Monthly Archives: September 2022

BEWARE OF THE TRAP!

Bible Study, ,

BEWARE OF THE TRAP!

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can have pride in himself alone without comparing himself to someone else, for each one should carry his own load.” Galatians 6:1-5

Now here’s a delicate situation. A fellow believer falls into temptation and you know about it. What to do you do? You have two options; leave it alone and don’t interfere or go to the person and point out that his or her behaviour is wrong. Paul said that you have an obligation to do the latter if you are being led by the Spirit.

However, there’s a danger in doing that; the temptation to have a superior attitude because you have not done what he has done is very real. Instead of helping your brother to come clean and turn away from sin, you have now added your sin to his. The problem is that your sin is hidden in your heart and is far more subtle than his, whatever he has done.

Helping a brother or sister get back on the path is an act of love, not interference. That’s how Jesus wants us to treat one another because He knows that sin is destructive and alienates the person who sins from Him and from His body. But a superior attitude is equally sinful and destructive. We must be constantly on guard against pride – the attitude that we are better than the person we are trying to help, or the false notion that we will never do what they have done. 

Paul counselled: “Watch your heart. You can easily deceive yourself. You have the same sinful nature as his. You may not do what he did, but you have the same potential to give in to temptation as he has.” Test your motive. Paul said, “Restore him gently.” When we remember that we stand on level ground before the cross, we have no reason to think we are better than anyone else. Don’t talk down to him. Get under the load with him and lift him up.

That leads to another thought. Paul seemed to be contradicting himself when he said, “Carry each other’s burdens,” and then, “Each one should carry his own burden.” What did he mean? When we come alongside another who has fallen, lift him up, dust him off and help him to continue his way, we have shouldered the “burden” of his weakness with him. We have helped him acknowledge his sin, and turn away from it, and we continue to walk with him until he is strong enough to continue.

However, we carry a “burden” of responsibility which is ours alone; the responsibility of supporting a weaker brother but, even more than that, the responsibility of being honest with ourselves and honest about ourselves. If we live in self-deception, we will be as weak and vulnerable to sin as the brother we have tried to help. No one can carry that burden for us. It is ours alone.

Jesus was aware of the human tendency to independence. Before He went to the cross, He spent His last precious hours with His disciples coaching them to receive and rely on the Holy Spirit who would take His place as their Helper and Counsellor. He would reside in them and continue what Jesus began – teaching them and leading them into the truth.

They were to learn, through the Holy Spirit, to “remain in Him,” an important lesson because, He said, “…apart from me, you can do nothing.” Keeping our connection with the vine requires honesty. We have an obligation to help a fellow believer who is living in denial and self-deception, but we also have an obligation to keep ourselves free of the very same self-deception that tripped our brother up. We can only do this by keeping short accounts with God.

Our walk together with others in the body of Christ can be messy at times; we clash; we expose; we weep; we bleed, but in the end, there is one purpose in it all – to clear away the dirt that clings to us and the obstacles that hinder us from what Jesus prayed for – that we may be one as He and the Father are one. 

Our motive, then, for helping a fallen brother is not to lord it over him but to restore him so that the Body of Christ remain intact and not fractured by the sins that destroy unity and leaves us vulnerable to the devil’s wiles.  

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE FRUIT OF THE ROOT

Bible Study, ,

THE FRUIT OF THE ROOT

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.”  Galatians 5:22-25.

Thankfully, there is a counterpart to the nasty evidence of our corrupt hearts. Since Jesus came to take away sin, so said the Apostle John, it is possible for us to live sin-free lives. That does not mean that we are perfect. Far from it, but it does mean that we are not locked into a sinful lifestyle because we are powerless to do otherwise.

With the Holy Spirit resident in us, He changes us, slowly but surely into the Image of Jesus. In contrast to the “acts of the flesh”, which focus on the symptoms of corrupt hearts, Paul lists the work of the Spirit in us as “fruit”. What is the difference?

Jesus used the imagery of the vine and the branches. What do the branches need to do to bear grapes? Nothing. They simple remain attached to the vine. Anything that causes the branch to become detached will kill it. Dead branches must be pruned off because they have become useless.

What do we need to do to become fruitful? Nothing except to remain in the vine. Jesus even tells us how to remain in Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask what you wish, and it will be done for you…As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” John 15:5, 7, 9.

Keeping His commandments is the key to remaining in Jesus. But, you may object, isn’t that exactly what Paul said we don’t have to do – to obey the law? Isn’t it the same thing? Not at all. There is a great deal of difference between keeping the law to become righteous and keeping Jesus’ commands because we are already righteous.

If we are trying to become righteous by obeying the law, we have failed before we even start. We cannot change the imperfect to the perfect by our own effort because we still have the problem of guilt for our past sin even if we could be perfect from now on. There is a debt to pay, and we can do nothing to pay it. God cannot overlook sin because He is a just God. He must deal with transgression of the law.

On the other hand, if someone else pays our debt to God and we are justified and set free from sin’s penalty, we are now indebted to our benefactor. Out of gratitude to Him and love for Him, we do what He instructs us because that is how love is expressed. Love is not love if we go on living the old way. Real love values what Jesus values and hates what He hates. Real love identifies so closely with Jesus that we become one with Him in what He desires.

The law was intended to show us what God is like and to teach us how to be like Him. It didn’t work because all the law did was to provoke to action the rebellion in our sinful natures. Jesus got rid of the law as a requirement for righteousness by fulfilling it for us and then removing the root of sin in our hearts. He replaced our old nature with His own nature – the nature of a son who lives in loving submission and obedience to the Father and restored His Spirit to us.

“Now,” said Paul, “you are free to love Him and to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading because your old nature has been put to death.” Your life in union with Jesus will produce the fruit of the root; love, joy, peace – the outflow of your restored relationship with God; patience, kindness, goodness – your attitude to other people; faithfulness, meekness, and self-control – your attitude towards yourself.

What is your root? Is it Jesus or is the old selfish nature still in charge?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

WHAT YOU DO IS WHAT YOU ARE

Bible Study, ,

WHAT YOU DO IS WHAT YOU ARE

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

What a list of horrible things people indulge in! But these are only the tip of the iceberg. They are symptoms of something much deeper and much worse. People are not sinners because they do these things; people do these things because they are sinners. Long before any of these symptoms ever come to the surface, the heart is already rotten to the core.

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

The sinful human behaviour Paul listed here touches and defiles every part of us – body, soul, and spirit. However, in the end all sin is against God, not matter who else we may infect on our mad dash towards self-destruction. King David was aware of this when his adultery with Bathsheba was exposed.

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so, you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” Psalm 51:4.

That unbelievers do these things is bad enough, but that believers also engage in this kind of behaviour with the mistaken idea that God will forgive them, is tragic because they have failed to realise that what they do exposes their hearts.

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:4-8.

Paul’s distress over the Galatians’ acceptance of the Judaizers’ false teaching went much deeper than that they believed they had to be circumcised and keep the law. He knew that to do that was to fall back into the clutches of their old sinful nature which had killed them when they were born because they were born in sin. This time they would never escape the ravages of sin because they would be denying the work of Jesus and undoing their faith in Him forever.

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace.” Hebrews 6:4-6.

This is not about falling into occasional sin. This is about changing the foundation upon which your faith is based. It is either based on what you can do or on what Jesus has done. It cannot be both. Those who fall into temptation have an advocate with God who pleads their case for them.

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-3.

Those who choose to trust in their own works to satisfy God’s righteousness, who step out of grace into works, have no way back. Hence Paul’s warning. “Don’t do it because, if you do, you will have forfeited your standing in grace forever.” It’s as serious as that!

Why would people want to do that? Is it because, in the end, they choose to walk the way of unrighteousness so that they can indulge in their fleshly lusts?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE BATTLE RAGES ON

Bible Study, ,

THE BATTLE RAGES ON

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:16-18.

So here’s the deal. Instead of the law motivating us to obedience, it has the opposite effect from what the Holy Spirit does in us. Before the Holy Spirit quickened our dead spirits and made them alive to God, we had no desire to obey God. We were in a perpetual state of rebellion. When the law said, “Do not…” we said, “I will…” and we deliberately acted in disobedience to God’s requirements. Instead of the law drawing us towards God, it drove us from Him.

Here is the secret of the believer’s life. Through faith in Jesus, God removed our rebellious and stony hearts and gave us new hearts that want to obey Him.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:25, 26.

We have been set free from our load of guilt that caused us to run from God. Now we are free to run to Him. We are free to fear God, not to be afraid of Him because we are no longer slaves but sons. He has put His own Spirit within us, who is like a caring and nurturing mother. Instead of rigid laws which we must obey or bear the consequences, we have the companionship of Jesus through His Spirit who speaks to us in our hearts. God has poured His love into us. We are free to love Him and other people because He has released us from slavery to ourselves.

We have literally died to our old selves and our selfish ways and have risen to a new life of loving service to God and to our fellow men. This is who we are. Now we must become who we are, sons and daughters of God.

“Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God… Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature…” Colossians 3:1-3; 5a.

Jesus won the war, but the battle still rages on. If we are still in this life, we will have to contend with the enemy who still lives in us – the old nature with its fleshly lusts. Jesus told us to be vigilant. We can never let down our guard because the enemy is relentless in his intention to destroy us and drag us with him to his final doom. We cannot profess to know Jesus and continue to live as we did before, gratifying every whim and desire of our old selfish natures.

The Holy Spirit was given to us to replace the demands of the law. He is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of love. When we listen to Him and follow His leading with His help, we fulfil what God wants us to be effortlessly instead of striving and failing to obey the law.

What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? He took up residence in us from the moment we surrendered our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He occupies the command centre of our lives. Our job is to cultivate a relationship with Him by listening to Him and by communicating with Him. We will spend the rest of our lives unlearning to be independent and learning to be dependent on Him.

Unlike earthly parents whose job is to train their children for responsible independence, the Holy Spirit is training us to be helplessly dependent on Him like infants at their mother’s breast. The more we trust Him, the less we will be pulled towards satisfying the lusts of our old nature. Remember what Jesus said:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and me in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.

How do we fight this battle? By resting in Jesus’ finished work for us.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

SET FREE TO LOVE

Bible Study, ,

SET FREE TO LOVE

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Galatians 5:13-15.

Freedom! Everybody wants to be free. But free from what? Most people think that freedom means no laws, no restraints, no boundaries, to do as they please. The problem with this kind of so-called “freedom” is that it clashes with everyone else’s freedom and creates the worst kind of chaos.

Imagine driving in a city where there are no traffic rules! Half of the motorists would be dead within the first twenty four hours. How long would it take for drivers to realise that staying alive meant giving way to the next vehicle and being courteous on the road? I live in a country were a certain group in the population thinks that traffic laws do not apply to them. As a result, the accident rate and number of road deaths is very high.

Every human being is born with an internal slave-driver far worse than any rules or regulations. It’s called selfishness. But why is selfishness so destructive? It not only clashes with everyone else’s selfishness; it also causes chaos within a person. Think of the emotional trauma another person’s selfishness causes to you – your home is invaded and your property destroyed or stolen because someone else decided that he wanted what you have. A loved one’s life is taken because a murderer chose to eliminate him or her. And so on.

Then there’s the internal destruction that selfishness does to you. You clash with a friend or a family member; both parties are angry, resentful, and bitter. You believe you are right and so does he or she. Neither will back down. A deep rift grows and you don’t communicate for months or years. How do you feel? Free? At peace? Full of love towards the other person? Humble? No way! You are clogged up with emotional baggage. You can’t sleep at night. You cannot get free of the other person. You are enslaved by your emotions.

These are all the consequences of the worst slave-driver of all. The problem is that trying to obey God’s rules without a new heart and a new nature only makes the slavery to guilt and fear worse. Jesus is the only one who has the power to set us free. He did this, first of all, by getting rid of our sin. He paid our debt so that it could be cancelled and deleted from our record. Then He gave us an insurance policy against our falling short of God’s standards. We are covered by His righteousness. When we fail, He says, “It’s okay. I’ve got you covered!”

That does not mean that we can go off and engage in “freedom” to live as we like because we are covered by the righteousness of Jesus. That would be as foolish as getting involved in as many vehicle accidents as we like because our insurance policy covers us! Collisions with other vehicles are dangerous because we can be seriously injured or killed. Our car will never be the same either. Just as an insurance policy is not a licence to have accidents, so God’s forgiveness and Jesus’ righteousness are not a licence to live as we like.

But, more than that, God changed our hearts. He gave us a new heart and a new nature and, on top of that, He gave us His Spirit – living right inside of us – so that we want to and have the power to live unselfishly.

How can we stay safe on the road? By obeying the traffic laws. How can we stay safe in the kingdom of God? By living within the boundaries of the kingdom. So Paul says, “Don’t go off and sin like crazy just because God has set you free. Use your freedom to care for other people. In this way you will stay free from your slave-drivers. Then you will be safe within the boundaries of God’s kingdom”

True freedom is not experienced by destroying one another but by loving and serving one another. You cannot serve yourself and other people. If you choose to serve yourself, watch out because you are on a downward path to destruction. If you serve others, you will be like Jesus; you will be doing the very thing that destroys the habit of selfishness, just as being generous destroys the habit of being greedy.

You cannot be both. Love, because you have been set free to love.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.