Will We Fail?

The Bible has a lot to say about failure and people who started well but failed. We think of Adam, King Saul, King Solomon, and Judas.

We are saved by faith. Faith is believing God. All the above stopped believing. Adam either stopped believing or didn't care when he ate the forbidden fruit. King Saul repeatedly failed God's tests as to waiting, dealing with various enemies and so on. King Solomon started strong. At first he was seen in his love for God (1 King 3:3), but at the end it was his love of women (1 Kings 11:1). Judas was an Apostle of Jesus Christ but his love for the Lord Jesus was less than his love for money.

Will we fail?

We fail God when:

• We refuse to call to God for help. We should always seek God's wisdom first then others. Isaiah 50:2 GNB "Why did my people fail to respond when I went to them to save them? Why did they not answer when I called? Am I too weak to save them? I can dry up the sea with a command and turn rivers into a desert, so that the fish in them die for lack of water." Isaiah 50:2 GNB
  
• We are tested and fail to do what God wants us to do. We may be tempted to lie to save ourselves, but it is wrong. The Lord Jesus does help us in these times. "But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:32 GNB
  
• We grow weary of following God's ways as outlined in the New Testament and quit believing and acting as Christians. "Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith." Hebrews 4:11 GNB
  

God helps us. Consider:

• He knows how to keep us from failing/falling. "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you faultless and joyful before his glorious presence--- (25) to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, from all ages past, and now, and forever and ever! Amen." Jude 1:24-25 GNB
  
• To do more than we can ask or think. "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly more than all the things which we ask or think, according to the power which is working in us" Ephesians 3:20 EMTV
  
• We can have confidence and faith in God's ability to keep us. "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! 2" Timothy 4:18 EMTV
  

Our prayer and hope should be as Paul's. We can have strong assurance of God's ever present help.

• "According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be ashamed, but with utmost boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." Philippians 1:20 EMTV
  
• "Let your way of life be without loving money, being satisfied with what you have. For He Himself has said, "By no means shall I desert you, nor in any way shall I forsake you;" 6) so that being confident, we may say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6 EMTV

Jesus Defends God’s Honor and Rebuke False Teachers.

 

A1 Objectives

B1 Describe Jesus's reacting to dishonoring the Father.

B2 Distinguish between righteous and unrighteous anger.

 

A2 Scriptures

B1 John 2:13-25

B2 Matthew 23:1-36

 

A3 Notes

B1 John 2:13-25

C1 Setting

D1 Near the time for the Passover.

E1 Took place starting on the evening of the 14th of Abib (later called Nisan).

F1 The evening of 3 April 2015

F2 And celebrated most of 4 April 2015 until evening.

F3 This celebrated the Passover over of the Lord's angel which killed all the firstborn in Egypt except where the Passover lamb's blood had been placed on the door posts and lintel.

F4 This was the last meal of Israel in Egypt.

F5 The Passover was celebrated by (Exodus 12:1-23).

G1 The family chooses a lamb or kid without any flaws on the 10th of the month.

G2 This lamb/kid was killed the eve of the 14th.

G3 The lamb's blood was sprinkled on the door posts and lintels of the house where the Passover lamb/kid was to be eaten.

G4 The lamb/kid was roasted with fire. The only way it could be cooked was by roasting.

G5 It was roasted with its head, legs, and innards.

G6 It was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

G7 It was eaten quickly with a person's traveling clothes on and their staff.

G8 The people stayed in the house until the morning.

G9 Everything that was left over was to be completely burned up with fire. It could only be eaten during the night.

G10 The Passover of the Lamb is the evening doings.

G11 The Passover Feast/Festival is during the next day starting at dawn and lasting until evening.

E2 Then was the 7 day period of Unleavened Bread.

F1 This celebrated the first week of the Exodus from Egypt.

F2 The people had left in haste and only ate unleavened bread.

E3 Most likely this was the first Passover that Jesus attended after starting His ministry.

"This was the first Passover after Christ's baptism. The second is mentioned, Luke 6:1. The third, John 6:4. And the fourth, which was that at which he was crucified, John 11:55. From which it appears, 1. That our blessed Lord continued his public ministry about three years and a half, according to the prophecy of Daniel, Daniel 9:27. And, 2. That, having been baptized about the beginning of his thirtieth year, he was crucified precisely in the middle of his thirty-third." Clarke Commentary on passage.

D2 Jesus goes to Jerusalem. The Law required all males to attend the Passover.

D3 Jesus in the Temple.

E1 Josephus makes a comment that when Titus came and overthrew Jerusalem in 70 AD, it was at the time of the Passover and that there were around 3 million Jews there.

E2 During that week Josephus mentions that there were 260,000 sheep killed for the Passover as well as oxen.

D4 In the Temple people are found selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons. Compare Deuteronomy 14:23-26.

E1 People bought here the necessary needs for the Passover because they were from far away.

E2 The problem was that it was IN the Temple.

E3 One commentator mentions that even if the people had brought their own unblemished lamb, the priests would have decreed that animal as unfit. Thus the people had no recourse but to buy one at the Temple. These animals were owned by the priests. They had the market corned.

E4 Another mentions that the doves sold for $4 when the real, normal price of 5 cents.

E5 The sounds in the Temple were of animals, people haggling over the price of an animals, the clinking of coins with money changers. The sounds that should have been there were singing and prayer.

E6 "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts. "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:1-3)

D4 Also found were moneychangers.

E1 People from other countries would need local currency to spend.

E2 The people would exchange it because all currency had a pagan ruler on it.

E3 This was unacceptable to the Jews.

E4 So they exchanged it for the half-shekel which did not have these offensive images.

C2 Action

D1 Jesus made a small whip to move the animals (even sheep and cattle) from the Temple. the whip was made of rushes, which were probably the straw used to bed the animals.

D2 Then overturned the moneychangers tables.

D3 Ordered the dove sellers to leave. The reason was not to make His Father's house a market.

D4 Memory. The disciples remembered the verse in Psalm 69:9. Zeal

E1 In Greek has the idea of passion, heat

E2 In Hebrew it has the idea of jealous, envy

E3 Jesus has

F1 Zeal for His Father's house.

F2 Zeal for the Word of God--Scripture (My zeal has consumed me, Because my enemies have forgotten Your words. (Psalms 119:139, NKJV)

F3 Zeal to punish those who persecute the nation of Israel (and Jews) Psalm 79:5

F4 A zeal for Messiah's Kingdom. Isaiah 9:7

F5 A zeal to punish the wicked Isaiah 59:17

E4 We use it for a passion. We will speak up when what we hold dear is defamed or hurt. We are zealous for our family as in if someone steps up to hurt them in some way, we will speak up, "Hey, wait just a minute!"

E5 Examples

F1 Moses when he came down from the mount after receiving the Lord's commandments. Exodus 32:19-20

F2 Starting worship Baal. Phineas intervened and administered justice to an evil man. Numbers 25:7-13

F3 The people in Corinth. 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow and a genuine contrition, but worldly sorrow is sorrow only because they got caught. Simon Peter had godly sorrow after denying Jesus; Judas had only worldly sorrow).

D5 The Jews there wanted a sign. (John 2:18)

C3 Some believe that the things Jesus did in the Temple in John 2:13-25 is the same incident recorded in Matthew 21:12-17.

B1 Matthew 23:1-36

C1 The Pharisees and Scribes (teachers of the Law) are the authorized teachers (sit in Moses' seat).

D1 Jesus tells the crowd to

E1 Obey the teachers.

E2 Follow the teachers.

E3 Do NOT imitate the teachers.

F1 They do not practice what they teach.

F2 They place loads on people's backs and do not help the people take those loads off.

F3 They are attention seeking.

F4 They think of themselves having more honor in society then what is true (seek the best, most honorable seats at feasts).

F5 They like the honor of being called "Teacher".

E4 To NOT call these or anyone Rabbi, Father, or Teacher. In Matthew 23:9 the word "your" in "your Father" is plural probably indicating that Jesus is referring to using father as a spiritual father. It is OK to call your dad--Father.

C2 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:13-14, KJV)

D1 Many translations do not have Matthew 23:14 concerning the evil efforts towards widows.

D2 The KJV and NKJV have the blocking to heaven passage first and the widow following.

D3 The English Majority Text Version, Pickering's translations and others have the widow passage first then the blocking one following.

D4 Pickering notes, "They are already condemned, but are making it worse. Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit this verse (as in NIV, [NASB], LB, [TEV], etc.). A very small minority, perhaps another 1%, reverse the order of verses 13 and 14 (as in KJV and NKJV)." Note on the widow passage.

C3 The 8 woe verses.

D1 Given by the judge himself--Jesus Christ

D2 Woe for stealing from widows and yet make long prayers. (Matthew 23:14)

D3 Woe for stopping people from going to heaven. (Matthew 23:13)

D4 Woe for making disciples that are even more evil than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)

D5 Woe for making the gold of higher importance than the Altar of God. (Matthew 23:16-22)

D6 Woe for making tithes more importance than justice, mercy, and faith. (Matthew 23:23-24)

D7 Woe for being righteous outwardly but evil and rotten to the core inside. (Matthew 23:25-26)

D8 Woe for being righteous outwardly in obeying the Law but inside disobey the Law. (Matthew 23:27-28)

D9 Woe for being hypocrites in appearing to holy and innocent by building monuments in honor of the prophets, while being disobedient to the message of those very prophets. (Matthew 23:29-32)

 

A4 Questions

B1 What is Jesus interested in that He does these things? He wants pure worship.

B2 What was so special about the Temple that Jesus drove the animals out, overturned the moneychangers tables, and preached on why He was doing this? How can we relate to this today? Are there things in Christianity that are against God's rules?

B3 Is anger wrong? What kind of anger would be OK? (The things that God is angry about).

B4 Was the Lord Jesus out of control?

B5 Did Jesus drive all the people out (John 2:15)? (No, the verse says "both the sheep and the cattle).

B6 Why didn't someone stop Jesus?

B7 What do we have zeal for?

B8 What is a sign as in John 2:18? Why do these leaders demand a sign? Were they genuine or faking it?

C1 A sign is doing a miracle to prove God's will in this matter.

C2 They wanted a sign, because they had a false idea of what Messiah would be like.

C3 They were faking it. They wanted him to stop, and they thought that he would fear the authorities.

B9 What sign did Jesus give them? (John 2:19)

C1 The resurrection.

C2 Not the physical temple. How do we know that He spoke of the physical? John 2:21

C3 Did Jesus express anger at these questioners?

B10 Are the incidents in John 2 the same as Matthew 21?

 

John 2:13-25   1 Wedding in Cana of Galilee 2 Met with Nico D Mus 3 Went into Galilee 4 Sheep and oxen driven out 5 Poured money out 6 Overturned the money changers' tables 7 Said, "Take this outta here. Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise." 8 Religious leaders ask for a sign 9 Jesus spoke of the resurrection 10 Many believed

Matthew 21:12-17   1 Triumphal entry 2 Left and went to Bethany 3 No mention of sheep or cattle 4 Throws everyone out who were buying and selling 5 Overturned money changers tables 6 Overturned dove seller's tables 7 House of prayer 8 Den of thieves 9 Healed lots of people 10 Children shouting Hosanna

 

B11 Why did Jesus call the Scribes and Pharisees the authorized teachers of the Law?

B12 Jesus is speaking to the crowd when telling them point about authorized teachers. Is Jesus an authorized teacher of the Law? Why?

B13 Jesus tells them to obey and follow the teachers. Is this wise? As long as they taught correctly.

B14 Jesus tells the crowd not to imitate these teachers. What is the heart issue with them? What does Jesus tell them not to imitate them? (They are hypocrites. The teach but do not practice what they teach). Does this make those teachers happy?

B15 What are the loads (burdens) these teachers place on people's backs?

B16 Why can't we call our preacher "Father Jacob"?

B17 Who is our one and only teacher/rabbi/theologian? (The Lord Jesus)

B18 Jesus condemns the Pharisees of doing their deeds before ours, yet He commands us to "letting your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works". Is there a contradiction?

C1 No

C2 SUMMARY

"All ambition for distinction above other common disciples of Jesus is condemned, whether this expresses itself by ostentation in dress, by prestigious titles or by positions of public honor. Such ambition despises the common brotherhood of all believers, ignores Him who is truly Father, and abases the Christ as unique leader. True superiority in God's Kingdom is decided on the superiority of one's humble service. Humiliation and punishment await those who crush others to promote their own interests." College Press commentary author comment on this reference.

C3 It is a matter of motive.

B19 Jesus and anger. Is Jesus still righteous even though He is obviously angry? (Anger without a cause is important. Most translations do not have it, so making the Lord Jesus a vile, sinning hypocrite. "God hates injustice and will judge it. Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit "without cause" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). NIV, NASB and LB favor us with a footnote informing us that "some manuscripts" add 'without cause'--by "some" they mean 98% of them!! More serious, the shorter text has the effect of forbidding anger, which would contradict other Scriptures (Ephesians 4:26, Psalm 4:4) and the Lord's own example (Mark 3:5)." Wilbur Pickering's note on the passage.)

B20 What is more important outward or inward righteousness? Some people say, "God looks at the heart," thus excusing their outward disregard for God's rules. Is that a good argument?

C1 Both are important. It shows consistency. As our Lord teaches if the inward is right, then the outward will be right.

C2 If the outward is wrong, then it is most reasonable that the inward is evil.

B21 Is it OK to point out false teaching and false teachers?

B22 How to we know what is false and true?

B23 When Jesus pronounces these woe and calls them snakes, is He being loving? (Yes, He is warning them that to believe and follow wrong teaching and false teachers, we will not know or do the truth of God).

B24 What is the balance between confront someone or just ignoring them?

 

 

Having It Both Ways

"Evolution is a fact," says J. William Schopf, UCLA professor of earth, planetary and space sciences.

For proof from this one study is if there is change, there is evolution, and if there is no change, there is evolution. Both ways. No matter what is observed in science, it is true. Hum…

Something I think is wrong with this.

Here is the link to the article: Sulfur Bacteria, Uncharged for Billions of Years, Confirm Darwinian Evolution. Come Again?

Now Christians who take the Bible in its plain, normal sense know that real science does not support evolution. See here and here
for example.

Well worth the couple of minutes to read.

In six days I, the LORD, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the LORD, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. (Exodus 20:11, GNB92)

How To Know If Your Bible Teacher Is Truly Biblical?

 

How To Know If Your Bible Teacher Is Truly Biblical?

 

There is a simple way to know if your Bible teacher is focused on teaching the Bible or not. These simple rules are easy to use.

1. Expository Preaching.

Does your Bible teacher…

This is a good checklist. It is simple. We can also apply it to ourselves. Is our Bible study Biblical?

Christianophobia

Not a common word in your vocabulary? Mine either, but this article from the Christian Post shows a scientific study of people who hate Christians and Christianity. Though truly their hate is for the Lord Jesus. (John 15:18)

Sociologists: 'Christianophobia,' Anti-Christian Hostility Infects Powerful Elite Subculture (Interview)

A small, but elite group of Americans demonstrate signs of anti-Christian hostility, sociologists David Williamson and George Yancey claim in their new book, So Many Christians, So Few Lions: Is There Christianophobia in the United States?

Later—

CP: Why did you, and co-author David Williamson, want to research and write about anti-Christian hostility?

Yancey: There is a lot of literature on hostility toward many different groups but just about none on hostility toward Christians. Yet when we collected qualitative data from cultural progressive activists we quickly saw some of the unnecessary vitriol and fears within many of our respondents. We also saw the social status of those who exhibited this hatred and many of them would be in positions that allowed them to at least subtly act on their anger and fears. That motivated us to take a more systematic look at Christianophobia and speculate on how this phenomenon influences certain social aspects in…

This is important as we see a continual hatred for God is our society.

The Bible speaks of this:

1. Foretold (Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:9, and John 15:18)
   
2. These hate Jesus, because He tells them the truth and exposes their evil deeds. (John 7:7, John 3:20)
   
3. Christians are hated by these, because we have our faith in Jesus (John 15:19) and try to live godly lives (2 Timothy 3:12).
   
4. We are not to be surprised. (1 John 3:13)
   
5. We need to be firm and not deny Christ (Matthew 10:39). He will give us the strength we need (Jude 1:24-25).
   
6. Jesus was treated with hate by the elite and others, so also we can expect it. At least we know Jesus understands when we suffer. (Matthew 10:25).
   
7. We are NOT to hate but pray for them and show them love. (Luke 6:27). Nevertheless we are to hate evil and know that God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) and at some time He will deliver us, even though that deliverance might be to heaven itself (Psalm 97:10).
   
8. We are NOT to wish or pray for them to die but to pray that they repent. (Compare Proverbs 6:16-19. God will punish).
   

Matthew Henry in a comment on John 15:18 writes:

The world's enmity against the followers of Christ: it hateth them. Note, Whom Christ blesseth the world curseth. The favourites and heirs of heaven have never been the darlings of this world, since the old enmity was put between the seed of the woman and of the serpent. Why did Cain hate Abel, but because his works were righteous? Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing; Joseph's brethren hated him because his father loved him; Saul hated David because the Lord was with him; Ahab hated Micaiah because of his prophecies; such are the causeless causes of the world's hatred.

 

And we need to live godly lives. Matthew Henry again:

 

Because they do not belong to it (John 5:19): "If you were of the world, of its spirit, and in its interests, if you were carnal and worldly, the world would love you as its own; but, because you are called out of the world, it hates you, and ever will." Note, 1. We are not to wonder if those that are devoted to the world are caressed by it as its friends; most men bless the covetous, Psalm 10:3; Psalm 49:18.

 

Concerning Hebrew 13:506, Matthew Henry writes:

 

God hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, (Hebrews 13:5-6). This was said to Joshua (Joshua 1:5), but belongs to all the faithful servants of God. Old-Testament promises may be applied to New-Testament saints. This promise contains the sum and substance of all the promises. I will never, no, never leave thee, nor ever forsake thee. Here are no fewer than five negatives heaped together, to confirm the promise; the true believer shall have the gracious presence of God with him in life, at death, and forever.

 

This has always been the lot of true believers. Let us pray for one another and help one another. We need fellowship from our fellow believers (Malachi 3:16 and Psalm 94:19),

Slow Motion Shutter

You may have seen this already, but I found it to be fascinating.

 

http://youtu.be/CmjeCchGRQo

God gives us a new Heart

God gives us a new heart (Some notes/study)

 

A1 Objectives

B1 Describe the role of the laws Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount.

B2 Recognize that God requires obedience from the heart.

 

A2 Scriptures

B1 Matthew 5:17-30

B2 Matthew 5:43-48

B3 James 2:8-11

 

A3 Notes

B1 Jesus and the Law and Prophets

C1 Matthew 5:17-30

D1 Fulfill ("Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17, EMTV)

E1 Means to obey every single law perfectly. All 613 commandments required by God.

E2 As a checklist needs to be completed so also the Law.

E3 To graduate from college one must fulfill all the requirements. Once they are fulfilled, the student graduates and does not have to do any of those requirements again.

E4 The Greek words means to fill to the very top, execute (an office), finish (a task), etc.

E5 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. (Matthew 3:15, EMTV).

F1 Jesus needed to be baptized, not because He needed to repent and confess His sins, for He had never sinned.

F2 He needed to be baptized because that was a requirement of God's Law.

E6 Therefore do not let anyone judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or of a new moon or of Sabbaths, (Colossians 2:16, EMTV).

F1 Christians do not have to fulfill the Law, because the Lord Jesus has fulfilled it.

F2 Now we have a new covenant, a new set of rules.

D2 Abolish

E1 Means to do away with. Treat them as if they had never existed.

E2 Jesus fulfilled all obligations to the Law, thus since all were fulfilled, completed, and obeyed, they could be done away with and replaced by another set of rules.

E3 The Greek word means to disintegrate, demolish. Think of a sand castle at the sea shore.

E4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. (Romans 10:4, EMTV). For Christ has brought the Law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God. (Romans 10:4, GNB92)

E5 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul the covenant previously confirmed to Christ by God, so that it make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it is no longer of promise; but God has given it to Abraham by promise. Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom it had been promised; and it was commanded through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now the mediator is not for one person, but God is one. Therefore, is the law against the promises of God? By no means! For if a law had been given which was able to give life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, having been hemmed in for the faith which was to be revealed. Therefore the law has become our guardian, leading us to Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:17-24, EMTV)

D3 Jot and Tittle

E1 Jot

F1 In English it would be the smallest letter, which is i.

F2 In Hebrew it is the smallest letter, which is yod. Yod is similar to a , (comma) or ' (apostrophe).

E2 Tittle

F1 In English it is the dot above the lower case I (i) and J (j).

F2 In Hebrew it is a small mark to distinguish similar looking letters.

D4 The Law is the Old Testament commandments.

D5 The Prophets are the other writings of the Old Testament. In one sense all the writers of the Old Testament were prophets.

D6 This also confirms that the Law and the Prophets were God's word and absolutely authoritative.

D7 The regular people believed that the scribes and Pharisees were the ultimate followers of the Law.

E1 If someone had to exceed this, it would be impossible. (That is the point of the law).

E2 Nevertheless, the scribes and Pharisees did NOT fulfill the underlying principle of the law, for their hearts were not right before God.

D8 Jesus clarifies some of the finer points of the Law.

E1 It is not just deeds that God looks at but thoughts, desires, words, and deeds.

E2 One who murders is guilty. One who hates and wishes to murder is a murderer at heart and will receive that same punishment.

E3 Anger without a cause is important. Most translations do not have it, so making the Lord Jesus a vile, sinning hypocrite. "God hates injustice and will judge it. Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit "without cause" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). NIV, NASB and LB favor us with a footnote informing us that "some manuscripts" add 'without cause'--by "some" they mean 98% of them!! More serious, the shorter text has the effect of forbidding anger, which would contradict other Scriptures (Ephesians 4:26, Psalm 4:4) and the Lord's own example (Mark 3:5)." Wilbur Pickering's note on the passage.

E4 The Lord speaks of murder, adultery, and others

C9 Matthew 5:31-42 are left out. These deal with oaths (true and false oaths) and revenge.

C10 Matthew 5:43-48 deal with how to treat our enemies.

C11 James 2:8-11

D1 The Royal Law

E1 God is the King.

E2 God's Law is the royal Law.

D2 Neighbor (anyone we meet).

D3 Partiality

E1 We need to treat everyone the same.

E2 Treating them with kindness, compassion, and respect as much as possible.

E3 Partiality is sin.

E4 Partiality is a transgression of the law.

D4 One mistake, slip, white lie, error or lapse in judgment is enough to send to die and hell.

E1 The penalty for breaking the law once is the same as breaking it many times--death and hell.

E2 Includes sins when there is ignorance or unintentionally makes one guilty.

 

A4 Questions

B1 Did Jesus completely obey every law and rule required in the Old Testament?

B2 What about marriage laws?

C1 He did not need to fulfill those laws.

C2 He was obligated to fulfill those laws that he was subject to.

B3 What does it mean when Jesus states, "...one iota or one tittle shall by no means pass away from law until all things are fulfilled?" (Once fulfilled then can pass away).

B4 They needed to obey ALL the commandments? Can anyone do this? (No, that is the purpose of the law).

B5 In Matthew 5:22 the Lord Jesus mentions hell fire. Does He really expect us to believe that?

B6 Regarding Matthew 5:43-48 are we to wish anyone to die?

C1 No, we should pray for their salvation.

C2 No, we should forgive them. What is forgiveness?

D1 Forgive is to release.

D2 In this case to release them to God, and He will do what is right.

B7 What is an enemy?

C1 A threat to a person or group.

C2 Associated strong emotions as hatred, fear, and distrust.

C3 Something must be done to neutralize the enemy as banish, imprison, punish, or kill.

C4 Jesus said that we must try to treat them well, nicely, as possible. He is the example of this.

C5 The Lord God sends rain on the just and the unjust.

B8 In Matthew 5:48 what is God's standard for us? (Perfection). ""Perfect"--the Father is our point of reference; we are to be like He is. A standard is a standard; it is not invalidated just because we may feel that it is unattainable. Comparing this passage with texts like Deuteronomy 7:10, "He repays those who hate Him to their face," and Psalm 5:5-6, "You hate all workers of iniquity," I take it that we must distinguish between personal enemies (those who oppose us for personal reasons) and enemies of God and His truth. To be like the Father we also must hate workers of iniquity (because of the consequences to others)." Wilbur Pickering comment on this passage.