Monday, November 30, 2009

1 Timothy 1:6

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1 Timothy 1:6

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6 From which [hos] some [tis] having swerved [astocheo] have turned aside [ektrepo] unto [eis] vain jangling; [mataiologia] KJV-Interlinear


6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, NASB


The four characteristics of the efforts of promoters of false information, is their error, their goal, their motive, and their effect or outcome.

Truth has your best interest in mind. Truth wants you to succeed in life and in eternity. Christianity is the relationship with God, through Christ, who is the source of truth, the infinite resource to support it, and the sovereignty and power to accomplish it.

All other religions, all other philosophies, all other cults, all other beliefs, all other opinions lack these attributes.

Truth is untainted. Truth is pure. Truth is clean. The soul that accumulates truth, has the capacity of assimilating the attributes of truth.

The soul that lacks truth is impure. The soul that lacks truth is unclean. The soul that lacks truth is tainted with the decay and stench of the worst kind of filthy and putridness.

Those who promote false doctrines, are themselves corrupt of soul. They cannot promote truth because they do not have it.

We have seen that the error of false doctrine promoters, is that their facts, their opinions, are based on lies and therefore in error. Their assumption of the knowledge of wisdom is false, therefore their words are false and made up. Anyone who challenges truth, with counter arguments, is deceitful and a liar.

There is only one truth, not many variations of truth. Truth is where facts and reality match up perfectly. Not almost , not sort of, not with exceptions, not because you want things to be a certain way, but perfectly.

Any argument against truth is false, and therefore hypocritical. False information can never complete anything, let alone your life. False information has no substance, no foundation, no structure. Can you construct a building with air?

When anyone turns aside from truth, and promotes false information, then they are doing nothing more than babbling with endless nothingness. Their premise if false, their conclusions are false, their words are empty.

Anyone who desires to win you over with false information, does not have your best interest in mind. They are only thinking of themselves, they are only attempting to build up their own ego at your expense.

Their position lacks reality and therefore they have nothing with which to help you. They cannot help you. They can only mislead you and steer you away from truth, which means that they are taking you away from your only hope of having an effective, full, and complete life.

Promoters of false doctrine, are interested only in their own ego and in their own victory at your expense, 1 Tim. 1:7.

Their goal in life is their advancement in their own mind, and your destruction, or the prevention of your success.


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Sunday, November 29, 2009

1 Timothy 1:5

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1 Timothy 1:5

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5 Now [de] the end [telos] of the commandment [paraggelia] is [esti] charity [agape] out of [ek] a pure [katharos] heart, [kardia] and [kai] of a good [agathos] conscience, [suneidesis] and [kai] of faith [pistis] unfeigned: [anupokritos] KJV-Interlinear


5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. NASB


The four aspects of the efforts of false instructors is their error, their goal, their motive, and their effect or outcome.

We covered their error. They have only myths and endless lists which lack truth or substance. Their arguments are made up, invented, and their statistics or views are repetitive, coming from nowhere and going to nowhere.

Now as to their goal. Paul contrasts the goal of the deceivers with the goal of truth.

First as to the goal of truth.

Truth seeks your completion as a human being. That means your body, soul and spirit. The first means of your completion, is your salvation and the certain promise of eternal life. That comes with faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

The second means of your completion, is your spiritual growth. This is your learning of doctrine, your living in fellowship, your understanding of what you learn, and finally your using what you learn on a daily basis, in your daily life. That last part creates your spiritual production.

Remember, your works, your efforts according to your standards, are not works according to Gods standards. You can say all of the words, sing all of the right songs, and feel all of the right feelings, but if your life is based on emotions only, then your life is seriously lacking in substance.

Bible doctrine, learned in an academic environment, is the substance and foundation of your spiritual life. And on that, is based the rest of your entire life.

Love, ‘agape,’ is the love of choice, it is the love of substance, not emotion. ‘Agape,’ is the content of the scriptures, which you have to learn, before you can know and use them.

But here it is translated, charity, and charity is the action, or the active use of the principles of life, in life.

Charity which also means giving to those who are in need, is a different type of charity, and not in view here, although it is incorporated because it is a part of the vast array of principles of doctrine that apply to ones life.

This word, ‘agape,’ here refers to the vast array of principles which you need to learn in order to grow up. And that in turn contributes toward the completion of your total life.

This is the goal of truth, to bring your life to its fullest possible point of completion and beyond.

But life is more than just knowledge, it is use and function in ones daily life, with a ‘pure heart.’

The Psalms cover the concept of the pure heart,

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?" Psa. 24:3.
"He who has clean hands and a pure heart," Psa. 24:4.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God," Psa. 51:10.
"Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart!" Psa. 73:1.

And what exactly is a pure heart?
A heart washed by regeneration, Titus 3:5, an obedient heart, Rom 6:17.

The heart is the active function of the soul, symbolically in the soul, as it is a pump within your physical body. The heart represents the circulation (the use) of Bible doctrine in your soul.

And the only people who can possess this pure heart, are those who have been saved (regeneration), and those who live within the fellowship sphere of the spiritual life (obedient). This fellowship concept has been studied in detail within our studies of 1, 2, and 3rd Jn. Perhaps one day you will find the time to go over those studies.

Next is the good conscience. This is the self discipline within you, that keeps you alert as to the status of your spiritual life. It is the self evaluation, moment by moment of your life, monitoring for sin in your life, measuring your thoughts and actions, against that which is right, verses that which is wrong.

Everyone is born with a natural sense of what is right and what is wrong, Rom. 2:14-15. No one has any excuse for not knowing the fundamental difference between right and wrong. When you cross the line you experience guilt, fear, shame, remorse, nervousness, and so forth. So you are always alerted to the fact of your thoughts or actions, Titus 1:15. A good conscience is one who functions in fellowship.

‘And faith, unfeigned.’ The spiritual life cannot be faked with God. You may fake out people, with rhetoric and smiles, but God looks inside of the soul and sees the truth therein, or lack of it.

With truth, your thoughts are pure, your motives are pure, your actions are pure. There is no deceit or attempt to deceive or further your own self at the expense of others. You do not elevate yourself above others, or try to take advantage by dishonest means. You do the best you can with what the world dishes out to you and depend on God for the rest.

If you have to promote yourself at the expense of someone else, then your advancement is not really an honorable advancement.

The goal of truth is to build you up, to make you complete, to separate you and make you autonomous from the constraints of this world. To make you free, secure, prosperous, and contented. That is true happiness, and the underlying result is real meaning and purpose for your life. That is the ultimate goal of truth, for your life.


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Saturday, November 28, 2009

1 Timothy 1:4

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1 Timothy 1:4

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4 Neither [mede] give heed [prosecho] to fables [muthos] and [kai] endless [aperantos] genealogies, [genealogia] which [hostis] minister [parecho] questions, [zetesis] rather [mallon] than [e] godly [theos] edifying [oikodomia] which [ho] is in [en] faith: [pistis] so do. KJV-Interlinear


4 nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. NASB


The false teachers, the deceivers, those who will try to confuse and misdirect your life are in error themselves. Their goal is to get you to see things their way. This is a competition to them and nothing more than ego driven rhetoric to win the argument. Their motive is to prevent you from traveling your own course, which is different from theirs. And the effect of their whole agenda is loss to you, if you yield to them.

Satan is the father of lies. Satans policy of evil, is the pattern of lies, intertwined in a complex web of ambiguity and confusion or subtle appeals to the emotions, wherein he can fabricate almost any argument of out of nothing. His goal? To get you to quit your position in truth.

The lies of the world have but one objective, which is to make you lose.

And so Paul teaches us here, that the deceivers, the false prophets of the world will fabricate false arguments, of which their objective is to argue. They are not interested in truth, but in confusion and debate.

You have probably already been confronted by so called atheists, secularists, or those of other religions, who want to debate. But in truth there is no debate, there is nothing to prove. Truth is simply truth. Only in lies is there a need to debate in order to give the lies some sort of respectability.

Endless myths, are simply that, fabricated arguments, fabricated statistics, invented facts, things that are intended to provoke confrontation. They are arguments which describe the bad things of the world, and attempt to prove that God is therefore bad, because people or circumstances are bad. They are a projection of bad things onto God.

Endless genealogies, is a list of names of ancestors, but it is also lists in general of causes and reactions. These lists do not exist and cannot be proven, nor do they carry any weight in truth.

For, the records of the lines of humanity were effectively shut down when Christ was born. This cancels religious attempts to destroy Christianity by creating lineage after the time of Christ. No sons or daughters of Jesus. No lineage for other religions such as Islam, to justify themselves. No lineage to create a super or elite class of people.

In other words, all arguments of false teaching are an attempt to give man credit for his own efforts, thus cancelling out the work of Christ as the basis for salvation.

There are only two categories into which all theology or philosophies fit. The first is salvation by faith through the work of Christ. And the second category which includes atheists, is salvation or a better view of life, by means of mans cognizance or effort.

Today, we know more about the makeup of this universe, than ever before. We are still learning, and even those who are actively engaged in the science of discovery, do not have all of the answers. And yet, you will come into contact with those who are not scientists, who are not graduates with degrees, who are not actively participating in some science, but who seem to have all of the answers, even of life beyond this one.

Their courage comes from behind a keyboard, hidden behind an internet, and armed with arguments that have no means of proof or verification. But they are impressed with their own arguments and presume that you are impressed with their words as well.

Their intent is not to provide you with a better life, but only to defeat you in the argument. In either case they lose, and they could care less about what the outcome is for your life.

Christianity does not try to destroy. Christianity does not seek out argument for arguments sake. Christianity cares a great deal about your future, for when you win, then everyone is better off.

Christianity has but one objective, to build you up to a point of completion and total success. Paul calls this edifying, ‘oikodomia,’ which means to build, to complete, a building, a dwelling, a home that is fully ready to live within.

The purpose of Christianity is not to promote the instructor, not to allow an instructor restrictive control over those who he teaches, not to entertain, not to promote life through emotion only, but to promote growth through substance.

You have to eat, if you are to grow and remain healthy.

If you sing and say the right things only to exercise your emotions, recite endless clichés or slang in order to create an identity for yourself, that is no different than standing outside of a great restaurant and smelling the aroma only. You cannot live on the smells only.

Your life depends on the construction and completion of your soul, and that requires material, real building material, which is Bible doctrine.

Myths and endless lists may be impressive, but they are in fact, nothing.


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Friday, November 27, 2009

1 Timothy 1:3

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1 Timothy 1:3

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3 As [kathos] I besought [parakaleo] thee [se] to abide still [prosmeno] at [en] Ephesus, [Ephesos] when I went [poreuomai] into [eis] Macedonia, [Makedonia] that [hina] thou mightest charge [paraggello] some [tis] that they teach [heterodidaskaleo] no [me] other doctrine, [heterodidaskaleo] KJV-Interlinear


3 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, NASB


Paul had been in Ephesus with Timothy, and had moved on to another city. During his stay in Ephesus, certain men engaged in the practice of false teaching, and this is the subject with which Timothy is left to deal with.

A couple of men, mentioned in verse twenty of this chapter, were probably leaders or at least examples of this false teaching effort, but in any case, Timothy was to confront and end as best he could, the false teachings that were being spread.

Paul will elude to four broad categories of false teaching – their error, motives, goals and effect, on people who listen to them.

But in any case, remember one important principle, Gods teaching is truth, and the false teachings of men are from no other source but Satan, who is the father of lies, Jn 8:44. Only lies come from Satan, and nothing else.

Truth may always be determined as it always stands out and holds up under scrutiny.

Lies have nothing to stand on, and therefore eventually collapse under their own argument.

And one of the most dangerous areas in history will occur in the end times when liars and deceivers will become thick as thieves, so to speak, Matt. 5:17, 24:11, 24.

The false prophets will use smooth words, smooth logic, smart arguments, even arguments that appeal to the emotions, but their facts are invented and never substantiated, and they are forced to use ambiguity since their reality does not exist.

False prophets are only successful when confronting people who lack doctrine in their souls. They stand up against a weaker opponent, as a bully confronts a little guy. Against truth, they cannot stand.

False prophets are not restricted to theology only. The biggest crowd of distributers of falsities comes from the secular side of society – media, government, celebrities, social norms and standards, popular opinion, and so forth.

It is against this barrage that people who are spiritually deficient, will be vulnerable. And those who lack doctrine, will never know that they have been deceived, unless they put the argument to the test, which most do not.

Your only defense and protection against the falsities of life, is truth. But you cannot use truth unless you know it. And you cannot know it unless you study it every day of your life. Bible doctrine is the food for the soul, and food is to be eaten every day, lest you starve.

How often do you eat?


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Thursday, November 26, 2009

1 Timothy 1:2

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1 Timothy 1:2

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2 Unto Timothy, [Timotheos] my own [gnesios] son [teknon] in [en] the faith: [pistis] Grace, [charis] mercy, [eleos] and peace, [eirene] from [apo] God [theos] our [hemon] Father [pater] and [kai] Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos] our [hemon] Lord. [kurios] KJV-Interlinear


2 to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. NASB


This letter is written to Timothy. Timothy means ‘dear to God,’ or ‘one who honors God.’ By this attribute and through Pauls personal descriptions, we can know that Timothy was a very devout and well prepared man.

Child, ‘gnesios,’ means a legitimate child born to parents that are married, as opposed to a child that is illegitimate.

‘In faith,’ is a term representative of the whole of Christian doctrine.

Therefore by this reference, we know that Timothy was born into faith, and has grown up in his spiritual life in a legitimate fashion. Most probably his recent education came, in recent times, through the teaching from Paul.

However, we do know that Timothy’s parents had a hand in his upbringing, and that Timothy was raised from his youth, by the scriptures of the Old Testament, 2 Tim 3:15. Remember that at this time in history, the New Testament, as we know it, did not exist.

In any case, Timothy was a well prepared man, because of his legitimate studies of the scriptures, and not from illegitimate sources or from a lazy attitude toward the scriptures, or from empty pursuits of superficial phrases and such.

Grace, mercy and peace, sum up the totality of Gods plan for every human being.

The plan began with Gods grace, which is Gods favor. This is the sense of Gods kindness, generosity, compassion, pleasing manner, contentment, or benevolence, all of which point toward the ultimate prosperity and completeness toward the recipient.

Mercy, is Gods grace in action. Words of kindness are nothing if they are not followed by action. And Gods mercy represents the sum total of His provision, both in time and in eternity. And as we can look into the night sky and see the vastness of the universe before us, which was all created as the environment for our life and for our history, then this represents the magnitude of Gods provision for each one of us individually. This is how important you are to God.

And peace, is the ultimate goal of the completion of ones life. Peace is the fullness of ones growth, understanding, wisdom, security, meaning and purpose, prosperity, and happiness. The completion in every sense of the word, of your life.

The ultimate goal of a persons life does not, repeat, does not, come through wishing or hoping, by singing songs or reading pleasant verses. It comes to you through work, spiritual work. And that comes to you through a daily study of the Bible, by academic preparation, and by no other means.

In contrast, the ultimate lazy person, the illegitimate person, is one who will not pursue doctrine in a legitimate fashion. That is a four letter word, ‘work.’ It is far easier to sit back and do nothing, except that which you want to do, things that exclude a daily commitment to a study.

The legitimate pursuit makes you a legitimate child. The lazy pursuit makes you the bastard or illegitimate child. The legitimate child is the recipient of Gods favor, the illegitimate child is not.

And note here, that we are contrasting not believer and unbeliever, but legitimate believer verses the illegitimate believer. The one who pursues their spiritual life in the correct fashion, verses the one who pursues their emotions, or good feelings, or other path of their own design, but yet calls themselves spiritual, when they are not.

From God the Father, and Christ, both persons mentioned link this policy and plan to its only legitimate source, God, as well as linking both members of the Godhead, as co-equal. Jesus Christ is God.

God the Father is the father to all of creation in that it was His plan that governs all of creation, Acts 17:28-29. And he is the Father to all believers who have been adopted into His family, Matt 5:45, 1 Peter 1:3, 1 John 5:1, 3:1-2.

Jesus Christ is the source and procurer of peace, Luke 2:14, 19:38, 42, John 14:27, 16:33, Acts 10:36, Rom 5:1, Eph 2:17. The Father provided for it in the original plan, and Christ secures it through His work and through doctrine.

And you receive it by means of your legitimate pursuit of doctrine within the environment of your spiritual life.

And so we close yet another year, with our collective celebration on this Thanksgiving holiday. We celebrated ours a bit early as the boys were back on leave a week ago, but have now re-deployed into Iraq and Afghanistan respectively. We are thankful for the many things that we have received in our life, and we are exceptionally thankful to all of you, who have faithfully supported this study over these many years, that has allowed me to write and provide it to folks around the world, so that they will have an opportunity in completing their lives, by Gods grace.

And now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, even Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both before time, now and forever. Amen.


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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

1 Timothy 1:1

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1 Timothy 1:1

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1 Paul, [Paulos] an apostle [apostolos] of Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos] by [kata] the commandment [epitage] of God [theos] our [hemon] Saviour, [soter] and [kai] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ, [Christos] which [ho] is our [hemon] hope; [elpis] KJV-Interlinear


1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope; NASB


The writer of this letter is Paul. Paul means, little or small, and though it probably referred to his physical presence, it is also a reference to his spiritual humility. Revered by all Christians as perhaps the one who made the most contribution to the New Testament, he is probably second only to Isaiah as far as the entire Bible is concerned.

Paul is referred to by those who did not particularly like him, as demeaning and unimpressive as an individual, 2 Cor. 10:10.

Paul was born into a Jewish family, Phil. 3:5, was a Roman citizen, Acts 22:25-28, was born with the name of Saul which was changed to Paul, Acts. 13:9.

He was raised in traditional orthodox fashion, circumcised on the eighth day, born of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, Phil. 3:5, fanatical and devout in Judaism, excelled among his peers, Gal. 1:14, was exuberant even in his participation in the death of Stephen, Acts 8:1, and the persecution of Christians in general, Acts 8:3, 9:1-2, 26:9-11.

While traveling to Damascus, Paul was confronted by Christ and converted to Christianity, Acts 9. Paul spent three years in solitary preparation then returned to Damascus proclaiming the gospel of Christ. He was run out of town, so to speak, and went to Jerusalem, where he was hesitantly received because of his former reputation, Acts 9:22-25, 2 Cor. 11:32-33.

Through the efforts of Barnabas, Paul was accepted, and went to Antioch, where he became one of the pastors in the church there. It was from that ministry that Paul launched his ministry to the gentiles, and thereby came to meet Timothy in due course, Acts 22:14-15, 26:16-18.

Paul is called an apostle, which means messenger, or to send off on a commission to do something as one's personal representative with credentials furnished, an envoy, an ambassador.

Many in the New Testament were called apostles, both of the original twelve as well as others, Barnabas, Acts 14:14, Epaphroditus, Phil. 2:25, Andronicus and Junius, Rom. 16:7, and James, Gal 1:19.

In a more restrictive definition of the term, only the original eleven plus Matthias and later Paul, who were selected by Christ Himself, or who were witness to Jesus personally, came into possession of the title.

Command, ‘epitage,’ here is one of authority, non-negotiable. For it is by this command from God that the content which we are about to read, becomes non-negotiable and mandatory on all believers. This term gives the authority of God, to the words of Paul within the context of this letter.

The command came from the source of God, ‘theos,’ the highest authority in existence, and above God there is no other authority. And this command is linked through the Savior, Jesus Christ, who by this association, makes Him co-equal with God, and therefore God Himself, Matt. 11:27, John 5:17-18, 10:30, 17:1-5,11,21-22, Psa. 18:46, 25:5, 27:9, Mic. 7:7, Hab. 3:18.

God the Father, authored the Divine plan, which was carried out by the Son, Jesus Christ.

And by the way, this father, son relationship is not a generational relationship, but one of chain of command or access and is designed to thwart human effort in mans attempt to approach the Father directly through the source of mans sins. Therefore, man can only approach God through the work of Christ, not through his (mans) own work from arrogance. This is the single most critical principle which separates Christianity from all other religions, cults, philosophies, etc. Christianity is a relationship with God, through Christ.

Jesus Christ is therefore the basis of our hope for eternal life and a life with God in heaven. Without Christ, there is no hope, no future, nothing, Col. 1:27, 1 Jn. 3:2-3 and references in our current study 1 Tim. 1:11, 14-17, 2:3, 4:10.


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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

1 Timothy - Introduction

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1 Timothy
Introduction

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Paul wrote both 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy in the late 50’s or early 60’s A.D. Both letters are addressed to Timothy, a younger man who Paul met when he visited Derbe and Lystra, Acts. 16:1

Tiumothy’s mother was Eunice. His grandmother was Lois and his father was a greek, 2 Tim. 1:3, 3:15.

Timothy was well trained in the scriptures, due to the extensive faith followed by his family.

Paul had met Timothy for the first time in the early 50’s A.D., however, Timothy was already a Christian by that time. Timothy’s conversion to Christianity is not covered as to the how or when of his faith in Christ.

During the next ten years or so, Timothy became a member as one of Pauls traveling companions, and he traveled with him extensively throughout the region.

After these dates mentioned mostly in these two letters and in Acts, very little is known about Timothy. Tradition (not documented) states that Timothy became a leader in the Church at Ephesus, and died many years later and was buried in Ephesus.

The subject of the first letter to Timothy is, ‘maintaining.’


1 Timothy Outline (New Unger's Bible Dictionary)


I. Salutation (1:1-2)


II. Defense of the church's faith (1:3-20)

III. Regulations for church conduct (2-3)
A. Concerning prayer (2:1-8)
B. Place of women (2:9-15)
C. Qualifications of elders and deacons (3)

IV. Warning against apostasy and false doctrine (4:1-5)

V. Prescriptions for ministerial conduct, private and public (4:6-6:2)

VI. False and true teachers contrasted (6:3-19)

VII. Closing appeal to faithfulness (6:20-21)


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Monday, November 23, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:18

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2 Thessalonians 3:18

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18 The grace [charis] of our [hemon] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos] be with [meta] you [humon] all. [pas] Amen. [amen] KJV-Interlinear


18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. NASB


Paul concludes this second letter to the Thessalonians, with the promise of Gods grace, which is Gods favor, that is bestowed upon any and all who enter into His spiritual plan.

For it is by His grace, that any of us even have a life to live, are who we are, or have what we have.

Were it not for His favor upon us, we would be nothing, have nothing, and amount to nothing. We are all undeserving. None of us can earn nor do we deserve anything that God provides.

Formed out of the dust, God is able to bring life into the dust, fashion the dust into some of the most beautiful people, impute into the dust some of the most phenomenal talent and abilities, and yet we need to realize that it is dust and nothing more than that, which God has fashioned us from.

What can man say of his own accomplishments? And yet humanity will assume credit for that which he had no part in, in the invention or design of himself.

And by Gods grace, dust is given life, and life is given choice, and choice is given the heirship to the new universe yet to come. Why?

From nothing, to greatness beyond dreams, Gods grace made it all possible.

When I began posting this daily study on the internet many years ago, there were but a few who read the studies.

When I began posting this daily study on Facebook, just a month ago, there were very few within that group who were reading this study.

Over the years, the study has spread to over 150 countries, and now this most recent effort on Facebook has seen the study expand to over twenty groups. Some with but a few members while others have several thousand. And even though less than two percent of the readers of the entire study, originate from Facebook, it does offer a tremendous population for bringing people to Christ and to the fullness of their life.

I noticed early on that, of the many Facebook groups that are out there, most are nothing more than lists of names, with no function or purpose, other than to become a list. Certainly with no structure or goal of purpose. And that is unfortunate. Because there is a tremendous opportunity before us, given to us by God, if only we would want it bad enough. Most do not.

The opportunity is there, the studies are there, but where is the desire to dedicate ones self, to a daily commitment?

Paul has given us confirmation that Christ is one day, going to return. Most will not be ready, because they do not see the importance. Other common details of life seem to be more important that ones eternal future.

From dust to what?

God invented this universe and created it in all of its vastness, for us. That is quite a lot just so we could have an environment to live our life, in this world. The next universe is going to be far greater than this one. The resurrection bodies waiting for us are going to be far, far better than what we have now. Our whole eternal future is so vast, that even our imaginations cannot even begin to comprehend it.

And yet what commitment are you willing to make for your own future?

With each tick of the clock, Christs appearance draws closer. None of us know when He is going to call us home, or when He will suddenly appear out of nowhere.

But regardless of those certain future dates, you have the opportunity right now, to get your act together.

The objective of this study is to provide you with all of the tools necessary to advance in your spiritual life to as far as is humanly possible. And it is all courtesy of the grace of God.

As long as there are positive people, who want, really want all that they can possibly get for themselves out of life, God will provide the means for that effort. But when people slip into indifference, then those opportunities will likewise fade away.

We have already studied the details of the end of our own dispensation, which is described as the great apostasy.

And it is that spiritual gap in history, just like the two gaps before it in history, the preflood gap and the gap separating the two Testaments, that have and will bring the greatest of events that have ever occurred in history, namely the Flood of Noah, the Birth of Christ, and the Rapture yet to come.

Gods plan will advance in history regardless of what you do for yourself. It is far better for you, if you advance in Gods plan, than simply becoming meaningless historical filler, just as those useless lists of member names are, on so many Facebok groups.


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Sunday, November 22, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:17

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2 Thessalonians 3:17

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17 The salutation [aspasmos] of Paul [Paulos] with mine own [emos] hand, [cheir] which [hos] is [esti] the token [semeion] in [en] every [pas] epistle: [epistole] so [houto] I write. [grapho] KJV-Interlinear


17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter, this is the way I write. NASB


With a couple of exceptions, Paul identifies this letter, as well as others, as his own work, because of the fraudulent letters circulated to the Thessalonians earlier mentioned in this same letter, 2 Thess. 2:2. Those fraudulent letters attempted to claim, in Paul’s name, that the return of Christ was already at hand, which of course it was not.

Authenticity and truth are in view here. Over the many centuries, there will occur after the time of the apostles, many false letters that will come into the world in an attempt to falsify or dilute the contents of the Bible.

Of these attempts all have sufficient errors within them to identify them as false. Probably the worst writing ever attempted was the writings of Muhammad, who did not even write even one word of the Koran, which was written by others several years after his dreams. Because it is filled with so many errors, misquotes, historical errors, and so forth, it can easily be proved to be false. This we covered a few weeks ago, in detail, on that very topic, ‘The Flaws of Islam.’ I have placed that study in the special studies section on the web site, as well as in the introduction section.

The importance of truth is paramount in life, but especially within the content of the scriptures, simply because as God, who is supposed to be error free, and not able to make mistakes, then any communication from God, must be accurate. If not, if it contained even a single error, then it could not ever have come from God.

And there will be folks who will claim error after error within the scriptures, but they rush to make the claims, without studying the context from which they quote. Remember, that the Bible has been around for many, many centuries, for even thousands of years. It has been criticized, and condemned, and hated by one and all more often than anything or anyone in all of human history. And yet it stands firm.

No one, born in our present day, can come up with any single error claim, that has not already been charged against the Bible, many times over. And yet there will be those who do not even read the Bible, do not even know its content, but will still make their claims of error.

Therefore, truth is paramount, and truth has but one origin – God.

The Bible identifies God as truth.

God is the source of peace, strength and now the references to truth, Psa. 31:5, Isa. 65:16, 2 Chron. 15:3, Jer. 10:10, John 7:28, 17:3, 1 Thess. 1:9, 1 John 5:20, Rev. 6:10.

His words are truth, 2 Sam. 7:28, He is abundant in truth, Psa. 86:15, He is true even if all men are liars, Rom. 3:4, He cannot lie, Num. 23:19, 1 Sam. 15:29, Titus 1:2, Heb. 6:18.

Jesus Christ is God, and is also truth, John 1:14, 17, John 7:18, John 14:6, Eph, 4:21, Rev. 3:7, 14, Rev 19:11.

The Holy Spirit is truth. John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 5:6.

The Christian Church is described as the pillar of truth, 1 Tim. 3:15. But in order to be a pillar of truth, you as a member of Christianity, must be able to distinguish and discern between truth and lies, 1 Jn. 4:6. That is your mandate. That is your obligation.

There is only one source, only one benchmark which clearly identifies truth and separates out the lies of the world, Col. 1:5, 2 Tim. 2:15, James 1:18, which is the Word of God, the scriptures, the Bible.

And you can only accomplish this by your daily study, 2 Tim. 2:15, ‘Study to show thyself approved [mature], rightly dividing [discerning] the word of truth.’

The challenge is now set before you. Will you clearly identify your intentions for your own life, just as Paul has clearly identified His name on this letter, and take up the daily obligation to study, be taught and learn that which God has placed before you?

Or, will you give it all lip service and no real substantive effort to advance in your spiritual life?

Your life began when you were born into this world. Your life will continue on forever.

When you were born into this world, you had no say as to what your life would be like.

But now being born again, you have every opportunity to define and design your entire eternal life ahead of you. How could anyone pass up on that opportunity?


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Saturday, November 21, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:16b

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2 Thessalonians 3:16b

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16 Now [de] the Lord [kurios] of peace [eirene] himself [autos] give [didomi] you [humin] peace [eirene] always [dia] [pas] by [en] all [pas] means. [tropos] The Lord [kurios] be with [meta] you [humon] all. [pas] KJV-Interlinear


16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! NASB


‘The Lord be with you all.’ The last few words at the end of this verse, seem plain enough, but there is more here than meets the eye.

God is omnipresent and as such, is everywhere simultaneously. So obviously God is with you in that sense.

Having someone nearby is one thing, but having someone nearby to whom you can look for support is quite another.

But Gods strength comes in various forms.

As humanity, Gods strength sustains the world so that we can all have a place to live. We call this common grace. Included in common grace are the laws of divine establishment, which include principles of, volition, marriage, family, free enterprise, legal due process, nationalism, fundamental economics and so forth.

These are the things that guide, stabilize, and sustain society in the midst of the laws of the jungle, which oppose all divine rules, and attempt to tear down society in all of its aspects.

Even the concepts of the male, female roles in society are attacked by the numerous philosophies that have been invented to create equity but are never equitable, among the genders, and are in fact attacks against divine rules of stability.

God defined the female role as a stabilizing influence through the marriage and family units. While the male assumes the active role, the female assumes the passive role, and together they both serve to stabilize society.

These roles have nothing to do with who you are or what you do in life. Either male or female can change diapers of build rockets. Your occupation is irrelevant in your relationship with God and/or your role in society.

However, it is the world that creates discrimination and prejudice in order to make one group superior to another. And it is that superior minded group that advances evil at the expense of everyone else.

If you can keep the inferior groups suppressed, then the elites believe that they can gain and keep power and control for themselves. And this applies in all cases, whether slavery because of race, whether denial of rights because of gender (women), whether citizens denied freedoms because of abusive government. Keep them in the dark and deny them access to truth. That is the policy and force of evil in the world.

But God, provides a higher level of grace, for those who believe in Christ.

For those who reject Christ, they are at the mercy of the world. And in the world they can survive if the rules of divine establishment function as designed. In a world where these principles are compromised, then trouble makes life difficult for everyone. Marriages fail, alternative lifestyles crop up, principles of family and God are always under attack, socialistic or legislative philosophies try to stamp out free enterprise, internationalism (one world) tries to subdue nationalism, and so forth.

But for believers in Christ, an additional higher law, takes over. The Law of Christ in you (post salvation grace plus greater grace of maturity).

We all live in this world and we are all subject to the activities that occur in the world. But as a believer in Christ, then Christ takes on the additional role of protecting you. This role is not available to the unbelieving crowd.

However, Christ’s role in your life depends on your participation in advancing in your spiritual life.

Again, for believers who are positive, then there is the additional support mechanism from God. But for believers who disregard their spiritual life, then there is the support provided that the rest of the world has – common grace.

It is to this post salvation grace that Paul is referring to as well as the advanced grace of spiritual maturity, which is called greater grace in James. Refer to the detailed studies in James on this subject.

When one attains or is in the process of advancing toward spiritual maturity, then greater grace becomes more and more apparent in your life.

This is ‘Christ in you.’ The achievement of peace through advancement to maturity in the spiritual life.

This is not acquired by singing about it, by hearing devotionals, by making wishes, even though these things exercise the emotions.

However, spiritual advancement is attained by work – work that is defined by God for the spiritual life. And that work is – residence in fellowship, daily bible study, listening to and learning doctrine, applying it to your daily life, developing an understanding which God provides, replacing your understanding which the world would want you to have, developing true wisdom, inner happiness, spiritual productivity by the application of correct doctrine to your daily life, obedience to Gods mandates, and not the least of which is the persistence to stick with your studies, regardless of your situations in life.

These things must be followed with a rigid self discipline, and not occasionally or only as they may be convenient to your life.

Then through this, you will have the greatest access to God, to Christ, and to the ultimate goal of the spiritual life – peace.

And can you even accomplish these things? Yes.

Phil. 4:13
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. NASB

Yes, you can accomplish that which seems to be the impossible, because the world would have you believe that it is impossible. But Christ is greater than the world, so you only have to replace the worlds views in your soul, with those of Christ. That takes commitment and a resolve to accomplish it.

And so, the world will attack anything and everything that represents truth.

Women represent the foundation and stability of the marriage and family unit, and therefore society. By attacking women restricting their access to truth, by restricting their access to education, by restricting their freedoms and liberties, then society is rendered dysfunctional and unstable.

Thus the real need for womens studies and as we have mentioned before, the women of Islam, who are probably the largest and most repressed group on the planet. But where the women are, then the men have no choice but to follow. Well, at least that is a good plan.

The studies of Bible doctrine are not directed at any one gender, because the whole Bible is for everyone. But often times a whole family is led to the Lord when just one member enters into the Christian faith, and then hopefully others follow.

Your objective in life, your very best objective in life, in order to gain for yourself and for others, the very best life and most complete life possible, is through Bible doctrine.

Life is a very serious matter. Everything is on the line and determined by your thoughts and decisions.

You can pursue the world, and gain those things from the world, which you see and sense everyday, but they are all temporary and an illusion, not the real deal.

Or, you can pursue God, Christ, doctrine, and your spiritual life and gain far more, than anything anyone could ever gain from this world in a thousand lifetimes. And your complete life, your completed life is readily available to you through your positive decision to pursue truth through your daily studies.

Through consistency, and perseverance, with no excuses, you can have the greatest life beyond imagination.

This would be a good time to review our study of your life’s story, http://www.dailybiblestudy.org/biblestudy/basic/your-story.html in order to remind you of just some of the things that your life stands for.


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Friday, November 20, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:16

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2 Thessalonians 3:16

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16 Now [de] the Lord [kurios] of peace [eirene] himself [autos] give [didomi] you [humin] peace [eirene] always [dia] [pas] by [en] all [pas] means. [tropos] The Lord [kurios] be with [meta] you [humon] all. [pas] KJV-Interlinear


16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! NASB


Peace is the highly prized and ultimate objective of the spiritual life.

Peace in the spiritual life is not anything similar to the peace of the world. Whereas the world defines peace in terms of calm, tranquility, contentment and so forth and just as the spiritual life includes these attributes, the means of obtaining them is very different. The peace of the world is based on the presumption powered by arrogance, wherein people believe that their efforts or beliefs are adequate to bring themselves before God, or in some religions, make God unnecessary.

The world can obtain calm, through drugs, alcohol, false beliefs, wealth, status and so forth. These things are not real, but produce a calm or peace based on lies, deception, or temporary things. The worlds definition bases its peace on having everything going well. When things do not go well, then that peace vanishes.

Spiritual peace, on the other hand, is based on the integral relationship between the soul of the individual and God. Spiritual peace is obtainable by everyone who pursues it through their legitimate spiritual growth. The peace offered by the world is not available to everyone, but is in fact elusive to everyone.

Spiritual peace is based on the inner resources of the soul, and those resources are determined and defined by doctrine which the individual learns, understands, and uses in their daily life.

The peace offered by the world is difficult to obtain, and in fact cannot be obtained because it is a pseudo peace.

The peace offered by the spiritual life is obtainable by everyone, if only they will commit themselves to God, Christ, doctrine, and their spiritual life, and it consists of the inner confidence beginning with salvation and continuing with ones eternal life, based on Gods sovereign control and power over everything.

Peace from God has several characteristics. First it originates from God. From the Father, who is called the God of peace, Judg. 6:24, Rom. 15:33, 16:20, 1 Cor. 14:33, 2 Cor. 13:11, Phil 4:9, 1 Thess. 5:23, Heb. 13:20.

Christ is called the Lord of peace, making His deity equal with the Father, 2 Thess. 3:16, Isa. 9:6, Eph. 2:14.

The Holy Spirit is called the source or fruit of peace, Gal. 5:22, Rom. 14:17.

Therefore, the Father authored peace, the Son obtains it, and the Holy Spirit brings it to humanity, Acts. 10:36, Rom. 5:1, Col. 1:20.

Peace is not something that you can work for to obtain for yourself, but is a gift from God, Num. 6:26, Psa. 29:11, and is available only through the successful advancement through the spiritual life.

There is no peace available to unbelievers or spiritually negative believers, Rom 15:13, Isa 48:22, 57:21, Jere. 6:14, 8:11, Ezek. 13:10,16.

True peace of the soul is inseparable from Gods righteousness and justice (holiness), Psa. 85:10, Isa. 32:17, Deu. 29:19.

The peace of the spiritual life is continual regardless of life’s circumstances, and is not dependent on circumstances.

Peace is the product of the spiritual life. When the spiritual life is interrupted by sin, then the spiritual life and therefore peace, can be resumed or recovered by confession, Psa. 42:11, 42:5, 43:5, Lev. 26:3-6, Rom. 2:10, 1 Jn. 1:9. This allows you to resume walking in the Spirit (fruit of the Spirit – reside in fellowship), Gal. 5:22.

Peace is on the promise of eternal salvation, Heb. 5:9, and promised by God who cannot lie, Titus 1:2, is anchored in the successful spiritual life, Phil. 1:6, is unlike what the world offers, Jn. 14:27, and stabilizes the believer in every situation, Phil4:7.

The inner peace of the believer’s soul, is the ultimate objective of the spiritual life. It is the basis for inner happiness, fulfillment, contentment, meaning and purpose in ones life.

The world will swirl around you, and no matter what you do or accomplish in this world, you can lose it in a moment of time. You can be injured, laid off from your job, endure a loss in a storm, be diagnosed with some physical problem, or simply be the victim of hard times.

There is nothing offered in this world which will give you hope or secure your life, except Bible doctrine.

Jesus Christ is the living reality of the written word. By taking in, learning, understanding Gods word, you are taking Christ into your soul, making Him the foundation and structure of your soul and of your life, which structure gives you completeness, meaning and purpose, and becomes the strength in your life, which will allow you to endure life.

Strength is covered in the last half of this verse, which we will cover in tomorrows study.

And then will also touch on the foundation of the stability of the world through women in tomorrows study, because they are an integral part of peace and stability. That is one reason why the appeal to women in general through Bible studies, and specifically to women of Islam, or any other faith for that matter, through Bible studies. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.


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Thursday, November 19, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:15

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2 Thessalonians 3:15

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15 Yet [kai] count [hegeomai] him not [me] as [hos] an enemy, [echthros] but [alla] admonish [noutheteo] him as [hos] a brother. [adelphos] KJV-Interlinear


15 And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. NASB


The busybody is our context, and how we are to deal with them is our subject.

During your lifetime, you will come into contact with many people under many sets of circumstances. Whether family or friends, neighbors or strangers, countrymen or foreigners.

And in every case the Bible give you adequate information as to how to conduct yourself in all of your social situations. Most of it is based on simple common sense.

The Christian life is not a competition whereby we are all out to beat everyone else, nor to get even with others, nor to make the lives of others difficult. The Christian life is not there so that we can prove others wrong, nor to intimidate or threaten or force others to see things our way.

One day history will end for humanity. One day we will all be in heaven or the Lake of Fire. Those of us who are in heaven will never see those who are eventually lost forever, and by the grace of God, our memories will soon forget them. That is a good thing, for heaven is not going to be a place of perpetual grieving. Time heals all things.

But we are now here on this earth, and knowing that one day those who we do know, will be in heaven, a perfect place, then in eternity we will have more than enough time to get to know everyone who has ever lived, from Adam till the end of human history.

That is a lot of friends, a lot of conversations and a lot of laughs over most of the dumb things that we all did, and such.

You gain nothing by perpetuating anger or mistrust or revenge against anyone, when it is God who will eventually deal with everyone, based on facts, not emotions, reality, not imagined hearsay.

So, do not count the busybody as an enemy, or one who is hostile, just because they have wrong ideas, wrong habits, wrong motives, or are simply annoying.

There will always be someone who will try to cheat you, argue with you, or just make mistakes.

Your objective is Christ, and your relationship with Christ, through doctrine. Through doctrine, means the learning and growing up process to spiritual maturity, not your getting even with others.

Brother, is a reference to a family member. And indeed, in Christ we are all members of the family of God as Christians. And our spiritual family relationship is not one of squabbling, but one of closeness through truth.

The Lord deals with everyone in His good time. So we are to again, make our case (admonish – warn, set straight though your views) when confronted by busybodies, and if they continue in their harassment, then we simply back off and do not deal with them.

God will step in and will deal with them as only He can, and in accordance with His plan, not ours. It may be decades before there is a resolution, and that should be none of our concern.

After all we should not be in any hurry to condemn, but to be patient.

No one gains anything by seeing others suffer at our own hands. None gains anything be seeing others punished at our own hands. And remember this topic is concerned with social relationships, not aspects of crime or war.


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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:14

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2 Thessalonians 3:14

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14 And [de] if any man [ei tis] obey [hupakouo] not [ou] our [hemon] word [logos] by [dia] this epistle, [epistole] note [semeioo] that [touton] man, and [kai] have [sunanamignumi] no [me] company with [sunanamignumi] him, [autos] that [hina] he may be ashamed. [entrepo] KJV-Interlinear


14 And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not associate with him, so that he may be put to shame. NASB


This verse unfortunately had been abused and interpreted as authorizing a form of ostracism or excommunication, of the offender, out from the church or group, and that is the incorrect application of the principle being taught in this verse.

Our context is busybodies or sinners due to their incorrect application of Biblical principles. People who are otherwise annoying because they are pushy, or defiant, or belligerent, or opinionated, or people who have selfish or deceitful agendas in their use of the Christian faith, and so forth.

And so this is how you are to deal with these folks. They are presumably believers if Christ, but just misguided by their enthusiasm and lack of preparation, or by their greed and desire to take advantage.

To not obey, means to misapply or misuse the principles of truth. Whether they abuse Christian principles through ignorance or intentionally, is irrelevant.

The implication here is that they have been confronted, once or twice or several times, and thus have no excuse for not understanding their error, but continue to defy correct instruction, and continue going about their ways.

Instruction by this letter, is a reference to the teaching from Paul within this epistle, as we have been studying, or by their disobedience of any Biblical principle for that matter.

Then, they are to be isolated, not permanently, but association is simply to be withdrawn so as to make them embarrassed or shamed because of their behavior.

This serves two purposes. First, the disassociation protects you from their further false teaching. That preserves your knowledge and continued growth. And second, if the person is isolated by the majority, then they might see the error of their ways and make the necessary changes in their life, in order to get back into the general group.

But we all know that in the real world, belligerence attracts others of a similar attitude, clique’s arise to form their own group. This is how many of the protestant denominations began in past centuries, for example. This is a common action is many social clubs as some members break off to form their own club.

So, embarrassment, or shame is not something that you or I can cause in a person, in order to get them to change.

God is the ultimate power who will bring shame. And Bible doctrine is His tool of choice here in this world.

Doctrine is truth and truth needs no help when it comes to critiquing, or correcting the errors of our life.

2 Tim. 3:16
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; NASB

So it is not for you nor I to argue or attempt to force someone into how they should or should not think. All we can do is state our position, then turn away, or withdraw from the discussion, and then leave the matter in Gods hands.

Busybodies will often times not give up but will push and push their points, without listening to anything else.

A reasonable person will listen. A responsible Christian will listen, and in listening, you can see clearly the errors of the views that are being presented or pushed onto you.

Remember, the Christian examines everything. And we examine not to find fault, but to objectively know the right from the wrong contained within the argument, whatever it may be.

If the busybody is going to change then God will accomplish that in His own good time. Perhaps the person will remember something you have said, and at some later date will realize their error. Perhaps the person will hear your view, from some other person. Perhaps God will bring a hardship into their life, and through that, they will wake up.

By whatever means, your responsibility is to speak your piece, hold on to your correct beliefs (just make sure that what you believe is correct), do not retaliate, and simply walk away from the conversation. This will save you a whole lot of frustration and grief.


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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:13

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2 Thessalonians 3:13

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13 But [de] ye, [humeis] brethren, [adelphos] be [ekkakeo] not [me] weary [ekkakeo] in well doing. [kalopoieo] KJV-Interlinear


13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. NASB


Now here is the big test for the positive believer who is growing in their spiritual life, weariness.

The world is full of difficulties, and obstacles that make living day to day hard enough, but when you throw trouble makers into the mix, life just gets more difficult.

When you were born into this life, the clock started on your life in this world. God (Christ) alone knows the end date of your stay here, but during your stay on this earth, time will seem to pass ever so slowly.

The days will turn into weeks, will turn into months, will turn into years and your commitment to Christianity will become the target of not only those who oppose Christianity, but you will also be the target of those who profess Christianity. The busybodies who we have just been studying.

They will challenge your beliefs, challenge your interpretations, challenge your commitment to doctrine. And while we are all commanded to remain quiet, study, learn and grow up in truth, the other side will make noise, twist your words and beliefs, try to prod you into debates to demonstrate their brilliance, and otherwise get you to see things their way.

And of all of the tests that we could be going through in life – tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, war, famine, and so forth, at least in these we can identify our enemy, but we also have to deal with the belligerent fools that don’t know straight up from straight down.

And they will keep coming like a bad smell. You just cannot seem to escape them, and you won’t.

Weary, ‘ekkakeo,’ means to be frustrated, overwhelmed, faint, weak from an endless onslaught of pressures.

As you grow and advance to spiritual maturity, as you move along with that growth, gain much wisdom and see exactly how this world operates, you will then see just how overwhelming the pressures of this world can be, and how they seem to saturate every aspect of society.

Then you will indeed discover that you are in the only true minority in existence, not only in this world, but in all of history. Spiritually mature believers and those who are advancing will be counted among the few, when it is all said and done.

But that club, though it is not difficult to get into, it is however, difficult to remain in, because the world, Satan and his objectives, and even people who mean well, will try to sabotage your spiritual life. And as time move forward ever so slowly, you have to live, make a living, and just get by in life. For most that is difficult enough.

Remain strong and committed to the Word of God, Isa. 41:10. Memorize this verse.


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Monday, November 16, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:12

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2 Thessalonians 3:12

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12 Now [de] them that are such [toioutos] we command [paraggello] and [kai] exhort [parakaleo] by [dia] our [hemon] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ, [Christos] that [hina] with [meta] quietness [hesuchia] they work, [ergazomai] and eat [esthio] their own [heautou] bread. [artos] KJV-Interlinear


12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. NASB


‘Now for such persons,’ is a reference to the busybodies of the previous verse. This then is Pauls advice and Gods command.

Stop promoting annoying activities, stop meddling, stop burdening others with your do-gooder attitude, stop your hypocritical pattern, stop spreading false or distorted ideas, and all of this is wrapped up in, stop eating the bread of others, but eat your own bread.

What is bread? That is the bread of life, spiritual food, Bible doctrine.

In other words, when a person interferes with someone else's life, uninvited, obnoxious and intrusive, with mis-information, then the other person will have a tendency to become defensive, and sour against Christianity. This diminishes their growth, and the busybody is in effect stealing the doctrine right out of their mouth (soul), so to speak.

Anytime you become an annoyance, anytime you promote false doctrines, anytime you mess up Christianity with your bothersome, burdensome, and annoying rhetoric or activities, this becomes a turn-off for others. That in turn delays or defers their spiritual life. What is their rightful food (doctrine), has been removed because the busybody has placed a bad taste in their mouth.

If the hearer is indeed positive, they may come around at some later date, when they hear correct doctrine, or when life’s circumstances, drives them to God.

But that is no credit to the one who has interfered with their previous opportunities at a spiritual life.

So Paul states clearly, stop, cease, desist with what you are doing, you busybody. Remain quiet (stop your activity) and eat your own food (correct food of doctrine), and thus grow up with the proper knowledge, gain correct understanding, and acquire the proper and legitimate wisdom, before you go back to face people.

A Christian who is clueless as to what they are doing, does more damage than a dozen unbelievers. God uses prepared believers, not do-it-your-selfers who do not know straight-up from straight-down. Can a doctor practice medicine before he has finished his training? Thus self-appointed busybodies lead only to trouble. Get prepared, first, and stay out of the way until you are prepared.

Eph. 4:28
28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. NASB


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Sunday, November 15, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:11

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2 Thessalonians 3:11

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11 For [gar] we hear [akouo] that there are some [tis] which walk [peripateo] among [en] you [humin] disorderly, [ataktos] working [ergazomai] not at all, [medeis] but [alla] are busybodies. [periergazomai] KJV-Interlinear


11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. NASB


James defines work, or spiritual work, and Paul here defines and distinguishes spiritual work from temporal activity.

The student of the Word of God needs to understand the difference between the two.

Spiritual work is the effort and function of the spiritual life and spiritual growth, which enhances and builds up your soul, while in felowship.

Temporal work is the physical effort which pursues whatever physical, or verbal activities you have in life, while out of fellowship.

Spiritual work is efficacious. It is effective and beneficial to your soul. It sponsors spiritual growth and spiritual production which exists within your soul.

Physical work is anything that any unbeliever can do, but without spiritual benefit.

Paul calls such unproductive folks, not busy or workers ‘ergazomenous,’ but busybodies ‘periergazomenous.’ Not workers of the doctrine within their soul, but people who are busy imitating what they believe is spiritual activity, ut is not.

They think that they are doing the work of the Lord, but are in fact are doing their own self defined work.

The foundation of your life, exists in the content of your soul. Doctrine in the soul means a good foundation in the thought behind your words and actions. Lack of doctrine in the soul means your thoughts and words and actions are empty activity.

The test is simple. If you do not or have not pursued a daily study (not on your own as you see fit) while under the guidance of qualified instruction, then your soul will be terribly lacking.

If you have committed to a daily study of the scriptures and have learned, and come to the understanding, and use of what you have learned, then your foundation of doctrine will yield spiritual production in your life.

What is spiritual production? All activity that you do, while in fellowship. The Bible calls it, gold, silver, and precious stones.

What is temporal or carnal production? Any and all, even the same, activity which is done while out of fellowship. The Bible calls it, wood, hay and stubble.

Spiritual production glorifies God. Carnal production glorifies yourself.

Spiritual production gives all credit to God. Carnal production seeks credit for ones self, but says it is for God.

Spiritual production is maintains responsibility in ones life. Carnal production disregards responsibility, finds excuses, rationalizes ones actions, so that you can do Gods work as you see fit.

Spiritual production is humble. Carnal production is arrogant.

Spiritual production is approached with order. Carnal production, activity, work, is disorder.

Disorder here is the same word as used in verse six, ‘ataktos.’ It approaches life with disorientation, inconsistency, and guided by ones arrogance, rather than by Gods mandates.

The busybody emphasizs their physical activities as their basis for advancement in their spiritual life.

The believer functioning properly within their spiritual life, looks to spiritual growth through doctrine made resident in their soul. The production of wisdom, follows learning and understanding, not the reverse.

God uses prepared believers – those who learn and understand doctrine and then life.

Those who reject Gods mandates, and mechanism for advancing in ones spiritual life, walk, ‘peripateo,’ action with movement that is not movement, walk in place, walk in circles getting nowhere, occupied with ones meaningless travel while disregarding the destination or purpose that is never reached.

They are busybodies, doing more damage to the Christian image, while seeking to advance themselves with disregard to the repercussions they cause on the attitudes, distaste, annoying disgust in others who observe them.

1 Tim. 5:13
13 And at the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. NASB


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Saturday, November 14, 2009

2 Thessalonians 3:10

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2 Thessalonians 3:10

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10 For [gar] even [kai] when [hote] we were [en] with [pros] you, [humas] this [touto] we commanded [paraggello] you, [humin] that [hoti] if any [ei tis] would [thelo] not [ou] work, [ergazomai] neither [mede] should he eat. [esthio] KJV-Interlinear


10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. NASB


The only thing that far too many folks get out of the study of these two letters, 1 Thess. and 2 Thess., is the rapture context. Bet you don’t even remember the three nearly simultaneous events that occur at the time of the Rapture. However, the subject of both letters respectively is ‘waiting,’ and ‘sin.’ The subject of 1 Thessalonians is ‘waiting.’ The subject of 2 Thessalonians is ‘sin.’

One of the principle components of sin, of which nearly everyone is guilty, is that they do not keep or fulfill their obligations before God. That is why most folks do not grow up in their spiritual life. It is too easy to ignore, or rationalize away ones obligations.

In the last couple of weeks we have seen the three primary mandates that every believer is held responsible for in their spiritual life. Do you remember any of them?

Your first responsibility is to pray for doctrine, for instructors, for the opportunity to grow up in your spiritual life. All of these combine and make for the environment within which you have the opportunity to receive and possess that which God has made available to you, namely a completed life.

God provides that which you pray for. No prayer, no provision. Prayer demonstrates the degree of spiritual assertion that you have in your life, or that society has within it, or conversely, does not have.

As we have already learned, our dispensation, at its end, is going to decline into the worst apostate state in all of history, thus far. That means that the vast majority will turn away from God and likewise prayer. The only more horrible time, for spiritual decline, will be in the Tribulation.

Oh, and by the way, my wife and I went to see the movie ‘2012.’ Cool special effects. So if you really like the special effects that are in the movies these days, this one is a great one to see. End of the world stuff, and all of that. We will probably address this end of the world prediction pretty soon. Not sure when, but the Mayan Calendar, the Hopi Indian Prophecy Rock, the Hindu Four cycles, Nostradamus, Yin Yang Number prediction, and the Time Wave Theory, are all a part of this 2012 prediction.

And just as we saw the end of the world predicted for the year 2000 because of the computer date format problem, which at least had some rationalization behind it, so this new prediction is hopelessly off the charts of the bizarre. We’ll see if the world moves toward hysteria (as a spiritually dysfunctional world will), as the predicted date in December approaches, three years from now, (now is November, 2009). Anyway, I am getting off the subject.

Your second responsibility, is to grow up in your spiritual life. Most folks will presume that all they need do is believe in God, or any god, or simply believe in Christ, or believe that all they need do is live an honest life (by their own definition) regardless of the existence of a deity. But they completely discount the value of truth, and substitute their own beliefs for truth, which they are not. And the result is the invention of all kinds of religions, philosophies, cults, things that seem reasonable, to things that are beyond the ridiculous.

And yet people will firmly believe in any or all of these. Which leads to folks who are skeptical about anything spiritual, to discount everything, simply because there is so much confusion and ambiguity out there. Thus they blame God for not clearing it all up.

Of course if you know the Bible, then you know that God is a gentleman and will allow any and all who want, emphasis on want, truth, will receive it. But for those who just want to complain, or argue, or debate, or want others to prove truth, rather than digging it out themselves, then there is not much hope. And in this we are nearing the subject of our current verse.

Truth stands on its own, and needs no support, nor proof. Truth is proof. Believers are already told to question, objectively, search, and pursue truth, so that they will discover it. Being argumentative or adversarial is not intended here. If you want something really bad, then you go looking for it until you find it. If you don’t really want something, then you try to get others to do your work, you don’t look yourself, and you certainly do not pursue it, but rather you ridicule, or mock, or make cute little remarks, using the flaws of people or dress or culture as the basis for their remarks or rational, rather than looking at God and the principles that we are all to live up to.

And the third responsibility for the believer, is to support the teaching of the Word of God. Most folks think that this means paying, and for some that may be Gods intent for them. If so then God will provide the means for that option. But there are many ways to support the teaching and spread of the Word of God. You just have to look deep into your own life, and discover what applies to you. And looking deep does not mean searching for the excuse, for the out, that gets you off the hook of doing something that you simply do not want to do.

And so we arrive at our verse. ‘No work, no food.’ Life is as simple as that. Work is the effort with which you put into something. Food is the reward for your efforts.

In this temporal world, truth has an opposing view for every principle of truth. That is why you will find government handouts for no work. This leads to unproductivity, low self esteem, laziness, unreasonable expectations, philosophies like socialism and share the wealth or redistribution programs, entitlement programs, and so forth. And this leads to family breakups, immorality, crime, hopelessness, meaninglessness, bitterness and all sorts of problems in a dysfunctional society.

Now, Paul is addressing those who ‘are able’ to work, but do not, verses those who are ‘not able’ to work. There is a big difference between the two. Infants are not able. Mentally handicapped may not be able. Common sense should apply here.

In this temporal world, for those who work and are able to make a living, they should be entitled to keep the fruits of their labor or ingenuity. Those who choose to not work, have no right to the wealth of others.

Our study is of course in the spiritual life.

And this is the principle. For those who pursue God, Christ, Bible doctrine, and their spiritual life, the rewards are great. For those who do not pursue these things, there is no reward. This should be an easy concept to understand. The rewards of eternity go to those who are mature, or advancing in their spiritual life, not to those who have consciously decided to not grow up.

For unbelievers, there is only one question that is important to their life, ‘What do you think of Christ?’

To believe in Christ is eternal life. To disbelieve is eternal condemnation. Eternity is a very long time. For unbelievers who cling to their unbelief, their sin never ends, thus their condemnation never ends. That is a huge price to pay for refusing to even think those six little words, ‘Father I believe in Jesus Christ.’ What kind of stubbornness would cause a person to refuse, for all of their life, to even think those six little words? If must take a lot of effort to refuse to believe.

As for believers, those who have believed in Christ, then they face a second question, which is a series of questions. ‘What do you think of Bible doctrine?’

For the objective of the believer is to advance to maturity, to grow up.

The reward of belief is salvation. The reward of maturity is blessing beyond imagination. But you have to work, in order to get paid. And that work for the spiritual life, means daily study, everyday of your life, no exceptions, no excuses.

For the unbeliever who rejects Christ, is resistance. For the believer show refuses to grow up, is laziness.

Life is a serious matter. People are so full of their own opinions, that they lose sight of their real place in history. When we were all born, we knew nothing. As we live for a few decades, we presume that we know it all, when we in fact know virtually nothing.

And then reality catches up with us, and we die. Surprise! Then the next life becomes very real to us. But why should we wait until it is too late before we finally figure it all out, when we can easily discover truth, right now?

Some folks don’t want to work at all, unbelievers, no food. Some folks want to do just enough to get by, indifferent believers, or those who think that they have done enough. Little work, little pay.

And then there are those (the few) who go beyond the extra mile, advance to maturity, are obedient to Gods mandates (all of them, can’t pick and choose) and make Bible doctrine real in their life. To those, the rewards go way off the charts.

God is fair. God is a gentleman. God gives everyone the choice of what pay grade they want to be in.

Which one do you prefer? Which one are you willing to commit your life, your entire life to, and then stick with it day in and day out, for the rest of your life, regardless of the circumstances that you know you will one day face, when God tests your resolve for doctrine?

Prov. 16:26
26 A worker's appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on. NASB

1 Tim. 5:8
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. NASB

Why worse than an unbeliever? Because the unbeliever works, as it were, only for salvation. That work is one little thought or expression of faith.

The believer, on the other hand, has to commit himself for his entire life for the vast rewards of spiritual maturity, which rewards are far beyond our comprehension. That kings wealth is right at your finger tips. All you have to do in order to lose it, is to do nothing.

The unbeliever gives up one thought, faith in Christ. The negative believer gives up decisions that span a lifetime, and rewards that span eternity.


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