>The table is set and today, my sister, my best friend, my teacher, Norma, will be sharing with us on this banquet, a great entrée, an introduction to Doctrine.
I love you, sis!
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| Image Katie Lloyd Photography* |
>The table is set and today, my sister, my best friend, my teacher, Norma, will be sharing with us on this banquet, a great entrée, an introduction to Doctrine.
I love you, sis!
![]() |
| Image Katie Lloyd Photography* |
>Today is Thursday, the day I like to share words I have read through the week.
These are borrowed words from R.C Sproul, on his book Romans; in which he talks about the doctrine of the “carnal Christan” which has spread so widely among Evangelicals.
“We cannot receive Christ as Savior without at the same time bending our knees to his lordship. This does not mean we believe we are perfect, but it does mean that at the moment we believe, we are changed. Our lives are turned around, and the beginning of the process of sanctification has taken place. Justification does not produce the fullness of sanctification, but it initiates it immediately. If we have made a profession of faith but there is absolutely no evidence of change in our hearts and lives, then we need to ask whether that profession of faith was genuine. True faith always and immediately produces change.
Yes, indeed, the battle with sin goes on for our whole lifetime. We do not believe in instantaneous sanctification. Justification is instantaneous. The second we believe, we are fully justified. We will never be any more justified than we are at the moment we believe, but sanctification is a process that begins at our justification and is completed in our glorification in heaven. If we are believers, we are in that process of sanctification.”
I remember I grew under this kind of teaching; the only fruit that I saw, even in my own life, was that of living a double life. We all “understood”; we never expected holiness in the church because “being a carnal Christian” was a doctrine we all believed.
Sproul also says,
“We all sin, but if we have been born of the Spirit, we are no longer slaves to that sin. We can no longer say to God, “I cannot help it. I am dominated by the power of sin.” If we are still in a condition of slavery to sin, then we are not regenerated”
I encourage you not only to read the Scriptures as you would read any other book, instead, study them meditate, on them, memorize them; let them change you today!
Under His sun and by His grace,
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Greetings to the ladies of our Philippians study!
Welcome to Week Four~ This study and the following lessons, for the next four weeks, will be a condensed version of Mining God’s Word – How To Study the Bible; Foundation Series by Bethlehem College and Seminary Press. I highly recommend that you purchase your own workbook at www(dot)bethlehemcollegeandseminary(dot)org – it would be a great tool for you to have!
Let us look at Proverbs 31 to begin our study.
“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than Jewels…She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” (Pr. 31:1, 26-28)
May we be wives who are more precious than jewels, and with whom our husbands’ hearts can rest.
Did everyone find five questions to write down concerning Philippians 1:12-26? I will list some of mine. You may have different ones, but you also may have the same. Did your questions encourage you to look further to find the answers?
Thinking about verse 1:12, did the Philippians think that Paul’s imprisonment would keep the gospel from spreading because of what happened to him? That they would be fearful? It sounds like Paul may be answering this concern by telling the Philippians that his imprisonment has actually been beneficial for the spread of the gospel. (1:12-14)
Are you curious as to whom “all the rest” are in verse 13?
Why would someone want to preach Christ (vs.15) if they do not love Christ? It looks like they want to get Paul into even more trouble than he already is! (vs.17)
Why was Paul concerned about not being ashamed, “…that it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always Christ would be honored in my body whether by life or by death.” (20-21)? Have others been ashamed? Have they brought shame unto the Lord Jesus by their actions?
Why is Paul revealing to the Philippians the tug-of-war that is raging in his heart about wanting to die and be with Christ and yet live for the sake of the Philippians (vs. 21-24)? I think it shows us how close the saints at Philippi and Paul were to each other, that he should share with them such a deep, personal, battle he was experiencing.
I believe Paul is encouraging the Philippians that his imprisonment has actually been a good thing – the gospel has spread, and it has made other brothers more confident, or bold, in speaking of Jesus Christ. Also, Paul lets the Philippians know that he is sure he will return to them.
We have already spoken a little bit about context. Context is what is happening around the verse, or verses, we are looking at, that will help us determine the meaning of our text. But, how many verses surrounding our text should we look to find the context? The verse before or after our text? Two verses before or after? The chapter before or after? The entire book? It can be a bit confusing and overwhelming, but it is something we should pay attention to.
There is a term ‘canonical interpretation’ which means that we view a specific text in relation to how it fits into the Bible as a whole. Scripture cannot and does not contradict itself. (We may not understand what is being said if we think parts do not fit together.) This means that the New Testament was written in light of the words, promises, and actions of the Old Testament. Remember, in Paul’s day, there was no New Testament. The Old Testament is what the Jews memorized and quoted from. Jesus and his disciples knew the OT and it guided their lives, thoughts and actions. So, as we read our New Testaments, and we notice that a part of Scripture is referencing an Old Testament passage, it is good for us to go back into the OT, check the reference and see what was occurring at the time it was written.
So, let’s look at two passages: Matthew 4:1-4 and Deuteronomy 8:1-10. As you read these two passages, I want you to be looking for words that are repeated in both. On a piece of paper, write down the words written in both passages. (Be sure to know your contexts!) Do that and then come back to class and I’ll walk us through this.
Words that are the same (or very similar):Led, wilderness, tempted (tested), forty, hungry, Son, command, bread.(Our translations might have this list slightly different, but they should be close.)
Why do you think Jesus quoted this passage from Deuteronomy when Satan was tempting him? The Deuteronomy passage is talking about how God has cared for His chosen people, the Israelites. He is making a covenant with them; He is telling them what they need to do, (vs. 1, 2, 6) and reminding them what He will do – how He loves them and how He will bless them. However, did the Israelites obey their side of the covenant? Were they faithful to their God? No.
In Matthew, Jesus is using this OT scripture, to show that He is the faithful Israelite. Jesus does in the wilderness what the Israelites were supposed to do, but failed. And what is that? To humble himself and rely on God’s promises to care for Him – to keep the commands of God! And Jesus obeyed even greater than they. He does not use his own ability as the second person of the Triune God, to care for himself. Rather, He completely humbles himself to the will of God. His obedience, here and on the cross, redeems God’s people from sin, and is leading them into the Promised Land. (Amen!)
Seeing Matthew in light of the OT passage gives the scene between Satan and Jesus a broader, and clearer meaning.
Our homework for this week will follow along this idea. Most of our Bibles have notes that cross-reference Scripture with other Scripture. Sometimes it is only words that are repeated, and sometimes the cross-reference is to an idea, or theme. We will use Philippians 1:27 –2:11 for this week’s homework and practice using our cross-referencing.
Day 1) Read Phil. chapters 1 & 2, then go back and read Phil. 1:27 – 2:11. Re-read these verses a few times. Begin to look up the cross-references listed in your Bibles regarding these passages. Can you find any Old Testament references? Record on paper what you are finding.
2) Continue to look up the cross-references, and record what you find.
3) Continue to study your cross-references. There is at least one OT cross-reference. Be sure to get the context for the cross-reference by reading the entire chapter in the OT. What is happening in the OT?
Day 4) As you examine your OT cross-reference, write down what relevance you think it has to our NT passage. Does it answer any questions? Does it clarify any statements? Does it broaden our understanding of our verses in Philippians?
Day 5) Write down a summary of what you think this passage in Philippians is saying.
And we’re finished!
Thank you ladies, for studying and making God’s Word an important part of your day. May God honor your desire to know Him by blessing you with wisdom, grace and great joy!
Thank you, Becky, for once again giving me your time and your blog space to write this down.
Until next week,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Eileen
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Can I tell you a little secret? I do not want to write my review on this chapter because I did not like the second half of it!
Yes, I feel terrible saying this, but I just can’t help it. I read it twice and the third time I skimmed over it, and still, my thoughts were the same.
I enjoyed the first part of this chapter in which Dr. Sproul deals with the definition of holy:
“The primary meaning of holy is “separate”. It comes from an ancient word that means “to cut” or “to separate…
“God’s holiness is more than just separateness. His holiness is also transcendent. The word transcendence means literally “to climb across’… God is above and beyond us. Transcendence describes His; supreme and absolute greatness…”
This definition is just great, to think that He is higher than me, than the rest of us, helps my ego fall down and remember that I am clay made alive.
The author continues explaining how in the Word of God we find the word holy; used to express “something other than a moral or ethical quality”; In order for something to be holy, it first needs to be consecrated or sanctified by God.
“Only God can sanctify something else. God alone is holy Himself”
I learned in this chapter that when we speak of God as holy, “it doesn’t signify one single attribute. On the contrary, God is called holy in a general sense. The word is used a synonym for his deity. That is the word holy calls our attention to all that God is.”
If holy means transcendent, then worshiping idols made of wood, silver, gold, worshiping the moon, the sun, or anything else is nonsense because all these are not transcendent, “they; do not go above and beyond the creaturely. They are not holy”, says the author.
And now comes the part I did not like of this chapter. Dr. Sproul talks about a German scholar, Rudolf Otto, and how he tried to study the holy in a scientific way. This man “coined a special term for the holy. He called it mysterium tremendum…’awful mystery'” (My first doubt, question, objection is this, can one really study the holy in a scientific way? how? I just could not follow along.)
The author goes on to explain that we have mixed feelings about the holy,
“There is a sense in which we are at the same time attracted to it and repulsed by it. Something draws us toward it, while at the same time we want to run away from it. We can’t seem to decide which way we want it. Part of us yearns for the holy, while part of us despises it. We can’t live without it, and we can’t live without it”
This is so true, this is why we need so desperately Jesus, a mediator.
But why does the author chooses to explain us such truth comparing it with his wife’s feeling when watching horror movies; why using the images of scary radio programs? This I did not like. I just couldn’t understand it. How can we compare our relationship and feelings towards the Holy with our feeling towards scary radio programs or horror movies. I felt lost.
What are your thoughts about this?
Praising Augustus*
I am grateful to Tim Challies for inviting us to read along this book; it has proved a blessing for me to join a group of great people and thinkers.
The Holiness of God -Chapter One-
The Holiness of God- Chapter Two-
Holy, Holy, Holy
The Holiness of God- Chapter Four- The Trauma of Holiness-
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We are reading at Challies the book The Holiness of God by Sproul today we are conversing about chapter 2; Holy, Holy, Holy.
Here is where my thoughts find their place.
Isaiah’s calling started with an encounter with the Holy One. An encounter in a real moment. A life changing moment: A man and His Holy creator meeting alone. Once God called Isaiah, he couldn’t resist the calling. The man couldn’t say no to such irresistible grace, he did not have a choice. “The call was sovereign” says Sproul, and I just nod as I read, I think on how The Holy One called me. Who can say no to the Sovereign One? Who thinks that we actually have the power to choose to come to him or not?
To come before the Holy One is to see your sinfulness. Isaiah cried “Woe to me!” And before the Holy, Holy, Holy God, he knew he was “guilty, guilty, guilty”
But once the Holy One calls us, we come and we meet Grace.
And what else can we long for once we have been called to Him but to see His face?
“[Isaiah] had heard the voice of God speaking to him out of the burning bush. He had witnessed the river turned into blood. He had tasted manna from heaven and had gazed upon the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. He had seen the chariots of Pharaoh inundated by the waves of the Red Sea. Still he was not satisfied. He wanted more. He craved the ultimate spiritual experience. he inquired of the Lord on the mountain, “Let me see your face. Show me your glory”. The request was denied…”
Exodus 33:19-23, tells us that Isaiah was only allowed to see God’s back, never His face and Sproul reminds us that even by just gazing at His back, Isaiah’s face was so radiant that people were terrified when they saw him.
How then, after reading this, I still long to see His face?
Sproul explains what I could not:
“The final goal of every Christian is to be allowed to see what was denied to Moses. We want to see Him face-to-face. we want to bask in the radiant glory of His divine countenance. It was the hope of every Jew, a hope instilled in the most famous and beloved benediction of Israel: ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace’ ” (Num. 6:24-26)
This hope, crystallized in the benediction of Israel, becomes more than a hope for the Christian-it becomes a promise…”
We shall see Him as He is. (I John 3:2)
One day, if He has called us into His family we will SEE HIM!
What a promise!
What a joy!
Not only His back, but His face!
Not to find a judge but a Father.
Today we are still in a sinful body, we are abiding in a dark world, we are still defiled.
“None of us in this world is pure in heart. It is our impurity that prevents us from seeing God. The problem is not with our eyes; it is with our hearts. Only after we are purified and totally sanctified in heaven will we have the capacity to gaze upon Him face-to-face”
I just loved how Sproul says, that we are to be like Isaiah, who “measured himself by the ultimate standard” and the moment he did so “he was destroyed -morally and spiritually annihilate. He was undone. He came apart. His sense of integrity collapsed”
This is where I see Grace, the Holy One, the only Holy, Holy, Holy God calls us sinners into his presence, we meet with Him alone, we are undone. And just when we see our sinful nature, just when we come apart before Him, He washes our sins away and give us the gift of repentance, and promises us that one day, soon, we will see Him face- to-face.
Under his sun and by His Grace,
The Holiness of God – Chapter Three- The Fearful Mystery-
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The Holiness of God Chapter One.
God’s Sovereignty in the Gospel of Luke
In Silence
Woven
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