The IXOYE Bible study is currently paused in 2022. If more interest grows with the Dragonflight expansion, we would be interested in starting it up again! We shall see how things roll.
Updated: June 28, 2022
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Come join us at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon for the Bible study in James! It's very conversational and questions are welcome. Comments and notes posted in Discord.
It is difficult to keep just the ten commandments for even 1 day. Cursed is everyone who fails to keep every detail. We are setting ourselves up for failure if we’re trying to keep the law to be saved. But we are not living under the rule of the law.
“the just shall live by faith.” – from Habakkuk “the man who does them shall live by them.” – from Leviticus “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” – from Deuteronomy – Sarah’s version says “doubly cursed…” Deuteronomy 22 To commit a sin worthy death – is a curse – and he’s hanged – another curse. Jesus was sinless. But we didn’t follow the law. The double curse has to do with the fact that we sinned, AND you’re being hung on a tree. Verses 14-15 (Passion Translation) 14 Jesus, our Messiah, was cursed in our place and in so doing, dissolved the curse from our lives, so that all the blessings of Abraham can be poured out upon even non-Jewish believers. And now God gives us the promise of the wonderful Holy Spirit who lives within us when we believe in him. 15 Beloved friends, let me use an illustration that we can all understand. Technically, when a contract is signed, it can’t be changed after it has been put into effect; it’s too late to alter the agreement. Thoughts I really loved how this is said. Verses 16-18 We receive all of the promises because of the promised One, not because we keep the law. The things we do aren’t what make us good believers – it’s because we believe in what He has said and what He has done. It’s because of what He has done that we are saved. What are WE trying to add to grace alone, for salvation? Often, we had things without thinking about it. “Oh, I’m good if I do this or that.” Your goodness comes from God who bought it for you. It does not come from your actions. Paul used to use the OT to persecute people, and now he’s using it to defend the gospel! We can read things into Scripture that aren’t there, putting meaning into it that God didn’t intend. We have to be careful not to take the Scripture out of context. Galatians 2:20-21 Notes
The truth is worth being spoken and confronting a wrong situation. The woman with an issue of blood. (Luke 8:43-48) She was unclean and wasn’t allowed near the temple and no one could touch her. People thought that sickness was the result of sin in that person’s life. So was kind of a pariah, socially and religiously isolated. Jesus restores her by not only legitimizing her and what she does by touching his robe: she is physically healed and it is her faith that heals her – she is not an example of someone in perpetual sin, but an example of faith. He restores her into the community, saving her from humiliation and gives her personhood in one moment, by pointing her out. He wanted her to be restored completely, and to do it in the most humanizing and gentle way possible. This is the core of the gospel and who Jesus is. He is someone who will restore us in every way possible. God’s restoration – restoring us to our previous condition we had in the Garden of Eden. Jesus is personal with each of us, acknowledging us as a person. He loves us each individually. Be still and know that I am God. We don’t do spiritual disciplines and striving, to arrive at greater sanctification. We don’t sanctify ourselves. That is what God does in us. Our business is simply to look to Him. Just like the serpent Moses made in the wilderness and lifted up, to be healed, the people simply had to look to it. They didn’t have to do anything. Jesus mentions this in John 3 when He says that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, He will be lifted up and will draw all men to Himself. Galatians 3:1-3 Notes After salvation, we don’t continue by works but just as we were saved by faith, we continue to walk out our salvation by faith as well. The disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit after Jesus Ascended and the Spirit came and gave people utterance in tongues. Paul asks did the Spirit come from practicing the law? No, it was a free gift by God because of your faith in Christ. Can you come to maturity in your faith without the Spirit? Why would you go back to the law, which didn’t give you the Spirit in the first place? For Paul, he’s had a radical encounter with Christ and there is no going back for him. It’s the tendency of people to forget what it was like in our flesh, in our old ways, and we easily forget the good of what God gave us when we reach hard times. But Paul has been so radically transformed that he’s able to remind them when they go astray. The Spirit is what does this in our lives and changes us – we just have to allow Him to do it. We have to make ourselves available to Him. Yet we aren’t passive – we must actively allow Him into our lives, spending time. It’s a relationship that we’re building. Our desire should drive our spending time with God. If you’re feeling obligated, ask God to change your heart. God doesn’t want us to spend time with Him because we “are supposed to.” He wants us to want it and to want to be with Him. It’s possible that we don’t have the desire, if we’re feeling a sense of obligation or feeling afraid to spend time with God – fear is one of those things that keeps us trapped in slavery. We could have fear that God will condemn us. Whatever it is that is in your way, just have an honest conversation with God about it – can you help me find the time? Can you help me feel differently? Ask God how He wants to spend time with you today. Galatians 2:6-10
v. 10 Remember the poor and needy, the helpless and powerlessness to accomplish a particular end also applies to those who are lacking in spiritual education. Anyone who is missing anything that God would want to bring into their life. Jesus' burden is light. And His burden is for the people who ordinarily would be excluded. Galatians 2:12-14 Peter became a stumbling block, causing them to sin by withdrawing from their non-Jewish friends. (v. 13-14) Paul is no longer afraid of men. The ones who have never tasted freedom - those are the ones on Paul's heart. Galatians 2:15-16 How are we made right before God? Abraham's promise was given before the Law was fulfilled in Jesus. Justified means to be made acceptable, cleared from any charge, to be made righteous. Galatians 1:17
Women and children are more vulnerable in society, the poor and needy are not just the economically disadvantaged. What might I be called to, who are the people God brings across my path? Paul is on his was to Damascus to put letters that would put many people to death. After his conversion, he relied on God directly in the middle of nowhere for 3 yrs just listening to God. Only then did he see Peter (the Rock) and James (brother of Jesus). The one who persecuted is now preaching the faith and they were glorifying God because of it. There is no such thing as a waste in the kingdom of God - your past shows the amazing power of God. He uses it for you and for the Kingdom, restoration and transformation. God takes you back to your original purpose and what He made you for. Galatians 2:1-2 Paul spends a lot of time before he goes out to do any preaching. His coworkers are Barnabas, son of encouragement, and Titus, "nurse." He went up because of a revelation and presented the gospel to the leaders. He's not concerned with changing his message because of what people will think but about what God thinks and the health of the church. He does not want to cause turmoil in the body of Christ. Galatians 2:3 Titus did not have to change to be a part of God's family (become circumcised). Galatians 2:4 Paul is not defending his ministry because he is insecure or thinks he isn't standing on firm ground, but more as a "lawyer" showing the validity of the faith to those who are listening. He goes in secret to the leaders because there are people that have been sent to sabotage the freedom of the believers. Galatians 2:4-5 False brethren: Why do we go back to legalism? It's easier to go back to what we know; it's more comfortable for us. Fear also keeps us from freedom. Fear is never useful and keeps us in bondage. We also fear powerlessness/control and don't like to show weakness. Remember that there are false brethren, tares among the wheat. Do not yield to their false beliefs for a minute but stand up on the truth. Not only does this harm those within the church, it also harms our witness. Even Peter can get it wrong or get caught up in the wrong things. There is this amazing freedom / liberty what are we so scared of? Where are you in bondage? What keeps you from experiencing this freedom? What are you afraid of? What role does fear play in my life? Ask God to free you from it. We have people who have experienced this freedom but they want to back to slavery. This week, we studied Galatians and got through Ch. 1 verses 1-10. We are going to start on verse 11 next Saturday. Some Notes from Discussion: Galatia is the central region around Turkey. Galatians is all about freedom - the freedom that God gave us to live in. Paul emphasizes that Jesus + anything else does not equal the gospel or good news. It has to be Jesus alone, undiluted with any other thing. In the first verse of chapter 1, Paul emphasizes that his authority comes not from man but from God. Whereas people who preached before Jesus taught on their own authority, Paul did not do so. Verse 4 is a nice summary encapsulating the gospel, and Paul was also releasing blessing over them: grace and peace (well-being, health) in verse 3. Verse 10 is a bridge to discussing Paul's own ministry, and saying that he is not trying to please men, for if he were, he never would have preached the gospel at all. Next week: Galatians 1:11-24If you want to read ahead, read chapter 2 in case we get that far.
Here are the things as you are reading to watch for: 1) Words or phrases that stand out to you. 2) Look up those verses in other translations 3) Write down any questions you have after reading and thinking about the passage. 4) Write down observations or things you learned. Don't forget we have the resource HERE for looking up word in the greek to see the meaning behind them. Meeting NotesThe greatest and most important thing is to love God, love others and love ourselves. Just like it says here: Matthew 22:36-40 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Our guild name IXOYE is the closest transliteration of the Greek letters, meaning "Jesus Christ, God's Son our Savior" and was a way for Christians to identify each other back in the day. God has breathed His Life into His Word. The Scripture is multi-layered so much so that you'll see different things in it at different times in your life. 1 Peter 1:1-2 is what we read today, in the ESV, in NIV, in NASB and the Passion translation, to get a taste of what a study might be like. We're going to vote on a book to study in future. Sarah is leading, and will prepare questions for us each week to think about as we read. As we study together, let love and grace guide you in your thinking, giving space for others' for their views, not fighting to see that your view is right, but willing to listen to other's perspective. ResourcesBible Gateway: different translations of the Bible
Studylight.org, to look at the Greek, along with different translations Simplified way to study: When reading a verse, read it three times, each time with these questions in mind as you read: 1. (first time): see which words or phrases jump out at you 2. (second time): ask the Lord why those particular words jumped out and how they apply to your life 3. (third time): ask the Lord how act on the verse and what to do with it |
AuthorOur guild is doing a Bible study on Saturdays, 1 p.m. server time (EST). Here, are posted notes from the meetings. Come join us! Archives
June 2022
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