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James Chapter 4

  • James Chapter 4 discusses why we should live by the wisdom of God rather than the ways of the world.

Discussion:

  • God doesn’t want our sacrifice, He wants our heart.
  • Focusing on the sin is missing the mark.
    • The tragedy of habitual sin is not the issue – it’s the mindset that enables us to commit this sin.
    • This is what is meant by “our behaviors follow our desires”. If we make our desire to be aligned with God’s will then we will be less likely to commit sin (avoiding the mindset that enables us to commit sin).
  • This is the key behind Matthew 7
    • Matthew 7 is about Christ saying “I didn’t know you” to people who were performing good works in Christ’s name.
    • We need to focus on building a relationship with Christ, not just avoiding sin.
    • We avoid sin because it would damage our relationship with Christ.
    • Example: how do you show your wife that you love her?
      • Not spending any time with her yet telling her you didn’t cheat on her. Is this really showing her how much you love her?
      • This is the same as building a relationship with Jesus.

Notes from Vince Miller’s video on James 4:

  • Why don’t men change?
    • if pain or incentives are high enough men WILL change
  • There are plenty of Christian men who want a change – this chapter shows how we can change through2 essential actions:
    1. Pursue new desires (our desires determine our direction)
    2. Bring our desires under the will of God
  • People want to stop something (cursing, smoking) or start something (reading the Bible and praying daily, working out daily)
    • permanently redirect your desires and the behavior will follow
  • Submit yourselves to God and the devil will flee from you.
    • sin is fought with the supernatural activity of submission to God
    • submission is resistance, leading to the changes you want
  • Bring our desires under the will of God
    • we don’t know what tomorrow will bring
    • our short term desires don’t align with God’s will for us
  • We ought to say “if the Lord wills….we will do this or that”
    • We should preach to our desires frequently – proclaim God’s will to our desires
    • Focus on God’s will, not mine
    • Changing this to your focus can transform you
  • Behaviors follow desires
    • Our will should be aligned with His will for us
  • Say this phrase to yourself everyday this week: God’s will, not mine
    • This will impact your behavior and help align you with God’s will

Notes from the Revival School video on James 4:

  • James is written to a group of Jewish believers (“carnal Christians”)
  • v1-2: You will begin to wage war with each other
    • What is the source of wars among you? Not following Christ’s teachings.
    • We fight with others because we’re too focused on ourselves and we always want more
    • Keep your eyes on Christ so you will not be waging war with one another
    • John MacArthur: differences among believers is usually related to materialism
    • John 2:15-16 tells us not to love the world or things that belong to the world because none of it is from the Father
  • v3: You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives
    • We ask for things that are focused on our own desires
    • We’re praying for the wrong things – we should be prying for God’s goodwill for our lives
    • Many times God doesn’t respond because it’s not going to benefit our relationship with the Lord
    • God is not obligated to answer our prayers at all
    • Anytime we seek to further our own interests (material things) we’re asking for the wrong reasons
  • v4-10: Waging war with God
    • Friendship with the world is hostility towards God
    • Maybe we’re spending too much time on social media than spending that time with the Lord
    • Example: The Steelers do not have cheerleaders but they do have a band
      • This is because the Steelers don’t want anything to distract their players and fans from the game
    • Beware the world, the flesh, and the devil
      • The Holy Spirit wants to move in our lives but we need to ignore our old nature
    • God is jealous for His people
    • God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble
      • The enemy is constantly trying to distract us with things in this world
    • Proverbs 16:18 – Pride goes before a fall (destruction)
    • The Israelites were seeking success, taking their eyes off God – they were trying to control their environment, not allowing God to intervene.
  • John MacArthur defines ten steps to follow if you’re feeling the weight of society: below are some of them:
    • Submit to God (resist the devil)
    • Surrender everything about yourself
    • Draw near to God and He will closer to you
    • When you have a relationship with God you will not want to continue in your old ways
      • He will cleanse your hands
      • He will purify your hearts
    • Lament
    • Mourn
    • Weep
    • Grieve without laughter
    • Humble yourself
  • When you recognize the sinful nature of your life it should bother you because it’s getting in the way of your relationship with the Lord
  • v10: Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you
    • When you go through this process of leaving your old life behind and giving it all to God only then will he exalt you.
  • When you give it to the Lord Christ will set you free of your sins
  • v11-12: self-exaltation
  • v17: It is a sin for the person who knows what to do but doesn’t do it


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James Chapter 3

  • Words and wisdom are the focus of Chapter 3.
  • The tongue is unbelievably powerful, and it cannot be fully controlled.
    • A person who could perfectly control his or her speech 100 percent of the time would have already arrived at full control of every aspect of the entire body, and their entire life.
    • The tongue is small nut has a lot of control – much like a bit in a horse’s mouth, the rudder on a ship, or a spark that ignites a forest fire.
    • James calls the tongue a fire that sets the whole course of our lives on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. James says the tongue is a restless, unstable evil, full of fatal poison.
    • Speaking both blessings and curses with the same tongue is normal behavior for sinful humans.
  • James also discusses wisdom.
    • Wisdom is as wisdom does.
      • In chapter 2 James explained that what a person does is a strong indication of what they actually believe.
      • In this chapter, James says wise people lead lives full of good works done in the humility of wisdom.
      • Wisdom always requires humility (see Proverbs 11:2).
      • Worldly wisdom is a mindset that tells us to look at what other people have, decide what we want (bitter envy) and then make a plan to get it for yourself (selfish ambition). Success, according to the world, is getting what you want in life.
      • Believing in such a worldview leads to disorder, chaos, and evil.
      • Because we trust God to provide what we need, we can let go of envy and selfish ambition. We can lead lives of peace, gentleness, reasonableness, kindness, and more. We can help plant peace and help bring in the harvest of righteousness.

Group Discussion:

  • The group was a bit distracted by current events before we watched the video. We spent some time discussing economic issues and Trump/Harris’ plans to improve the economy.
  • “What comes out of you is what’s in you” – this is a very sobering thought if I consider the number of times I’ve used bad language due to road rage or some other issue.

Notes from the Revival School video on James 3:

  • James 1 is on patience and perseverance, James 2 is on practicing the truth, James 3 is on controlling your speech.
  • Verse 1 discusses how not many should be teachers because teachers will be judged more harshly if they cannot live out what they are teaching (see Hebrews 5:12).
  • Verse 2 admits we all stumble in many ways.
    • James says if we do not stumble we are considered a mature man able to control our entire body. This is, unfortunately, impossible. There was only one perfect man: Jesus Christ.
  • Verses 3-5 use analogies to explain the impact something small like the tongue can direct or destroy our lives:
    • a bit in a horse’s mouth
    • a rudder on a boat
    • a spark in a forest fire
    • Example: On October 8, 1871: a small barn fire grew large enough to destroy most of the city of Chicago.
  • In Verse 6 James writes that the tongue is a fire which pollutes the whole body, set on fire by hell.
    • It can spread destruction rapidly, much like a fire, ruining everything.
  • James writes that no man can tame the tongue – it is a restless evil filled with deadly poison. We can only control this through God.
  • In Verse 9 James writes that the tongue also has the power to delight (speak life)
  • Verse 10 is a favorite of mine: praising and cursing comes out of the same mouth – surely this isn’t right!
  • Verse 11 provides an analogy: a springs does not pour out both sweet and bitter water from the same opening.
    • If we are believers in Jesus we should sound like it. We should not be cursing.
    • This ties into what James was writing about in Chapter 2: if we truly love Jesus we should demonstrate it through our actions.
  • We ask for wisdom to help us get through the trials and tribulations of life.
  • As James wrote, if we are believers in Jesus we should sound like it. Speak life to others.


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In a recent MIT experiment, three student teams were asked to write software code in Fortran, a programming language none of them knew. The results were pretty interesting:

The team using ChatGPT finished the fastest
The team using a specific AI coding assistant (Code Llama) came in second
The team using just Google search finished last, breaking down the task into comp`onents and solving it the old-fashioned way.

However, when tested on their ability to recall the solutions from memory, the situation was reversed. The ChatGPT team remembered nothing and failed, while half of the Code Llama team passed, and every student in the Google Search team succeeded.

The conclusion from this experiment is simple: there is no substitute for hard work Don’t just rely on AI tools; learn to code, crash, debug, and repeat.

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I believe there are several vulnerabilities in our election process and there are several obvious solutions. Unfortunately, neither party is interested in fixing the obvious issues, making it patently obvious (to me) that the system is designed to be gamed and both sides are gaming it.
I don’t believe this is a partisan issue.

Here are some ideas for fixing the obvious vulnerabilities in our voting system:

  1. Voting day should be a national holiday – no one should have to work on election day. This allows everyone to go in person to vote.
  2. Voting should be done in person on paper with proof of Id/US citizenship. If you need to vote remotely it should be done in advance so that there will be time to tally remote ballots in time for the actual election day. There is no late or last minute remote voting permitted. If you can’t vote by the deadline then you missed your chance to vote.
  3. Anyone needing to vote remotely must have a valid reason for doing so such as being stationed overseas in the military or being physically disabled and unable to attend a vote in person. Those who claim to be physically disabled will have to provide certified evidence/documentation of their disablement.
  4. All voting places will have at least 2 observers, representing the interests of each party. The observers would have full access to the entire voting process from end to end, from the ballots used to the actual tallying process.
  5. Voting ballots from each voting location will be preserved until the election has been certified as valid by both associated observers.
  6. Registering to vote requires showing an ID that proved citizenship. Non-citizens are not permitted to vote.
  7. The format and wording of the ballots will be identical across all states. If ballots need to be translated into other languages these translations will be observed and approved by the observers. The wording and structure of the ballots will be approved by both parties at least a month in advance of election day. Printing and delivery of ballots needs to be completed at least 2 weeks prior to election day. Voting locations will have the ability to print out additional ballots if needed in front of the observers if they run out of ballots. The ballots will be in a protected format, preventing them from being modified prior to printing. The number of times additional ballots are printed will be tracked and a justification for printing additional ballots must be provided and approved by the observers.
  8. Each voting location is required to make their final tallys available by the end of the day, preferably by the end of the business day. Any additional auditing will be done and observed by both parties. Any questionable ballots will be reviewed and approved by both observers. Any ballots that cannot be agreed upon will be discarded – if it’s not abundantly clear who the voter was voting for the ballot should not be counted.

These are some very simple steps to take and would remove much of the fraud that, in my opinion, continues to happen in each election. Of course none of these things will happen and we will continue to limp along with the existing system we have in place.

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Resources

James Chapter 2

  • In Chapter 1, James compared the absurdity of hearing the Word, then ignoring it, to a man looking at his face in a mirror and then immediately forgetting what he looks like. In chapter 2, James urges readers not to show favoritism or partiality.
  • This Chapter includes the controversial view that it is not enough to simply have “belief” in God. James says any religious “faith” which doesn’t result in good works is a dead faith. Some think this is a contradiction to the teachings of Paul who taught that faith alone results in salvation.
    • James clarifies that “faith” that cannot save is nothing more than an intellectual belief – one who claims to have faith in Christ but doesn’t behave like a Christian will not be saved. True faith saves, but it also results in works.
    • Paul emphasizes the “cause,” which is trusting faith while James emphasizes the “effect,” which is good works. James stresses that so-called-“faith”, which is merely mental agreement and does not produce good and loving works and is not a genuine, saving faith.
    • James summarizes this with the explicit comparison to a dead body. A body which exhibits no spirit or breath is not alive. In the same way, a “faith”—in this case, meaning “intellectual belief”—with no resulting works is also dead.
  • Paul teaches that we are saved by faith alone, but James clarifies that the faith that saves is never alone—works always accompany it.

Group Discussion:

  • Understanding the relationship between faith and works in James 2 and Ephesians 2 can be challenging, but it’s important to see how they complement rather than contradict each other.
    • Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB) states:
      “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”
    • James 2:24 (CSB) says:
      “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
  • Here’s how these passages work together:
    • Context and Audience:
      • Ephesians 2: Paul is addressing believers who might think they can earn salvation through their own efforts. He emphasizes that salvation is a gift from God, received through faith, not something we can achieve by our works.
      • James 2: James is speaking to those who claim to have faith but show no evidence of it in their actions. He stresses that genuine faith will naturally produce good works.
    • Purpose of Faith and Works:
      • Paul: Focus is on salvation. He clarifies that we are saved by grace through faith alone, not by our works. This ensures that no one can boast about earning their salvation.
      • James: Emphasis is on the evidence of salvation. He argues that true faith will be demonstrated through actions. If someone claims to have faith but has no works, their faith is dead and useless2.
    • Complementary Teachings:
      • Paul and James do not contradict each other, but address different issues.
        • Paul is concerned with how we are saved (by grace through faith)
        • James is concerned with what true faith looks like (it produces good works).

Notes from the Video: James for Men Bible Study Guide

  • Based on Vince Miller’s James for Men Bible Study Guide
  • The evidence of inconsistency
  • Do not play favorites in the church
  • We sometimes may favor a rich man over a poor man – favoritism implies rewards
  • We want to be rewarded by those we favor
    • This is a form of cronyism
  • James is concerned about cronyism and favoritism in the church
    • 2:6-7 – the rich are the ones who oppress you
    • the payoff for favoritism is falsehood and oppression
  • Consistent problem of sin
    • We consistently act with sin by playing favorites
    • Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point fails the whole law
    • Sin applies to all – rich and poor. This means everyone is in need of God’s mercy
    • We defeat sin with consistent faith
    • Even demons believe in God and they shudder about it.
    • Abraham had the ultimate faith in God and was willing to sacrifice his son over it.
      • Abraham’s offering of Isaac is an example of a consistent faith
  • We are justified by works and not by faith alone.
    • Faith + ACTION enables the world to witness your faith.
    • Sadly, we are INCONSISTENT with whom we bring the Gospel to
    • We eradicate INCONSISTENCIES with a CONSISTENT faith
    • Consistent faith is infused with action
    • Our consistent works evidence consistent faith
  • How to build consistency:
    • Recall the law of sin
    • Live out your belief
    • Let your consistency be a witness for God in this world
    • Be a CONSISTENT man of God
  • How can you be more consistent?

Notes from the Revival School video on James 2:

  • Do not show favoritism – share the gospel with EVERYONE!
    • be careful not to favor the rich or those you know when sharing the gospel
  • 4 Reasons why we should not play favorites
    • God has accepted many poor people as His own
    • the rich often persecute Christians (this is still happening today)
    • playing favorites violates Jesus’ law of love
    • God will judge those who violate the law of love
  • God wants us to be rich in faith, not in material things
  • The rich frequently blaspheme the “noble name” that was pronounced over you as a believer in Christ
  • Keep the royal law: love your neighbor as yourself – both the rich and the poor
  • If you show favoritism you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors
    • Whoever keeps the entire law yet fails in one area fails the entire law
      • The whole law is an expression of God’s will for His people
      • show love to all – then mercy will triumph
  • Speak and act as those who will be judged by God’s law – this is more important than worrying about what the world thinks of you
    • Act like you are God’s children, not in this world
  • Martin Luther broke away from the Catholic church and said we are saved through faith alone
    • Martin Luther called the book of James “an epistle full of straw”
    • Martin Luther disagreed with what James wrote about works
  • We fully believe we are saved through faith alone – but not to the point of removing James from the Bible
    • James is going after those who claim they don’t need to do good deeds because they already have faith
  • If you have faith works naturally flows out of it
    • faith and works are not enemies
      • true faith and righteous works go hand in hand
      • faith motivates good works
      • good works brings people to the faith
  • Faith is the cause, Works is the effect
    • This means faith without works is dead by itself
  • Even demons believe and shudder at the diety of Christ (see Mark 3)
    • while they believe they obviously aren’t doing good works
  • Your faith gives you the desire to do good works (share the gospel)
    • if you aren’t working and walking out your faith how real is it?
    • see Matthew 7:23
  • You are living out your faith if you are doing good works
  • We’re saved by faith alone – but you gotta do something with that faith

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Resources

About James

  • The book of James is about specifically understanding what saving faith looks like. How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believer’s life? What choices does real trust in God lead us to make? Those are the questions James answers.
  • It’s important to note that James is writing to people who already believe in Christ as their Savior. This ensures we are reading the Book of James in the proper context.
  • Most scholars believe the writer was Jesus’ half-brother, a son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus’ birth.
  • James may not have come to believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Eventually, though, he became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem.
  • This is possibly the earliest-written of all the New Testament books, around AD 40–50. James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered around the known world.

James Chapter 1

  • The first chapter in the book of James sets the course for the rest of his letter to Christians worldwide.
  • God wants us to trust Him more, and more deeply, as we learn more of Him.
  • This is so important to God that He calls on us to find joy, even in hard times, because hardship helps us trust God more. Those who really trust God will ask Him for wisdom, will be excited about their status in eternity, will recognize Him as the source of all good in their lives, and will work to act on what they find in His Word.

Video: James for Men Bible Study Guide

Reflection:

  • What’s a trial you’ve had to endure lately?
  • How are you handling this?
  • What could you do to improve how you are handing
    this?
  • What is God teaching you through it?

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Resources

  • Romans overview (video): Part 1, Part 2
  • Romans is structured as follows:
    • Books 1-4: Revealing God’s Righteousness
    • Books 5-8: Creating a New Humanity
    • Books 9-11: Fulfilling God’s Promise to Israel (Past/Present/Future)
    • Books 12-16: Unifying the Church

Romans 15: Unifying the Church – Love in Unity Without Judgment

Context

  • Many decisions in the Christian life don’t come with absolute, yes-or-no, one-size-fits-all answers.
    • On major issues, God’s Word is clear. But on less important subjects, Christians might find it necessary to agree to disagree. How to live out that kind of unity is the focus of Paul’s comments in Romans 14.
    • Some actions are clearly right such as setting ourselves aside in love and service to others and be in submission to human authorities.
    • Other things are clearly wrong, such as sexual immorality, jealousy, and drunkenness.
    • Some practices not clearly right or wrong for all people.
    • The debate on right vs wrong is based on some of the rules and restrictions of the law of Moses.
  • Christ’s followers were freed from following some of Moses’ rules, but doubts lingered.
    • Is it right or wrong now to eat meat that might not be kosher according to the law?
    • Is it right or wrong now to observe special days like Jewish festivals and the Sabbath?
  • Paul divides the church into two groups based on their response to such questions:
    • Those who follow Christ are free to eat and drink anything.
    • Believers who are “weak” in their faith may not feel comfortable eating or drinking whatever they want, thinking it’s still wrong for Christians to eat non-kosher meat (Romans 14:1–2).
    • Paul calls these concerned believers “weak in faith,” and instructs those who strong in their faith to help those who are weak.
    • Neither group should pass judgment on the other. God has welcomes both groups into His family.
  • A key component of Paul’s teaching is that we must not judge each other.
    • Judgment is coming for Christians when Christ will examine all our works. He will determine which of our deeds were worthwhile and which were worthless.
    • Though our salvation in Christ is secure, each of us must give an account of ourselves to God for how we spent our days. We will not be judged according to the preferences of other believers (Romans 14:10–12).
  • The group of “stronger” Christians must not brag about their strength. These stronger Christians must set aside their freedom to promote peace, unity, and building up the church.
  • Having the “freedom” to do something does not make that action acceptable in all times and places. It’s better to not do anything that causes another Christian to stumble.
  • A strong Christian’s first priority should be to avoid tripping up someone who is weaker in his or her faith.
    • If someone believes something is unclean—meaning their conscience cannot agree to partake in it—then it really is unclean for them, individually. To violate their conscience in that case is a sin. (Romans 14:13–24).
  • “Weaker” faith Christians don’t have the authority to put their restrictions on other believers (1 Corinthians 10:29–30; 1 Timothy 4:4).
    • Just because something is a sin to you does not make it a sin for all other Christians.
    • Anyone who violates their conscience in unclear matters is committing a sin.
  • All Christians should keep disagreements about non-essential convictions and practices between themselves and God.

Notes from the video

  • When mature believers have a conflict with immature believers you will have a threat to church unity.
  • Mature Gentiles understand idols are not gods and could eat the meat that had been offered to the idols. The weaker believers refused to eat meat that had been offered to the idols even though they knew the idols were not gods.
    • A more modern example: some Christians will still watch R-rated films.
  • Verse 1: we should accept anyone who is weak in the faith
    • We must not judge someone who is weaker in the faith.
    • Example: some people smoke outside the church before going in for the service.
    • Example:Romans 12 talks about gifts. A new person in faith may not accept these gifts because they think the gifts are “weird”.
  • Verse 2: being picky about what to eat
    • A mature faith can eat anything,
  • Verse 3: Those with strong faith must not look down on those with weaker faith.
    • Example: Someone who doesn’t drink must not judge (condemn) someone who does.
  • Verse 4: God will sustain each one of us.
  • Verse 5: The day you worship is an individual choice – no day is better than any other day.
  • Verse 8-9: If we live, we live for the Lord. Whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.  Christ rules over the dead and the living.
    • He died to free us from sin and to enslave us to Him.
    • We gave up ourselves for His glory.
  • Verse 10: Why do you look down upon your brother?
    • One day we will have to give an account of ourselves to God. We will be judged.
    • God knows and sees everything. We cannot hide anything from Him.
  • Verse 11: Every knee will bow to the Lord and every tongue will give praise to God.
    • This references Isaiah 45:23, Isaiah 49:18, and Revelation 20:11-15
  • Verse 12: Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
  • Verse 13: Since God is the ultimate authority His judgment is final.
    • We should edify one another – don’t criticize one another
    • 1 Corinthians 8:9 – be careful you don’t create a stumbling block to those with weaker faith
  • Verse 14: Nothing is unclean in and of itself – what we do with it is what makes it bad
    • Some may think things are still unclean – we need to respect this
  • Verse 15: If your brother is hurt by something you do in front of them, don’t do it
    • Example: Someone loves candy and is on a fast – do not tease them by eating candy in front of them
  • Verse 17: The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, not restricting things we drink or eat
    • Peace: a loving tranquility only produced by the Holy Spirit
    • Joy: a consistent attitude of praise and thanksgiving
    • Eating and drinking is an immature perspective
  • Verse 18: You will see unity when you focus on righteousness, peace, and joy
  • Verse 19-20: Focus on what brings peace and builds up one another. Don’t tear each other down over things unrelated to righteousness, peace, and joy – this is putting stumbling blocks in your brother’s path.
  • Verse 23: Everything that is not from a conviction is sin.

Group Discussion

  • Many people use the actions of others to divide the church.
    • Some people think it’s sinful not to use the KJV translation. When you talk to these people you should reference KJV to avoid creating a stumbling block for them,
    • Some people will not consume alcohol – don’t drink around them.
  • Discussion of Verse 14: Nothing is unclean in and of itself – what we do with it is what makes it bad
    • Wine is consumed in church but some drink wine in excess outside of church to get drunk
    • When where and how is what creates the sin
    • If I read the Bible at work instead of doing my job this is a sin
  • Verse 23: Everything that is not from a conviction is sin.
    • Example: some people think playing cards is bad. If these people were to play cards then that is a sin since it goes against their conviction.
    • If you feel guilty about doing something then you are likely violating one of your convictions (even if it’s not a sin to God) and you shouldn’t be doing it.

 

 

 

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Resources

  • Romans overview (video): Part 1, Part 2
  • Romans is structured as follows:
    • Books 1-4: Revealing God’s Righteousness
    • Books 5-8: Creating a New Humanity
    • Books 9-11: Fulfilling God’s Promise to Israel (Past/Present/Future)
    • Books 12-16: Unifying the Church

Romans 14: Unifying the Church – Love in Unity Without Judgment

Context

  • Many decisions in the Christian life don’t come with absolute, yes-or-no, one-size-fits-all answers.
    • On major issues, God’s Word is clear. But on less important subjects, Christians might find it necessary to agree to disagree. How to live out that kind of unity is the focus of Paul’s comments in Romans 14.
    • Some actions are clearly right such as setting ourselves aside in love and service to others and be in submission to human authorities.
    • Other things are clearly wrong, such as sexual immorality, jealousy, and drunkenness.
    • Some practices not clearly right or wrong for all people.
    • The debate on right vs wrong is based on some of the rules and restrictions of the law of Moses.
  • Christ’s followers were freed from following some of Moses’ rules, but doubts lingered.
    • Is it right or wrong now to eat meat that might not be kosher according to the law?
    • Is it right or wrong now to observe special days like Jewish festivals and the Sabbath?
  • Paul divides the church into two groups based on their response to such questions:
    • Those who follow Christ are free to eat and drink anything.
    • Believers who are “weak” in their faith may not feel comfortable eating or drinking whatever they want, thinking it’s still wrong for Christians to eat non-kosher meat (Romans 14:1–2).
    • Paul calls these concerned believers “weak in faith,” and instructs those who strong in their faith to help those who are weak.
    • Neither group should pass judgment on the other. God has welcomes both groups into His family.
  • A key component of Paul’s teaching is that we must not judge each other.
    • Judgment is coming for Christians when Christ will examine all our works. He will determine which of our deeds were worthwhile and which were worthless.
    • Though our salvation in Christ is secure, each of us must give an account of ourselves to God for how we spent our days. We will not be judged according to the preferences of other believers (Romans 14:10–12).
  • The group of “stronger” Christians must not brag about their strength. These stronger Christians must set aside their freedom to promote peace, unity, and building up the church.
  • Having the “freedom” to do something does not make that action acceptable in all times and places. It’s better to not do anything that causes another Christian to stumble.
  • A strong Christian’s first priority should be to avoid tripping up someone who is weaker in his or her faith.
    • If someone believes something is unclean—meaning their conscience cannot agree to partake in it—then it really is unclean for them, individually. To violate their conscience in that case is a sin. (Romans 14:13–24).
  • “Weaker” faith Christians don’t have the authority to put their restrictions on other believers (1 Corinthians 10:29–30; 1 Timothy 4:4).
    • Just because something is a sin to you does not make it a sin for all other Christians.
    • Anyone who violates their conscience in unclear matters is committing a sin.
  • All Christians should keep disagreements about non-essential convictions and practices between themselves and God.

Notes from the video

  • When mature believers have a conflict with immature believers you will have a threat to church unity.
  • Mature Gentiles understand idols are not gods and could eat the meat that had been offered to the idols. The weaker believers refused to eat meat that had been offered to the idols even though they knew the idols were not gods.
    • A more modern example: some Christians will still watch R-rated films.
  • Verse 1: we should accept anyone who is weak in the faith
    • We must not judge someone who is weaker in the faith.
    • Example: some people smoke outside the church before going in for the service.
    • Example:Romans 12 talks about gifts. A new person in faith may not accept these gifts because they think the gifts are “weird”.
  • Verse 2: being picky about what to eat
    • A mature faith can eat anything,
  • Verse 3: Those with strong faith must not look down on those with weaker faith.
    • Example: Someone who doesn’t drink must not judge (condemn) someone who does.
  • Verse 4: God will sustain each one of us.
  • Verse 5: The day you worship is an individual choice – no day is better than any other day.
  • Verse 8-9: If we live, we live for the Lord. Whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.  Christ rules over the dead and the living.
    • He died to free us from sin and to enslave us to Him.
    • We gave up ourselves for His glory.
  • Verse 10: Why do you look down upon your brother?
    • One day we will have to give an account of ourselves to God. We will be judged.
    • God knows and sees everything. We cannot hide anything from Him.
  • Verse 11: Every knee will bow to the Lord and every tongue will give praise to God.
    • This references Isaiah 45:23, Isaiah 49:18, and Revelation 20:11-15
  • Verse 12: Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
  • Verse 13: Since God is the ultimate authority His judgment is final.
    • We should edify one another – don’t criticize one another
    • 1 Corinthians 8:9 – be careful you don’t create a stumbling block to those with weaker faith
  • Verse 14: Nothing is unclean in and of itself – what we do with it is what makes it bad
    • Some may think things are still unclean – we need to respect this
  • Verse 15: If your brother is hurt by something you do in front of them, don’t do it
    • Example: Someone loves candy and is on a fast – do not tease them by eating candy in front of them
  • Verse 17: The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, not restricting things we drink or eat
    • Peace: a loving tranquility only produced by the Holy Spirit
    • Joy: a consistent attitude of praise and thanksgiving
    • Eating and drinking is an immature perspective
  • Verse 18: You will see unity when you focus on righteousness, peace, and joy
  • Verse 19-20: Focus on what brings peace and builds up one another. Don’t tear each other down over things unrelated to righteousness, peace, and joy – this is putting stumbling blocks in your brother’s path.
  • Verse 23: Everything that is not from a conviction is sin.

Group Discussion

  • Many people use the actions of others to divide the church.
    • Some people think it’s sinful not to use the KJV translation. When you talk to these people you should reference KJV to avoid creating a stumbling block for them,
    • Some people will not consume alcohol – don’t drink around them.
  • Discussion of Verse 14: Nothing is unclean in and of itself – what we do with it is what makes it bad
    • Wine is consumed in church but some drink wine in excess outside of church to get drunk
    • When where and how is what creates the sin
    • If I read the Bible at work instead of doing my job this is a sin
  • Verse 23: Everything that is not from a conviction is sin.
    • Example: some people think playing cards is bad. If these people were to play cards then that is a sin since it goes against their conviction.
    • If you feel guilty about doing something then you are likely violating one of your convictions (even if it’s not a sin to God) and you shouldn’t be doing it.

 

 

 

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Resources

  • Romans overview (video): Part 1, Part 2
  • Romans is structured as follows:
    • Books 1-4: Revealing God’s Righteousness
    • Books 5-8: Creating a New Humanity
    • Books 9-11: Fulfilling God’s Promise to Israel (Past/Present/Future)
    • Books 12-16: Unifying the Church

Romans 13: Unifying the Church

Context

  • Romans 13 covers three important points:
    • God puts every human authority in place to serve His purposes. This means Christians must submit to them
    • We must love our neighbors as ourselves.
    • We are called to live as people of the light and throw off works of darkness (drunkenness, sexual immorality, and jealousy).
  • Christians are to submit to earthly authorities because God put them there. To improperly resist authority, then, is to resist God (Romans 13:1–2).
  • I thought this seemed to contradict other parts of the Bible:
    • midwives who wouldn’t kill babies in defiance of the law (Exodus)
    • Daniel kneeling down in front of a window and praying in defiance of the law
    • Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego won’t bow down to the golden statue despite the king telling them to do so
    • In Acts 5:29 Peter says we must obey God rather than any human authority.
  • Does Romans 13:1–7 mean civil disobedience is always wrong for Christians? Why would Paul write this?
    • Paul knew Caesar was going to read his letter and he wanted to make sure the ruling authorities in Rome would know Christians are not anarchists.
    • Here is some helpful guidance from John Piper.
      • “Don’t get your back up so easily, because being wronged by a government sends nobody to hell, but being rebellious and angry and bitter and spiteful does send people to hell. And so it is a much greater evil for you to be rebellious than of the government to mistreat you.“
  • Christians are called to have a submissive spirit and follow leadership but this is not absolute.
  • God defines the limits of leaders and when these limits violate scripture, we are to follow God, not man.

Notes and Discussion

  • Once you put your faith in Christ you are justified – one and done.
  • How do we interact with our government?
    • the word of God tells us what we’re supposed to do
  • God is the ultimate authority, regardless of what country or government you live under
    • Followers and leaders are accountable to God
    • The ones who resist authority are in opposition to God’s command
      • This means we shouldn’t disrespect our government leaders even if we disagree with them politically.
      • The scripture says if we oppose authority judgment will come upon us.
  • God uses government to carry out His good purposes on earth.
    • Some governments persecute those who do good. Typically the law breakers have a problem, not the law-abiding citizens.
  • Government is God’s servant for your good.
    • If you go against the government they can punish you.
    • Government is God’s servant. This applies no matter who is in office.
    • If the government wants you to do things that go against the scriptures you might be punished by the government since God is the ultimate authority, not government.
  • Obedience is a matter of inner convictions as well as external law.
  • As believers we serve the highest of all authorities: God Himself.
  • Christians are called to have a submissive spirit and follow leadership but this is not absolute.
  • God defines the limits of leaders and when these limits are violated or government laws violate scripture, we are to follow God, not man. 
  • We seemed to focus mostly on the first of the three points that Romans 13 covers. We must not forget the other two points:
    • Love our neighbors as ourselves.
    • We must live as people of the light and throw off works of darkness (drunkenness, sexual immorality, and jealousy).