64 A.D.

• Rome was burned, and the blame was placed on the Christians.
• Therefore, being a public Christian or follower of Paul became dangerous.

War in Jerusalem - Spring 66 A.D.

• The Jewish revolt against Rome begins.
• For the next four years, war will rage between Jewish revolutionaries and Roman soldiers, beginning in Judea and spreading throughout Israel.
• There is great unrest and discord in the city of Jerusalem.
• The Christians leave the city and disperse into the Gentile churches outside of Israel.

67 A.D.

• Paul is still imprisoned in Rome.
• Priscilla and Aquila are still in Ephesus, trying to save the church from the constant threat of heresy.
• The false teachers are winning out, and there is a wholesale departure from Paul’s ministry in Asia Minor.
• Further, because Paul is imprisoned, the Christians no longer wish to associate with him out of fear that they, too, will be imprisoned.
• Two brothers in Christ that Paul trusted Phygelus (fe-jealous) and Hermogenes (Hermo-je-knees) turn away from him.
• Demas forsakes Paul because of his love for the world and returns to Thessalonica.
• Paul sends a man named Crescens to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia (Illyricum) to work with the churches there.
• He sends Tychicus and Onesiphorus back to Ephesus to help Priscilla and Aquila.
• Paul’s preliminary hearing (primo actio) occurs, but no one is present to support him. (2 Timothy 4:16)
• Due to Paul's lack of support, the trial goes forward.
• Upon hearing this, Luke immediately visits Paul in prison.
• Some survivors from Nero’s persecution of the Roman church also visit Paul to check on him occasionally.
• Among them are Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia.
• Paul is burdened for the future of the churches.
• He knows that his time of departure is near.
• Paul longs to see Timothy and prays for him day and night.
• He wishes to encourage Timothy in his calling, to exhort him to be optimistic and strong in the face of his opposers, to warn him of the coming apostasy (falling away), and to remind him of those intangible things that he (Paul) has deposited in him over the years.
• Nero committed suicide in June 68 A.D.

 
Date: Fall of 67 A.D.

• (4:21 - Make every effort to come before winter.)

 
Author: Paul (Prison in Rome)

• (2:9 - For this, I suffer, to the point of being bound like a criminal)
• Knew he was going to die soon (4:6 - For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.)

Recipient: Timothy (Ephesus – Several references)

• 2 Timothy was written as a personal letter to Timothy to encourage him and ask him to come see him in Rome.
• Written to a friend who understood his theology.
• Not Titus: a church that didn’t understand.
• Not 1 Timothy: a church understood but chose to ignore.

GREETING
2 TIMOTHY 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the sake of the promise of life in Christ Jesus:

•  When friends desert us, and opposition becomes intense, nothing gives Christians confidence like the assurance that we are doing God's will.

2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son.

•  This description emphasized Paul's affection for Timothy and his relationship with him as a spiritual son and protégé whom he had nurtured in the faith.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.


THANKSGIVING
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. 4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.

•  Paul voiced in his first epistle to Timothy thanks for his own salvation and ministry (1 Tim. 1:12 - I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry[1]).
•  In this second epistle, he began with thanks for Timothy's salvation and ministry.
•  His tears – Due to the separation in 1 Timothy 1:3 - As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine 4 or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies.[2]
•  How do your family members influence your faith?
•  What is it about Moms?

6 Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.

•  Timothy received divine enablement to do the work God was leading him into.
•   It was not Paul that gave Timothy the Spirit… It was purely symbolic.
•   March 26, 1989 – I was “ordained” and had hands laid upon me.

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power,, love, and sound judgment.

•   7 God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (The Message)
•   7  For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (NAS)
•   7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (NIV & NLT)
•   “us” – Encouragement to Timothy but included himself so as not to call out.
•   What did they have to be “fearful/timid” of? Nero & the Romans!
  
  

NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL
8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

•   Nothing for you to be ashamed of… I’m in prison because I have been spreading the Gospel.
•   What if the same thing happens to you!?!
•   It would be worth it!
•   Just trust the Lord.
  

9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

•   God has delivered us from the penalty and power of sin.
•   He has called us to a special purpose, not because of us but by His free choice.
•   Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace.
•   He enables us to achieve this purpose by His sufficient grace that comes to us in Christ.
•   Which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
•   Our calling took place before the creation of the universe (cf. Eph. 1:4; Rom.16:25; Titus 1:2)

10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

•   But God has revealed its full dignity only since Christ has come.
•   Jesus Christ destroyed the effects of death and made it possible for us to live with God eternally.

11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher,

•   The gospel is the revelation of this plan, but Timothy appears to have felt ashamed of it!
•   Paul proudly acknowledged that God had appointed him, of all people, a herald (announcer), an apostle (establisher), and a teacher (perpetrator) of this good news.
•   What an honor and privilege it is to communicate the gospel

12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me, until that day.

•   Paul suffered imprisonment and the discomforts associated with it because he preached the gospel.
•   Nevertheless, he was not ashamed of the gospel or himself.
•   His confidence lay in the person of God.
•   He believed that God is faithful.
•   God would protect something that Paul had placed with God for His protection and preserve that until the day he would see Christ face to face.
  
  

BE LOYAL TO THE FAITH
13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

•   Timothy felt the temptation to modify his message and stop preaching it.
•   Paul urged him, therefore, to continue preaching the same message he had heard from Paul and to do so with trust in God and love for people, which Jesus Christ would supply.
•   "With his usual skillful way with words, Paul is saying in effect that as God has guarded the deposit of his life (and will guard Timothy's) so also Timothy must guard the deposit of the faithful account.

14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
 

•   He should guard God's revelation that God had entrusted to him as a minister of the gospel (cf. 1 Tim. 6:20).
•   The indwelling Holy Spirit (as well as the Son, v. 13) would enable him to do so.
•   "The appeal has come full circle.
•   It began with God's Spirit and his power and ended with the Spirit's enabling power."

15 You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

•   The Christians in Ephesus and in the province of Asia where Ephesus stood had so thoroughly abandoned Paul that he could say all had turned from him.
•   Paul may have meant all the leaders or his former colleagues who had left him by himself in prison in Rome.
•   Probably not all these people had turned from the gospel; the statement is probably exaggerated.
•   Timothy was the last to maintain his loyalty to and support of Paul in that group, and he was now feeling tempted to abandon him.
•   Phygelus and Hermogenes' names occur nowhere else in Scripture.
•   They had been strong supporters of the apostle in the past but had eventually turned away from him as the rest.

16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus.[3]

•   Onesiphorus (lit. help-bringer) may have been dead when Paul wrote this epistle (cf. v. 18; 4:19).
•   "In the Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, Onesiphorus is spoken of as a convert of Paul's who gave him hospitality on his first visit to Iconium."
•   Onesiphorus' remaining household was an exception to the "all" above (v. 15), or perhaps they had felt differently and had later reaffirmed their loyalty to Paul.
•   In any case his family had diligently and unashamedly sought out Paul and had ministered to him during his current imprisonment.
•   For this Paul wished the Lord would show Onesiphorus "mercy" at the judgment seat of Christ (cf. "that day" in v. 12).
•   Because Onesiphorus had "found" Paul, Paul hoped that Onesiphorus would "find" mercy from the Lord.
•   Paul seems to have envisioned a scene in which all his unfaithful brethren would stand before the Lord, Onesiphorus among them, namely, Christ's judgment seat.
•   God would express displeasure with the failure of the others, but Onesiphorus would escape that shame (cf. 1 John 2:28).
•   Timothy knew about Onesiphorus' earlier faithful ministry in Ephesus.
•   Paul also referred to this to encourage Timothy to throw in his lot with Onesiphorus and his family rather than with those who had turned against the chained apostle.
•   "Moral behavior is best learned by observing such commitment in others.
•   Children learn this behavior from parents.
•   Young Christians learn it from older Christians.
•   Ultimately moral behavior cannot be taught merely by character-building courses in public schools.
•   Christians must see moral commitment as a sterling example in others.
•   "Paul was not ashamed to present himself as the initial example he gave to Timothy.
•   He did not doubt that his behavior was worth imitating.

  Christian leaders today need to have such a commitment to Christ that they are unashamed to say in humility, 'If you want an example to follow, look at me!'"

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ti 1:12.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ti 1:3–4.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Ti 1:1–18.

The false prophet teachers were teaching:

• The material world of matter is evil.
• Christ could not come to the earth in human flesh.
• He came in Spirit and only seemed touchable in human flesh.
• Jesus was not the Son of God.
• Since salvation means deliverance from the physical world, including the physical body, it does not matter how a person behaves in their body.
• Since sin is part of the material world, sin does not exist for the Christian.We (false  prophets) are sinless.
• We (false prophets) have special insight from God’s Spirit to see these deeper truths.

 
GREETING
2 JOHN
1 The elder:

• John is believed to be the author who writes all 3 letters from Ephesus.
• This could have been written to a specific church in the Roman Province since that was John’s main area of ministry.

To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not only I, but also all who know the truth--

• John is likely referring to an entire congregation.
• These children believe in Jesus within a specific local church though it is certainly applicable to all believers.
• All who believe in Jesus have an inborn love for all who love the truth of God’s grace.
• John is writing from this indwelling love for other Christians.
• Unbelievers do not have the same natural agape love for truth because they are incompatible with truth until they have received the Gospel.

2 because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.

• Contrary to the message John speaks to unbelievers (1 John 1:9) John does not hesitate to remind believers that they are in the truth and that the truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, lives in them forever.
• They have believed the Gospel and have been perfectly forgiven and cleansed from all sin.
• Because they have believed in the Gospel, they will forever be one with the grace, mercy, and peace offered by God the Father and Jesus Christ.

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

• Grace is not a buzzword for popular teaching movements.
• Grace is the entire framework of God.
• Because of God’s grace, there is mercy from God.
• God decides to not condemn us even though we deserve it.
• This grace and mercy lead to a peaceful relationship with the Trinity.
• There is no longer enmity between believers and God.
• God is not ticked off.
• This is a reality regardless of our feelings and emotional experiences.

 
TRUTH AND DECEPTION
4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.

• Some of the members of the church were having trouble maturing in God’s grace.
• This is what John means by walking in the truth.
• Notice that these people have already received the command from the Father to believe in the Son.
• This commandment is not new.
• It is God’s pleading for us to believe in His goodness and love and transmit this love to others.
• Love is the defining characteristic of Christians.

5 So now I ask you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 This is love: that we walk according to his commands.

• John is not referring to the Old Covenant law but rather the command to believe in Jesus and love one another (1 John 3:23).
• These are the New Covenant laws: Believe and love.
• We receive God’s love for us in Christ and transmit it to others.

This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.
7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.

• As with 1 John and the Gospel of John, the apostle is combatting the Gnostic heresy that Christ did not come in the flesh.
• This matters because God’s love was manifested in the flesh in Christ.
• If Jesus was merely an illusion, then God’s love was not truly manifested.
• Jesus Christ died physically and truly in a human sense so that He could defeat the very death that plagues us.
• If we remove that from the Gospel, then we have no Gospel at all.

This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

• The antichrist is evidently not a singular figure according to John.
• The antichrist is a group of people who are rejecting Christ’s humanity.
• We see this also in 1 John (see 1 John 2:18).

8 Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.

• John is talking about the benefit of knowing God’s love in this life.
• He does not want anyone to fall short of understanding God’s love.

9 Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God.

• There is a difference between being confused about God’s love and being so far from understanding it that one is not truly saved.
• However, John does leave room for people to be so far from the Gospel that they are not saved.
• In the context, this is referring to Gnostics, but John did not want anyone on the fence about Jesus to be deceived into their heresy.

The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.

• True Christians will have an abiding faith in Jesus and consequently will forever be in relationship with the Father and the Son.
• Jesus died and rose again because He wanted us to forever know that He loves us and likes us.

10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him; 11 for the one who greets him shares in his evil works.

• John wanted believers to keep a large relational distance from the false teachers.
• This would ensure that they were not deceived by the false teachings.
• John is not talking about distancing ourselves from friends or family members who have rejected Christ.
• He is specifically addressing a group of people who were trying to deceive this church by coming directly to their homes.
• Apparently, there was enough temptation being faced by Christians to warrant this command.[1]
  
  

FAREWELL
12 Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister send you greetings.[2]

GREETING
3 JOHN
1 The elder:
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well.

• Could imply that he had been previously ill.

3 For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth—how you are walking in truth.

• It is clear that Gaius’ entire life was wrapped up in the truth.
• True living comes from the living truth.

4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.

• It is possible that John is the one who shared initial Truth with Gaius and pointed him to salvation in Jesus.
  
  

GAIUS COMMENDED
5 Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified to your love before the church.

• In practical ways, he assisted those who were ministering the Word.
• We have no indication that Gaius himself was a preacher or teacher, but he opened his heart and home to those who were.[3]

You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, 7 since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans. 8 Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.

• Carmel House Man - Ralph Burke – Hockey game
• Ketchup Man – Kevin Andrews
• Panera Guy - William Joyner
• Scott Long – Ravenswood minister
  
  

DIOTREPHES AND DEMETRIUS
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority. 10 This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words.

• Accusing John of false and empty charges.

And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

• The church members who received John’s associates were dismissed from the church!
• Again, it was guilt by association.
• Diotrephes had neither the authority nor the biblical basis for throwing these people out of the church, but he did it.
• Whenever a church has a resident dictator in its membership, there are bound to be problems because people who are spiritually minded will not tolerate that kind of leadership.
• The Holy Spirit is grieved when the members of the body are not permitted to exercise their gifts because one member must have his own way.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God. 12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius—even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

• Demetrius was a man worth imitating because he had a “good report” (witness) from the church fellowship.
• All the members knew him, loved him, and thanked God for his consistent life and ministry.
  
  

FAREWELL
13 I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

• John had warned that he was going to visit the church and confront Diotrephes, and no doubt both Gaius and Demetrius would stand with John in opposing the “dictator.”
• They were the kind of men who would support the truth and submit themselves to authentic spiritual authority.
• Because they followed the truth, they could safely be imitated by other believers.[4]

15 Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.[5]

[1] Farley, Andrew. www.BibleCommentary.com. 2 John.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1996. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1996. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Remind them:

• This is a letter to the Church warning them about the teaching of Gnostics.

 
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND THE SPIRIT OF ERROR
1 JOHN 4
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

• John is not talking about supernatural spirits here.
• He is talking about human spirits.
• Each human spirit is about something being in Adam or Christ.
• * DO NOT - This is a PRESENT IMPERATIVE with a NEGATIVE PARTICLE, which usually means to stop an act already in process.
• Christians tend to accept:

1) strong personalities
2) logical arguments, or
3) miraculous events as from God.

• John is writing both to combat the false teachers and to encourage the true believers.
• John is encouraging believers to test the intentions and substance of teachers that come into the church, like Gnostics.
• Gnostics denied that Jesus came in the flesh and, therefore, were not of God.
• John calls those who reject Christ’s humanity the antichrist.
• He does this by using several tests:

a. the doctrinal test (belief in Jesus, cf. I John 2:18–25; 4:1–6, 14–16; 5:1, 5)
b. lifestyle test (obedience, cf. I John 2:3–7; 3:1–10, 22–24)
c. the social test (love, cf. I John 2:7-11; 3:11–18; 4:7–12, 16–21; 5:12)[1]

• Through the incarnation, God announces that His divinity is compatible with our humanity.
• Therefore, if a teacher eliminates the humanity of Jesus, they eliminate the possibility of divine compatibility with humanity.
• This would be a distant God, not one who seeks union with His creation.

2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

• The Holy Spirit always magnifies Jesus.
•   1 Corinthians 12:3 - Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. [2]

3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

• This is the essential doctrinal test for the false teachers (i.e., Gnostics) whom John was combating in this book.
• Its bare assertion is that Jesus is fully human (i.e., flesh) as well as fully God (1:1–4; II John 7; John 1:14; I Tim. 3:16).
• The PERFECT TENSE affirms that Jesus’ humanity was not temporary but permanent.
• This was not a minor issue. Jesus is truly one with humanity and one with God.[3]

4 You (believers) are from God, little children, and you have conquered (overcome) them,

• John is concerned with the Christian’s victory over sin and the devil.
• He uses this term six times in I John (2:13, 14; 4:4; 5:4, 5), 11 times in the Revelation, and once in the Gospel (cf. 16:33).
• This term for victory was used only once in Luke (11:22) and twice in Paul’s writings (Rom. 3:4; 12:21).

because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

• The term “world” in I John always has negative connotations (i.e., human society organized and functioning apart from God).
• The term “world” is used here in the sense of fallen human society trying to meet all its needs apart from God.
• It refers to fallen humanity’s collective independent spirit!
• An example of this is Cain (3:12).
• John is addressing spiritual warfare in this Gnostic context.
• He affirms that believers have overcome Satan because Christ indwells them, and He is stronger than the Devil.
• Christians, therefore, can only be attacked externally through lies and false teachings like Gnosticism.
• They cannot be afflicted by Satan internally. 

5 They (false prophets) are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.

• The Gnostics were not of God.
• This was seen in their rejection of Jesus’ humanity and the reality of sin (1 John 1:9).

6 We (John & disciples) are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

• Believers can recognize true preachers/teachers by both the content of their message and who hears and responds to them.

 
KNOWING GOD THROUGH LOVE
7 Dear friends, let us love one another (lifestyle) because love is from God (not human philanthropy, pity, or emotion), and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

• The term “knows” reflects the Hebrew sense of ongoing, intimate fellowship.
• It is the recurrent theme of I John, used over 77 times.
• All who believe in Jesus have the love of God poured into their hearts (see Romans 5:5).
• Whereas lost people can be loving and have moral and ethical standards, Christians have God's eternal life poured out within them.
• We can love fellow Christians in a way that the world will never love.

8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

• Love is God’s nature.
• Everything He does comes from love.
• This love is manifested fully in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the event in human history when God’s love is revealed fully (Romans 5:8).

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

• All of God’s benefits come through Jesus. What are the benefits?)
• Forgiveness is only half of the Gospel.
• The other half is life in Him.

10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

• Jesus Christ’s work completely satisfied God.
• He has removed our sins perfectly because His sacrifice is not an atonement covering as was the case with the temple sacrifices of the Old Testament, but a total removal of our sins.
• God is completely satisfied with Christ’s finished work.
• The NT is unique among the world religions.
• Typically, religion is mankind seeking God, but Christianity is God seeking fallen mankind!
• The wonderful truth is not our love for God but His love for us.
• He has sought us through our sin and self, our rebellion and pride.
• The glorious truth of Christianity is that God loves fallen mankind and has initiated and maintained a life-changing contact.[4]

11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.

• False prophets claimed to have a vision from God or of God.
• Being with Believers is as close as we can get.

13 This is how we know that we remain (abide) in him (Jesus/Trinity – 1 of 3) and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit (Trinity – 2 of 3). 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father (Trinity – 3 of 3) has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God.

• The inclusive term “whoever” is the great invitation of God for anyone and everyone to come to Him.
• God promised redemption to the human race in Gen. 3:15.
•  His call to Abraham was to reach the world (Gen. 12:3; Exod. 19:5).
• Jesus’ death dealt with the sin problem (John 3:16).
•  Everyone can be saved if they respond through faith.
• God’s word to all is “Come” (Isaiah 55).[5]
• Confess - This term implies specific, public,  vocal acknowledgment of one’s affirmation     of and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.[6]
• If we believe that Jesus came in the flesh and that He was nailed to the cross for our sins, then we are given the right to become children of God.
• This is not a feeling.
• We can feel all types of things, including losing our salvation.
• But these feelings do not reflect reality.

16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 In this, love is made complete (perfected)

• This is from the Greek word telos.
• It implies fullness, maturity, and completion, not sinlessness.[7]

with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment,

• boldness before the throne.

because as he is, so also are we in this world.

• Being a child of God is a reality for all Christians.
• We are born of God and have a new nature.
• This means that we can be confident on the day of judgment because we are as righteous as Jesus is righteous.
• We are no less righteous than Christ Himself.
• If Christ is not judged, then neither are we judged.

18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.

• What starts in fear, punishment, ends with no fear.
• The perfect love of God in Christ casts out fear because Jesus has removed all of our sins.
• If our sins are completely removed, there is no need to fear condemnation.
• God is set on maturing us into His love so that no lingering fear remains.

19 We love because he first loved us.

• God always takes the initiative.
• We must take the initiative with others… as God did for us.
• This is from the Greek word telos.
• It implies fullness, maturity, and completion, not sinlessness.
• Love indwells Christians because God, who is love, indwells Christians, and has loved us first.
• Love originates from God, and we only love God or one another because God loves us in Christ.
• God initiated a relationship with us.

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar.

• Conflict is possible, but settled hatred is not.

For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.[8]

• THE LAST VERSE = SUMMARY
• Love is the non-counterfeitable evidence of a true believer.
• Hate is the evidence of a child of the evil one.
• The false teachers were dividing the flock and causing conflict.[9]
• God’s commands are to love Him by believing in the Son and loving fellow Christians (1 John 3:23).

He has rigged the system so that our love for Him is and receiving and transmitting of His love for us.[10]

[1] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (228). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (229). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[4] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (231). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[5] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (232). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[6] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (229). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[7] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (232). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (233). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[10] Farley, Andrew. www.BibleCommentary.com. 1 John 4.

• Kids Getting Hurt Videos
• Michelle Hernandez – Crossfit differences
• Michelle Kennedy – His jobs & her jobs
• Our society today, doesn’t want to acknowledge that we are different.
• Actually they do, they want the genders to be equal and it has become a competition, with one side not saying much at all.
• Men will shut down and step out of the way when women dominate.

EPHESIANS 5:18-21
18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.[1]
 
WIVES AND HUSBANDS
EPHESIANS 5:22-33
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,

• The verb hupotassō (ὑποτασσω), “submit, subject,” is supplied from the preceding verse. (Wuest)‎
• Submit in verse 21 is covered in the following verses:
• 1)Wives to Husbands (5:22-33)
• 2) Children to Parents (6:1-4)
• 3) Slaves to Masters (Employees to Employers) (6:5-9).
• ‎Submission has nothing to do with the order of authority, but rather governs the operation of authority, how it is given and how it is received.[2]
• Did Jesus lose his authority when He washed His disciples’ feet?
• No institution or organization can function without submission.
• In fact, eliminate submission in any area of society and the result is utter chaos... (Examples? - LA Riots ('92), New Orleans during Katrina ('05), etc.)
• Genesis 3:16 - He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.[3]
• ‎Desire - It is not Eve's emotional or physical desire for Adam (that was already present).
• It was the desire to take control of her husband's authority.
• This usurp of authority will be impossible.
• ‎It will only be through the power and teaching of the Holy Spirit that submission to one another takes place. This takes place through Jesus.
• ‎Bob Warren – “Fallout = Strong, unyielding wife produces a passive husband. Then down the road when the woman eventually needs a man to lead... there is only resentment. A woman being overbearing and strong will eventually play out and have no desire for the state of their current relationship due to her initial dominance.
• ‎True authority is built on truth.
• Therefore, if any wife has currently placed themselves as the leader of their house, she does not have true authority.
• True authority is attained only through submission to authority.
• ‎A wife's dominance prevents the God-ordained authority (the husband) from ruling and the children are angered without really knowing why.
• Deficient discipline occurs and the kids are confused.
• ‎Submission to authority does not mean that one is inferior.
• It is purely acknowledging God's order.
• ‎God created Eve from Adam's rib to make him complete.

23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.

• This verse also teaches submission. Christ submitted Himself to death for our, the sake of the church.
• Who is the church? From Acts 2 to the point of the End.
• No wife minds submitting to a husband that has this attitude.
• Who has ever ended up submitting to Christ and regretting it? No one.
• Christ does not demand for us to submit to Him... He waits for us to choose to submit.
• It is through His kindness and love (not His wrath) that brings us to a place of submission.
• What happens when a husband refuses to lead (either out of choice or laziness)?
• The family never gets to experience the huge benefits as result of true leadership.

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.

• The only way this works is if the wife feels secure and safe in her place of submission.
• In other words, the man has to love and protect her.
• When this occurs, selflessness rules in the house, children are raised in a stable environment and the world has a model of how the family is intended to operate.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

• “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” (Theodore Hesburgh).
• This is not going to occur by the church teaching behavior modification or trying to control the outcome.
• The only way possible is for the church to teach believers their identity and the Holy Spirit reveal it to them and let it play out.
• When the husband becomes selfless and loves his wife (through servanthood), all are greatly benefited.

26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.

• When a person is sanctified (made holy), he is set apart from his past unto his future.
• This has application to marriage because when a man marries a woman, he sets her apart from her past and unto a future that he has promised to her.
• There is no doubt that the spiritual growth of the wife is greatly enhanced through the godly influence of the husband.

27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

• A bride typically wears white at the wedding, representing purity and holiness.
• That doesn’t come from a point of behavior, but from a point of what Christ has done in her.
• His desire is for a glorious church, and He wants to love that church as a man loves his own bride.
• This is not a performance-based relationship.
• It is a knowing and understanding relationship.
• What the husband knows and understands greatly impacts what the wife and kids know and understand.
• It is imperative that the husband pays special attention to the wife's spiritual needs.
• How does he do that? By taking care of his own first.

28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

• 5:23 - Says the husband is the head and the wife is the body.
• ‎5:31 - Says we are one flesh.
• ‎If a husband doesn't love his wife (the body) then can't love himself.
• ‎You will love your wife fully when know who you are yourself. ‎
• ‎Tony Evans – “Unless we’re talking about a case where a wife is deliberately trying to undermine her husband, when you look at a man’s wife, you should get a pretty good idea of what he thinks about himself.
• ‎‎If a wife is miserable all the time, maybe it’s because she is married to a miserable man.
• If her countenance is bright, chances are she is being nourished and cherished by a loving husband.
• Our wives are like mirrors, reflecting back to us what kinds of husbands we are.”

29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,

• Society spends more money and time on caring for their own flesh than ever before.
• There is no doubt that loving our bodies (earth tent) by taking care of them gives you added energy, vigor and fulfillment in life.
• The same truth occurs when we take care of our wives.
• We should marry to date rather than date to marry:
• 1. Words of affirmation - You did this when you were dating.
• 2. Quality time - Don't talk about doing it... just do it.
• 3. Giving gifts - "Just because I love you"
• 4. Acts of service - Doing the unexpected.
• 5. Physical touch - Nonsexual touch

30 since we are members of his body.

• We share common life with Jesus... we are one with Him.
• Do you realize who you are and what you have been given?

31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

• Genesis 2:24 - This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.[4]
• 1) Both partners are to leave their homes (parents). You still care for them but you are no longer under their influence as before.
• #4 & #5 reasons for divorce?
• #4 - Mother of the bride
• #5 - Mother of the groom
• 2) You become one flesh... Your bond is greater than a parent/child relationship.
• Keep this a priority.
• Cleave = glue

32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

• Mystery - the Jews and the Gentiles became one.
• So it is with the husband and wife.
• We become one when we are in Christ.
• Hard for a husband and wife to become one in a marriage without Christ... it is impossible.

33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.[5]

• If the husband loves his wife as himself, both being believers, the wife's respect should automatically follow.
• Woman wants to be loved.
• Man wants to be respected.
• Love and Respect book.
• Crazy cycle

 

• 1)Wives to Husbands (5:22-33)
• 2) Children to Parents (6:1-4)

3) Slaves to Masters (Employees to Employers) (6:5-9).

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Eph 5:18–21). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 50). Victor Books.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 3:16). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 2:24). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Eph 5:22–33). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

A SINNER FORGIVEN
2 CORINTHIANS
5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of you.

• Some believe Paul is referring to man in 1 Corinthians (10/12/20)
• 1 Corinthians 5:1-2 - It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles—a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this?[1]
• “Hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.” (v 5)
• Let him choose his own path.
• Logical negative consequences
• Sounds cruel…
• “destruction of the flesh” – Selfishness; his own strength.
• This no different than the “Cancel Culture”
• The difference is… you discuss the issue and give a chance for repentance and forgiveness to occur before you cut them off.

 

• Others believe that Paul is referring to someone who confronted Paul in a public situation.
• Then the division in the church caused people to choose sides.
• Opinions vs Truth
• This crushed Paul and possibly the reason for his severe and harsh letter that we don’t have.

6 This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person.

• Not everyone participated in the punishment.
• Again, showing division the church.
• But sufficient because the man repented (changed his mind)

7 As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief.

• Don’t give up on this man.
• “Cancel Culture” is cool until it is you getting cancelled.
• This is grace.
• All believers have received grace.
• Not all believers give grace.
• When you understand what has been given to you, then you are able to give to others.
• It is almost a way of measuring the spiritual maturity of a believer.
• If Jesus died for all sin and anyone who believes in Jesus can be forgiven for all their sin, then why shouldn’t we be able to forgive?
• We could easily go down a dark path of terrible sins that seem unforgiveable… but in Truth, we know they have already been dealt with at the cross.
• “excessive grief” – There are logical natural consequences that occur with sin.
• But consequences can still occur at the same time that grace and forgiveness is given.

8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.

• It’s OK to freely give love.
• Sometimes we want to protect who we give love to because it makes it seem like it is more valuable.
• I can love others because I have been loved much.
• The more love you give away… the more you have.
• Do you really think you don’t have enough love to give to your barber or salon person? Or your wait staff? Or your tax person?
• You have plenty of love because you have been loved much.
• It doesn’t make it any less worth… it actually does quite the opposite. It multiplies.
• What great love it is… to be able to look someone in the eye who has done you wrong and tell them “I love you”.

9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything.

• Paul refers to his severe letter he sent.
• He is still licking his wounds for sending it.

10 Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

• If you live in a state of unforgiveness… you are miserable.
• And the person you can’t forgive may have moved passed it.
• But you are still stuck in something you don’t have to be.
• Feelings and emotions occur… but you have the ability to impact them based upon what you believe.
• What you believe impacts what you do.

 

• This is the part of “church discipline” that rarely occurs.
• The relationship has been severed by actions.

 
A TRIP TO MACEDONIA
12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a door for me, 13 I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. Instead, I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.

• Show map – (3rd Missionary Trip)
• Now, one thing I want you to think about with this passage is the fact that being right where you’re supposed to be in terms of ministry doesn’t mean that you’re always going to have emotional peace.
• In fact, at times, because you’re right where God has called you to be, you face some type of inner turmoil.
• What Paul does is he ends here, on a very tense moment in his life and ministry and it kind of leaves the tension hanging in the air.
• Then he’s going to go through a long section in the center of the book where he lays out a theological explanation of what authentic ministry looks like.
• Paul is saying, “As an authentic minister of Jesus Christ, I am under orders by God Himself, and God moves me around the world.”[2]

 
A MINISTRY OF LIFE OR DEATH
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.

• Triumphal procession
• Rome defeated many regions/countries during this time period in history.
• The general who led the great defeat would come in on his chariot.
• Wagon loads of wealth from the defeated country
• Loads of armor of defeated warriors
• Slaves in chains from the defeated region
• Paintings of the region now claimed by the empire
• The Roman Army
• The Braves just won the World Series
• Paul is just following Christ through the world in His victory, and as he does that he is proclaiming the gospel.

 
15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

• “aroma” – Good and bad smells
• Wednesday night we had chicken sandwiches that were cooked over the open fire. Can you smell it?
• Yesterday, I got in my car sitting in garage with the trash cans that had Weds chicken scraps. Can you smell it?
• Two distinct and different smells.
• In these parades, they had incense burners walking along the route.
• To the Romans, it was the beautiful smell of victory.
• To the slaves in the parade it was the nasty smell of defeat.
• The blood sacrifices at the temple had an awful bloody smell but it was the sweet aroma of the sacrifice being made.
• The Gospel… it is a sweet aroma to those who believe and it makes sense… but to the rest of the world, it stinks.

16 To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life.

• In these parades, you had slaves who were taken captive but you also those who had been oppressed and were now liberated because of the defeat.
• Sometimes, when the gospel goes out, people don’t respond well.
• That’s why so much of 2 Corinthians is filled with Paul’s suffering.
• He is being persecuted for the cause of Christ.
• But, celebrating here, Paul says there are those who do respond positively.
• They are the ones who are being saved.
• Their whole lives are opening up in front of them.[3]

Who is adequate for these things?

• Paul questions who is qualified for what he does.
• Even himself… the man who once opposed Jesus… now celebrates Jesus.

17 For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.[4]

• Paul was having to deal false teachers who were coming to town to pedal their message.
• These were false teachers.
• An issue Paul had to deal with on the regular in Corinth.
• “When we proclaim the Word of God, we are doing it in a way with real integrity.
• We are sincere proclaimers of the Word who are preaching the Word of God in the world as people who are sent by God.

God has sent us.”[5]

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 5:1–2). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Co 2:5–17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Guthrie, G. H. (2018). NT337 Book Study: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

• Look back to see where Paul is going…
• Chapter 12 – Live in harmony; don’t be proud
• Chapter 13 – Submit to government and love your neighbor as yourself.
• Paul was telling the Church how to live out their life in Christ in a dark world.
• 1) This is your moment – each day – not just a few times a week
• 2) Judge soberly but don’t think to highly of yourself
• 3) Just love one another
• But specifically to the Roman Christians who were meeting in homes. (20-30 people consisted of church)
• Different teachers, interpretations and opinions from house to house.
• If division is present, how do you accomplish the main thing?

THE LAW OF LIBERTY
Romans 14:1-23
1 Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.

• Is Paul talking about new believers and veteran believers?
• Or is Paul talking about those who are free (walking by the Spirit) and those who are bound up (walking by their flesh).
• Paul is talking about the difference in what their faith will allow them to do.

2 One person believes he may eat anything (meat), while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.

• 1) Judging people based upon what they are comfortable with eating.

5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God.

• 2) Judging people because the celebrate specific holidays or else they see every day as the same.
• Are we talking about a “strong Gentile Christian faith” vs a “weak Jewish Christian faith”?
• Remember that Paul was a Jew and he sides with the strong in chapter 15.
• Are we talking about Jewish Holidays vs Roman pagan god holidays?
• Are we talking about abstaining from meat and wine because they believe it was contaminated from pagan idolatry?
• Daniel 1 – Daniel and his friends refrained from eating from the King’s table… No meat or wine.
• Daniel diet today.
• What Paul is talking about here is specific issues that he would consider “indifferent”.
• If they choose to follow holidays found in the Torah… so be it.
• If they choose their freedom in Christ so be it.

7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.

• This is the non-negotiable.
• Our commonality.

10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God., 11 For it is written,
As I live, says the Lord,
every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will give praise to God. (Isaiah 45:23)
12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
 
THE LAW OF LOVE
13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another.

• In trying to unify these two groups, it’s also interesting to see that Paul spends a lot more time talking to the strong than he does to the weak in faith.[1]

Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister.

• So Paul is saying, “If what you’re doing—if by using your liberty and flaunting your liberty to do these things you think you can do—if those activities are spiritually hurting brothers and sisters in Christ, stop doing them.
• You have the liberty, but you also have the choice whether to exercise that liberty or not.”
• And Paul’s fundamental concern here is that the exercise of our liberty be done with a heart of love to others in Christ.[2]

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. 15 For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died.

• This statement right here brings value to all believers.

16 Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

• We get caught up in the doing and comparing our faith based upon what we do rather than who we are in Christ.
• One’s traditions, opinions and expectations cannot be forced on another believer.
• It is the Holy Spirit who teaches, directs and causes us to rest in our freedom… to understand our righteousness and the peace and joy we already have.

18 Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and receives human approval.
19 So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. 20 Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats.

• Their concern, rather, should be the values of God’s kingdom and the spiritual health and development of their fellow brothers and sisters.
• So Paul encourages the strong in faith not to do anything that might bring harm to the weak in faith.[3]

21 It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22 Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.[4]

• Paul is concerned that the weak in faith might start doing things that in their own conscience they continue to think is wrong.
• Paul doesn’t want that to happen.
• Paul doesn’t want our activity to run ahead of our conscience.
• We must first be convinced that something is right before we do it.[5]

 

• “everything that is not from faith is sin” – What does this mean?
• We have two choices: 1) Faith or 2) Not faith...
• 1) Walk by the Spirit or 2) Walk by the flesh…
• 1) Submit to the Spirit or 2) Be selfish
• 1) Rest and let the Spirit do it through you or 2) Do it in your own strength…

[1] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 14:1–23). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

• We jumped from taking care of each other in Chapter 12 to our obligations to the government.
• Why is that? What was the issue at hand?
  
  

A CHRISTIAN’S DUTIES TO THE STATE
Romans 13:1-14
1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.

• This is one of those passages where our tendency is to spend most of our time trying to figure out what the text doesn’t say rather than what it does say.
• Pretty self-explanatory.
• Is this referring to specific people or the actual position of authority?
• Paul is saying authorities are given the right by God on earth to exert punishment for wrongdoing.[1]
• Paul clearly here is teaching that government is something God has established in using for the well-ordering of His creation.[2]
• Where on earth is there not a form of government? Then chaos rules.
• Anarchy -  is often negatively used as a synonym of chaos or societal collapse
• God is a god of order.
• Submission is in effect.
• We submit to government (President > police, IRS, employers, parents and eventually our own kids).
• Our society is demanding equality and as it does that, it demands equality in roles and places of authority… to a point where submission is intolerable.
• Then chaos reigns.

2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience.

• In verse 1 and in verse 5 Paul says, “Be subject (or submit yourselves) to the authorities.”
• Clearly that’s the main point Paul makes, repeating it to make sure we understand how important it is.
• But I do think as we read more broadly and more fundamentally biblically across the Bible, we recognize that there must be exceptions to what Paul is saying here, that there are those times when government can turn demonic.
• Government can be ordering us to do that which is contrary to the will of God, and then we have to emulate Peter and Paul in obeying God rather than man.[3]
• Video from Deron Spoo

6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s servants, continually attending to these tasks. 7 Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

•  We know from secular historians that in Rome at about this period of time there was what we might call a “popular tax revolt.”
• The Roman emperors had begun taxing the population so heavily to pay for their opulent lifestyles and for their wars that the people were beginning to rebel against taxes.
• In other words, Paul might here be addressing a very specific local problem in Rome that had begun to creep into the Church at this point in time, and he would be telling the Christians, in effect, “Don’t get involved in that revolt.
• You owe taxes to the governing authorities because of who they are in relationship to your Christian faith.”
• Another point of confusion is Paul teaching their freedom in Christ.
• So it might be that some in the Roman Christian church were viewing their faith in Christ as a reason to avoid the government altogether, to live lives separate from it, to ignore it, disobey it, and just treat it as if it didn’t exist.
• That could be part of the problem here as well.
• It is well known, I think, that when Jesus has the opportunity to comment on the relationship of God and government, it’s taxes that are the context in which he makes his pronouncement, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
• Is it possible then that Paul once again here is reflecting the teaching of Jesus that he draws on in giving his own instruction to the church at Rome?[4]

 

• Then all of a sudden Paul makes the leap back to love.

LOVE, OUR PRIMARY DUTY
8 Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

• The one debt Paul says that we’ll never be able to fully pay is our obligation to love each other.
• That is an obligation that will remain forever open.
• There will always be new ways for us to fulfill our obligation to love one another sincerely and from the heart.[5]

9 The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.

• Leviticus 19:18 - Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.[6]
• Matthew 19:19 - Jesus answered: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; 19 honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.[7]

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

• Is this in reference to other believers or everyone?
• But they don’t think like I do.
• They don’t have the same morals or values that I do.
• My life is like a rolling magnet, picking up nails.
• Sometimes I have to clean off the magnet.

 
PUT ON CHRIST
11 Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

• Yes, today you are one day closer to seeing Jesus face to face.
• Paul believed that Jesus was going to return any day.

12 The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

• Paul clearly uses “day” in contrast to “the night” to talk about our ethical obligations.[8]

13 Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.[9]

• It is still the battle between walking by the Spirit and living in our flesh.

[1] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Le 19:18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 19:18–19). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 13:1–14). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

• August 22 – Romans 12:1-2 - Transforming of the Mind – Talk about eternal things.
• September 12 – Romans 12:3-8 - We are one body with many gifts.

 
CHRISTIAN ETHICS
Romans 12:9-21
9 Let love be without hypocrisy.

• Paul then talks about the many dimensions of love as it relates both to our fellow believers and to those people who are outside the Christian Church.
• It talks about relating well both to God and to other people—what some have called an “other-orientation,” that as a believer I am no longer oriented to myself.
• I am oriented toward God and to others as the very mode of my being and decision making.[1]
• ‘Love is not genuine when it leads a person to do something evil or to avoid doing what is right—as defined by God in his Word’ – Douglas Moo.[2]
• Here is the real issue… how do you measure/judge one’s heart?
• What makes one a hypocrite?
• I say one thing but do another.
• Christians (followers of Jesus) have been called hypocrites from day one.
• A follower of Jesus has an assumption that they are going to do exactly what Jesus does.
• That may be the desire of the believer but it doesn’t always occur because we are dealing with our flesh. (not our sinful nature).

Detest evil;

• Detest – is this a private or public response?
• As the Spirit leads you.
• I think at one point, it was easy to point out specific things (sin) that I detested and could be vocal about.
• As I get older in my faith, and realize that it is not me that changes other people’s minds, but it is the Holy Spirit.
• I tend to be less public about what I detest… that doesn’t mean I am more accepting or passive.
• I think it has more to do with trusting.
• I will continue to teach Truth from the stage and even my personal conversations.
• But I will trust that the Spirit will lead to repentance through His kindness.
• It is the Spirit’s responsibility to change the mind of other believers.

cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters.

• Did you ever fight with your siblings?
• Of course you did… but it never changed the fact they are still related to you… they belong to you.
• You may have had to set healthy boundaries with family members… but they are still your family.
• But as you go through trials and loss, you probably cling deeper to your family.
• Paul, is saying the same thing here in the body.
• Love each other deeply… even though we do “goober” things.
• We all do “gooberish” things. But we are all still forgiven and made perfect.

Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.

• You’re not going to find a spiritual gift analysis on our web site and a list of church duties.
• There are plenty of ways to serve your brother and sister in this body… but we are good if it is even outside of the body of Christ.
• It is as the Spirit leads you.

12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.

• On this day, 16 years ago, the body lost a child named BJ Higgins. He was 15 years old.
• On this day, 3 years ago, the body lost a good man named Todd Dolbeer. He was a vital part of this ministry.
• We have suffered over the years with their loss here on earth but we rejoice to know they are forever home with Jesus.
• So we persistently pray for their families. For their needs and their grief to subside.
• I know the Higgins family shared hope with the Absher family because of their hope in eternity.

13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

• This literally meant to feed one another at your homes.
• Hospitality may be defined as ‘the process by means of which an outsider’s status is changed from stranger to guest’.
• It is not something a person provides for family or friends but for strangers.
• Strangers need hospitality, for otherwise they will be treated as non-human because they are potentially a threat to the community.
• Strangers had no standing in law or custom, and therefore needed a patron in the community they were visiting.[3]
• In a big city, strangers have been vilified.
• We have trained ourselves not to even talk to strangers.
• Isn’t it refreshing when you can have a decent conversation with a stranger?
• In context of today, that has changed with COVID.
• How do you encourage one another in sharing now?

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

• Paul does not often quote the words of Jesus.
• Indeed, it’s been one of the issues in Pauline scholarship over the years to figure out why Paul does not make more reference to the earthly life of Jesus or to His teaching.
• Paul talks a great deal about Jesus’ death and its significance, about His resurrection, but about His earthly life, Paul is relatively silent.[4]
• Jesus taught the Law… and fulfilled the complete Law.
• Paul encourages to walk by the Spirit.

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud;

• In Biblical terms, proud/pride has never been associated with good.
• In society, we have made the word “proud” acceptable and good… especially in light of our family.
• My wife and kids know that I personally refrain from using the word “proud”.
• It takes a little more thought to express my love and admiration for them by not using the word “proud”.
• I have to explain what makes me happy about them.
• Try it sometime.

instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.

• This is simply revenge.
• Some people ask the question, “Don’t you just become a door mat?”
• Are we not to stand up for ourselves?
• There is a difference between revenge and healthy boundaries.
• Is it important to you that you don’t come across as soft or a pushover?
• What does it look like when the Spirit causes your emotions not to get ramped up during a disagreement?
• Can you think more rationally (and with love) when you are not letting your emotions control your physical body?
• Breathe… calm down… you can say the same things with no emotion.
• We are living in a world where protests are becoming so emotionally charged that people are actually dying.
• There is evil in this world… it is going to continue to happen.
• There is only one answer to evil… Jesus.

Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.

• Try to see the other side of things.
• You don’t have to agree with the other side.
• But you don’t have to be mean either.

18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But
If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For in so doing
you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

• In the Proverbs we have mainly the teaching of Solomon, of course, but Solomon himself apparently had been influenced by wisdom traditions in Egypt—something Old Testament scholars almost universally recognize.
• And we know from archaeological evidence that there was a custom in Egypt according to which someone who wanted to show their repentance or to express their sorrow for something they had done, would carry a tray full of burning coals on their heads.
• That is probably what’s going on in Proverbs 25, and I suspect Paul understands that context and meaning.[5]

21 Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.[6]

• How does that work in this world?
• It’s not up to me to determine.
• All of a sudden we went to thinking about the individual to world peace?
• Next week, Paul gets into the government.

[1] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (p. 475). Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
[3] Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (D. A. Carson, Ed.) (pp. 478–479). Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
[4] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 12:9–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

• The main evidence of maturity in the Christian life is a growing love for God and for God’s people, as well as a love for lost souls.
• Few chapters in the Bible have suffered more misinterpretation and misapplication than 1 Corinthians 13.
• Divorced from its context, it becomes “a hymn to love” or a sentimental sermon on Christian brotherhood.
• Many people fail to see that Paul was still dealing with the Corinthians’ problems when he wrote these words: the abuse of the gift of tongues, division in the church, envy of others’ gifts, selfishness (remember the lawsuits?), impatience with one another in the public meetings, and behavior that was disgracing the Lord.[1]

Review:

• 1 Corinthians 12:31 - But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.[2]
  
  

LOVE: THE SUPERIOR WAY
1 CORINTHIANS 13
1 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

• In reference to the spiritual gift of tongues mentioned in Chapter 12.
• Tongues apart from love is just a lot of noise!
• It is love that enriches the gift and that gives it value.
• Ministry without love cheapens both the minister and those who are touched by it; but ministry with love enriches the whole church.[3]

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

• The gifts of prophecy, knowledge and faith

3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

• The gift of giving.
• Without love… these 5 gifts are worthless.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9 - About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.[4]
• 1 John 4:19 - We love because he first loved us.[5]
• John 13:34-35 - “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”[6]
• Romans 5:5 - This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.[7]
• Ephesians 4:15 - But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.[8]
• Truth does not equal our opinion.
• Opinions can be based on a combination of things… Truth, misinformation, experience, feelings, the processing of thoughts in our head.
• I don’t always have to express my opinions… especially if it is not loving.
• Then you have to ask yourself the question, “I might think this is loving, but will it be received as a loving expression?”
• I don’t always have to share my opinion.
• But at the same time, I might be led by the Spirit to speak Truth (in love) which still hurts when it clashes with others “opinions.”
• The intent of Paul is to remind the Church that the Spiritual Gifts should be wrapped in love for the “enriching” of the Church body.
  ​
  
• In the next 4 verses Paul emphasizes the purpose of love in the Church body is to “edify”.
• 1 Corinthians 8:1 - We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.[9]

4 Love is patient, love is kind.

• Corinthians were impatient and rude with each other.
• 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 - Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.[10]

Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.

• Knowledge is not puffed up.
• Let the “love feast” be based upon love… not eating.
• 1 Corinthians 4:6 - Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another.[11]
• Romans 12:10-18 - Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit;, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.[12]
• Compare verses 4-7 with Galatians 5:22-23
• Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.[13]

6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

• This means we must not think of ourselves, but of others; and this demands love.[14]

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.

• The gifts of the Church are necessary for the enrichment and edifying of the Church.
• But some day they will become less important until they are no longer needed.
• But “love” will always “endure”.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things.

• Christmas gifts… As a child, you make your Christmas list. As an adult, you end up saying, “I don’t really need anything.”

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.

• In those days, it was a polished piece of silver or bronze that they looked at their reflection.
• Face to face… so much clearer.

13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.[15]

• The extent to which faith refers to “the conviction of things unseen,” as Heb 11:1 puts it so powerfully.
• Hope refers to that which one believes is going to happen but does not have the conclusive evidence to demonstrate that it will, in the eternal state the evidence will be conclusive.
• But love, in all of its interpersonal, self-giving nature, will continue throughout all eternity.[16]

 
12:31 - But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
The Way of Love
1 CORINTHIANS 13 (The Message)
1       If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2       If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3–7     If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
        Love never gives up.
        Love cares more for others than for self.
        Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
        Love doesn’t strut,
        Doesn’t have a swelled head,
        Doesn’t force itself on others,
        Isn’t always “me first,”
        Doesn’t fly off the handle,
        Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
        Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
        Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
        Puts up with anything,
        Trusts God always,
        Always looks for the best,
        Never looks back,
        But keeps going to the end.
8–10    Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11      When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12      We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13      But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.[17]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 610). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 12:31). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 610). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 4:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Jn 4:19). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 13:34–35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 5:5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Eph 4:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 8:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 14:29–33). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 4:6). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 12:10–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ga 5:22–23). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[14] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 611). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 13:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[17] Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: the Bible in contemporary language (1 Co 12:31–13:13). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

• We left off 2 weeks ago with Paul encouraging the Church to live in holiness (learning to live out of their new heart).

 
LOVING AND WORKING
1 Thessalonians 4
9 About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

• Paul makes the jump from holiness to love pretty quick.
• The only way to live in holiness is being empowered by the Holy Spirit in us. Allowing Him to do it.
• If the Holy Spirit is working in and through us, then love is not a difficult jump from holiness.
• In the Greek language we have 4 common usages of the word “love”
• Eros (erotic) – Can be sinful or sensual. Not used in the New Testament. Eros the word was reduced in quality
• Storge (pronounced STOR-jay), refers to family love, the love of parents for their children. This word is also absent from our New Testament.[1]
• Philia – Brotherly love; deep affection such as in friendship or even a marriage.
• Christians share this love because we have the same Father. Our Father teaches us to “love another”
• Agape - the love God shows toward us. It is not simply a love based on feeling; it is expressed in our wills.
• It is a self-sacrificing love
• Agape love treats others as God would treat them, regardless of feelings or personal preferences.[2]
• When one is given a “new heart”, it is natural for them to love. It is a believer’s distinctive character to love. Just as a fish swims and a bird flies.
• How does God cause our love to “increase more and more”? By living… our circumstances force us to practice Christian love.
• Love is the “circulatory system” of the body of Christ, but if our spiritual muscles are not exercised, the circulation is impaired.
• The difficulties that we believers have with one another are opportunities for us to grow in our love.
• This explains why Christians who have had the most problems with each other often end up loving one another deeply, much to the amazement of the world.[3]

10 In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, 11 to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 so that you may behave properly (honestly, decently) in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

• Unfortunately, some of the new believers in the church misunderstood the doctrine of Christ’s return and gave up their jobs in order to wait for His coming.
• This meant that they were supported by other Christians, some of whom may not have had sufficient funds for their own families.
• It also meant that these fanatical people could not pay their bills, and therefore they lost their testimony with the unsaved merchants.[4]
• Jesus is coming back so I am going to run up all my credit cards!
• I’m gonna win the lottery can I borrow some $$$
• I’m filing bankruptcy, I might as well spend as much as I can.
• The church was to live in this manner in order to “win the respect of outsiders” and “not be dependent on anybody” (v. 12).
• Thus a series of commands that begins with a concern for growing, mutual Christian love concludes with a concern for the church’s relationship to the non-Christian community.
• R. F. Hock presents another alternative to an eschatological understanding of these verses.
• He argues that the commands “to lead a quiet life” and to “mind your own business” were encouragements to political quietism.
• By avoiding political activism and working at respectable occupations, the church would gain the approval of their non-Christian neighbors.
• Some of the terms Paul used in these verses were indeed used by various Greco-Roman philosophers to encourage withdrawal from public life.
• Such encouragements would make sense in light of the apostle’s past experience in Thessalonica.
• After all, Paul was charged with causing social and political unrest in the city (Acts 17:6–7) and might have responded by advising the church to avoid political entanglements.[5]
• It should be clear from Paul’s own history, however, that living quietly did not mean the church should tone down its proclamation of the gospel.
• On the contrary, Paul consistently encouraged boldness in this regard.
• The church was not to live so quietly that they failed to function as witnesses of Christ both in word and deed. [6]
  
  

THE COMFORT OF CHRIST’S COMING
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

• the verb koimaō literally means “to sleep,”
• this is a euphemism for death. (an agreeable or inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that might offend or suggest unpleasantness[7])
• So when Paul uses the word “sleep,” he’s using it in this figurative sense and referring to Christians who have already died.[8]
• Paul’s focus on what Timothy has reported is that they are grieving over the return of Christ.
• Self-focused – “What happens to us?”
• The ancient Greek writer Theocritus, lived about three hundred years before Paul, but he wrote a saying which is very helpful for our question here.
• He said simply this: He said, “Hopes are for the living; without hope are the dead.”
• This is a great quote because he uses the word “hope,” and he talks about it in the context of death.
• And Theocritus is clear that living people are the only people who can have hope, and [for] anybody who’s dead, well, hope is nowhere on the scene.
• That seems to echo, exactly, Paul’s claim in his opening assertion.[9]

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

• Paul is presenting his readers with something that he assumes—and they assume—is true.
• It’s going to be a foundation for an argument that Paul makes, and that’s why some translations render this verse not as “if we believe” but “since we believe”; or sometimes they just make it into a statement: We believe that such and such is the case.[10]

15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

• This is a specific text that theologians associate with the “rapture”.
• I can break that down for you but we will miss the pastoral intent of Paul’s letter.
• So let me stay with the intent and I will briefly revisit this passage next week in light of the “rapture”.
• The Thessalonians are grieving over fellow Christians who have fallen asleep, who have died.
• And this is an easy trouble for us to understand because all of us, young or old, have experienced, also, the grief that comes from the death of a loved one.
• We have funerals and now they are called “Celebration of Life”.
• We can grieve and have hope at the same time.
• For instance, in Philippians 2:27 Paul refers to this helper that was sent to him from Philippi; his name was Epaphroditus. And Paul says that if Epaphroditus had died from his illness, Paul would have had “sorrow upon sorrow.” So Paul wouldn’t have felt guilty, and he expected to grieve if, indeed, Epaphroditus would die.
• In Romans 12:15 Paul has an important command; it’s simple but important. He says, “Weep with those who weep.” So Paul recognizes that some of the Christians in Rome are going to be suffering a number of trials, and that will lead to weeping.

 

• Would these family members and friends miss out on the return of Jesus?
• Paul is truly taking their focus back to the teaching of Jesus.
• The Gospels weren’t yet written but remember that Paul had the download of Jesus’ teachings back at his conversion.
• Matthew records some of Jesus teachings on His return in Matthew 24.
• Ask – “How many of you believe Jesus raised from the dead?”
• Paul is saying, “Well, as real as you believe Jesus rose from the dead, that’s how real you can believe your deceased loved ones will rise from the dead.”[11]
• Paul is reminding them to get their focus off yourself and back on Jesus.
• You will still experience grief because of death but grieve with hope. (unlike the others)

18 Therefore encourage (comfort) one another with these words.[12]

• Paul ends the passage by commanding the Christians to parakaleite;
• that is to, well, literally, to be called alongside of one another.
• And this word is the same word that the Gospel writer John uses in his Gospel to describe the Holy Spirit.
• Some older translations actually just take the noun form of the verb and they just render it “the Paraclete,” but the word and the verb refer to someone who is called to your side.
• And, what’s more, when we take seriously the notion of comfort in this closing verb, it’s yet a reminder of the point, and we’ll have to keep making it because it’s a temptation that many who fall into—and that is, to turn this into an end-time, prophecy-type discussion.
• I say to you, the primary purpose of Paul in this passage is not to predict but to pastor.
• In fact, [it’s] not just in this passage of the end times, [and] not just in the next passage, 5:1–11, but even in 2 Thessalonians.
• All three of these extended end-time discussions end with the same concern of Paul, [to comfort] his readers.
• So I know that these words of hope can be words of hope for you.
• And so as you perhaps have already been thinking, in the midst of our study of this passage, about someone you love who has already died, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will work together with His Word in such a way that, through your tears, you’re not grieving like the rest of men, but you’re a person who grieves with hope.

May God comfort you with this hope of the gospel.[13]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 177). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 177). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 177). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 177). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, pp. 136–137). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, p. 137). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[7] Merriam-Webster, I. (1996). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate thesaurus. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
[8] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 4:9–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Weima, J. A. D. (2020). NT350 Book Study: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.