Tag Archives: Theology
Unity In The Body Of Christ
Bible Study On 1 Timothy 2:9-14 The Role Of Women In The Church
9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But woman will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.{2tim2:9-14}
Apostle Paul talks about the position of women in the body of Christ being the Church. I believe that Apostle Paul If I dare say is being a male chauvinist in his approach towards women within the body of Christ that is the Church.
Not being a feminist and taking these verses from their cultural point of view it is said that these women used to take great pains in their outward appearance.
This is the year 2011 and women in this age too take great pains in their outward appearance going to the gym, make-up, plastic surgery and like me braces as a teenager and now a yo yo dieter still trying to get the slender frame of my youth but I just got to tell myself “ Lady you are approaching middle age you ain’t no 16 anymore” If my Jewish sisters took such pains that Apostle Paul noticed 2000 years ago how much more now.
What Apostle Paul tried to say is let your personality and your inward spirit take pre-eminence. Not all women are quite and contrite, you got all sorts of women now as it was 2000 years back.
Apostle Paul seems to contradict himself when he says “ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male nor female for we are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28)
Therefore the rhetorical question is Why did apostle Paul state so vehemently the proper way for women to dress, behave and the give them a lower role than the men in church? Fascinating what is actually going on this immensely brilliant, most radically called, transformed and saved Apostle’s mind?
Now I think in this context one should use the Holy Spirit discretion and direction in understanding in this scripture and the context of this scripture in the cultural point of view 2000 years back.
I vehemently oppose taking scripture out of context and building intellectual castles of theology based on that particular scripture.
I am now looking at this context of scripture from a scriptural point of view if you my dear brother or sister are brethren you are going to be very happy with what I am going to say.:)
Why did God create woman out of man. God could have created women first we are more attractive, more complex and can also give birth to new life. But God created MAN first.
Now let us go back to our bible study God used a number of women in scripture like the prophetess Deborah, The prophetess Anna now this will blow your socks away God even used a prostitute Rahab whose name was mentioned in the lineage of Jesus but Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Now we read 1tim 2:14 which portrays woman as fickle minded and naïve. But I believe the contrary that God ahs bestowed man and woman with equal amount of intelligence. When we read in Genesis 3:6 That the woman took the fruit and ate it and gave some to her husband Adam who was right beside her, he could have prevented her and this led to the fall of mankind.
Man and woman differ emotionally, psychologically, physiologically and emotionally because of their constitution and the way they are made.
If we take into account Paul’s previous letters ( Dear brethren sister and brother this is the part you will agree with me whole heartedly) Women ought to be submissive to the man that is her husband but man don’t get too happy you got to love your wife as Christ loves the church..
In a marriage covenant man is the head of the woman. Why is the male figure the head? Because God ordained it that way and we know this through the word of God the bible.
Now if we take the five fold ministry into account there are certain gifts bestowed on men and certain gifts universally.
I believe the gift of the apostle and pastor are specifically for men. Jesus our good Shepard and pastor was a man to guide and Shepard the flock. Logically speaking Jesus came in the form of a Shepard or pastor to guide the flock the lost of Israel. Therefore the pastor should be a man to guide the and equip the flock, the congregation.
Now let us take the ministry of the apostle the sent one, the one who plants churches Jesus chose 12 apostles not one was a woman. Jesus had women disciples but no women apostles. The gift of the apostle is specifically for the men.
Now coming back to our present time 21st centaury women now consider themselves equal to men in all respects but Christian women need to show the world that we are not equal in all respects once a Christian woman marries her head is her husband.
Now the church the bride of Christ is looked as feminine awaiting her heavenly bridegroom.
In conclusion I would like to say God did not create woman out of a man’s head to Lord it over him. God did not create woman out of a man’s foot for him to make her his doormat and trample on her but God created woman out of man’s rib close to his heart to love her and cherish her as Christ loved the church
Application
Thank you God for making me a woman
Bibliography
The Bible
Exegesis on Galations
Exegesis on Galatians 4:26-29
26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you have no labour pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.
Galatians is an epistle written by Paul to some group resident in the Province of Galatia which was an area stretching right across the middle of Asia Minor. The time is not certain but it may have followed almost immediately after a visit to the area. The Galatians had a history of pagan worship and after converting to Christianity, they were bothered by Judaizers who were troubling these Gentile churches in Galatia with their insistence that to be a good Christian, one first had to become a good Jew. They believed circumcision and law keeping were necessary to salvation. This was a denial of the gospel preached by Paul that salvation was by faith in Christ alone, and not by faith in Christ and obedience to the law. Paul had previously shown that to win salvation by keeping the law was to enter into a hopeless and fruitless bondage. As long as they looked on law as a possible means of salvation, such slavery was inevitable. The key therefore to Paul’s thought in Galatians is his doctrine of inclusion of uncircumcised Gentiles.
Paul argues this doctrine through the use of rabbinic argument. He had a long and thorough training in Jewish tradition and rabbinic argument was natural to him. This style of thought may have been used because the Galatians were interested in Rabbinic exegesis of the law. In these verses, Paul does not choose an obscure passage to make his point, but one with a familiar background and sometimes he used his opponent’s terms and even adopted their position to show that it was untenable.
To support his argument, Paul uses an Old Testament story from the life of Abraham. This is significant because the Legalists all claimed to be sons of Abraham and all Jews traced their ancestry to Abraham, who was the founder of the Jewish nation. Previous to this passage, Paul reminded the Galatians that Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac was born of Sarah, the free woman, and Ishmael was born of Hagar, the slave woman. Ishmael was born in the ordinary way, requiring no miracle and no promise of God. Isaac, on the other hand, was the result of a promise from God that Sarah, who was beyond the age of childbearing would bring life out of the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
In verse 26, Paul says Sarah stands for the Jerusalem above, representing freedom from all physical and fleshly constraint which is the divine reality proposed by God. This heavenly city, which one day will come to earth (Rev. 21:2) is now the “city of the living God’ (Heb. 12:22). This was in comparison to the present city of Jerusalem (Jerusalem below) in slavery to elementary forces. This freedom is something already experienced by Christians who have learnt they need be under neither elemental forces nor law.
“For it is written” is a usual technique in constructing a theological argument. Paul proceeds to quote from Isaiah 54:1-4:27 which was appropriate although there was no direct evidence it applied to Sarah. In the passage, Yahweh comforts the exiled Judeans by reassuring Israel that Yahweh would take her again to wife (Isa. 1:4-8). There was the prospect of a new beginning like that following the flood and this was a powerful image of the hoped for new age. Paul applied this passage to Sarah, who though previously barren, was later blessed with a child and would ultimately have more children than Hagar.
After an exposition on the significance of the two women, Paul returns to the principal subject. “You, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise”. Like Isaac was a fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, their birth into freedom was the effect of divine grace; like Isaac, they belonged to the children of promise. The Jewish tradition understood that the covenant promise ran through Sarah, not Hagar; through Isaac, not Ishmael. As children of promise, Christians are in a distinct category and should not live as children of bondage.
Why was it then that if this could be shown so clearly from the Torah did their Jewish “brethren” persecute them so. Paul’s answer to this was drawn from a traditional rabbinic exegesis of Gen. 21:8,9 “The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking”. Ishmael was mocking Isaac. This was also the attitude of Judaism to the church. Paul compared Ishmael’s persecution of Isaac to the false teachers’ opposition to believers.
This concluding passage in Galatians 4 is crucial to 20th century Christians because we face the same problem the Galatian saints did in the first century. How does the New Testament believer apply the Old Testament which was written principally to the Jews. A principle is found in Paul’s use of an Old Testament passage which should guide every Christian in their use of Scriptures: to interpret the passage literally, in the light of context, background, culture, grammar and Biblical theology; to determine the principles which the interpretation reveals; then to seek to apply the principle as you consider the parallels between the Biblical passage and your own situation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chadwick, Henry, General Editor, The Epistle to the Galatians, A. & C. Black (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1993.
Coggins, R. J. & Houlden, J. L., Editors, A Dictionary of Biblical Interpretations, SCM Press, London, 1990.
Cole, R. A., The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians – An Introduction and Commentary, The Tyndale Press, Rochester Kent, 1965.
Freedman, David Noel, Editor-in-chief, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Doubleday, New York, 1992.
Howard, George, Paul: crisis in Galatia – A Study in Early Christian Theology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1979.
Jobling, David, Day, Peggy L., Sheppard, Gerald T., Editors, The Bible and the Politics of Exegesis, The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland Ohio, 1991.
Kern, Philip H., Rhetoric and Galatians, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998.
Prayer
PRAYER
What is prayer? Prayer, I believe, is our communion with the Almighty. There are numerous ways of communion with the Almighty. The bible says when my saints shall humble themselves and pray then shall I forgive their sins and heal their land. This is what this essay is all about. Our intercession and supplication laid before our heavenly Father.
There are different kinds of prayer. One of the main points is praying in the holy ghost and having the spirit of God direct us in our prayer. Secondly, praying with faith as Mark 11:24 praying with faith is believing with faith we have received the answers to our prayers according to the will of God. Praying with thanksgiving we must learn to thank God for our answers (Luke 17:17).
Prayer is petition (John 16:23-24). God is our Provider. He is Jehovah Jireh as John 16:23-24 tells us. We must learn to ask according to the will of God. Once in our home, when I was about 9 years old, we were living in Singapore during that time. We had no food in our home so we decided to pray for food. Miraculously, the next day, a lady from our prayer group came home with large packets of food because as she and her friend were praying, God gave her a vision of our empty refrigerator and told her and her friend to fill it up. God is good. We petitioned God and He answered our prayer.
Prayer is intercession. Intercession is when we share the burden of Christ for a person, circumstance or need anywhere in the world. We have become partakers of Christ’s suffering.
Prayer Need in God’s love
Answered the world and feelings
Get the or an for that
Victory individual particular
Need or emotion
God places the
Burden in the
Heart of the
Intercessor
For that particular
Need or individual
Therefore, intercessor fills the bridge between Christ and the need. Through Christ gaining victory in prayer. Prayer is therefore praise and worship, waiting on God, confession, intercession, petition and thanksgiving.
In conclusion I would like to say that God has bestowed on us this awesome gift of communing with our Creator, thanking our Provider, worshipping our Creator, loving our Heavenly father and listening to Him. Above all, experiencing His love and growing to be more like Him.
Call of God
INTRODUCTION
We will abandon it all for the sake of the call, no other reason at all but the sake of the call, wholly devoted to live and to die , for the sake of the call,
Not for the sake of a creed or a cause, not for a dream or a promise, simply because it is Jesus who calls and if we believe we’ll obey.
(Taken from the song, For the Sake of the Call, by Steven Curtis Chapman)
Rom. 8:30: And those He predestined, he also called, those he called, he also justified, those He justified, he also glorified.
I believe every Christian has a call on their lives. We are all chosen by God and God has a specific plan for our lives and we can either accept this plan and purpose and go His way; or we can reject it. If God calls us for a specific task, God will confirm this call through the scriptures, through His people and provide for that specific call. Where God calls and guides, God provides.
WOMEN CALLED BY GOD
RACHEL JOY
“I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus. I am not going to justify my faith to them and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything .. I will. I will take it. If my friends have to become my enemies for me to be with my best friend Jesus, then that’s fine with me.” (Extracts of a letter by Rachel Joy, p. 96)
Rachel Joy was a teenager from America who was killed for her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Through her life millions have been blessed. Jesus had a call on her life. The journal in which she wrote her prayers to God indicates the intimate relationship she had with the Almighty. This girl has made a big impact not only on my life but on the lives of people all over the world, especially the young people.
Joan D’ Arc
Her martyr’s death the Living God repaid
A girl, she speaks to us from History
A well-armed slyph she led a vast crusade
The world recalls the tale of Joan the Maid.
(Extract of the poem, Joan the Maid, written by Michael Fountina)
Joan d’Arc was a teenager who died a martyr’s death. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia “her simplicity, piety and good sense appear at every turn, despite the attempts of the judges to confuse her”. God had an awesome calling in the life of Joan d’Arc expressed in one of her letters written to Sire de Rotslaaer written from Lyons on 22 April, 1429. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, he reports the maid said “that she would save Orleans and would compel the English to raise the siege, that she herself in a battle before Orleans would be wounded by a shaft but would not die of it, and that the King, in the course of the coming summer, would be crowned at Reims, together with the other things which the King keeps secret”. Joan d’Arc, with a call of God on her life, not only led a vast army of men in battle but also fulfilled the call of God on her life.
MOTHER TERESA
“There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives – the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them. Put your love for them in living action. For in loving them you are loving God himself” (by Mother Teresa). Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, and she was the youngest of three children. When Mother Teresa was 18, she joined the order of the sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland. It was on 10 September, 1946, God enlightened Mother Teresa with his call on her life while traveling on a train to Darjeeling, a hill station in the Himalayas. In quiet, intimate prayer with her Lord she heard distinctly what she referred to as “a call within a call”. According to Mother Teresa, “I realized that I had the call to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the naked, the homeless – to be God’s love in action to the poorest of the poor. That was the beginning of the missionaries of Charity.” She was aware of what she had to do, but she did not know how to get there. She had previously been called to the religious life but God further called her to another kind of work and service in the religious life. Mother Teresa’s life and call has touched the hearts of people all around the world. She embodied the love of God on earth. Her selfless giving nature has been an eye opener to a selfish materialistic world. According to Mother Teresa “I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord Himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?”
AMY CARMICHAEL
The love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments live,
The passion that will burn like fire.
(by Amy Carmichael)
Amy Carmichael was an Irish missionary who spent 53 years in South India. She founded the Dohnavaur Fellowship, a refuge for children in moral danger, especially young girls from the age of four who were sent to the temples to be used as prostitutes by the priests. These girls were taught to sing and dance and bring pleasure to these temple priests. The call of Amy Carmichael was to save these girls, and sometimes even boys, from this kind of life and Amy Carmichael became a mother to these girls. She was called Amma which means mother. Amy Carmichael, a beautiful woman of God with a definite call and purpose for her life, never married. Amy Carmichael states “Do I regret now that for your sake I chose to do without that which nature desires, what was pressed upon me, so that I might serve ‘without distraction’, as Paul puts it? No indeed I do not.”
Amy Carmichael had an impact on the lives of thousands of children in South India Dohnavur.
GRANNY BRAND
I realize now it had to be
Before He taught my soul to pray
Before the glory I could see
The Glory He promised me.
(by Granny Brand)
Evelyn Constance Brand and Jesse Brand came to India as missionaries on 28th August, 1913. Evelyn had responded silently to a call of God on her life when Jesse spoke at a missionary meeting in St John’s Wood chapel speaking about his work in India. She told her family she wanted to be a missionary and the Mission Board accepted her application to work in India where she again met up with Jesse Brand whom she later married. Jesse Brand died of blackwater fever in 1928, and Evelyn Brand with a definite call on her life brought Christianity to the low caste inhabitants of all five mountain ranges of South India. The ministry and call of Granny Brand was unique because she was a nurse, teacher and preacher to the diseased and poverty stricken hill people of South India.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni Eareckson Tada broke her neck in 1967 during a diving accident in which she became a quadriplegic. The call of God came on her life. Joni sensed God speaking to her saying “Joni, I want you to live life without use of your hands or legs and learn to smile while doing it.” God also seemed to tell her “I want you to be my audiovisual aid of how My strength shows up best in weakness.” Joni Eareckson is truly a testimony of God’s strength showing up in weakness and her life after her accident has accomplished much for God;. God calls and uses us when we least expect it, when we are least prepared, when we are not termed perfect by worldly standards. Moses felt the same way, yet God chose Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He was a poor speaker yet God made him the greatest leader.
MEN WITH A CALLING
MAHATMA GANDHI
“Austerity implies external renunciation, endurance and sometimes even hypocrisy. But saintliness is an inner quality of the soul. My mother’s austerity was only an echo of her inner life. If you notice any purity in me, I have inherited it from my mother, and not from my father. Mother died at the early age of forty. I have been a witness of her behaviour in the flower of youth, but never did I see in her any frivolity, any recourse to beauty aids or interest in the pleasures of life. The only impression she ever left on my mind is that of saintliness.”
Mahatma Gandhi definitely had a calling on his life. He preached Satyagraha, or in other words, non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi has definitely played a major role in the nation of India. Practising satyagraha or non-violence, he brought about freedom to India. Practising swaderhi or buying only Indian made goods, he boosted the economy. Gandhigi was really a role model to the Indians – one frail, puny man accomplished the independence of a nation. Yet my only regret being an Indian myself is that he did not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Rumours have it that he was an avid reader of the word of God yet he did not know God. Hypothetically speaking, if Mahatma Gandhi was a Christian, the whole of India would have been saved. Gandhi had a call on his life – not a holy, higher calling, but a calling to bring about freedom and independence to India.
MARTIN LUTHER
“Although I lived an irreproachable life as a monk, I felt that I was a sinner with an uneasy conscience before God, nor was I able to believe that I had pleased him with my satisfaction”. At last, God being merciful, as I meditated day and night on the connection of the words ‘the righteousness of God is revealed in it, as it is written’, ‘the righteous shall live by faith’, I began to understand that righteousness of God.” (Martin Luther, Theology of the Cross)
Martin Luther, this incredible man with an incredible call and purpose, I believe is the father of Protestantism. Martin Luther plays a significant role in the reformation or, in other words, the purpose of reformation and had the courage given by God to stand up for the authority of the word of God. This man, I believe, was predestined for this specific call on his life.
MY CALLING
When I was nine years old, I was miraculously healed of asthma in a healing crusade. When I turned ten, my father, who is now a missionary pastor in Egypt, spoke about preaching the gospel to the people. In that service, I dedicated my life to God to serve Him. I came home and wrote a poem which says “I want to be a servant of God, you may ask me why, that’s between God and me and nothing can destroy, the love of God for me. He saved me from the pangs of death when I was about to die and this is not a lie, for He has a purpose and this purpose is I”.
God has blessed me with a good singing voice and other talents. Yes, I do know God has a plan and purpose for my life and God has a call on my life. What that specific call is I do not know. What I do know is whatever way He is willing to use me, I am willing and I will be obedient to Him. If God wants me to be a light that shines in the corner, I will; if He wants me to be on a pedestal, I will. My heart’s desire is that the glory of the Lord will be manifested in me and through me, through my life and through my testimony.
I would like to conclude with a poem I wrote sometime back while I was in Egypt.
Who am I?
That thought in my heart I ponder
What am I meant to be
Oh God, the future I just can’t foresee
Yet you care for me.
You didn’t just let me be,
You have a place and purpose
Thy Word is the key.
I came into the world a little seed,
Curious about the world so mysterious,
Bombarded with emotions hilarious,
At times delirious, at other times, furious
As I started to grow and mature to the tree I was meant to be,
I faced the storms of life
Into temptations I was tossed,
Yet through thy divine grace at Calvary
To temptation I was no longer held in slavery,
You set me free, enabling me to grow in sanctity,
Your word says, You shall bear fruit in season,
Seasons have come, seasons are gone,
Oh God, I feel so alone, why was I ever born,
Yet you on me never did frown,
The veil to enter the holy of holies was torn
By thy divine blood on the cross which was no loss,
At thy feet I place my supplication,
Oh Christ, on me make a divine transformation,
This season, let me see my life has a reason
Let me bear fruit at a dozen
Change my heart, my attitude
As I grow and mature in thy attitude,
As I pray I feel thy presence come as a ray
I feel the power of thy awesome presence like rain on me does spray
Father, when will you use me
Is it today?
I feel the rain come on me washing all my doubts and fears without a trace
Speaking to me through a gentle breeze
Thy love for me will never cease
I hear they voice saying my plans for you will be fulfilled come what may
All your have to do, daughter, is to pray.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catholic Encyclopedia
Chanda, Yogesh, Rediscovering Gandhi, 1997.
Elliot, Elizabeth, The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael – A Chance to Die, 1961.
Le Joly, E., We do it for Jesus, Oxford University Press, 1977.
McGrath, Alister E., Luther’s Theology of the Cross, 1985.
Scott, Darrel and Nimmo, Beth, Rachel’s Tears – A spiritual journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott, 2000
Wilson, Dorothy Clarke, Granny Brand Her Story, Paul Brand Publishing, Seattle, 1976.
Yancey, P., Lucado, M., Maxwell, John C., Hayford, Jack, Eareckson Tada, Joni, Barnett, Tommy, Boa, Kenneth, Wells, Thelma, Destiny and Deliverance – spiritual insights from the life of Moses, 1998
Anthropology from a religeous perspective
What is anthropology and what aspect of anthropology are we studying/
Anthropology is the study of mankind and in this particular context we are studying anthropology from the religious perspective.
According to Glazier and other evidence, we are in the golden age of anthropology of religion. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was concerned for the “spiritual alienation arising from socio-economic deprivation and with the marking of economic inequality by religious activity”.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) articulated a full and intellectually inspiring reduction of religious experience to biological and social drives (taken from internet). Luis Berkhof says that “the transition from theology to anthropology (that is from the study of God to the study of man) is a natural one. Man is not only the crown of creation but also the object of God’s special care.
Darwin talks about the survival of the fittest, but when we speak of a fit person from the Christian view, I would say a person who is prosperous financially, spiritually, physically and mentally.
When God created man, God created a complex creature. Physically man has a mind, a heart and a body. Spiritually, man has a spirit and a soul. Emotionally and mentally, man has a conscience and feelings. When we put all this together we get a man.
Futility of mind and action. J. Rodman William says that “the very coming together of man and woman as ‘one flesh’ is a kind of parallel to the spiritual relationship of man and his maker. When that spiritual relationship is distorted, distortion may set in on the human level
We can clearly see, as men and women are torn between materialism, futility of their thinking and feeling, only Jesus can fulfil and fill that empty void. As men and women deviate from each other to their other interests, their relationship is torn apart.
So what should our role be in this world? The answer is simple evangelism and prayer.
discussion questions
- How would you describe a fit person in the spiritual sense?
- How do you think our mind and actions are co-related?
- How would you reach out to the world?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Williams, J. Rodman, Renewal Theology, Michigan, Zondervan, 1990
Pneumotolgy
T
“Whatever is true of the triune God is true of the holy spirit … a considered perusal of the sacred text yields an impression that the holy spirit is the mighty executive of the Godhead and by so much his relation to both father and son is a theme of great proportions.” (L. S. Chafer)
“Christlikeness is the primary manifestation of the filling of the Spirit.” (Charles C. Rynie)
“The holy spirit has graciously connected Himself with two things – truth and prayer.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “The branch of Christian theology concerned with the holy ghost and other spiritual concepts”.
What is the trinity? We have God the father, God the son, and God the holy spirit – the three in one. The age old examples are a hard boiled egg. We have the egg shell, egg yoke and egg white. We have ice, water and water vapour. Three in one. Gen. 1:2 tells us that the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Who is this spirit of God who existed before anything existed? In Gen. 2:7, God breathed into the breath of man. When God created man in his image, did man have life in him. No, the life came when God breathed his breath into man. In other words, man now has a spirit. God is Triune.
We can go deeper into this subject but there is no time. Eg what is the difference between soul and spirit.
Where does the holy spirit dwell in the life of a born again believer? The holy spirit dwells in the heart of a believer. The holy spirit is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.
How does the indwelling of the holy spirit change our lives? According to Acts 2:104, when the holy spirit came on the believers in the form of tongues of fire, it did not just stop with the gift of tongues. There seems to be a radical transformation in the personality of Peter as He boldly spoke to the crowds. The holy spirit, through him, convicted the crowds and many put their faith and trust in God. (see diagram over)
- How has the infilling of the holy spirit impacted your life?
- What is more important, baptism of the holy spirit or baptism of water?
- How do you think you can renew your relationship with the holy spirit? or how do think you can have a closer communion with the holy spirit?
One new perspective that I gained while studying the subject of pneumatology was that the Holy Spirit prepares us for ministry. After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the holy spirit came on Jesus and Jesus, already anointed, was specifically anointed for the task ordained for Him. The question I now put forward is did Jesus commence His ministry as soon as He was empowered? Luke 4:1-12 tells us Jesus was led by the spirit of God to the desert where He was tempted by Satan. I would like to add that God tests us. God allows certain trying times in a person’s life .. but God never tempts us. If we take the story of Job, God allowed Job to go through a very horrendous experience but Job, because his faith in God was firm, was blessed beyond measure in his later life. Now, coming back to the former question, I believe God prepares us before ministry for the specific task or tasks appointed for us.
Take the life of Elisha. Elisha waited ten years for the double portion of anointing. Those ten years were the processing time and the preparation time for Elisha.
Why was apostle Paul two years in the desert before he went up to Jerusalem to meet the other apostles. Because it was his preparation time. It was his processing time.
How does the holy spirit prepare and process us? I believe He sometimes allows us to go through trying times. He sometimes allows us to see how weak we are so that we rely more on His strength and His wisdom. He sometimes allows loneliness in a person’s life which enables us to have a closer relationship with Him. He sometimes just gives us the green signal and tells us, you are ready, go for it. It is up to God to map our life and it is our duty as His children to walk in His way. But God never forces us; God never pushes His call down our throats. We can either choose to obey or disobey. The holy spirit is our comforter, our guide, our teacher, our healer, our best friend. It should be our duty as His children to say, “Holy spirit, have your way in me”.
Why do the Pentecostal churches attract the most amount of Christians? Is it because it is more fun? It is because of the move of the holy spirit. According to statistics taken from the book, The Holiness Pentecostal Tradition, by Vinson Synan, the global Pentecostal/charismatic membership was:
1901 – 40 members
1975 – 96 million
1995 – 460 million
2000 – 550 million
Praise God, the membership is still growing.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Duewel, Wesley, Revival Fire, Michigan, Zondervan, 1995
Synan, Vinson, The Holiness – Pentecostal Tradition, Michigan, Zondervan, 1971
Williams, J. Rodman, Renewal Theology, Michigan, Zondervan, 1990
Jesus the loved and chosen one
TEACHING OUTLINE
Christology: Christ’s humanity
According to the Oxford dictionary, Christology “is the branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature and role of Christ”. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “The earliest criticism of orthodox dogma came in the age of the reformation, not from the informers but from the “left wing of the reformation”, from Michal Serveties (1511-53) and the Socinious. This criticism was directed against the presence of non-Biblical concepts and terms in the dogma, and it was intent upon safeguarding the true humanity of Jesus as a moral example. During the period of pietism in the protestant churches, this loyalty to orthodox teaching was combined with a growing emphasis upon the humanity of Jesus, also expressed in the hymns of the time. God cannot stop being God and still be God. So we can’t talk properly of God laying aside his deity to take humanity upon himself. That is why orthodox Christianity has always declared that Jesus was versus homus, versus Deus – truly man, truly God; fully man and fully God. His human nature was fully human, and his divine nature always and everywhere was fully divine.
According to Renewal Theology by J. Rodman Williams “Even so Jesus the son of man is a man, a human, a member of the human race”. According to The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, page 150, “Therefore when the scriptures assert from time to time that God sent his son into the world their affirmation is not to be treated that Christ is merely a messenger of God such as the prophets of old. Rather, He is the eternal Son of God now clothing himself with human nature to accomplish the salvation of men”. Phil. 2:6-7: The one who was in the form of God took the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
Now we can see the deity and humanity of God in one in the form of an icecube which is water yet ice.
Why did Christ come in the form of Jesus in a manger? Why couldn’t He be born as a King in a palace?
Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” According to the Pictorial Bible Dictionary by Merril C. Tenny, page 157, it states that “the gulf between the creator and creature is bridged, first by the person and then by the mediatorial work of Christ”.
What is the mediatorial work of Christ?
Another significant point which denotes the deity of Christ while on earth is the baptism of Christ. According to Renewal Theology by J. Rodman Williams “John heard God the father declare of Jesus, thou art my beloved son” and he also saw the holy spirit descend and remain”. (page 307)
The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist plays a very significant role because it is only after the baptism that the ministry of Jesus commenced with power.
Therefore the deity of Christ was incarnate to redeem the lost humanity
- What, apart from the baptism of Christ, is significant to show us the supernatural deity of Christ?
- Discuss the importance and significance of the atonement sacrifice.
- Why did God choose this eschatological time to reveal himself to mankind.
In the book, Renewal Theology, by Williams, on page 339, Williams states that “Jesus Christ was an anointed man. The very word Christ means the anointed one”.
Now when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in Luke 3:21-22, the spirit of God descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and what makes this baptism of Jesus so significant to me was that God the father spoke out. This omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God spoke out load and clear saying, “You are my son whom I love. With you I am well pleased”. (Luke 3:22). God the father loved Jesus so much yet he sent Jesus to die on the cross because He loves us just as much. Was the testing of Abraham symbolic to what would happen in the future? This rhetorical question crossed my mind as I was reading this passage. In Genesis 22:1-19, it tells us that God spoke to Abraham and told him to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. Was Isaac a form of Christ? Was Abraham a form of God the father? When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, the angel of the Lord spoke out and told Abraham not to lay a hand on the boy. When Jesus was baptized, God the father, the ultimate authority of the universe, spoke out to the ultimate authority who came down and dwelt on earth. God the father loved Jesus and was well pleased with Jesus.
Now if we go on to Luke 9:28-36, the transfiguration of Jesus before the ascension of Jesus. This transfiguration of Jesus plays just as significant a role as the baptism of Jesus. In Luke 9:35, the very words of God the father were “This is my son, whom I have chosen, listen to him”. This time God the father uses two very separate words “chosen” and “listen”. Jesus was chosen to come at this particular time to fulfil this particular purpose, to save humanity. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai tells Esther “you have come to royal position for such a time as this”. Was Esther a form of Christ? That she should ascend to the throne to save the Jewish people.
In conclusion, I would like to quote Romans 8:30, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. We are chosen in God, we are called in God.
Rom. 8:37-39. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. God loves us. We, as children of the most high, are loved and chosen by Him.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Williams, J. Rodman, Renewal Theology, Michigan, Zondervan, 1990
Tenney, Merril C., Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Michigan, Zondervan, 1963.
David
THE MONARCHY
KING DAVID
Introduction:
1 Samuel 16:11,12 “There is still the youngest, Jesse answered, but he is tending the sheep … So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy with fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; he is the one’.”
David, Israel’s greatest King. David, who name is predominant in the lineage of Jesus. David, man after God’s own heart. David who fell into temptation, yet sought repentance. David, a leader, poet, musician, song writer. I believe David is one of the most fascinating Biblical characters that ever lived. David, a rags to riches story, from a humble shepherd boy to the greatest king that ever lived. Why? Because God chose and anointed him and appointed him. God chose a humble shepherd boy.
David, from the Hebrew word pronounced daw-veed, meaning beloved.
Date: According to Wayne Blank, author of Daily Bible study, “David was born about 1040 BC, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem. Anton Marks in his journal on King David says that “his reign began in 1000 BC”. The life of King Davis is written in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. Samuel was born 1150 BC. According to Hayford’s Bible Handbook by Jack W. Hayford, p. 69, “we know that it was written after the division of the nation in 931 BC. Also since there is no mention of the fall of Samaria in 722 BC, it should be dated before this event”.
Authorship: The Jewish Talmud ascribes authorship to Samuel. However, according to Hayford, p. 69, “but some suppose that Abiathar the priest wrote it”.
The Selection of King David: According to Dr Gartow Friedrich Oehlor in his book, Theology of the Old Testament, p. 361, “The person of Samuel, moved as he was by the prophetic spirit, was now the center of the nation’s life. The sanctuary being rejected and the agency of the high priesthood suspended, the mediatorship between God and His people vested with the prophet”. The prophet Samuel is a type of Christ because he was the mediator between God and the people. In 1 Sam. 16:11-13, it tells us a little about the history and personality of David. David was the youngest son. In the Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures, the eldest son is most respected and is usually the elder of the family after the death of the father. David, on the contrary, was the youngest son. David was a shepherd. I believe that it was at this time that David developed an intimate relationship with God. In Samuel 6:13, when Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David, the spirit of God came on David in power. In Luke 3:21-22, it tells us about the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, the spirit of God came in the form of a dove and rested on Jesus. It was then, and only then, that Jesus had supernatural power to go and perform miracles. Now let us compare these two portions of Scripture with a charismatic perspective.
| DAVID | JESUS |
| 1 Samuel 16:13 | Luke 3:21,22 |
| The holy spirit came upon David in power when Samuel anointed Him in the presence of his brothers. | When Jesus was baptized by the prophet, John the Baptist, the holy spirit came on Him in the form of a dove. |
The significance of the anointing of David is of tremendous importance to me because I believe that it is symbolic of the baptism of Jesus. It was only after this anointing and this baptism that there was a “radical transformation” in the life of David and the ministry of Jesus. Why? Because from that particular point, the holy spirit came on them in power.
David’s powerful reign: According to the Old Testament Survey by William Sanford, David Allan, Frederic William, p. 244, 245, the reign of David can be split into three parts summarized as:
- King over Judah at Hebron: (1:1-4:12). David’s respite from Saul’s persecution and his return from exile among the Philistines were clouded by his remorse at the slaughter on Mt Gilboa.
- Struggle for the Throne (2:1-4:12): “David’s triumphal return from his sojourn in Ziglag resulted in his acclamation as King in Judah in Hebron.
- King over all Israel at Jerusalem: The rival gone, David was hailed at Hebron as king of all Israel.
David’s political and religious reforms:
David’s political reforms: According to the Pictorial Bible Dictionary by Merril C. Tenny, “from 1002 to about 995 BC, David expanded his kingdom on all sides: west against Philistia, taking Gath; east against Moab; north against Syria; and south against stubborn Edom. An alliance with Hiram of Tyre enabled David to construct a palace in Jerusalem. David’s political analogies with Egypt, his cabinet, including such officers as the recorder (public relations official), the scribe (secretary of state), David reigned supreme”. According to the Old Testament Survey by William Sanford, David Allen and Frederic William, “David’s religious reforms, military outreach and political and social reorganization called for sweeping changes in administrative structure”.
According to Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) by Gerald A. Larue, “the old chieftain type kingship represented by Saul belonged to the past; kingship now involved administration of a large unified central state and military control of subject areas. Gone forever was the time when it could be said “everyone did what was right in his own sight”.
David’s religious reforms: According to the Pictorial Bible Dictionary by Merril C. Tenney, “David also elevated Jerusalem into his religious capital by installing Moses’ ark of the covenant in a tent on Zion. He honoured it both with dedicatory psalm and with a permanent ministry of Levitical singers under Asaph”. According to Gerald A. Larue “Ritual sacrifices associated with the moving of the ark were performed by David. No special shrine or temple was constructed for the ark, making it necessary for a writer to explain why David failed to build a temple for Yahweh, although he constructed a palace for himself” (ch. 7). What Gerald C. Larue, who wrote Old Testament Life and Literature (1988) failed to realize is that God specifically told David that his son Solomon would build the temple of God and Solomon, blessed beyond measure financially, built a magnificent temple for God. Solomon did a great job in building the temple.
Davidic Covenant: According to the Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns, he states that “the kingdom concept reaches its zenith in the Davidic Covenant, which predicts the future millennial reign of David’s greater son, the Messiah”. Paul Enns goes on to state the nature of the covenant in 2 Samuel 7, God promised David the following:
- David is to have a child yet to be born who shall succeed him and establish his kingdom.
- This son (Solomon) shall build the temple instead of David.
- The throne of his kingdom shall be established forever.
- The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon) even though his sins justify chastisement.
- David’s house, throne and kingdom shall be established forever.
Distinctive Pentecostal Beliefs: 1 Samuel 16:18. “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine looking man. And the Lord is with him”. Why was the Lord with David? Because I believe he spent time praising and worshipping God. (Let us picture David sitting on a rock with beautiful hills all around him surrounded by his sheep. Just lost in the presence of God, playing harp, eyes closed, just loving God.) That is the reason God chose him and called him a man after God’s own heart. As David was shepherding his flock, it was a preparation time for him to shepherd his people; shepherd a nation.
Now coming back to the topic of a distinctive Pentecostal belief, praise and worship is definitely a key point. I believe David is the most awesome worship leader that ever lived.
Secondly, 1 Samuel 16:13, when David was anointed as King, the spirit of the Lord came on him in power. He was anointed. Thirdly, 2 Samuel 23:2 “The spirit of the Lord spoke through me, his word was on my tongue”. The Lord speaks through David because he is full of the spirit of God.
Personal Application: This study of the life of David has really put within me a desire and an urge to spend more time praising and worshipping God. I feel that I am now in the “liminality” or in the transaction period of what God has in store for me. As I studied the life of David, it gave me hope that in due time God always answers. God has a specific plan and purpose for our lives. David was chosen by God and God had a plan and purpose for his life. In the same way, I can now face the future without worry or fear, knowing that God has chosen me and has a definite plan and purpose for my life.
In conclusion, I would like to quote from the Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns, “God will ultimately move to restore man from his subservience to sin. He will do it through Messiah, a descendant of David. God will eventually give Messiah an earthly political and spiritual kingdom over Israel and over the nations in which Messiah will rule in righteousness.
David’s life as King taken from Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts.
According to Walter C. Kaiser in his book Old Testament Theology, “God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 has to be among the most brilliant moments in the history of salvation”.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blank, Wayne, Daily Bible Study, article from internet.
Enns, Paul, The Moody Handbook of Theology, Moody Press, Chicago, 1989.
Hayford, Jack W., Hayford’s Bible Handbook, Nashville, 1995.
Kaiser, Walter C., Toward an Old Testament Theology, Michigan, 1995.
Larue, Gerald A., Old Testament Life and Literature, article from Internet, 1968.
Marles, Anton, Journal King David, article from internet, 2000.
Nelson, T., Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1996.
Oehler, Dr G. F., Theology of the Old Testament, Minnesota, 1883.
Sanford, William, Allen, David, William Frederic, Old Testament Survey, Michigan, Zondervan, 1982.
Tenney, Merril C., Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Michigan, Zondervan, 1963.
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