Galatians (Program #25) – Not Brought to Nought from Christ

To accept some kind of concept that we need to do something outward as a condition of experiencing and enjoying Christ is in a front, an insult to God. The New Testament book of Galatians reveals much about the Gospel of grace and the freedom that believers have in Christ, especially the first 4 chapters. But, chapter 5 brings us a well-known warning about falling from grace. Have you ever wondered what it is to fall away from grace? Is it to commit sins after you’re saved? Does it mean that you lose your salvation by grace? Stay with us as we look at Galatians 5 on today’s life study of the Bible.

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Numbers (Program #30) – Fighting (9)

After 40 years of experiences in the wilderness, God is ready to fulfill His promise to His people Israel to give them the good land.  But there are some requirements that He places upon them because this land has been occupied even polluted by various people apart from Israel; people with other gods and idols.  So before Israel can inherit the land, they must first drive out all these inhabitants, destroy their idols and tear down the high places.  If they don’t, they will be troubled by these things throughout their days.  Once again, the Old Testament provides us with a rich profound illustration of how we must possess our good land, the all-inclusive Christ.

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Galatians (Program #24) – Two Covenants and Two Kinds of Children

When we get saved, Christ gets into us. Then as we learn to walk in Him, we experience Him living in us. But still, this is not the goal. In Galatians 4:19, Paul says, “My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you”. It’s not until Christ is formed in us that we enter the full blessing of the Gospel. Don’t miss today’s life study of the Bible.

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Numbers (Program #29) – Fighting (8)

We all familiar with the Old Testament principle calling for “an eye for an eye”.  This implies the penalty for serious crime was very severe in the dispensation of the law and surely it was.  Though ‘an eye for an eye” speaks of the righteous nature of God, it doesn’t fully reflect His mercy and grace.  As the children of Israel preparing to enter into the good land, they were given a much different provision to deal with offenders and that was the six cities of refuge in which a guilty person can flee and be protected from his avenger.  Here is another aspect of our God being displayed and we all as guilty ones have benefited from taking safe refuge in God’s place of refuge; today our Savior Christ.

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Galatians (Program #23) – The Need for Christ To Be Formed

In Galatians 1, the Apostle Paul points us to the Christ who is revealed in us. In chapter 2, we have the Christ who lives in us. But in chapter 4, the focus is on the Christ who is being formed in us. Yes. Christ has been revealed in us; even, He is living us. Yet the questions remains, has He been formed in us? This is the deep burden of the Apostle Paul in Galatians, and it’s our topic on today’s life study of the Bible.

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Numbers (Program #28) – Fighting (7)

One of the great moments in all of the Old Testament history was when the children of Israel finally participated in the distribution of the good land.  In principle, it was to be distributed not according to their choice, but according to God’s direction.   Yet two of the tribes, Reuben and Gad and later joined by the half-tribe of Manasseh.  Because of their own particular situation thought they knew what they needed, so they made request of Moses and the high priest to give them the land just before the Jordan river on the east side.  God agreed and these tribes got what they had chosen and what they had asked for.  But as we will see, our own choice, if we take it before the Lord’s choice most often carries a big price.

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Galatians (Program #22) – The Spirit of Sonship

Galatians 4 is a wonderful chapter, focusing on two divine sendings. God first sent forth His Son. But, not only so, He also sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The two sendings in Galatians 4 are our topic on today’s life study of the Bible.

It helps to see the two main points in chapter 3 are number 1, that the Spirit is the blessing of the Gospel, and number 2, that the law is a custodian leading us to Christ, conducting us to Christ, and keeping us for Christ. In this Chapter 4:1-7, we see a continuation. That is, the Spirit of Sonship replacing the custody of the law. So, we need to begin this program by asking, “Do you want the blessing or do you want a custodian?”

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Numbers (Program #27) – Fighting (6)

After 40 years of journeying through the wilderness of Sinai, the children of Israel had finally arrived at the gate of the good land and the end of their long and difficult journey.  By now they had experienced a wide range of things from God’s mercy, many of His miracles and the number of wars fighting against a variety of enemies and a great number of their own failures and setbacks as well.  But through it all, God remained faithful to His promise to bring them into the land that He had given to their father Abraham.  He was also faithful to remind them of His need and He would never let them forget the necessity of offering sacrifices there were satisfying to Him.  We will review some of these marvelous point on today’s program and we will see some new things facing God’s people.

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Galatians (Program #21) – Baptized into Christ and Putting on Christ

The thought in this chapter (Galatians 3) is quite deep and the thought is also divine. And, it’s one thing to be in the first couple of chapters with more objective matters, precious but yet rather basic concerning the fundamental truth of the Gospel and being justified by faith through grace and not out of the works of the law. But in chapter 3 and also chapter 4, which is not that much easier than chapter 3, we’re at the heart of this book. And, we’re deep into the experiential aspect of this book.

Let me try to summarize. We have received the Spirit, not by works of law, but by the hearing of faith. By receiving the Spirit, we receive the reality of the blessing God promised to Abraham. Having received the Spirit and having been brought to Christ through the law as a child-conductor, we are now sons of God and true sons of Abraham. We have believed into Christ. We have been baptized into Christ. We have put on Christ. And, by so doing, we have put off all natural distinctions. And, this is all for the carrying out of God’s economy for us to be in Christ and for Christ to be in us, that we may be the corporate expression of Christ.

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Numbers (Program #26) – Fighting (5)

Forty years of wandering, of fighting against enemies and of learning to live by depending on God are near an end.  God’s people Israel are about to enter the land that He has promised to their fathers.  By this time Jehovah God had prepared the people and everything they would need to go in and possess this land.  But it is here, at this critical juncture that He comes to them to remind them not of their need but of His need.  From His people, God requires something that He will not provide for Himself – food.   Hard to imagine isn’t it?  God needs to be fed.  He can only be fed by His people.  Quite a story we have before us.