Discovering God- Jesus as Son

Read Hebrews 4:14-5:10.

1. How does this passage describe Jesus?

2. Why does the author of Hebrews mention Aaron (5:5)? Who was he? (See Exo 28:1-3).

Aaron was the first high priest for the Israelites (Ezekiel 7:1-10).

3. What is the role of a high priest? (See Hebrews 5:1-2)

The role of the high priest was to make sacrifices on the behalf of the Israel nation, in response to their sin. Every year the High priest would enter into the ‘Holy of Holies’ and offer up a sacrifice to God.

At this point, I think it is important to draw out the limitations of the ‘high priests’ that came before Jesus. Not only had the position become tarnished since the divine regulation of passing down the high priest position from father to son was lost, inherent to the high priest’s function/solution was an element of imperfection. A high priest had to continually offer up sacrifices for the sins of Israel, and the very fact the high priest had to offer sacrifices for his own ‘weakness’ (v3), meant his capacity for mediation was imperfect.

Contrast that with Jesus, who is described as ‘him who had no sin’ (2 Cor 5:21), and that ‘christ suffer once for sins’ (1 Peter 3:18). We see in Jesus a high priest who is free from the imperfections which had plagued the position up until His coming.

4. How many times is the term ‗high priest‘ is used in these 13 verses?

5. Why does the author of Hebrews emphasise the fact that Christians have Jesus as our

High Priest? Tehillah – Year One

By this time, the position of High Priest had been discredited through the abandonment of the divinely ordained practice handing down the position from father to son. Also, as the David line of kings in Israel also petered out, the high priests would often assume the functions of a monarch. These individuals were characterised with great cruelty, often abusing their power in right of kings and by increasing the amount which had to be paid over to the temple. These high priests were disconnected from the common people and ignorant of their needs.

By the time of the Roman occupation, the position of High priest had been degraded to the point where it was practically sold off to the highest bidder (officially, the Romans were in charge of conferring the position). The High Priest of Jesus’ time were often seen as collaborators of the occupying force.

Jesus corrects both these deficiencies which had come to characterise the high priest position- he is a high priest which people can relate to, by way of suffering in the same way we have. And while Jesus may not be a descendant of Aaron, Paul’s reference back to Melchizedek positions Jesus in an order of high priests before the Aaronic line, one which is defined through.

The question is, what is taking the position of high priest today? (see below…)

6. The high priest was very important in Jewish culture. The Old Testament books of

law show that the high priest performed tasks that could not be completed by anyone

else. If the writer of Hebrews had been writing in our culture, what people might he

have used to illustrate his point?

If we substitute ‘individual’ for high priest, and ‘our’ for Jewish, we establish a notion that I think many people today build their perspectives on. Our society is built around edifying the ‘I’- If ‘I’ work hard enough I’ll get what I deserve, the overwhelming importance placed on self-esteem. Many people today believe that the solution to the sum total of their problems exists within them, if they only have the power to grasp it. However, when it is clear on so many occasions that the problems we face are impossible to answer by our own strength, or that we are the very perpetrators of the problems which plague us, how are we to continue believing in this me-centred doctrine?

7. An unchanging quality of God (Father, Son and Spirit) is that He is perfect. Yet,

Hebrews 5:9 seems to imply that Jesus was less than perfect until His resurrection.

Considering the immediate context of this passage, what might this verse mean?

While Jesus was (and is) perfect in his status as God, His resurrection completes God’s importance for the human race. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that we are redeemed in God’s eyes. It is His perfection however, which brings us back into a rightful relationship with God for all eternity.

8. If Jesus is perfect and sinless, then can He really sympathize with us?

We never want to forget Jesus’ divinity, his status as the ‘source of eternal salvation’ (which coincidentally, is the answer to the next question…). But at the same time, we need to be aware of the fact that Jesus came down to Earth to conduct His redeeming ministry as a man. It is arguable that Jesus faced temptation and suffering beyond what most of us will ever come to experience. Jesus was tempted by the devil himself (Mt 4:1-12), where He was offered the entire world. Similarly too, in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-45) expresses a very human aversion to His impending death.

Jesus’ ‘weakness’ (v2) allows Him to empathise and understand us even when we are under the most stressful of times. At the same time, Jesus is superior to all High Priests who have come before Him, as His weaknesses do not subject Him to the curse of sin.

9. According to this passage, where do we find eternal salvation?

Suffering

Was going to write a little section on why there is suffering after yesterdays BS, but then realized I was seriously underqualified for it :P

Anyway, going to throw some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head to (hopefully) facilitate discussion. Just hope there are no hereseys in here...

-The statement "God is a loving all powerful God that allows suffering" is not illogical or self-refuting.
-All powerful = There is nothing God can't do =/= There is nothing God won't do
-God won't be untrue to his own character (loving, just, faithful)
-In love, God creates us with free will
-In justice, he brings about the consequences of sin i.e. suffering
-Only God is good, all of us have fallen short and so we can not say we do not deserve punishment, nor can we claim how much punishment we deserve.
-But bringing it back to God's sovereignty, He can use even this to create in us a more Christlike character. Examples include but are not limited to pretty much every character in the bible :P
-On the subject of people who never hear about Jesus or unborn babies, I think the bible says very little because it does not help it do what it is supposed to do, which is bring the good news to those who HAVE heard about Jesus. All it really says is that we should have faith that God judges justly on the last day and then turns our attention back to what we who have heard should do.

Yeah, I think that's pretty much it from me.

Sherman

Hey guys,

just a heads up that I might not be putting out BS studies until I get back- I didn't take George's advice (read his post if you haven't), and am paying for it now. By the by, anyone else want to write my report for me?

Listen to what I say, not what I do- I say don't leave thing's to the last minute.

Another week, another study- I probably should have said this earlier, but if there's anything you don't quite understand or just flat out disagree with in these things, let me know. I promise I won't bite your head off (immediately).

Genesis 3

3:1-24

Discussion: think about times you have been caught doing things you knew you should not have been doing. What is your first reaction when caught?

Read Genesis 3:1-24

1. Who is the serpent? What do the following passages tell us about this serpent?

Romans 16:20

God’s superiority over Satan, the fulfilment of the curse in Genesis Gen 3:16

Revelations 12:9

Satan explicitly named the ‘ancient snake’, his role as the one who leads the whole world astray

John 8:44

A murderer and father of lies- notice the connection how those who refuse to believe in Jesus are called Satan’s children.

2. How does the serpent convince the woman to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

Firstly, Satan assumedly approaches Eve when she is apart from Adam. We are so much more suspect to falling into sin where we believe we are by ourselves- remaining in the body of Christ that is the Church is a powerful insurance against falling in sin.

Secondly, Eve is made to doubt the truth of God’s commands (Gen 3:1-5). While Satan does not begin with a bold invitation in disobey God, he ends by directly contradicting what God has previously told Adam and Eve that if they ate from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would surely die (Gen 2:17). This is part of the reason why it is so important have a biblical foundation for our beliefs. As to whether doubt is bad, all the time- I can only speak on my own opinion, not having found a reliable source (bad time management…). I think doubt is an inevitability in this life, and in of itself is not a sin. How we respond to that doubt defines whether or not we have made the right or wrong choice- in my opinion!

Finally, Eve was swayed by the apparently attractive nature of the forbidden fruit (Gen3:6). It is always easier to resist temptation when we turn away from it at the instance of it appearing, rather than to turn back at the last possible moment. For many of us (at least, me), the question is not ‘what is sinf?’, but rather ‘how far can I go without sinning?’- this is the wrong perspective to take, we should be wary of the situations we put ourselves in if there is even a slight possibility that we might end up doing the wrong thing.

3. How does the woman respond to the serpent’s prompting?

Again, Eve allows herself to fall into a dialogue with Satan. As I wrote previously, it is often better to disregard the sort of discussion that leads to sin sooner, rather than later. In the last study we did on Titus, Paul in no uncertain terms instructs Titus to as soon as possible take out the individuals who are spreading false teaching (Tit 1:10-16). Contrary to what we are taught today, not everything has an equal value, and not everything is of the same moral worth- we should refuse to recognise perspectives that dispute biblical truth from the get go.

4. Where is the man in all this?

In Gen 3:6, Adam appears to be next to Eve as she eats of the fruit. In this verse, we can see Adam abdicating the responsibility he has for his wife- even though she was eating the fruit which God had told them not to touch, Adam did nothing to stop or admonish Eve. The sort of headship that a man is supposed to show towards his wife, mirroring Christ’s headship of the Church (Eph 5:22-24) is nowhere to be seen in Adam’s example.

A bit more relevant to us unmarried types (read; the dota guys)- how do you act in your life? Will you be made complicit in something you know is wrong, or will you speak out? Sometimes, by following Adam’s example and not protesting against something we know to be wrong can lead to heavy consequences.

5. How did the man and woman answer to God?

When Adam and Eve heard God coming, they hid. Eventually when they were called out to by God, they both cast the blame to someone else (Gen 3:8-13). When we look at this passage, we see the typical human response when confronted with their sin. Either we try to conceal our actions, or we attempt to blame someone else for our own actions.

6. What’s wrong with this picture/chain of events?

From Satan, Adam and Eve the common thread in each of their respective downfalls is their disobedience against God. Adam and Eve both presumed to know better than God, in principle seeking to become their own individual ‘god’s’ in their own right. We see that from the original perfection that God intended His Creation to exist in the consequence of Adam and Eve’s actions by listening to Satan was to corrupt that setting.

7. How did God respond to this chain of events…

…in relation to the serpent?

God condemns the serpent to crawl on his belly and to be in enmity against Eve and her descendants. While we are destined to remain in struggle with Satan in this life, we are reassured that in spite of Satan’s efforts to bring us down, Jesus’ death and resurrection has struck Satan on his head, dealing a fatal blow that puts us beyond Satan’s offence beyond our ‘heel’ (Rom16:20)

…in relation to the woman?

To Eve, God punished her with pain during child-birth and submission to her husband (Gen 3:16). While Eve was created to be a helper to Adam (Gen 2:18), in their fallen state no longer would that service be under perfect leadership from Adam, nor in complete contentment with Eve. By mistakenly believing that we could decide our lives better than God could, everything that was supposed to be nice and pleasant became hard and arduous. In other words, God’s punishment is not the sort that rains down like fire from heaven so to speak, but in discovering Man’s belief that he can govern his own life, abandons us to our ‘sinful nature’ which corrupts God’s intended image (Rom1:25).

However, God’s punishment of Eve is merciful and measured- the pain of child-birth gives way to a newborn, and the submission/companionship of a husband pulls her into situation where she might not be so easily led into sin again.

…in relation to the man?

Again, although Man is consigned to the fields in order to live and through toil and tears to make his living (Gen3:17-19), God metes out his punishment in measure. While, the wages of sin are death, Man was not instantly sentenced as such, but only to a temporary separation from God. What was meant to be a joy in stewarding over creation become a painful chore, and our lives ultimately end with our bodies returning to the dust whence they came. It is not the additional sentence that makes all these things so, but the disobedience and arrogance coming from the belief that we can manage our lives without God.

…in relation to both the man and woman?

8. Why do you think God responded the way he did?

As we can see in the previous question, God tempered his punishment in relation to Adam and Even with mercy. But we must still be subject to punishment- God and sin are incompatible concepts, and it is an indispensable part of God to punish sin.

God also barred the way to the Tree of life in Genesis 3:22. This verse initially gave me some trouble- instead of a loving and just God, v 22 seemed to paint and image of a God acting out of jealousy of humanity’s potential rather than genuine care. But a careful examination of this verse reveals God acting in his eternal mercy. It was through eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Man committed his original sin. Through that sin we were separated from God- so to have eaten from the Tree of Life would have consigned us to an eternity away from God. More commonly, this is known as Hell. God’s actions in Gen 3:22 was not an attempt to bar us from eternal life, but to save us for the eternal life that God originally and always intended for us.

Reflection/Application

9. What does Genesis 3 teach us about sin?

10. How do the people around you consider sin? (Your family, schoolmates, workmates, friends, etc)

11. How do you view sin in your own life? Are there excuses you make? Or have you been deceived by the serpent?

Spend some time in prayer.

For the people with exams- good luck. Your proof-of-Asian card with be returned upon confirmation of a HD average.

Genesis 2

2:4-2:25

Just for fun (pick one):

1. Draw an animal that doesn’t actually exist. Name it.
2. God has just created the first man/woman to be your husband/wife. Write him/her a poem/song (for inspiration read Gen 2:23).

B; It’s not like you have any other choice… (trust me, this works.)

Application: deliver your poem/song as appropriate and report on the results. (No, I’m not serious… I think.)

Read Genesis 2:4-2:25

1. What is man’s purpose? What has God set for him to do?

Reference to Man’s purpose in the Garden of Eden is made explicitly inGen2:15 and Gen 2:20.

V15 tells us that Man was “work it (the garden of Eden) and take care of it”- God’s original intention was neither that we remain idle, nor that our stewardship over creation be an exploitative relationship. For many of you, exam period is either already upon you or close round the corner- time to open those textbooks and faithfully undertake the responsibilities that God has entrusted to us!

In v20, God delegates the privilege of naming the creatures of creation to Man. It was to Man that God entrusted a particular position within Creation, attached to which was a special responsibility to care and cultivate the things that God has given to us.

2. Describe the garden that God created. What is its purpose?

While God could have been content in creating an environment that provided the bare minimum necessities, He populated the Garden of Eden with all kind of trees. Moreover, all that had been created- creatures of the land, birds and trees- had been given over to man to use as nourishment.

In short, God created an environment which would meet the needs of Man not the bare minimum, but in exceeding abundance.

In the middle, God put two special trees- the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil…

3. What do you think is the significance of the two named trees?

Since Creation, God’s intention has always been to allow Man to enjoy an eternal life with Him. The significance of the Tree of Life is that Jesus’ sacrifice was not a haphazard thought on the part of God, but as a part of His plan to restore to us what He originally had intended to give to us all along.

Whether the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil actually conferred the knowledge of its namesake to whoever ate its fruit is unclear. It was certainly not the case that Adam was unable to think for himself before eating the forbidden fruit- how else could he have named the animals, or chosen what to eat from the abundant provision that God had place in Eden? Perhaps the best explanation I’ve read as to what the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represented is from a commentary by a man called Matthew Henry (it’s online and free- check it out). What is good? To listen to God. What is bad? To ignore his commandments. Whatever else the Tree may have been, at the very least the choice it posed to Man in his free will whether or not to obey God’s commandments captures the moral foundation upon which every Christian should base their decisions on.

4. Why was the man naming the animals?

Partially as an indication of the authority God conferred to Man, Adam was given the opportunity to name the animals. What we should take away from this is that as human beings, we possess a limited ability to discern the mechanics and means of the environment around us, stemming from this authority. Obviously not letting this authority over the rest of creation give way to arrogance, we are nonetheless blessed with the ability to control and manipulate our surroundings.

The other reason that God had Adam name the animals was to find a ‘suitable helper (Gen 2:20). To re-iterate, up till not that point nothing in creation fulfilled the unique role until woman was formed..

5. For the first time in creation, something is not good (v18). What is not good? How does God resolve this?

‘It is not good for man to be alone…’ (Gen 2:18). As silly as it sounds, it is not an uncommon perception for non-Christians to view the Christian lifestyle as a monastic singular state of being. While singleness should not be seen as a negative (See 1 Cor 7:25-40), a majority of people will end up marrying at some point in their life.

The other point to be made here is the absolute provision that God has in store for us. Despite a suitable helper within the entire breadth of Creation unable to be found, Genesis does not record anything about Adam’s anxiety concerning God’s ability to provide. Rest easy in the knowledge that our needs are well kept in God.

6. Describe the man and the woman in relation to each other.

Consider:

How are they the same?

How are they different?

What are their roles?

What is the significance of Eve being created from Adam’s rib/side?

7. Genesis two provides us with God’s creation intention for marriage. What does this chapter tell us about marriage and sexuality?

To begin with, God created woman to fulfil the role of Man’s helper. Nothing else in the scope of Creation fulfils her position quite like she does- which goes against so much of what we are told by today’s gender-conflicted society. Does the subservient role of a woman place her in an inferior position? To take such a position must invariably lead to an equal perspective of Jesus’ character as a servant! To say that women cannot hold positions of authority in society is also flawed, in my opinion- God created Eve as a helper of Adam, not men.

In Genesis 2:23, where Adam accurately describes Eve as being of the same bone and flesh that he is, he describes the perfect attitude we are to have towards our spouse. The description that man and woman become ‘one flesh’ (Gen v2:24) has important lessons as to how we should view marriage.

Firstly, our love for our spouse is to be equal to the love that we have for our self. I think that the reason why many people balk at the idea of a woman submitting to a man is that all too often our world provides us with examples of an abuse of leadership that lead to the injury of those subservient. The leadership that is demanded from Christian men is the same sort of loving authority that Jesus has for His church, to the extent that he died for our sins. As men take up the responsibility in marriage then, we are called to make similar sacrifices in the name of Christian leadership.

Secondly the union God created was between a man and a woman. God did not mention any variation on this, so to call anything outside this example ‘marriage’ is wrong and directly contradicting God’s will.

At the same time, Genesis 2:25 points to the physical intimacy that should be seen inside a loving Christian marriage. Adam and Eve felt no shame being unclothed in front of one another. The enjoyment of physical intimacy is reserved for marriage- there is nothing unclean or dirty about this at all (although I will concede talking to your parents about this may get slightly awkward… especially if they start using sock puppets.)

Reflection/Application

8. What of God’s character do you see most strongly from chapter 2? How can you better respond to God in this?

9. What does Chapter 2 tell us about…

Work?

Worship?

Marriage?

Reflect on what this means for your own attitudes and perspectives on these things.

Spend some time in prayer.

Start of a new study... Can you feel the excitement??

Genesis 1

1:1-2:3

Discussion: If you had God’s power to create anything you wanted to, what would you create?

Apple Pie (See last week)

Read Genesis 1:1-2:3

1. Summarise the seven days of creation.

Before Creation
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

2. How does God create each part of creation?

3. What patterns can you see in this account of creation? What things stick out for you?

Hopefully you’ve made it up to here, ignoring the blank spaces… you’re all big kids now, and should be able to answer to first 2 questions.

Anyway, I want to talk about one thing which stood out for me (and hopefully for you too). The first is that the source of all creation is God- it starts with His Word, which is the beginning of the earth and sea, plants, animals and mankind. Our God is the Creator God, who stands higher than any created being.

4. What is man’s part in creation?

Gen 1:26-30 indicates Mankind’s pre-eminence in the scheme of creation. We were created last, distinguished from the rest of all created things in that were created in God’s likeness and image. Secondly, we have been given authority over the rest of creation, to spread across the earth make use of its resources.

I just want to quickly note that in the King James Version of Gen 1:28 words like ‘dominion’ and subdue’ are used to describe our authority over creation. Some have taken this to argue that Christian’s and an environmentally unfriendly world perspective. While this isn’t the main point of the Creation story, it is a criticism that has gained some popularity recently- we will see why this isn’t so however, in the later questions.

5. How would you respond to someone who believes that we’re just animals… glorified apes?

An finally, we arrive… the clash between Genesis and evolution. This is a topic which often puts Christians and non-Christians on completely different levels of understanding. Firstly, focussing on the question at hand, we can see that Genesis puts Mankind and the rest of creation of different levels. Mankind is the only created thing which bears a resemblance to God in all of His aspects (‘Let us make human beings in our image…’ Gen 1:26) There is no way to interpret the creation of Mankind except by recognizing the exceptional place that has been bestowed upon us.

If we ignore the unique position of Mankind and choose to believe that we are no different from the rest of creation, we can fall into situations where we are unable to justify concepts like ‘human rights’.

6. What does this account of creation tell us about who God is?

First and foremost, the creation story affirms God’s complete authority and sovereignty over all of creation. I’ll explain this more in the next question, but the Genesis creation story stood to point out the many differences between the religion of the Israelites and those of their surrounding neighbours (Canaanites, Babylonians). In many of these cultures, rather than the worship of God they had worship of the Sun and Moon as their main objects of worship. In the Babylonian creation story, the Creator has to first battle sea monsters before he can begin the task of creation. In contrast to these stories, Genesis points out that the objects of worship and fear in other cultures ultimately stood far below their actual Creator.

7. What do you think is the purpose of Genesis 1:1-2:3?

Get on your COMA reading caps, people- a lot of the differences in opinion over the Christian creation story is because people don’t read it with the right frame of reference. It would be a mistake for me to read Moby Dick if I wanted to learn about the process of Whaling (I don’t know why I picked this example- Japan’s rubbing off on me, I guess. Ed.). In fact, by doing so I miss the literary value of the story. In the same way, I think that we would be wrong to read Genesis as a scientifically accurate account of creation. As I mentioned in the previous question, Genesis served to point of the qualities of God against the pagan religions that surrounded the Israelites at the time. In order to express the God-centered hierarchy of the world, Genesis was written in such a way that the things it describes (such as the sun and the stars) would be understandable on the level of the general observer.

Reflection/Application

8. Explain the relationship between God, creation and science.

As surprising as it might sound, the relationship between God and science doesn’t have to be the antagonistic one it is often portrayed to be. Because many people (both non-Christians and Christians) see God and science offering contrary explanations about many things including relation, we might see ourselves as being forced into choosing one or the other.

Instead of looking at God and science as enemies, another view might be to see them as answers to different questions. To look at the world around us and question the mechanics, or how something works would have little meaning beyond confirming what the Bible already tells us if we stopped at ‘Because God makes it so’. So science can show us the operation of the world around us, to a certain extent- to this extent I think everyone agrees on.

But to answer the deeper answer of why, rather than how things have occurred relies on the truths that God has revealed through the Bible. God explains our purpose, while Science can explain the execution. Rather than see science as an inevitable antagonist of God, we can use rather as a means to correct our translation of the Bible. God’s Word is perfect and complete- our interpretations may not be. In such instances, our ability to discern a world stamped with the mark of its Creator can correct an inerrant understanding of the Bible.

9. Are there parts of Genesis 1 that you struggle with, don’t understand or are confused about?

10. Which characteristics of God do you find most surprising, or you would not usually associate with God (from those identified in Question 6)?

11. Reflect on your part in creation. Share any encouragement or insights that Genesis 1:1-2:3 gives you.

Spend some time in prayer, especially in thanking and praising God for His creation.

This place is like a ghost town, people. Let's get some activity going!

Tehillah Bible Study 4: Titus 3: 1-15

Pre-study Question:

1. In what ways will you thank your leaders this or next week?

I will bake them an apple pie for Tehillah! (Edit- Will accept cash as well)

Read Titus 3:1-15

Questions:

1. How then are we saved as a Christian? List out the logical steps Paul makes to support our salvation and the changes made in us. (v4-7)

· Jesus appears through the kindness and love of God the Father (v4)

· We are saved, not through any works of righteousness, but by the mercy of God (v5)

· The Holy Spirit is poured out on us, cleansing us and ultimately transforming us into the heirs of eternal life (5-7)

It might be a good idea here to also look at v3. The reason for this is that the beginning of our salvation starts at the same place it does for everyone else- as a sinner. In the absence of Jesus Christ, we too are ‘foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…’ (Tit 3:3) My emphasis on ‘too’ is because there is nothing inherently different within us that is drastically different from our non-Christian friends and associates. But for the Grace of God and Christ’s death and resurrection, we would also be captive to the sorts of behaviour that Paul describes in v3.

Similarly, keep in mind the topic at hand here. Having been saved in Christ, ‘we are a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good,’ (Tit 2:14). I want to draw your attention to the order of things here- We are saved first, with the good works reflecting our inner beliefs. To invert this order is to deny the necessity and importance of our redemption through Christ’s crucifixion. This is something which I’ve noticed talking to my friends over here- it’s been very easy for me to simply (or inaccurately) to portray Christianity as a mere way to live a good life (part of this is because I still suck at Japanese…).

2. Paul asks us to be “subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and to show true humility towards all men”. Why would he ask us to be act like this?

From my reading (you can trust anything you can get off Wiki, by the way), there might have been a historical context for Paul specifically telling the Cretans to obey the government of the day. In addition to their reputation as ‘liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons’ (Tit 1:12), the Cretans were also notorious for an unwillingness to submit to any sort of authority, that may have led to civil unrest being a common occurrence within their community.

That being said, there is still a current imperative for Christians to submit to the civil authority of the day, insofar as they do not contradict the laws of God. One of the main passages used to express this duty is Romans 13- in this chapter, the ruling authorities are positioned under God’s ultimate authority as his servants. As for when the authorities of our day contradict the teachings of God, Daniel provides an example of how and to what extent we are to refute the laws of man (Not Daniel Ng. Do not follow his example- please).

Where God and the government come into disagreement can be less clear (I think that copyright rules in large measure are rubbish, btw)- just make sure you have a good excuse grounded in the Bible before we catch you on the evening news.

3. Paul states that there are things that are profitable and things which are unprofitable. What are these things? What is the correlation between these things that Paul is talking about here?

Having been left with the great Commission to ‘make disciples of all nations…’ (Matt 28:18), we should be careful in considering whether our actions attract or repel people from Christ. When people see the fruits and satisfaction in living ultimately under God’s authority, our lives become a testament to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. True, we are saved by our conviction and not actions in Jesus Christ- but how do our ‘poor actions’ accurately portray our status as heirs of eternal life?

In contrast, Pauls warns us of not having anything to do with the people listed in v9, those interested in only arguing about Christian living, rather than living Christian lives. The strong theme of good actions borne out of our acceptance of Jesus Christ in Titus, is once again reiterated by Paul, who also continues his warning to abstain from the sorts of pointless arguments that the Jewish Christians in Crete were perpetuating at the time.

At the end of the day, our mission to evangelise to people about the love of God is met through a balanced whole of sound doctrine and kind actions. To neglect either of these only continues the image of ‘paper Christians’ whose lofty minded ideals don’t translate into hard reality, or leaves us in danger of justifying our salvation through actions rather than God’s mercy.

4. How are we to act towards these people who do these unprofitable things and what is the reason for this?

I could only do this with a bunch of Asians… to use an economic term, the opportunity cost of pointlessly arguing with the people Paul mentions in Tit 3:10 is less time actually putting to practice the love of God in one’s own life. Indeed, the word ‘divisive’ Paul uses in v10 to qualify the people we are not to talk to drives home the consequence of arguing with such people very often leads to a split or break in our people relationships. Over such division, it is only harder to love someone.

Another point that might be raised here is that to argue with such people is to grant them a degree of credibility or authority. In the same way I don’t pay attention to anything mark said when he was a baby (and still don’t…!), by refusing to engage in pointless conversations we deny their opinions of any worth.

Does this mean that Paul’s instruction to study the Bible and be educated in sound doctrine through the previous 2 chapter’s become’s useless? Where our words and conversations are borne out of a desire to restore someone a educate people on how to live a Godly life, our discussions have merit. In order to do this, it is crucial that we ourselves are soundly grounded in Biblical doctrine. Where our goal however is to win an argument for the sake of winning or to protect our own pride (something I confess I fall into as well!), our words become useless.

It is then because our goal is to correct and not to ‘win’ in discussions with these ‘divisive people’, that Paul urges us to have nothing to do with them after warning them the second time (Again, this should be seen less as an absolute number, a principle to follow- for what reason are you talking to this person)

Further Questions:

5. v1 states that we should be subject to in this instance civil rulers and authority. Why do you think Paul would want us to be subject to them when we believe God to be the only ruler and authority?

(Answered in q2)

6. Should we always be subject to rulers and authority? What situations are there where this may not be the case? How do we therefore know when to follow civil authorities?

(Answered in q2)

7. v5 tells us that we are washed by the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Does this mean a physical washing (i.e. Baptism) or is this something more? Do we need to be physically baptised to be saved?

Based on the context of the passage, Paul does not seem to be implicating water Baptism as a necessary prerequisite to salvation. While there are churches which take this verse to mean precisely that (not ours), to go along with that construction would seem to contradict our complete dependence on God’s mercy and not of ‘the righteous things that we had done’ (Tit 3:5) for our salvation. For me, this contradiction is the strongest indicator that Paul is not saying a bath will open the gates of Heaven for you (Paul was a lawyer- lawyers never contradict themselves).

8. Verse 10 and 11 tell us to reject a factious man after two warnings. What does it mean to reject the factious man? Are we to completely cut them out of our lives? If so how and why?

As Christian’s, we are to adopt the same attitude as God when it comes to sin and have nothing to do with it. The ‘fractious man’ in Tit 3:10-11 (‘divisive’ sounds so much better… and it’s written in my version) is condemned by his own consciousness given by God (Romans 2:14-15). The responsibility to accept Christ’s salvation is a personal one and if our warnings are not being listened to by such people, then we ourselves are in danger of being influenced by their sinful behaviour.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind here is the purpose of restoration. The decisive manner of Paul’s command is so that people can realise that any way other than God’s way leads to Satan (1 Cor 5:5). The separation is to be of a fairly significant degree, to the extent that the people being denied community with God’s people realise the consequences of their ways, and hopefully find their way back to God.

Finally, while Paul is talking about people with the Church community, it might be wise to also keep an account of the sort of non-Christian friends we hang out with. I am not asking you to only hang out with other Christians!!! However, where our relationships with non-Christians put us in a position to cause other’s to stumble (1 Cor 10:32) including ourselves, we should carefully evaluate the situation before making a decision.

Application:

9. Do you have a problem listening to authority? Do you consider how it affects the Christian image before you choose to follow or dismiss the authority?

10. Can you think of a time where you have had to cut someone off because of their beliefs contrary to the Christian view? Do you still show them mercy that you were shown?

11. Is there any part of your Christian character that you feel need to be changed to fully represent God and your change to righteousness.

12. Look back on the logical steps that Paul has stated for our salvation and being baptised as a Christian. Would you consider baptism if you are not already?

Get it while it's hot guys- important study this week, because it offers the justification for Paul's instructions.

In other news, congratulations to Crab meat, Mr. Squiggle, Shermy, the Fonze, Squeaky, Dorothea, Nap-Nap and Vince Valentine on their public bathing. Look sharp, now.

TITUS : STUDY 2

Titus 2:1-15

What does it mean to be made in God's image? Sometimes we forget we're images of our creator and act a bit strange for people who are meant to be God's image.

Post Study Questions

1. In Genesis 1:27 it says God created us in his image. What do you think this means?

2. Also think about anything you learnt from Titus 1:5-16 and discuss if and how it affected the way you act or think

Read Titus 2:1-15

1. How do you think this passage is somewhat related to Genesis 1:27 or anything you know about how God intended humans to be like?

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him”-

Fact #1; This verse is not telling us that we are gods. I repeat, do not go running off demanding your parents start worshipping and let you stay up past 7. While Gen 1:27 does not describe God creating other mankind as individual gods (soundly refuted by verses like Isaiah 43:10), we have been imparted particular qualities that make us ‘like god’. In the same way a sunset shown on the television will never replace actually seeing the real thing, there is no way ‘God’s image’ possesses all the qualities the God Himself has.

Rather, what this verse gets at is that our soul bears qualities of God’s own spirit. Whether or not our physical appearance bears any resemblance to our spiritual God is up for discussion, but we can all agree that our soul is what separates us from the rest of creation, and puts us closer to God. The character of our relationship of God is thus to know Him more intimately than any other created thing. However, when Adam and Eve’s sin broke this relationship, our knowledge of God became clouded.

Paul justifies his instructions in Titus 2:11-15 is that the acceptance of God’s grace compels us to reject the ways of the world. Through God’s grace we have resecured the original relationship Adam and Eve had with God in the garden of Eden. God’s grace however not only guarantees our salvation- it compels us to good and god-like actions. Paul’s instructions in Titus illustrates what our behaviour will be like when we enjoy the presence of God in Heaven- having already been saved now, in this world, there is no room for a follower of Christ to also follow the world.

In short (or those too lazy to read the above) the instructions in Titus 2:1-15 are those that are borne out of the relationship between God and Man, to be evident when we accept a relationship with Him as Christians. Our spiritual likeness to God manifests itself in the sort of behaviour that Paul instructs.

2. List the qualities that Paul lists down for the different types of people and note the verses down.

3. Why do you think Paul divides the people like he does in this passage?

While Paul doesn’t give an explicit answer for the way he delivers his instructions to the Cretans, one possible explanation for the manner in which they are presented is the problems the Cretan church was having with false teachers. Particularly, Titus 1:11 talks about “whole households” being disrupted. The delivery of the instructions seems to be a remedy for the problem, as Paul respectively goes through each member of the family.

What is interesting here is that Paul only gives instructions to the younger women indirectly, through what the older women may instruct to the younger women (Titus 2:4). Of course, the way Paul links all the instructions (the beginning of Titus 2:3,6) together could possibly be taken to be general principles to be expanded onto other members of the house Why Paul does not instruct the younger woman directly is a bit unclear- possibly the younger women didn’t need to be given instructions and were already leading good Christian live? (Doubtful- I’m looking at you, Naomi.)

4. How is the word “slave” applicable to us? In what ways are we like slaves were in Paul's time?

Approaching this question the “Japanese way”, from the behind actually helps us gain a bit of insight into the application of Paul’s instructions to slaves. Paul’s reasoning for his instructions to slaves is given in Titus 2:10, “…so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive” (そうすれば、私たちの救い主である神の教えを、あらゆる点で輝かすことになります-for those of you who wanted the Japanese…) Looking at it from this perspective, making sure our actions speak of God’s teaching in a positive manner is surely a responsibility for all Christians.

Moreover, there will be situations today which mirror the master-slave relationship that all of us will at some point experience. All of your parents will kick you out at some point- this usually entails getting a job, and working under a boss. In fact, as Christians the adoption of a servant-like attitude is key to our work in reaching out to those who have yet to believe in Jesus (1 Cor 9:19), and even our understanding of leadership (Mathew 20:26-28). So Paul’s instructions to ‘slaves’ have more application to our day and age than we first might realise.

5. How many times does Paul mention maligning the word of God (or similar phrases) in this passage? If you have time go back to the previous study and see any similar phrases. In what way is Paul's list of qualities related to these verses? In what way is Genesis 1:27 also related?

Paul uses the words ‘maligning the will of God’ specifically when giving instructions to the older women in the church in Titus 2:5, but we can see how the other groups within the church are given similar instructions to protect the teachings of God and to make them ‘attractive’ to non-Christians (Titus 2:10). Again, Paul’s instructions are the equivalent solution to the unhealthy teaching being propagated the false teachers within the Cretan church described in Titus 1:10-15.

What I want to draw particular attention to is the connection that Paul makes between ‘sound doctrine’ and ‘good works’. Instead of continuing to concentrate on false teaching, Paul’s reasoning behind his instructions is so that they do not malign the word of God. Sound doctrine is therefore more than just the correct memorisation of verses perfect attendance in Sunday school- rather, it is substantiated by the deeds and actions that are borne out of a knowledge of sound scriptural knowledge. Again, salvation is not gained by our own effort, but leads us towards Christ-like actions because of the salvation received through God’s grace.

Additionally, Christians are to present an accurate and glorious representation of our saviour Jesus Christ, which Paul talks about in Titus 2:10. Having been made in the image of God, are you going to be a caricature, or a photograph of our awesome God?

6. In what verse does Paul justify acting like the way he's mentioned? If you need hints, look how the passage is structured and look for key words that might indicate a logical statement. Why would this be such a powerful motivator to our conduct as Christians?

Paul provides two justifications for the instructions he has given the Cretan church. In Titus 2:11-12, Paul talks about the universal salvation all men might receive through the grace of God. The knowledge that we have been saved in spite of our lack of merit compels us to reject the things of the world that seek to divorce us from God. This can be seen as the ‘present’ justification of our behaviour.

Secondly, Paul provides in Titus 2:13-14 for our attention to be focussed on the coming of Jesus our saviour. Along with that second coming, all of our burdens, fears and anxieties caused by this world will pass (Luke 6:20-22) . As a testament to the certainty in the conclusion that Paul describes in Titus 2:13-14, we obey the instructions given from Him who has made this future possible.

Reflection:

1. How aware are you of how you live as God's image on earth?

2. If we need to change, how and what is the only way we can change?