JustJeff

Legalistic requirements are man's traditions and equate to religion. To those who abide by these delusions they are easy to follow as they are fleshly and easily done. They may seem to be good works and result in that warm and fuzzy feeling one gets when they help someone or deny themselves for a time but, it is not what Jesus wants us to do and feel. It is not fruit that He owns. The true Gospel is Spirit and we are to be lead by the Holy Spirit in order to grow spiritually and produce the fruit of the Spirit. Then are we sons and daughters and then do we truly belong to the Lord.

False doctrine and the teaching of it creates religion. Religion doesn't work and as a result people who have been taught to be ignorant of the truth blame God for their disappointment. For this reason many have fallen away from God and Christianity. Warnings by the Holy Spirit would have caused Timothy to stay on the straight and narrow and allowed him to use the power to help the congregation do the same.

According to the study an elder would be dedicated to spiritual matters while a deacon to administrative. I would argue that it is dependent upon the size of your church. Ours is small with a proportionate staff. I've been a deacon for 17 years and handle most administrative matters yet am also gifted as the cook for our soup kitchen and teacher, a go between lay and clergy, amongst other functions. We serve the poor and homeless to the tune of thousands per year and even our pastors must multi-task. None of this could be accomplished without the power of the Holy Spirit and the gifts imparted to us by our Savior. So again, I submit that elder/deacon responsibilty is situational as ordered by the Lord.

As Christians we are required to be Christ like. This means meek, gentle, humble, compassionate, etc. Anger, intimidation, force and pride are contrary attributes which chase people away rather than lead them to the Lord. 1 John 4:1 tells us to prove or test the spirits to see whether they are God's or not. This takes time and hasty decisions about potential leaders can lead to distasterous results.

I believe the key word here would be mature, that is, in the Christian faith. It takes time, though some grow more quickly that others, to become grounded and rooted. Only through wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the Word and it's application can one be responsibly considered to be an elder. Only by observation and testing can leadership qualities be determined.

A leader must be a person of integrity, faithful, to God and family. One's family is simply a small church. How we conduct and support our family life should not differ with how we conduct ourselves in the house of the Lord. How we serve our family members is how we should serve the children of God.

Our church/mission (http://www.peoplethatlove.com) was founded, in part by a woman who became our senior pastor. She was exactly what was needed to "birth" a new church that works largely with the homeless of which the majority are men. As a strong willed matron she was able to give the tough love necessary to motivate people to become responsible citizens. I was one of those men. She was looked upon as a spiritual mother. She has passed and now, all of the men who lead the ministry owe their response to the Lord's call to her seed planting. She could never had accomplished what she did without the annointing from Jesus. Everything in the bible has to be taken in context to the time it was written. Culture has evolved to the twenty first century and is vastly different than that of Paul's day. What Paul wrote is applicable to men and women alike as we are all required to use our gifts as our Savior has given them to us (Romans 12:4-21)

Paul was trying to make the point that when going to church we are all going there to worship and praise the Lord. It is not appropriate to dress to show off one's wealth or station in life nor, to try to seek a potential mate. We should be neat and clean and focus on the Lord. Places of worship in our time have special events suitable for dressing up to the hilt; fundraisers, singles nights, etc. Today I believe that Paul would address his letter to both men and women.

The anger and doubt that the congregation of Ephesus displayed showed irreverence toward God and was completely contradictory as to who He is and what He requires of us in prayer. God is love and anger is hate. The Lord requires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. When you approach Him with anger and/or doubt you are in the flesh, your mind is elsewhere rather than on Him so, your prayer is a lie. It's phoney.

As Paul wrote to boost young Timothy's confidence he needed to be able to overcome those who insisted that Jesus was for a select group of people. The concept of a Mediator was that of an impartial arbitrator who Ransomed all of mankind at the cost of His own blood.

While Jesus came as the Jewish Messiah it was their hardened hearts that opened the door for all nations, the Gentiles, to receive Him as such. This according to the Words of Isaiah and other prophets inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Jews at Ephesus who did accept Him as their Messiah were trying to keep those who came to Him under Jewish practices and Old Testament law. Paul wanted Timothy to remain true to his calling and evangelize to all at Ephesus with no regard to men's traditions.

Though thoroughly trained by Paul, Timothy was virtually alone and isolated from a sound doctrine elder. He was surrounded by false prophets, some much older than he. It was neccasry that Paul remind him of his gifts and than he need not any man teach him anything. Young people can be greatly influenced by older and seemingly wiser adults and in God's service it is important to remain stedfast in the Word which Paul was implying to Timothy in "fighting the good fight". It is easy to give in to false teaching when you are constantly barraged and outnumbered by those who agree to some religious teaching. This was why Paul was warning Timothy.

God is all in all. He is everything that God must be and only He is worthy of our praise. The doxologies are a wonderful teaching on how we should praise Him and I found that reading the referenced verses out loud gave me an unexpected uplifting of my soul. A blessing indeed!

Paul was a zealous Pharisee whose fleshly interpretation of the law lead to self righteousness and gross misunderstanding. The result being that he severely persecuted Christians prior to his conversion. His and our testimonies are the backbone of witnessing. Not only was Paul telling of the great love and saving grace of Jesus Christ, he was also illustrating the necessary change that the Holy Spirit brings about when one is born again. Now he was able to clearly understand the law, man's inability to keep it, without the Holy Spirit, and the need to show the church that even the worst of sinners can be transformed, with the testimonies of believers as a vehicle to lead people to the alter. This also showed Timothy that the legalistic Jews were way off with their understanding of the law and the Messiah giving the young man ammunition to battle the divisive elements within the church at Ephesus. Only by teaching and demonstrating the effect of the Gospel can the church agree as one and upon the One. That is what keeps us united and, centered. It is truth and truth is what must be told.

False doctrine caused divisions, strife, confusion, heresy, asceticism, which caused misery and, in turn, a bad religious experience. When you have false teaching in a church there is no way for everyone to be on the same page. More experienced believers will disagree while unlearned will tend to accept incorrect doctrine. This results in a negative vibe and destroys the work of the Spirit which is truth. No one wants to be in the midst of confusion. Weak members leave, potential members stay away. The mission of the church, that is to grow and spread the gospel, is greatly hindered.

Early Christians were maimed, imprisoned and murdered. It hasn't changed. More Christians were martyred in the last century than in all previous centuries combined. Here in America we are imperiled by a society that is declining in morality and increasing in Godlessness. The temptations are many. Christ's great love for us is stronger than anything that we can confront in this world. That should put us at a level of confidence in our Savior that not only makes us conquerers but gives us the blessed peace that is for all time. Nothing can stand in our way.

God is for us and gives us the victory over the devil, the world and the flesh evidenced by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. This means that I no longer live in defeat, seeking the pleasures of this world to fulfill my longing for happiness and true love. Now I can clearly see the hope that awaits all believers at the end of our pilgrimage as it lies within me. How humbling that the God of all creation did this for me, for us.

To be conformed to the likeness of Jesus is to be made after His image inwardly. We grow from glory to glory as we shed the old person and grow into the new, Christlike being. Paul illustrates the our Father had a plan for His elect before we were a thought to our parents. This should give us great joy as we see how God has preset our course to heaven, paid in full by His firstborn Son. How important we are to Him. No less than His own flesh! And, we are given the ability to be equal to Jesus as we are molded to be as He is. As we grow into His character and nature we are made after His likeness, a reflection of Him as His sisters and brothers. Wow.

In Romans 8:28 God promises that no matter the situation that we find ourselves in, whether good or evil, it will be turned to His purpose for our lives and become His glory. It is our testimony that as Christians we are victorious in all matters pertaining to this life. This doesn't apply to those who have not been called and those who do not love the Lord thy God with all of their hearts, their souls, their minds and, their strength. Romans 8:28 is hope in action. As you see this scripture come to life in your day to day journey you are receiving a real confirmation that what we have been promised to receive at the end is as real as today's victory.

How we, in our bodies, in our spirits and all of suffering creation will experience Christ's glory when He comes: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thes 4:16-17 "Behold, He cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." Rev 1:7

A person who has lost hope is miserable, depressed and inclined to seek false fulfillment. When you expect a better future there is increasing joy and a zest for life. You are an optimistic person with an A+ personality. This because Christian hope is tangible, real and something that the Holy Spirit allows us to taste. We should be motivated to excel in our walk.

The Holy Spirit discerns our hearts and minds and is able to intercede to the Father on our behalf in matters that we ourselves cannot understand. These can be deep seated issues that may grieve or bother us and yet, we don't know why. They may be related to people on our prayer list whose names we cannot recall. It can even be presumptuous sins that we cannot see or sins that we do not know. Whatever we can't pray that matters to the Father the Holy Spirit can. In so doing the Spirit is accomplishing what Jesus did and said He would do. He comforts us by taking our known and unknown burdens from us and giving them to God and He guides through our prayers and life if we step aside. The Holy Spirit is a meek and gentle person. As such, He must be allowed to have His will in our lives or we don't hear Him. When we try to dominate Him with our flesh we render Him ineffective and eventually quench Him. All because we never took the time to understand Him, taking Him for granted,

Jesus was made to suffer throughout His earthly existence so that He could be perfected, made complete, in preparation for His death and resurrection. So too must we go through the same process to acheive the same end. We suffer in different ways but nonetheless we suffer. In America we suffer as we see divisions in the church, as we see evil grow in our country, as we grow spiritually and see sin within ourselves or our loved ones. We suffer for our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted, murdered, tortured and imprisoned for our Lord's sake. We suffer for the environmental disaster that we are witnessing over all of the earth. We suffer for the needless waste of humanity from wars, famine and greed. The redemption of our bodies which completes our adoption as the sons and daughters of God will end the corruption and decay that we now experience, an event that all of creation will see. This is the hope by which we live.

I believe that we are the sons and daughters of God by adoption and that ia alluded to 7x (?) in the referenced scriptures. The promises that we receive are equallity with Jesus, His inheritance and His glory, which are ours to share. We are freed from the corruption that is of this world and that expectation is in all of creation as they await our full redemption, the Holy Spirit being a harbinger of that which is to come.

The indwelling Holy Spirit is reality. He confirms everything about the Father, including His relationship to His children. For this we are inspired to cry "Abba Father" as His love penetrates us through and through. By referring to God as Dad or Father we are acknowledging that our love for and relationship to Him is deeply personal and significant, very special to both the Father and child. It is not possible to appreciate a right relationship with the Lord unless we have the Holy Spirit as the Spirit is our assurance of our salvation. We are simply rudderless ships without Him.