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Explanations of last newsletter's foundation verses July 31, 2019 |
Explanations of Foundational VersesThe last Bible study was on the foundations of the Christian faith. Obviously, such a study is very important. This Bible study will serve as review with a bit of guidance. Take the time to look up Matthew 7:24-27. The words that Jesus mentions in this passage begin back in chapter 5. He made a huge promise! If we obey those words, the spiritual house of our Christian life will be built on a rock, and the storms of this world will not be able to shake us! That makes Matthew, chapters 5-7, well worth reading on a regular basis, don't you think? Live out those words, and your spiritual house will be a fortress! Look up Matthew 16:15-18 now. It will help you if you really look these verses up. If you don't, you will be able to say you read a Bible study, but you won't have gotten from it what you could have. Jesus was excited about Peter realizing he was the Christ and Son of God. He made a lot of promises to Peter even though it was God who showed this to Peter. God wants to reveal to all of us that Jesus is the Son of God and Christ (John 20:31). If you are not sure what it means that Jesus is the Christ, read Psalm 2. It's short. Peter was saying that Jesus is the "Anointed One" described in that Psalm. Big statement! As I said, God is trying to tell us that nowadays as well. 1 Corinthians 3:11 is simple. No explanation needed. Jesus the Christ is, of course, the foundation of the Christian faith. Ephesians 2:20 says we are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. I understand this to be all the things God has said. In the Old Testament (the first 3/4 of your Bible), the prophets are the primary speakers. In the New Testament (the last 1/4 of your Bible), the apostles are the primary speakers. The foundations of our faith were taught by the apostles and prophets. The last verse was 2 Timothy 2:19. That is worth looking up as well. Far too often, someone, even a preacher, will tell us that we can do whatever we want and still be okay with God because Jesus died for us. This is not true. The firm foundation of God has "let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from unrighteousness" written on it. It is foundational to Christianity that we live out our faith. Probably the best description of this foundational principle is Titus 2:11-15. There we learn that Jesus died to obtain a people devoted to doing good. We learn there, too, that "grace" is the thing that teaches and enables us to depart from unrighteousness and do good. We will have to cover grace in a future Bible study. I hope this helps! Paul |
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