There is a second truth we should learn from this section as well. It comes in this magnificent verse 13: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tem
The word litigious is relatively new in common speech. It means “prone to litigation” or “prone to go to court.” The reason this is somewhat of a new word is that a proneness to go to court is something relatively new, at least in American life.
Let us look further at this third problem in the church that Paul discusses in chapter 6. Apparently, Christians in Corinth were taking each other to court. We have to be careful not to get the idea that somehow the courts are utterly illegitimate, because they are not. All you have to do is read the Bible to discover the contrary.
Now concerning this matter of being cheated, we must understand that there is a difference between what you will endure as an individual in terms of personal conflict, and what you should endure on behalf of someone else.
I want to say something about the role of the state because although Paul does not develop it here in 1 Corinthians 6, considering another context will give us a more complete picture of this issue. What is the role of the state? Does the state have legitimate authority over the lives of Christians?
At the very end of this section, Paul begins to talk about how Christians must then live. He uses strong words. We have such a temptation to water them down because we believe in the doctrine of justification by faith.
Yesterday we started to look at what it means when Paul says that the Israelites were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. This matter of baptism in verse 2 has confused a lot of people. There are those who say, “You see! They were all baptized in the sea. That’s talking about immersion.”
Speaking the Truth Lovingly2 Corinthians 11:1-15Theme: Courageous compassion.This week’s lessons teach us how to confront sin in a caring way. Lesson
Speaking the Truth Lovingly2 Corinthians 11:1-15Theme: Courageous compassion.This week’s lessons teach us how to confront sin in a caring way. Lesson
Speaking the Truth Lovingly2 Corinthians 11:1-15Theme: Courageous compassion.This week’s lessons teach us how to confront sin in a caring way. Lesson
Theme: Three Views of the Human Condition
From this week’s lessons we learn that Romans 3 can be considered the heart of the Bible because of the clear and comprehensive way it shows us the depth of our sin, and what the Lord Jesus Christ has done to save us from it.
Scripture: Romans 3
Somewhere in my library I have a pamphlet by Donald Grey Barnhouse entitled How to Mark Your Bible.
Theme: Man’s Ruin in Sin: The Moral Dimension
From this week’s lessons we learn that Romans 3 can be considered the heart of the Bible because of the clear and comprehensive way it shows us the depth of our sin, and what the Lord Jesus Christ has done to save us from it.
Scripture: Romans 3
Verses 10 and 11 capsulize Paul’s whole theology on this subject when he writes, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no
Theme: Man’s Ruin in Sin: The Intellectual and Volitional Dimensions
From this week’s lessons we learn that Romans 3 can be considered the heart of the Bible because of the clear and comprehensive way it shows us the depth of our sin, and what the Lord Jesus Christ has done to save us from it.
Scripture: Romans 3
The intellectual dimension involves understanding, and the same principles apply.
Theme: Understanding the Beatitudes
This week’s lessons on the Beatitudes teach us that true happiness comes by living in a way that is contrary to the world and even to our natural way of thinking.
Scripture: Matthew 5
No portion of our Lord’s teaching is better known and probably no portion of the Word of God is more difficult to read than the Beatitudes given in Matthew 5.
Theme: The Poor in Spirit and Those Who Mourn
This week’s lessons on the Beatitudes teach us that true happiness comes by living in a way that is contrary to the world and even to our natural way of thinking.
Scripture: Matthew 5
When we read the phrase, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” we think of somebody in material poverty and we assume that the Lord is saying that it is better to be poor than to be rich.
Theme: A Great Beatitude
In this week’s lessons we see what the proper approach to our own sin needs to be, and what God does for us in response.
Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11
Psalm 32 is the second of the so-called penitential psalms. The others are Psalms 6, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. But the psalm might better be called “a psalm of instruction” from the title word maskil, which means “the giving of instruction.”1 It is the first of twelve psalms that bear this title.2
Theme: What Sin Is and What God Does
In this week’s lessons we see what the proper approach to our own sin needs to be, and what God does for us in response.
Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11
Theme: A Great Testimony
In this week’s lessons we see what the proper approach to our own sin needs to be, and what God does for us in response.
Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11
Yesterday we concluded by looking at the first word that describes God’s action toward our sin when we confess it, which is that he forgives it.
Theme: A Striking Verse
In this week’s lessons we see what the proper approach to our own sin needs to be, and what God does for us in response.
Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11
What is really striking about this second stanza is verse 5, in which David explains how God forgave his sin once he had confessed it. God forgave it completely and immediately. It is not brought up again.
Theme: A Great Admonition and Promise
In this week’s lessons we see what the proper approach to our own sin needs to be, and what God does for us in response.
Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11
Theme: A Favorite Psalm
In this week’s lessons we see from the life of David the biblical way to deal with our sin, and learn what God’s response is toward us when we do.
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-9
Theme: The Psalmist’s Cry for Help
In this week’s lessons we see from the life of David the biblical way to deal with our sin, and learn what God’s response is toward us when we do.
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-9
Theme: A Profound Awareness of Sin
In this week’s lessons we see from the life of David the biblical way to deal with our sin, and learn what God’s response is toward us when we do.
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-9
The second striking thing in these opening verses, which comes together with the first, is David’s profound awareness of his sin and its true nature. In verse one he used three words to describe God’s compassion. In verse two he uses three corresponding words to describe his sin.
Theme: Confession of Sin
In this week’s lessons we see from the life of David the biblical way to deal with our sin, and learn what God’s response is toward us when we do.
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-9
Theme: Cleanse Me with Hyssop
In this week’s lessons we see from the life of David the biblical way to deal with our sin, and learn what God’s response is toward us when we do.
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-9
Theme: Pardon and Purity
In this week’s lessons we learn that confession of our sin also involves the desire for our inward renewal, as well as the fact that what we do affects other people, for good or ill.
Scripture: Psalm 51:10-19
Theme: A New Creation
In this week’s lessons we learn that confession of our sin also involves the desire for our inward renewal, as well as the fact that what we do affects other people, for good or ill.
Scripture: Psalm 51:10-19
Theme: Sustained by God
In this week’s lessons we learn that confession of our sin also involves the desire for our inward renewal, as well as the fact that what we do affects other people, for good or ill.
Scripture: Psalm 51:10-19
As we consider what David meant when he prayed that God would not take the Holy Spirit from him, it is helpful to consider what other people have said about it.
Theme: Sinners Then Shall Learn from Me
In this week’s lessons we learn that confession of our sin also involves the desire for our inward renewal, as well as the fact that what we do affects other people, for good or ill.
Scripture: Psalm 51:10-19
Theme: Blessing for Zion
In this week’s lessons we learn that confession of our sin also involves the desire for our inward renewal, as well as the fact that what we do affects other people, for good or ill.
Scripture: Psalm 51:10-19
Teaching is not the only thing David wants to do however. He also wants to praise God rightly. He wants to praise God out of a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
Theme: A Prophetic Description
In this week’s lessons, Psalm 58 teaches us that although evildoers continue to do great harm, God will eventually intervene both in judgment against sinners and the vindication of the righteous.
Scripture: Psalm 58:1-11
Theme: An Imprecatory Psalm
In this week’s lessons, Psalm 58 teaches us that although evildoers continue to do great harm, God will eventually intervene both in judgment against sinners and the vindication of the righteous.
Scripture: Psalm 58:1-11
Theme: Two Damaging Accusations
In this week’s lessons, Psalm 58 teaches us that although evildoers continue to do great harm, God will eventually intervene both in judgment against sinners and the vindication of the righteous.
Scripture: Psalm 58:1-11
Theme: A Description of the Wicked
In this week’s lessons, Psalm 58 teaches us that although evildoers continue to do great harm, God will eventually intervene both in judgment against sinners and the vindication of the righteous.
Scripture: Psalm 58:1-11
Theme: When the Righteous Will Be Rewarded
In this week’s lessons, Psalm 58 teaches us that although evildoers continue to do great harm, God will eventually intervene both in judgment against sinners and the vindication of the righteous.
Scripture: Psalm 58:1-11
Sermon: Life on Wings
Scripture: Matthew 5:4
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to mourn for our sin, and the comfort that Jesus promises.
Theme: From Mourning to Comfort
Sermon: Life on Wings
Scripture: Matthew 5:4
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to mourn for our sin, and the comfort that Jesus promises.
Theme: Caring for Others
Now, it is evident that in this, as in the other Beatitudes, Jesus is dealing with a spiritual principle, a spiritual mourning, and not merely with things as seen from a purely human standpoint.
Sermon: Life on Wings
Scripture: Matthew 5:4
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to mourn for our sin, and the comfort that Jesus promises.
Theme: Mourning for Sin
Sermon: Life on Wings
Scripture: Matthew 5:4
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to mourn for our sin, and the comfort that Jesus promises.
Theme: Christ’s Comfort
Sermon: Life on Wings
Scripture: Matthew 5:4
In this week’s lessons, we learn what it means to mourn for our sin, and the comfort that Jesus promises.
Theme: Deliverance in the End
Then, too, the deliverance of Jesus Christ also means a deliverance from present sin and from its power. If you are a Christian, Christ lives in you through his Holy Spirit. You are united to Christ, and you are united to him in order to make a victorious, triumphant life possible.
We cannot begin chapter 5 without looking back a few verses to the end of chapter 4. This is because there is a contrast between chapter 5, which tells of a great sin, and the earlier chapter, which speaks of a time of particularly sweet harmony in the church.
There is no perfect church, not even the church of the apostles. I read Acts 4:32, where it says, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had,” and I think, “Ah, there’s the perfect church.” But it wasn’t. Even this church had Ananias and Sapphira in it.
Satan is a limited being. He is not omniscient, as God is. He does not know everything. He is not omnipotent, as God is. Only God is all-powerful. He is not omnipresent, as God is. He is not everywhere, though he certainly gets around, “roaming up and down in the earth,” as he said of himself in Job (Job 1:7; 2:2). No, Satan is not the equivalent of God. But he is powerful. He is a very formidable enemy.
Perhaps because of this incident, or perhaps because of other things that happened to him later in his life, Peter, when he wrote his first letter, said, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
The last part of the story concerns Sapphira, Ananias’ wife. It is important not to forget her, because she bore a full measure of guilt and responsibility. Luke points out her guilt in two ways. In verse 2, he adds the phrase, “with his wife’s full knowledge.” Then, after Ananias had been judged, he notes that she repeated her husband’s lie.
To separate truth from error is one of the goals of 1 John, of course, as we have seen. Consequently, it is frequently the case that the letter’s affirmations and teachings are accompanied by strong repudiations and denials.
As we read this section we detect what must be a further reference to the tendency of the Gnostic teachers to underestimate sin or excuse it. Perhaps the Gnostics excused sin as being essentially negative in nature; that is, as being connected with what is finite. Again, they may have related it only to their bodies and not to their minds, which they may well have said were above any dispositions to sin. But John will not have this. Sin is not merely negative. It is willful rebellion. Moreover, it involves the mind as that in which rebellion originates. It is only when we see this that we begin to abhor sin and turn from it to seek a Savior.
John has reminded his readers that it is characteristic of the devil to sin. Now he also reminds them that it is a characteristic of Christ to work to take away sin. He states this in two forms, corresponding to the parallel structure of these verses. First, Jesus appeared to take away the sins of His people; second, Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil.
At the conclusion of yesterday’s study, we looked at the first suggestion for understanding the presence of sin in the Christian life. Today, we look at the other six ideas.
Herein lies the explanation of John’s initial test and the reason behind it. If a person has truly been born of God, then something quite radical has happened to him. He has received a new nature and is therefore and for that very reason launched on a new course. The course is a course in holiness. If he does not go on in holiness, this indicates that he has never in plain fact been born again. On the other hand, if he does go on, he can be encouraged by this and take confidence.
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