New Testament Bible Study by John Stanko

A study published regularly to help you apply the Word of God daily.

Romans Study 11: 11:6-36

Dear Student of the Word,

Wow, it has almost been two months since I have posted a Bible study from Romans! That is my longest break in 12 years!  My only excuse is my teaching schedule, which included four classes this term, three of which I had never taught before. So I finished the classes last week, and 'suddenly,' I have time to revisit this study. Forgive my absence and let's pick up where we left off, with Paul talking about his people the Jews and their relationship to God at this point in time. Paul is clear that the terms for their reconciliation to God are faith in Christ.  While that is the main topic of this week's study, here is what I had to say in part four of this seven-part study that you can download below:

Study Eleven, Part Four

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

11:22 – It is a fact that you determine how God treats you.  Now you may be confused as to whether or not that is consistent with what was written yesterday.  Yesterday I wrote that what you have is by grace; that is still true.  You can reject God’s grace, however, or have a bad attitude that affects how God relates to you.  Jesus taught:  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:6-7).

If you want God, you must hunger for Him.  If you want mercy, you must first show and sow mercy to then reap it. The Psalmist wrote:

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd (Psalm 18:24-26).

Paul wrote that God has been kind to the Gentiles, but if they wanted to remain in the covering of that kindness, they would have to continue to meet the requirements. Does this confuse you? While you cannot earn God’s grace, you can create an atmosphere and lifestyle that cultivates God’s blessings on an ongoing basis. Forget that God is the source and have a bad heart attitude and you will reap what you sow!

If you aren’t happy with some aspect of your walk with the Lord at this point in your life, (or what you are receiving from Him), then maybe you need to examine how you are approaching God and whether your attitude isn’t affecting how God is relating to you.

11:23 – The door is open for the Jews to come to God, but it can only be by faith.  There can be no other way.

11:24 – But if and when the Jews return to God, they will be grafted back into their own covenant heritage and great will be the rejoicing and the fruit!

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 11

May 06, 2013 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 10: 9-30-11:5

Dear Student of the Word,

Yes, it's been two weeks already since your last installment of Romans, and here it is, part 10 in a yet to be determined number of installments. This week we move through Romans 10, where Paul talks about, yet again, the importance of faith in the life of anyone who comes to  Christ. This must have been a huge issue on the early church, for Paul spent much time on the subject. This week I wrote in part six of this seven-part installment:

Study Ten, Part Six

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:  "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."   19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, "I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding."   20 And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me."   21 But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."  

10:17 – While I have digressed to talk about faith in general, Paul was specifically writing about faith unto salvation or saving faith in this context.  And the phrase “word of Christ” is worth our attention here.  Is this a word about Christ or are these the words that belong to Christ, so that the speaker is actually delivering the message that Christ Himself would deliver?  When you are preaching the gospel, you are standing where Jesus would stand if He were present.  Your words are not your own; they are His.  That may seem insignificant to you, but I have both a privilege and awesome responsibility in preaching the “word of Christ.”

10:18 – Paul quoted an interesting verse from Psalm 19 here:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world (Psalm 19:1-4).

This passage refers to what theologians call “general revelation.”  God’s creation gives testimony to God’s existence.  It does not outline how to reach God, but it declares that God exists.  Jews had the Law and an understanding of creation that allowed them to understand God’s existence in a way that the Gentiles could not.  Yet the Gentiles were without excuse when they did not acknowledge God, for they beheld the same marvels of creation as Jews and should have recognized that the heavens were created by an awesome God.

10:19 – Yet while Israel had the Law and general revelation, when what is called “specific revelation” about Jesus came, they rejected the truth.  Now God, in a special effort to reach the Jews, has allowed Gentiles into a covenant relationship with Himself that is meant to stir the Jews to anger and jealousy.  Hopefully at some point in history, this anger and jealousy will cause them to reach out to find God in Christ.  So far, that has not happened in significant numbers from the Jews.

10:20 – Paul then explained the words from Isaiah 65 in the context of his call to go to the Gentiles.  Paul’s mission wasn’t some response to a need Paul noticed.  Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was God’s idea and God foretold of this mission throughout the Old Testament.  The Jews thought they “owned” God.  They did not, for God was the God of all ethnic groups and now Paul was called to proclaim that truth.

10:21 – While God is patient and merciful, there is a time when He moves on and says, “Enough.”  God consistently reached out to the Jews, who rejected His overtures.  They maintained an outward appearance of righteousness and relied heavily on their heritage of what God had done for their forefathers.  In Paul’s day, God was doing something new among the Gentiles and consequently the Jews, even the Jewish believers, didn’t particularly like it.  That is why they resisted Paul.

While God is merciful, there is a day when He transitions from mercy to judgment.  And when He does that, it doesn’t make God any less merciful.  Fortunately, God is long-suffering and that day can be very far off.  You are wise, however, not to assume that it is.  Is there some sin of which you need to repent, but keep saying to yourself that you will do it tomorrow or later?  I urge you to repent and do it now, for you don’t know the boundaries of God’s mercy and patience.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 10

March 12, 2013 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 9: 9:1-29

Dear Student of the Word,

It has been one month since I sent out my last Bible study from Romans.  That is the longest period I have not sent out a study since 2001!  The main reason was my trip to Kenya with 15 others, which kept us busy day and night.  I am home, however, and finally found some time to edit this ninth study from Paul's letter to the Romans. Since I have many new subscribers to this Bible study, let me make a few comments to bring you up to speed.

I began these studies in 2001 and formerly sent them out every week. My goal was to look at four verses every day, and send them out once a week.  Thus someone could use those four verses as their daily study of the Word, and could look forward to receiving a week's supply once a week.

In 2009, I finished the entire New Testament (all 7,957 verses) using this verse-by-verse format! What a sense of accomplishment I felt at that time. I published one of the studies from Revelation, but all the studies have been available free of charge in the Archives of my website. Now I am going back to edit all my work, republishing them once or twice a month on my Bible study blog site. Today, about 3,500 people receive these studies whenever I send them out.

People over the years have told me that they use these studies regularly.  Others print them out and utilize them in small group settings or in Bible study groups.  Others sit down and read them in one sitting. I would encourage you to be creative in how you apply these studies.  The questions to help you apply the verses are always in bold, and there are plenty of cross references to help you study other parts of Scripture.

Every week I give you a sample in this box of one of the seven parts of the current entry. Then you can download the rest of the study at the bottom of this post. This week I wrote in part six of this seven-part study:

Study Nine, Part Six

22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory- 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"  

9:22 – This verse seems to present a better case for the fact that God could create and choose some to be first examples of His ongoing mercy and then objects of wrath when His patience is ignored.  But we must always be careful not to develop a doctrinal position based on a few verses.  We must look at everything the Bible says about a topic before we come to a conclusion. 

Even then, we must realize that we can never see everything there is to see about anything.  Those who claim they do are only fooling themselves.  Have you believed one thing at one point in your life only to come to understand more and change your position later in life?  If you haven’t, you will, or you are dogmatic and not open to growing in your understanding of God.  I had a friend jokingly say one time that he no longer set his doctrine in concrete.  Instead he put his doctrine up on a bulletin board.  That made it easier to take down and replace with new insight and revelation.  There is much wisdom in that.

While Paul wrote that some were objects of God’s wrath according to the purpose of God, we must also take into account what Peter wrote:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). 

Then there is the statement in Luke 7:29-30: All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John (emphasis added).

9:23-24 – We who are objects of God’s mercy tend at times to “look down” on those who are apart from the Lord.  We see ourselves as superior because we know God.  But Paul puts this issue in perspective, for God has used those vessels of wrath to show all the more how great is His love and mercy toward the vessels of mercy.  My attitude should not be one of superiority, but an attitude of humility and a desire to reach out to as many vessels of wrath as possible before it is too late.

 If you are more disposed to believe in predestination, then what you are doing about it?  You should be reaching out to “find” as many as are appointed to eternal life.  God can’t do that without you.  If you believe more in the freewill of man and less in predestination, what are you doing about it?  Are you working to find the most persuasive (not manipulative) arguments as possible to convince men and women to accept Christ and His atoning work?

9:25 – Paul had an excellent grasp of the Old Testament as one would expect a Pharisee of his stature to have.  I urge you to work hard to have a good grasp of Scripture as well.  God can’t get out of you what you don’t spend time putting in, and that involves study and memorization.  I have never known anyone to quote a Bible verse word for word as led by the Spirit unless that person first spent time memorizing that verse.  There are people who are more gifted in their insight, but all of us should grow in our familiarity and understanding of the Bible.  That is why you are reading this study right now, I presume.  I congratulate you for the effort you are putting into your studies.  I pray that God will give you even more insight and the wisdom of how to share that insight with others.

In every letter Paul wrote, he referred to his life purpose of taking the gospel to the Gentiles and he did it by showing that this was God’s plan in the Old Testament.  You have a life purpose and a verse, passage, chapter or book from the Bible that goes with it, that helps explain who God created you to be.  Do you know your purpose?  Do you know your life-defining passage? 

Remember what Paul wrote to Timothy and you will have all the understanding you will ever need on why your familiarity with Scripture is so important:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). 

I have done a Bible study like this for every book in the New Testament.  It took me about nine years to complete.  While I send these studies out to others, I am in part doing this for myself so I can learn and grow in my own understanding of God’s word.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 9

February 22, 2013 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 8: 8:9-39

Dear Student of the Word,

It's time to send you the next installment from my study of Paul's letter to the Romans. In this part, we look at most of the verses in one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament, Romans 8. Since I have added so many subscribers since my study seven, let me make some comments about this study in general.

I first did this study years ago as a weekly devotional, choosing 4-5 verses every day and writing a paragraph or two about each verse. In doing this, I was able to complete the verse-by-verse study of the entire New Testament in nine years!  Now I am going back and editing every study for eventual publication, and don't send them out to you on a weekly basis, but generally twice every month.  Right now we are looking at Romans together.

Some people sit down and read the study attached below, which is divided into seven parts, in one sitting (seven parts because it was formerly a weekly study).  Some take their time and read and study it over a two-week period.  Some have told me they use it for group devotions in their small group Bible study. You will notice that I have put the questions I pose to help you apply the verses in bold, so you can quickly see them and determine if that verse's study is relevant to you.

In this week's study, we look at the many wonderful truths in Romans 8.  To give you a sample of what you will download below, here is what I wrote in part seven of this seven-part installment:

Study Eight, Park Seven

34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."   37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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.

8:34 – We learned in verses 26 and 27 that the Spirit intercedes for us.  Now we see that Jesus intercedes for us at God’s right hand.  We cannot find two better prayer partners.  Not only is the Spirit interceding, but He is also helping us pray according to the will of God.  Armed with that truth, there is no one who can condemn us.  If God be for us, who can be against us?  The answer of course is “no one.” 

We saw earlier that there will be occupations in heaven and this verse bears this out.  Jesus is not in heaven singing; He is in heaven praying.  He is continuing His purpose, which was described in Luke 19:10 as to “seek and save the lost.”  Jesus is continuing His purpose from his heavenly perch and we are the beneficiaries.

So if Jesus has a purpose and is still fulfilling it, what is your purpose?  What will you do for all eternity?

8:35&36 – What shall separate us from God?  Certainly not persecution, and Paul was familiar with everything that he listed in these verses.  He lived in constant danger, but that only brought him closer to God, not further away.  Paul quoted Psalm 44:22 as prophetic proof that persecution and tribulation are a predictable and God-ordained part of the salvation experience.  There are some who would say that if any of the things listed in verse 35 befall a saint, it is because the saint lacks faith.  I say that is nonsense and is contrary to the historic teaching of the church and contrary to the teaching of Scripture.  Even famine is on Paul’s list of difficulties to be faced (see the list of Greek words used in this verse below).

8:37 – I am more than a conqueror?  If it were only I by myself facing these issues, I would be a miserable failure.  But I am more than a conqueror because Jesus was and is more than a conqueror.  If I rest in Him and His works, I share in what He has done and can do.  Are you more than a conqueror?  You say, “no.”  Well, maybe it’s time you saw yourself in a new light!

8:38&39 – The only thing not on this list is you!   You can choose to separate yourself from the love of God by maintaining a stubborn attitude or trying to do what you could never do to earn God’s love.  Are you tired of striving to earn God’s love?  Then give up and rest in His love.  Are you weary of failure?  Then rise above your failure by taking your place in Christ.  Are you weary of your efforts to understand God and His ways?  Then surrender your need to understand and trust in the truths of these verses.  Nothing shall separate you from God’s love, period.  That truly is the best news that anyone can receive at any time.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 8

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NEW DAILY DEVOTIONAL:  As I complete my 2012 daily devotional, What Would Jesus Ask You Today?, I began a new one on January 1 called Purpose Pearls. If you would like to receive this automatically every day, just subscribe on my blog site and make sure you pay attention to the confirmation email you will receive once you do subscribe.

PURPOSECOACH:  On January 1, I reintroduced my program called PurposeCoach, bigger and better than ever.  This time, it will all be online and digitized, and on sale for $99, half off the normal price of $198.  If you are interested, let me know and I will send you some info and the link through which you can pay.

ISRAEL 2013: I am returning to Israel in September, 2013 and I am inviting you to come with me.  The 1 Obed brochure is attached, so read up and then let me know you are coming with me. 

Download 1 Israel Brochure

GIVE A GIFT TO AN ORPHAN:  I have updated my website page that describes what  I am doing in Kenya and how you can help.  I depart on January 31, and I still need funds to feed, clothe and care for an orphan like Obed (click to enlarge). Please check out the new page and then give generously to the cause through PayPal on that page or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsbugh, PA 15221-0882.  But hurry, I leave in a week!

 

January 23, 2013 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 7: 7:7-8:8

Dear Student of the Word,

Here is your last Bible study for 2012.  I trust that you and yours are having a happy and blessed holiday season, and that you are not taking a break from God's word. I also hope you are giving some thought to what you can do in 2013 to become even more immersed in God's word. As we enter into one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Romans 8, here are some comments I made about the prelude in Romans 7 in part one of this week's seven-part study, which you can download below:

Study Seven, Part One

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."  8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

7:7 – As mentioned in an earlier study, the Law was the instrument that made you aware of what sin is and the Law gave your sin expression, so to speak. Let’s say that every day you take a shortcut to work by walking over some grass.  It seems innocent enough. Then one day a sign goes up that says, “Keep Off the Grass.” You come to find out that this has always been private property and you were doing something wrong without knowing it. 

But now you have a problem, for this grassy shortcut saves you a lot of time every day.  You have now been informed that it is wrong, but you decide to continue to do it.  Now you are “sinning,” but you did not know you were sinning until the sign went up.

Let’s go one step further.  Let’s say you had a bad feeling every time you walked on the grass—your conscience bothered you.  But the Law helped educate your conscience, which is not perfect or infallible, for you never really understood why you always felt bad when you walked on that grass.  Now you really feel bad when you walk on that grass, but you still walk on it.  Conscience can lead you to sense that you are doing something “wrong,” but conscience may not be able to indicate what it is exactly.  Now you may choose to ignore you conscience and do what you know is wrong, that previously you sensed was wrong – but did not know why you felt that way.

7:8&9 – Paul used the example of covetousness.  Until the command came along, you could covet everything your neighbor had, including his or her spouse.  Now the command has told you that desire is wrong, but that command has no power to deal with and remove the covetous desire that was there all along.  All the Law did was define what that desire was and tell you it was against God’s will.

7:10 – There is nothing wrong with the commandments of the Law.  They are not the problem.  Your sinful heart is the problem.  The Law, which is from God, is good and was to keep man from sin and death.  Instead it gave rise to his sinful nature and since the wages of sin are death, led man to realize that he was separate from God and unable to do His will.  The Law let mankind know that it had a problem, but did not tell man how to solve that problem. That would come later in the Law of Christ.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 7

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NEW DAILY DEVOTIONAL:  As I complete my 2012 daily devotional, What Would Jesus Ask You Today?, I will begin a new one on January 1 called Purpose Pearls. If you would like to receive this automatically every day, just subscribe on my blog site and make sure you pay attention to the confirmation email you will receive once you do subscribe.

PURPOSECOACH:  On January 1, my program called PurposeCoach is coming back, bigger and better than ever.  This time, it will all be online and digitized, and on sale for $99, half off the normal price of $198.  If you are interested, let me know and I will send you some info and the link through which you can pay.

ISRAEL 2013: I am returning to Israel in September, 2013 and I am inviting you to come with me.  The 1 Obed brochure is attached, so read up and then let me know you are coming with me. 

GIVE A GIFT TO AN ORPHAN:  I have updated my website page that describes what  I am doing in Kenya and how you can help.  One of the new features is to give a gift of $35 to an orphan this holiday season, which will feed, clothe and care for an orphan like Obed (click to enlarge) for one month. Please check out the new page and then give generously to the cause through PayPal on that page or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsbugh, PA 15221-0882.

 

Download 1 Israel Brochure

December 27, 2012 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 6: 6:5-7:6

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been a few weeks, so it's time for another installment of our Romans study.  This week we look at Paul's teaching on being a slave, either to sin or righteousness. While slavery is a word that may be offensive to you, let's not let that get in the way of what Paul was trying to say.  Here is what I had to say in part three of this seven-part study:

Study Six, Part Three

13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

6:13 – This is a command:  Do not surrender your body to sin!  So if it is a command, then it must be under your control to do so.  Yet without the Spirit’s presence in your life, you would not be able to even consider doing this.  There are times when you have probably had to pray like this:  “Lord, I don’t like that person.  Lord, I can’t like that person.  But you can through me.  So right now I ask you to do what I can’t—I ask you to allow your love to flow through me.”

Or at another time you perhaps have prayed:  “Lord, I’m worried.  I know I shouldn’t, but I do.  And I can’t “not” worry.  So I am asking that your peace and faith flow through me right now.”  This is an example of how to offer your body as an instrument of righteousness.  Do you need to follow the same pattern and pray that prayer in some area of your life?

6:14 – Sin shall not be your master.  That seems like a far-fetched statement.  Yet the very fact that you are conscious of your sin says that sin no longer has the hold over you that it once did. The very fact that you are concerned about sin means that the passing pleasure of sin no longer holds the attraction that it once had.

6:15 – You do not sin so that grace can come into your life.  That would like getting sick so you can take more medication.  Health is better than sickness, wellness is better than medication and righteousness is better than the grace that follows sin.

6:16 – It seems that it is your choice as to whom you will serve, but then the one that you serve will exert power and influence over your life.  If you choose sin, then sin will dominate you and you will be its slave.  If you choose obedience, then the power of the Spirit will dominate you and you will serve Him.  The choice is yours.  Have you chosen wisely and well, or do you need to make better choices as to whom and what you will serve?

It seems that you are destined to be a “slave.”  It is just a matter of who will be your master.  Someone who chooses not to be a slave of Christ is not free; he or she is simply a slave to the power of sin.  Slavery can be a “loaded” word, but it applies here to the issue of sin and righteousness.  Do you want to be a slave of obedience?

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 6

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NEED YOUR HELP:  I need your help in two things.  First, if you have not already, please take the free purpose assessment found on my website homepage, from which you will receive a score to let you know where I think you are in your PurposeQuest. Then, please send me what you believe to be your purpose statement. I need them both for my next book project that will provide a profile to help take the guesswork out of describing your purpose. You can send your purpose statement to me at johnstanko@gmail.com.

LATEST FROM KENYA:  You can read the latest news from Kenya here, which is really an orphan thank you letter. Then please consider a gift to help feed the orphans there through my website or by sending a check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsburgh, PA 15221-0882.

1 Greater BeanORDER COFFEE:  I received my coffee from the Greater Bean Coffee Company and my family gave it a thumbs up! Greater Bean donates a portion of its profits to The Sophia Fund and I am grateful.  As you think of the holidays, order some of their coffee to serve or give to family and friends.

GIVE A GIFT TO AN ORPHAN:  I have updated my website page that describes what1 Phyllis  I am doing in Kenya and how you can help.  One of the new features is to give a gift of $35 to an orphan this holiday season, which will feed, clothe and care for that orphan for one month. Please check out the new page and then give generously to the cause through PayPal on that page or by sending a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 8882, Pittsbugh, PA 15221-0882.

December 04, 2012 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 5: 5:1-6:4

Dear Student of the Word,

It's time to continue our study of Romans with a look at chapter five where Paul talks about the role of Law and grace in the life of every believer, including Gentiles. We then move into a brief introduction of Paul's teaching on baptism in Romans 6. The concepts of grace and Law are a bit difficult to explain, but I make my best effort.  Feel free to let me know how I did.  This week I wrote in part six of this seven-part study:

Study Five, Part Six

19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 5:19 – This principle can be applied to your own life, for you can make a difference as one person, just like Adam and Jesus did.  Someone once said that you and God always represent a majority, no matter what situation in which you find yourself. We study history and learn of great leaders who made a difference—they changed minds and instituted new ideas that revolutionized nations and history.  Even Paul made a difference through his refusal to bow to Jewish pressure that Gentiles follow the Law. 

Where are you standing now?  What does God have you doing?  Are you alone? Are you wondering what you can do as only one person?  When you think of it, however, you are not alone.  God is with you.  Therefore be courageous and stand alone if you have to, for you can make a difference.  Trust God that He will help you make the impact He wants you to have. 

5:20 – As mentioned earlier, the Law was given to impart a clear understanding as to what sin was and is.  If you are walking on someone’s grass, for example, you don’t know it is off limits until someone puts up a sign.  Until that sign goes up, you have no idea that you are on private property and doing something wrong.   The Law served the same purpose.  Once the sign goes up, you are then tempted to ignore the sign and walk on the grass anyway.  That sign did not cause your sin, but it gave you the opportunity to disobey and realize that you were sinning.

5:21 – Someone once said that you haven’t preached grace enough until someone accuses you of preaching it too much.  Whenever grace is preached, there is concern that we are being soft on sin and releasing the sinner from the consequences of his or her actions.  Perhaps the greatest example of grace in Jesus ministry is the following story: 

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:1-11).

Jesus did not ignore her sin or the accusations of those who brought her to Him.  But what a magnificent application of grace and truth we see here! Pray this prayer with me right now:

Lord, I want to be like you.  I want to apply grace to daily life in such a way that sinners can repent but know how great and merciful You are!  Help me, Lord, to be your instrument of grace and peace.  Amen.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 5

November 16, 2012 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 4: 4:1-25

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been a few weeks since I have sent you a Romans installment, so here goes.  In this post, we will focus on the case study Paul included in Romans 4 of Abraham, the father of the faithful. Paul had many important things to say to both Jews and Gentiles when he wrote and the lessons of being justified by faith are still applicable today.  Here is a sample of what I wrote in part one of this seven-part study:

Study Four, Part One

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?  2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."  4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

4:1 – What matter was being discussed in this chapter?  The topic is whether or not a man is justified by obeying the Law or by faith.  It is interesting that Paul is writing to the Roman church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, but he referred to Abraham as “our father.”  Abraham is the father of those who have faith, not those who can trace their ancestry to him through a family tree or through the practice of circumcision.  Abraham is my father, and yours too, if we have faith. You might say that Paul used a case study here to prove his point, a common educational practice.

4:2 – Paul stated that, if Abraham had found God through his own effort, he had done something to brag about to men, but not to God.  Someone once said that the Bible is a book not about good men seeking God, but a good God seeking men.  The fact remains that God finds us or allows us to find Him. When Paul mentioned “works,” he was probably referring to the specific practice of circumcision.  (Please see the Galatians study for a complete discussion of this important issue.)

4:3 – This important question should be a guideline for all our lives:  What does the Bible say?  Not what do we want it to say, or do wish it said?  What does the Bible say?  That means you must study the Bible and become familiar with it as your guide for life and righteous living.  Yet you cannot put our confidence in the Bible; your confidence must be in the God of the Bible.  I know it sounds strange, but there are some who worship the Bible instead of the God of the Bible.  Let’s review some familiar passages about God’s word:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21).

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29).

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life (John 5:39-40).

4:4 – Paul presented a basic fact of economics:  wages are not considered a gift.  Of course Paul has made it clear that salvation is a gift and cannot be the result of something due to man.  Salvation is something God freely bestows through His own grace and not the efforts of man.  Whatever you have, you have not earned; it is a gift.  Even if you have disciplined yourself and have received something from God, it still had its roots in the free gift of God’s salvation through Christ.  There is no reason, therefore, to feel proud of your accomplishments.  They are God’s gift to you.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 4

October 25, 2012 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 3: 3:1-31

Dear Student of the Word,

Let's take a look at this next installment from Paul's letter to the Romans.  I just found out that I will be teaching Romans next year at the college level, so I am glad to be into this study at this point in time.  I hope you feel the same way.  In the first chapters, Paul was reiterating the superiority of faith in Christ over keeping the Law.  That must have been a hot topic for the Romans to have Paul spend so much time discussing it.  This week I wrote in part seven of this seven-part study of Chapter 3:

Study Three, Part Seven

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

3:27 – No person can brag about how he or she earned God’s salvation through anything he or she done.  As we have seen so far, the basic theme of Romans is superiority of faith in Christ as opposed to faith in man’s ability to keep the Law.  Although we have covered other verses that pertain to the role of the Law, let’s look at one more passage:

They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1:7-11).

The Law must be applied properly for it to be effective and the most effective use of the Law is to show man that he is sinful.  The Law, however, cannot deliver from sin; it only make us conscious of sin.  When we are conscious of sin, then we must put our faith in Christ to deliver us from that sin.

3:28 – There are so many verses that say this same thing.  Perhaps you want to do your own study to find them.

3:29 – The Jews did not have exclusive rights to God (although they thought they did).  You don’t have them either.  He is your God, but not in the sense that you have exclusive rights to His presence.  When anyone thinks he owns God, then he is in some measure of trouble for this often leads to spiritual pride.  God is bigger than any one movement, nation or doctrine. 

3:30 – You can read my Galatians Study to review Paul’s arguments against circumcision being seen by some as a necessary rite to go along with faith.  God justifies everyone through one thing and one thing only, and that is faith!  There can be no room for any other interpretation.  That doesn’t stop man from trying to come up with other interpretations.  Today there are some that put their faith in other spiritual disciplines—reading, praying, fasting, stopping some habitual sin, etc.—but the only way to please God is through faith.

3:31 – The Law teaches man about sin but the Law cannot deliver from sin.  Only faith in Christ can do that.  If Paul spent this much time teaching about this, we need to pay attention.  In fact, as we close this week’s study, perhaps you need to ask the Spirit to show you any area that you have replaced your faith with some other work or habit.  Are you walking under any legalism?  Have you put others under any bondage of legalism?  Were you saved by faith, but now walking in a mentality that you must earn your daily grace?

This is such a sensitive issue.  For instance, you need to pray and read, and you must discipline yourself to do these.  You can put so much trust in your disciplines or your spiritual practices, however, that you look down on those who don’t or can’t match what you do. 

Ask the Spirit to show you where you stand on this issue.  I am reading and praying more than ever, but it is a result of the work of the Spirit in my life.  I was saved by faith and I am growing by faith.  Faith isn’t an event; it’s a way of life that is evidenced by the actions or works I perform.  Yet those actions are never the basis for my justification or standing before God. They are proof of my right standing that is made possible through faith and faith alone.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 3

October 03, 2012 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romans Study 2: 2:1-29

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been two weeks, so let's take a second look at Paul's letter to the Romans in this second in my series on Romans. I first wrote this study nine years ago, so it is time that I edit and update it, and I am enjoying the work.  This week I wroe in part four of this seven-part study:

Study Two, Part Four

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, 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 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

2:12 – This verse deals with the common belief that everyone will be judged according to what they know concerning God, so that someone who never heard the gospel could indeed be saved.  The truth is that those who heard the Law will be judged according to the Law and those who did not hear the Law will be judged by what they knew to be true according to the moral law that worked within them and the general revelation that was all around them. 

But whether or not one had access to the Law prior to the final judgment will be taken into consideration by a just God.  Consider these two passages that speak to the severity of judgment for those with or without knowledge of the Law:

But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:22-24).

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:47-48).

So the God of justice will judge each man, but will hold those who were exposed to and disobeyed specific revelation to a higher standard, and they will incur a stricter judgment.  At the same time, all will be judged according to whether or not they put their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.

2:13 – There is a subtle deception in many, even today, that hearing and giving mental assent to the truth is enough to make one righteous.  But it is only those who hear and do the words of God who will be considered righteous.  Jesus said the same thing:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (Matthew 7:24-27).

Are you doing what you hear in regards to God’s will?  Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security just because you agree with what you read and hear.  God honors action that comes from faith in Christ.

2:14&15 – Many have used this verse to prove the existence of God.  Let me explain.  C.S. Lewis and others have pointed out that there is a moral standard or right and wrong in each person.  This standard seems to be a universal rule of good behavior, although it varies somewhat from person to person and culture to culture.  But many people “feel bad” if they are selfish or mistreat someone else.  They may ignore these feelings, but they are there. 

These feelings reside in what is called the conscience, which either tries to defend bad behavior or seeks to correct it.  Some feel that “conscience” is the remnant of the image of God in which all mankind was created.  This moral standard in all people therefore proves the existence of one righteous God, apart from man, who holds every man accountable for his or her deeds.

One side note about conscience:  it is not infallible or perfect.  It can be so ignored that it becomes warped or almost nonexistent, and it must be educated to fully understand the righteous requirements of God.  So someone may do wrong and not “feel bad” or not have their conscience accuse them (see also 1 Timothy 4:2).

2:16 – Paul once again referenced the last judgment and Jesus made constant reference to the judgment as well.  It is impossible to believe that there is no accountability for all men not according to what they knew but according to what God required of them.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 2

September 08, 2012 in Bible Study, Romans | Permalink | Comments (0)

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