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Bible Study- Lutz, Florida
Established
November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the
Book Lesson 12
I
want to welcome back, all our regular visitors.
If
you’ve just stopped by to “check us out,” I pray that you’ll stay long enough
to see what we’re about and return with an open Bible comparing what’s written
here with God’s Word. After all, this
isn’t about me it’s about what God has said in this book.
Please
don’t be one of those Christians who attend church, sit in their favorite seat
week after week, and accept whatever is “dished” out to them in the form of Bible
teaching without checking to see if what is being offered lines up with the
Word of God. I used to be one of these
people… Make it your practice to have your Bible with you and open to the
passage, take notes, and then compare what has been said to Scripture.
See if it lines up with God’s Word.
I
know of a man who did just that. During a Sunday sermon, his church
leader taught his congregation that there are many ways to reach heaven. After
the service ended, this man met him at the door of the church with his Bible
open to John 14:6. He said, “Pastor, you said there are many ways to
heaven. But Scripture says Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father but through Me. How do you respond to this?”
The pastor replied, “Oh, that doesn’t mean what it says.”
My
friends that passage of Scripture means exactly what it says! Don’t be
fooled.
True
story…
One
of the common practices used by many churches today is “proof texting.”
Proof
texting is the method by which a person appeals to a biblical text to prove or
justify a theological position without regard for the context of the passage
they are citing.
I
have an example of proof-texting for you.
I’ve written about the “The Prosperity Gospel” in previous Bible
lessons. This message being “dished” out
to many congregations today is false teaching, but it is very much in vogue in
both the small and the mega-churches across this land. Why?
The
masses like it. It’s the kind of
message, “People with “itchy ears” desire to hear.” They like the idea
that God wants them to have “free stuff.”
Isn’t
this the attitude of our free-wheeling society today? Didn’t we just witness this very mind-set in
the last election? What happened to the
values associated with hard work, dedication to duty, sacrifice, etc. that go
along with living a normal life in America? One of these is: a fair
day’s pay for an honest day’s work.
Today
the slogan appears to be: What? You want me to work?
Far
too many people have the attitude that society “owes them a living” today.
They
want the federal government to feed them, shelter them, provide them free
medical care, and any other need they can dream up including free cell phones.
And
this federal administration in particular has been more than willing to meet
all their requests for “free stuff,” while ignoring the obvious threats to the
future of this country; its financial status, etc.
Do
you find it strange then that people are flocking to hear the prosperity gospel
today?
People
can’t get enough of it! The preachers
who profess to believe and teach this gospel have failed to Rightly Divide the
Word of Truth, at best. 180 degrees out from that, they are in it
strictly for the cash.
Here
is one example of Proof Texting used by many prosperity gospel preachers.
Galatians 3
14: in order that
in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles…
The
Bible verse does NOT end at the word Gentiles
but they end it there because this is all the information they want to “take”
from this verse. These false teachers
stop in mid Bible verse claiming that the Gentiles have inherited all the
blessings God gave to Abraham. These include both Spiritual and material things.
But
prosperity teachers ignore the second half of the Bible verse, which reads:
Galatians 3
14b: so that we
would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Our
Apostle Paul is clearly teaching the Galatians (and us) of the Spiritual
blessing of salvation, and NOT the material blessing of wealth.
Prosperity
gospel preachers claim the way you receive “stuff” from God is through FAITH. You must believe that God
will respond to your “prayers” for
stuff. If you didn’t get your “stuff”
from God, you obviously didn’t demonstrate the proper faith, so they say.
They
ignore the truths of the Abrahamic Covenant which is an Unconditional Covenant
between the LORD God and the nation of Israel.
Israel’s blessings were earthly in nature whereas the gentiles (who
would be blessed due to this covenant one day future) rewards are heavenly in
nature.
This
is an extra teaching and separate from the Roman’s study, but I hope this has enlightened
a few of you.
Let’s
get back to the business of Bible study – Rightly Divided.
Please
open your Bible to Romans chapter one.
We
have been studying the four “For’s” found in
Romans 1:16-18. The truth is, most
people are casual Bible readers and when they see these verses they keep right
on going. They miss what the Apostle Paul
is actually saying.
This
is why I keep saying, “Bible reading is NOT Bible study.”
Bible
reading is a COMPONENT of Bible study – it is not a substitute.
But
we are going to park on each one and before we’re done we will have gained a
much greater understanding of these.
1)
For I am not
ashamed of the gospel
2)
for it is the
power of God for salvation
3)
For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed
4)
And then in verse 18 the next “For” which makes
the gospel necessary:
We’ve
examined all of these “for’s “above except for number four. We’ll
get to that in just a minute, but let’s review Scripture first. I think
this is best because it lays the groundwork for what we are about to study.
Let’s drop in at Romans 1:17
Romans
1
Unbelief and Its
Consequences
18: For the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19: because that
which is known about God is evident (where) within them;
for God made it evident to them.
20: For since the
creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine
nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so
that they are without excuse.
21: For even though
they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they
became futile in their speculations (science), and their foolish
heart was darkened.
22: Professing to
be wise, they became fools,
23: and exchanged
the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Now
let’s attend to Paul’s fourth “for.”
4)
For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness…
These
few words, sum up all of Scripture as to the Holy God’s attitude toward sin.
In
addition, Paul’s fourth “for” reveals
mankind’s appalling sinful state, per the Creator God. It further
demonstrates society’s need of the Gospel of Grace because none could obtain
the favor of God, or escape his wrath by their own works or good deeds.
Our
Creator God's invisible power and Godhead are so clearly shown in the
breathtaking works he has made, that even idolaters and wicked Gentiles are
left without excuse.
For the wrath of
God
God
directs His wrath against two areas: ungodliness and unrighteousness.
God
is not anti-man or anti-woman. God is anti-sin.
God
loves the sinner but hates sin.
Ungodliness
is lack of reverence towards God. This is sin against God.
Our
sin disregards God. Ungodliness results in unrighteousness.
The
effect of sin against God results in acts that are not right with God.
God’s
wrath is against ALL
sin without exception! No such thing as
a “little” sin.
“…who suppress the
truth”
The
word suppress comes from two words: to hold and down. The
truth comes to people but they hold it down – to keep it from affecting their
lives. They do not want anything to do with God’s revelation; they reject
His truth!
The
truth here is general truth about creation. It is not about salvation or
the cross.
However,
God revealed enough about Himself to lay blame against those who have
“suppressed” the truth of His existence – and they are without excuse.
“…in
unrighteousness”
The
word unrighteousness
is used twice in verse 18, placing greater emphasis on it.
People
who are unrighteous are “not RIGHT with God.”
Their motivation for rejecting God’s revelation is that they do not want
to be “right with God.” The unrighteous type prefer to go their own way –
not God’s way.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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