What I Consider 5 Things People Must Understand About the Gospel!

Hi there friends!

If you are a Christian you have probably been told you need to share your faith with other people, and that is true! If you are like me that may be a difficult thing to do. It may not be natural for you, but we are all called to do it. The Gospel is incredibly simple and incredibly complicated all at the same time. How complicated is that?! I want people to know what it is I am talking about so here are the 5 things I really want them to take away:

Who is God? – It is important to know who God is because we need to understand how perfect and holy He is! He is the only answer to our shortcomings!

• Omniscient (He knows everything)
• Psalm 147:5 – Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.
• Omnipotent (The Lord is all powerful)
• Job 42:2 – I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
• Omnipresent (He is everywhere)
• Psalm 139:7-12 – Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
• Unchanging
• Malachi 3:6a – I the Lord do not change.
• Holy
• Psalm 99:9 – Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
• Gracious, Righteous, Compassionate
• Psalm 166:5 – The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
• Love
• 1 John 4:16 – And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
• For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. – John 3:16

What is man?

• Made in God’s image
• Genesis 1:27 – And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
• Originally did not know sin
• Genesis 2:25 – And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
• Made to worship the Lord

o      Colossians 1:16 – For in Him all tings were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Fall - Enter in Sin

• Eve, and then Adam, ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge and sin entered into mankind. This led to the rest of mankind being born into sin. We no longer can be with God like Adam and Eve were in the garden because God is so perfect and holy we need something to atone for our sins.
• Genesis 3
• Because we are sinners, we cannot be in the presence of God. The wages of our sin is death.
• Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
• Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus Christ’ Death/Resurrection

• In order to create a way for us to be able to walk with God, He sent His own Son to atone for our sins.
• Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• Jesus was tempted in every way but never sinned. Because of this, He was the perfect and complete sacrifice. He died on a cross and His death took the place of our own.
• Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
• Jesus rose from the dead after three days. This shows that the debt of all sin has been paid in full.
• 1^st Corinthians 15:56-57 – The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Choice

• Finally, the Lord gave us the choice whether to take the gift of salvation or not. We not have to confess Him as our Lord. However, if we do not there is nothing to bridge the gap between His holiness and our imperfection and we will be forever separated from Him. The scripture is very clear that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him, then you will be saved.
• Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

If you are going to tell somebody about the Gospel, make sure you know what you believe and that what you are teaching is accurate! I encourage you to sit down and decide what you think people absolutely must come away with from the Gospel. Don’t forget that people may need one point to understand another. For instance, I believe that people must understand the seriousness of their sin and the perfection of God before they could ever understand the awesomeness of His gift of salvation and how badly we need it!

Love you all!

Logan

The Real Catholic Church

Alrighty folks... this blog post is set up as teaching notes. I am going to be talking about the Catholic Church. As you will read below this does not mean the Catholic religion but the Universal church. This era occurred from 70-312 AD.

Enjoy!

Introduction:

• The age of catholic Christianity fascinated me because of how efficient and how effective the spread of the Gospel was. In a time where you could only travel as fast as your camel would move, it is amazing how far it spread in such a short time.
• It is important to note that the term catholic does not refer to the Catholic religion but the root word “universal”.
• At this time there were not denominations but instead one belief about Christ. There were no major disputes at this time.

The Flame of Evangelism

• By the 300’s, evidence shows there were over 30,000 Christians in Rome.
• The Gospel left Jerusalem mainly because of the amount of persecution that was occurring there.
• Apostles were flogged and thrown in prison
• Stephen became the first martyr by preaching about how God did not only reside in the Jewish temple. This made the Jews so angry they stoned him.
• In Acts 10, we see that Antioch became the first town with a multi cultural church.
• Antioch was also the launch point for many missions done by Paul.

There were six main reasons for the explosion of the Gospel during this period.

1. Believers were so excited about what happened, they could not stop talking about it.

            *This convicted me because I should have that same level of excitement             about sharing Christ. They literally could not be quiet about it and I have             to force myself sometimes to talk about Him.

            *Mark 16:15 says, “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the             gospel to all creation.” – my mindset should be to tell EVERYBODY             about Christ. That could be by words or by works.

2. When people heard the Gospel, it completely transformed them.

            *This is where we see 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 really be lived out, “Therefore,             if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the             new is here!”

3. This was the first time that our God was openly available to anybody. This included men, women, children, Jew, and gentile.

            *This is another pivotal moment in the church. Without Peter’s vision in             Acts 10, the rest of the world would not have been told the Good News,             which includes me!

4. There was a lot going on politically which was leading to a crumbling nation. People were not able to take care of themselves. The Christians would take care of them. This offered solutions to people.

            *The early church obviously had an emphasis on taking care of the             helpless because one of the early leaders, James, writes “Religion that God             our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and             widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted from the             world.”

5. The world was seeing people die for a cause.

            *For the first time, there were tons of people taking persecution with joy             in their hearts.

            *As mentioned earlier, Stephen was the first Martyr but he most certainly             was not the last. All but one of the original apostles were killed for the             cause.

6. Christians loved everyone – buried the dead, rescued kids, feed the hungry, gave housing to the poor.

            *Christians did not discriminate. They accepted everybody and took care             of as many as they could. This was very attractive to most people.

Persecution

• Even though the Gospel spread quickly, there was still a lot of persecution.

•  The 10 emperors, Nero to Diocletian, made it illegal to be a Christian.
• Even though Rome worshiped many Gods, they persecuted Christians because:
• They were considered a Jewish sect
• They would not worship Roman Gods or attend Roman games
• At the Roman games they would kill foreigners and other Christians just for entertainment.
• Abhorred the practice of Infanticide
• Roman culture would lay the baby girls out by the side of the road.
• They would either die or be raised into prostitution
• Equality of man and woman
• Christians were not persecuted because they worshiped Christ; they were persecuted because they worshiped Christ alone
• Rome made up lies about Christians
•  Christians were cannibals because they ate the “body and blood” of Christ
• Called atheists (because they denied the Roman gods)
• Christians would not sacrifice to Roman Gods and were therefore blamed for droughts, famines, infertility, etc

Conclusion

• The early church was able to spread the Gospel so quickly because of their passion and zeal for Christ. They faced a ton of persecution but they persevered through it which produced completeness as it says in James 1:2,3 (Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.)

42 Kings - 9.5 Righteous and the Rest Stink

Happy Sunday friends!

This last week we have been studying the Kingdom Era of the bible. This includes the time from King Saul up until the captivity of the Jewish nations. A quick little history lesson before I really get into this...

God did not intend for His people to ever be ruled by a worldly king. However, due to the insistence of the people He allowed it. A man named Saul was anointed as King of Israel and the people rejoiced. While Saul was tall and handsome and looked the part, he did not have a heart for God. It did not take too long for God to reject him and to find a new guy for the job.

Enter in David. That name sound familiar? Well David is one of the most well known biblical characters after the big man Himself. He is the one who wrestled bears and lions. He defeated Goliath. He became the King of Israel known for being a man after God's own heart. Man, what a great tagline! David was a fantastic king minus the whole adultery and murder business he got into. But if you take that away he gets an A+!

After David dies, his sin son, Solomon takes over the family business. This is where the .5 of the righteous kings comes in. Solomon starts out all fine and dandy. He pleases God, because God tells Solomon He will give him anything he desires and Solomon asks for wisdom. Now this is a pretty Godly move by the S man. I mean let's be real here... He could have asked for wealth, power, lots of camels (I think camels were a big deal back then... something like a modern day collection of cars) but no he chose wisdom. Say what?! God was so pumped, He not only made Solomon the wisest man ever in the history of the world but the richest too. Solomon you lucky son of a gun! Now here is where Solomon's life gets a little odd. With all that wisdom he manages to still break the kings rule numero uno: DON'T COLLECT WIVES. How on earth did Solomon decide it was wise to have 700 wives and 300 concubines?! I really just don't get it! Like at all. Think about the headache that had to cause... I mean I have seen an episode of sister wives here and there and there are only 3 wives to one husband there and he seems to be in constant turmoil. Those 1000 women in his life led him to stray from God. Guess who didn't like that? You got it, God. Way to go Solomon you made the big man angry. Dumb dumb. That is why we say Solomon is half righteous... he started out all good but over time he became unrighteous.

Due to this, God ripped the kingdom from Solomon's son. He was still a king but only for 2 tribes of Israel compared to 12. This started the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, Israel and Judah respectively. This is where things get really messy. Over the 400 years of existence, these two kings only managed to have 8 good kings... 8! 8 out of 39 total kings! All of them came from Judah while Israel had 0 good kings. Come now Israel... I feel like you could have at least had one... No? Well fine. Since you were so stubborn you get to go into captivity before Judah does. Assyria come and takes over Israel and Israel never returns again (Judah becomes the modern day Israel). Since Judah was not that much better they end up in captivity as well, even though they made it a little bit longer than Israel. Babylonia comes over and sweeps up Judah. Judah gets to return after 70 years and they rebuild Jerusalem.

Okay so are you an expert on the Kingdom era now? Juuuuust kidding! That was just a quick overview of what went on. If you have time, I encourage you to really study this era. There is so much to learn and God is sovereign throughout it all.

Below I have picked a king from the United Kingdom (no not the modern UK... Israel silly) and a king from the Divided Kingdom to study. I hope you enjoy my notes about them and even more I hope it inspires you to go get into the Word yourself. That is where real learning happens! Enjoy!

Logan

David – 2^nd king of Israel. Came after Saul was disobedient and rejected by God.

• Positives:
• David is known as a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22 – After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do”.)
• Refused to kill Saul even though he was pursued by him.
• He has two blatant opportunities to but he does not because Saul was anointed by God to be king. (1^st Samuel 24, 26)
• Completes many conquests sanctioned by God
• Worships the Lord with no regard for anything else
• 2^nd Samuel 6
• Has a heart to rebuild the temple of God
• God does not allow him to because he was a man of war but he makes preparations and God allows his son to build it.
• After sinning he truly repents and comes back to God (Psalm 51, 2^nd Samuel 12:13)
• Negatives:
• Becomes lazy in faith which leads to big time sins
• At home instead of being at war where the king should be
• Commits adultery and murder
• Sees Bathsheba while he was home from war and takes her even though he knows she is married. When he finds out she’s pregnant he tries to trick her husband into sleeping with her so he would think it is his. However, Uriah has too much honor to sleep with his wife while he is suppose to be at war so David decides to have him killed in war. (2^nd Samuel 11)
• God takes away first child
• It takes Nathan the prophet to call David out on his sin in order for him to even recognize it. (2^nd Samuel 12)
• Lessons Learned:
• Worship the Lord with your whole heart.
• David did not care what other people thought when he danced out in front of the ark. Not even his wife who rebuked him for making a fool out of himself.
• Have accountability in your life.
• David did not have the huge mistakes in his life until his best friend/spiritual peer Jonathon died. When this happened he did not have somebody in his life who was around all the time to help him stay on track with God. Without any accountability he fell to temptation.
• How to repent from sin.
• David teaches us how we should not only confess our sin but repented and mourned it. After he acknowledges his sin against God he feels a deep sadness over it and seeks out God. He enters into a time of prayer where the only thing that matters to him is God’s forgiveness. With that attitude he is forgiven by God.

Hezekiah (13^th King of Judah)

• Positives:
• Did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (2 Kings 18:3)
• Removed the high places and cut down idols
• Trusted in the Lord
• Considered the greatest king of Judah (2 Kings 18:5)
• Followed the Lord’s commands
• Seeks the Lord during battle conflicts
• Negatives:
• Gave away the gold and silver of the Lord’s temple to get out of trouble (2 Kings 18:15-16)
• Showed off Israel’s storehouses in order to bolster their appearance. (2 Kings 20:12-13)
• Lessons Learned:
• Regardless of the state of your family you can be live for the Lord.
• Hezekiah had a long line of disobedient ancestors towards the Lord and his son would be known as one of the worst kings ever but Hezekiah did what he could to follow the Lord.
• He took personal responsibility!
• Only boast in the Lord, not in possessions
• Boasting in all the stuff Israel had is what got Hezekiah into trouble. This is when it is prophesized that Babylonia would take away all of their possessions.

What the Kingdom Era Taught Me About the Character of God

• God is full of mercy.
• All throughout the kingdom period you see God patiently waiting for these kings to obey Him. 31 of them do not please the Lord in their actions while only 8 do. Throughout all of this He sticks by His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Judah and does not just destroy the nation. (Let’s be real, if I had been God I would have just gotten rid of them… PTL I’m not!)
• Even when a horribly evil king like Manasseh repents as he has been captured, the Lord shows him mercy.
• Due to God’s mercy, Manasseh changes his ways and takes away the foreign gods and rebuilds the wall of the City of David.

Mawwiage, Mawwiage It's What Bwings Us Togevah Today.

In case that little title confused you... it is a movie quote from one of my all time favorite movies! The Princess Bride! Really the priest here is saying, "Marriage, Marriage it's what brings us together today" but he has a speech impediment so it comes out a little funny. So since I first saw this movie, potentially at age 7ish (I have no idea when the first time I saw this was), anytime I talk about marriage I think of that quote. Click here if you want to see the clip I'm talking about!

So as the priest says, "Mawwiage it's what bwings us togevah today". This last week, we have been studying what a Godly marriage should look like. It was a really intense week! For someone who is so far from that point in life I was able to learn a ton. A biblical marriage looks very different than what the world tells us marriage should look like. As I read what the Word had to say, there were times I had to swallow some pride as a woman. The whole submitting to your husband thing... yeah... not easy. But then there were other moments that made the hard moments easier. Yes we are suppose to submit as women but husbands are suppose to love their wife to the point of death! If they are doing that, should it not be easier to submit to them?! God is good in his will for marriage and successful marriages tend to look like what the Word says they should look like.

I made an outline about 3 different biblical marriages. There are negatives and positives about each one. Even in the Bible, there is NO perfect marriage. I also have an outline about 5 goals I want to have for my future marriage (good luck to the sucker who marries me!). This is in no way a comprehensive list but a short list. Enjoy!

Marriages of the Bible

·      Adam and Eve

o      Positives:           

§       God made woman out of man and they were one. (Genesis 2:22, Genesis 2:24)

o      Negatives:

§       Did not communicate well

·      Eve was told she could not even touch the fruit and that she would die if she did (Genesis 3:3)

·      God had told Adam just not to eat the fruit, not that he could not touch it. (Genesis 2:16,17)

§       He did not lead well

·      He was right by her when she ate the fruit and he did not stop her or say anything (Genesis 3:6)

·      Boaz and Ruth

o      Positives:

§       He pursued her right

·      Waited until it was the right time (Ruth 4:1-10)

·      Took care of her before romantically pursuing her (Ruth 2:8-9, 15-16)

§       Interested in her, not because of her beauty but because of her dedication and commitment to Naomi (Ruth 2:11-12) (Ruth 3:11)

o      Negatives:

§       Took Ruth taking action to get Boaz to act (Ruth 3:1-10)

·      Job and His wife

o      Positives:

§       When things got hard Job’s nameless wife tells Job to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9)

·      Job rebukes her and does not curse God (Job 2:10)

§       Continues to show wife how to live for God

o      Negatives:

§       Job’s wife nearly instills doubt of God into his mind.

§       He later does curse his life and I would think it had to do with the non-encouraging words of his wife. (Job 3)

Goals of Marriage

1.    Marry a person who is also a Christian

§       “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”- 2 Corinthians 6:14

2.    Honor God in marriage

§       Marriage should be a picture of how Christ loved the church

o      Wives should summit to husband like they do to Christ

§       Ephesians 5:22-24 “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

o      Husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church

§       Ephesians 5:25-28 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

§       Honor God in your family’s finances

o      Be faithful in tithing

§       Luke 16:10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”

§       Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

§       Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measure to you in return.

3.    Do not defile marriage with sexual immorality

§       Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

4.    Fulfill each other’s needs

§       Sexual needs

o      1^st Corinthians 7:3-4 “The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife o her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.

§       Man makes sure family is provided for.

o      1^st Timothy 5:8 “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

§       Woman is ultimately in charge of running the house

o      Proverbs 31:24-31 “She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

5.    Raise up Godly children

§       Proverbs 22:6 “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

§       Colossians 3:21 “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.”

Again, this is not comprehensive but just a quick list! If you have any questions of anything you think I should add I would love to hear it! 

Until next time,

Logan

Houston, We Have A Problem!

This week at we studied the tongue. Now this is not a problem anatomy wise... I did that business a few years ago... strongest muscle for its size blah blah blah (my anatomy professor would be so proud of me). No, I am talking about the main function of the tongue.. speech. Words, phrases, sentences, communication; one of the main reasons the human species has come so far! The tongue is a POWERFUL piece as to why civilization is as we know it is. Now you may be asking yourself... okay so why is this a problem as is indicated in the title of this post? Well as Uncle Ben once told us, "with great power comes great responsibility" and folks, I am not the most responsible person with my powerful tongue! Oh don't get me wrong, I am an expert with it. It is my weapon of choice (like 99% of all females in the world). I can do more damage with my tongue in 5 seconds than I could do with my fist in 100 years. This is where we have got a problem! I have always been sarcastic. I don't mean I do it here and there, always. I am more along the lines of, came out of the womb being sarcastic, always. I am pretty darn good at coming up with that quick comment that has a bite to it. Some call it a gift, but after studying what the Bible has to say about it I think it may be a curse. I never really thought my words were hurtful but after enough sarcasm it is bound to tear anybody down. In fact the greek root of the word sarcasm literally means "the tearing of flesh"... YIKES!

I am going to try to be better about my words. I need to reflect Christ in my actions and I do not think sarcasm does a great job at that! Here is what the Bible says about the tongue! (I recommend James 3 if you want to read a complete chapter about it!)

Sarcasm is destructive[i]. It is an evil act against another[ii]. We will be judged for our words[iii]. Sarcasm kills ministry[iv]. If you are able to control your tongue, you will be able to control the rest of your body[v]. Sarcasm taints praising the Lord[vi]. We should pray for control over our tongue[vii]. Our words should be wholesome[viii].

---

[i] James 3:5

So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!

James 3:8

But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

Proverbs 26:19-23

So is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, “Was I not joking?” For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body. Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross are burning lips and a wicked heart.

[ii] Jeremiah 9:8

Their  tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit; with his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, but inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

Proverbs 15:4

A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit.

[iii] Matthew 12:36-37

But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Galatians 6:7

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Matthew 7:2

For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

[iv] James 1:26

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

James 3:6

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

[v] James 3:2

For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.

James 1:4

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

[vi] James 3:9-10

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

Matthew 12:34

You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

[vii] Psalm 141: 3

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

[viii] Ephesians 4:29

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to hose who hear.

Colossians 3:8

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

Inductive Bible Study

Ok so let me just say that I will probably never post twice on the same day ever again BUT I thought I would go ahead and put this up since I was ready to!

This is an outline of how to do an inductive bible study. It is a type of bible study that digs into the history and content of the bible. It is neat and very informative!

Why Inductive Bible Study?

• The inductive bible study method takes the Word and digs out as much information as possible by examining things like:
• Context – Instead of only studying a verse or two, it is important to look before and after the passage in question. This allows the reader to understand what the author is really trying to say. If a verse is read out of context it can lead the reader to believe things that are not true.
• A common example of this is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” If you were to just read this you would think that as long as you were trying to do something “through Christ” you would be successful! I can make this free throw because I can do all things through Christ! This is not what the verse is saying! If you read the verses before this you see that Paul is speaking of how he can be content while he is suffering. He states, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Phil 4:12) He can only do this through Christ who strengthens him!  Context completely changes the meaning!
• Word Meanings – The bible was written mostly in Hebrew and Greek so many people around the world have translated versions of it. It is very difficult to directly translate these languages to others so sometime it can be very beneficial to go back to the original word to see exactly what it means in the original language.
• Historical Background – This closely ties to both context and word meanings. This bible was written thousands of years ago so unsurprisingly traditions have changed. It is important to know what would have been custom in the days or what was going on politically because it would help make sense of  what the true meaning of the text is.
• For example: In Luke 7:36-50 There is a very sinful woman who enters into a pharisee’s house where Jesus is dining and washes His feet with her perfume from her alabaster jar and her hair. Well, if you just read that it’s seems like a good story but it is not nearly as significant if you know the background of it.
• It is likely this woman could have been a prostitute so entering into a religious leaders house is pretty gutsy to begin with.
• The alabaster jars back in the day were not made in such a way you just open it up and pour out the liquid. They were made to stay in tact but the smell of the liquid would spread out like a portable air freshener. These were extremely expensive back then. It would have been a very valuable possession for this woman. She would have had to smash the jar in order to spread the liquid onto Jesus’ feet. She destroyed one of her most valuable possessions to honor Him.
• A respectable woman back in the day did not let her hair down in public, ever. In fact, if she did and she was married it would be ground for a divorce! The fact that this woman did shows her great humility and the intimacy she desired with Christ.
• This passage turned from a neat story about a woman who honored Jesus to an incredibly brave woman who risked everything and gave everything to honor her Jesus. Pretty big difference.

Knowing the Word will keep you from believing and teaching incorrect teachings.

• Studying the Word closely will keep you from believing incorrect teachings.
• Acts 17:11 “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
• Studying the Word closely will keep you from preaching incorrect teachings.
• 2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Three Major Steps of Inductive Bible Study

1.     Observation

·      Read over a few times to get the big picture of the book/chapter.

·      Ask yourself the five W’s and the H.

o      Who – Who wrote it? To who?

o      What – What was the general theme?

o      When – When was it written? What was the history of that time?

o      Where – Where is this happening?

o      Why – What is the purpose?

o      How – How is the message being delivered and in what circumstance?

·      Using some type of colored pens/pencils, mark key component/characters with a certain color. This helps you visually understand who is in the passage and what they are talking about.

·      EX: “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you gentiles – Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made know to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.” – Ephesians 3:1-3

·      All of the me’s and you’s in this passage can lead to confusion but by marking them it helps you keep them straight.

2.     Interpretation

·      This is when you studying each passage/chapter in depth. What is the text actually saying? It is a good time to use your general knowledge from your observations and add in word studies and context.

·      During this phase you look for repetition. Is there a certain phrase/word that continues to be used? If so it is noteworthy!

·      Make lists and comparisons/contrasts charts. This helps organize the information being stated. An example of making a list would be Proverbs 6:16-19.

o      “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”

o      Right there the Word lists out what God hates. It seems like an important passage to make note of!

·      An example of a contrast would be Proverbs 21:29

o      The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.

o      This verse makes the distinction of what a wicked man does what an upright man does.

·      Cross Referencing

o      Cross referencing allows you to see where the bible addresses a topic in a different location. This can help you understand a topic more fully.

o      For instance, in Genesis 14 the biblical character Melchizedek is introduced. While there is some information on him in this passage you do not understand how important he is until you read about him in other passages such as in Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:6, 6:20, 7:1-28. Here you learn he is an unusual priest in the fact that he is not a Levite nor is he a Son of Aaron. He is the same type of priest as Jesus becomes. A king, priest.

3.     Application

·      How does this apply to your life? Beliefs should affect behavior. Are your beliefs evident in your behavior? If not, what should you do to make them so? What knowledge from this passage can you use to lead a more Godly lifestyle?

What you need to do inductive bible study.

·      Bible

o      In order to study the Word of God you need the Word! If you do not have a bible of your own I would recommend the New American Standard version and if you want it for inductive bible studies they make an edition just for it. It is called The New Inductive Study Bible. This has wide margins that allow you to write notes and such. There are plenty of cross references there for you as well.

·      Colored pens/pencils

o      These help you mark the passages in whatever way helps you understand it better.

·      Notebook

o      This will be good to help you keep your thoughts straight and it provides a place for you to make lists if you don’t want them in your bible.

·      OPTIONAL: Commentary

o      A biblical commentary is a book that is written by a biblical scholar who can provide extra information and writings to help you comprehend the text. This is a great tool but it is good to study it first by yourself to try to come to your own conclusions before going off what somebody else says.

Inductive bible study is a great way to dig deeper into your bible. It takes time and effort but it is well worth it in the long run. All you need are some pens, paper, and of course the bible to do this. The real question is what is keeping you from it!

Logan