All posts by AttilaDimedici

Daily Bible Study

December 26, 2018 Bible Study — Have we lost our enthusiasm for the Lord?

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

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

In the introduction to his letter to the seven Churches of Asia (Asia Minor), John gives us a description of God and Jesus which shows us that they are One.  Yet, despite being One, they are different.  God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  Jesus is the First and the Last, the Living One who died but is alive for eternity.  Both of them are the One who <strong>IS</strong>, who <strong>ALWAYS WAS</strong>, and who <strong>IS STILL TO COME</strong>.  I can think of no way to easily express better that for God time is no constraint.  He is present both at the beginning and at the end (not “was present” and “will be present”), and at every point in between.  Yet, He understands the passage of time.

Often times I have seen people talk or write that each of the seven Churches represent archetypes of Church, “which one is YOUR congregation?”  However, I realized today that there is only three types listed here.  There are variations between those that fall into each of these categories, but only three categories.  There are three Churches which have lost their enthusiasm: Ephesus, Sardis, and Laodicea.  There are two Churches which tolerate false teachers: Pergamum and Thyatira.  And there are two Churches which are faithful in the face of opposition:  Smyrna and Philadelphia.

I think it is worth looking at the Churches which have lost their enthusiasm in more detail.  Laodicea is neither an enthusiastic, energetic group who strive to get everyone excited, nor a solid, pragmatic group which sees it through to the end.  Sardis is living in the past.  They have a reputation for doing good things, but they are not doing them anymore.  They are just going through the motions.  Finally, Ephesus is still doing good things, but has lost the love which motivated them in the first place.  They no longer act out of love, just routine. 

Daily Bible Study

December 25, 2018 Bible Study — Three takes on loving others in the face of false teaching

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

Merry Christmas!

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

How appropriate that 2 John is part of the reading for Christmas Day, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  John writes that we should have nothing to do with those who teach that Jesus never had a physical body.  The context here makes clear that he is referring to those who claim to be followers of Christ and teach that Jesus was purely a spiritual being, or that He was merely an ideal with no actual physical existence.    No matter how good and beneficial we may find the rest of their teaching we should not support their preaching in any manner.  Interestingly enough, John writes that following God’s command to love one another will lead us directly to avoiding such people.<br>

In his third letter, John writes that we should be hospitable to and support those who travel around teaching the Gospel.  The context makes it clear that John is referring to those who follow the example of Paul, traveling around and preaching the Gospel to nonbelievers.  In addition to encouraging those to whom he is writing for their faithfulness in supporting such preachers, John condemns a local Church leader who actively opposes those who travel around preaching to nonbelievers.   In his second letter, John wrote that we should have nothing to do with those who preach a false Gospel, but here in his third letter he makes clear that does not apply to those who preach true Gospel.  In many ways, it would be more elegant if these two letters were reversed.<br>

Jude writes an explicit condemnation of those who teach that God’s grace means that we can live immoral lives without concern.  He writes that such people’s only concern is their own desire.  They are not seeking to better others, but to satisfy themselves.  They tell us repeatedly how wonderful they themselves are and use flattery to convince others to go along with their teaching.  Such teachers cause division by demeaning those who question their teaching while offering flattery to those who are still trying to discern the truth of what they say.  If we wish to be faithful to Christ, we should, on the other hand, build up those whose faith we perceive as weak or wavering, encouraging them to more closely follow God’s truth.

Daily Bible Study

December 24, 2018 Bible Study — Sin is contrary to love

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

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

John tells us that he wrote this letter so that we will not sin.  However, he also tells us that if we do sin, Jesus will act as our mediator with God and plead our case with Him so that we receive God’s mercy.    Further, John reminds us that each and everyone of us has sinned, and probably will again.   He makes the important point that, even though we will probably sin in the future, those who follow God do not make a practice of sinning.   If we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us, but that does not mean that we can sin with impunity.  As we continue to sin we turn ourselves over the devil as his possessions.  It is only by seeking to live righteously by the power of the Holy Spirit that we become God’s possessions.  <br>

John wrote that the key to living righteously is to love our fellow believers.  It is not enough to say that we love them, our actions must show it.  If we have enough to live well and do not help those who do not, we do not truly love them.  I believe that John makes it clear that providing for the material needs of those unable to do so for themselves is just the starting point of showing our love for others.  John tells us that as we grow in the love which God has given us we will cease to fear.

I want to bring up one final point that John makes in this letter.  God hears us when we ask Him for things that please Him, and will grant those requests.  The more we act in love for those around us, the more our requests of God will please Him and the more we will see His power expressed in this world in answer to our prayers.

 

Daily Bible Study

December 23, 2018 Bible Study

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

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

Peter gives us a short and easy guide for how we should live our lives in chapter 1 verses 5 to 9. I use the NIV for this because it seems slightly more concise.  Peter reiterates what James and Paul have said elsewhere; having faith is not enough.  Our faith must inspire us to action.  In particular, Peter tells us that our faith should lead us to be good.  Or, as he puts it,  we need to add goodness to our faith.   However,  over time we will realize, or, at least, we should, that seeking to do good is not enough.  We need to actually know that our actions have good results.  At that point we need to seek knowledge.  As we come to know more about God’s will, we will learn that we need to exercise self-control.  A natural consequence of self-control is perseverance.  As we persevere   our actions will become not just good, but godly.  As we exercise godliness we will come to have an affection for others.  Here the NLT provides an insight, it translates this as “brotherly affection”.  Which tells me that it is like the feelings a brother has for his siblings, slightly protective and desiring the best for them assuming that they will feel likewise, but not dependent on them doing so.  Perhaps you have seen the families where one sibling demonstrates that affection for their sibling, only to be repeatedly hurt when the other sibling fails to reciprocate?  Well, that is what we will experience from time to time.  Which leads us to actual godly love.  We no longer assume that others will return our good feelings about them and act for their benefit anyway.  

I wrote the above as if it “just happens”, that each step automatically follows the one before.  But Peter makes it clear that we must actively choose to add knowledge to goodness, self-control to knowledge, perseverance to  self-control, godliness to perseverance, brotherly affection to godliness, and love to brotherly affection.   The fact of the matte is that if we fail to take the next step we will fall back to the previous one until even our faith is lost.  I had intended to write something about what Peter says about false teachers and the Second Coming, but this is already too long.  Please read that part for yourself.

 

Daily Bible Study

December 22, 2018 Bible Study — Living Holy lives means loving those around us

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

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

As I started this letter from Peter I was struck by the contrast with the one from James I read yesterday. James built a logical case for why we should behave as God wills. Peter, on the other hand, takes a different approach and focuses on applying God’s love in our lives. Because God has shown His love to us we should love those we encounter. That means getting rid of evil behavior: deceit, jealousy, hypocrisy, and unkind speech.

Peter goes on to tell us to respect those in authority, in fact, he tells us to respect everyone. We should show this respect even when people insult us and mistreat us for doing good. Let us live our lives so that those who accuse us of wrongdoing will be shown to be liars and frauds. IF we always do the right thing, the godly thing, there are those who will persecute us and mistreat us. We should rejoice when that happens because similar, even worse, things were done to Christ. If we continue to do what is right, even when we suffer for it, we will provide a compelling witness for the Gospel message. Peter stresses that suffering in and of itself is not a good thing. If we suffer for doing wrong, there is no redeeming feature to the suffering (except possibly that it inspires us not to do wrong again). Our joy in suffering should not lead us to do wrong in order to suffer more. It would be easy to read Peter as suggesting that we should seek suffering, but I believe he is not saying that. He is telling us to do what is right, even if that means suffering. He goes a little further than that. I am going to step a little bit out of what I am sure of here. Peter tells us that if we have two courses of action which both seem right, but one of them will lead to our suffering, we should probably choose that one.

Daily Bible Study

December 21, 2018 Bible Study — Ask God for Wisdom, then act on what he gives us

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

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

The Book of James may be my favorite book of the Bible. James makes a lot of good point and they are each logically connected to each other. He starts by telling us to rejoice in our suffering because suffering improves our endurance. or as the NIV translates it, perseverance (or as I have heard it said, “stick-with-itness”). The ability to stick with doing God’s will in the face of difficulty strengthens us and makes us better able to please Him, similar to the way that developing physical endurance makes an athlete better able to excel in his sport. James indirectly reminds us that wisdom will allow us to determine if we should take it as an opportunity to develop our endurance, or as a sign that we should change course. If we are unsure which it is, we but need to ask God for the wisdom to know and He will generously provide it.

I had not noticed before today how James makes a point, makes the next point, or two, then comes back and reinforces the first point. He writes about enduring suffering, then about asking God for wisdom, then about the poor not being inferior to the rich, then back to enduring. Next, he writes that it is not enough to listen to God’s word, we have to actually do what it says. This is a them he comes back to shortly when he writes that having faith is not enough. We must act on that faith. Believing in God does us no good if we still act selfishly. Even demons believe in God, but they are condemned because they rebel against Him.

Finally, James informs/warns us that in order to live our faith we need to control what we say. James tells us that if we can learn to control what we say, we can control all of our other actions as well. More than that, he reminds us of something Jesus said, what we say reflects who we really are. If we use foul language it is because there are foul thoughts and attitudes in our hearts. When we seek to stop using foul language because it is foul, and not just in order to present a better image, goes a long way to removing that foulness from our hearts and minds. Learning to allow the Holy Spirit to filter what we say transforms us into people who serve God in other ways. James words on this do not just apply to foul language, but to any ill-thought words we might speak.

Daily Bible Study

December 20, 2018 Bible Study — Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 12-13.

The writer tells us that God will discipline us because He loves us. As we go through life, some of the suffering we experience will be in order for us to learn to follow God’s will more closely. There will come times in our lives when we are less faithful than we should be, at those times we will experience God’s discipline in order to learn the value of being more faithful. At those times, and at all others, we must be careful to listen to what God says to us. And, in order to decide whether the voice we are listening to is that of God, we must keep in mind that Jesus does not change. He is the same today as He was yesterday and as He will be tomorrow. So, when someone comes along with a new, novel teaching which contradicts what the Church has taught since its beginning, you know that they are not speaking words which God gave them. This does not mean that all of the teachings of the Church today are God’s word. The easy way to determine if what sounds like a new teaching is God’s word, or some man’s, is to read your Bible and try to imagine Paul, or one of the other writers, including that thought in what they wrote. If you cannot imagine that, then the teaching is not the word of God.

Daily Bible Study

December 19, 2018 Bible Study — Living By Faith

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 10-11.

The writer here dismisses the idea that the concept of being saved by grace means that I can go on sinning without consequence.   While I cannot earn my salvation, faith in God means that I seek to overcome my sinful nature and act according to His will.  The writer than goes on to give us examples of people who have lived by faith.  All of these people acted on faith that God would grant them a better life after resurrection.  The writer points out one basic thing, in order to come to God we must have faith that God does indeed exist.  This is important.  While I can make a logical case for God’s existence, I cannot prove that He exists.  Sooner or later, each of us will need to make that leap of faith and put our faith in God’s existence.  The writer makes a second important point in this passage.  If you truly have faith in God, then you will embrace any suffering which comes as a result of living according to that faith in the knowledge that doing so will result in God’s will and a better life after the resurrection. 

Daily Bible Study

December 18, 2018 Bible Study — Jesus, High priest after the order of Melchizedek

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hebrews 6-9.

The writer tells us that Jesus is the High Priest of God’s new covenant with mankind, a covenant which replaces the one He made with the people of Israel.   Under this new covenant, Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, not the order of Aaron.  The writer makes the point that Jesus made His sacrifice once for all time and does not need to make additional sacrifices.  Under the old covenant, only the high priest could enter into the presence of God, and that only once a year after offering up the yearly sacrifice.  Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we can enter into God’s presence at all times.    As a result of this change, God enters into our hearts and minds and writes His laws there.  Under the old covenant, the high priest made sacrifices in the earthly copy of the Tabernacle.  Under the new covenant, Jesus, the new High Priest, made His sacrifice in the Heavenly original Tabernacle.

Daily Bible Study

December 17, 2018 Bible Study — The Theology of Who Jesus Is

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

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

The Book of Hebrews seems to me to be more about theology, the study of God, than any other part of the Bible. Here the writer tells us that Jesus was not an angel. He is far greater than any angel. This runs directly counter to the Mormon teaching that the angels are Jesus’ brothers. Angels are servant spirits sent to care for those who will accept God’s salvation. Further the writer tells us that Jesus became human, which is a little lower than the angels. Yet this status of being a little lower than the angels is only temporary. Upon His death and resurrection, Jesus was raised up above the angels. We too, who put our faith in Him, will be raised up above the angels, because God will adopt us into His family as brothers and sisters to Christ. The next element of the theology which this writer presents us with is that Jesus was categorically different, and greater, than any prophet, even Moses, the greatest of the prophets. Prophets are servants in the House of God, but Jesus is the Architect and the Builder of that House. Each and every believer is the House of God, both as individuals and as a group.