Josephine Koh

Q5. Extra Credit: In what sense have we been set free or released from slavery to sin? Why do we need the Holy Spirit to help us keep this freedom? We are no longer slaves to sin. Our eyes have been "opened", and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can resist temptations. From we were set free, the Holy Spirit came into us. The Holy Spirit is our daily guidance to keep us from going astray. We do not want to live the old life again.

Q4. According to the slave-ransom analogy, who is the slave? What is he enslaved by? Who offers the ransom? If Satan is involved in the enslaving process, why isn't the ransom paid to him? Why isn't the slave-ransom analogy spelled out completely in the New Testament? We are all slaves to sin. God offers the ransom through His Son, Jesus Christ. Satan does not own us, God does. So the ransom can not be paid out to Satan. The slave-ransom analogy is just an analogy not a reality especially since God can not pay ransom to Himself, it would not make sense and it will only cause more confusion to people. It works just like Jesus's parables.

Q3. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) How should we disciples apply the principles: "You are not your own, you were bought with a price"? How should this affect our living? Since we were bought with a price, we have to ensure that we do not revert to our old way of living. We have been born again into God's family with God's grace. We have to live as God's children, as per His commandments.

Q2. What comparisons do you see between Jesus and the role of the Old Testament type of the Kinsman-Redeemer? In comparisons of Jesus versus the roles of the OT kinsman, referring to the list provided by Pastor Ralph, -Marrying a brother's widow if no children have yet been born, in order to raise up children in the brother's name (a main issue in the case of Ruth and Tamar), -Purchasing family lands that had to be sold because of poverty, in order to keep the land in the family, -Buying the freedom of relatives who had become slaves because of debts they couldn't pay, and -Avenging a kinsman who was murdered. -Rescuing a kinsman who was kidnapped. probably only (3) is applicable. But basically, the idea is the same. A strong sense of family, and a responsibility to look after close relatives. If we are all God's children, Jesus has a strong sense of responsilibity to look out for us. We have become slaves to sin and we could not pay. So Jesus came to pay for our sins and redeem our freedom. He came to redeem, rescue and deliver us. He came to offer an atonement by offering Himself as our substitute.

Q1. In the New Testament world, what class of humans were freed by payment of a redemption price or a ransom? Why do you think that Jesus, Peter, and Paul used this analogy in this week's theme verses. What about the Christian life does it help explain? In the New Testament world, payment in the form of ranson or of a redemption price was used to free the people bonded by slavery and forced labor. These were the people who were illiterate, unlike the Jews or the Romans, unlike their Masters. These people were also less likely to have opportunities to go to the temples or to hear the Word of God read by the temple leaders. When Jesus and His apostles went around, they not only shared the gospel with the educated but also with the less priviledged and less educated. By using the analogy of redemption, these commoners would be able to associate more with the gospel and message preached. They would also be drawn to listen. Actually, in today's world, although slavery is almost abolished, redemption is also very applicable. Firstly, we have grown wealthy and the world has grow into a "money" world. Everything has to be paid a price. So for people looking for salvation, some people may believe "buying" their way into heaven. By doing more good deeds, or donating more money to the charity or churches.

Q4. The Servant also bears the punishment deserved by sinners. In what sense, if any, did Jesus bear the punishment due you when he died on the cross? The punishment for sin is eternal separation from God, which is also eternal death. Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and bore the punishment so that I can be saved and re-connect with God. Apart from death, Jesus had to go through the physical punishment and torture. He was physically abused and verbally abused by the Jews and had to endure the physical suffering. He was also abandoned by the whole world, by his disciples and friends. Nobody could share his suffering.

Q3. Isaiah 53 teaches what theologians call "the substitutionary atonement." In what sense does the Servant act as a substitute to bear our sins? Put it in your own words. Feels like answering my exam questions because have to answer in my own words... :-) The Servant Himself has no sins. He is holy and pure, so there is no need to die, or atone for any sins. By bearing our sins, He acts as a subsitute to die on our behalf.

Q1. From how large a group of people does God remove sins in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12? -the whole world- In what sense is this a universal sacrifice of salvation? -since it is for the whole world, that makes it universal salvation (whether you choose to want it or not)- In what sense is Jesus' sacrifice wasted on some people? -Some people despite hearing about the gospel, still strongly reject it. But, there was a discussion going on in my bible study group about that God has already "pre-planned" who is to be saved and who will never be saved. In such case, could it still be counted as "wasted" on such people?-

Q6. What do you think God intended animal sacrifice teach us about sin? About holiness? About God's nature? (1)Sin must be cleansed by the shed of blood. (2) God cannot tolerate unholiness. Sin will cause us to be separated from God. (3)God is forgiving and merciful.

Q5. In what sense is God's provision of animal sacrifice for forgiveness of sins an expression of his mercy? Were animal sacrifices actually adequate to atone for human sin? God taught man in OT how to atone for their sins. It just shows that He is a forgiving God; He is merciful and willing to forgive. It is not as if, if you sin, you will be condemned forever. God knew our weaknesses, so He provided man how to seek forgiveness of sins. He provided the means, the methods, and the procedures - only if we follow. Of course, such animal sacrifices would definitely not be enough. In what way could a meek small lamb (which is used on our food table) be good enough to atone for our sins, especially to our great Lord ? That's why God is to be called merciful, He loves us so much, yet He can not tolerate sins because He is holy, so He accepts the blood of the animal to atone for our sins. He just wants so much for us to be re-connected back with Him.

Q4. What are the basic elements involved in a sacrifice for sin? (Leviticus 4:32-35; 5:5-6) Which of these are still necessary for forgiveness of sins today? Which are no longer necessary? Why? The basis elements involved include confession and atonement. In the past, as per Pastor Ralph's message, the key elements involve (1)confession of sin (2)bringing a defect-less animal (3)laying hands (4)slaying the animal (5)collection of blood by the priest (6)burning on the altar (7)consumption of the meat. Cofession and atonement are still required for forgiveness of sins except that due to the evolution of society, the method of doing such has changed. After the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we can now come again to God directly by ourselves. We do not require a priest to carry out the procedure. God has given us the right to come to Him directly in the name of Jesus. We pray and confess our sins to Him. Today, we no longer continue with animal sacrifice as well. Firstly, it becomes illegal as we are fighting with animal rights laws. Secondly, it is difficult to find 1 full lamb or goat unless we live on the farm. And we do not have the expertise to determine if the animal is suitable for offering. But we still lay hands, except instead of on the animal physically, we bring it to God through Jesus's name who have died for us. Our atonement is through our after-actions, whether we will commit the same sin repeatedly. We rely on God and the Holy Spirit's guidance as to how we live our actions.

Q3. Why is animal sacrifice repulsive to modern people? How much of this has to do with a city vs. a farming way of life? Modern people are generally repulsive to animal sacrifice, or simply, killing of animals. When we want food, we just go to the market or supermarket, buy whatever we need. The meat are already properly processed, cleaned, and packed nicely into take-away packages. We don't see the dripping of blood, or bloody vital parts (except for some food, such as liver, or fish) generally. Most of us do not need to prepare the food as well, such as buying the live fish and killing it ourselves, although it is common in my society ( but usually done by our mothers ). We were brought up in a society that teaches us not to kill, to respect animal rights and be "civilised" people. In our mentality, animal killing is not acceptable nor tolerable. For someone who grows up in a farm, it is a different story. You rear animals for food. You have to depend on killing for your own food (maybe except for those big commercial farms, purely for export). It is a way of life, nothing special.

Jesus was slained, He died on the cross for men and shed His blood in order to redeem us. In doing so, Jesus is worthy to open the scroll and look inside, and reveal God's final plans.

We worship God by coming before His throne, bowing down in humility on our knees or maybe even faces on the ground. We worship Him with songs and praise, with music with harp and incense, through singing. And when we go to Heaven one day, we will continue to worship every moment.

Handel's "Messiah" and of course, his ever famous Hallelujah chorus.

Coming from a multi-religion society whereby the government promotes religious harmony and any "disrespect" to other religious groups is a crime, being a Christian can be relatively tough and challenging. Sometimes, we can have to compromise our ideas and beliefs, always considering if it is offensive to somebody, or "disrespectful". Main problem is also due to so many denominations, and so many different "styles" of worship. Often on the streets, I faced people with questions asking about what one denomination does, and applying to the general christianity. Speaking against non-christians' beliefs is one thing, but to speak against other so-called christians, can further misled or confuse the non believers. Among ourselves, too much "ways" have fused into christianity and become part of our lives. It is difficult to draw a line between what is right and what is wrong sometimes.

God has given a set of "standards" teaching us our sexual standards in the Bible. By conforming to the prevailing morals of the culture, firstly it will affect our consistency on witnessing and testimony. We are not preaching to what we behave. God instructed us to stay firm and rooted in the teachings of His Word, so we must not loosen any standards due to the culture influence whether sexual or not. As the world culture begins to start accepting immoral sexuality such as homosexual, same-sex intercourse, trangressions, etc, sometimes we start thinking and accepting it as a norm. We do not find anything unusual or unacceptable. 20 years ago, homosexuality was a taboo. Today, it is still unacceptable, it erks, but still, we find that we do not detest it that much. Since we do not have anything much against it, we don't speak up for it. And we may be afraid to speak up because we are going against the majority in our society. My culture is still very much against and have low tolerance (due to the government, and thank God for it!) but globalisation has influenced people's mindset and make such issues tolerable.

How can a local congregation lose its "first love" for Jesus? - When we lose focus on Jesus, we lose our original "track". That's why we are reminded to "keep our eyes on Jesus". As the church grows over time, as we plan our activities and ministries, we lose focus by focusing on the people and activity itself. We forgot why we are doing all these. We take for granted our first-love-relationship with Jesus. What are the signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry? - Genuine love can be seen through our actions towards each other; care and concern, love, the way we communicate with each other, as well as our "involvement" of Jesus. We give praise, give thanks, engage in genuine prayers and good fellowship. How does the lack of love show up? - Lack of show is extremely obvious to visitors of the church. Because they are not part of the congregation, they are more oblivious to what is happening. When we become accustomed to each other, sometimes we do not stop to think and consider our relationship with each other. But since a visitor does not have any strong relationship with the members yet, he is more "sensitive" to how people treat him. How can a congregation regain this love? - This is common theme in churches : "church revival". Just like any relationship, in order to keep the relationship good and going, we need to renact the "dating" process. Read the Bible, change the way the things function and work, organise retreats and get-together.

The vision of Christ among the lampstands = being a faithful witness. However the carpenter-teacher shows a humble man - son of God who came down to earth to be among his people and to teach and love. He was more than being a witness of God, but He lived as a son of God, lived among men and travelled around much. The vision goes on to symbolic the eternal glory and majesty, providing the assurance of God's promises to come.

Thanks for your sharing! I was also slightly confused by "symbolizes irresistible words".

Countries that have strong majority of Islamic beliefs and traditions such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Middle East; countries that have strong Buddhist influence and also due to the political parties such as Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Tibet. Mainly the asian and asian minor countries because the level of education is lower, quality of life is lower and strong political opposition to christian missionaries. The Book of Revelation is God's promises of rewards to those who are persecuted and face tribulations. It is this that keeps us going.

1) In times of intense persecution, believers will feel extremely discouraged, down-hearted, confused and lost. Some may even considering giving up their faith because for their loved ones whose lives might be threatened even. Having testimonies and witnesses are the best encouragement to keep us going on; to remind ourselves of God's presence and His great love as well as His ultimate plan for us. It is our reaffirmation of God's promises to us. 2) Our whole lives - we were taught to live and follow Jesus. He is our spiritual leader. Seeing Jesus is like a "consolation" in a way because He has always been our Idol, our model. 3) Most of us still feel lack of courage & confidence. Especially for those of us who are not so good at speaking, we may get "attacked" by the non-believers. We like to continue to stay in our "comfort-zone" without drawing attention to ourselves. And sometimes, we may feel that since we are not "persecuted" yet, there is no need for us to witness much - leave it to the church leaders and missionaries first. Without knowing it, some of us are actually indirectly deeply rooted into this world. Speaking out may cause us to lose our current positions i.e. jobs, friends. So we do not feel comfortable speaking out either. To me, the Book of Revelation is a very serious book. I still have difficulty "convincing" myself that it can also be a book of love to remind me God's plans for me. I find it contradictory that it can serve as an encouragement book during times of intense persecution. However, recently, I have been recommended to Tim LaHaye's books which I began with the Left Behind Series. This series talk mostly of end times and how a group of christians continue to persevere in persecution times against the antichrist. The book of revelation serves as a book of prophesy as to what people should expect to come, and prepare them to face the battle. I find it very encouraging. So I am really looking forward to study on this final book in the Bible.

Hi, My name is Josephine and I am from Singapore Sion Presbyterian Church/Orchard Road Presbyterian Church. I will be 26 this year. My fiance and I are planning to get married next year. I grew up in a God-fearing family and started going to sunday school when I was a toddler. However, I only begin to revisit my christian beliefs and values after my baptism 10 years ago. I am actively serving in the church choir as a choir member as well as a pianist. I have been reading and studying the various books of the Bible all these years but skipped the Book of Revelation because I found it extremely difficult to understand as well as frightening. But I hope through this series of study, I can better grasp the Book of Revelation and understand God's marvelous plans for us!