
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:16-17 (KJV)
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
GFL Study Forum • View topic – New Life Plan
New Life Plan
by Theophilos on Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:06 pm
Our problem is not our sin.
Our problem is that we are spiritually dead.
GUILTY and DEAD
——————————————————————————–
From a Biblical perspective, everyone is born in the image of Adam, born without the Spirit of God in them. This means that we not only have the distinction of having the same basic fallen nature of Adam, but we are also dead spiritually.
——————————————————————————–
If we are guilty and dead, we not only need to be forgiven, but we need life. Jesus not only came to pay the penalty for our sins, but to give us life. Romans 5:10
——————————————————————————–
Chapter two of Genesis explains how Adam was created in God’s image. And that God breathed the breath of life into man.
The soul consists of the MIND, EMOTION and WILL. Animals have this, but animals don’t consider where they came from or how they came to be. Animals don’t have the “breath of life” which God gave man.
The Bible and our experience indicates that man is BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT. Man was created by God, in the image of God. Created with free- will, the ability to choose.
An unanswerable truth, for natural man, is “how are we here” and “why are we here”? These are spiritual questions which reveal the difference between spirit and soul (man and animal).
Lack of understanding of the difference between the spirit and the “flesh” is the major misunderstanding of Christianity today. Scripture talks about the contention between the spirit and the flesh. Scripture also says God is spirit and “speaks” to us Spirit to spirit.
This is a link to another page which has a diagram which shows the relationship of the body, soul and spirit. http://www.gflstudy.org/?p=13
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
GFL Study Forum • View topic – What is sanctification?
What is sanctification?
by Theophilos on Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:25 pm
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. –2 Thess. 2: 13.
It is not about us trying to clean-up our “old-nature” by obedience.
Bob George says, “sanctification of something means it is being used for the intelligent purpose for which it was created”.
Spiritual maturity is not about what we do for God, but understanding what God does in us. It is about putting on the right thing in the right way. What comes out is our love of God and our love of others. This is the “law of Christ” and “obedience of faith”.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John 4:14-21 (KJV)
Until we are enlightened by the Holy Spirit to really understand this part, we are probably out there giving it all we’ve got to “win” for God. Kind of like our “sacrifice” for God which He said He didn’t want. He wants us to know Him which requires a different attitude in our heart. This attitude change won’t happen until we come to understand and believe that there is nothing we can do for God. This would be kind of humbling, wouldn’t it? Scripture calls it the “offense of the cross”. It all comes from Him if we just come without any fleshly pride and commitments and allow “Christ in us” and His Word to work it out in our life.
Eph 4:21-24
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Acts 20:32
32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
Copyright © 1996 – 2008 Theophilos and gflstudy.org web site. All rights reserved.
Why Me?
This is not about an old-time-religion; it is not about a New Age spiritual experience based on someone’s imagination, nor is it about cultic kool-aid. As you can see, I have been around awhile and I want to share with you some of the things which I have learned from my personal Biblical studies which has opened my eyes to the truth about what the New Covenant Christian life is. If you are a Calvinist, or you like one of the denominational “isms”, or you think the New Testament and the New Covenant mean the same thing, then you probably wont read much of this. If you just read the Preface, you will get a little glimpse of what I think is important to understand concerning Scriptures about the New Covenant perspective.
I am Dan Boliek. I live in Tempe, Arizona with my wife Peggy. We have four children and nine grandchildren who are all as interested in this view of the Christian life as we are.
You will know, if you read many of my essays, that I have not been to a seminary or bible college. My vocation has been in Accounting and Data Processing Administration which has led me to have developed some skills in and knowledge of computer systems and software integration.
My wife and I have been active in Baptist/Evangelical churches all of our married life. We met on the steps of a church. >>>
Several years ago, my wife and I had what many people would describe as an awakening or enlightenment by the Holy Spirit. This was no immediate external physical or spiritual event. It was simply a realization over time, and after much searching in scripture and contemplation, that the churches we have been in do not do a good job of teaching how to live our Christian life as a personal spiritual relationship. In other words, we realized that what we had heard taught and preached, generally did not line up with a New Covenant view of Christian life.
I think many people come to this understanding sometime during their life and simply quit church life. It is a mystery to me, why so many churches still mix law (performance expectations) and grace in their mostly motivational preaching and teaching; and why every scripture teaching is not explained relative to the New Covenant paradigm which Jesus Christ established. In my opinion, this old-time church-religion teaching should always be exposed for what it is. It seems like most Christians have a personal relationship with their church rather than with Jesus Christ.
In some way, for us, when we came to this New Covenant understanding, there was a significant release whereby we felt free to simply live our life as a child of God. Our identity in Christ was more important than performance in a church environment. Our personal relationship with this concept now guides all of our thoughts and actions, and our understanding of scriptures. It has motivated us to have better personal relationships with those around us, rather than having the institutional church and its activities be the focus of our Christian life and the motivation for what we do.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel R. Boliek www.gflstudy.org
Jesus & New
Speaker
Dan B
Date
2013-01-10
Jesus & New
This is an unusual thing for those around Jesus to hear. Here Jesus is foretelling of the New Covenant.
John 4:7-14 (NKJV)
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Jesus & Old
When you read the New Testament, always look for the New Covenant.
Luke 6:7-9 (NIV)
7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
Conclusion
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
It is about the life.
The New Covenant is not unique because of Grace. It is unique because of Life.
Love
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
What Does “In God” Mean To Me?
There are also terms such as “in me”, “in Christ”, “in the Father”.
Sometimes it is just an object of belief, other times it is a spiritual identity kind of like DNA is a physical identity.
This new spiritual identity is called being born-again, so it is not just a commitment to a cause like “Semper Fi”. It is an actual spiritual indwelling of God into “us”. So, spiritually we are also “in God”. Rom 8:11
This is the essence of the “new covenant”, which is called a “new and living way”. We now walk in this “new and living way” rather than by written laws and commandments or our own conscience. John 6:63 2Cor 3:6
Christ taught under the law and explained the “new way” which was coming. The Apostles did not understand that part of what He was teaching until the Pentecost.
Many people still do not understand this “new way”, because they may have been taught according to the “Flesh” rather than according to the “Spirit”. (Motivational teaching always speaks to the flesh. Much of Scripture may also speak to the “Flesh” if it is not studied with an understanding of the New covenant.) So, they live according to a mixture of “law” and “grace”. For some, it is easier to grasp rules and try to live those than it is to understand the freedom of Grace and live because you really know what it means to be “in Christ”.
A few scripture references:
Read the rest of this entry »
Let Scripture Tell You The Plan
True Christianity must be based on correct interpretation of the meaning and message of Scripture as enlightened by the Holy Spirit in the heart of a true believer. Thus, any systematic christianity taught by seminaries and churches is by definition a pseudo christianity or simply a christian philosophy of life. Anyone espousing a legalistic form of christianity is most likely presenting his or her own ideas based on their conscience. Conscience is not how God speaks to us. Quite the contrary, conscience is that part of a fallen nature which allows humans to think that they can be; like God, apart from God.
Much of the Bible is about a particular legalistic system, knowledge and use of this part of the Bible, to promote fear, without understanding and explaining God’s purpose and Grace in the New Covenant is a gross misunderstanding of the Bible. Have you ever noticed, that people with a strong conscience, usually want to tell other people how they should live.
Here is the plan. Read the rest of this entry »
Tell me how
If someone tells me that the Holy Spirit or God “spoke” to them or guided them in some way, I am more interested in knowing exactly how that happened, than I am in what was said or done. Many people claim this in a very casual way, others casually accept it as a frequent occurrence.
If a preacher tells me the Holy Spirit told him, very clearly, that he was not to preach what he had prepared, and then told him what to preach. The real story is in the explanation of how that happened, not in the message. I take the comment at face value, a direct communication from God. When you stop to think about it, the Holy God of the universe contacting a person in that way would be an amazing event.
Now, if it is really a normal thinking process whereby a conclusion and decision is reached concerning an issue, then how can that be attributed to the Holy Spirit? Are the people who do this just naming the Holy Spirit for effect and authority?
Of course, it may be a result of a true understanding of your connection to the Life of Christ working in you and your response to that. That spiritual connection is what needs to be taught.
Copyright © 1996 – 2010 Daniel R. Boliek www.gflstudy.org all Rights Reserved
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