This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:23
23 And [kai] whatsoever [pas] [hostis] [ean] ye do, [poieo] do [ergazomai] it heartily [ek], [psuche] as [hos] to the Lord, [kurios] and [kai] not [ou] unto men; [anthropos] KJV-Interlinear
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; NASB
Two different words are used here for the word ‘do.’ The first, ‘poieo,’ refers to an empty effort applied to whatever activity it is that you do in life.
The empty effort is that which has no value. Whether you hustle in life after worldly possessions, status, wealth, achievement, whether you do just enough to get by, or whether you try to take advantage of the situations of others, try to get things for free, try to take all of the shortcuts you can discover in life, makes no different. Your effort is of no value.
The second word, ‘ergazomai,’ refers to work performed with a passion and love. And that is what you are to do in life, in everything that you do, with the mindset that God is watching you intently, and that your effort is there to please Him, not other people.
Whether you clean toilets for a living, clean out barns, change diapers, perform surgeries, build rockets, write books, drive trucks, paint pictures or whatever, none of these things are any more or less important than anything else.
The world may view the doctor with more prestige than the janitor, but to God, each person’s effort in their work is viewed with regard to their function in their spiritual life.
Jesus Christ is your ultimate and only important evaluator for your life. Your future, your eternal blessings are going to be based on your spiritual achievement not your worldly class status. The toilet cleaner who advances to spiritual maturity, will have infinitely more in heaven than the spiritually immature professor.
Granted, the lawyers and doctors and celebrities will have more worldly wealth now, but that all goes away when they die.
Didn’t several celebrities pass away in the past few days? And now, and only now, do they fully realize the error and loss of their ways. For all of eternity, they will have only that which God grants to them, and anyone who lacks spiritual growth and spiritual production, that blessing package will be slim to none.
No person can earn nor deserve anything in life. You cannot work for your blessing. There is no place for mans boasting or arrogance in his perception that he earned or hustled for God, in order to get Gods blessing.
However, when a person is advancing in their spiritual life, the believer has to live within the fellowship sphere. And anything done from within that sphere, is good works, good production, divine production, gold, silver and precious stones.
While you grow up, the doctrine you learn creates a spiritual structure within your soul. That is a house, a fortress, a temple, a mansion within you. However, a mansion has to be furnished and moved into, before it becomes a permanent residence. That is where your daily activities come into play.
Doing whatever it is that you do in life, if done as unto the Lord (done while in fellowship), then your life benefits from that production as spiritual production.
Doctrine creates knowledge, knowledge repeated becomes understanding, understanding applied forms the learning process, the learning process builds production and results in wisdom or a smarter thinking within you.
This whole process is the circle of wisdom, the framework of your spiritual life. The ultimate result is the completion of your existence.
And a completed you, qualifies for phenomenal blessings as a result of Gods positive and successful evaluation of your spiritual life.
Remember, one day you will stand face to face before Christ. He will lean forward to you, and ask you. ‘What is your story?’
Your spiritual life is your story. Unique to you, constructed by Gods grace, and the most valuable possession you will ever have.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Colossians 3:22
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Colossians 3:22
22 Servants, [doulos] obey [hupakouo] in [kata] all things [pas] your masters [kurios] according [kata] to the flesh; [sarx] not [me] with [en] eyeservice, [ophthalmodouleia] as [hos] menpleasers; [anthropareskos] but [alla] in [en] singleness [haplotes] of heart, [kardia] fearing [phobeo] God: [theos] KJV-Interlinear
22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. NASB
‘Slaves,’ refers to all laborers in all categories of service to others. Whether voluntary slavery, involuntary slavery, day labor, or hired short or long term employment arrangements, all workers are bound by an obligation to a master, an owner, an employer, a senior supervisor, and so forth.
Everyones primary objective in this life, is to be obedient to Gods will, to advance in their spiritual lives to spiritual maturity, regardless of their circumstances, and simultaneously to work within the system from which they obtain a livelihood.
Workers are not to work just enough to get by, not to brown nose in order to get brownie points or perks from their superiors, not to back stab or attempt to undermine the efforts of someone else, not to just look like they are working, not to simply fill time, not to take advantage of others to your own benefit, and so forth.
Our real master is the Lord. Our real master placed us in the position that we are in. And our real master expects us to work with effort and honesty, until He sees fit to move us to something else.
Unlike our earthly employers, Christ can see everything we do, hear everything we think, knows every decision, motivation, thought and intent of our soul. And as such, Christ has possession of all of the facts of our life in order to give us a fair and honest evaluation. And He knows exactly how we apply doctrine, if at all, to our daily life.
He knows who are the givers and who are the takers, who are the charitable and who are the selfish, who puts out an honest effort and who is the slacker.
While your employer can only fire you for good or even not so good of a reason, while you may or may not pay for the products, services, and things that you receive or benefit from in life, your biggest evaluation in life will come when you stand before Christ, as you certainly will, one day. And there you may explain your reasons of selfishness, possessiveness, laziness, refusal to contribute to Gods plan.
Here on earth you may lose a paycheck or two, or more, but in heaven you may gain or lose an infinite treasure.
To cheat or slack-off in life in order to just get by, or to take because you can, is not worth trading away an infinite fortune.
To work for Christ, in whatever it is that you do from day to day, to contribute to His plan, will gain you blessings both now with your employer or with those with whom you have dealings, and in eternity with God.
God will make it very clear within your mind, the things that you should or should not be doing. Therefore you will never have any excuse for your failures.
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Colossians 3:22
22 Servants, [doulos] obey [hupakouo] in [kata] all things [pas] your masters [kurios] according [kata] to the flesh; [sarx] not [me] with [en] eyeservice, [ophthalmodouleia] as [hos] menpleasers; [anthropareskos] but [alla] in [en] singleness [haplotes] of heart, [kardia] fearing [phobeo] God: [theos] KJV-Interlinear
22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. NASB
‘Slaves,’ refers to all laborers in all categories of service to others. Whether voluntary slavery, involuntary slavery, day labor, or hired short or long term employment arrangements, all workers are bound by an obligation to a master, an owner, an employer, a senior supervisor, and so forth.
Everyones primary objective in this life, is to be obedient to Gods will, to advance in their spiritual lives to spiritual maturity, regardless of their circumstances, and simultaneously to work within the system from which they obtain a livelihood.
Workers are not to work just enough to get by, not to brown nose in order to get brownie points or perks from their superiors, not to back stab or attempt to undermine the efforts of someone else, not to just look like they are working, not to simply fill time, not to take advantage of others to your own benefit, and so forth.
Our real master is the Lord. Our real master placed us in the position that we are in. And our real master expects us to work with effort and honesty, until He sees fit to move us to something else.
Unlike our earthly employers, Christ can see everything we do, hear everything we think, knows every decision, motivation, thought and intent of our soul. And as such, Christ has possession of all of the facts of our life in order to give us a fair and honest evaluation. And He knows exactly how we apply doctrine, if at all, to our daily life.
He knows who are the givers and who are the takers, who are the charitable and who are the selfish, who puts out an honest effort and who is the slacker.
While your employer can only fire you for good or even not so good of a reason, while you may or may not pay for the products, services, and things that you receive or benefit from in life, your biggest evaluation in life will come when you stand before Christ, as you certainly will, one day. And there you may explain your reasons of selfishness, possessiveness, laziness, refusal to contribute to Gods plan.
Here on earth you may lose a paycheck or two, or more, but in heaven you may gain or lose an infinite treasure.
To cheat or slack-off in life in order to just get by, or to take because you can, is not worth trading away an infinite fortune.
To work for Christ, in whatever it is that you do from day to day, to contribute to His plan, will gain you blessings both now with your employer or with those with whom you have dealings, and in eternity with God.
God will make it very clear within your mind, the things that you should or should not be doing. Therefore you will never have any excuse for your failures.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Colossians 3:21
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:21
21 Fathers, [pater] provoke [erethizo] not [me] your [humon] children [teknon] to anger, lest [hina me] they be discouraged. [athumeo] KJV-Interlinear
21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart. NASB
Parental authority does not give you the right to break the spirit of the child. The parent’s first responsibility to their children is to teach them doctrine.
Instruction in doctrine gives them over to the instruction and control of God, thereby allowing them to begin to mature and to function independently of the hardships and bindings of the world.
A child built on doctrine is less likely to be intimidated by peer pressure, and less likely to be discouraged when failure occurs in their life.
The father is the head of the home, and with that comes the responsibility of encouragement, not discouragement.
Likewise, the wife follows the same pattern with her children just as she does with her husband. No criticism, no complaining, no harassment of someone who is obviously younger and less mature than the adult should be.
Parents should be the idols and examples that their children should be admiring, instead of celebrities. The parent should lead by example and doctrine. And even though the life of the parent may or may not be a good one, their adherence to God and doctrine, sets the example by which God instructs the child.
And even though the child may not get it at their young age, they will sooner or later in life grow up and begin to have their own experiences that will bring the instructions of their younger life, to their attention.
Constant discouraging remarks, constant complaining, constant negative attitudes will serve to drive the child away from truth, and into rebellion, indifference, and any number of other undesirable attitudes.
The child is the foundation of the next generation. If the parents fail, then the next generation may fail as well. And that can domino into succeeding generations and failure in an entire society or culture. Bad, is the only result of this direction in life.
A discouraged child often loses interest in their own life. An encouraged child often will set higher goals for themselves, and pursue them.
A successful parent will teach doctrine, not lecture it, will encourage independent thinking, not attempt to drive the child in the parents desired direction, and in all cases will support the child, making themselves available for advice when it is requested, without pushing it onto the child.
A child placed in the hands of God is a far more successful person, than one who is forced into the world.
And just a quick note, in our current dispensation, the final generations (one or two or three perhaps) will most likely possess these examples of failed parenting, making each subsequent generation not look to God, but to the promise of the world.
With that, fewer and fewer will believe in Christ, building a huge population of unbelievers ready to populate the Tribulation, which the Bible indicates will be a vast population (of unbelievers) at the time of the Rapture.
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Colossians 3:21
21 Fathers, [pater] provoke [erethizo] not [me] your [humon] children [teknon] to anger, lest [hina me] they be discouraged. [athumeo] KJV-Interlinear
21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart. NASB
Parental authority does not give you the right to break the spirit of the child. The parent’s first responsibility to their children is to teach them doctrine.
Instruction in doctrine gives them over to the instruction and control of God, thereby allowing them to begin to mature and to function independently of the hardships and bindings of the world.
A child built on doctrine is less likely to be intimidated by peer pressure, and less likely to be discouraged when failure occurs in their life.
The father is the head of the home, and with that comes the responsibility of encouragement, not discouragement.
Likewise, the wife follows the same pattern with her children just as she does with her husband. No criticism, no complaining, no harassment of someone who is obviously younger and less mature than the adult should be.
Parents should be the idols and examples that their children should be admiring, instead of celebrities. The parent should lead by example and doctrine. And even though the life of the parent may or may not be a good one, their adherence to God and doctrine, sets the example by which God instructs the child.
And even though the child may not get it at their young age, they will sooner or later in life grow up and begin to have their own experiences that will bring the instructions of their younger life, to their attention.
Constant discouraging remarks, constant complaining, constant negative attitudes will serve to drive the child away from truth, and into rebellion, indifference, and any number of other undesirable attitudes.
The child is the foundation of the next generation. If the parents fail, then the next generation may fail as well. And that can domino into succeeding generations and failure in an entire society or culture. Bad, is the only result of this direction in life.
A discouraged child often loses interest in their own life. An encouraged child often will set higher goals for themselves, and pursue them.
A successful parent will teach doctrine, not lecture it, will encourage independent thinking, not attempt to drive the child in the parents desired direction, and in all cases will support the child, making themselves available for advice when it is requested, without pushing it onto the child.
A child placed in the hands of God is a far more successful person, than one who is forced into the world.
And just a quick note, in our current dispensation, the final generations (one or two or three perhaps) will most likely possess these examples of failed parenting, making each subsequent generation not look to God, but to the promise of the world.
With that, fewer and fewer will believe in Christ, building a huge population of unbelievers ready to populate the Tribulation, which the Bible indicates will be a vast population (of unbelievers) at the time of the Rapture.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Colossians 3:20
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Colossians 3:20
20 Children, [teknon] obey [hupakouo] your parents [goneus] in [kata] all things: [pas] for [gar] this [touto] is [esti] well pleasing [euarestos] unto the Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear
20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. NASB
The first level of divine establishment is the volition of each individual. What you think is what you are. As goes your thinking, so goes your life.
The second level of divine establishment is marriage. While the volition of the individual forms the cornerstone of the person, so too the marriage forms the cornerstone of the family.
The third aspect of divine establishment is the family, and as goes the family, then so goes society.
The family is the source and foundation of the childs life. What they learn within the family structure, sets the course for the rest of their life and role in society.
The child who learns the basic principles of authority, respect for elders, the willingness to learn, has a very good chance for success in life. The child, who rebels, refuses to listen, refuses to learn, and so forth, usually ends up with a very disappointing and frustrated life. The dysfunctional child, when they exist in large numbers, leads to a dysfunctional society. Crimes, gang activities, low self esteem, disorientation to life, and so forth, follow a rebellious life, whether extroverted or introverted.
Obedience is what the Bible is looking for. But this is obedience to truth, not to lies.
Obedience to truth is a smart decision, and smart decisions lead to more opportunities in life. Poor decisions remove opportunities from ones life.
The phrase, ‘in all things,’ refers of course to Biblically sound instruction, and not to ridiculous or unsound social practices, and certainly not to crimes, sin, and such.
God is well pleased when anyone, and especially children, pursue their spiritual lives. Such pursuits advance ones spiritual life, and that in turn promotes blessings from God. Truth is blessed. Lies are not.
A society sound in doctrine is a prosperous society and the foundation for peace, freedom, innovation, prosperity and so forth in all levels of society.
A society lacking doctrine, lives in the stone-age, lacks innovation, lacks productivity, lags behind everyone else, and is perpetually dysfunctional.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:20
20 Children, [teknon] obey [hupakouo] your parents [goneus] in [kata] all things: [pas] for [gar] this [touto] is [esti] well pleasing [euarestos] unto the Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear
20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. NASB
The first level of divine establishment is the volition of each individual. What you think is what you are. As goes your thinking, so goes your life.
The second level of divine establishment is marriage. While the volition of the individual forms the cornerstone of the person, so too the marriage forms the cornerstone of the family.
The third aspect of divine establishment is the family, and as goes the family, then so goes society.
The family is the source and foundation of the childs life. What they learn within the family structure, sets the course for the rest of their life and role in society.
The child who learns the basic principles of authority, respect for elders, the willingness to learn, has a very good chance for success in life. The child, who rebels, refuses to listen, refuses to learn, and so forth, usually ends up with a very disappointing and frustrated life. The dysfunctional child, when they exist in large numbers, leads to a dysfunctional society. Crimes, gang activities, low self esteem, disorientation to life, and so forth, follow a rebellious life, whether extroverted or introverted.
Obedience is what the Bible is looking for. But this is obedience to truth, not to lies.
Obedience to truth is a smart decision, and smart decisions lead to more opportunities in life. Poor decisions remove opportunities from ones life.
The phrase, ‘in all things,’ refers of course to Biblically sound instruction, and not to ridiculous or unsound social practices, and certainly not to crimes, sin, and such.
God is well pleased when anyone, and especially children, pursue their spiritual lives. Such pursuits advance ones spiritual life, and that in turn promotes blessings from God. Truth is blessed. Lies are not.
A society sound in doctrine is a prosperous society and the foundation for peace, freedom, innovation, prosperity and so forth in all levels of society.
A society lacking doctrine, lives in the stone-age, lacks innovation, lacks productivity, lags behind everyone else, and is perpetually dysfunctional.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Colossians 3:19
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Colossians 3:19
19 Husbands, [aner] love [agapao] your wives, [gune] and [kai] be [pikraino] not [me] bitter [pikraino] against [pros] them. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them. NASB
I need to add a note to yesterday’s study. The word for ‘subject,’ means to demonstrate respect, the type of respect demanded by those who approach a judge in a court of law. That is the command to the wife regarding her relationship with her husband.
That is intended to eliminate ridicule, complaints, inordinate competitiveness, gossip, even attempts to withhold ones self from her husband, criticism, and disrespect. All of which can lead to a failed marriage.
Here Paul uses love in the form of the principles of truth, in the husbands relationship with his wife.
The man, generally being the more forceful of the couple, may have inclinations of violence, intimidation, self centeredness, selfishness, ‘boss’ syndrome, ‘know it all’ syndrome, and so forth.
The burden of principle is placed on the male part of the marriage, more so than respect, although respect is certainly a part of truth. However, the man who is given the dominant role, is also given the greater responsibility.
And one of those responsibilities is tolerance. And if you have been married for any length of time, then you, gentlemen, certainly have run up against times when your relationship has been difficult. I think the use of the word, difficult, can keep me out of trouble – for a while anyway.
While both man and woman are bound by the principles of doctrine, here the emphasis is on respect for the wife, and tolerance for the man.
Christ administered both of these principles toward humanity. He respects mans right to decide, even if the decisions are wrong, and Christ also tolerated the behavior of humanity, even when humanity hoisted Him up on the Cross and executed Him.
Both principles can push the respective parties to the edge, emotionally. But with doctrine, self discipline of self control is possible.
Without doctrine, then we see society with liberal minded women and abusive minded men, and an endless array of failures in society.
Only through the principles of doctrine, can a society manage itself. Without it, social decay is inevitable. And the proper marriage is the centerpiece of a stable society.
And you will certainly see public and private attacks on the institution of marriage, because being a part of Gods divine principles of establishment, Satan, has to dilute, discredit and destroy marriage. As he does with all principle categories of establishment.
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Colossians 3:19
19 Husbands, [aner] love [agapao] your wives, [gune] and [kai] be [pikraino] not [me] bitter [pikraino] against [pros] them. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them. NASB
I need to add a note to yesterday’s study. The word for ‘subject,’ means to demonstrate respect, the type of respect demanded by those who approach a judge in a court of law. That is the command to the wife regarding her relationship with her husband.
That is intended to eliminate ridicule, complaints, inordinate competitiveness, gossip, even attempts to withhold ones self from her husband, criticism, and disrespect. All of which can lead to a failed marriage.
Here Paul uses love in the form of the principles of truth, in the husbands relationship with his wife.
The man, generally being the more forceful of the couple, may have inclinations of violence, intimidation, self centeredness, selfishness, ‘boss’ syndrome, ‘know it all’ syndrome, and so forth.
The burden of principle is placed on the male part of the marriage, more so than respect, although respect is certainly a part of truth. However, the man who is given the dominant role, is also given the greater responsibility.
And one of those responsibilities is tolerance. And if you have been married for any length of time, then you, gentlemen, certainly have run up against times when your relationship has been difficult. I think the use of the word, difficult, can keep me out of trouble – for a while anyway.
While both man and woman are bound by the principles of doctrine, here the emphasis is on respect for the wife, and tolerance for the man.
Christ administered both of these principles toward humanity. He respects mans right to decide, even if the decisions are wrong, and Christ also tolerated the behavior of humanity, even when humanity hoisted Him up on the Cross and executed Him.
Both principles can push the respective parties to the edge, emotionally. But with doctrine, self discipline of self control is possible.
Without doctrine, then we see society with liberal minded women and abusive minded men, and an endless array of failures in society.
Only through the principles of doctrine, can a society manage itself. Without it, social decay is inevitable. And the proper marriage is the centerpiece of a stable society.
And you will certainly see public and private attacks on the institution of marriage, because being a part of Gods divine principles of establishment, Satan, has to dilute, discredit and destroy marriage. As he does with all principle categories of establishment.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Colossians 3:18
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Colossians 3:18
18 Wives, [gune] submit yourselves [hupotasso] unto your own [idios] husbands, [aner] as [hos] it is fit [aneko] in [en] the Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear
18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. NASB
Social structure is one of the key ingredients to a stable society. Without it, chaos exists and tyranny reigns, and suffering is the only thing that anyone will have to look forward to.
Bible doctrine is truth. Anything else is not truth, or a lie.
The scriptures present social order through several mechanisms of social conduct, morals, norms and standards, and practices that promote a stable environment in which everyone can live a reasonable life.
Apart from doctrine, there is no such thing as social order, no such thing as legitimate norms and standards, no such thing as socially acceptable practices, because in the carnal world everything becomes relative. Whoever is in power, sets up the rules, and rules from the carnal world are always evil.
Without Bible doctrine, amorality exists. There are no absolute ethical or moral standards by which society is governed. Without Bible doctrine, people become anonymous, without identities. Without Bible doctrine, people become alienated, distant, even hostile.
Without Bible doctrine, inordinate competitiveness rises, pitting one person against another. And when this occurs, especially within families, then the family structure breaks down and everyone loses, especially the children. Office politics, insubordination, back stabbing and so forth, can destroy an organization.
And although no one individual is better or worse than any other, after all we are all specks of dust, then can one speck of dust be better than another?
However, the perpetuation of human history depends on some sort of order and structure, and God here, commands that order.
The directions in these verses to wives, husbands, children, parents, servants, and masters, are given here not to make one party better than another, but to instill cooperation among people, so that life is better for all.
But these commands are to be applied and consistent with Gods will, not taken advantage of by opportunists attempting to use them in order to control others.
A family can have only one master. Two cooks, two chiefs, make for arguments and disaster.
Paul begins with wives, to be subject, to their husbands. This is not a slave relationship, nor a dictator relationship, but one of cooperation and deference and respect, in contrast with competitiveness and control.
Any good organization leader seeks advice from his subordinates and any good organization leader delegates roles to subordinates. But in any good organization, the people at the top have to get along and work toward a common goal. Selfish interests had to have been left at the door, when the organization was started. And when two people get married, their individual interests must disappear, while their joint and new interests are brought to the forefront of their marriage.
And when children enter into the picture, well then, all adult interests disappear altogether. That is, if the adults are truly grown up, and mature to any extent.
The husband and wife form the basis for a stable society, and both must understand marriage, and each other, and place their own interests behind them, and certainly not compete for authority over the family. Far too often immature or selfish people get married, and that leads to divorce.
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Colossians 3:18
18 Wives, [gune] submit yourselves [hupotasso] unto your own [idios] husbands, [aner] as [hos] it is fit [aneko] in [en] the Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear
18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. NASB
Social structure is one of the key ingredients to a stable society. Without it, chaos exists and tyranny reigns, and suffering is the only thing that anyone will have to look forward to.
Bible doctrine is truth. Anything else is not truth, or a lie.
The scriptures present social order through several mechanisms of social conduct, morals, norms and standards, and practices that promote a stable environment in which everyone can live a reasonable life.
Apart from doctrine, there is no such thing as social order, no such thing as legitimate norms and standards, no such thing as socially acceptable practices, because in the carnal world everything becomes relative. Whoever is in power, sets up the rules, and rules from the carnal world are always evil.
Without Bible doctrine, amorality exists. There are no absolute ethical or moral standards by which society is governed. Without Bible doctrine, people become anonymous, without identities. Without Bible doctrine, people become alienated, distant, even hostile.
Without Bible doctrine, inordinate competitiveness rises, pitting one person against another. And when this occurs, especially within families, then the family structure breaks down and everyone loses, especially the children. Office politics, insubordination, back stabbing and so forth, can destroy an organization.
And although no one individual is better or worse than any other, after all we are all specks of dust, then can one speck of dust be better than another?
However, the perpetuation of human history depends on some sort of order and structure, and God here, commands that order.
The directions in these verses to wives, husbands, children, parents, servants, and masters, are given here not to make one party better than another, but to instill cooperation among people, so that life is better for all.
But these commands are to be applied and consistent with Gods will, not taken advantage of by opportunists attempting to use them in order to control others.
A family can have only one master. Two cooks, two chiefs, make for arguments and disaster.
Paul begins with wives, to be subject, to their husbands. This is not a slave relationship, nor a dictator relationship, but one of cooperation and deference and respect, in contrast with competitiveness and control.
Any good organization leader seeks advice from his subordinates and any good organization leader delegates roles to subordinates. But in any good organization, the people at the top have to get along and work toward a common goal. Selfish interests had to have been left at the door, when the organization was started. And when two people get married, their individual interests must disappear, while their joint and new interests are brought to the forefront of their marriage.
And when children enter into the picture, well then, all adult interests disappear altogether. That is, if the adults are truly grown up, and mature to any extent.
The husband and wife form the basis for a stable society, and both must understand marriage, and each other, and place their own interests behind them, and certainly not compete for authority over the family. Far too often immature or selfish people get married, and that leads to divorce.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Colossians 3:17
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Colossians 3:17
17 And [kai] whatsoever [hostis] [pas] ye do [an] [poieo] in [en] word [logos] or [e] [en] deed, [ergon] do all [pas] in [en] the name [onoma] of the Lord [kurios] Jesus, [Iesous] giving thanks [eucharisteo] to God [theos] and [kai] the Father [pater] by [dia] him. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. NASB
Paul has mentioned that you should commit your thoughts, and words and deeds, in short, all of your life, in pursuit of your spiritual life.
Your temporal life exists on this earth for only a short time, perhaps several decades. But since you were born, your life will continue on and on forever, and ever, and will never end.
The only question is where you will be spending your life.
Once you have believed in Christ, your eternal life will be in Heaven rather than the Lake of Fire.
Since your life here in this world is temporary and only a few decades of duration, and since your eternal life will last forever, now here is a trick question, which portion of your life will be the longest?
How does that music go? Da da, da da, da da daaa! And the answer is??? What is eternity?
You are sooo smart.
Since your eternal portion of your life is the longest, then should you prepare for that portion, or concentrate only on the short portion of your life? Should you invest on the longer or the shorter aspects of your life? Should you seek to serve good or evil, during your life? Should you prefer to please God or Satan, in your life? Which of these practices, benefit your life more?
In this carnal life, whatever the world accomplishes or gifts to you, will be temporary at its very best, and lost entirely when you leave this world.
In your spiritual life, whatever God accomplishes or gifts to you, will be infinite and more, and will be with you forever.
Pursuing things in this world is like betting on a dead horse. You cannot ever win.
Pursuing the spiritual aspects of your life, is like betting on a horse that has won already. You cannot ever lose.
So, pursue your life within the sphere of the spiritual realm, which is by means of Christ, or doctrine, and since your life, given to you by God, has provided you with a phenomenal future, then give thanks, in everything, to the Father, who is the highest authority or representative of the highest level of existence, sought after by everyone in all religions, philosophies, cults and so forth. But beyond their reach because Christ (whom they reject) is the only means of access to the Father, which is the foundation (Christ) of Christianity. Setting it apart from all others.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:17
17 And [kai] whatsoever [hostis] [pas] ye do [an] [poieo] in [en] word [logos] or [e] [en] deed, [ergon] do all [pas] in [en] the name [onoma] of the Lord [kurios] Jesus, [Iesous] giving thanks [eucharisteo] to God [theos] and [kai] the Father [pater] by [dia] him. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. NASB
Paul has mentioned that you should commit your thoughts, and words and deeds, in short, all of your life, in pursuit of your spiritual life.
Your temporal life exists on this earth for only a short time, perhaps several decades. But since you were born, your life will continue on and on forever, and ever, and will never end.
The only question is where you will be spending your life.
Once you have believed in Christ, your eternal life will be in Heaven rather than the Lake of Fire.
Since your life here in this world is temporary and only a few decades of duration, and since your eternal life will last forever, now here is a trick question, which portion of your life will be the longest?
How does that music go? Da da, da da, da da daaa! And the answer is??? What is eternity?
You are sooo smart.
Since your eternal portion of your life is the longest, then should you prepare for that portion, or concentrate only on the short portion of your life? Should you invest on the longer or the shorter aspects of your life? Should you seek to serve good or evil, during your life? Should you prefer to please God or Satan, in your life? Which of these practices, benefit your life more?
In this carnal life, whatever the world accomplishes or gifts to you, will be temporary at its very best, and lost entirely when you leave this world.
In your spiritual life, whatever God accomplishes or gifts to you, will be infinite and more, and will be with you forever.
Pursuing things in this world is like betting on a dead horse. You cannot ever win.
Pursuing the spiritual aspects of your life, is like betting on a horse that has won already. You cannot ever lose.
So, pursue your life within the sphere of the spiritual realm, which is by means of Christ, or doctrine, and since your life, given to you by God, has provided you with a phenomenal future, then give thanks, in everything, to the Father, who is the highest authority or representative of the highest level of existence, sought after by everyone in all religions, philosophies, cults and so forth. But beyond their reach because Christ (whom they reject) is the only means of access to the Father, which is the foundation (Christ) of Christianity. Setting it apart from all others.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Colossians 3:16
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:16
16 Let [enoikeo] the word [logos] of Christ [Christos] dwell [enoikeo] in [en] you [humin] richly [plousios] in [en] all [pas] wisdom; [sophia] teaching [didasko] and [kai] admonishing [noutheteo] one another [heautou] in psalms [psalmos] and [kai] hymns [humnos] and [kai] spiritual [pneumatikos] songs, [ode] singing [ado] with [en] grace [charis] in [en] your [humon] hearts [kardia] to the Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. NASB
The word of Christ is not limited to the gospel, but applies to the entire content of the scriptures. The Bible is said to be the mind of Christ. Christ is said to be the living word. So both the Lord and the words written in the Bible, are synonymous with each other.
The content of the Bible is often called Bible doctrine, to embrace all of its teachings. That teaching is to reside within your hearts, which comes only through a consistent and daily study of the scriptures.
The heart is the pump in the human body which continuously moves the blood through the body, and in similar fashion, the heart of the soul is symbolic of doctrine moving constantly through your soul, coordinating your thoughts, intentions, words and actions. To govern your entire life in other words.
With all wisdom, means the information that is beyond the elementary learning stage, and advances to ones understanding and usefulness of doctrine in ones life.
Teaching is instruction. Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing refer to the mental attitude within your soul. Certainly folks will sing songs with music and lyrics and such, but often in the ancient world, instruction and the repetition of instruction was taught through the use of songs and memorization.
Remember that they did not have radio or internet or any of our modern printed or writing material, as we have now.
But, as anyone can learn a song or memorize a verse, then the intent here is to help you to understand that the content of the Bible, when it so saturates your soul and thoughts, then becomes music within your mind.
You may not be able to sing a note of music, but within your soul, you can sing praises and thankfulness’s, and appreciations, from within your thoughts, with deep feelings and emotions, that spoken words simply cannot express.
In times of stress, in times of prosperity, in times of despair, in times of happiness, in times that vary with the seasons, you will sooner or later, turn your mind heavenward, and thank God for your very existence, even while requesting relief through your ordeal, or in appreciation for some good fortune.
Remember that this is the devils world, and it is His intention, through evil, to make you fail.
And it is Gods intention to make you succeed.
God may allow you to be taken even up to the brink of destruction, but if your soul is saturated with doctrine, then your life will be stabilized, and your future sound.
By committing yourself to a daily study, you are in effect complying with the mandate of study, that all believers are given, whether you are alone in your studies or with others.
Therefore, study, learn, comply, and grow, while residing in the fellowship sphere, and your heart will begin to pump His views throughout your soul, and the music in your soul will be one of truth.
And that type of music, no one can duplicate with any voice or instrument, anywhere in this world. It belongs to the soul and is heard only there. In order to hear it, you have to advance in your spiritual life. And only then will you experience some of the hidden secrets of truth.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:16
16 Let [enoikeo] the word [logos] of Christ [Christos] dwell [enoikeo] in [en] you [humin] richly [plousios] in [en] all [pas] wisdom; [sophia] teaching [didasko] and [kai] admonishing [noutheteo] one another [heautou] in psalms [psalmos] and [kai] hymns [humnos] and [kai] spiritual [pneumatikos] songs, [ode] singing [ado] with [en] grace [charis] in [en] your [humon] hearts [kardia] to the Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. NASB
The word of Christ is not limited to the gospel, but applies to the entire content of the scriptures. The Bible is said to be the mind of Christ. Christ is said to be the living word. So both the Lord and the words written in the Bible, are synonymous with each other.
The content of the Bible is often called Bible doctrine, to embrace all of its teachings. That teaching is to reside within your hearts, which comes only through a consistent and daily study of the scriptures.
The heart is the pump in the human body which continuously moves the blood through the body, and in similar fashion, the heart of the soul is symbolic of doctrine moving constantly through your soul, coordinating your thoughts, intentions, words and actions. To govern your entire life in other words.
With all wisdom, means the information that is beyond the elementary learning stage, and advances to ones understanding and usefulness of doctrine in ones life.
Teaching is instruction. Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing refer to the mental attitude within your soul. Certainly folks will sing songs with music and lyrics and such, but often in the ancient world, instruction and the repetition of instruction was taught through the use of songs and memorization.
Remember that they did not have radio or internet or any of our modern printed or writing material, as we have now.
But, as anyone can learn a song or memorize a verse, then the intent here is to help you to understand that the content of the Bible, when it so saturates your soul and thoughts, then becomes music within your mind.
You may not be able to sing a note of music, but within your soul, you can sing praises and thankfulness’s, and appreciations, from within your thoughts, with deep feelings and emotions, that spoken words simply cannot express.
In times of stress, in times of prosperity, in times of despair, in times of happiness, in times that vary with the seasons, you will sooner or later, turn your mind heavenward, and thank God for your very existence, even while requesting relief through your ordeal, or in appreciation for some good fortune.
Remember that this is the devils world, and it is His intention, through evil, to make you fail.
And it is Gods intention to make you succeed.
God may allow you to be taken even up to the brink of destruction, but if your soul is saturated with doctrine, then your life will be stabilized, and your future sound.
By committing yourself to a daily study, you are in effect complying with the mandate of study, that all believers are given, whether you are alone in your studies or with others.
Therefore, study, learn, comply, and grow, while residing in the fellowship sphere, and your heart will begin to pump His views throughout your soul, and the music in your soul will be one of truth.
And that type of music, no one can duplicate with any voice or instrument, anywhere in this world. It belongs to the soul and is heard only there. In order to hear it, you have to advance in your spiritual life. And only then will you experience some of the hidden secrets of truth.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Colossians 3:15
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:15
15 And [kai] let [brabeuo] the peace [eirene] of God [theos] rule [brabeuo] in [en] your [humon] hearts, [kardia] to [eis] the which [hos] also [kai] ye are called [kaleo] in [en] one [heis] body; [soma] and [kai] be ye [ginomai] thankful. [eucharistos] KJV-Interlinear
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. NASB
Peace, is the sum total of the environment that is developed or constructed within your soul, when you have grown up spiritually. It is the armor, the fortress, the temple, the palace, the muscle in your soul that gives you strength and stability in your life.
But here it is referred to with one additional characteristic, and that is rule, or rulership.
This type of rule is ascribed to those who sit in judgment, or who preside over others, in order to preserve order and allow the activities to run smoothly.
In the competitions of the ancient world, there were those who coordinated and ruled and made decisions regarding disagreements or issues where a decision had to be made in order to determine an outcome.
Did the race end in a tie, or was one runner ahead of the other by a nose or arm or whatever? Was the throw out of bounds or in bounds? Did the competitor commit a foul? Was the goal made or missed?
Phil. 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard [garrison] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NASB
The peace of God is the sum total of all that you have learned, and comprehended and come to understand, and has transformed its content to a form of wisdom within your soul. And it is that wisdom or set of guidelines or rules, that you are to use in your life, to exercise self-control over your own life, moment to moment, day to day, throughout your entire life.
Peace is the comfort level, whereby you have a clear view of life, and of the issues within your life, and peace is the decision maker by which you are to listen to, and follow its instructions. Instructions, by the way, which you order yourself to follow. It is the foundation for your own self-discipline in life.
Peace, is the means of your self control. Peace comes only from the learning of Bible doctrine, and the spiritual growth it promotes. Peace comes only through ones advancement in the spiritual life.
And note one important thing here, if there is no peace, there is no self control. True self control belongs only to the spiritual life. The carnal life possesses no self control, in that it is a form of slavery to the sin nature which rules your life, not you.
Eph. 4:4-6
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. NASB
Note here too. There is but one peace, which increases through advancement and attainment of spiritual maturity.
The one body, is a reference to all of the components that go into the make-up of the believer in Christ. His life, his growth, the foundation building blocks (doctrine) of one’s spiritual life and of one’s temporal life.
There is one God, the Father, who authored one divine plan, and one Spirit who powers that plan, and one Son who executes that plan, and one doctrine through which we have access to that plan and so forth.
Christianity is one full and complete and comprehensive plan by which God has created creatures from dust (humanity), and has established a means by which this dust can inherit the new universe and heaven.
And if you really think about it, that is a pretty awesome accomplishment. And you are, or can be, an active and productive part of that plan.
But you have to pay attention to doctrine, learn it, grow up, and then use the doctrine within your soul, to call the shots of your life.
The Christian life is not one of indecision, or vacillation, but one of confidence and certainty.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:15
15 And [kai] let [brabeuo] the peace [eirene] of God [theos] rule [brabeuo] in [en] your [humon] hearts, [kardia] to [eis] the which [hos] also [kai] ye are called [kaleo] in [en] one [heis] body; [soma] and [kai] be ye [ginomai] thankful. [eucharistos] KJV-Interlinear
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. NASB
Peace, is the sum total of the environment that is developed or constructed within your soul, when you have grown up spiritually. It is the armor, the fortress, the temple, the palace, the muscle in your soul that gives you strength and stability in your life.
But here it is referred to with one additional characteristic, and that is rule, or rulership.
This type of rule is ascribed to those who sit in judgment, or who preside over others, in order to preserve order and allow the activities to run smoothly.
In the competitions of the ancient world, there were those who coordinated and ruled and made decisions regarding disagreements or issues where a decision had to be made in order to determine an outcome.
Did the race end in a tie, or was one runner ahead of the other by a nose or arm or whatever? Was the throw out of bounds or in bounds? Did the competitor commit a foul? Was the goal made or missed?
Phil. 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard [garrison] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NASB
The peace of God is the sum total of all that you have learned, and comprehended and come to understand, and has transformed its content to a form of wisdom within your soul. And it is that wisdom or set of guidelines or rules, that you are to use in your life, to exercise self-control over your own life, moment to moment, day to day, throughout your entire life.
Peace is the comfort level, whereby you have a clear view of life, and of the issues within your life, and peace is the decision maker by which you are to listen to, and follow its instructions. Instructions, by the way, which you order yourself to follow. It is the foundation for your own self-discipline in life.
Peace, is the means of your self control. Peace comes only from the learning of Bible doctrine, and the spiritual growth it promotes. Peace comes only through ones advancement in the spiritual life.
And note one important thing here, if there is no peace, there is no self control. True self control belongs only to the spiritual life. The carnal life possesses no self control, in that it is a form of slavery to the sin nature which rules your life, not you.
Eph. 4:4-6
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. NASB
Note here too. There is but one peace, which increases through advancement and attainment of spiritual maturity.
The one body, is a reference to all of the components that go into the make-up of the believer in Christ. His life, his growth, the foundation building blocks (doctrine) of one’s spiritual life and of one’s temporal life.
There is one God, the Father, who authored one divine plan, and one Spirit who powers that plan, and one Son who executes that plan, and one doctrine through which we have access to that plan and so forth.
Christianity is one full and complete and comprehensive plan by which God has created creatures from dust (humanity), and has established a means by which this dust can inherit the new universe and heaven.
And if you really think about it, that is a pretty awesome accomplishment. And you are, or can be, an active and productive part of that plan.
But you have to pay attention to doctrine, learn it, grow up, and then use the doctrine within your soul, to call the shots of your life.
The Christian life is not one of indecision, or vacillation, but one of confidence and certainty.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Colossians 3:14
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:14
14 And [de] above [epi] all [pas] these things [toutois] put on charity, [agape] which [hostis] is [esti] the bond [sundesmos] of perfectness. [teleiotes] KJV-Interlinear
14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. NASB
There are basically three words used for love – ‘phileo,’ ‘agapao,’ and ‘eros.’
The first, ‘phileo,’ deals with the feelings of the heart. It connotes more of the emotional responses or reactions to something or someone, such as between a parent and child, or between friends, or even when listening to moving music or viewing a scenic wonder.
The third word, ‘eros,’ deals with the intimate relations that exist between married couples, or people in general.
The second word, ‘agapao,’ deals with the principles and policies, that form the basis for relationships, tolerance, and so forth, between God and man, between people, or between people and things.
This verse deals with the second word for love, which is the content of the scriptures.
The Word of God, is the glue, the material, the substance by which the perfect and complete life are constructed.
We have been commanded to pursue doctrine which is the content of the scriptures, and in so doing, knit together our life in order to form a complete life within ourselves, and to create a perfect bond or relationship or orientation between ourselves and God, and life, and people, and everything that makes up reality.
Bible doctrine is the ingredient which unites, and knits, and bonds, and completes ones life and total self existence.
Learning academically, anything and everything that exists in the world, is not enough. There are two sides of truth – the spiritual side and the temporal side. The temporal side is inadequate and cannot peer into the spiritual side of life.
The spiritual side in the only side that permits you to see and understand, all that is.
Just as our current life is virtually nothing when compared to eternity, so to, temporal knowledge and wisdom amount to virtually nothing, when compared to the vastness of spiritual knowledge and wisdom.
Without doctrine in your soul, you will never amount to anything.
Without obedience to the mandates of doctrine, you will never be productive.
The spiritual life requires both desire to learn, obedience to its obligations, and consistency in its application to your life. Without this, you can never accomplish a fulfillment of your life as defined and designed by God.
And without advancement to spiritual maturity, you will never achieve your full potential in life.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:14
14 And [de] above [epi] all [pas] these things [toutois] put on charity, [agape] which [hostis] is [esti] the bond [sundesmos] of perfectness. [teleiotes] KJV-Interlinear
14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. NASB
There are basically three words used for love – ‘phileo,’ ‘agapao,’ and ‘eros.’
The first, ‘phileo,’ deals with the feelings of the heart. It connotes more of the emotional responses or reactions to something or someone, such as between a parent and child, or between friends, or even when listening to moving music or viewing a scenic wonder.
The third word, ‘eros,’ deals with the intimate relations that exist between married couples, or people in general.
The second word, ‘agapao,’ deals with the principles and policies, that form the basis for relationships, tolerance, and so forth, between God and man, between people, or between people and things.
This verse deals with the second word for love, which is the content of the scriptures.
The Word of God, is the glue, the material, the substance by which the perfect and complete life are constructed.
We have been commanded to pursue doctrine which is the content of the scriptures, and in so doing, knit together our life in order to form a complete life within ourselves, and to create a perfect bond or relationship or orientation between ourselves and God, and life, and people, and everything that makes up reality.
Bible doctrine is the ingredient which unites, and knits, and bonds, and completes ones life and total self existence.
Learning academically, anything and everything that exists in the world, is not enough. There are two sides of truth – the spiritual side and the temporal side. The temporal side is inadequate and cannot peer into the spiritual side of life.
The spiritual side in the only side that permits you to see and understand, all that is.
Just as our current life is virtually nothing when compared to eternity, so to, temporal knowledge and wisdom amount to virtually nothing, when compared to the vastness of spiritual knowledge and wisdom.
Without doctrine in your soul, you will never amount to anything.
Without obedience to the mandates of doctrine, you will never be productive.
The spiritual life requires both desire to learn, obedience to its obligations, and consistency in its application to your life. Without this, you can never accomplish a fulfillment of your life as defined and designed by God.
And without advancement to spiritual maturity, you will never achieve your full potential in life.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Colossians 3:13
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:13
13 Forbearing [anechomai] one another, [allelon] and [kai] forgiving [charizomai] one another, [heautou] if [ean] any man [tis] have [echo] a quarrel [momphe] against [pros] any: [tis] even as [kathos] [kai] Christ [Christos] forgave [charizomai] you, [humin] so [houto] also [kai] do ye. [humeis] KJV-Interlinear
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. NASB
Because of what you have learned. Because everything that you have comes from the Lord. Because everything that you are or have is courtesy of Gods grace.
Because your entire future blessings are so vast. Because there is nothing that you can do in this life to earn or deserve anything.
Because any and all obedience toward God gains you everything imaginable and more.
Because you understand, or should understand, that this world is the devils world and as such, designed to cheat you out of anything and everything, even by placing you in an unfair position or placing you in an elite position.
Because you understand that this world and all of its contents are temporary at best, that things will and do break, that things will not and do not hold up to expectations.
Because you understand that all of your best made plans and expectations, hopes and dreams, for this world, most likely will not occur as you would wish them to.
Then, because of all of these things and more, you should never get upset, never hold a grudge, never sit in judgment against another, never complain, and certainly never worry.
Your life and your future are far greater than anything that you can even begin, repeat, even begin to imagine from this world.
We can look around and see people with extreme beauty. We can look around this world and see people with vast riches and wealth. We can look around this world and see people with unbelievable intellect, talents and abilities, even savants who possess talents that seem to be superhuman.
If you alone, possessed all of these characteristics, talents, and possessions, these things would not even collectively, begin to match the blessings that await you in heaven.
And by committing sins habitually, by committing sins just because you get tired or angry, or upset, or just because you get frustrated or worried or afraid, or by assuming an indifferent attitude, then you stand to lose blessings whose value you and no one can even begin to calculate.
Is losing a fortune, because an emotional reaction, or desire to hurt someone, worth it? And especially when you gain nothing by thinking or doing whatever it is that you do from within the carnal world!
Is losing a fortune, worth holding a grudge?
Is losing a fortune, worth gossiping about someone?
Is losing a fortune, worth getting angry when you have been cheated?
Is losing a fortune, worth getting even?
Would you prefer to hold on to your carnal nature, knowing that you risk losing everything?
Christ created all living things, even knowing before hand, that all living creatures would reject Him.
Christ went to the Cross knowing that humanity would reject Him.
Christ established a divine plan knowing that humanity, would fail miserably at every turn in history, and fail in the individual lives of each and every person.
Christ paid the ultimate price for humanity, who could not and did not earn or deserve His help.
And Christ offered forgiveness to anyone and everyone, who would believe, at the point of salvation, and He even offers forgiveness to any believer, who, after salvation, sins and acknowledges their sins (confession).
Now, man (male and female), are formed out of the dust of this earth. The word for dust is ‘adam.’ This is no ordinary dust, but the most useless dust, out of all types of dust.
Therefore, being a speck of dust, a speck of useless dust, then how can we look at life with impunity, with arrogance, with complaints, with self-righteousness’s, and expect that we know it all, or deserve better?
How can we bring harm to anyone, knowing that all that we have, comes from God and not from this world? That everything that we do, in defiance toward God, serves to cause our loss of greater things?
So, wouldn’t it be far greater to forgive, to forget, to hold no grudges, to lodge no complaints, to terminate our attempts to advance ourselves at the expense of others?
And even if we get taken advantage of by people, by circumstances, by this world, we can look to God, through Christ, and know that He will always be there and our life and future is absolutely and completely secure.
And, that we have the opportunity, in Christ, to advance ourselves to blessings beyond imagination. Something that we can not, nor ever will, be able to obtain from this world.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:13
13 Forbearing [anechomai] one another, [allelon] and [kai] forgiving [charizomai] one another, [heautou] if [ean] any man [tis] have [echo] a quarrel [momphe] against [pros] any: [tis] even as [kathos] [kai] Christ [Christos] forgave [charizomai] you, [humin] so [houto] also [kai] do ye. [humeis] KJV-Interlinear
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. NASB
Because of what you have learned. Because everything that you have comes from the Lord. Because everything that you are or have is courtesy of Gods grace.
Because your entire future blessings are so vast. Because there is nothing that you can do in this life to earn or deserve anything.
Because any and all obedience toward God gains you everything imaginable and more.
Because you understand, or should understand, that this world is the devils world and as such, designed to cheat you out of anything and everything, even by placing you in an unfair position or placing you in an elite position.
Because you understand that this world and all of its contents are temporary at best, that things will and do break, that things will not and do not hold up to expectations.
Because you understand that all of your best made plans and expectations, hopes and dreams, for this world, most likely will not occur as you would wish them to.
Then, because of all of these things and more, you should never get upset, never hold a grudge, never sit in judgment against another, never complain, and certainly never worry.
Your life and your future are far greater than anything that you can even begin, repeat, even begin to imagine from this world.
We can look around and see people with extreme beauty. We can look around this world and see people with vast riches and wealth. We can look around this world and see people with unbelievable intellect, talents and abilities, even savants who possess talents that seem to be superhuman.
If you alone, possessed all of these characteristics, talents, and possessions, these things would not even collectively, begin to match the blessings that await you in heaven.
And by committing sins habitually, by committing sins just because you get tired or angry, or upset, or just because you get frustrated or worried or afraid, or by assuming an indifferent attitude, then you stand to lose blessings whose value you and no one can even begin to calculate.
Is losing a fortune, because an emotional reaction, or desire to hurt someone, worth it? And especially when you gain nothing by thinking or doing whatever it is that you do from within the carnal world!
Is losing a fortune, worth holding a grudge?
Is losing a fortune, worth gossiping about someone?
Is losing a fortune, worth getting angry when you have been cheated?
Is losing a fortune, worth getting even?
Would you prefer to hold on to your carnal nature, knowing that you risk losing everything?
Christ created all living things, even knowing before hand, that all living creatures would reject Him.
Christ went to the Cross knowing that humanity would reject Him.
Christ established a divine plan knowing that humanity, would fail miserably at every turn in history, and fail in the individual lives of each and every person.
Christ paid the ultimate price for humanity, who could not and did not earn or deserve His help.
And Christ offered forgiveness to anyone and everyone, who would believe, at the point of salvation, and He even offers forgiveness to any believer, who, after salvation, sins and acknowledges their sins (confession).
Now, man (male and female), are formed out of the dust of this earth. The word for dust is ‘adam.’ This is no ordinary dust, but the most useless dust, out of all types of dust.
Therefore, being a speck of dust, a speck of useless dust, then how can we look at life with impunity, with arrogance, with complaints, with self-righteousness’s, and expect that we know it all, or deserve better?
How can we bring harm to anyone, knowing that all that we have, comes from God and not from this world? That everything that we do, in defiance toward God, serves to cause our loss of greater things?
So, wouldn’t it be far greater to forgive, to forget, to hold no grudges, to lodge no complaints, to terminate our attempts to advance ourselves at the expense of others?
And even if we get taken advantage of by people, by circumstances, by this world, we can look to God, through Christ, and know that He will always be there and our life and future is absolutely and completely secure.
And, that we have the opportunity, in Christ, to advance ourselves to blessings beyond imagination. Something that we can not, nor ever will, be able to obtain from this world.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Colossians 3:12
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:12
12 Put on [enduo] therefore, [oun] as [hos] the elect [eklektos] of God, [theos] holy [hagios] and [kai] beloved, [agapao] bowels [splagchnon] of mercies, [oiktirmos] kindness, [chrestotes] humbleness of mind, [tapeinophrosune] meekness, [praotes] longsuffering; [makrothumia] KJV-Interlinear
12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; NASB
Because there is neither distinction between rich man or poor, one cultural verses another, or any other concept of earthly difference, and because there is only one source of wisdom and power and blessing and life, and because there is a future, a destiny which exceeds the imagination and far, far beyond even that, and because it is easily available to you, then do the following.
Put on, as you would a suit of clothing, a body suit, a set of clothes that completely cover your entire being from head to toe, and use this metaphor or symbol to put on your spiritual life within and around and over and under and through your soul.
Eph. 1:4
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love NASB
You were in Gods mind in eternity past, before anything or anyone ever came into existence. God thought about the entirety of creation, and He thought about you as an individual.
God looked down through the tunnel of time and saw your positive response to the gospel, and therein elected you into His personal family, because of your free-will faith in Christ.
Every person has the opportunity to believe in Christ. Unfortunately most will not.
But for those who do, salvation and a future residence on heaven is only the beginning. Beyond salvation, is spiritual growth to maturity and beyond that lies blessings that are incomprehensible.
But, you have to grow up. You cannot refuse doctrine and refuse your spiritual life, and refuse to grow up, and cling to the things of this world, and expect the blessings of maturity while still a child.
Therefore, you must grow up, and in so doing, you put on, clothe yourself with doctrine, daily, and apply it daily to your life, and obey Gods mandates, and follow His principles.
You take on the new you, the new attitudes from truth including but certainly not limited to empathy, and compassion, and kindness and honesty, in contrast to deceit, or taking advantage, or indifference.
For those latter things win you tangible things of this earth, which are temporary at their very best, and lost permanently when you leave this earth, which you will.
Your transformation requires a total restructuring of your mind. Something that you do voluntarily and without coercion. And, you accomplish it simply by studying doctrine on a daily basis. God does all of the hard work.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:12
12 Put on [enduo] therefore, [oun] as [hos] the elect [eklektos] of God, [theos] holy [hagios] and [kai] beloved, [agapao] bowels [splagchnon] of mercies, [oiktirmos] kindness, [chrestotes] humbleness of mind, [tapeinophrosune] meekness, [praotes] longsuffering; [makrothumia] KJV-Interlinear
12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; NASB
Because there is neither distinction between rich man or poor, one cultural verses another, or any other concept of earthly difference, and because there is only one source of wisdom and power and blessing and life, and because there is a future, a destiny which exceeds the imagination and far, far beyond even that, and because it is easily available to you, then do the following.
Put on, as you would a suit of clothing, a body suit, a set of clothes that completely cover your entire being from head to toe, and use this metaphor or symbol to put on your spiritual life within and around and over and under and through your soul.
Eph. 1:4
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love NASB
You were in Gods mind in eternity past, before anything or anyone ever came into existence. God thought about the entirety of creation, and He thought about you as an individual.
God looked down through the tunnel of time and saw your positive response to the gospel, and therein elected you into His personal family, because of your free-will faith in Christ.
Every person has the opportunity to believe in Christ. Unfortunately most will not.
But for those who do, salvation and a future residence on heaven is only the beginning. Beyond salvation, is spiritual growth to maturity and beyond that lies blessings that are incomprehensible.
But, you have to grow up. You cannot refuse doctrine and refuse your spiritual life, and refuse to grow up, and cling to the things of this world, and expect the blessings of maturity while still a child.
Therefore, you must grow up, and in so doing, you put on, clothe yourself with doctrine, daily, and apply it daily to your life, and obey Gods mandates, and follow His principles.
You take on the new you, the new attitudes from truth including but certainly not limited to empathy, and compassion, and kindness and honesty, in contrast to deceit, or taking advantage, or indifference.
For those latter things win you tangible things of this earth, which are temporary at their very best, and lost permanently when you leave this earth, which you will.
Your transformation requires a total restructuring of your mind. Something that you do voluntarily and without coercion. And, you accomplish it simply by studying doctrine on a daily basis. God does all of the hard work.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Colossians 3:11
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:11
11 Where [hopou] there is [eni] neither [ou] Greek [Hellen] nor [kai] Jew, [Ioudaios] circumcision [peritome] nor [kai] uncircumcision, [akrobustia] Barbarian, [barbaros] Scythian, [Skuthes] bond [doulos] nor free: [eleutheros] but [alla] Christ [Christos] is all, [pas] and [kai] in [en] all. [pas] KJV-Interlinear
11 — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. NASB
In the world, distinctions are made between race (Greek and Jew), religious privilege (circumcised and uncircumcised), cultural differences (barbarian and Scythian), social status (slave and free), and many other differences all aimed to make one group higher or better or more elite, than another.
Out of these distinctions have come many variations of bias, and jealousy, and prejudice. And these of course lead to unfairness, gossip, maligning, judging, violence and every sin imaginable.
But in Christ, all of these distinctions fade away into nothing.
As life is full of lies, so doctrine is full of truth. In this world you will never discover who or what you are, nor even the meaning and purpose of your life.
However, in truth you can discover the real you and what everything and why everything is the way it is, and how you fit in.
The natives of America called their quest for meaning, a spirit-walk. In Australia they called it a walkabout. In the east they called it a journey. In all, these quests were a search for meaning and purpose, a right-of-passage from childhood to adulthood, a connection will ancestors or nature, a reinvention of their path, an attempt to write ones own song of life.
But in all of these methods, nothing good can ever result, because they are all earth based, emotional based, and lack substance when it is all said and done.
The real walkabout, the real spirit-walk, the real right-of-passage, is found only in Christ. But it is hidden from human effort, as Christ is in heaven.
And doctrine, though as near as your eyes can see or your ears can hear, is likewise hidden to those who reject Christ in salvation, and reject Christ in spiritual growth.
When you were born into this world, you were given permanent human life resident in a permanent soul, but maintained in a temporary physical body. You lack completion.
The missing components are doctrine for spiritual growth and wisdom, and a permanent body, which you will receive at the resurrection.
But until we all leave this world, and until we receive our resurrection body, we have one chance to pursue our spirit-walk, to go out on our walkabout, and to discover the real meaning and purpose of not only life, but of ourselves.
Our life is our song, our story, the details of which separate us from everyone and everything else. It is ours personally and ours alone. But our life begins with Christ, who is in all, in that Christ is the foundation of all that is, is the source of all life. Christ is the basis for all meaning and purpose of everything imaginable and more.
In eternity there will be no need for limitations, no need for gravity, no need for the vacuum of outer space, no need for air to breathe. In eternity which is something beyond our comprehension, the possibilities are staggering and infinite.
But our life, our song, our story, begins with Christ.
One of these days, you will be called home, and there you will stand before Christ sitting on His throne in heaven, and He will lean forward and ask you, ‘What is your story?’
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:11
11 Where [hopou] there is [eni] neither [ou] Greek [Hellen] nor [kai] Jew, [Ioudaios] circumcision [peritome] nor [kai] uncircumcision, [akrobustia] Barbarian, [barbaros] Scythian, [Skuthes] bond [doulos] nor free: [eleutheros] but [alla] Christ [Christos] is all, [pas] and [kai] in [en] all. [pas] KJV-Interlinear
11 — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. NASB
In the world, distinctions are made between race (Greek and Jew), religious privilege (circumcised and uncircumcised), cultural differences (barbarian and Scythian), social status (slave and free), and many other differences all aimed to make one group higher or better or more elite, than another.
Out of these distinctions have come many variations of bias, and jealousy, and prejudice. And these of course lead to unfairness, gossip, maligning, judging, violence and every sin imaginable.
But in Christ, all of these distinctions fade away into nothing.
As life is full of lies, so doctrine is full of truth. In this world you will never discover who or what you are, nor even the meaning and purpose of your life.
However, in truth you can discover the real you and what everything and why everything is the way it is, and how you fit in.
The natives of America called their quest for meaning, a spirit-walk. In Australia they called it a walkabout. In the east they called it a journey. In all, these quests were a search for meaning and purpose, a right-of-passage from childhood to adulthood, a connection will ancestors or nature, a reinvention of their path, an attempt to write ones own song of life.
But in all of these methods, nothing good can ever result, because they are all earth based, emotional based, and lack substance when it is all said and done.
The real walkabout, the real spirit-walk, the real right-of-passage, is found only in Christ. But it is hidden from human effort, as Christ is in heaven.
And doctrine, though as near as your eyes can see or your ears can hear, is likewise hidden to those who reject Christ in salvation, and reject Christ in spiritual growth.
When you were born into this world, you were given permanent human life resident in a permanent soul, but maintained in a temporary physical body. You lack completion.
The missing components are doctrine for spiritual growth and wisdom, and a permanent body, which you will receive at the resurrection.
But until we all leave this world, and until we receive our resurrection body, we have one chance to pursue our spirit-walk, to go out on our walkabout, and to discover the real meaning and purpose of not only life, but of ourselves.
Our life is our song, our story, the details of which separate us from everyone and everything else. It is ours personally and ours alone. But our life begins with Christ, who is in all, in that Christ is the foundation of all that is, is the source of all life. Christ is the basis for all meaning and purpose of everything imaginable and more.
In eternity there will be no need for limitations, no need for gravity, no need for the vacuum of outer space, no need for air to breathe. In eternity which is something beyond our comprehension, the possibilities are staggering and infinite.
But our life, our song, our story, begins with Christ.
One of these days, you will be called home, and there you will stand before Christ sitting on His throne in heaven, and He will lean forward and ask you, ‘What is your story?’
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Colossians 3:8-10
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:8-10
8 But [de] now [nuni] ye [humeis] also [kai] put off [apotithemi] all these; [pas] anger, [orge] wrath, [thumos] malice, [kakia] blasphemy, [blasphemia] filthy communication [aischrologia] out of [ek] your [humon] mouth. [stoma]
9 Lie [pseudomai] not [me] one to another [eis], [allelon] seeing that ye have put off [apekduomai] the old [palaios] man [anthropos] with [sun] his [autos] deeds; [praxis]
10 And [kai] have put on [enduo] the new [neos] man, which [ho] is renewed [anakainoo] in [eis] knowledge [epignosis] after [kata] the image of him [eikon] that created [ktizo] him: [autos] KJV-Interlinear
8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him NASB
‘But now,’ identifies a dramatic transition. A transition from the old self to a new self.
When you were born physically into this world, you entered into a transition from a nothing existence, to human life.
The transition was accompanied with a dramatic change in their respective existences. From nothing to something is dramatic and should be obvious. And the change in existence requires a change in ones pattern of life. That should be obvious. You cannot continue the lifestyle of a fetus, in your life after being born.
Likewise, when you first believed in Christ, then you were reborn. You experienced a rebirth, accomplished by God, not you, and now you have yet another dramatic transition from an old life (old self), to a new life (new self).
But still once you have been saved, you retain a little of the old self (the old sin nature) within you.
In order to separate yourself from that sin nature, God gave you the fellowship principle, wherein you confess your sins on a regular and daily basis, in order to receive formal forgiveness and restoration into fellowship.
Once in fellowship, then you are in the spiritually functioning sphere which God designed for you. The new self, is accomplish within this sphere, and comes through daily Bible study, which is Christ, the written word.
Bible doctrine is the mind of Christ. Truth is the thinking of Christ. So, when you transfer doctrine into your soul, then your thinking is transformed, and you take on His character and mind set. A mind set of truth and of a new self.
Being reborn demands a new character and life, not a hanging on, to the character of the old self.
The sins listed here (sins of the tongue), are a continuation of the sin list from verse five. This is not an exclusive list, but serves as more examples of a much broader mental or overt attitude that can come from the sin nature.
Eph. 4:22-24
22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. NASB
In order to accomplish that completeness that Paul has already mentioned, then you need to change your life’s habits, and more specifically, change your thinking habits, which obviously will change your beliefs, your motivations, your desires, your actions and so forth.
The objective of the spiritual life is to bring your life into conformance with Christ, and not with this world.
You were born an empty vessel, and your goal, actually Gods goal for you, is to advance you to a ‘complete’ status. And there is only one way to accomplish that, which is through your daily study and application of the word of God. This daily activity produces knowledge and wisdom, called here ‘epignosis,’ which is possessed knowledge, or usable, or applicable wisdom, as opposed to simply having a head filled up with facts and details.
You cannot sit back on your backside and expect everything to come to you. It won’t happen. There is still a component of responsibility contained within the spiritual life. Neither can you play both sides of life (carnal and spiritual) and expect to get by.
God never compromises righteousness and justice, both of which combine to make holiness. And that is what is expected of you. Set aside the old self, the carnal self, the carnal habits, the carnal lifestyle, and reinvent your life in conformity with Gods standards, which is truth.
If you were broke, would you work for nothing? No. How else could you pay your bills or even be responsible in life?
Pursue lies and you will lose. Pursue truth and you will win. The difference, between the rewards of truth and lies, is infinite. And the reward is your paycheck for pursuing whichever lifestyle you choose.
Prosperity or destitution is always your choice. The fool of course will choose the latter.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:8-10
8 But [de] now [nuni] ye [humeis] also [kai] put off [apotithemi] all these; [pas] anger, [orge] wrath, [thumos] malice, [kakia] blasphemy, [blasphemia] filthy communication [aischrologia] out of [ek] your [humon] mouth. [stoma]
9 Lie [pseudomai] not [me] one to another [eis], [allelon] seeing that ye have put off [apekduomai] the old [palaios] man [anthropos] with [sun] his [autos] deeds; [praxis]
10 And [kai] have put on [enduo] the new [neos] man, which [ho] is renewed [anakainoo] in [eis] knowledge [epignosis] after [kata] the image of him [eikon] that created [ktizo] him: [autos] KJV-Interlinear
8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him NASB
‘But now,’ identifies a dramatic transition. A transition from the old self to a new self.
When you were born physically into this world, you entered into a transition from a nothing existence, to human life.
The transition was accompanied with a dramatic change in their respective existences. From nothing to something is dramatic and should be obvious. And the change in existence requires a change in ones pattern of life. That should be obvious. You cannot continue the lifestyle of a fetus, in your life after being born.
Likewise, when you first believed in Christ, then you were reborn. You experienced a rebirth, accomplished by God, not you, and now you have yet another dramatic transition from an old life (old self), to a new life (new self).
But still once you have been saved, you retain a little of the old self (the old sin nature) within you.
In order to separate yourself from that sin nature, God gave you the fellowship principle, wherein you confess your sins on a regular and daily basis, in order to receive formal forgiveness and restoration into fellowship.
Once in fellowship, then you are in the spiritually functioning sphere which God designed for you. The new self, is accomplish within this sphere, and comes through daily Bible study, which is Christ, the written word.
Bible doctrine is the mind of Christ. Truth is the thinking of Christ. So, when you transfer doctrine into your soul, then your thinking is transformed, and you take on His character and mind set. A mind set of truth and of a new self.
Being reborn demands a new character and life, not a hanging on, to the character of the old self.
The sins listed here (sins of the tongue), are a continuation of the sin list from verse five. This is not an exclusive list, but serves as more examples of a much broader mental or overt attitude that can come from the sin nature.
Eph. 4:22-24
22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. NASB
In order to accomplish that completeness that Paul has already mentioned, then you need to change your life’s habits, and more specifically, change your thinking habits, which obviously will change your beliefs, your motivations, your desires, your actions and so forth.
The objective of the spiritual life is to bring your life into conformance with Christ, and not with this world.
You were born an empty vessel, and your goal, actually Gods goal for you, is to advance you to a ‘complete’ status. And there is only one way to accomplish that, which is through your daily study and application of the word of God. This daily activity produces knowledge and wisdom, called here ‘epignosis,’ which is possessed knowledge, or usable, or applicable wisdom, as opposed to simply having a head filled up with facts and details.
You cannot sit back on your backside and expect everything to come to you. It won’t happen. There is still a component of responsibility contained within the spiritual life. Neither can you play both sides of life (carnal and spiritual) and expect to get by.
God never compromises righteousness and justice, both of which combine to make holiness. And that is what is expected of you. Set aside the old self, the carnal self, the carnal habits, the carnal lifestyle, and reinvent your life in conformity with Gods standards, which is truth.
If you were broke, would you work for nothing? No. How else could you pay your bills or even be responsible in life?
Pursue lies and you will lose. Pursue truth and you will win. The difference, between the rewards of truth and lies, is infinite. And the reward is your paycheck for pursuing whichever lifestyle you choose.
Prosperity or destitution is always your choice. The fool of course will choose the latter.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Colossians 3:7
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:7
7 In [en] the which [hos] ye [humeis] also [kai] walked [peripateo] some time, [pote] when [hote] ye lived [zao] in [en] them. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. NASB
You can view this verse from two angles. The first is that you live among the unrighteousness's due to its existence all around you in the world. And second, is that you were, or are, an active participant in the unrighteousness’s that exist in the world.
Unrighteousness refers to a wide variety of evils which originate from the sin nature.
The sin nature has an area of strength which is human good, or good produced from the energy of the flesh or the sin nature. Also, the sin nature has an area of weakness which include sins that range from lasciviousness’s to asceticism’s.
Most of you, I would presume, are not serial killers, or habitual burglars, or drug users, or whatever it is that you associate crime or sin or unrighteousness, with.
And although these things do contribute to the evils of the world, they are by far in the minority as far as unrighteousness goes.
The worst examples of unrighteousness and by far the most prevalent are not petty crimes, but government policies, social lifestyles, public attitudes, popular beliefs in society, all of these things that depart from doctrinal teachings such as divine establishment principles, the definition of life, social morality, do-gooder approaches to life, and so forth. All of these things can only stand when forced onto society.
Remember that lie based policies have no foundation on which to stand, therefore they must be held up by artificial foundations of legislation, intimidation, regulation or controls of one sort or another, violence, and so forth. Man has to invent his policies and then invent justifications for them. And sooner or later, invent exceptions to the rules that don’t work, and exceptions to the exceptions.
And when things simply don’t work, they are tried all over again, and called new, or change, in order to gain the support of a naïve public. Which public is naïve, only because they are actively engaged in their lifestyles of unrighteousness.
And not only do you live within this world, but you can look in the mirror, and see full well that you were an active participant, and perhaps still are, in the unrighteousness’s of the world.
Therefore, the wrath of fury, which is already on its way, as we saw in the previous verse, is at least in part, because of you.
God is the author of good. This world is constantly cruising through difficulties, not because of Gods policies, but because people ignore them.
Adam and Eve lived in the most beautiful garden, but sin entered into the picture and the garden was lost.
Solomon was strong on doctrine and the prosperity in Israel back then was vast. Silver was as common as the pebbles on the streets.
In the Millennium, prosperity will be unequalled in history, and it will last for the entire one-thousand years. But, at its end, Satan will be released and rebellion will ruin everything again.
Today we are all experiencing economic hardships, and it will either continue or change depending on the attitudes of the general public. Right now the attitude is anti-scripture. But no matter how the views of the vast majority of society, go, God has a plan for your specific life.
God can and will carry your burden through any and all worldly or personal circumstances. All you need do is be certain that you are in compliance with Gods will, and not the will of the rest of the world.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:7
7 In [en] the which [hos] ye [humeis] also [kai] walked [peripateo] some time, [pote] when [hote] ye lived [zao] in [en] them. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. NASB
You can view this verse from two angles. The first is that you live among the unrighteousness's due to its existence all around you in the world. And second, is that you were, or are, an active participant in the unrighteousness’s that exist in the world.
Unrighteousness refers to a wide variety of evils which originate from the sin nature.
The sin nature has an area of strength which is human good, or good produced from the energy of the flesh or the sin nature. Also, the sin nature has an area of weakness which include sins that range from lasciviousness’s to asceticism’s.
Most of you, I would presume, are not serial killers, or habitual burglars, or drug users, or whatever it is that you associate crime or sin or unrighteousness, with.
And although these things do contribute to the evils of the world, they are by far in the minority as far as unrighteousness goes.
The worst examples of unrighteousness and by far the most prevalent are not petty crimes, but government policies, social lifestyles, public attitudes, popular beliefs in society, all of these things that depart from doctrinal teachings such as divine establishment principles, the definition of life, social morality, do-gooder approaches to life, and so forth. All of these things can only stand when forced onto society.
Remember that lie based policies have no foundation on which to stand, therefore they must be held up by artificial foundations of legislation, intimidation, regulation or controls of one sort or another, violence, and so forth. Man has to invent his policies and then invent justifications for them. And sooner or later, invent exceptions to the rules that don’t work, and exceptions to the exceptions.
And when things simply don’t work, they are tried all over again, and called new, or change, in order to gain the support of a naïve public. Which public is naïve, only because they are actively engaged in their lifestyles of unrighteousness.
And not only do you live within this world, but you can look in the mirror, and see full well that you were an active participant, and perhaps still are, in the unrighteousness’s of the world.
Therefore, the wrath of fury, which is already on its way, as we saw in the previous verse, is at least in part, because of you.
God is the author of good. This world is constantly cruising through difficulties, not because of Gods policies, but because people ignore them.
Adam and Eve lived in the most beautiful garden, but sin entered into the picture and the garden was lost.
Solomon was strong on doctrine and the prosperity in Israel back then was vast. Silver was as common as the pebbles on the streets.
In the Millennium, prosperity will be unequalled in history, and it will last for the entire one-thousand years. But, at its end, Satan will be released and rebellion will ruin everything again.
Today we are all experiencing economic hardships, and it will either continue or change depending on the attitudes of the general public. Right now the attitude is anti-scripture. But no matter how the views of the vast majority of society, go, God has a plan for your specific life.
God can and will carry your burden through any and all worldly or personal circumstances. All you need do is be certain that you are in compliance with Gods will, and not the will of the rest of the world.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Colossians 3:6
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:6
6 For [dia] which things' sake [hos] the wrath [orge] of God [theos] cometh [erchomai] on [epi] the children [huios] of disobedience: [apeitheia] KJV-Interlinear
6 For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, NASB
Wrath here, represents the justice of God coming in phenomenal fury, the likes of which no creature has ever seen.
The reason that Gods justice is coming, is because there are those who pursue disobedience, obstinacy, rebelliousness. These are the same qualities that the angels maintained, who rebelled against God, long ago.
And so the typical human characteristic is to hold firm with their opinions, despite generations of obvious limitations and failures in human affairs.
Eph. 2:2
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. NASB
Rom. 1:18
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, NASB
Satan is the author of lies and the promoter of all evil. However, Satan only initiated the pattern of evil. Humanity, with his rejection of truth, steps right in and promotes evil very well without any encouragement or prodding from Satan.
All ungodliness, all unrighteousness, all lies, all evil as it were, are an attempt, whether consciously or not, to suppress truth. Simply by ignoring truth, simply by being indifferent to truth, or by being more vocal or antagonistic toward truth, all of these are on equal terms in their opposition toward truth.
You do not have to be a serial killer, a Hitler, a terrorist, or up to your eyes in crime, in order to be a disciple of evil. The churches, governments, celebrities of the world, are full of self-righteous evil promoters, focused on their own agenda, and are totally indifferent toward Gods truth and plan. That is more evident in our current day, than ever before, because of the swiftness with which information can travel these days.
The world is saturated with anti-truth philosophies, and beliefs, and opinions so much so, that even the media takes up the promotion of falsehoods without any analysis or questioning, and the masses of people believe virtually anything that hits the airwaves or is accepted as the popular view.
Truth, preserves life, the environment, prosperity, security and ultimately happiness.
All rejection of truth, no matter how harmless it may seem, is a rejection and destruction to everything, repeat everything, that is good. Even harmlessness is one of the more popular arguments used to justify rejection of truth, or alternate lifestyles, or alternate views as they are often called.
And it is because of this maintained attitude, and refusal to see the errors of their ways, that Gods wrath, Gods justice, or judgment, is coming.
The word for coming, ‘erchomai,’ means to be already on its way.
Judgment is coming, and it is coming with phenomenal fury. Its arrival is already set into motion. No matter what man wants to think about himself, or of his abilities, or his outlook on life or the future, it is all based on lies, and lies are never supported by facts, and views held up by nothing, have no option but to collapse into oblivion.
The only things that hold this world together are the believers who pursue truth in their life. It does not take many people to keep the world afloat. The flood did not come until Noah and his family of only eight people, boarded the Ark. Then and only then, did perhaps tens of millions or more, die.
Lot was only a single person, and yet Sodom and the cities of the valley were not destroyed until he left the city. A promise kept for Abraham.
Today, we presumably have millions of believers worldwide, so our world is reasonably safe, but not immune to hard times. And while we have many warnings of swine flu, of bird flu, of aids, of terrorists, of economic downturns, and many more warning signs of the disobedience (stubborn rejection) by humanity, sooner or later, people will either change or the hard times will only get worse.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:6
6 For [dia] which things' sake [hos] the wrath [orge] of God [theos] cometh [erchomai] on [epi] the children [huios] of disobedience: [apeitheia] KJV-Interlinear
6 For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, NASB
Wrath here, represents the justice of God coming in phenomenal fury, the likes of which no creature has ever seen.
The reason that Gods justice is coming, is because there are those who pursue disobedience, obstinacy, rebelliousness. These are the same qualities that the angels maintained, who rebelled against God, long ago.
And so the typical human characteristic is to hold firm with their opinions, despite generations of obvious limitations and failures in human affairs.
Eph. 2:2
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. NASB
Rom. 1:18
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, NASB
Satan is the author of lies and the promoter of all evil. However, Satan only initiated the pattern of evil. Humanity, with his rejection of truth, steps right in and promotes evil very well without any encouragement or prodding from Satan.
All ungodliness, all unrighteousness, all lies, all evil as it were, are an attempt, whether consciously or not, to suppress truth. Simply by ignoring truth, simply by being indifferent to truth, or by being more vocal or antagonistic toward truth, all of these are on equal terms in their opposition toward truth.
You do not have to be a serial killer, a Hitler, a terrorist, or up to your eyes in crime, in order to be a disciple of evil. The churches, governments, celebrities of the world, are full of self-righteous evil promoters, focused on their own agenda, and are totally indifferent toward Gods truth and plan. That is more evident in our current day, than ever before, because of the swiftness with which information can travel these days.
The world is saturated with anti-truth philosophies, and beliefs, and opinions so much so, that even the media takes up the promotion of falsehoods without any analysis or questioning, and the masses of people believe virtually anything that hits the airwaves or is accepted as the popular view.
Truth, preserves life, the environment, prosperity, security and ultimately happiness.
All rejection of truth, no matter how harmless it may seem, is a rejection and destruction to everything, repeat everything, that is good. Even harmlessness is one of the more popular arguments used to justify rejection of truth, or alternate lifestyles, or alternate views as they are often called.
And it is because of this maintained attitude, and refusal to see the errors of their ways, that Gods wrath, Gods justice, or judgment, is coming.
The word for coming, ‘erchomai,’ means to be already on its way.
Judgment is coming, and it is coming with phenomenal fury. Its arrival is already set into motion. No matter what man wants to think about himself, or of his abilities, or his outlook on life or the future, it is all based on lies, and lies are never supported by facts, and views held up by nothing, have no option but to collapse into oblivion.
The only things that hold this world together are the believers who pursue truth in their life. It does not take many people to keep the world afloat. The flood did not come until Noah and his family of only eight people, boarded the Ark. Then and only then, did perhaps tens of millions or more, die.
Lot was only a single person, and yet Sodom and the cities of the valley were not destroyed until he left the city. A promise kept for Abraham.
Today, we presumably have millions of believers worldwide, so our world is reasonably safe, but not immune to hard times. And while we have many warnings of swine flu, of bird flu, of aids, of terrorists, of economic downturns, and many more warning signs of the disobedience (stubborn rejection) by humanity, sooner or later, people will either change or the hard times will only get worse.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Colossians 3:5
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:5
5 Mortify [nekroo] therefore [oun] your [humon] members [melos] which [ho] are upon [epi] the earth; [ge] fornication, [porneia] uncleanness, [akatharsia] inordinate affection, [pathos] evil [kakos] concupiscence, [epithumia] and [kai] covetousness, [pleonexia] which [hostis] is [esti] idolatry: [eidololatreia] KJV-Interlinear
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. NASB
The word for death here, is used as a metaphor, symbolical for separating your fleshy desires from the power (your sin nature) which drives them.
You accomplish this death, mentally by making decisions, by abstaining, by refusing to entertain the temptations, by terminating your lusts or covetnesses for things that you wish you could have for your own possession.
Instead of pondering the things of this world, you need to ponder the instruction you receive from the scriptures, ponder the repercussions of each respective approach for your life, ponder what your future will really be like should you pursue one course of action verses another.
Anything of this world is evil.
Anything of the spiritual realm is good.
The same intent can result in either good or evil depending on your motivator. For example, passion from the carnal perspective will turn to evil, however passion from the spiritual perspective (correct passion), is good. Helping a little old lady across the street from the carnal perspective is evil (energy of the flesh). Helping the same lady across the street when in fellowship (energy of the spirit), is good.
When making any decision, when reacting to any set of circumstances, then first consider your objective and your actions, and your spiritual state, and how they line up with doctrine.
Your overall objective in life should be to maximize your spiritual life and minimize the carnal side of your life.
The carnal side gets you nothing, and actually causes you to lose phenomenal blessings.
The spiritual side of life gets you your heart’s desire from the perspective of good.
In the carnal life, you may have dreams and hopes, and wishes, but you will never attain them.
In the spiritual life, the scriptures will transform your dreams into greater and phenomenal things for which God has made provision for you, and you will live them.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:5
5 Mortify [nekroo] therefore [oun] your [humon] members [melos] which [ho] are upon [epi] the earth; [ge] fornication, [porneia] uncleanness, [akatharsia] inordinate affection, [pathos] evil [kakos] concupiscence, [epithumia] and [kai] covetousness, [pleonexia] which [hostis] is [esti] idolatry: [eidololatreia] KJV-Interlinear
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. NASB
The word for death here, is used as a metaphor, symbolical for separating your fleshy desires from the power (your sin nature) which drives them.
You accomplish this death, mentally by making decisions, by abstaining, by refusing to entertain the temptations, by terminating your lusts or covetnesses for things that you wish you could have for your own possession.
Instead of pondering the things of this world, you need to ponder the instruction you receive from the scriptures, ponder the repercussions of each respective approach for your life, ponder what your future will really be like should you pursue one course of action verses another.
Anything of this world is evil.
Anything of the spiritual realm is good.
The same intent can result in either good or evil depending on your motivator. For example, passion from the carnal perspective will turn to evil, however passion from the spiritual perspective (correct passion), is good. Helping a little old lady across the street from the carnal perspective is evil (energy of the flesh). Helping the same lady across the street when in fellowship (energy of the spirit), is good.
When making any decision, when reacting to any set of circumstances, then first consider your objective and your actions, and your spiritual state, and how they line up with doctrine.
Your overall objective in life should be to maximize your spiritual life and minimize the carnal side of your life.
The carnal side gets you nothing, and actually causes you to lose phenomenal blessings.
The spiritual side of life gets you your heart’s desire from the perspective of good.
In the carnal life, you may have dreams and hopes, and wishes, but you will never attain them.
In the spiritual life, the scriptures will transform your dreams into greater and phenomenal things for which God has made provision for you, and you will live them.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Colossians 3:4
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:4
4 When [hotan] Christ, [Christos] who is our [hemon] life, [zoe] shall appear, [phaneroo] then [tote] shall [phaneroo] ye [humeis] also [kai] appear [phaneroo] with [sun] him [autos] in [en] glory. [doxa] KJV-Interlinear
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. NASB
This is a transformation verse. When Christ is revealed, occurs within us by the transformation of our minds within our spiritual growth, as we ascend toward spiritual maturity.
And likewise, as Christ is hidden in heaven since the day of His ascension, so too our glory is hidden within our soul, and will be revealed, or extended to the members of our physical body, when our resurrection occurs.
Likewise, all truth and life is hidden within the principles and instruction of Bible doctrine. No unbeliever, no out of fellowship believer, can discover the hidden truths of Bible doctrine.
Christy will be revealed to the world in two phases.
First, He sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting until the numbers of believers from our current dispensation, are fulfilled, as well as waiting for the nations (peoples, countries, attitudes, etc.) to be assembled and arrayed for the termination of our dispensation. When that moment occurs, then the Rapture will occur.
Recall our study at the beginning of Revelation. Jesus Christ is at the lever of human history. His hand on the lever, and arm flexed with bulging muscles (symbolic for immediate readiness), ready to throw the lever of history into the very next phase. That phase being the Rapture.
When the Rapture occurs, then we (believers of our dispensation) will all be raised in resurrection and transformed into resurrection bodies.
1 Thess. 4:16
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. NASB
Therefore, just as our minds are transformed in our spiritual growth to maturity, so too, then our bodies will be transformed into resurrection bodies, adding yet another component toward our ultimate completion.
And with Christ, with the culmination of our individual evaluation at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we (mature believers), will be completed into our glory, along with Christ.
And second, at the end of the Tribulation (which is a seven year period following the Rapture), then Christ will be revealed once again, but this time to the entire world at the Second Advent. We who were Raptured, will return along with Him, in His glory, and we, dressed in our glory (resurrection bodies) and numbering in vast numbers (clouds, because there will be so many of us) will appear to the world along with Him at His Second Advent.
The magnitude of your blessing and glory, is directly related to the degree of your advancement to spiritual maturity. You have an opportunity now, in this life, to maximize your future. Or you can simply ignore it all.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:4
4 When [hotan] Christ, [Christos] who is our [hemon] life, [zoe] shall appear, [phaneroo] then [tote] shall [phaneroo] ye [humeis] also [kai] appear [phaneroo] with [sun] him [autos] in [en] glory. [doxa] KJV-Interlinear
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. NASB
This is a transformation verse. When Christ is revealed, occurs within us by the transformation of our minds within our spiritual growth, as we ascend toward spiritual maturity.
And likewise, as Christ is hidden in heaven since the day of His ascension, so too our glory is hidden within our soul, and will be revealed, or extended to the members of our physical body, when our resurrection occurs.
Likewise, all truth and life is hidden within the principles and instruction of Bible doctrine. No unbeliever, no out of fellowship believer, can discover the hidden truths of Bible doctrine.
Christy will be revealed to the world in two phases.
First, He sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting until the numbers of believers from our current dispensation, are fulfilled, as well as waiting for the nations (peoples, countries, attitudes, etc.) to be assembled and arrayed for the termination of our dispensation. When that moment occurs, then the Rapture will occur.
Recall our study at the beginning of Revelation. Jesus Christ is at the lever of human history. His hand on the lever, and arm flexed with bulging muscles (symbolic for immediate readiness), ready to throw the lever of history into the very next phase. That phase being the Rapture.
When the Rapture occurs, then we (believers of our dispensation) will all be raised in resurrection and transformed into resurrection bodies.
1 Thess. 4:16
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. NASB
Therefore, just as our minds are transformed in our spiritual growth to maturity, so too, then our bodies will be transformed into resurrection bodies, adding yet another component toward our ultimate completion.
And with Christ, with the culmination of our individual evaluation at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we (mature believers), will be completed into our glory, along with Christ.
And second, at the end of the Tribulation (which is a seven year period following the Rapture), then Christ will be revealed once again, but this time to the entire world at the Second Advent. We who were Raptured, will return along with Him, in His glory, and we, dressed in our glory (resurrection bodies) and numbering in vast numbers (clouds, because there will be so many of us) will appear to the world along with Him at His Second Advent.
The magnitude of your blessing and glory, is directly related to the degree of your advancement to spiritual maturity. You have an opportunity now, in this life, to maximize your future. Or you can simply ignore it all.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Colossians 3:3
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:3
3 For [gar] ye are dead, [apothnesko] and [kai] your [humon] life [zoe] is hid [krupto] with [sun] Christ [Christos] in [en] God. [theos] KJV-Interlinear
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. NASB
Because you have believed in Christ, then many things have occurred in your behalf, and two of them are mentioned here.
First, you have died to the world. That does not mean that you died a physical death, and are no longer living. Obviously that is not the case since you are still alive. But death here is a separation from something, and that something is sin and eternal death.
We are all going to die one day. Most folks will die in the usual way, when their heart stops and they leave their physical body and go off to heaven. Some folks will die, as it were, in the Rapture when it occurs. They will leave their physical bodies, when they are instantly transformed into their resurrection bodies.
But since we have believed in Christ, then we will not die a second time. That second death is reserved for unbelievers, or those who have refused, stubbornly, all of their life, to believe in Christ.
So, here we have been separated to the hold that sin and the second death, had over us.
Unbelievers are enslaved to sin. They cannot confess their sins and get them forgiven, because they have rejected Christ’s work on the Cross. So they have no one to confess them to. So they are trapped.
But believers have a way out. Though we are physically alive, we still have to live in these sin-nature infested bodies, during our time here on the earth. And as such, we are susceptible to the whims of the sin nature.
But since we are saved, and since we have access to Gods provisions, then we can confess our sins and live a life within the fellowship sphere. And within that sphere, we are free from sin.
The fellowship sphere, is a defined environment where we may exist, positionally, by means of obedience to Gods command for confession. We do not feel anything, or sense anything, nor are we transported into some form of life dimension. It simply occurs because God recognizes the confession principle.
And second, because we are separated from sin, then we have life. But our life, which is eternal life, is hidden within the spiritual life, and accessed by means of faith in Christ.
Christ holds on to our eternal life. Christ is in heaven. Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father. God the Father is the highest authority anywhere, from whom Christ inherits all things.
Since God is the ultimate power, and authority, and sovereign, and everything else, and since He has in His possession, our eternal life, and since it is in heaven, hidden as a treasure of infinite value is hidden, then our eternal life is secure.
Our eternal life is not in our possession, because humanity would lose it. We cannot give it to ourselves.
God possesses it, and keeps it for us, in heaven. And there, no one can find it, or steal it, or alter it, and certainly you cannot change it or lose it.
Our eternal life has the greatest security possible, and nothing, and no one, not even you, can change that.
Therefore, when you believed in Christ, you received a permanent and secure new position in Christ. You received access to an environment separated away and isolated from the power of sin, which will allow you to advance in your life, to a position of completeness.
And you received an eternal life which is resident in Christ and therefore totally secure.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:3
3 For [gar] ye are dead, [apothnesko] and [kai] your [humon] life [zoe] is hid [krupto] with [sun] Christ [Christos] in [en] God. [theos] KJV-Interlinear
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. NASB
Because you have believed in Christ, then many things have occurred in your behalf, and two of them are mentioned here.
First, you have died to the world. That does not mean that you died a physical death, and are no longer living. Obviously that is not the case since you are still alive. But death here is a separation from something, and that something is sin and eternal death.
We are all going to die one day. Most folks will die in the usual way, when their heart stops and they leave their physical body and go off to heaven. Some folks will die, as it were, in the Rapture when it occurs. They will leave their physical bodies, when they are instantly transformed into their resurrection bodies.
But since we have believed in Christ, then we will not die a second time. That second death is reserved for unbelievers, or those who have refused, stubbornly, all of their life, to believe in Christ.
So, here we have been separated to the hold that sin and the second death, had over us.
Unbelievers are enslaved to sin. They cannot confess their sins and get them forgiven, because they have rejected Christ’s work on the Cross. So they have no one to confess them to. So they are trapped.
But believers have a way out. Though we are physically alive, we still have to live in these sin-nature infested bodies, during our time here on the earth. And as such, we are susceptible to the whims of the sin nature.
But since we are saved, and since we have access to Gods provisions, then we can confess our sins and live a life within the fellowship sphere. And within that sphere, we are free from sin.
The fellowship sphere, is a defined environment where we may exist, positionally, by means of obedience to Gods command for confession. We do not feel anything, or sense anything, nor are we transported into some form of life dimension. It simply occurs because God recognizes the confession principle.
And second, because we are separated from sin, then we have life. But our life, which is eternal life, is hidden within the spiritual life, and accessed by means of faith in Christ.
Christ holds on to our eternal life. Christ is in heaven. Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father. God the Father is the highest authority anywhere, from whom Christ inherits all things.
Since God is the ultimate power, and authority, and sovereign, and everything else, and since He has in His possession, our eternal life, and since it is in heaven, hidden as a treasure of infinite value is hidden, then our eternal life is secure.
Our eternal life is not in our possession, because humanity would lose it. We cannot give it to ourselves.
God possesses it, and keeps it for us, in heaven. And there, no one can find it, or steal it, or alter it, and certainly you cannot change it or lose it.
Our eternal life has the greatest security possible, and nothing, and no one, not even you, can change that.
Therefore, when you believed in Christ, you received a permanent and secure new position in Christ. You received access to an environment separated away and isolated from the power of sin, which will allow you to advance in your life, to a position of completeness.
And you received an eternal life which is resident in Christ and therefore totally secure.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Colossians 3:2
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:2
2 Set your affection [phroneo] on things above, [ano] not [me] on things on [epi] the earth. [ge] KJV-Interlinear
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. NASB
What you focus your thoughts on, so goes your life. What you think is what you are.
As far as life goes, you need to realize that this life here on this earth, is temporary. Unfortunately most folks live their lives, as though this is the only option before them.
With total disregard for their spiritual life, people, though aware of God, of religion, of an afterlife and so forth, seem to disregard it, or treat it as some form of optional thing that they can or may not incorporate within their daily life.
Priorities of ones temporal life push back the priorities of ones spiritual life. After all, we receive near immediate feedback on this life, and the spiritual life seems to be so ambiguous and unresponsive.
In this life, we can see an outcome for an education. We can see an outcome (a paycheck) from working a couple of weeks. We can see the days of the week and plan for the weekend, for the summer, for something out in front of us. We can go shopping, and get things, do things, have hobbies, and all the things that seem to fulfill our wants and needs.
And with the spiritual life, those things are absent.
However, God trains us through warnings and instruction. We can focus on our temporal life, but we learn that all of the temporal activities and things, never generate a level of satisfaction or contentment. There is always going to be something else needed or wanted.
So you bought yourself a new car or camera or computer, something that you have wanted for a long time. Then wait a year or five years, and see what is out there to replace it. Something better. Your gadget or clothes or whatever it is that you pursue, will eventually be replaced with something better. Even social outings end up with new acquaintances that change your mind or entice you into looking for greener pastures.
The temporal world excites the human senses. But those are emotions only.
The spiritual life is designed to transform the thinking of your mind. It is designed to help you realize the inadequacies of the temporal life, and to get you to prepare for your longer life span – eternity.
Before you were born, you had no choice as to what your life would be like, where you would live, who you would know, what you would have, etc.
But now that you are alive in this world, you have the opportunity to predefine your eternal future. You do not have to be born again into eternal poverty, or into eternal inadequacies, into eternal inabilities. Review your Parables of Christ study.
In heaven there will be inequalities, based on the level of spiritual growth, or lack of it, among folks.
Yes, everyone who has believed in Christ will be in heaven, but there will be an evaluation at the Judgment Seat of Christ. If everyone were going to be the same, then what purpose would this evaluation have?
In heaven everyone will receive rewards, promotions, privileges, blessings, in accordance with their spiritual growth and production which was attained in this life.
There will be the bottom level of blessing for every believer, and then there will be the additional blessings for those who have advanced in their spiritual lives, and then there will be the more advanced blessing packages for those who have advanced to spiritual maturity and hold it.
That biggest of the blessing packages, is available to everyone, but only if you pursue your spiritual life in accordance with Gods mandates.
What are those blessings? Well in everything spiritual, there is an example (a parable) that can be found in this world, from which you can compare and get some idea as to what God has waiting for you.
Look at the world population. There are the dirt poor, the poor, the lower classes, the middle classes, the upper classes, and the filthy rich and then there is the wealthy group. And how many folks are in each group?
That is easy to figure out. The dirt poor group is the largest group and the wealthy group is the smallest group. Where would you like to be? And most folks would obviously love to be in the wealthy group.
And that is exactly what awaits you in heaven, if, and this is a big if, if you pursue your spiritual life.
This life, this world, this planet earth, this human history, is all going to come to an end. For you, your end will be your physical death.
You will never save the planet. You will never cure the diseases. You will never solve mans problems, whatever they are. And this doesn’t mean that you can’t try to work at alleviating some of these things to help some folks, but your priority should be on not fixing the devils world, in order to promote evil, which is what that really is, but to help in life, such that you and others can come to Christ, and doctrine, and their own spiritual future.
Because the spiritual future is where the real prosperity and solutions are to be found.
When you begin to think about Christ and about your Bible instruction, when you begin to memorize verses, and pray on a regular basis, when you begin to spend time in your mind about what life and your future really is, then you have begun to grow up.
The next step is to become responsible to Gods expectations of you, and then incorporate them into your daily life. And, then keep on doing that, for the rest of your life.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:2
2 Set your affection [phroneo] on things above, [ano] not [me] on things on [epi] the earth. [ge] KJV-Interlinear
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. NASB
What you focus your thoughts on, so goes your life. What you think is what you are.
As far as life goes, you need to realize that this life here on this earth, is temporary. Unfortunately most folks live their lives, as though this is the only option before them.
With total disregard for their spiritual life, people, though aware of God, of religion, of an afterlife and so forth, seem to disregard it, or treat it as some form of optional thing that they can or may not incorporate within their daily life.
Priorities of ones temporal life push back the priorities of ones spiritual life. After all, we receive near immediate feedback on this life, and the spiritual life seems to be so ambiguous and unresponsive.
In this life, we can see an outcome for an education. We can see an outcome (a paycheck) from working a couple of weeks. We can see the days of the week and plan for the weekend, for the summer, for something out in front of us. We can go shopping, and get things, do things, have hobbies, and all the things that seem to fulfill our wants and needs.
And with the spiritual life, those things are absent.
However, God trains us through warnings and instruction. We can focus on our temporal life, but we learn that all of the temporal activities and things, never generate a level of satisfaction or contentment. There is always going to be something else needed or wanted.
So you bought yourself a new car or camera or computer, something that you have wanted for a long time. Then wait a year or five years, and see what is out there to replace it. Something better. Your gadget or clothes or whatever it is that you pursue, will eventually be replaced with something better. Even social outings end up with new acquaintances that change your mind or entice you into looking for greener pastures.
The temporal world excites the human senses. But those are emotions only.
The spiritual life is designed to transform the thinking of your mind. It is designed to help you realize the inadequacies of the temporal life, and to get you to prepare for your longer life span – eternity.
Before you were born, you had no choice as to what your life would be like, where you would live, who you would know, what you would have, etc.
But now that you are alive in this world, you have the opportunity to predefine your eternal future. You do not have to be born again into eternal poverty, or into eternal inadequacies, into eternal inabilities. Review your Parables of Christ study.
In heaven there will be inequalities, based on the level of spiritual growth, or lack of it, among folks.
Yes, everyone who has believed in Christ will be in heaven, but there will be an evaluation at the Judgment Seat of Christ. If everyone were going to be the same, then what purpose would this evaluation have?
In heaven everyone will receive rewards, promotions, privileges, blessings, in accordance with their spiritual growth and production which was attained in this life.
There will be the bottom level of blessing for every believer, and then there will be the additional blessings for those who have advanced in their spiritual lives, and then there will be the more advanced blessing packages for those who have advanced to spiritual maturity and hold it.
That biggest of the blessing packages, is available to everyone, but only if you pursue your spiritual life in accordance with Gods mandates.
What are those blessings? Well in everything spiritual, there is an example (a parable) that can be found in this world, from which you can compare and get some idea as to what God has waiting for you.
Look at the world population. There are the dirt poor, the poor, the lower classes, the middle classes, the upper classes, and the filthy rich and then there is the wealthy group. And how many folks are in each group?
That is easy to figure out. The dirt poor group is the largest group and the wealthy group is the smallest group. Where would you like to be? And most folks would obviously love to be in the wealthy group.
And that is exactly what awaits you in heaven, if, and this is a big if, if you pursue your spiritual life.
This life, this world, this planet earth, this human history, is all going to come to an end. For you, your end will be your physical death.
You will never save the planet. You will never cure the diseases. You will never solve mans problems, whatever they are. And this doesn’t mean that you can’t try to work at alleviating some of these things to help some folks, but your priority should be on not fixing the devils world, in order to promote evil, which is what that really is, but to help in life, such that you and others can come to Christ, and doctrine, and their own spiritual future.
Because the spiritual future is where the real prosperity and solutions are to be found.
When you begin to think about Christ and about your Bible instruction, when you begin to memorize verses, and pray on a regular basis, when you begin to spend time in your mind about what life and your future really is, then you have begun to grow up.
The next step is to become responsible to Gods expectations of you, and then incorporate them into your daily life. And, then keep on doing that, for the rest of your life.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Colossians 3:1
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:1
1 If [ei] ye [sunegeiro] then [oun] be risen [sunegeiro] with Christ, [Christos] seek [zeteo] those things which are above, [ano] where [hou] Christ [Christos] sitteth [esti] [kathemai] on [en] the right hand [dexios] of God. [theos] KJV-Interlinear
1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. NASB
Now, of the many things we listed in the last few days, most of them are fine things if considered on their own merit. You can certainly choose what to eat or drink or wear or do with your life.
But, when you replace Gods principles with earthly choices, then your error will compound itself and you will lose out on blessings that far, far, far surpass anything you expect from your earthly priorities.
Christ is currently in heaven. Christ is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father. And of course this is in reference to the humanity of Christ. His deity is omnipresent and in that respect Christ is everywhere. But our focus is not on the deity alone, nor the humanity alone, but the union of both deity and humanity.
Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe and there is no other who can match Him in character or person, and certainly no one who can come even close. All religious icons are false and of no value.
And for that matter, all earthly priorities used in substitution of doctrine, are false. Bible doctrine is truth and truth imposes no pressure on anyone.
In this life there is the carnal, or the life outside of the spiritual realm, and there is the temporal, which is simply the physical world we live in.
Your best choice is to live your life in doctrine, in fellowship, while making your way through your temporal life in this world, doing whatever it is that you do in life, until God calls you home.
There are many legitimate functions in this life, for ones life. And so long as you do not violate Gods mandates or principles, with regard to divine establishment, with regard to salvation, with regard to the function of your spiritual life, then the door is wide open with choices beyond counting, with regard to what you can do in life.
Want to wear black all of the time? Want to eat fish on Tuesday? Want to build solar panels, or rockets, dig ditches, or practice a profession? All of these things are legitimate and fine. But, your priority for listening or reading doctrine, and growing up in your spiritual life, must be first in your life.
Why? Because your future is not on this earth, but in heaven in the next life. Your reward is not from this world, but from God. Your meaning and purpose in life, must be accompanied with the completion of your life by means of doctrine, otherwise you will live an incomplete life.
This world is finite. Your future is infinite. The rewards of this world are limited and amount to nothing. Your rewards in heaven are infinite.
When should you ever trade something worth a value beyond calculation, for something worth nothing?
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 3:1
1 If [ei] ye [sunegeiro] then [oun] be risen [sunegeiro] with Christ, [Christos] seek [zeteo] those things which are above, [ano] where [hou] Christ [Christos] sitteth [esti] [kathemai] on [en] the right hand [dexios] of God. [theos] KJV-Interlinear
1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. NASB
Now, of the many things we listed in the last few days, most of them are fine things if considered on their own merit. You can certainly choose what to eat or drink or wear or do with your life.
But, when you replace Gods principles with earthly choices, then your error will compound itself and you will lose out on blessings that far, far, far surpass anything you expect from your earthly priorities.
Christ is currently in heaven. Christ is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father. And of course this is in reference to the humanity of Christ. His deity is omnipresent and in that respect Christ is everywhere. But our focus is not on the deity alone, nor the humanity alone, but the union of both deity and humanity.
Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe and there is no other who can match Him in character or person, and certainly no one who can come even close. All religious icons are false and of no value.
And for that matter, all earthly priorities used in substitution of doctrine, are false. Bible doctrine is truth and truth imposes no pressure on anyone.
In this life there is the carnal, or the life outside of the spiritual realm, and there is the temporal, which is simply the physical world we live in.
Your best choice is to live your life in doctrine, in fellowship, while making your way through your temporal life in this world, doing whatever it is that you do in life, until God calls you home.
There are many legitimate functions in this life, for ones life. And so long as you do not violate Gods mandates or principles, with regard to divine establishment, with regard to salvation, with regard to the function of your spiritual life, then the door is wide open with choices beyond counting, with regard to what you can do in life.
Want to wear black all of the time? Want to eat fish on Tuesday? Want to build solar panels, or rockets, dig ditches, or practice a profession? All of these things are legitimate and fine. But, your priority for listening or reading doctrine, and growing up in your spiritual life, must be first in your life.
Why? Because your future is not on this earth, but in heaven in the next life. Your reward is not from this world, but from God. Your meaning and purpose in life, must be accompanied with the completion of your life by means of doctrine, otherwise you will live an incomplete life.
This world is finite. Your future is infinite. The rewards of this world are limited and amount to nothing. Your rewards in heaven are infinite.
When should you ever trade something worth a value beyond calculation, for something worth nothing?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Colossians 2:23
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 2:23
23 Which things [hostis] have [echo] indeed [men] a shew [esti] [logos] of wisdom [sophia] in [en] will worship, [ethelothreskeia] and [kai] humility, [tapeinophrosune] and [kai] neglecting [apheidia] of the body; [soma] not [ou] in [en] any [tis] honour [time] to [pros] the satisfying [plesmone] of the flesh. [sarx] KJV-Interlinear
23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. NASB
There are two components to your life in this world. You have a carnal component and a spiritual component.
The carnal deals with the fleshy aspects, the physical aspects of your life, and are primarily intended to satisfy the sin nature side of your life. Anything done in the sphere of the sin nature is a total waste of time and effort, and is broadly categorized as evil.
The spiritual side of your life deals primarily with your soul, and anything spiritually related to your soul always overflows over into the physical side of your life. That is a good thing because when good flows through your soul and then into your temporal side of life, its results are good.
All efforts to do God one better, as it were, serve the carnal side of life. There is nothing that man can do to enhance the spiritual life.
Fasting, beating on ones own back, living in poverty, living in seclusion, eating one type of food verses another, wearing a certain color to the exclusion of another, wearing certain clothing, covering ones self completely with certain clothes, using or not using some form of technology, praying at certain times of the day, facing a certain direction when praying, chanting, using exercise to make the body healthy and therefore the soul, and this list can go on and on and on.
All of these things do absolutely nothing for your spiritual life. They are mans efforts to improve mans life, and therefore are supposed to enhance your spiritual relationship with God. And all they do are satisfy some aspect of your sin nature drive.
That is the thrust of this verse and of this chapter. Mans efforts are irrelevant to mans relationship with God. Mans efforts only serve to satisfy mans fleshy (carnal - physical or mental) desires.
And yet, folks will maintain scrupulous observances of things that are of the carnal world, and pursue them with vigor, while at the same time, they will ignore the one single thing which God mandates, which is your daily Bible study.
People will place tremendous piety, and wisdom on their efforts. Professors and guru’s and priests, and politicians, and celebrities, and friends and neighbors, all have their opinions, and they are all intent with sincerity and argument, that allows them to make a ‘show’ of wisdom and knowledge. But, these things, their opinions are words of false prophets. They are nothing more than salesmen, selling the public a bill of goods, intended to elevate themselves in approbation, or profit, or social status, while the public gains nothing.
The pretenders of wisdom gain while the public suffers. And the public suffers only because they lack the doctrinal discernment that can protect them from the false ideas of life. And the public lacks doctrinal discernment, because they voluntarily ignore it.
There are the deceivers and the deceived, and both are equally guilty of failure in their spiritual lives, because their wants, come from the source of their sin nature. Some want the glory, while others want the free ride.
And collectively they will all lose in life.
The world will always be full of opinions and issues and controversies. The world will always have plans and ideas to solve this or that problem. And, as Solomon has stated, there isn’t anything that is being tried now, that hasn’t been tried before, and all of those former efforts have failed. He is referring to all of the best laid plans of humanity. None have ever worked.
There is only one plan which will solve all problems and promote peace and prosperity and happiness for everyone, and that plan is Gods plan. Gods plan for you and everyone, is the spiritual life, approached legitimately through ones daily study, learning, residence in fellowship, and then the repetition of that process, which we call the circle of wisdom, throughout your life.
From mans efforts, comes failure and suffering, and nothing more.
From Gods work, comes freedom, justice, health, prosperity, happiness, all things good, and things get even better from there.
But unfortunately people will not let go of their former priorities, until things get really bad. Carnal folks hold fast to their carnal possessions and beliefs. You need to make sure that you are not a participant of that failed group.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 2:23
23 Which things [hostis] have [echo] indeed [men] a shew [esti] [logos] of wisdom [sophia] in [en] will worship, [ethelothreskeia] and [kai] humility, [tapeinophrosune] and [kai] neglecting [apheidia] of the body; [soma] not [ou] in [en] any [tis] honour [time] to [pros] the satisfying [plesmone] of the flesh. [sarx] KJV-Interlinear
23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. NASB
There are two components to your life in this world. You have a carnal component and a spiritual component.
The carnal deals with the fleshy aspects, the physical aspects of your life, and are primarily intended to satisfy the sin nature side of your life. Anything done in the sphere of the sin nature is a total waste of time and effort, and is broadly categorized as evil.
The spiritual side of your life deals primarily with your soul, and anything spiritually related to your soul always overflows over into the physical side of your life. That is a good thing because when good flows through your soul and then into your temporal side of life, its results are good.
All efforts to do God one better, as it were, serve the carnal side of life. There is nothing that man can do to enhance the spiritual life.
Fasting, beating on ones own back, living in poverty, living in seclusion, eating one type of food verses another, wearing a certain color to the exclusion of another, wearing certain clothing, covering ones self completely with certain clothes, using or not using some form of technology, praying at certain times of the day, facing a certain direction when praying, chanting, using exercise to make the body healthy and therefore the soul, and this list can go on and on and on.
All of these things do absolutely nothing for your spiritual life. They are mans efforts to improve mans life, and therefore are supposed to enhance your spiritual relationship with God. And all they do are satisfy some aspect of your sin nature drive.
That is the thrust of this verse and of this chapter. Mans efforts are irrelevant to mans relationship with God. Mans efforts only serve to satisfy mans fleshy (carnal - physical or mental) desires.
And yet, folks will maintain scrupulous observances of things that are of the carnal world, and pursue them with vigor, while at the same time, they will ignore the one single thing which God mandates, which is your daily Bible study.
People will place tremendous piety, and wisdom on their efforts. Professors and guru’s and priests, and politicians, and celebrities, and friends and neighbors, all have their opinions, and they are all intent with sincerity and argument, that allows them to make a ‘show’ of wisdom and knowledge. But, these things, their opinions are words of false prophets. They are nothing more than salesmen, selling the public a bill of goods, intended to elevate themselves in approbation, or profit, or social status, while the public gains nothing.
The pretenders of wisdom gain while the public suffers. And the public suffers only because they lack the doctrinal discernment that can protect them from the false ideas of life. And the public lacks doctrinal discernment, because they voluntarily ignore it.
There are the deceivers and the deceived, and both are equally guilty of failure in their spiritual lives, because their wants, come from the source of their sin nature. Some want the glory, while others want the free ride.
And collectively they will all lose in life.
The world will always be full of opinions and issues and controversies. The world will always have plans and ideas to solve this or that problem. And, as Solomon has stated, there isn’t anything that is being tried now, that hasn’t been tried before, and all of those former efforts have failed. He is referring to all of the best laid plans of humanity. None have ever worked.
There is only one plan which will solve all problems and promote peace and prosperity and happiness for everyone, and that plan is Gods plan. Gods plan for you and everyone, is the spiritual life, approached legitimately through ones daily study, learning, residence in fellowship, and then the repetition of that process, which we call the circle of wisdom, throughout your life.
From mans efforts, comes failure and suffering, and nothing more.
From Gods work, comes freedom, justice, health, prosperity, happiness, all things good, and things get even better from there.
But unfortunately people will not let go of their former priorities, until things get really bad. Carnal folks hold fast to their carnal possessions and beliefs. You need to make sure that you are not a participant of that failed group.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Colossians 2:21-22
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 2:21-22
21 (Touch [haptomai] not; [me] taste [geuomai] not; [mede] handle [thiggano] not; [mede]
22 Which [hos] all [pas] are [esti] to [eis] perish [phthora] with the using; [apochresis]) after [kata] the commandments [entalma] and [kai] doctrines [didaskalia] of men [anthropos]? KJV-Interlinear
21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? NASB
Paul states the ‘do not’s’ in rapid succession to emphasize the enthusiasm of those who used these phrases, in their effort to control the daily habits of people’s lives.
Although Moses had written into the first five books of the Bible, many do not’s, all of these things were teaching aids used to teach principles of doctrine.
We reviewed just a short time ago, the concept of circumcision. This was a mandatory practice, but it taught a spiritual principle. The physical act had nothing to do with the spiritual life, but served as a reminder of the spiritual life.
We often have physical things in our daily lives, which serve to remind us of various principles. And why is that?
Well, recall that the unbeliever as well as the out of fellowship believer, mirror each other. They cannot understand the spiritual concepts unless they are in fellowship. Unbelievers cannot get themselves into fellowship unless they first believe in Christ, and believers who commit sins (as we all do), and do not confess them, are in the same boat of lacking comprehension as the unbelievers are.
Therefore, God utilizes and has utilized, many physical concepts to help as reminders of spiritual matters.
Parables are typical examples of this kind of teaching aid.
God uses temporary things, to teach permanent things. Man uses temporary things to cling to those same temporary things. What becomes of one who eats only fish on Friday’s, or refuses to touch a dead thing, or avoids meats, or certain foods and so forth? Well, nothing comes from their practice.
To eat beef on Thursday, and then avoid beef on Friday, has no meaning whatsoever. What you eat, what you wear, what you drink, what day of the week it is, have no affect on the spiritual life. They are irrelevant. Sunday is no more holy than Wednesday.
Your real objective is to feed on Bible doctrine and live by doctrine, continuously day in and day out, throughout your life. That is the essence of the spiritual life. What you think is what you are.
The objective of the spiritual life is to transform your thinking, not your environment. Your habits, your life style, your life, will all change as a result of how you think.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Colossians 2:21-22
21 (Touch [haptomai] not; [me] taste [geuomai] not; [mede] handle [thiggano] not; [mede]
22 Which [hos] all [pas] are [esti] to [eis] perish [phthora] with the using; [apochresis]) after [kata] the commandments [entalma] and [kai] doctrines [didaskalia] of men [anthropos]? KJV-Interlinear
21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? NASB
Paul states the ‘do not’s’ in rapid succession to emphasize the enthusiasm of those who used these phrases, in their effort to control the daily habits of people’s lives.
Although Moses had written into the first five books of the Bible, many do not’s, all of these things were teaching aids used to teach principles of doctrine.
We reviewed just a short time ago, the concept of circumcision. This was a mandatory practice, but it taught a spiritual principle. The physical act had nothing to do with the spiritual life, but served as a reminder of the spiritual life.
We often have physical things in our daily lives, which serve to remind us of various principles. And why is that?
Well, recall that the unbeliever as well as the out of fellowship believer, mirror each other. They cannot understand the spiritual concepts unless they are in fellowship. Unbelievers cannot get themselves into fellowship unless they first believe in Christ, and believers who commit sins (as we all do), and do not confess them, are in the same boat of lacking comprehension as the unbelievers are.
Therefore, God utilizes and has utilized, many physical concepts to help as reminders of spiritual matters.
Parables are typical examples of this kind of teaching aid.
God uses temporary things, to teach permanent things. Man uses temporary things to cling to those same temporary things. What becomes of one who eats only fish on Friday’s, or refuses to touch a dead thing, or avoids meats, or certain foods and so forth? Well, nothing comes from their practice.
To eat beef on Thursday, and then avoid beef on Friday, has no meaning whatsoever. What you eat, what you wear, what you drink, what day of the week it is, have no affect on the spiritual life. They are irrelevant. Sunday is no more holy than Wednesday.
Your real objective is to feed on Bible doctrine and live by doctrine, continuously day in and day out, throughout your life. That is the essence of the spiritual life. What you think is what you are.
The objective of the spiritual life is to transform your thinking, not your environment. Your habits, your life style, your life, will all change as a result of how you think.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Why Christianity
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org Daily Bible Study Index Page Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
DailyBibleStudy.Org Daily Bible Study Index Page Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Why Christianity
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Bible Note: Because the Daily Bible Study has spread rapidly across the world, then with this study, a new segment on the web site of the DailyBibleStudy.Org will begin. Three sections are going to be put into place over the coming days, months and years:
Intro to Christianity (designed to help unbelievers to become saved and enter into the Christian faith),
Basic doctrines of Christianity (designed to help new believers get started in their Spiritual life), and
Advanced Christian Studies (designed to advance believers to spiritual maturity).
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Since the beginning of human history, man has looked beyond himself or heavenward, for something better than anything he already has here in this world.
The search for eternal life, for a higher plane of existence, for something giving oneself more meaning and purpose, has been the pursuit of humanity since the beginning of time.
And is it any wonder? Just look around, and you’ll see hardship and suffering, stress and despair, and the promise of nothing but more of the same in this life.
Looking around you will find yourself inundated with opinion after opinion, religion after religion, and philosophy after philosophy.
And to make matters worse, they all seem to be contradictory, confusing and impossible to sort out.
Why is this?
Well the easy answer is that there once was a God in heaven, who created angels. These angels lived with God until one day they became arrogant. One angel, Lucifer, in particular raised a rebellion against God and tried to overthrow God.
It did not work. He was arrested and tried for his crimes, found guilty and sentenced to eternal condemnation and separation from God.
This, would be rebel, Lucifer now known as Satan, appealed his conviction and implied in his arguments that his trial and sentencing was unjust, so God allowed his appeal to unfold concurrently with human history.
And thus the conflict which was between God and good, and Satan and evil spread to humanity.
Gods objective? To prove that He, God, was completely fair and just in His dealings with evil. Also to prove that Gods policies are better for all of creation, than the policies of Satan.
Satan’s objective was to prove God wrong, to discredit God, and thus to replace God with himself.
On Gods side is truth.
On Satan’s side is deceit and lies. For one cannot destroy truth unless you replace it with lies and convince everyone that the lies are in fact truth.
And so God released to humanity, His policies of truth. And Satan released to humanity everything that is counter to truth, including lies, deceit, confusion, obscurity, and even including bits and pieces of truth within the volumes of lies and lusts that come from evil.
So, how do we sort it all out?
Well that is easier than you can realize. Simply place Christianity in one corner and all of the rest of the religions, cults, philosophies and so forth in the opposite corner.
Christianity promotes a solution for humanity through one savior, named Jesus Christ.
All of the other religions, cults, philosophies and so forth have one thing in common – they all reject Jesus Christ.
Also, all of the other religions, cults, philosophies and so forth have a second thing in common, and that is that they all present the idea that man by mans efforts can accomplish his own destiny, his own maturity, his own advancement to some higher level of existence.
And the fundamental principle of Christianity is that man cannot raise himself up to any higher level than he is at already. That only God can raise man up out of the doom and gloom of his predicaments, and that only God can and does accomplish this in behalf of mankind.
The Bible presents a picture of God, who is perfect and just.
Man is imperfect and unjust.
In order for man to raise himself up to a level of perfection, then he must first eliminate his imperfections out of his essence.
Hinduism began many centuries before the birth of Christ. Buddhism became an offshoot of Hinduism. Judaism along with the first two sought to lift man up by means of some form of living experience. Judaism looked to Gods approval by means of mans efforts. Hinduism and Buddhism looked to mans efforts to elevate himself above this life, into succeeding lives until some form of perfection was reached.
The pagan gods mixed confrontation, sex, power and such in order to advance ones self into a better placement in life.
Todays cults look to fulfill ones satisfaction in life by means of the sinful desires and needs of humanity. And philosophies like technology or science, foresee a better life through discovery and invention.
Whether you are pursuing nature or science, human dignity or some well organized theology, although all of these things have many differences among them, they all have those two same things in common – the idea that man can advance or solve his problems by means of mans efforts, and second, they all ignore or reject Jesus Christ.
This makes Christianity stand out from all of the rest, and makes it easy for people to begin their search for answers, in Christianity, rather than wasting their time and wasting their lives, analyzing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of opinions that ultimately will lead you to one dead end after another.
Life is a serious business for you. Once you have been born into this world, you have only one thing to look forward to, and that is your eventual death. What then?
If you choose any one of the other philosophies, then you will lose, and you will never get the answers you seek.
If you choose Christianity by believing in Jesus Christ, then you will advance yourself to the most phenomenal victory in life, even one beyond anything you can imagine, and you will find all of the answers you seek.
To enter the Christina life you need only say in your own mind, ‘Father, I believe in Jesus Christ.’ The Father is God the Father to whom all prayers are addressed.
Saying or thinking these six little words won’t harm you one little bit, will take you only a second to think them, and will become the single greatest decision you will ever make in all of your life.
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