Helen Williams

Q1. (1 Timothy 1:3-7) What were some of the results of false doctrine in the church at Ephesus? How does doctrinal controversy hurt the spirit of a church? How does it prevent growth? How does it keep the church from its mission? Some of the results are disputes, disorder management of the household of faith. There is also idle talk, empty chatter, gossip, speculation, and criticism should not come from the lips of believers. Teachers of the law were loveless, legalistic teachers with impure hearts amd emotion. Instruction without love promote legalism. The focus of a believer's life should be on clear and sound doctrine found in the Word of God not human speculation. There has to be unity, love and the truth based on God's word for growth.

Q4. (Romans 6:17b) How does good doctrine affect the way we live? Why should we honor good doctrine? If we shouldn't look down on doctrine itself, what kind of teaching should we be avoiding? If we follow good doctrine, we will have positive results in our lives. We should honor good doctrine because there are great benefits. We should avoid teachings that are contrary to the word of God.The gospel message is the pattern. The message is that, "Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead." Any teaching or doctrine other than this we should ignore and avoid.

Romans 6:15-18). What does obedience have to do with slavery? In way does doing acts of righteousness demonstrate your slavery to God? In what ways does doing bad things demonstrate a slavery to sin? How is such a slavery or bondage broken? What part does obedience have in breaking this bondage? In what areas is God speaking to you about a fresh obedience in your life? We don't have a free ticket to since just because we are under grace and not the law. There are no excuse to being a slave to sin. Paul principle is letting us know htat everyone is a slave to something or someone....whether it is a person, possession, or activity. We as believers should be a slave to righteousness. The message that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead is our pattern. We must respond to this message from the heart by voluntarily obeying. We know being a slave is being owned by a master. Whether the slaves obeyed did not change their status as slaves, although it would affect the relationship between slave and master. A person who has been freed from sin can act as though still a slave to sin or that person can live as a "slave" to righteousness, as a servant to a kind of master who gives great rewards. The ultimate reward is eternal life.

Q2. (Romans 6:13) In what ways do you "offer the members of your body" to either sin or God multiple times in a day? Why is it that we can sin unconsciously? How can we begin to offer our members deliberately to God? What changes will it take in our daily life to do this? Believers are not to present the parts of their bodies as a mean of sinning. Ex., Do not use your hands to steal or your tongues to lie. Rather believers should present themselves to God and parts of their bodies as instruments of righteousness. I believe becasue of the desires of the flesh, and the fallen world that we live in, we can sin unconsciously. Therefore we have to be obedient daily, walk daily according to the Word of God. This will become a way of life. This will have a postive affect on our lives and it will become easier. It almost like a habit, we do it without thinking about it, becasue it is what believers do. We know that when we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee.

Although we as believers have died to sin, sin is still a problem. The sin principle is still present and can express itself through the mortal body, the body that is subject to death. The difference is that sin has no right to reign. Paul admonishes the believer not to obey. We are to be obedient to God.

"Reckon, consider, count" is a accounting term that means "to take into account", "calculate" or "decide." We are not convincing ourselves of something that isn't true because verses 3-10 reveal the truth that believers have already died to sin because they have participated in Jesus' death. Since believers have died with Christ and have also been raised with Him, Paul now urges christian to consider themselves dead...to sin. Although before conversion they were still enslaved to the power of sin, now they are free to resist it.

We have died to sin through union with Jesus in His death. Water baptism puts us into relationship with Jesus and specifically with the death of Christ. We are buried with Him through baptism into His death. What Paul meant by this is not that our baptism simply symbolizes, in submergence under water, Christ death and burial, for Paul make clear that we were buried"with" Him, not just "like" Him. Our faith, symbolized by baptism, puts us into relationship with Christ's own burial. It's only when baptism join with genuine faith that it possesses any meaning. We have been join with Christ in such a way that we have died Him, we have been buried with Him and we shall live with Him.

Paul uses ther common experience of believers being baptized as a picture of being indentified with Jesus Christ. Baptism expresses faith the way a word expresses an idea. Water baptism is a symbol of the spiritual union of Christ and the believers.

We die to sin and identify with Christ. Having died and having been raised with Christ, we as believers should live a new kind of life. To bring about this change in headship we must accept God's gift(Jesus) and die to sin. When we identify with Christ we identify with His death and resurrection.

Adam represent all humankind in that God created him first, he sinned, death came, all becasue he sinned. Christ came to give life. Christ was obedient to the will of God. I beleive God is the head. I believe His death for sins can be effective for us when we have received Him as our Lord and Savior. Because of His death and resurrection, we are no longer in bondage to sin and when we fall short we can repent and be forgiven.

Until the law of Moses was given, sin was not imputed. Sin was present in the world from Adam to Moses, but God did not keep an account of sins before the giving of the law. This was becasue there were no law to obey or disobey. There is sin without law. We know this because they all died. Trespass increase when the law is present becasue law magnified sin. What was inherently wrong became formally and explicity wrong once the law was revealed.

We may see a president of a company acting for the entire company or group. His decision may make or break the company. In our military system the officier in charge may act for his company. In certain situations it is a matter of obeying or not. Being tied to this person may cause certain consequences that may end up being good or bad. Jesus acted for us on the cross and still doing so today. All that Jesus does for us is good whether it feels good or not. We know all things work for the good of those that love God and called according to His purpose.

[size=4]Reconciliation-----Change or exchange. Reconciliation means the our state of alienation from God has been changed. We are no longer enemies of God, we are at peace with God. Reconciliation with God is necessary for us to be saved from the power of sin. God declares a person who was formerly His enemy to be righteous before HIm. We can expect salvation from God's wrath. We are saved from the power of sin. It is necessary to die to sin and present ourselves to God as an "instructment of righteousness."[/size]

We have to embrace the truth that Christ died for the ungodly because we once were ungodly and sinners. We were in bondage to sin. Jesus died for us when we were at our worse. He loved us just the way we were but to much to leave us at our worst. Realizing this causes us to have compassion for others and not be judgemental. Satan is the father of lying and only give us half truth, if any at all. He wants us to feel that we have sinned so bad that we can't be forgiven. When we come before God with a repentant heart, God will forgive us. Ask Paul!

I know from personal experience it is hard to rejoice during our sufferings and tribulations. We have to be a believer to understand this when we are going through. The majority of the time we are not looking at the end results or the growth. We just want this to be over and done with. We as believers can rejoice and glory in our sufferings and tribulation becasue they produce endurance. This only happens when we exercise faith during the hardship. Such faith produce its own reward. Preserverance produces character, the quality of being approved. God works in us to develop certain qualities and virtures that willl strengthen us and draw us closer to Him. The results is fortified hope in God and His promises.

Abraham believed God and this was counted to him as righteous. Faith is knowing the one you trust and believes in, and that is Jesus. By believing and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are justified. To be justified is to be declared righteous. But how can this be when at times we fall short? When we believe in Jesus, God imputes His righteousness to us, and we are declared righteous before God. What a blessing! Even though we have sinned, we don't have to face His judgement. It will not be held against us or brought up again. I URGE YOU TO ACCEPT CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY.

We are to speak the truth. If we are known for telling the truth we will not hve a the problem of others believing us. When we have to swear then we have lost our credibility. If we obey His command we will speak the truth. Our word would be our bond. It is sad when no one believe a word you speak. Our credibility will not be question if we are obedient. We have to make speaking the truth a way of life.

Regardless how our situation my be or seem we still should believe God Word and be obedient. We can learn that we should live so God can use us and be ready to be used by Him. Believers are to be a light in a dark world. When we respopnd to God we are consenting to His will. We humble ourselves before God, read for faithful and obedient service. This should characterize every believer!

Q3. (Luke 1:35) What does the virgin conception teach us about Jesus' nature? How central is the doctrine of the virgin conception to the christian message? The virgin conception teaches us that Jesus is holy. There is none other like it. The doctrine of the virgin conception is very important to the christian message becasue if you don't believe it you don't believe in Jesus. This is fulfilled prophecy.

The angel's announcement says that Mary will conceive and bring forth a son and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, will be called the Son of the Highest(referring to the majesty of God) and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. This will be an everlasting and unending kingdom.

I don't think David was making light of his sin against Bathsheba/ Uriah. He realized that none of the indictments were as serious as his offense against God. If David could come to this conclusion then he know how serious the offense was with Bathsheba/Uriah. This shows a person that truly wants God's forgiveness. It also shows that David had a repentant heart about what he had done. It is just good to admit the truth. David is not excusing himself or blaming original sin. I feel David is taking responsibility for his action. This is hard for some of us because we want to put the blame else where. David meant that from birth he was inclined to sin. We all was born with a sinful nature, but only God searches the heart and the mind. Davis repeatly call for his cleansing. He expresses his profound sense of guilt. We can speak of David, his sin, and his action but what about us when we sin against God. Are we repeatly calling for God to cleanse us? REMEMBER, DAVID WAS A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART!

Self deceit can enslave us when we keep quiet, fail to admit the truth and confess our sins. It is hard to admit quilt when it is "self." We are quick to point out others sin. Maybe we are thinking it will just go away, wishful thinking. Confession and true repentant releases us, and set us free. We have to admit that our principle offense is against God. We resist the truth about self because sometime it is hard to think that we could not do such a thing. It is even harder when we have been in it for so long. As we know the truth will set us free. When we measure our self against another individual we don't look so bad. But when we measure self according to the word of God then we realize we are in need of a Helper. We need God's forgiveness. It might be that God has to allow trouble, hard times, or maybe a word is planted for us to see the truth.

Verse 1-2 establish the Lord's right as King; the earth is his, he is the creator, and he is soverign over all he has created. Verse 3-6 tells us the requirements of the king; He has to be holy, righteous and a pure heart. Verse7-10 tells us that the king of Glory is the Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory. He is worthy to stand in the holy place. Only with the coming of Jesus did the meaning become clear. Psalm 24-Praise to God the creator as Sovereign of the world, an inquiring concerning the appropriate approach to the Lord and an anticipation of the king of glory. Whatever situation we are in, let us continue to prasie God. King of Kings, Lord of lords.

This is a time of restoration for Jerusalem following the Babylonians captivity. Some waited a long time: an entire lifetime. It was a time of laughter and joy, of rejoicing in God's salvation. The memory of God's deliverance prepared them for prayer. It is the beginning of the prayer that God would complete the restoration of his people to their land. This is really a prayer of the coming Jesus, who will complete God's work among his people. We may be in a situation with no hope and tears. God hears our cry and comes to our rescue. Our sorrow can reap tremendous rewards. Upon their return to Jerusalem and Judah they were reaping a harvest of rejoicing. This gives us hope in what might seem like a hopeless situation in our eyes. God alwyas comes to the rescue of his humble people. He comes in a way that is BEST for us.

Ascribe means to attribute, source, author. God IS glory and strength, that is just what he is. Jehovah is the only true God. No other god can claim to have glory and strength and do. Whether we ascribe glory and strength to God does not change the fact the he is glory and strength. Psalm 96 is a call to prasie God, a celebration of God the creator, a celebration of God the King and a celebration of God the coming one. When we fail to ascribe such qualities to God, we fail to acknowledge who God truly is and give Him the praise. Praise to God is fitting and worthy in every case because he is worthy and almighty. He is the only TRUE and LIVING God. As it is stated in Psalm 96, "The Lord Reigns!"