Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Ephesians 2 and 3 ~ IV. Steps Toward the Fulfillment of God's Purpose (chs. 2-3)
Ephesians 2 NLT
1 Once you were dead because of your
disobedience and your many sins.
2 You used to live in sin, just like
the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the
unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to
obey God.
3 All of us used to live that way,
following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our
very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he
loved us so much,
5 that even though we were dead because
of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only
by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
6 For he raised us from the dead along
with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united
with Christ Jesus.
7 So God can point to us in all future
ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us,
as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you
believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the
good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has
created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us
long ago.
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used
to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were
proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not
their hearts.
12 In those days you were living apart
from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and
you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this
world without God and without hope.
13 But now you have been united with
Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought
near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace
to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the
cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.
15 He did this by ending the system of
law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and
Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.
16Together as one body, Christ reconciled
both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward
each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to
you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.
18 Now all of us can come to the Father
through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer
strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.
You are members of God’s family.
20 Together, we are his house, built on
the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ
Jesus himself.
21 We are carefully joined together in
him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
22 Through him you
Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his
Spirit.
Ephesians 3 NLT
1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a
prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles.
2 assuming, by the way, that you know
God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.
3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God
himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.
4As you read what I have written, you will
understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ.
5 God did not reveal it to previous
generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and
prophets.
6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles
and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by
God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of
blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.
7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I
have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
8Though I am the least deserving of all
God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about
the endless treasures available to them in Christ.
9 I was chosen to explain to everyone
this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from
the beginning.
10 God’s purpose in all this was to use
the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers
and authorities in the heavenly places.
11 This was his eternal plan, which he
carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
12Because of Christ and our faith in him, we
can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
13 So please don’t lose heart because of
my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.
14 When I think of all this, I fall to
my knees and pray to the Father,
15 the Creator of everything in heaven
and on earth.
16 I pray that from his glorious,
unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in
your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and
keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to
understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how
deep his love is.
19May you experience the love of Christ,
though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with
all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20 Now all glory to God, who is able,
through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than
we might ask or think.
21 Glory to him in the
church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Ephesians 1 ~ I. Greetings (1:1-2 ~ II. The Divine Purpose: The Glory and Headship of Christ (1:3-14) ~ III. Prayer That Christians May Realize God's Purpose and Power (1:15-23)
Ephesians 1 NLT
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by
the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy
people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ give you grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
4Even before he made the world, God loved us
and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
5 God decided in advance to adopt us
into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is
what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
6 So we praise God for the glorious
grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
7 He is so rich in kindness and grace
that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
8 He has showered his kindness on us,
along with all wisdom and understanding.
9 God has now revealed to us his
mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure.
10 And this is the plan: At the right
time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything
in heaven and on earth.
11Furthermore, because we are united with
Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance,
and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who
were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.
13And now you Gentiles have also heard the
truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he
identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long
ago.
14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he
will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his
own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
15 Ever since I first heard of your
strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere,
16 I have not stopped thanking God for
you. I pray for you constantly,
17 asking God, the glorious Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you
might grow in your knowledge of God.
18 I pray that your hearts will be
flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given
to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
19 I also pray that you will understand
the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the
same mighty power
20 that raised Christ from the dead and
seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
21 Now he is far above any ruler or
authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also
in the world to come.
22 God has put all things under the
authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of
the church.
23 And the church is
his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things
everywhere with himself.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Galatians (6:11-18) ~ V. Conclusion and Benediction
Galatians 6 NLT
11 NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I
WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING.
12 Those who are trying to force you to
be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted
for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.
13 And even those who advocate
circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be
circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
14 As for me, may I never boast about
anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my
interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has
also died.
15 It doesn’t matter whether we have
been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a
new creation.
16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all
who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.
17 From now on, don’t let anyone trouble
me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to
Jesus.
18 Dear brothers and
sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Galatians Chapter (5:1;6:10) ~ IV. Practical: Practice of the Life of Liberty and Faith
Galatians 5 NLT
1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now
make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the
law.
2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are
counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no
benefit to you.
3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying
to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in
the whole law of Moses.
4 For if you are trying to make
yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from
Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly
wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.
6 For when we place our faith in Christ
Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is
important is faith expressing itself in love.
7 You were running the race so well.
Who has held you back from following the truth?
8 It certainly isn’t God, for he is the
one who called you to freedom.
9 This false teaching is like a little
yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!
10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you
from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who
has been confusing you.
11 Dear brothers and sisters, if I were
still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still
being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of
Christ, no one would be offended.
12 I just wish that those troublemakers
who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
13 For you have been called to live in
freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your
sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
14 For the whole law can be summed up in
this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you are always biting and
devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide
your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
17 The sinful nature wants to do evil,
which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us
desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two
forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out
your good intentions.
18 But when you are directed by the
Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
19 When you follow the desires of your
sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful
pleasures,
20idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and
other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone
living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this
kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There
is no law against these things!
24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and
crucified them there.
25 Since we are living by the Spirit,
let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
26 Let us not become conceited,
or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Galatians 6 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, if another
believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly
help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the
same temptation yourself.
2 Share each other’s burdens, and in
this way obey the law of Christ.
3 If you think you are too important to
help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
4 Pay careful attention to your own
work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t
need to compare yourself to anyone else.
5 For we are each responsible for our
own conduct.
6 Those who are taught the word of God
should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the
justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
8Those who live only to satisfy their own
sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those
who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
9 So let’s not get tired of doing what
is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t
give up.
10 Therefore, whenever we have the
opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of
faith.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
AFWIS TV # 8 ~ Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd
Published on Apr 9, 2014
AFWIS TV Program # 8
The Lord is my shepherd! I do not need a thing. Praise GOD!
The Lord is my shepherd! I do not need a thing. Praise GOD!
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Galatians Chapter 3-4 ~ III. Doctrinal: Justification of the Doctrine of Liberty and Faith
Galatians 3 NLT
1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast
an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear
to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.
2 Let me ask you this one question: Did
you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You
received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
3 How foolish can you be? After
starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect
by your own human effort?
4 Have you experienced so much for
nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
5 I ask you again, does God give you
the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course
not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
6 In the same way, “Abraham believed
God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
7The real children of Abraham, then, are
those who put their faith in God.
8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked
forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous
because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when
he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”
9 So all who put their faith in Christ
share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
10 But those who depend on the law to
make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed
is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in
God’s Book of the Law.”
11 So it is clear that no one can be
made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is
through faith that a righteous person has life.”
12 This way of faith is very different
from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person
has life.”
13 But Christ has rescued us from the
curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon
himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures,
“Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed
the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are
believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
15 Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an
example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an
irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.
16 God gave the promises to Abraham and
his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children, ” as if
it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course,
means Christ.
17 This is what I am trying to say: The
agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when
God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.
18 For if the inheritance could be
received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s
promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.
19 Why, then, was the law given? It was
given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed
to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law
through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.
20 Now a mediator is helpful if more
than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a
mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.
21 Is there a conflict, then, between
God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new
life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.
22 But the Scriptures declare that we
are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by
believing in Jesus Christ.
23 Before the way of faith in Christ was
available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in
protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
24 Let me put it another way. The law
was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made
right with God through faith.
25And now that the way of faith has come, we
no longer need the law as our guardian.
26 For you are all children of God
through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 And all who have been united with
Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.
28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile,
slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And now that you
belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and
God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Galatians 4 NLT
1 Think of it this way. If a father
dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not
much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own
everything their father had.
2 They have to obey their guardians until
they reach whatever age their father set.
3 And that’s the way it was with us
before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic
spiritual principles of this world.
4 But when the right time came, God
sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
5 God sent him to buy freedom for us
who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
6 And because we are his children, God
has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba,
Father.”
7 Now you are no longer a slave but
God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you
were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist.
9 So now that you know God (or should I
say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become
slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?
10You are trying to earn favor with God by
observing certain days or months or seasons or years.
11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard
work with you was for nothing.
12 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead
with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like
you Gentiles—free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first
preached to you.
13 Surely you remember that I was sick
when I first brought you the Good News.
14 But even though my condition tempted
you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in
and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus
himself.
15 Where is that joyful and grateful
spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and
given them to me if it had been possible.
16Have I now become your enemy because I am
telling you the truth?
17 Those false teachers are so eager to
win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you
off from me so that you will pay attention only to them.
18 If someone is eager to do good things
for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m
with you.
19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if
I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until
Christ is fully developed in your lives.
20 I wish I were with you right now so I
could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.
21 Tell me, you who want to live under
the law, do you know what the law actually says?
22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had
two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.
23The son of the slave wife was born in a
human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of
the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.
24 These two women serve as an
illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount
Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them.
25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount
Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law.
26 But the other woman, Sarah,
represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our
mother.
27 As Isaiah said, “Rejoice,
O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful
shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more
children than the woman who lives with her husband!”
28 And you, dear brothers and sisters,
are children of the promise, just like Isaac.
29 But you are now being persecuted by
those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human
effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.
30 But what do the Scriptures say about
that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will
not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”
31 So, dear brothers
and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the
free woman.
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