Galatians (Program #7) – Freedom in Christ Versus Slavery Under Law

The book of Galatians is a book of contrasts. For example, God’s Son is contrasted with man’s religion. And, freedom in Christ is in contrast to slavery under the law. And, the spirit is in contrast with the flesh. To understand the depths of this book is to understand these great contrasts. Please stay with us for today’s life study of the Bible.

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2 Corinthians (Program #26) – The Ministry of the Spirit as the Life Supply, and of Righteousness as God’s Expression (1)

The Old Testament had one unique ministry beginning with Moses and his receiving and delivering to the children of Israel the law or commandments. The ministry of the law commands and continues until the coming of Christ. But the coming of Christ usher in another ministry, the ministry of the New Covenant. Actually these two are the only ministries spoken of in the Bible.

Acts chapter 1 makes it very clear that not withstanding the current situation, there is a reality of only one ministry. Listen to verse 17 and 25 of Acts chapter 1,

17 “For he was numbered among us and was allotted his portion of this ministry.”
25 “To take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

The ministry of the New Covenant is a very great matter that we dare not take lightly, neither should we take it into our own hand to try to put it into practice.

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2 Corinthians (Program #21) – Shining the Glory of the New Covenant (2)

Two items are marvelously connected in 2 Corinthians that you may have never noticed or linked before. These two things are the New Covenant and the shining of the glory of Christ.

The Old Covenant was a Covenant of law and of letters with the affect of bringing us into spiritual death. The New Covenant on the other hand has everything to do with the Spirit and life. And to be brought into the reality of the New Covenant is to be brought into the glory of the face of Jesus Christ.

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2 Corinthians (Program #20) – Shining the Glory of the New Covenant (1)

The Bible is very rich in the many titles that it describe to God. Of course He is the almighty, the God of glory, the all sufficient One and on and on. It opens in Genesis 1 with the Hebrew word, Elohim, meaning the creator of the heavens and the earth. But interestingly at the end of the Bible, in the final chapter, Revelation 22, God is called simply, the Spirit.  But along the way between these two great bookends of the Bible, we see the journey or the process, that God has passed through in time to accomplish His great eternal purpose.

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2 Corinthians (Program #10) – The Ministers of the New Covenant (3)

The apostle Paul speaking about himself prior to his salvation refer to himself as the chiefest of sinners or the foremost of sinners, yet this one who had been the great persecutor of the church eventually becomes the chiefest among the apostles.

How did God accomplish such a reconstitution of Paul?  Was it His miraculous work transforming him in an instant? Or was it the constituting work of the Spirit over many years?

2 Corinthians chapter 4 is the key chapter in providing answers to this profound question.

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2 Corinthians (Program #9) – The Ministers of the New Covenant (2)

What should be the important criteria or qualities to be a genuine and proper minister of the gospel of the New Testament? We all might have our own ideas and thoughts about what are the most important qualities. But the Bible devotes several chapters to the subject in the book of 2 Corinthians and it’s there that we see several items that we likely would never have even considered.

First, the ministers must be those that are constituted with the life giving and transforming Spirit as chapter 3. This means that they are full of Christ and therefore able to minister this very Christ into people.

Second, as we will see today in chapter 4. They are those who conduct themselves in such a way that the glory of the gospel of Christ might shine through them and out from within them. In other words, their goal should not be just to preach the gospel, but to allow the gospel in its glory to be shined out through them for other to see. Oh, how we Christians today need such healthy, heavenly ministers.

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1 Corinthians (Program #49) – Dealing with the Gifts (5)

As the apostle Paul was writing chapter 12, 13 and 14 of 1 Corinthians, he had much more in his heart then just dealing with the problem of the improper use or abuse of the gifts of the Spirit. There was an overwhelming burden on his heart and in his spirit concerning several crucial matters related to the building up of the Body of Christ, the church.

In chapter twelve and thirteen, he emphasizes five things: Speaking, the Spirit, the Body, God’ administration and love.  Then in chapter 14, he comes to another main item, the superiority of one particular gift for the building up of the church. Among the main spiritual gifts describe in this portion of the word, one stands out as superior for building up the church. What is this unique superior gift?

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Romans (Program #56) – Designation by the Mingled Spirit

What we need today is the practical way for us, the Christians, to contact the Lord. As we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, we touch the Spirit, who is the realization and application of the Triune God.

We may study electricity as a science and learn all of the theoretical truths concerning it, but until we find the switch and turn it on in our own home, it has no application to us. This is a graphic illustration of the Christian life that we have been seeing in the marvelous book of Romans. We’re going to focus on the switch today on our Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.

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Romans (Program #55) – Designation by the Spirit of Holiness

Romans 10:12 says, “The same Lord is Lord of all, and rich to all who call upon Him.” Whenever we call upon the dear, sweet name of our Lord Jesus, He is the life-giving Spirit, applies all of His unsearchable riches to us, thus transforming us from sinners in the flesh to sons of God in the spirit for the Body of Christ.

In God’s plan of salvation, we begin as sinners. And upon our believing into Him, we experience His forgiveness. But God’s goal is not just to have forgiven sinners; His goal is to have sons. For sinners to become sons, we need the riches of God’s salvation applied to us, and that’s the focus of our Life-Study of the Bible today.

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Romans (Program #51) – The Flesh and the Spirit

The Bible reveals to us three big enemies to our Christian life: sin, Satan and death. All of these three take advantage of our fallen flesh to frustrate us, but God’s approach to our flesh may surprise you. That’s the focus on today’s Life-Study of the Bible.

In these chapters in Romans, we’re seeing the three enemies and how they are seen as enemies that reign over us. In Romans 5:21, it mentions that sin reigned in death. In 5:14, it says “death reigned”. We learned from the book of Acts that Satan has some kind of authority like the power of darkness. These are the three big enemies. Now, in 5:17, we are promised that those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through Jesus Christ. more…

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