Bible Study - God Is Merciful Part 2
Here are the notes for the Bible Study on "God Is Merciful 2". Click here to download the audio file.
Chris
Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ (NKJV)
Luke 8:9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’ (NKJV)
Mark 4:10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, (NKJV)
The mystery of the Kingdom of God belongs to those who hang around the Lord, those who have developed a taste for His Word, the things of God, and are always eager to know more. Many turned up to see Jesus, get His healing, hear a few words, but only DISCIPLES hung around and pressed in.
Matthew 13:9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (NKJV)
- Our Great Salvation: Romans 5
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
We have BEEN justified by faith. We HAVE peace with God through Jesus. SO MANY are trying to find peace with God. We HAVE it.
Simply come to Him for peace. No need to get your ducks in line before you do. Jesus is the bath – no need to get clean before the bath.
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
John 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: (NKJV)
Beyond having peace with God and knowing that we are not going to hell, we have access by faith into this grace. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, the same glory that God the Father gave to Jesus which He gave to us (John 17:22). The rich goodness of God, all His blessings.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
This is like what James said in James 1:2. The perseverance is of faith to access His grace.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (NKJV)
Testing of our faith creates patience, not testing of patience creating faith.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
When we know God’s love, we will have faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. And it won’t disappoint!
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is how we know that He first loved us. Not that we love Him. (1 John 4:10)
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
We shall be saved from wrath, regardless of what we do. Salvation goes into future sins as well!
Reconciled by His death, saved (sozo) by His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (NKJV)
For this we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The word translates into “Bragging”. We have bragging rights.
Jump to 15
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
Much more – grace of one man overcame the offense for many
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Jesus has given us the grace to reign in life!
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NKJV)
Grace abounds more than sin! Grace reigns, makes us righteous, gives us eternal life!
- Called to a Higher Life – Romans 6
Romans 6: 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Paul knew this was coming up…
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
We can walk in the Zoe life of God - our minds need to be renewed to know the How Much More, the fullness of God in us.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Without the Spirit in us, we are just Soul and Flesh and will always sin. (Eph 4:17)
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
We are freed from sin and its effects. Our consciousness should not be on sin any longer. Death has no dominion over us, regardless of what we do!
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)
Sin and its effects have no dominion over us. We ought to consider ourselves as such.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Sin CAN reign in our mortal bodies – it is up to us!
Unlike 2 part people, sin DOES NOT have the right to reign over us. We have a choice. They don’t.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? (NKJV)
Sin won’t change your standing with God but sin WILL lead to death still. You smoke, you die earlier. You overeat, you get overweight. Sin will have consequences. Sin kills. Sin destroys.
John 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (NKJV)
Sin destroys. It doesn’t mean that anyone who is unwell has sinned, but sin can open a door to it.
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
We don’t have to do what the flesh says anymore. We have a choice. We are *slaves* to righteousness. Righteousness won’t let us go anymore! What a great thought!
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
Where did living as a slave to sin get you? Nowhere! Only to death!
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)
Galatians 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (NKJV)
- The Take Away
•God in His mercy has made us as righteous as Himself through Christ, to reign
•No choice in the past, as slaves to sin
•Now slaves to righteousness, all sins forgiven
•Sin no longer has dominion over us
•We choose – sin = death, righteousness = Zoe life
•We are called to a higher life – choose life!
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