Mephibesheth

The "perfect law" is the law of Christ written on and living in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the law that says "you are my son, today I have become your Father" and "deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow my Son." It is closely related to the "royal law" to love thy neighbor. The perfect law gives us not only mercy and forgiveness through faith in Christ, but also power and freedom to obey God's moral law of love, which is His heart. This is so because he has removed our old heardened heart and replaced it with a soft one (as the prohpet Ezekiel foretold) that holds God's desires in it, instead of the evil desires we used to have. Psalm 37:4 says "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Because our evil desires were circumcised by the Holy Spirit at rebirth (Co 2, Ro 2) and replaced with Godly desires, we receive not only mercy and forgiveness, but also the freedom to obey God's commands. It should be noted that the freedom we have is NOT a freedom to disobey God's commands (as some in their perverted, unrenewed minds think and act), but a freedom to obey God's commands. This freedom to obey for those spiritually born stands in contrast to the enslavement of the unspiritual man portrayed in Ro 7 ("The law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual"). The freedom to obey God's law is the "joy of our salvation."

The "perfect law" is the law of Christ written on and living in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the law that says "you are my son, today I have become your Father" and "deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow my Son." It is closely related to the "royal law" to love thy neighbor. The perfect law gives us not only mercy and forgiveness through faith in Christ, but also power and freedom to obey God's moral law of love, which is His heart. This is so because he has removed our old heardened heart and replaced it with a soft one (as the prohpet Ezekiel foretold) that holds God's desires in it, instead of the evil desires we used to have. Psalm 37:4 says "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Because our evil desires were circumcised by the Holy Spirit at rebirth (Co 2, Ro 2) and replaced with Godly desires, we receive not only mercy and forgiveness, but also the freedom to obey God's commands. It should be noted that the freedom we have is NOT a freedom to disobey God's commands (as some in their perverted, unrenewed minds think and act), but a freedom to obey God's commands. This freedom to obey for those spiritually born stands in contrast to the enslavement of the unspiritual man portrayed in Ro 7 ("The law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual"). The freedom to obey God's law is the "joy of our salvation."

1) Jesus shared our weaknesses by becoming flesh, which is the source of our weakness. Thus, He lived and worked in this world with the same body that we have. 2) This verse says that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are. Thus, He got hungry and thirsty and tired and cold and lonely. 3) This verse says that Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are. Thus, His temptations were not easier than ours - they were the same. The fact that Jesus was tempted proves that He was fully flesh. The fact that Jesus did not sin, proves that He was fully God. If we try and figure out how God did that we will likely lose our mind; if we dont believe He did, we will certainly lose our soul. 4) Again, this verse clearly states that we have no temptations that Jesus did not also suffer. 5) I am comforted by the fact that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are and yet did not sin because that means that He is able to keep me from sin during all of my temptations through the life that He lives in me.

Welcome back prodigal brother!

1) Whenever we commit sexual sin we defraud a brother or sister. If I have sex with a woman whom God has not given to me, I defraud the man to whom she was given or for whom the Lord was preparing to give her and I defraud the woman of the purity for which she was created. Such an act is incompatible with Christ's command to love one another and incompatible with His command to love God who despises sexual immoraility. It should also be noted that sexual immorality is a sin in a way that no other sin is in that it is a sin against one's own body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote this in 1Cor. 6 and was careful to point that it is the only sin a man can commit against his own body (despite the fact that many who call themselves Christians say that smoking or chewing or eating "unhealthy" food is a sin against your temple) and this scripture indicates that the reason why it is also a sin against the body has something to do with the fact that the Holy Spirit LIVES in our flesh. The law states that the LIFE of a thing is in its blood (Leviticus). Since the flesh is able to be inhabited by spirit(s) and the life of flesh is in its blood and during sex there is an exhange, sharing and commingling of blood - then logic itself concludes for us a sharing of evil spirits during acts of sexual immorality and a sharing of spirits made holy by God during acts of intimacy in a sanctified marriage between spouses. 2) Why have we Christians become so complacent about sexual immorality? The question presumes that a person who is complacent about matters of sexual immorality is a Christian. Assuming that a person has put their trust in Jesus to save them from sin, such a person could only be complacent about sexual immorality due to a lack of knowledge concerning adultery's sinful nature. If such a person is truly known by God, that person will soon know what God requires relative to sexual purity, because God will not allow His new covenant people to perish for lack of knowledge.

I think some people are fooled into thinking that merely listening to Bible verses is the same as living out righteous lives because they wrongly believe that they believe in Jesus. I used to be such a person. I thought I believed in Jesus properly for thirty years - I believed Jesus was crucified MERELY to pay the price for my sins so that I wouldn't go to hell and because I believed this, it did not seem logically necessary for me to stop sinning; indeed, when I tried to stop, I found that I could not. This improper foundational belief cracked like a great earthquake when, after decades of addiction to sin, I considered the fact that Jesus commanded the adulterous woman whom he forgave to "go and sin no more" - while she was still on earth. From this scripture I reasoned that Jesus somehow made it possible for this woman to leave her life of sin even at the heart level where desire resides. I reasoned further that such a change in a person was equivalent to a death and resurrection of that person; a death of the person she used to be with all her sinful desires and a ressurection of a new creation without sinful desires. Although I was not aware that Jesus accomplished this new changed life by living inside the woman in spiritual form, I asked Jesus to make this change in me and when I asked I understood that I was asking to be killed like a sacrificial animal - that I would not be coming back from that altar. Then, and only then, was I able to do more than merely hear the word but also go and do the word; however, I have to be clear that it is not I doing the word, but it is the Spirit of Christ living in me who is doing the word - it only feels like I am the one doing what is right - which is the really cool part because I experience the joy of living right even though it is Jesus who is doing all the work!

Holding onto our confession of faith is so important because not only is Jesus super-sufficient to save us from our sins and all that is implied therein, but He is also the only Way that any man can be saved from his sins. If a man not be saved, he is condemned and if condemned, that man's destiny is eternal destruction. Thus, our eternal life or eternal death hinges upon the belief of our heart relative to Jesus as our Lord and necessary and sufficient Savior which was reflected in our saving confession spoken out of the abundance of our heart. The command to "hold" this confession implies two things: 1) that we may let go of our confession and forfeit the salvation attained therby if we choose to; and 2) we are able to hold on to the confession of our heart by which we are saved if we desire to remain in our saving relationship with the Majestic Glory.

1) We must "contend for the faith" because God has commanded us to do so in this God-breathed scripture. Jesus said "if you love me you will obey my commands." Jesus also said that we who love Him will be known as His disciples by our love for one another. Therefore, our motivation to war against false teaching is love. 2) The danger in not challenging false teachers is that the true gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, may not be understood. How can someone be saved by a false gospel? And how can someone be saved by the true gospel if they have not understood it? False teachings, if left unchallenged, can cause even those who have understood the true gospel to abandon the truth and shipwreck the faith they once had. Our faith is a matter of ETERNAL life and death. Nothing is more important to protect for ourselves and our brothers - nothing! For this reason, we must view the presentation of false teachings as an opportunity, through the challenge of them, to encourage the faith of those who trust the true gospel and to expose the unsaved to the word of truth. 3) The danger inherent in challenging false teachers is that they and their followers may turn and tear our material life to pieces. We, however, do not serve material things because our spiritual life is not found in them, We serve God in Whom our life is found! Also, in correcting false teaching, we must be careful to do so gently. What a terrible thing it would be to cause someone who has barely embraced a false doctrine to take hold of it with full force because we challenged it in man's anger (which does not bring about the kind of righteousness that God desires) and without considering with understanding and compassion the weakness of our brother. 4) If we are motivated by love for our neighbors, the approach of our challenge to false teaching will be balanced by God in a manner that does bring about the kind of righteousness He desires.

1) We who believe the truth were given spiritual birth when we heard the truth which is the gospel of our salvation. Having believed, we were also marked in Christ with a seal - the promised Holy Spirit - Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. This happened for me when I heard the story of the adulterous woman about whom Jesus said "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Jesus told the woman that He didn't condemn her (her sins were forgiven by Him) AND "go and sin no more." He told her to go and sin no more while she was still on earth! At the time I heard this, I was an alcoholic, drug addict, and adulteror (as well as a liar and hater). I also knew that Christ's standard for sin was such that a man was guilty of sin merely for desiring a woman who belonged to another, even if he didn't have her. I knew that even if I didn't drink, I wanted to drink and that made me just as sinful as if I had drank. So, I reasoned from this gospel story that Jesus was able to change this woman at a fundamental level such that she would proceed with the rest of her life not only without the outward appearance of sin, but also without an inward desire for sin - and I reasoned that He could and would do the same for me! Two hours later I presented myself upon the altar of the church I still belong to and was slain by the Spirit of Christ - I died with Jesus and was buried with Him and God circumcised my sinful nature, gave me His Spirit and He resurrected me to live a new life without sin. Through His Spirit (the Holy Spirit of Christ), I have present access to His kingdom and the powers of the age to come - to the praise of His glorious grace! All this happened because I heard the word of truth (the gospel) and believed. 2) Now that I have been given life in Christ, the Word instructs and reminds me who I am and what He would have me do. The word is available to me as a mirror; if I go out into the world for too long and hear its contrary message for too long, I am able to look into his word and see who I realy am and what I am here to do. If my hat (crown) is a little off center, I adjust it and if my clothes are wrinkled, I press them. I then go back into the world reminded that I am a son of the Almighty King and an ambassador of Christ with a mission to do good works prepared by Him in advance for me and I behave accordingly even though the world tells me otherwise.

When we pray in the spirit, the Holy Spirit who knows the mind of God helps us in our weakness by praying both with us and instead of us. When the Holy Spirit prays, it is the same as God praying to God. Because God does all that pleases Him, we can be assured that God will give what the Holy Spirit asks for. Therefore, praying in the spirit is the same as finding out what God will make happen in the future. Because God's plans for us and His other children are always good plans toward peace, welfare, and hope for our future, it can be very encouraging to know what the future holds from the One who controls it. For this reason, we should pray always and always pray in spirit and truth.

When we pray in the spirit, the Holy Spirit who knows the mind of God helps us in our weakness by praying both with us and instead of us. When the Holy Spirit prays, it is the same as God praying to God. Because God does all that pleases Him, we can be assured that God will give what the Holy Spirit asks for. Therefore, praying in the spirit is the same as finding out what God will make happen in the future. Because God's plans for us and His other children are always good plans toward peace, welfare, and hope for our future, it can be very encouraging to know what the future holds from the one who controls it. For this reason, we should pray always and always pray in spirit and truth.

I agree. I too was once rich and then was poor. My poverty, however, could be traced to my sinful life. I was saved in that poverty and discovered my first friends and real relationships among the impoverished - and I will never trade my brothers and sisters in Christ for wealth. Part of my salvation has included the ability to be productive again; however, I do not accumulate things as I once did but instead use my money to bless my friends in Christ and try to gain to new friends for the kingdom. I don't say this to boast about myself - I havn't forgotten the sins I commited that God forgave. I just know from experience that riches didn't make me happy, but Christ and His family does. So, I put my treasure where my heart is and feel that I get far more value for my money than I ever did before.

1) If we are never persecuted, that can only mean that people view us as one of them! This should never be so because we are called to NOT conform to the pattern of this world. If we are obedient to Christ and His royal law of love and are letting our light shine, then we can be certain that we will experience persecution because of the gospel and righteousness because a student is not greater than his Master. This is a promise from the One who cannot lie and has the power to fulfill all His promises. Therefore, if anyone is not persecuted in this world, let him be obedient to the One who has the power to destroy not only our bodys, but also our souls in hell! 2) When we are persecuted because of Christ in us, we should rejoice and be glad because great is our reward in heaven (Mathew 5:11-12) - and that great reward is those who persecuted us! That's right, in the same way that the people who previously persecuted Jesus later repented unto salvation, so too will those who persecute us if we hold on to our faith and perservere through the persecution in love like a good soldier of Christ.

When Jesus instructs us to pray "give us this day our daily bread," He is not talking about the kind of bread we put peanut butter and jelly on. Relative to material food, Jesus instructed us to seek first His kingdom (and the material needs would be added unto are spiritual gain). When Jesus prayed "give us this day our daily bread," He prayed it in the Spirit as we are instructed to do. The Spirit seeks not the material bread of this world, but the bread of the next age - which is the word of God. In fact, the word "daily" which Jesus used is a Greek word (epiousios) still used today which means the "ensuing day" or what we call "tomorrow." In other words, the proper translation of this prayer is "give us today the bread of the age to come." This prayer guarantees our access into heaven as a citizen thereof while we are still on earth this day. This petition is for the "power of the age to come" referred to in Hebrews 6 and experienced in the lives of believers in the form of prophetic dreams, visions, utterances, discernment, words of knowledge, etc as we live day-to-day under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It should be noted that Jesus gets all that He wants and since He prayed this prayer and commanded us to do the same, we are absolutely guranteed to receive what Jesus is asking for here - which is spiritual power from heaven so that we may live spiritually today - the day of salvation! I believe the questions presented are inappropriate because they presume that "we" are still in Adam. Speaking for myself with confidence and with hope for the other members, "we" are in Christ and no longer do the things the question presumes. However, approaching the prayer from a purely material viewpoint, I answer as following: 1) We believers seek to be financially independent of wordly men so that we can share with others who gathered too little so that they may not have too little. 2) We believers dont seek to be independent of God - that's what satan does! 3) No believer should say that they earn their living by the strength of their own hands, for it is God who gives us the strength of our hands.

The scriptures are a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path in this dark world. The message of this world is darkness and death and it surrounds us as we walk through this vain place; all it's messages are contrary to truth and life. The scriptures help to clean my feet of this worlds falsity by teaching me the true Way and they guide me, as an ambassador of Light, into righteousness even in the midst of this dark and evil world.

1) It is impossible to know why a person blames God for evil because no person knows the mind of a man except the spirit to whom the mind belongs. I suppose some might blame God because they don't want to be held to account for their own actions and others may blame God because they perceive that God is in control of all things and others may draw no distinction between God and satan. 2) It is not possible for God to be tempted, nor does He tempt anyone (Ja1:13) 3) God does not tempt sinful people - God does not tempt anyone. (ibid) 4) I am not sure what is meant by "allow." God punishes sinners most severely. 5) God only allows evil to exist for a short time. Perhaps He allows it to exist as long as he does so that His children may perceive how utterly evil evil really is and utterly good He really is by comparison, so that they may repent and be saved from it.

1) The first word in v12 is "for" - this is a conjunction which means it is directly connected to the preceeding verse which tells us to make every effort to enter God's rest and not to fall short of it through disobedience. 2) The word is described as living and active - these words are present tense and are connected to the writer's discussion of the word "Today" in the previous verses. Thus, God's word is active and has life in it today (Mar. 8, 2008) 3) The word's effect on us is that it discerns and defines the differences between our spirit (which is our spiritual life in relation to God) and our soul (which is our psychological life in relation to ourselves) and demands that our souls get in line with our spirits through humble acceptance of His Word. 4) We need to continually expose ourselves to the Word of God so that our minds become and stay renewed!

1) The promise given in verse Ja1:5 is "wisdom." I understand wisdom to be the spiritual capacity to see things from God's perspective. 2) The condition attached to the promise of wisdom from God is belief in God. God rewards belief; He does not respond favorably to unbelief. Inherent in the word belief is trust. We are to trust Him in all matters to save us from sin and lead us to abundant eternal life, despite outward appearances reflected by the various trials and circumstances we are experiencing. 3) Trials help us to receive this wisdom by revealing our single-minded belief in Him, if we are of a single-believing mind. Once our belief is made certain and full through testing, we obtain wisdom as a spiritual course of heavenly law - which never fails.

I understand "doublemindedness" to mean that a person wants both God's will and his own will at the same time. I think trials help cure us from maintaining these two contrary positions by forcing us to choose one of them - we either abandon God's commands during hardship and sin as a means to obtain comfort from the hardship, or we remain faithful to God and perservere in obedience to His commands. If we choose to perservere, we quickly perceive God's purpose in the trial - and this is the wisdom that James states that God freely gives to the single-minded.

Since scripture is breathed by God, it comes from God and is pure truth and authoritative concerning God. The scripture itself says that if we humbly accept its word planted in our hearts, it can save us from sin. (James 1) This is interesting because the scripture teaches that Jesus was sent to save us from our sin and that Jesus is the word made flesh. This same verse teaches that scripture is effective for rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that its reader may be fully equipped to perform every good work. God's spirit is important in helping us understand scripture because His ways are not our ways and are far above are ways, such that we could not naturally understand the truth of His message without His Spirit teaching and leading us through and to the truth.

1) I believe the word "rest" stands in direct contrast to the word "work." When as mere men we work, we naturally experience an expenditure, depletion, and exhaustion because as mere men our resources and power are limited and subject to deterioration. God's resources and power, however, are infinite; regardless of how much God gives of Himself, there is never less of Him remaining after he completes a work. In this way, God is always at rest, even when He is working. God promises those who follow Christ this same rest today and those who have received His Spirit and do not rebel against it, experience this heavenly gift of rest today. 2) The writer urges us to make every effort to enter God's rest today in the same sense that the writer cautions us to be very careful not to drift away. The effort we must make is to resist satan's message which is spoken in innumerable ways throughout the world and is contrary to the gospel upon which we have already taken our stand and achieved rest by. 3) The difference between apostasy and the types of sin all Christians experience from time to time is found in the specific intent of the sinner relative to God. When an apostate sins, he knows full well even before he sins that he is about to offend God and he willfully and rebelliously commits the sin notwithstanding the fact that he knows it will offend God because he has no desire to please God and in fact he despises God's ways and purposes for his life and for this reason he is unable to experience the godly sorrow for his sins which leads to repentance. A Christian who sins from time to time, however, does so because he is led or tricked into sin due to his ignorance or forgetfullness or lack of discipline. He does not intend or desire to be unattached from God and when he finds himself unexpectedly in sin, he experiences godly sorrow and quickly repents from his sin and toward his forgiving Savior in whom he finds rest.

Romans 8:26 says that the Holy Spirit "helps" us in our weakness. The word "helps" is significant and relevant to this question. The word "helps" is translated from the complicated greek word "sunantilambanetae." Lambane tae means "takes hold of." This word also has not one, but two prefixes: "sun" and "anti" which mean "with" and "instead of," respectively. Thus, we are told that the Holy Spirit takes hold of our weakness both with us and instead of us. Probably the best way that I am able to explain this gracious phenomena would be to compare it to a little girl who stands on her daddy's feet while her daddy holds her hands and dances with her. Is the little girl dancing? In the same way, when we are carried along with the Spirit in prayer or speech, it feels like we have some role in the prayer or speech, but we can sense also that it is really the Holy Spirit doing the dancing and He is graciously carrying us along with Him so that we are able to do God's will and share in His life.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to "hold on" to Christ because the writer is aware that there is someone or something that is trying to pull us away from Christ. We must continue in our faith for two reasons: 1) our faith acceses the grace we need to be obedient, which is the joy of our salvation; and 2) if we lose faith in Jesus and leave the house over which He is a faithful son to God, we no longer have his covering for our sins, nor the grace by which we are made holy and since there is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved, we would be returning to a condemned house - and all condemned houses are destined to be burned.