Tune and Prepare!

study in the Chapterhouse The Constant Need Ephesians 4:1-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible 1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness , with patience {tolerating}, accepting {bearing} one another in love, 3 diligently keeping the unity * of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to {called in} one hope at your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. *Keeping the unity means: acceptance and active love ( agape: inviting love / or 'Hesed' ), creating an environment with mutual trust and support. See: David Guzik's article about unity (see: the apostolic heart in Rm.1:12 and 14:19 ) 7 Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the Messiah’s gift. 8 For it says: When He...

{Rebuilding the respect and authority of the Holy Spirit in your life} (a rude, shaking calling, because sometimes we need that) Dear Reader! Honoring the Holy Spirit does not necessarily mean that we missed the focus of Christ! We do not praise or worship anyone but the Father and Christ. We don't rejoice or worship anyone else or anything else in our blessed new status in Christ! But He, the Lord himself gave the Mighty Spirit for us. Has our relationship with God changed throughout history? Yes. We, humans had tribes, we had nation builder heroes, we had covenants. Then He the Mighty visited Abraham. Then He has built a chosen nation. Then He sent the Promised Son. Has our relationship in Christ changed throughout history? Not. He didn’t withdraw his mercy and gift. He didn't change our intimate relationship in the family. He did not renounce his power as Lord of the universe, nor the supreme authority above us and the visible authori...

When Jesus/Yeshua/Isa was humiliated and lashed he had to learn the total annihilation. Annihilation by Sin and the mechanically used Law. By Sin: through our human cruel nature. By Law: through human "rules" the misunderstanding of the Holy Law, the ineffectiveness of the so called Law-culture. Facing its cruelty when it faces the mercy, release, grace and the domain of reconciliation. Hos 6:6 says: "I desire mercy {loyalty-love}   not sacrifice The knowledge of Gd   not burnt offerings" This is an essential ingredient for the dynamic of the Kingdom, even today. Knowledge of Gd = faithful loyal love. Mercy, (even when confronted with secular order, trend, or religious spirits) = sync with Gd. Consequently: If The knowledge of Gd is mercy, it's action. The knowledge of Gd is knowing/practicing His thoughts and living out them: This is how we read: "walking in the Truth" . John says: I was very glad when some brother...

..the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it , and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works — this person will be blessed in what he does. Jms 1:25

..there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself — a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time. 1Tim 2:5-6 Therefore, we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God. Therefore, let us approach the Throne of Grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. Heb 4:14,16 Jesus teaches us about prayer: "I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that all things You have given to Me are from You, because the words that You gave Me, I have given them. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. Jn 17:6-10 "when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father wh...

The majority does not understand I think, it is no coincidence at all that the proclamation of God's grace has become real popular nowadays. Popularityalso means: beloved by the crowd. For most believers, including myself in the past, have not understood the Gospel at all, have not understood justification, have not understood regeneration, have not understood what Jesus did on the Cross, It was not understood that we have an abundant heritage, attached to our adopted status. Granted, given things for the believer's. Gifts, support, assets, ongoing sanctification for working with Christ according to our new ID: who we, believers have become in Christ. From this perspective, grace cannot be overstated /overloaded. From the Heavenly perspective everything is abundant and lavish! Mercy grace are lavishly given to us! Masses of believers to this day do not understand these things, their beliefs and thinking are opposed to the true reality ( aletheia ). Whi...

The Word became flesh and took up residence ( tabernacled ) among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jn 1:1, 14 Grace and Truth? Well, the first one is more or less obvious. Meanwhile Truth, or more precisely real-truth , or reality → in Greek: "aletheia" has several meanings in the apostolic mindset. He acts in the truth The Greek word translated " truth " is aletheia , which most closely resembles our English word " reality ." It means "the manifested, unconcealed essence of a matter." We could say : truth means, precisely, the reality that reveals itself, the true reality that emerges from under the veil, the unconcealed. (see for example: the book of Revelation, in Greek: "apocalypse"). In contrast to the abstract Disciplines of The Law, this truth is a correct reflection of reality in the mind of man, reality is reality-itself. Al...

God is Love – 1/3 ..how the two loves are linked A study on divine love and the intertwined Christian character Kindness and faithful love (hesed) pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of YHWH for all time to come. Psalm 23:6 For this is how God loved (agape) the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16 What is Hesed? The word that is translated to “faithful love” is the Hebrew word “ Hesed (or ' checed' ).” This word is translated in other places as “kindness,” “faithfulness,” “mercy,” “goodness,” “loyalty,” and “steadfast love.” God's love for His covenant people in the Old Testament is expressed by the Hesed . This love expressed in the Hebrew texts as hesed we'emet for example in Gen 24:49; 32:11; 47:29; Ex 34:6; Jos 2:14; 2 Sam 2:6; 15:20. However hesed has a narrower definition than the English word " love ". In th...

Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel. Pro 25:4

Pál apostol így szól: “Ti azonban nem így tanultátok a Krisztust” Ef. 4:20. „Tanuljuk mi a Krisztust”? Micsoda kijelentés! Érdemes tanulni, tudni, szeretni, táplálkozni, bízni, figyelni, hallgatni Őt. Ő a lecke. Tanulsz tőle? Terry Virgo

Paul says, “You did not learn Christ in this way.” Eph4:20. Are we “learning Christ”? What a statement! He’s worth learning, knowing, loving, feeding on, trusting, watching, listening to. He’s the lesson. Are you learning him? Terry Virgo

Rm 6:22-23 now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification — and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ⇓ Rm 7:4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the Law through the crucified body of the Messiah, so that you may belong to another — to Him who was raised from the dead — that we may bear fruit for God. After Law The 1Pt 2:9  

God is Love – 2/3 ..how the three connect a study about divine love and interlocking Christian characters This article is part of the "Vitalize" pack “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness..” 2Pt 1:3.. Pre In this very beginning I must say that there are a lot of ideas floating around about what the apostles teach about love. On the one hand, this is quite scary (knowing that there are theories about love) but it also gives us a great opportunity to investigate the original viewpoint. From the New Covenant perspective, it is important to note that God's love is much brighter for us than it was in the time of the Old Testament. I'm pro classical musician , learned to interpret the original concept and composition . My wife was a linguist so in such cases {and always} I go to the source rather than the traditional di...

Andreas Köstenberger In our day and age, few parts of Scripture are more controversial that the household codes of the New Testament. Indeed, as family structures continue to unravel and hierarchical relations, in the home, the church, or the workplace, are often abusive, the biblical teaching that men and woman have distinct, God-given roles and that women submit to their husbands has fallen on hard times. Yet, for those who are committed to Scripture, we must take a closer look to see what God says about male-female relationships, and women’s roles in particular, throughout Scripture. And one important place to do that is Titus 2. ... Paul’s instructions to Titus in chapter 2 are given as part of a household code that conceives of the church as God’s household. In keeping with this format, Paul gives ministry directives regarding older men (v. 2), older and young women (vv. 3–5), and younger men (v. 6), as well as bondservants (vv. 9–10). Like all the members in God’s ho...

Andreas Köstenberger God’s Word calls qualified men to teach and pastor God’s flock. In discussions of this topic, 1 Timothy 2–3 are central to explaining why Paul did not permit a woman to teach or have authority in the church and why the pastoral office is grounded in creation and not culture... .. In this post, I will provide a brief introduction to 1 Timothy 2–3, a passage that clearly affirms male eldership in the household of God. Paul’s first letter to Timothy contains vital and abiding instructions for the church and its leadership. Paul writes to his apostolic delegate, Timothy, toward the end of Paul’s life and ministry in order to leave a legacy and pass on the pattern of church leadership to his foremost disciple. These instructions are not limited to first-century Ephesus (where Timothy was at the time) but abiding principles grounded in God’s creation order (Paul writes similar instructions to Titus, who is on the island of Crete). The Church as God’...

by Sinclair B. Ferguson.   The Hand of Providence God employs friction to shape us into his Son’s likeness. Scripture reflects on this in various places. One that provides us with important first principles is Romans 5:3–4: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Paul has been explaining how knowing we are justified leads to rejoicing in the hope, or assurance, of the glory of God. Christ was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Roman 4:25). In his resurrection, our sin bearer, the Lord Jesus, was declared to be “righteous” in God’s sight. When we are united to Christ, God declares us to be righteous in his sight too. And because our justification is actually Christ’s justification for us, we can rejoice in the hope of glory. In Romans, Paul takes several chapters to show that we cannot be justified by our own righteousness. ...