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A Response to a Good Friend

This is a deeply heartfelt response to a friend of mine who chooses to believe that being "good" and "doing the right thing" is enough to inherit eternal relationship with God, and that any faith, whether focused on Jesus or not, permits one to enter into that same relationship.

"Brother, these points are definitely interesting, but they leave much to be desired. My idea is that our existence, without God, is no existence at all. If God exists as a personal, loving and perfect God, which He must according to the concept of man being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), then He must desire a relationship with us. Does desire mean that God needs a relationship with us? Of course not. God is self-sustaining which means that God needs nothing to exist. This is best described in Exodus 3:14, 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” I AM has the direct implication that “nothing was before Me and nothing is after Me because I not only sustain myself, but I exist infinitely”. If God is perfect and can see nothing but perfection, how is it that a human, being sinful and full of evil (Genesis 3), could relate to the perfection that is God​? Surely we could do nothing to please God. There are no amount of good deeds and/or good works that could bring us close to a perfect God that has no wrong and no evil. If God has a standard of perfection, how do we think that we as humans could attain that by trying to do good things on earth? For us to come into a relationship with God must mean that God had to bring us to Himself… reconciliation (John 12:32). A completely perfect being cannot make an imperfect decision. If God chose to redeem us, then that must be a perfect, and good, decision. And God, being perfect, must also be just and punish evil. For God cannot be perfect and accept evil.

I am also confused by when you say,”I cannot and will not allow myself the bounty of freedom and “grace” while I know people who are much better people and more deserving but will not accept this same ideal for whatever reason.”I am confused by this because you are still currently sitting in that position, Jesus or not. Your belief is that if people are following God in any way (religion), then they are going to be close to the Lord and inherit eternal life. But, what about those that do not believe in God? They are sitting in the exact same position, based on your presuppositions, as the person that does not receive Christ for whatever reason. I know some atheists that are much moral, better people than I am.

But Jesus isn’t about who is a better person. The dude was perfect; He was God. It isn’t about who on earth is better, it is about who knows that they aren’t as good as the God. Receiving Jesus is not about receiving a man, it is about receiving the God who decided to give himself up, coming down as a man, as a punishment for the dumb things that we do. We all do things that go against the perfection, as stated above, that is God. God’s character, as I know you believe, lacks sin. Sin (wrong doing that violates the objective moral standard of God) has no place in his presence, in his character, no where. How can we, being full of this, enter into his presence? God must have chosen to do that himself, and he did... through sending Christ, who is God Himself, to earth as a our intermediary. Jesus came so that he could relate to us better, so that we could see what it is truly like to be God, and so that he could call us His brothers, His children. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%202:5-18&version=NIV (this is Hebrews 2:5-18). Please read it and please focus on verses 14-18.

Jesus is only special because Jesus was God. If God exists and is all powerful, like we all believe, what on earth would stop him from taking a part of himself, making it man, and providing that man as a substitute for ourselves? That is what God did. That is how God is merciful. That is how we know God is faithful and how we know He loves us.

What we need to realize is that we have to take a step, just like with your belief. You believe that someone must believe in God to be in contact with God and therefore saved. I believe that someone must simply acknowledge that they are unworthy of being in the perfect presence of God, that they cannot work to get to God, and that they believe that God has provided a solution to that, a solution through himself, through Jesus the Christ who gave his life up and suffered the extreme punishment that we truly deserve."

The Problem with Worship Services

This is something that I have been burdened about for many years, and, after working several months on this, have finally finished part 1 of this text. It is controversial, but controversial with reason. Please, read and see the Scriptures for yourself. Jesus in Mark 12:38-44 gives us a picture which contrasts the flashy "religious practices" of the Scribes who claim to love, serve, and worship God with a widow who sacrificially gives everything that she has (the equivalent of between $.91 and $1.91). Jesus commends the widow and condemns the Scribes, even though it would seem to everyone at the time as if the Scribes were the ones whose lives were radically devoted to serving their God (read the passage, everyone besides Jesus believed this). As we begin to further understand what it is that God really desires from us, we will begin to see the blessing(s) of God in full force when others are confessing His name "in the thousands."

"The Problem with Worship Services"

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4RCh1zg35hoRjB0RndHX1JJTk0/edit

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Bible Teaching Outlines

Here are some Bible teaching outlines from Bible studies I have taught recently:

Colossians 4 "Open doors"

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4RCh1zg35hoZGY0ZTk5YzUtODdjYi00YWRiLWIyYWUtNDYwZDlkMjc2MjA0&hl=en_US

Philippians 4 "Content in All Circumstances"

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4RCh1zg35hoMzJlZmMwZGItMmFmYi00OWJmLWFiNWQtMDBjYzljOTUzZmZm&hl=en_US

Mark 5 "Faith"

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4RCh1zg35hoOTJkMmFlNzAtZjMzYS00MTkxLTk3MjEtNGMwOTMwNmJiOWMz&hl=en_US

Mark 12 "True vs. Fake Devotion"

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4RCh1zg35hoekxST1g1czlGN2M/edit

"Evolution vs. Christianity: Where the Conflict Truly Lies"

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4RCh1zg35hoOGxPUnZmbEsyNTg/edit

2 Corinthians 1 "Divine Comfort and A Change of Plans"

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4RCh1zg35hoNnlrbGdvV1FMZEU/edit
                 - Chronology of Events Between 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians Outline
                                  - https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4RCh1zg35hoTTZmSEJvQ0kyaDQ/edit

The Moral Argument for the Existence of God

This is one of the most influential philosophical arguments for the existence of God. As I have been reflecting on this argument, I have realized just how strong and logically airtight it really is. How an argument like this works is that if all of the premises are true, then the conclusion logically has to follow. What that means is that if we can provide evidence for Premise 1 being true and evidence for Premise 2 being true, then the conclusion will be true no matter what. But before actually going into this argument, there are a few things that need to be clarified:

1) When we talk about objective we are talking about something that is not influenced by personal feelings, opinions, interpretations, or prejudices but based on unbiased facts.

2) This argument does not deal with how one comes to know about morality or how one comes to act on moral values and duties but rather it focuses on the reality of objective moral values and duties. What is implied is not that those who don't believe in God have no ability to be moral. I know many who do not believe in God who have a far superior moral code than some who believe in God. Again, the question is not whether we can recognize objective moral values and duties without believing in God. (Craig) What we are dealing with here is that living as a naturalist (one who believes that the physical, natural, world is all that there is. Also referred to as atheism) gives absolutely no basis for objective moral values and duties.

3) When this argument refers to God it is talking about the universal definition of God; the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe (Webster's Dictionary)

So now that some shaky issues have been clarified, the argument is as follows:

Premise 1- If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.

Premise 2- Objective Moral values and duties exist.

Conclusion- Therefore, God exists.

What is striking about this argument is that the Bible was the first to proclaim it even before guys like William Lane Craig laid out the argument logically (in terms of Philosophy).

¹⁴ Indeed, when [those that do not know God], who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them. (Emphasis added, New International Version)

Romans 2:14-15 (see above) clearly show us that "the law" (which simply means God's moral code and standard of perfection according to the definition of His character) is written on the consciences and hearts of human beings, even if they have never seen or read a Bible in their life.

Premise 1- Some of you might be asking yourselves right now why in the world would it be true that If God does not exist, then objective moral values and duties do not exist? One would ask this with good reason as it seems to just make an absurd claim right off the bat! But what is the alternative option to the existence of God? Naturalism. Under naturalism there is no place for the Spiritual or Supernatural, no place for the existence of God. What this presents us with is one option; that human beings were created in the very same way that plants and animals were created, from natural occurrences. Naturalism states that around 4 billion years ago, highly energetic chemistry produced a self-replicating model that eventually led to all life on planet Earth.

But naturalism poses one major problem to the idea of morality; if we are simply relatively advanced primates, how is it that we can claim objective moral values and duties exist? Who is to say that something is really right or wrong, good or evil? Under this assumption, we are simply natural beings (animals) living in a natural world that is controlled by natural phenomena. Now, let's think about this for a moment. When a lion kills a zebra, does it murder the zebra? Absolutely not! It would be absurd to say that! When an animal has forcible intercourse with another animal, is it raping that other animal? In no way! What is thus concluded is what human beings already concede to, animals are not moral agents. Our problem lies in that very statement, if we are simply animals then we are not moral agents and thus have absolutely no foundation to say that anything is truly right or wrong, good or evil. As an advanced animal, one can perceive something as right or wrong, but this gives us absolutely no basis to tell someone else that what they are doing is wrong, especially if they perceive what you told them is wrong as right!

Premise 2- This directly follows Premise 1. We all know internally that there are things that are wrong, things that are evil, things that are good. No one in their right mind would say that the priests who rape young boys are simply doing what natural law has inclined them to do thus not being evil. We know internally that this is an act of evil, that this is rape, and that this is objectively wrong. Most, if not all, will concede to premise 2 based on the way that they live their lives.

Conclusion- Since premise 1 and premise 2 and true, the conclusion that God exists logically and inescapably follows. It is internally inconsistent to live as if there is a God, but claim that there is not. The very idea that one can claim, through their actions and words, that objective morality exists yet deny the existence of God (based on this argument) absolutely betrays their very belief system. They are living as if there is a God but denying his very existence! What a contradiction!

It is reassuring to know that our God had this very thing in mind from the day that he created the universe. He preserved it in order that we, as intellectual beings, could discover it, process it and use it. God says in 1 Peter 3:15 that we should "always have a defense ready for the hope that you have in Christ." Well, here is one for our arsenal!

Note: This argument can be read about further in On Guard and Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig. Much of this material is derived from his work.

1 Kings 8

The image of God that is relayed through scripture is a God who personally interacts with the people of this world and interjects in history repeatedly. This is something that we tend to forget more than any one other thing in our day to day lives. Talking to God seems to elude our thoughts. And surely asking God to guide our actions is impractical and inefficient. As Solomon spoke with the Lord and asked for wisdom and guidance, God gave it to him. In 1 Kings 8 Solomon recalls just how incredible it was to see the glory of God played out in his life even though he, and everyone else, sins against God daily. The personal interaction between Solomon and his God became something that Solomon felt he needed to share with the world; he needed to express to all people the opportunity that they have to enjoy the same personal interaction with the same gloriously gracious God.

1 Kings 8:46 reminds New Testament readers of Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. . ." Solomon understood one of the basic theological tenets of God; not a single person gets away with claiming that they have not sinned. Solomon says that "there is no man who does not sin."

As the chapter continues, v. 47-50 reveal the second part of Romans 3:23 ". . .but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus." Solomon writes that when people sin, or do anything that is outside of the character of God (which is to say, perfection), they are taken away to the land of the enemy and held captive. The enemy in this case is everything that is the opposite of God and His character. They are held captive by their own flesh and sin, by others who are buying into a life separated from God and also by God's literal enemy: Satan. But Solomon does not stop there, he continues on to say that if those who have been placed in captivity, where every one of us is before coming to know the Lord, take thought of why they are in captivity and turn back to God and say "we need your help, we aren't perfect and could never do anything that would bring us even remotely close to being perfect like you" then God will forgive and restore them. Forgive them of what? Because God is perfect and we are not, we need to be restored to perfection to be able to relate to Him. Any imperfection is sin. For God to forgive us is for God to restore us. Solomon says that God will not only forgive their transgression, but he will also change their character to allow them to have compassion on those that are still in captivity and compassion on those who are leading others to captivity. This is the same way with us, we not only get the blessing of being forgiven and restored, we also get to be refined in such a way that makes us one step closer to living out our new identity; perfect persons.

Solomon, in verse 56 praises God (remember, this is a prayer) for being immutable and never failing to do what He has promised. Solomon understands that when God promises something, like that He will forgive those that incline their hearts towards Him, He holds to that. Directly after this in verse 58 Solomon shows us that it is impossible for us to incline our own hearts towards God. To incline our hearts towards God means to live out faith in God. In this prayer, He is asking God to help us incline our hearts towards Him; a confession that states that Solomon could not do it himself. This reminds us of Jeremiah 17:9 where it says "The heart is deceitful above all else . . .no man can heal the heart." It is God who heals the sick and darkened heart, not us. We are absolutely incapable of doing this on our own. This reminds us of the words of Paul, "You are saved by faith, not by works", and of John "To as many as received [Christ] He gave the right to become Children of God." It is God who saves us and

Many claim that the Old Testament is full of books that never show the gracious God who forgives through faith and not through works. 1 Kings 8 throws that theory out the window. The God of the Old Testament, the God of Solomon, is the same God that sent His only son to be the propitiation for our sin. We have it much easier than Solomon did, but God never changed His strategy. The law was put in place to show us how far we fall short of God's glory, not to show us what we must do to be a redeemed sinner. Solomon understood that and Jesus preached that.

To have a personal interaction with God means that we need to come before god with a broken and contrite heart that is willing to throw itself at His feet and ask for help. Our prayer should be that God will help us love Him better. Our prayer should be that God will help us continually come before Him with an attitude of dependence and not independence. Our prayer should be full of thankfulness that even though we were enemies of God, Christ died for us. Solomon knew that even though he and his people were enemies of God, they still needed God's compassion, mercy and love to supply them with the ability to love Him and turn back to Him.

Jesus Christ is the complete representation of God's compassion, love and mercy. Solomon saw these truths radiating from the throne, we see these truths beaten and hung on a cross.

He died so that those in captivity could be set free.

1 Peter 5:1-5

Here is an outline of my teaching from 1 Peter 5:1-5 about Elders and Shepherding:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4RCh1zg35hoZWExZmJiNGQtMmYzNS00ZWM3LTljMDMtYWU1MDAxMmI5NWY0&hl=en_US

God, Libertarian Free Will, and Determinism

This is a paper that I wrote in response to Book V in Boethius' book Consolations of Philosophy. This is also a breakdown of three (3) distinct characteristics of two worldviews; naturalism and theism. What I argue is that true, libertarian, free will can only be experienced and enjoyed by having an understanding of the foundations for that belief. I also argue that naturalism provides no foundation for libertarian free will.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4RCh1zg35hoNDNhYTkzMWMtNWE4NS00Y2U2LTlmYzAtZjk2Y2M5MjIwZjFi&hl=en_US

Our situation; God's Resolution

Romans 3:23

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We have fallen short of how good God is. Not a single one of us is able to reach God on our own by doing anything that is so called "good." We have all fallen short of the glorious standard of goodness that God has set by being the definition of what goodness is. You murder? You have sinned. You steal? You have sinned? You have thought wrongly about someone? You have sinned. With God there is no "greater" sin than another in terms of salvation; sin is sin.

Romans 6:23

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Because we have acted wrongly, sinned, we are paid a wage and that wage is death. We see death every single day, but this death is more than the physical body. This death is the spiritual death, the separation from God Himself. We see this because sin is simply turning away from God and the way we were meant to live in His image. When humanity turned away from God they introduced death and sin into the human race. God took a risk by giving humanity free-will, but He knew that it was worth it to make beings that could choose for themselves and not be programmed like robots.

Romans 5:8

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God knew that free will was risky, and God never designed us to fall from His perfect love and grace, but we fell and we fell hard. But God loved humanity so much (John 3:16) That he was willing to take our punishment of death upon Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Because our wage is death, and we must die because of sin, Christ's death applies to that very concept.

Romans 10:9-13

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Because Jesus Christ, who was God, died and because we choose to put our lives and faith in Jesus Christ, we no longer have to suffer that complete spiritual death because Christ suffered it in our place. The Bible says that we are placed into Christ's body (figuratively) when we decide to follow what Romans 10:9-10 say above. When Jesus was hanging on the cross on the day of His crucifixion, God separated Himself from Jesus and allowed all of the sin and wrong doing of the entire world to be put upon Jesus; Jesus went to the Hell that we deserved because He, God, loved us that much to take it upon Himself. No matter how great you think your sin is, or how small you think your sin is, this salvation is for everyone and this message applies to everyone.

Romans 5:1

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Since we are now in Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled back to God. We are no longer separated from God due to our sin because Jesus nailed our sin to His cross when we place our faith in Him (Colossians 2:14). We cannot be justified by doing good works and we cannot have peace with God by trying to show Him that we are "good." This justification and peace with God come only through faith in Christ.

Romans 8:1

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

No matter what sin you commit after placing your faith in Christ, you will no longer be seen as separated from God. You are sealed in Christ (Ephesians 1) forever and there is no longer any punishment for the sin that you commit in regards to your salvation. Once saved, forever saved.

Romans 8:38-39

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The love that we can experience by placing our faith in the king of all kings and Lord of all Lords, Jesus Christ, is unimaginable. The greatest things of this world, and even the greatest things of the worlds that we cannot see, have absolutely no authority over how much Christ loves us and how much love He will continue to show us now that we have placed our faith in Him. By grace we have been saved and by grace God will shower us with His love and many blessings. Even though our physical bodies will die, we will continue to live on in new bodies as who we are here. Our identity still remains, but it becomes perfected. Not even death can separate us from continual life with God through Christ. You will be perfected, while still having a knowledge of everything on earth that happened in your lifetime, and live with God in the new Earth for all of eternity.

I urge you, if you have not made this decision to place your faith in Jesus Christ, consider what it is that God is offering you at this very moment. Consider what it means to throw away religion and grab on totruly knowing God by relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

You don't have to wait, you can make this decision anywhere you are, at home, in bed, on the phone, anywhere. Just tell God that you have fallen short of His standard and that there are no amount of good things you can do to get to Him. Tell Him that you believe that Jesus Christ died and rose so that He could pay for your wrongdoing and so that you could be with Him forever in eternal communion with God.

Reasonable Belief in the Bible?

How we are supposed to reasonably know that the Bible is what it claims to be (the true Word of God)?

I start first by saying that we must use inductive reasoning, the idea that we cannot PROVE a conclusion but we can have highly probable support for a conclusion (same as used in science; but our conclusion here is that the Bible is the inspired Word of God), to decide whether or not something is truly what it claims to be.

I will give a brief summary of a few reasons that give credit to the Bible being accurate.

The Bible, like many other Holy books, claims to be the "Word (s) of God."

Now, what do we do with this information?

What we must do is look at the evidence that gives credit to the source being truly what it says it is. First, we will start with the historical evidence. The Bible is the most accurate historical book in all of creation. Don't believe me? Then you should do the research on your own and you will find out that it is. All of the historical kings, geographic locations, detail given to precise architectures (see: Pool at Bethesda John 5:1-2), etc. correlate with history exactly as we know it without ever reading the Bible. You believe that Alexander the Great was who he was because of what the history books tell you. The interesting thought about this is the fact that we don't have nearly the amount of ancient documents about Alexander the Great as we do with the Bible (roughly 5,000 ancient texts). No other Holy book is this historically accurate. In fact, most other holy books are full of contradictions, scientific errors, and historical inaccuracies (I exhort you to look into this also). This is the first step in adding credit to a source, does the belief correspond to the facts.

The second thing we can look at is what the Bible claims about itself. The bible claims that in it there are predictive prophecies that have come true. The idea of predictive prophecy is that God, before the event ever happened, said that some event would come to pass. The bible is unlike any other holy book in this area. There are countless predictive prophecies that have come to pass in actual history! We can look to these to give credit to the Bible as well. I urge you to see below, as I will give two predictive prophecies that have come to be true in history.

The first is in the Old Testament, the book of Daniel chapter 9 verses 20-27 (Daniel 9:20-27) (see the link attached)

http://kylebarrington.blogspot.com/2010/12/daniel-9.html

The second I will explain right here; in Ezekiel 37, a book written thousands of years ago, God, through Ezekiel, predicted an event that actually occurred within this past century. Chapter 37 gives this metaphor of dry bones coming together after being completely broken apart in a valley; bones were scattered everywhere. At the end of the prophecy, God explains to Ezekiel that this prophecy was the regathering of the nation of Israel into its homeland.

In 1948 Israel regathered as a nation in their homeland of Jerusalem under the cultural and religious distinction of the Jews. Never has this been seen in all of history; a nation dispersed completely across the entire world that came back to its homeland, its home city, and became once again unified together under the same cultural and religious background in which it was founded. The bible predicted this thousands of years before it came to pass. People thought this was absurd, that this was some sort of fluke in scripture, the supposed "Word of God." When it came to pass in 1948, the prophecy that the bible claims to be written by God Himself actually was fulfilled (see: history). No other holy book has ever had prophecies that have come true like these two. Never in all of humanity has anyone been able to predict the future exactly like the God of the Bible.

This evidence gives us a probability that the Bible is what it claims to be more than any other holy book, actually any other book, in existence.

This is what converted me from atheism to a believer in the most glorious thing that exists, the one true God.

* For further reading on this topic (belief in God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ) see; The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig, Reason for God by Tim Keller, Christianity: The Faith that Makes Sense by Dennis McCallum.

1 Thessalonians 2 Commentary

- Vs. 1-2 Paul, Silas and Timothy went to the church in Thessalonica.

o Their visit did bear fruit

o They were persecuted in Philippi and most likely timid about sharing the gospel with the Thessalonians, as implied in verse 2, but with the help of God they still went out and preached the gospel, even though they were being persecuted.

- Vs. 3 the gospel is not false and is not being shared with them because Paul, Silas and Timothy want some sort of personal gain.

o Along with this, they aren’t trying to speak in a way that would trick the Thessalonians to believe something that they didn’t want to believe and that, ultimately, was false.

- Vs. 4-6 Paul is showing here what authority he calls upon to be able to speak such an offensive message. He says that their authority is from God because God chose (or approved) them for this work

o They are sharing this message knowing that the God of the universe is watching over them.

o They don’t speak in such a way that men would be pleased, for this message is not based around the wants of man, but rather the needs of man. This pleases God because, as stated above, God has entrusted this task to these three.

o They were not trying to seek personal gain with monetary things here either. As Paul would have known, a noble goal is usually preached when someone wants some sort of monetary gain from someone else. This was not what Paul, Silas and Timothy were doing.

o They were also refraining from demanding from the Thessalonians. Paul’s love and acceptance came from Christ and when he went to the Thessalonians he went to give out, not to receive.

o As an apostle, he could have asked for money, food, water, etc. but they did not do that.

- Vs. 7-9 The three did not come to take, as stated above, but to give out. They did this by being gentle among the Thessalonians. They cared for and loved the Thessalonians so much that they spent their time ministering and working so that they could live among the Thessalonians. In verse 6 Paul says “even though we could have asserted our authority,” what he is talking about here is explained by verse 9, they could have asked for money and all of the material essentials, but because they loved the Thessalonians so much they chose to work for everything themselves and not ask for anything.

o This was difficult for the three, they considered this hardship.

- Vs. 10-12 Just like a father and son relationship, Paul loved, cared for, encouraged and showed the Thessalonians what it is like to live a life that is truly devoted to Jesus.

o There seems to be an implication of one on one mentoring here in verse 11.

o The life that Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians to live is not based on something material, but based on the gift that the believers in Thessalonica have received; they are called into His kingdom and His glory.

- Vs. 13 The three are praying for the Thessalonians; continually thanking God for how they understood that they weren’t preaching a message that mere man made up, but one that the God of the universe has spoken and called them out to preach.

o The Word of God that was spoken to the Thessalonians did not come to them without power, but it is actually at work inside of those who have believed. As Paul writes in Philippians 1:6 “And He, who began a good work in you, will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

- Vs. 14-16 The church in Thessalonica truly began living their lives for Christ and His kingdom. They not only received the Word, but they began acting on what is called on them to do by that very same Word.

o They suffered at the hands of their own people, but continued to persevere.

o They looked to those who were truly living out their faith, the churches in Judea, and became imitators of them. This is similar to what Paul said in chapter 1 when he said that you have “become imitators of us.” As they became imitators of true Christian churches they became imitators of Jesus Christ himself, as we should be according to Philippians 2:5

o Those who persecuted the true believers in Judea are not right with God and are not only waging conflict with the believers, but with everyone so that they could somehow try to stop the gospel from being preached. The churches in Judea suffered persecution from the Jews; their own people who killed Christ. The Thessalonians have undergone the same type of persecution

o The ones persecuting the Thessalonians and the churches in Judea similarly, have caused great distress among the people. Nothing displeases God more than to see the gospel being hindered and the salvation of souls being halted by a road block.

- Vs. 17-20 Paul, Silas, and Timothy wanted to come back to see the Thessalonians, but they were separated from them. Although they were separate, Paul writes that the Thessalonians were still in his thoughts and that the three longed to see the Thessalonians. Paul even attempted many times to go see them.

o Couldn’t make it to see them because Satan blocked his way.

§ Paul was a great leader and could have offered a lot of insight to the Thessalonians and, as we see in ch.3, he could have strengthened their faith if it was necessary.

§ This relates contextually to Paul talking about how he was afraid that the Thessalonians had been carried away by the tempter (Satan) (ch. 3:1-5)

· Paul was most likely afraid that Satan was blocking his way so that he (Satan) could overtake the Thessalonians through temptation

o The church in Thessalonica is what will be Paul’s glory in the time of Christ’s coming.

§ Material things do not matter; what matters are the souls who are saved and offer themselves as living and holy sacrifices to Christ.

· These things are eternal; and Paul, Silas and Timothy are directly linked to this church because they started it. This will be part of their reward in heaven

1 Thessalonians Notes

- Written to the church at Thessalonica

- They are believers as denoted in v. 1

- Written by Paul, Silas (Silvanus), and Timothy

- Vs. 1 is Paul’s typical introduction to his letters

- Vs. 2-3 is a commendation of the members of the church in Thessalonica. Paul, Silas (Silvanus), and Timothy are in prayer for this church, and thanking God for what an awesome church that their hope (confident assurance) in Jesus Christ has brought about

o They are thanking God for the work done in the church

o Going through some sort of persecution as denoted by the word “endurance.”

- Vs. 4-5 the phrase “brothers and sisters” refers to believers, members of God’s family by adoption through Jesus Christ.

o They are loved by God.

o God has “chosen them.” IE. They have become part of God’s adopted family and Paul knows this because of how the gospel has shown fruit in their lives; the Holy Spirit and Conviction.

o The gospel wasn’t simply spoken and then brushed off, but really stuck with them and bore major fruit in their lives.

o Paul, Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy lived with the Thessalonians in order to help them; for your sake.

- Vs. 6 Paul, Silas (Silvanus), and Timothy’s actions led the Thessalonians to become imitators of the way they lived their lives. Paul, Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy’s lives were given to the Lord and they were imitators of Jesus Christ; this led the Thessalonians to become imitators of Christ because Paul was imitating Christ and they were imitating Paul’s lifestyle.

o Major suffering in their midst, but they welcomed the gospel with joy that was given by the Holy Spirit.

- Vs. 7-8 The Thessalonians have become a model church for the rest of the believers across the world. The Macedonians and those in Achaia looked to the church in Thessalonica so they could become imitators of them.

o The way the church in Thessalonica integrated the gospel with the help of the Holy Spirit was spread everywhere. The implication is that believers, and most likely non believers, were talking about how awesome this church was all across the world.

o Paul, Silas (Silvanus), and Timothy feel no need to say anything about their church.

- Vs. 9- 10 Those across the world that have heard the goodness of the church in Thessalonica openly speak about it everywhere, therefore Paul felt no need to say anything about their church because it is already being made known across the world

o Thessalonians were once in a pit of idol worship, but they turned from that to belief in the One True God once the gospel was preached. This is what people are talking about in Macedonia, Achaia and all across the world.

o They are waiting for Jesus’ 2^nd coming. They know that Jesus was the Christ because of His being raised from the dead.

o Jesus is going to rescue them from God’s judgment (wrath) and the Thessalonians are awaiting that rescue, just as Paul is.

The Death of Christ

(I am going to be adding more to this later)

Today I received a very interesting question; did Jesus actually die? This is a really good question! Some say that Jesus the Christ was a God and that He was not killed, but rather He moved on from this life to be with the father God. I would like to make a case that Jesus of Nazareth was actually hung on a cross in A.D. 33.

Actually, there is really good historical evidence for the death of Jesus. Yes, He is God. There are three parts to the Godhead and Jesus is one of those parts. We see a secular historian writing in A.D. 115 named Tacitus who talks of Jesus "the Christ" and that he "suffered the extreme penalty" for his teaching (ie. crucifixion). We also have writings from Josephus, a Jewish Historian who wrote in 70 A.D. In the book entitled "The works of Flavius Josephus, the learned and authentic Jewish historian and celebrated warrior, Volume 4" William Whiston writes, "Josephus describes Jesus as a teacher and miracle worker, attracting a large following who revered him after his death. These are accounts that are outside of the biblical text. These historians strengthen what the bible writes, thus showing the truth and accuracy of the text. Jesus had to die for humanity to be redeemed. God requires a blood sacrifice for anyone that is not as perfect as He is; we fall into that category. In the old testament, animal sacrifice was used as a symbol, an image, of our wrong doing being placed on a pure and unblemished animal. The animal sacrifice did not actually bring us into relationship with God, it was a symbol.

But God had a plan from the beginning of time. In Genesis 3:15, the passage called "the fall of man", God promises that through woman's offspring, wrong doing will be taken care of and forgiven. This womans offspring is referring to the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our redeemer. The only way that we could be in relationship with God is through blood sacrifice, and Jesus gave Himself up on a cross for the wrong doing of every single person in this world. Jesus took the punishment that we deserve upon Himself. This was God's choice, God knew that we were unable to work our way to Him. He knew that we couldn't do it, so He came down himself and took the punishment. Because of His perfect character, we are separated from Him. And because of His perfect character and free gift that he offers to us, we can regain the relationship that the deepest depths of our inner being desires.

Romans 10:9-10 "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

Fearless Missionary

How imperfect we are as human beings. How sinful our very nature, to its core, is. The filth that comes rushing out of our mouths is like an infinite waterfall. The sludge that fills our minds is like a septic tank that cannot be emptied. Our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

But does this stop Jesus from asking us to fulfill His purpose on Earth? Does this stop Jesus from opening His arms and giving out blessings to every filthy rag in existence? By no means. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ we have been given a gift that is beyond anything else in this world. That gift is summed up in one word, grace.

Grace is the free undeserved gift of God presented to you; you cannot earn it and you cannot be good enough for it. You can only receive it with a thankful heart.

This is an essential truth that the apostle Paul understood better than most people ever will. In Acts 26 Paul appeals to King Agrippa and lays out his life as a religious leader, in the strictest sect of Judaism; the Pharisees, and how he was confronted by Jesus on the way to Damascus (to persecute Christians there!). This confrontation between Jesus and Paul led to Paul's conversion to Christianity. This is what he is being persecuted and brought before the courts for in Acts 25-26.

What I want to draw attention to is Acts 26:27-29;

"King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do."

Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."

And Paul said, "I [pray] to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains."

Paul, deemed missionary by Jesus Christ himself, presents the gospel to King Agrippa. This is incredible seeing as Paul is supposed to be giving a defense for himself as to why he should not be killed! Paul persecuted the Christians harshly, Paul watched and organized the stoning of Stephen (the first martyr), Paul made it his life goal to kill the Christians and wipe out the name of Jesus completely, but Paul knew greater than anyone the kind of grace that he had received; he knew how much he had been forgiven. Paul's prayer is that the King would come to know Jesus, and everyone else who is listening to his words. We need to learn from this! We need to look at Paul's example; a fearless missionary. He knew that the gospel contained power, he knew what he had been forgiven and how incredible it was to be able to take part in that gift.

How on Earth can we sit here, being someone who has received this gift from Jesus, and keep it to ourselves?!?! This is selfish! We must go out into all of the world and share with them the incredible gift that Jesus offers! We cannot be afraid that man will hate us, we cannot be afraid that we might look stupid in the eyes of someone else, we must realize that the gospel contains power and that we are not acting on our own accord, but Christ with us (Matthew 28:20, Romans 1:16).

I want to leave this post with a quote from Charles Spurgeon, a fearless preacher of Christ.

"On the other side of Agrippa sat Festus - a man's man, a no-nonsense man, a man who thought Paul was crazy. Perhaps Agrippa thought, "I can't become a Christian! Festus will think I'm crazy too!" And because he wanted the praise of men, he rejected Jesus. "Alas, how many are influenced by fear of men! Oh, you cowards, will you be damned out of fear? Will you sooner let your souls perish than show your manhood by telling a poor mortal that you defy his scorn? Dare you not follow the right through all men in the world should call you to do the wrong? Oh, you cowards! You cowards! How you deserve to perish who have not enough soul to call your souls your own, but cower down before the sneers of fools!"