HOW & WHY TO STUDY THE BIBLE

May 28

1 Corinthians 5:11

But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person ,or covetous, oran idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

Wow, what a statement by Paul regarding the social interaction of believers, to not even grill with a so-called brother who claims to be a believer but doesn’t live like one. We’re told not to even associate with a “so called brother” who is sexually immoral or habitually drunk or eaten up with greed or an idolater. An idolater would be someone who worships anything other than the one true God. And people worship all kinds of things from money, fame, themselves...you name it! And then Paul goes onto include someone who is verbally abusive or a swindler. This would be that person who uses deceit and manipulation to deprive others of money or possessions or manipulates through control. And Paul isn’t suggesting that we don’t have compassion for people struggling. In fact, I have walked out life with many people through the years who we’re struggling in one of these areas. The difference was, they were aware of their condition and they we’re fighting the fight to overcome. I can walk alongside anyone no matter what they’ve done when there isa true repentive heart.The point of the passage is actually a sobering reality that one cannot be an authentic believer and actually habitually live and embrace these life styles. There is a major conflict with the Spirit of God and these mindsets

1 Corinthians Paul instructs us NOT to associate or even dine with such a person.2 Corinthians Paul goes even further to instruct us on how we are to associate with the world.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[a] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.

Obviously, we can’t avoid every immoral person or every evil person in the world.But those within the church we can deal with. Those outside the church we have no sway over them except to pray for them and preach to them.They are who they are! They need an encounter with Jesus. Jesus stated it this way:

John 15:19

19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

The point of it all is simple.We cannot be unequally yoked. Simply out of the properties of who we areas a born-again believer we cannot be yoked with the world. If you are truly born again there is a process of decantation. This where two fluids like water and oil are incapable of mixing by sheer properties based upon what they are. Light cannot be yoked to darkness no more than water can be yoked to oil. The molecules of oil repel the molecules of water; they separate. And as believers, we are set apart by sheer properties of who we are in Christ. By the power of Holy Spirit we have been regenerated, or born-again and we now of his nature. We have been filled with his Spirit and his righteousness. We are now his kids! We are now of him and belong to him and we cannot yoke with unbelievers.

The conclusion of those realities creates a situation. We live in an opposing and often hostile environment. We are bombarded and constantly faced with opposing world views.You as a believer are led of the Spirit of God. Your thinking is to come under the direction and teaching of Holy Spirit and through the reading and adherence to the written word of God. You are a NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST!AND BEING A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST ISN’T JUST A RELIGIOUS TITLE BUT AN ACTUAL TRANSFORMATION THAT OCCURS WHEN WE YIELD TO God and to his SPIRIT and his WORD.

ROMANS 12:2

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This verse tells us that we are supposed to present our lives and our bodies as living sacrifices. Meaning, we are to live in such a way that we are HOLY SACRIFICES.To present yourself as a living sacrifice means you are SET APART. To be Holy is to be set apart. And our“set apart lives”are to be given to him for his purposes and his good pleasure as he desires. We’re not to conform to this world. And that idea of conforming is not just behavior. Conforming not to this world but being transformed is MUCH DEEPER THAN JUST ALTERING BEHAVIOR.TRANSFORMATION BEGINS WITH HOW AND WHAT YOU THINK

AS A MAN THINKS SO IS HE. To conform means to adhere to a mold or a structure of living and thinking. It all begins with your thought life.Do not conform to this world with your behaviors and decisions and views but be transformed BY RENEWING YOUR MIND.This means you have to change how and what you think and mold your thinking it to what God thinks. We conform to what God deems good and acceptable. But this is problematic for a lot of believers today. Many believers struggle with being set apart because many believers don’t know what the word actually teaches. And the word is not what is forming they’re world view because the word of God is not what they’re listening to and leaning upon for living life. They don’t know what God thinks or what God loves or what God hates. This knowledge is actually what Holiness and Holy living is based upon.

When conformity to the world is not halted and transformation by the renewing of the mind through his word is not happening, there is a serious conflicting condition created in the heart and mind of that confessing believer. When a confessing believer has many years behind them of conformity with the world there must be this transformational reprogramming of the mind or there will be Cognitive Dissonance throughout their life. James stated it this way.

JAMES 1:5-8

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Double mindedness is the biblical term for cognitive dissonance. Even humanistic psychological study understands this condition that occurs when people have one foot planted towards one belief system and the other foot set towards another.

The TERM Cognitive Dissonance puts two interesting words together that actually describe a spiritual battle that can occur within our mind…

Cognitive is referring to the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. ... It is in essence, the ability to perceive and react, process and understand, store and retrieve information, make decisions and produce appropriate responses in differing situations and so on.

Dissonance is really a musical term where you have two or more notes played against each other and they are not at all harmonious ... they clash and they create tension

Thriller movies will use the shrill sound of two high pitched clashing notes to created tension. A high pitched minor 2nd creates that shriek, shriek, shriek sounding tone that enhances the story and the drama to create tension to the viewer. Jaws used a minor 2nd with two real low pithed notes that slowly slid from one note to the other creating suspense and tension.

Cognitive dissonance from a clinical perspective is when a person holds contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, and the result is that this condition will produce psychological stress.

According to this theory, when two actions or ideas are not psychologically consistent with each other, people do all in their power to change them until they become consistent. The discomfort is triggered by the person's belief clashing with new information perceived, wherein they try to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce their discomfort.

And the problem is that regardless of the facts, we can and will twist the narrative to bring harmony to our viewpoint. This is the constant saga going on in America right now. We have right leaning view points versus left leaning viewpoints. And the facts don’t change the persons viewpoint. The narrative gets twisted to bring harmony to one’s own view point and consequently this has produced disunity and unrest in our nation today.

Cognitive Dissonance is where you have two differing views or thoughts in your head and they are not harmonious and they are not compatible with one another. But once again, the bible calls this condition from a spiritual perspective double mindedness.Look at it again.

James 1:5-8

5) But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6) But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7) For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8) being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways

We NEED WISDOM! I don’t need my wisdom, your wisdom, earthly wisdom ,or ancient wisdom for that matter. I need the Wisdom of God. 1st–let’s understand that Wisdom is not just about information.Wisdom is about insight and the ability to navigate and discern and to knowhow God thinks and what God wills. Wisdom is to know ahead of time or on the spot what you should do and what you shouldn’t do.Wisdom isn’t JUST some lifesaver that keeps you out of trouble. Wisdom is what we need and lean upon in our conflicts in the midst of our trials.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. So, wisdom is knowing and yielding to what God says and what God thinks as he leads us and instructs us through his word. It’s through scripture and by reading and understanding the bible as Holy Spirit leads and teaches us that we acquire God’s wisdom for our life. Double-mindedness leaves the soul unstable. You will not become what you hope to become as a double minded man. Somewhere, somehow we have to shake off the unharmonious thoughts or opinions and view points and embrace repentively what God thinks and says about things.I use the term repentive because to repent simply means that we come to a place in our life where we give up on our own ideas or the worlds ideas and we simply say yes to his ideas and ways. So, it’s from biblical understanding as we read and understanding the BIBLE that we live and find real life through Christ. The WORD of God is our standard. Luke 6:39-40

39) And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40) A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.Students imitating their teacher is actually a thing. In psychology they call it the Chameleon effect. A student can pick up on the mentors’ mannerisms, their facial expressions, their word choices, adopting their attitudes and moral norms and personality traits. Why do you think the liberal left has invaded our schools and colleges? They know full well the power and influence of the teacher upon the student.And at the core of Christianity, we are to learn of Jesus and be imitators of him.Ephesians 5:1-25 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2) and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Matthew 28 contains the Great Commission....Go ye therefore and teach all nations.The out come of our corporate activity is to produce a Christian.That term literally means being little Christ’s. The word "Christian" comes from the Greek words Christ and tian, which means"anointed" and "little"respectively. The term literally means "little anointed ones". It was first used in the Book of Acts, chapter 11, verse 26, by non-Jewish people in Antioch to refer to Jesus's disciples as "followers ofChrist". Before this, people who followed Jesus Christ were referred to as believers, followers of the way, or disciples. But the term or label of Christian implies that we are imitators of him. This is most likely the reason main stream culture has a sourer attitude for Christians these days because much of what is demonstrated, at least in the western culture, is often far from representing the likeness of Christ.

Western Christianity has slipped off into a very carnal minded cultural version that’s called Christianity BUT the mentor and tutor is not Christ often times sadly. We want to look like the celebrity, the Kardashians, like Hollywood, or the next rapper or singer or even the next great politician. Whatever the next cool thing seems to be.Theres a lust for the superstar.But not much hunger for the Holy presence and authentic life of God. Our biggest enemy isn’t those that are anti-Christian. There always has been, and always will be those that are against Christ until Jesus appears. Our biggest threat is within.Our threat comes from those who call themselves Christians who are more invested in the culture of the day rather than the authentic culture of Christ. That’s what creates the condition of“so called brothers” Paul was referring to in 1 & 2 Corinthians. Christianity has failed on many count sin transfiguring culture or saving culture because we fail at being Christian. This means we fail at actually being little Christ’s who live like and act like Jesus as we live out each day of our life. Our job is to imitate Christ.We are to be learning from Jesus. Luke phrases it this way...40) A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will[b]be like his teacher. This is the goal.But this goal is NOT attainable when those who claim to be Christian have no clue what Jesus actually taught or what his word actually teaches. To imitate Christ, we must know his ways. We must know his word.You see, you can’t imitate something you have not studied and learned from. When you read and study your bible it’s intended to be a transformational exchange.The goal in reading and studying the word of God is to allow it to shape and transform us and to conform us to his image .

Romans 8:29

29) For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the first born among many brethren; All of the events of our life, everything thing that life contains, the ebb and the flow of life, the failures and successes are all intended to conform us. And in many cases the failures are more affective in teaching us than the successes. BUT Everything is at work to conform us. Everything is pushing us forward to that moment of conformity or that moment of completion where we are now as he is. Romans 8 speaks of that transformational stage that we all long for called the glorification of the Saints. All creation groans for that moment where Jesus is faithful to complete what he has started in us. We become as he is. This is why we do what we do. We want to be likeJesus. We want to learn of Jesus, to imitate Jesus. And the foundation of that process begins with word applied to our lives. We want the reality and the life of Jesus. We want Holy Spirit control to impact our lives. We want that transformational change. We want this exchange for our lives, our families, our homes, our society, and of course our culture, and upon our world.This requires us to learn ofJesus beginning with knowing his word.

2 Timothy 2:15

15) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.Two things there:1.We are to be diligent in presenting ourselves approved. This means after the trials and the tribulations in life and the dust begins to settle, we’re still standing after the test. Are you still standing after the fire? Will you remain? Will you abide.Out of standing the test, you are to accurately handle the word. Rightly handle means to cut straight lines. No short cuts, no curves, but to cut square.The word of God is your plumb line. His Word is the corner stone that all else must line up too.When you’re watching the news, reading articles, googling the web, what is shaping your opinions and world view? Where ever you get your information from, does that source square up with the Word of God?Another issue however, you may own and possess a square in your tool bag, but if you don’t know how to use it or you fail to use it, you are vulnerable to false hood, to lies, to deception, and spin.You have to know how to use the square. You have to know how to cut straight lines.And contrary to what some might think, the word of God provides us with the right moral framework and the right principles and values to apply to every situation in our life.And yes, even to know who to vote for. When you know the bible and the values it teaches you are now able to have enough discernment to figure out the lesser of two evils and elect the person that will uphold and legislate good policy as close as to biblical values as we can possibly get. So, here’s our first step in understanding how to rightly divide the word:

2 Peter 1:20-21

20) But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture isa matter of one’s own interpretation,21) for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the HolySpirit spoke from God. This passage is about origin. The actual Greek words for one’s own interpretation is referencing its origin. Scripture’s origin is from God himself. Scripture is God breathed written through men but its origin is from God. God is responsible for what’s written in scripture so this means: Let the Bible speak for itself–meaning... let scripture interpret scripture ... not men and certainly not culture...(2)See how early followers of Christ understood it–get an understanding of how the apostles and the early believers reacted and responded to biblical truth.(3)Follow how it has been understood through the centuries–contrary to some folk’s opinion Commentaries are also helpful in that they show us what was understood about scriptural truths down through church history. Biblical truth is not dynamic or progressive! Biblical truth is absolute and unchanging. We can look at church history to gain understanding of biblical truths as the early church understood it and as the church through the ages also understood doctrinal truth with consistent obedience.

Ephesians 4:14

14) As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; Wind of doctrines would be all that crazy stuff that blows in but has no foundation. Wild new“revelatory teachings” that have no precedent of spiritual truth in the early believers or in the centuries of believers that followed. Its Flaky! It’s here and gone. It has no foundation, no permanence, no reliability. Wind of Doctrines are unstable and you can’t build upon them. We’re looking for foundational truth to live by that was proven through scripture, practiced by the early church and continued to be believed and practiced by the ongoing church.These three principles are foundational. Now let’s look at some methods of how we interpret or gain understanding from scripture.

1. Holy Spirit: If you are a follower of Jesus, it makes sense to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you begin to learn of Jesus through his Word. Pray Ephesians 1:17–18: “I ask you Holy Spirit to give me theSpirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know you better. I pray also that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened that I may know the hope to which you have called me. That I may know the richness of your glory and the inheritance of the saints.”Always begin in prayer with a humble and contrite heart askingHoly Spirit to teach you and to lead you in wisdom and understanding as you read the Word.

John 16:13

13) But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. Your pursuit for biblical truth must begin with prayer inviting Holy Spirit to teach and reveal.2.UseTheWhole Bible: Allow the Bible to interpret itself. When a passage is not clear, allow clearer passages to be the interpreter for passages less clear. Cross reference scriptures and allow other scriptures that are related to that verse give you clarity and understanding.This is why I hold to the doctrine of the security of the believer.I could easily select a few verses and create a good argument that you can lose you salvation, but when I back out and look at the whole counsel of scripture there is much conflict. The bible as a whole, meaning the complete work contains too many other areas that contradict with the conclusion of losing your salvation. FOR INSTANCE:You have to also account for context, metaphors and imagery.What do these writing mechanism actually mean and why did Holy Spirit inspire the writer to say it that way? When Jesus was describing the lost and saved persons as wheat and tares we know a few details about these two plants. They look alike. They grow in the same field together. But one fact remains is that they are not the same species. One group will bear fruit and bow at harvest time, the other group will have no grain to bear and will remain stiff and tall at harvest time being full of self-pride.The tares are in capable of producing wheat grain by the very genetics of who they are.The sheep and the goat are another example where they look alike, they even graze in the same field but they are not the same animal. AND in the end they shall be separated simply based upon who they are genetically; either a sheep or goat. You also have the glorious verses in

Romans Chapter 8 asking the rhetorical question of what shall separate you from the love of God. Paul walks the reader through this extensive and pretty exhaustive list that ranges from heaven all the way to hell but also includes us. We are also included in that SUM TOTAL of NOTHING that can seperate us from the love of God. And Jesus is not an incompetent Shepherd. Jesus keeps his sheep.If Jesus lost sheep he would no longer be qualified as a good Shepherd. Who would hire someone that loses the owners sheep. Jesus will leave the 99 to go find the 1. Jesus prayed in the Garden to his father that he had kept those that were given to him by God except the one, Judas, the son of perdition, in order that scripture might be fulfilled.

The metaphor of being born-gain is based upon coming out of a woman’s womb. The question is posed in John 3 asking “how can you be born again you can’t reenter into your mother’s womb?” the response is “of course not”. You can’t go back into your mother’s womb no more that you can the spiritual womb that you have been born again out of. 1 John 2:19 explains....

1 John 2:19

19) They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. On and on and on it goes regarding this one subject to show over and over again that the over all understanding of scripture is saved by grace alone and not of our works lest any man should boast. Our deeds are as filthy rags. The only good and redemptive thing in me is Jesus. It’s his righteousness in me and not my own. And just as only he saves me, only he can keep me.I place my faith in his sufficiency not my own. I know that I am weak but he is strong. So, this means when I run into those verses that use words commanding me to remain and abide or implying a falling away, those words are meant to be a wakeup call to the believer. Remaining becomes the proof. Abiding becomes the proof that I am his and that he is my keeper.Will you remain standing?But you have to consider the WHOLE body of work to interpret scripture correctly. The bible will not contradict itself. The word is in harmony not dissonance. Scripture will prove scripture. Let meal so share 2 traps of false interpretation.1st–common TRAP Absolutizing-picking one verse or passage and building your entire doctrine on that one passage without considering other passages (especially the ones that interfere with your interpretation).Other passages may influence or conflict with your formulation so you leave it out. The Hyper grace movement is masterful at this.They build hyper grace teaching on a few verses and leave out any verses that may contradict.If you read their books, as I have, what will bother you won’t be what they say but what they won’t say.You will agree with most of what they say but you will be bothered greatly by what they left out that you know won’t fly with their conclusions. For instance, they teach that once you’re saved you don’t need to repent anymore. And since you don’t need to repent any more, sin is no big deal. They’ll use a few verses to make their case and go silent on many other verses that totally contradict that conclusion. 2nd–common TRAP

Eclecticizing-picking several passages and building a formula from them, but your formula is not true using any of the passages by themselves. Eclecticism is a pick and choose system to attempt to prop up a belief system. Those are two pit falls or TRAPS in interpreting scripture. Let scripture interpret scripture and draw from the whole counsel of scripture to help gain your understanding. Getting back to our list of Methods.... Asking Holy Spirit for help and allow scripture to interpret scripture and then: 3. Learn some history / learn the background:Know the type of literature you are reading. Is it poetry, a proverb, prophesy, epistle? Who wrote the scripture you’re reading? Who were they writing to? What prompted the letter or scripture to be written? Why was it written?What’s the historical backdrop at that time? 4) Context: Understand the passage within the verses before and after.I have found frequently in our Study through Romans on Wednesday nights that knowing where Paul is heading in his letter is just as important as where he has been in his letter.The verse before and the verse that follow all help give context as to the real meaning of the passage your studying. By Example: Phil 4:13 is a common verse quoted out of context.If you leavePhil 4:13 as a stand-alone verse then one can run faster, jump higher, hit the baseball further, or whatever the task one might be trying to accomplish. I can be successful because after all, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And it is true that I can do nothing apart from him. Meaning, I can do nothing eternal of any real value without him. I can certainly do a lot of destructive things without him, but the context of that verse is far from being a self-help verse to make me successful or to bless me in my achievement. No, the context is about contentment no matter what life has dished out. That I can and will make it through the ups and the downs of life. That I will still be standing. That I will make it and be who Jesus saved me to be. I can endure. I can persevere because I can do all thing’s through Christ. Heal one sustains me. It isn’t about being able to do whatever I set my mind to do and choose to do, it’s about being able to remain in him in the midst of the things I didn’t choose or sign up for. To be found faithful even in the midst of events in life thatI would actually have rather missed. But no matter the situation in life I can do it. All things are possible through him.I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.5.Study the key words in that passage.These days with the internet word study is easy to do. Many may recall the old days where you had to have a Strong’s concordance and look up each word separately.Today I use a website called Biblestudytools.com. I typically use the New American Standard Version because that version online has an interlinear bible link that gives you the scripture with the Greek and or Hebrew below it and hyperlinks to the breakdown of each of those words.Word study is finding out in detail what that one word really means.

Also, understand idioms. For example, “when the sun went down” or “the four corners of the earth” are idioms. We don’t actually believe the sun drops or the earth has corners.Or when we read thatGodowns the cattle on a thousand hills, how about the 1001 +hills? Are thoseGods hills also? Or are there only 1000 hills?Of course we know that’s an idiom. It’s implying many ness or unending supply.6.Be connected with the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.If you only read the New Testament without an understanding of the old you have arrived very late in the movie and you won’t have all the detail to understand its conclusion.The New Testament makes sense in light of the Old.The early disciples were not running around with a New Testament in their back pocket. The New Testament was still becoming and didn’t come for some time after their deaths.The New Testament saints quoted and taught from the Old Testament. They often usedOld Testament texts in their letters when writing to groups of believers to help them understand what happened whenJesus came as the Son of God and died and was buried and rose again. It’s all there in the OldTestament and is useful and helpful to understand what was happening in the New Testament.TheOld Testament ceremonial law did not carry over into the New, but the moral law certainly did. We aren’t offering animal sacrifices any more, but the Old Testament gives clear understanding that Jesus was that final atoning sacrifice that the Old Testament was lacking.Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb. Again, make no mistake! The moral law of the Old Testament did carry over in the New. Murder, stealing, adultery, homosexuality, fornication, slander...they all are still sin and grossly offensive to God.The severity of enforcement and punishment regarding breaking the explicit command of Godin the earth may not be the same in the Old versus the new... meaning, we may not stone you for cheating on your wife even though we may want to, we won’t and can’t.But all of these offensives when un-atoned by the blood of the lamb will result in the ultimate spiritual death and wrath and judgement of God. Hell is it send. 7.Take what the bible says literal:UNLESS it isindicatedor the context tells you other wise take scripture literal unless indicated to befigurative.For example, where the verse says that God gathers us “like a mother hen gathers its chicks,” it does not mean that God is a chicken or that he has feathers.It’s a metaphor or word picture to help us understand how he cares for us and watches over us. YET, when I read that Jonah was swallowed by a whale,I don’t make a metaphor out that story. According to the word that’s what happened.I DON’T need science to believe it or understand it no more than I need science to understand that God created the heavens and the earth and all that it contains. It’s all literal descriptions unless scripture indicates it otherwise. 8) ASK GOD FOR REVELATION:What might God be revealing about Himself to humanity?What is God specifically speaking to your heart in that passage?Don’t just read or study just to read or study. REMEMBER that the goal is to be like Jesus. The outcome of the process is that we become imitators of him.Your target is unconformity from the world and transformation into his likeness.So always come out of your study asking God for a revelation.What are you saying to me Lord? How do I use this in my life?How can I use this to be more like you God?

Lastly, your bible study doesn’t have to be at the crack of dawn to be legit. What matters is that you are being changed by the process not just doing it. 9. Learn the difference between temporary commands and permanent ones. Again, looking at the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. We touched on this in method 6 of being connected to both the Old and New Testament, but there is a reason we don’t sacrifice bulls and lambs anymore.There’s nothing redemptive in circumcision just as there is no redemptive power in the sacramental practice of baptism. I can give you prudent and even spiritual good reason for either but they are not in the class of permanent commands. (though the spiritual application of being circumcised of heart and to actually live a life that is buried with him and raised to walk in newness of life is an ongoing command)The point being made of circumcision and baptism is that there will be many people in hell that were circumcised and baptized. If either of those two are a command, its circumcision of heart and a life that is truly buried and risen with Christ that God is looking for. Not the outward work or performance but a genuine spiritual experience that is transformation of heart.We don’t adhere to the command to not wear garments with mixed kinds of cloth material or threads.That command had a season and purpose given to a people who needed every reinforcement to remain separate from the pagan nations that they were about to embark to live among while taking the promise land.There were ceremonial commands that we don’t practice in the new covenant. They were seasonal or temporary but had their intended purpose. But there are some commands that are permanent and eternal that were in the Old Testament and carried over into the New. LOVE and loving your enemy and loving each other is a permanent command. Loving God and obeying what he tells you is a permanent command.To make your body a living sacrifice to him is a permanent command as God states to obey is better than sacrifice.To not conform to the world but be transformed into his likeness is a permanent command and process.To be humble and die to self and pride, that’s a permanent command.All of these methods we have listed are tools to help us understand what Jesus is teaching us. We want to understand his ways. We want to allow Jesus to teach us. We want to know and learn of him so that we may be imitators of him.You can’t imitate Christ and not know his Holy Word. It just won’t happen.If you don’t know Gods word than you will get caught up in the world’s SPIN, it’s deception and its lies. ClosingThese methods have a purpose and they carry with them a protection. That protection is partly a protection from ourselves. Without a process of understanding scripture, we will BEND and SPIN scripture to say what we want it to say instead of facing up to the truth of what scripture itself actually says. Eisegesis (pronounced “EYE-So-Gee-Sus”) means putting one’s view into a biblical text. Exegesis (pronounced “Ex-A-GEE-Sus”) means finding meaning directly from the text We want to learn from Jesus. We want Jesus to be our mentor and tutor. We want to imitate him. Jesus is the Word made flesh. Revelation 19:11-13

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.There is a closing of this age fast approaching. Jesus will be returning to judge the living and the dead according to his Word. Will you stand before him with you own opinion and cultural values as what you invested in to guide your life or will you be shaped and conformed by his word?Those that build upon the foundation of his word will remain standing in that day.John 1:1-3

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.3All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:14

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.You want to be like Jesus?So get in the word. You feel like you need more of Jesus? Get in the word. Jesus is the word

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