Jen<3

* In what sense have we been crucified with Christ? What does it mean? He bore our sins, our sinner-self has been crucified with Christ on the cross. We're new creations now! * In what sense do I no longer live? Christ died and took our sins and burdens. I am no longer the old me that i once was. Even though i still sin I am free and wear the righteousness of Jesus! (I am not saying I'm free to sin because of Christ and cross but rather it's impossible to be righteous without Jesus and what He did for us!) * Whose life now motivates us? Jesus' life motivates us now. We look to what He did for us and how much He loves us so we should definitely be motivated to live like Him! * How does this verse relate to Paul's closing comments about the new creation (Galatians 6:15)? 'Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.' Galatians 6:15 Circumcision was in the law, now in Christ we are not in the law anymore. Galatians 2:20 says we are a new creation, the old us no longer lives! Praise God for that!

* Why do you think Paul confronted Peter publicly rather than privately? I think Paul's confrontation publicly was necessary to be awakened to reach others too. * Do you expect Paul had talked with Peter about this previously? The Bible does not say one way or the other, but I think it's definitely possible that he talked with him in private first. On the other hand though, maybe not; this needed to be out in the open so all could hear and see, not just Peter. * How did a public discussion of this benefit the Jewish Christians? They saw the truth in what Paul was saying about this subject. He made it more clear to them. * How did it benefit the Gentile church? It gave them a breath of relief in regards to the circumcision situation. Christ accepted them as they were! * What kind of pressure do you think this put on Paul? This may of put extra pressure on Paul because here he was, the "new" apostle standing before all rebuking Peter, on of the "pillars" (Galatians 2:9).

* Why do you think Peter first embraced the Gentile believers in Antioch and later withdrew from them to eat only with Jews? Maybe he feared man more than he feared God. Also i think he was trying to not have his reputation ruined! * What does this tell us about his character? Kinda same as the answer i gave above. Trying to please man or look good in the eyes of man more than God's eyes. * Why should he have known better? He should have known better because he walked with Christ for about 3 years. He was personally led and taught by Christ Himself. * What does this tell us about Barnabas? Barnabas was easily led astray. * What does it tell us about the political clout of the visitors from Jerusalem? I think people may of feared them, wanting them to look good in front of them. kinda like how some would act now a days if political leaders came to have dinner with us. * Have you ever acted like a hypocrite to impress others? Yes, I have acted in ways just to impress others before. I forgot so easily that I am accepted by Christ in who i am, not what i do or how i act in front of others. * What should you do when you recover your senses? I should turn my eyes back to Christ and what He's done and ask the Holy Spirit for correct direction. Jesus has done it all!

* Why do you think Paul seems to distance himself from the leaders of the Jerusalem church? I think Paul sort of distanced himself from the leaders of the Jerusalem church to continue to stand by what he said earlier, that he was sent by the apostles or man but by Jesus Christ Himself! * Why does he at the same time write of their approval of his ministry? I believe he wrote of their approval of his preaching to the Gentiles to show he wasn't just making this up, his doctrine was true and from God and they approved of it, they were in agreement with him. * How does this further his argument to the Galatians in this letter? The Galatians see that the leaders in Jerusalem, even though Paul was not sent from them or under their teaching they approved of his message. This assures the Galatians church that his message was the true Gospel, otherwise the leaders in Jerusalem would dispute it.

The Jerusalem leaders supported Paul's position on circumcision. They didn't push or try to convince Titus to be circumcised. This is significant because it's just more proof that Jesus Christ paid it all, it is finished and there's nothing else to be done.

* WHAT FACTORS IN PAUL'S BACKGROUND MADE HIM AN IDEAL APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES? Paul was persecuting the early church. But then God literally knocked him down and revealed to him the truth specifically so he could preach the Gospel to the Gentiles! * HOW DID GOD USE HIS BEING DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS? God used all the things of the past of Paul (zealously persecuting the Christians, education background, etc.) to show the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ! * HOW HAS YOUR UNIQUE BACKGROUND FITTED YOU FOR MINISTRY? My unique background fitted me for ministry by allowing me to relate to others. I can truly say that God has turned my heart to Him and say it to others with confidence because i know it as truth, just like Paul. * WHAT UNIQUENESS HAS GOD GIVEN YOU? God has given me a love for the guilty and hurting. But i can look back in my life, even when i was not a Christian, and hear of a murderer going to jail and get the death penalty; see a bully; learn of an affair, etc.. and just feel a sense of compassion, knowing there's a story behind everything and knowing we all need forgiveness.

* WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF PAUL'S GOSPEL? The source of Paul's gospel was Jesus Christ Himself! * HOW DO WE KNOW THAT IT IS A TRUE REVELATION? It came from the mouth of Jesus. We can know it's a true revelation because if we study the Old Testament scriptures we can find it to be true. * HOW DOES IT CONFORM TO OUR OTHER FOUNDATIONAL SOURCES OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING? Our authentic teachings conform with this because their foundations are the scriptures. * WHAT IS THE DANGER OF TAKING THE TEACHING OF CONTEMPORARY LEADERS AS OUR DOCTRINAL BASIS WITHOUT CHECKING IT WITH SCRIPTURE? When we do this, we take the chances of being led astray from the true Gospel. It's wise to check with the Bible before we can take what the other leader is saying.

Paul called the Judaizers' message as a "different gospel," a perversion of the true gospel. How is this dangerous to the Galatian believers? How do twisted gospels (or an unbalanced interpretation of the gospel) affect Christians in our day? #1) This was dangerous to Galatian believers because they were easily being astrayed, led in the wrong direction. They were believing a "gospel" that was never the gospel, therefore being led away from Jesus. #2) In the same way with the Galatian believers, twisted or perversions of the gospel to Christians in this day have the same result, to be led astray, led in the wrong way. Paul states that anyone who preaches any other gospel other than the one he preached (and others) then let that one "be eternally condemned" (1:8).

(Galatians 1:4) According to verse 4, for what purpose did Jesus give himself? How does Jesus rescue people today? How does he keep people from falling back into their old ways? #1) Jesus gave Himself for our sins, to save us from the evil in this world. #2) He saves us today through the teaching of His Word and drawing us to Himself. He opens our eyes to the things and evil we can't see and works wonders in our hearts. #3) The Holy Spirit convicts us in our hearts and points us to the cross over and over again.

John encourages "children," "young men," and "fathers." Why do you think he takes time to encourage them? I believe that John took the time to encourage the "children, young men, and fathers" because he understands the Christian life. He walked with Jesus when He was on earth. He loves Jesus and truly truly truly loved all the "children, young men, and fathers". Everyone needs encouragement. I also believe he encourages them because he finds it so important to keep moving along in our journey and walk with Christ. In what ways does he encourage them? He encourages by telling them, or reminding them the following: 1) "Their sins have been forgiven through Jesus." This is encouraging because its relief! It's like he's saying 'don't forget what Jesus did for you!!!' 2) "You know Christ who was from the beginning!" This is encouraging because it assures them and again reminds them that they have a relationship with Jesus. They have been in the faith for a long time and know and love Christ. 3) "You have won your battle with the evil one." This is super encouraging because like Jesus said, "it is finished". That is very encouraging to me! 4) "You are strong!" This is encouraging because John is assuring them that they are able to continue in this journey with God.

Hate and unforgiveness blinds us spiritually because we are walking around in darkness. The Bible says if we do not forgive others, the Father will not forgive us. When we don't forgive, we are holding a grudge on someone else forgetting we are sinners just like them. We can come into the light by humbling ourselves before Jesus and forgive and show love. We have to let go of all bitterness, as hard as this may be, and forgive to be in the light. Ask Jesus to help you through!

~ How can we be serious about obeying Christ without become legalistic and judgmental, with a self-righteous attitude like the Pharisees had? *This is a hard thing indeed for most all of us Christians. I am always fighting with myself on this issue it seems. But, we can be serious in obeying Christ by keeping the two greatest commandments (love God and love our neighbors). ~ How do love and legalism differ? *Legalism is being sure to strictly obey the laws and rules out of duty or maybe out of wanting to feel righteous by doing "good". Love, is very amazing. I looked up love on www.dictionary.com and i saw like 28 different definitions! Love is giving of oneself to another. Love and legalism differ because love is for others, where legalism is for your self. ~ How can we be serious about obedience and make love our center? *Number one way to do this is to pray and spend time with God in His word! Follow Jesus and the way He lived and proved His love for us.

When/if we sin, John gives us the assurance of Jesus being our Advocate and representative. He speaks to the Father on our behalf, in our defense!! This is very comforting because its' in Jesus' hands! We could not have a better Advocate then Him. There is nothing else we need to do because His sacrifice was perfect. This makes us want to avoid sin because this is proof of His love for us.We should desire to avoid it because we should be very grateful and desire to make Him happy!

Ok, I would define confession as admitting our sins to God and acknowledging to Him that we are sinful beings. Also confession is also acknowledging that we need God to forgive us and we need a Savior! Confessing our sins is important because we need to see for ourselves the need of forgivness. If we cannot see or deny that we are sinful we will not see the need to confess. We won't see the need for a Savior or forgivness as well. 1 John 1:9 does indeed show us Gods' 2 promises (to forgive us of our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness), however before the promises we see "IF we confess our sins..." If we stop confessing our sins, we are over looking the importance of confession again, making our sins against God unimportant. I think if we stop confessing our sins that we are/or could be in danger of a hardened heart towards God. The promises given to us if we confess our sins are "God is faithful and just, and He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness". Forgiveness of sins = salvation. Cleansing us = sanctification!

When we willfully walk in darkness we are lying to ourselves and to others. We are stunting our growth in Christ and possibly others as well... sin hurts more than just ourselves. So, by walking in darkness, we can be causing other people around us to sin and stumble as well. We cannot have a relationship with the Lord if we are willfully walking in darkness. I think this could involve self deception by living in denial of the sin actually being sin. We try to come up with every excuse in the book on why it's ok to do whatever sin we do/did. But, if Jesus wouldn't do it it's sin. As others on here have written, sin is sin. It's so easy to deceive ourselves and justify our sins. According to verse 7, the result of us walking in light is we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ AND we will have fellowship with one another! If we sin, we can confess our sins to Him and He is faithful to forgive us and bring us back into the light!

I believe that our fellowship with other Christians is often on a surface level, from my own experience, is that we (or i) do not fully understand what "fellowship" with one another should be. For years, i went to church on Sunday, Wednesday night go to Bible study and thats that. But John writes a deeper fellowship than that. And also i think it has alot to do with walking in darkness instead of walking in the light. We can have fellowship at a deeper level in Christ through prayer, spending more time with one another, growing in Christ, and of course spending much more time in the Bible! And for the last part of question 1, i believe that if we continually read the Word, and spend more time with God, He will definitely strengthen and deepen our level of fellowship with one another. Living out our faith together will aid in this as well.