1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

March - Reading 10

Discussion in 'Bible Reading Plan 2017' started by Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2002.

Top Posters
  1. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    #1 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2002
  2. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Good evening -

    Our reading in Numbers tonight included the seven oracles of Balaam. I want to note here that the wording of these oracles is very important to understanding that this was not a man of God but one who wanted to ride on the Israelis' coattails in receiving the Lord's blessing. First of all, the scriptures do not use the word "prophecy" when talking about Balaam's divinations. Also notice that God did not "tell" Balaam His intent, but rather "put the words in his mouth.' There are other clues that I will leave to the studier of the Word.

    As for the reading in Matthew, prophecies of the end times are up to interpretation and I do not feel qualified for personal commentary. Therefore I am giving you a link to a collection of commentaries at this LINK .
    I WILL say that Christ makes it very clear that it will be obvious to all when He returns. We are warned to not be deceived by miracles and prophets. The Second Coming will be like lightning in the sky, both in timing and in clarity!

    May God bless you

    - Clint
     
    #2 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2002
  3. Helen

    Helen <img src =/Helen2.gif>

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2001
    Messages:
    11,703
    Likes Received:
    2
    Good comment regarding Numbers, Clint! I never thought about those items related to Balaam before. Thanks!

    Romans 7: 1-12 is, for me, a pivotal section of Romans. It has to do with the law. Verses 1-6 indicate that we are no longer 'married' to the law. This does not negate the law, however, for it is WE who died, not the law! In our new life in Christ, however, we are no longer judged by the law as He fulfilled it entirely and we are in Him, and He in us.

    For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

    I think this is a passage which is very much ignored by those involved in legalism!

    The next verses were the ones which ended up convincing me that babies and the retarded are quite safe in God's hands from the beginning, and that EVERYONE is originally written in the Book of Life but can be erased by their own persistent rebellion. Paul says that "Once I was alive apart from law;" and that can only mean spiritually alive before he understood the law. This entire passage speaks to that, indicating bluntly that without the law, sin is dead. Paul emphasizes this in verse 11 when he says "For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and THROUGH THE COMMANDMENT PUT ME TO DEATH. The capitals are, of course, mine. But it is sin through the commandment which puts to death, or separates from God, not sin by itself. This is incredibly important to note.

    In other words, we are not condemned to hell because we have sin natures. It is the deliberate and unrepentant expression of these sin natures, denying the work of Christ, which is the condemning factor. Paul also brings this out at the beginning of Romans when he talks about those who suppress the truth, preferring the lie. The simple idea of preferring something, by the way, indicates that men have the freedom to choose which way to go. Rolling downhill is easy enough and we seem to do that quite well all by ourselves; it is the uphill which we cannot do unless we are born again and led and empowered by Christ. But we can choose it, nevertheless, and then He does, and has done, all the necessary work involved to equip us for that walk with Him.

    Psalm 57 -- Here we see again David's repeated supplication to God for rescue and vindication. And we think we have it rough when life gets a little hard sometimes! Look at the number of times in his life David had to turn to the Lord in pure desperation. I was not able to get on the board the other night for Psalm 55, and I had wanted to, but there is something in that Psalm which tears at my heart -- David's worst enemy was someone he had trusted as a friend and worshiped with. That has got to be the worst. I think when we read David's Psalms through these times in his life, and consider what he had to live with and through, we need to put our own trials and tribulations in a more proper light and realize that most, if not all, of us, are not constantly afraid for our lives while at the same time trying to govern a kingdom. I have never been able to grasp what life must have been like for David, alternating between living in caves and living as the head of a mighty and fancy court. What wild swings his life had!

    A note on Matthew 24: It seems to parallel a good part of Revelation, which I find fascinating. Unlike Clint, however, I remain convinced of a pretribulation rapture -- that time when, like a thief in the night, the bridegroom will come for us to take us home. He has gone to prepare a place for us. In the same way that the ancients did not understand that Christ first had to come as the suffering servant, and were expecting a conquering and reigning King, I think that perhaps many today are missing the evidence in Scripture of two more 'comings.' Once as the Bridegroom, as the thief in the night, and then finally as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

    I do not think that we would have had to be told to watch for the signs, like the fig tree showing early spring growth, if the coming Jesus was talking about there were the one where every man would see him as lightning flashing through the sky is seen. Later, in verse 42, we are told to keep watch, because we will not know on what day our Lord will come. It is then that He compares his coming to that of a thief in the night. And so I do think our Bridegroom will come for us quietly, quickly, at just the right time -- before the world sees His wrath in its fullness.

    And so I expect the Rapture, but I am willing to brace for the Tribulation anyway. Like Shadrach, Meschak and Abednego (did not look up the spellings) in Daniel, even if our God does NOT rescue us from the fiery furnace, we will still believe in Him and serve Him. And that's that!

    God bless you all.
     
    #3 Helen, Mar 11, 2002
  4. Born Again Catholic

    Born Again Catholic New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2002
    Messages:
    395
    Likes Received:
    0
    In Chapter 6 answering the arguments coming from an unseen inquisitor about being free from the law by the death of Jesus which we are united to through Baptism, Paul says

    R 6:15
    15What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,[3] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

    Being free from the law in NO WAY excuses us from obedience to God.


    Without the law a man can use his natural reason to understand what is right and wrong, some may look at it as an advantage as he doesn't know with perfect clarity what is sinful, yet he to will be punished after his death

    Romans 2
    9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile(who did not have the law)

    12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: .....13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

    Those in the law are much more culpable, as they know with absolute clarity what is sin yet they still do it. Infact in the hearing the law they pervert its true purpose and are deceived and/or tempted and commit sin(ie Adam in Genesis). Likewise as Paul has/will stress throughout Romans the Jews are even more culpable than the Gentiles as they have sinned under the guidance of the law

    The law highlighted our sin but it did not gives us the grace to live it, in fact without Christ it is an impossiblity but with Christ we are given the grace to be obedient, despite the sinful desires which may remain after our Baptism. Infact in this obedience of faith perfects our faith, A faith which is formed based on hope(trust in God) and Charity(love of God)only grows stronger through our obedience/suffering.


    We are not only declared righteous through Christ we are made righteous over time. Thus He provides us the grace to fight the good fight and to run the good race. That is why Jesus can say

    John 15:10
    If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

    Matthew 19
    If you would enter life, keep the commandments.

    Matthew 5
    48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

    John 14:21
    Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."


    Mark 10
    27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

    The law is not an evil as Paul states

    Romans 7
    12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

    14 For we know that the law is spiritual:

    Accordingly being dead to law does not make us free to sin but slaves to righteousness. On our own we cannot follow the law but Jesus offers us the Grace to be perfect and follow His commandments and accordingly our faith will continue to mature and our justification will continue.

    That said any work/obedience etc not done out of our faith in Jesus is meaningless.

    God Bless

    [ March 11, 2003, 02:18 AM: Message edited by: Born Again Catholic ]
     
    #4 Born Again Catholic, Mar 11, 2003
  5. Born Again Catholic

    Born Again Catholic New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2002
    Messages:
    395
    Likes Received:
    0
    Matthew

    In Matthew we are told "this generation will not pass till these things are fullfilled"
     
    #5 Born Again Catholic, Mar 11, 2003
  6. Gwyneth

    Gwyneth <img src=/gwyneth.gif>

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2002
    Messages:
    4,137
    Likes Received:
    0
    28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
    What does this verse mean in this context ?
    Gwyneth
     
    #6 Gwyneth, Mar 11, 2004
  7. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Most commentators agree that the symbolism of the eagle is the Roman army and the carcass is Israel. Albert Barnes had these thoughts:

    [ March 12, 2004, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]
     
    #7 Clint Kritzer, Mar 12, 2004
  8. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Sunday School lesson – 11-6-05

    Romans 7

    Few chapters in the New Testament have been subject to more decidedly different interpretation than chapter 7 of Romans. Even after literally centuries of discussion, it is difficult to say whether the Apostle is referencing his own experience before his conversion on the Damascus road, the conflicts in the mind of one who has been renewed, or whether these experiences and applications apply to all Christians. While it has always been the intention of this commentator to represent all credible interpretations in these lessons, Romans 7 will be too extensive to pursue all of these avenues.

    The overall message of the chapter is not difficult to understand. In his discussion of sanctification, Paul has set forth that the regeneration of the believer frees him from sin. As Christ died to sin , and we are in Christ, we, too, are dead to sin and are therefore under no obligation to it. To continue in sin is a contradiction for the believer. Yet we all recognize that we never shed the tendency of the sinful nature we inherit from Adam. The lure of sin remains a constant stumblingblock for all men no matter how devout they may be.

    Paul addresses the subject of law once again in chapter 7 and references three types of law: the Mosaic, the law of sin and the law of Christ. As the chapter opens the reference is most probably towards the Mosaic law and Paul uses the analogy of marriage to demonstrate the freedom the justified man experiences in Christ. The Mosaic Law served many purposes and Paul addresses the many facets of it throughout his Letters but the point is always that the Law, while good and holy, never brought peace to man. Further, though it was designed to be our teacher by making us aware of sin, the Law did not bring about sanctification. It did not make us holy but rather excited us to sin.

    Therefore, it is a necessary element of the Gospel that we become liberated from the Law, a concept against which Paul’s opponents in the Jewish circles fought strongly. Paul continues in the diatribe style in order that the objections of his opponents can be answered even without his presence.

    Romans 7:1-6 The Law and Freedom: Analogy of Second Marriage

    For the first time since chapter 1 verse 13, Paul addresses his audience as “brethren.” It is done both here and in verse 4. Once again, Paul asks, “Know ye not,” implying that the statement he is about to present is a known fact. The reference to “the law” in verse 1 may be to secular Roman law or the Mosaic Law, both of which freed a wife from obligation to vows at the time of death of the husband. Either interpretation is credible as no law on earth has dominion over a man once he is dead.

    In verse 2 Paul expands this principle to the wife who is left a widow by a man who dies. Many commentators have endeavored to show that Paul is setting before us an analogy in which the wife is the ego (self), the first husband is the fallen state of man, and the second marriage is the Christian union. Such exegesis seems, however, to overstate the point. Paul’s contention is that the husband is the lord of the house and the wife is bound to his lordship as long as he lives. Upon the death of the husband, she is released from her obligation.

    In verse 4 Paul states the tie to the analogy he is trying to make. The spiritual death of the Christian to the Law releases us from our connection to it. The dissolving of that bond to the Law sets the stage for a new union to occur, that of the believer’s union with Christ. God raised the second husband from the dead so the new marriage can not be broken. It is an eternal bond. We are released from the Law and have embraced another plan.

    In that new union, becoming subject to a new husband, we are now under obligation to bring forth fruit for God, that is a holy life. This “fruit unto God” should be contrasted with the “fruit unto death” of verse 5. This fruit unto death is the actions for which the pagan Romans were ashamed in verse 6:21. They had been “living in the flesh” of self-centered sensuality. We were vulnerable to our corrupt nature. Paul returns to the concept that it was the law that made us aware of sin but now adds to that concept that the law actually served to excite and arouse sin. This will be expounded upon in the next Passage.

    The analogy of marriage quickly turns to one of slavery in verse 6 as Paul continues his discussion of the law. Just as a slave is discharged from one master to given to a new, so the Christian is discharged from his duty to the law and given over to Christ. The new life after death to the law does not rely upon a written code but to a new Spirit that directs us to a holier life.

    Romans 7:7-12 The Law and Sin

    It is at this point that interpreters begin to vary widely in Paul’s intentions. The repetitive use of the personal pronoun “I” has led many to take the view that he is holding himself up for an example. Others contend that Paul is speaking as the “everyman,” especially those who shared his past under the Judaic system. In either case, the statements made in verses 7-25 certainly represent the frustration of the Christian who wishes to obey God but is still under the influence of the old sinful nature we inherited from Adam.

    The diatribe begins with the question, “Since the Law excites sin, is the law sinful?” Once again, Paul’s answer is an immediate and emphatic NO! The Law is from God and is therefore holy and good. It is man who is unable to follow the Law that is sinful.

    Yet sin personified took that which was holy and used it for evil. By becoming consciously aware of what was sinful, man became enticed. Paul states that when he learned from the Tenth Commandment that covetousness was a sin, he became covetous of many things. Paul does not state what exactly he became covetous of and this may be intentional. It is not the object of desire that is sinful but the desire itself. Without the law, sin would remain dead. That is not to say that men would not covet without the Law, but because of the Law, sin becomes trespass.

    In recognizing the act of covetousness man becomes enamored with the idea. He is unable to control his passions and becomes obsessed with them. This obsession towards what is stated as wrong in a written code produces the fruit of death. Sin literally “springs to life” as our natural state of moral depravity follows a course of destruction. The Law, that which was intended to show man the way to sanctification failed because of man’s propensity towards sin. What was meant to bring man peace instead brought confusion and rebellion. Had man had the ability to shed his carnal nature, the Law would have produced happiness. Instead it resulted in woe, guilt and condemnation.
     
    #8 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2006
  9. jilphn1022

    jilphn1022 New Member

    Joined:
    May 8, 2007
    Messages:
    2,273
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thanks, Clint Kritzer for taking the time to give us who are enjoying reading the Bible in one year! Remember your labor of the Lord is not in vain! Many of us ap-
    preciate what you and other moderators are doing to keep this message board running smoothly!
    Thanks again!!
     
    #9 jilphn1022, Mar 10, 2009
  10. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    #10 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2017
  11. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    #11 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2018
  12. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    #12 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2019
  13. Clint Kritzer

    Clint Kritzer Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    8,877
    Likes Received:
    4
    Faith:
    Baptist
    #13 Clint Kritzer, Mar 10, 2020
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Loading...