Tauernhof Lecture Notes PDF

Canlis 1 William Canlis Tauernhof Notes (maybe try this? AI Podcast Generator - Convert Study Notes to Engaging Audio ) Preach the Gospel always… If necessary, use words....

Canlis 1 William Canlis Tauernhof Notes (maybe try this? AI Podcast Generator - Convert Study Notes to Engaging Audio ) Preach the Gospel always… If necessary, use words. Saint Francis. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Luke 12:25 “You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?” Romans 2:21 Nov 29, Proverbs (Steve) Money!! The danger and senselessness of greed Greed: the belief that my resources are all about me and are for my consumption. Greed + discipline = hoarding Greed + desire for instant gratification = consumption / wasting “A greedy man stirs up strife, by that one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched” (28:25) - “Strife” - discontentment, rather than argument Satisfaction and enrichment are going to come from God – not from money - God devotes twice as many verses to money as to faith and prayer combined - Jesus says more about money than he does about heaven and hell We probably have more than we think we have! Key facts to remember about money 1. Money can give me a false sense of security a. You CANNOT solve an identity problem with money b. “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf” (11:28) i. NOTE: its poetry, not a formula, but it gives a warning c. Security is not having an awesome sheep pen, it’s being with the shepherd  Canlis 2 d. Looking firstly to God is not a ‘risk’ e. Money is great, but it makes a bad God 2. Focusing on trying to get lots of money will probably create problems for me a. “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist” (23:4) i. Translation: ‘do not give strong focus into making bank’ b. The monopoly principle: when the game is over, it all goes back in the box Does money make my decisions for me? Or does God? 3. Having lots of money won’t necessarily make my life better a. Money is the lowest form of prosperity b. “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.” (15:16) Handling money Be careful of debt and bad deals - Debt is potentially a very dangerous trap! - Debt can make you a slave Don’t go into debt unless you could sell what you bought to get out of debt Be careful of bad deals: “He who puts of security for another will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe” (11:15) Honor God with what we have: “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops” (3:9) Jewish law prohibited people from eating with those who didn’t tithe, and the Pharisees ate with Jesus, so he most likely tithed I never need to fear giving and generosity SERVE GOD NOT MONEY Work! → you gotta dO something (see laziness) Tithe! → faith training! Save/invest → let money work for you! Give → be generous! Enjoy → have a grateful heart! Aaaaaand don't spend what you don’t have to buy what you don’t need  Canlis 3 A final thought: The Metastory Why is it so hard to live rightly? “By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil” (16:6) - Turning away from evil = turning towards life A man turns from evil when he believes that Jesus is better It’s easy to fall into the belief that God cannot possibly be better than what we can worldly provide for ourselves What can I do about it? “Know also that wisdom [Jesus] is sweet to your soul; if you find it [Him], there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” (24:14) “Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off” (23:17-18) Nov 28, Proverbs (Steve) Spiritual burden → psychological burden → physical impact Davids Sin Process 1. He banked on God’s character a. Banking on God’s covenant love b. “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for” (16:6) Truth without grace is bad, grace without truth is powerless 2. He took full responsibility for his sins a. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (28:13) b. We are fully responsible for his own actions. There is no excuse for sin because of what someone else did or didn’t do c. You can disown something you don’t first own up to Confess with your mouth → then renounce it (abandon association, dis-ownership) → then make it right (replace) → refuse (to live in shame)  Canlis 4 3. He expected complete and instant restoration from God (remember: this is even in the old covenant!) a. “Evil people are trapped by sin, but the righteous escape, shouting for joy” (29:6) NLT My emotion does not always reflect reality (think cop car behind you, then passes cause its not for you) The storms beat the house that was built on the rock as well as the house on the sand. With or without Jesus, we are going to experience difficult things. → so ask, do you wanna go through hard things with or without Him? Just because God is always there in the hard times doesn’t mean he caused them (just because firemen are always at fires doesn’t mean they started them) Lean into the tension without letting expectation die - Do this by banking on the presence, promises, and character of God Nov 27, Proverbs (Steve) Other notes about moving towards wisdom: - Learning to humble ourselves - Be open to counsel, instruction, and correction - Choose our friends carefully - Fool: deficient in judgement, sense, or understanding - “A righteous man is cautious in friendship…” Laziness (an aversion to doing hard things) “As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him” (10:26) Warnings about being lazy in Proverbs 1. Lazieness and discontentment go together a. “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied” (14:4) b. “The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work” (21:25) 2. Living lazy produces a vicious cycle a. “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed” (26:14) 3. Laziness doesn’t give us energy, rather it takes it away!! a. “Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry” (19:15) NOTE: REST IS SUPER IMPORTANT  Canlis 5 The issue is not what I don’t know, it's what I don’t do with what I do know If you stop being active, you don’t stay exactly the same. You’ll drift. If you turn off your boat in the ocean, you’ll drift. If you leave your hot coffee on the table, it’ll become lukewarm. Liquids become the temperature of their environment - we are the same Character Laziness 1. Cultivating a wrong mindset towards evil a. “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones” (3:7-8) b. Bad evil vs fun evil i. Flee from sin and resist the devil ii. “Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord” (23:17) iii. “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicket will be snuffed out” (24:19-20) c. You ALWAYS reap what you sow i. And you always reap AFTER you sow (do you ever see a seed shoot out of the ground? No…you plant it and see nothing at first) ii. Remember that training matters! You can’t just flip a switch “ABOVE ALL ELSE guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (4:23) 2. Holding on to dangerous stuff a. “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?” (6:27-28) i. There are somethings that we cannot hold without being burned ii. Don’t hold onto spiritual bombs 1. Bitterness, long term anger, addictions, etc et b. Where do we turn to first for meaning, comfort, or direction? i. An idol is anything other than Christ, which we run to first when under pressure or in pain 3. Not seeking the truth a. What we believe affects what we do b. “It’s not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way” (19:2) 4. Ignoring the needs of the people around us a. “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (21:13) b. “He who gives to the poor will lack nothings, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” (28:27)  Canlis 6 c. “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act” (3:27) CULTIVATE AND ATTITUDE THAT CARES (enough to do something) Inherited religion is powerless to bring life to the fullest. - If I’m bored in faith, that's not the sign that there’s nothing there but rather the sign that there is more to explore “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day” (4:18) A warning sign: excuses, excuses, excuses “The sluggard says, ‘there is a lion outside!’ or, ‘I will be murdered in the streets!’” (22:13) Nov 26, Proverbs (Steve) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” Romans 10:17 - Both true spiritually (faith in God) or just generally (if you hear something over and over, you believe in it) Faith is our inner picture of reality that we act upon Trust in the Lord with all our heart. Lean not on our own understanding. Acknowledge Him. And bingo! That’s how we walk in wisdom “They don’t have something I don’t have, they believe something I don’t believe” Think: what is energy? Gravitational, electromagnetic, strong, and weak nuclear forces? We don’t know!! Is it such a large jump to think that there is a God? Our science can’t explain these things Look at all modern psychology and what is said to be “best” for humanity…it’s EXACTLY what the Bible says, minus God. “Kingdom without the King” vibe “Those who trust in their own mind are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are delivered” Proverbs 28:26 Almost 100 different parallels between ‘wisdom’ personified in Proverbs and Jesus…word for word - Think: proverbs was writing well before Jesus came around  Canlis 7 It's not about the data. It's not about the method. Theres no separation between the spiritual stuff and the physical stuff LISTEN to wisdom. Satan is sneaky sneaky Barriers to Hearing! 1. Know knowing God can speak 2. Not expecting he might want to 3. Believing that all thoughts are just from my own brain (are we really spiritual beings?) rationalism = everything 4. Not creating space to hear 5. Not wanting to hear 6. *unwarranted* fear that God will always give us bad news or is against us, not for us. NOT POSSIBLE CAUSE HE IS LOVE BTW 7. Some sin/unforgiveness/spiritual barricade is in place 8. Not having received Christ – unsure of salvation? It’s important to know what His voice sounds like - Think: you can recognize someone's voice who you know quite well even in a loud crowded room. Or just from a single word His voice will be: clear, specific, non-condemning, gentle, loving (also: can be quicker than you expect!!) How to listen until we are confident in hearing Seek to hear 1. Ask God anyway - and ask the Holy Spirit for help hearing 2. Create space that allows us to listen intently 3. Search the logos word - asking for adynamic word to you NOTE: a dynamic word will NEVER contradict the written word 4. Seek Godly council in the process of asking 5. Check: peace or no peace (the message) 6. Pay attention to a slight lean (can be more significant that we think) 7. Don't be afraid to ask for confirmation (or change the question) 8. Ask the next question (don’t assume the interpretation) 9. Stay alert: the Lord may speak unexpectedly through others IT'S A PROCESS!!! Just keep learning! Invite the leading  Canlis 8 To fear God is to recognize that to not listen to him can be very dangerous To fear the Lord is to know and believe that God is a good father God is NOT interested in punishing you We can choose what we fear Nov 25, Proverbs (Steve Volle) “They shall eat the fruit of their way” “A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord” –Proverbs 19:3 Proverbs is a book of choices One of the elements of the Christian life that I’m least comfortable with is the amount of agency we have in our own life. We are so free that we can choose to live in good ways or bad ways. Being a Christian is being 100%, totally, free. I can choose whatever I want, but choices have consequences most of our wounds and pain come from other people’s freedom to hurt us God just wants us to live and thrive. He wants us to live life to the fullest. Learning to live differently can feel like you're going backwards. (skiing so well, wrong, that to learn how to ski correctly, you have to go back to zero and it’ll feel worse) Why Proverbs? (1:1-6) - To help us get wisdom - To help us understand what matters - To help us deal with life sensibly - To help us do the right thing - To help give knowledge and discretion to the young (us) It’s an ancient (near) eastern book…if we read it like a legal document (very western method), we would miss the whole point.  Canlis 9 Ancient eastern is very process oriented - especially around knowledge. Modern western thinking is all around stating clearly the main idea, thesis statement, etc. Eastern is much more process and discovery oriented “To understand” (Greek) Explains how something works with rules and structure. “To understand) (Eastern) experience it. Think cancer - leading scientists might say they understand cancer, but then someone else might say no you don’t, I do, because I have it. Proverbs is NOT giving us a series of formulas, promises, and to-do lists, it gives us pictures of how God’s world works – and points us to Christ. It’s more like poetry than a legal doc! Whatever you ‘look’ at, becomes a bigger and bigger thing in your life. You’re never going to get freedom from something you focus on. If you’re stressed, and you focus on being stressed and what you’re stressed about and all that – you are just gonna get more stressed. Acknowledgement of self-insufficiency is KEY - Because its NOT about ME God does much with little, most with least, and everything with nothing. So maybe, being or feeling empty on the inside is okay. Proverbs 30:24-28 Wisdom “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than the gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are fiches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peaceful. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed” (Proverbs 3:13-18) Wisdom is knowing and doing the right thing at the right time - Can be super subjective! Satan's truth twisting: - Wisdom is having your eyes opened to the things the world has to offer - Wisdom is being like God - powerful and self-sufficient through understanding  Canlis 10 - Wisdom is having knowledge of good and evil (knowing what is right and wrong) This is the same lie that is still presented to us daily, and that the world struggles with We were not created to be good conscious, but rather God conscious “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) This comes from ACTING out of a TRUST relationship Flesh or faith Something happens when you base your actions on THE DATA rather than the PROMISE OF GOD. It altered their lived experience. (look at Numbers 13) They got what the data promised! - Don’t ignore all data, but if it bumps up against what God says, let what God says be the higher thing Flesh: leans on its own understanding (data focused) Faith: trust in the Lord and act on what He says Flesh: acts on the presently observed condition Faith : acts on the promised condition It's really hard to receive something if you don’t believe the person really wants to give it to you Lots of stuff that there is no Bible verse for. So it’s all about trust Nov 20, 1 Corinthians (Richard) 1 Cor and Romans: If we are in Christ we’re one Jesus prayed for visible unity in the church When we differ Chapter 8: OBS: We all have a cultural Christianity (ideas we grow up around) What is the CORE of the FAITH? - Romans 14:1 breaking down false cores - Sabbath and diet Disputable matter:  Canlis 11 1. Something where the Bible is not clear a. Snapps, harry potter, etc etc etc 2. Both sides have a clear conscience and follow Christ - and base their position on the Bible 3. Acts 10, 11, 15, 1 Corinthians 8, Romans 14, 15 a. (it happens all the time in the Bible) Principles to deal with disputable matters 1. LOVE is greater than KNOWLEDGE a. Knowledge: food doesn’t save or condemn you b. In that knowledge, we have LIBERTY 2. Avoid using liberty if someone's faith will be destroyed (v 11) Chapter 9 1. Love Relinquishes Rights a. Even though the preacher has a RIGHT to be paid, he chose to do it for free i. He relinquishes his right b. What's our motive? 2. Love enters in! a. Word became flesh…God enters I will enter the culture where God sends and I work and pray for the GOOD and BLESSING of that culture! Jeremiah 10, 29 3. Keep growing a. Check your motive b. Running rave to WIN - take faith seriously c. Travel light → shed sin →keep your eyes on Christ d. STARTING a race does NOT equal FINISHING it NO WORSE POSITION → starting faith and not finishing it Being L U K E W A R M 4. Avoid poisons (well labeled!) a. Started ≠ finished b. Evil cravings (self-medicating) c. Idolatry → identity (money, health, marriage, skiing, sexuality, skiing, etc etc) i. Those things are super fragile, because if someone stops those things, your identity is ii. IDENTITY TRUTHS d. Immoral actions - WRONG use of sex, money, violence, power e. Don’t test God - “if you love me…” f. AVOID complaining and grumbling – warning!!! That you are on the wrong track  Canlis 12 Church - Chapters 11-14 Head coverings 1. For the man? – in Roman culture (and Greek): a. Men praying to false gods (statues): they covered their heads! b. Man is praying to the TRUE God i. With a head covering: Paul is saying that's a visible way of praying to the true God in the same way as the pagans praying to the false Gods c. The principle is: when we worship, we want to make it clear who we worship 2. Woman - Feminism a. Before: double standard i. Then: double standard went away b. Head covering = sign of marriage i. In Greek: only one word for married and unmarried woman 3. Conclusion: by taking their head coverings off, they are promoting themselves as single and available as a prostitute. (shaved head was also a sign of prostitution). It's shaming the husband by saying ‘hey im available and wanna sleep with people’ and so, Paul is saying don’t use worship as a place for your appetites 4. Verse 5: women are prophesying!! a. Prophecy = WORD from God to the community b. Her WORD > me (as a man) What does Paul mean by ‘silent’? - In Judaism women couldn't read or even be a part of church - So when they all of a sudden were allowed to come, they naturally had questions! - Paul is saying wait until after, and then ask husbands RATHER than ever time you have a question about what someone says in church, stand up and say it, disrupting what's going on. Timothy "I do not allow women to teach” - “Women” is singular not plural - important difference - There is a specific woman that Paul is talking about, and he is forbidding HER specifically - Look at Romans 16!! Junias → women apostles Move away from individualism and towards community KEY TEXT: 12:12 - The church IS the body of Christ - “Greater works” - Christ is everywhere…not bound by time or space - YOU as a member have a unique contribution to make - Celebrate who you are and quit trying to be like someone else - Multiplicity of gifts! Everyone has a gift - Diversity is good - “Common good” to bless others - Diversity and interdependency - SHALOM  Canlis 13 - Everyone wins As you use your gifts, God will give you the chance to have a visible presence of the future. Snapshots of the kingdom! 1. How do you find your gifts? a. SAY YES TO SERVICE i. Teach, make lots of money and give lots away, mercy, hospitality, serving, organizing, creativity, leadership b. Context + gifts = calling c. God is more concerned with the origin of your work than the nature of work In life, we reap what we sow. But kids don’t! Its parents’ responsibility to discipline their child because they love them so much they can’t help but not correct them Sin is when you are HERE but God wants you HERE Greed generosity Anger peace Lust love Sin just means you are living the wrong story! Faith is evidence PLUS belief Some evidence 1. Women were the first and best more reliable witnesses to see Jesus!! Thats CRAZY in that time…women were not considered able to like do any 2. There was no body! 3. The disciples! 12 out of 12 died for their faith a. Maybe if it was fake one or two would die, but all twelve?? Maybe something else was going on 4. 4 stories are NOT exactly the same a. It shows that people writing the Bible didn’t collaborate…that like humans some remembered different things and other Isiah 25!! Chapter 16!! OFFERING (from the Corinthians (liberal!)) TO Jerusalem (super conservative) To say that neither alone is the church but TOGETHER  Canlis 14 Nov 19, 1 Corinthians (Richard) Meditation Reflection Above: Today I’m grateful for… Owen, a clean room Beneath: In Christ I am… Completed, strengthened, guided Around: May ____ know your peace today May Owen and Lea know your peace today Within: Today I will express your life by: Bringing my full self even to places I don’t want to be Chapter 5 Community: Support – Accountability Bounded set vs Centered set Agree to rules, when something goes wrong, and legalistically pointing towards Christ. “Is that enforcing those rules Christ like” 1. Complain with the Church a. Celebrating “openness” b. Understanding the role of accountability Two mistakes in churches today: - Over active accountability - Lack of forgiveness, super strict - NOT accountability, that's judgment and legalism and its BAD. this is often why people hate the Church - Under active accountability - Individualism - what you want for your body is best for yourself - What I do with my own life is my own business Find a community of accountability AND support Often the HIGHER the safety, the higher the accountability 1 Cor 6:1-11 - Christians suing each other - If you’re called into Christ, ‘Don’t you know that if you come to Christ you come into a family, and a family shares resources, sufferings, blessings, etc. The biggest idol in American and European culture is the idol of individualism. 1 Corinthians 6: 12-20  Canlis 15 Three Problems/Challenges with teaching sexual ethics in the Church 1. There is tension between our teaching and how people are living a. The Christian sexual ethic seems outdated and irrelevant i. Don't wanna become like the Taliban, but there is a sexual ethic. ii. Hold to the teaching, while explaining the WHY of the teaching, otherwise we miss the point Real Sex (book): 1. Pregnant - abortion? Birth control? 2. Guilt - no I feel great! 3. Disease - medicin 4. Wrong - it's outdated and no one else thinks it's bad! ^ what you can often hear from Church ^ …and also 100% ignored The point of a sexual ethic is you can’t base it on a giant no! 1. Your sexual ethic is NEVER just about you a. Paul understands that your sexuality is lived out in community i. Against the idea of “what I do in the bedroom is my own business” 1. Individual sexual ethics b. Problem with that: you are born into an ethic! i. Premarital sex in America (book) 1. Mixture of everything you’ve heard, what friends are doing, and what tv/media says. A collection of stories c. Then you develop your own ethic - and you have to ask where does it come from? d. Your ethic becomes a brick in a wall, one part of a whole i. If you think what you do ‘in the bedroom’ doesn’t affect anyone else, you're crazy! Like wake up! Your actions affect those around you! ii. Every choice you make, it's not just your thing. If your friends know, it’ll affect your friends. If you think something is in darkness, it will eventually come to light! Like it does not just affect you! e. Good news: God is providing alternative narratives 2. GRACE not judgment needs to prevail a. Sex should remain proportional - hierarchy of sin i. Bad stuff? Everyone is like SEX AND DEMONS!! 1. But ALSO enmity, strife, gossip, anger, envying, drunkenness, partying - EQUALLY BAD!! Don’t do the thing that makes sex so much ‘greater’ or so much ‘worse’ than everything else 2. Don’t lower the bar, but do it with GRACE 3. Your sexual ethic at the end of the day, you choose a. Are you going to align with God or not? And if not, be intentional. i. Song of Songs 8:10 (yes is a book of Christ but its also a steamy sex manual -Richard)  Canlis 16 1. Talks about being a strong woman! The woman doesn’t need rescuing. 2. “My breasts are a high tower. No one gets in without permission” 4. Clear Choice a. Do not be mastered by anything. (addition not just to drugs and stuff…working out, ice cream, alcohol, tv, school, work, etc etc) b. Saying in Corinth is that sex = an appetite just like food is i. If you're hungry, just go find food! ii. If sex is like food, then our sexual activities are not born out of love but rather than lust 1. Your Brain On Porn - iii. ‘Serial Monogamy’ Gnostic Stoicism = sex is evil - !!! 50 days becomes 5 days! (thanks Augustine) - Eve was blamed for the fall - Gnostic - forbid marriage - Daniel the Trouserer - guys who was hired to paint clothes on naked frescos Gnostic Epicurianism = all sex is good - Today's world! 1. 7:1 Celebrates sexuality as a gift a. Corinthians wrote a letter to Paul, asking if it's good for people to have sex not for procreation b. Then explains in 1-2 that the problem is not sexuality (God made you and made your sexuality) i. God made the body ii. God made sex to be enjoyable 1. The only purpose for certain parts of your anatomy is for pleasure during sex iii. Song of Soloman also says “Don’t awaken love before it's time" 1. You have sexuality, but it can wait God is not a Gnostic! “Every good and perfect gift comes from God’ - Taste, smell, sight, music, non-sexual touch, sleep, exercise, cold, and yes sex! All good gifts from God! 2. Empowers women (verses 3-5) a. For the wife does not have authority over her own body (in Rome, this is a no duh…) b. BUT THEN HE SAYS “likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body” AND BOOM. this is UNBELIEVABLY radical in Roman times - absolutely INSANE c. Man AND woman serving each other i. Men saying: I would like… ii. Woman saying: I would like…  Canlis 17 d. It’s ALL ABOUT HONORING THE OTHER PERSON e. My body is not my own. I’m here to serve. 3. Single (8-9) a. Practice - sexuality and singleness is a struggle b. Push to marry is not a problem…in fact its the reverse i. Cultural reason for marriage: EVERYTHING (meet our needs) 1. NOBODY will meet all your needs c. One flesh d. Lab for your transformation i. No relationship challenges you to grow as much as marriage ii. “Everyone marries the wrong person” 1. Someone like you: narcissist selfish 2. Someone different: constant tension e. Serve one another → allies on the same team i. Conflict: it’s not about the potato 1. Family history 2. CURIOSITY IS KEY f. Marriage is a LAB for TRANSFORMATION Okay advantages of being single: Gen 4:41-35 1. Singleness is rising FAST (in Seattle 40% of residences are occupied by one person) a. Why? Either terrified of marrying or idolizing marriage (fyi: both bad options) “Single is good” is RADICAL to the Romans - HUGE ideology shift 1st century: Identity = family The highest goal in Corinthian culture was for a woman to get married. That was the only option! Having a good life as a single woman (or man!) was IMPOSSIBLE in the culture. Paul is saying being single is viable and healthy, and NOT ONLY THAT he also says it can be BETTER than being married. CRAZY STATEMENT at the time (in roman culture if you were a widow and didn’t remarry in two years, there would be a fine) There was no option to be single He is also saying CHASTITY is part of being a healthy SINGLE person Being single you're still NOT alone! Still called to community Community > nuclear family Having no children is fine! Cause you are caring for other children - DOES THIS HAPPEN? Falls to married people to provide hospitality 2. Free from concern a. Single → your choice b. Married → BIG decisions: NOT YOUR OWN! Genesis 2 – “naked” is not just physical…they were each known fully  Canlis 18 - “Emotional’ nakedness” → covenant of marriage Liberty and Accountability Issues that Christians don’t agree on: - Baptism - Abortion - Communition - Election - Predestination - can/can’t lose your salvation - Giving - The election - LGBTQ and all that - The trinity - Female pastors - What to talk about in church sermons - Worship - What you eat/drink - How to sabbath - How churches should be built - Does the Church or the Bible have ultimate authority? - Salvation by works? - Old Testament law - Spiritual gifts ITS NOT ABOUT THE THING, BUT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU DONT AGREE Note: Demise of Guys (youtube video) - What's hurting men: - Porn - Video games - Fantasy sports games / betting THESE THINGS AREN’T REAL Nov 18, 1 Corinthians (Richard) 1. Corinth a. Cosmopolitan - tolerant, liberal, libertarian b. Jewish/gentile  Canlis 19 c. wealth/poverty d. Various world views 2. Why? a. Answer ethical questions i. Singleness and marriage ii. Divorce and remarriage iii. Meat eating and are we still under old testament law / how does it relate to Christ? iv. Spiritual gifts resurrection 3. Outline a. 1-5 UNITY and ACCOUNTABILITY b. 6-11 specific ethics c. 12-14 Body of Christ, UNITY of the Church d. 15-16 more unity stuff Unity is NOT uniformity 4. About Paul a. 4 “stories” i. Judaism - Phil 3, Acts 7 1. (murder Christians) 2. Legalism 3. Pride ii. Greek culture 1. “Mars Hill” Greek poetry, Plato and Division 2. In corinth: a. Stoicism → elevated suffering b. Epicureanism → if our bodies are dying, might as well enjoy pleasure while we have it! 3. Roman Culture - Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) a. Natives, citizens, men, property owners 5. In the world not of the world a. IN THE WORLD i. Know your Culture 1. Needs and Lies 2. Work for the good of your culture b. NOT OF THE WORLD i. Sexual immorality ii. Idol of religious nationalism iii. Addiction NOT: in and of NOT: NOT in and NOT of YES: in but not of  Canlis 20 Balance of GRACE and TRUTH Chapter 1 1. Starts by giving the truth of our (and their) identity 2. ‘In over our heads’ ‘unl;ess God breaks in…’ 3. ‘dependency’ = no one boast 4. Moments → PRAY Chapter 2 1. Hunger for “Christ” 2:2 a. Preach Christ b. Not MY understanding i. Watch out for blind spots ii. Requires HUMILITY 2. Brokenness 2:3 fear and trembling a. Teach with a greater sense of humility 3. Christ is the final answer when trying to understand the text a. Jesus is the final reference point of ethics Chapter 3 - Flesh 1. Division a. Among Christ followers! Divisions = sign of sickness - we must work against it!! b. Lack of UNITY (3:4) c. Humans are tribal i. We like being with people who are similar to us DON”T develop a cult of LOYALTY to personality - people, leaders, all of them come and go - but Christ is bombproof Chapter 4 Anticipates reasons that they won’t listen 4:1 Accusers of stewards of God’s word 4:3 Introspective - I don’t judge ONE judge - please christ Not about wealth, position, words, ect but rather about POWER of GOD Not because we have a degree or notes or memories or friends or pray a special prayer every day but JUST through the power of God  Canlis 21 Oppressed → Eph 4&5 “don’t give the Devil a place to hang on” Nov 15, Spiritual Formation (Richard) Meditation Reflection Above: Today I’m grateful for… The sun, Bella, Sam Beneath: In Christ I am… Loved, complete Around: May ____ know your peace today May Carson know your peace today! Within: Today I will express your life by: Praying for people, call someone I haven’t talked to in a while! The lie: NO conflict is good Ephesians 5 promises if you bring darkness into light, the darkness will eventually become light Cone of sustainability: Consistently sowing to bear fruit (John 15) Know your battles, besetting sin ‘Self medication’ Know and use your gifts (1 Cor 12, 2 Tim 1) Live in the now (Mat 6, Ecc 9:10) Habits (rest, meditation) (Heb 4, Psalm 1) Cue, action, reward Vision of what is real, what is lasting? (Col 2:9-10, Heb 12) HIS KINGDOM Expect fruit, so sow seeds, but it takes time.  Canlis 22 We have a million reasons to want to disengage, but we are called to always just sow seeds with confidence. We might not know or see the outcome (because the timing and type are God’s prerogative) The Vagus Nerve - best indicator of a healthy heart Stress shows up in our heart! Physically! Look at the vagus nerve survival guide by Christopher Bergland Nov 14, Spiritual Formation (Richard) 1. Jesus is the full and final revelation of God a. Our ethics don’t come from the the Bible, but rather the ethics of Jesus (in cases where they conflict, Jesus’ always wins) - “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” – John 5:39 You can’t substitute the Bible for Jesus - be wary of people saying “I just follow the Bible” This means that the final decision for ethics is Jesus. You can use the bible is super destructive ways - it gets trumped by Jesus because He is the reference point 2. Jesus lives a life free from the fear of death, and because of this He is able to live faithfully Afraid to lose my: health, power, pleasure, money, reputation, freedom, etc. And then, if I'm too afraid to lose these things, I’m a slave. Kingdom of God: “Church” ≠ Kingdom Can be complicit calling people with domination to Shalom  Canlis 23 When we love our enemies, good things happen. We love, we wash feet, we turn the second cheek, we go the second mile, Philippians 2: 1. work out your salvation 2. It’s God who does the work Luke 8:4:7 1. The seed is good (seed = word of God…note: not just the bible, its a person. Jesus is the word) Some seeds are choked by the weeds - (worry, riches, pleasure, WORRY) Worry - Merinao (divided) Seek the kingdom first, then God will take care of you Good seed in good soil always bears good fruit We need soil care for the soul - because the seed is always good, but we can be bad soil - The soil is variable The danger is something becoming normal that shouldn’t be normal When we get to a crossroad, we can choose safety or obedience - and the only way to grow is to choose obedience God calls us to habits: Sabbath, sleep, prayer, etc. Cue Action Reward “Practice” of walking with God Bundle habits into a practice Habits: 1. Start small Above: Today I’m grateful for… Beneath: In Christ I am… Around: May ____ know your peace today Within: Today I will express your life by: Nov 13, Spiritual Formation (Richard) *see below in the six questions* Nov 12, Spiritual Formation (Richard) Spirit → complete in Christ, new identity, Soul → personality = mind, will, emotions fallen world, believes lies leads to feeling broken leads to self medicate to (bad things) - An impact of this is that your mind-will-emotions get unbalanced  Canlis 24 Only two things that motivate us to grow: Beauty and suffering - If you never acknowledge your pain, you’ll never have motivation to grow Life map: good and bad events that shaped your life - then for each one ask what happened? Tell the story We have to choose ENGAGEMENT with the broken parts of our story, rather than disengagement. You can’t heal it without engaging it (look at forgiveness lecture!!) 6 questions to ask: Why am I here? - Abraham - he was given three promises: 1. Fruit a. Offspring → nation b. NOTE: we can’t produce fruit on our own i. If His word abides in us, ‘you will bear much fruit’ … expect fruit! c. We bear two kinds of fruit: i. Fruit of the Spirit 1. We don’t create fruit…fruit happens. 2. Our responsibility isn’t to create fruit, its to sow seeds 3. But we will never know fruit unless we learn to abide (see: building habits later in the week) ii. Fruit of Influence ABIDE: actually erotic language…broom + bride → receive seed of Christ → bear fruit Entrainment - if you look someone in their eyes and they are panicked, you will feel panicked, and visa versa Receiving giving Inhaling exhaling Rest work Winter summer Are we called to give? Absolutely!! But you can’t give what you don’t have Fill your own cup because someday you’re gonna have to fill How does my creator view me? - Jacob Why do we still sin?? - The upstream problem is you forget who you are - Through neglect, unbelief, etc. - We fix this by knowing who we are - Gnosis vs epignosis 1. Identity offered  Canlis 25 a. Depends on God’s character and initiative 100% i. God CHOSE b. Make a clean break between worthiness and identity i. They are NOT EQUAL 2. Identity Refused a. Seeking to earn or steal what God wants to give Jacob stole the birthright and blessing…then Jacob leaves the land 3. God’s Character God gives because it’s in God’s nature to give Am I able to RECEIVE God’s transformation? 4. Jacob’s (soul) Transformation We all reap what we sow How, specifically, and I called to bless the world? - Moses God gives us specific callings to bless! 1. Opportunities (fall line) 2. Pain → calling Your calling has two pieces to it: your gifts and the context God invites you to use your gifts in Gift → Passion (you really enjoy doing your gifts) Context → not always joyful 1. God encounter a. Curiosity - why is it… b. Blame → c. Pay attention to creation Transformation is always a response to revelation 2. Calling Confirmed a. A gift brings you joy and is confirmed b. Confirmation of the context i. Revealed through conflict and failure 1. Just because there is conflict, doesn’t mean you don’t belong there 2. Just because you fail, doesn’t mean you don’t belong there c. When you’re living your calling, you won’t be perfect. Credibility doesn’t come from perfection, it comes from transformation. And in order for transformation to happen, you need movement. HERE →→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→HERE Without being here You can’t be here Above the line: gifts and affirmations, do I need to fan into flame? Below the line: what experiences have shaped my soul? What? When? emotions? lies?  Canlis 26 How do I deal with brokenness and failure? - Judah What does a whole person look like? - Jesus What habits will help my journey towards wholeness? - Paul Good things in our body can become bad if we start relying on them / being addicted to them Nov 11, BONUS LECTURE on forgiveness, (Eis!) Scars on the outside vs scars on the inside…no pain killers for the scars on the inside People who can hurt you the most are parents, pastors, and teachers. Scars on your soul Scars on you skin Some on the outside Some are within Some have a story Some are unwritten Some you can see Most are a hidden Forgiveness has to do with freedom…freedom to be set free. Forgiveness is a choice. People who cannot forgive: their lives are still ruled by the other person. When a kid stops growing, you go to the doctor because something is wrong. Same thing with spiritual growth. Romans 12:19-21: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Pray for your enemies. Why? Because it is good for you!! Bless this person you hate, and see that YOU will be changed. It’s God’s responsibility to deal with the other person, but he wants you to be FREE.  Canlis 27 What is forgiveness NOT? - NOT a solitary, separate action - NOT a method - NOT just and obligation/law - NOT forgetting - NOT for good feelings - NOT for becoming a good Christian - There are no good and bad Christians. You either are a Christians or are not - NOT reconciliation - NOT easy! Forgiveness is something between US and GOD, not us and the other person - Starts with Christ, is from Christ, is for Christ, is through Christ, and for your growth in Christ I am only willing to forgive the other person when I am worried about my relationship with Jesus CHrist, when I put my love for Jesus Christ above the strength of my hurt, my pain, and my anger Collasians 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” Never let sin rule in your life from someone else - Husband abuses wife? Wife should leave! “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” → let go, and you will be let go Forgiveness is letting go of resentment. You do not heal in order to forgive; you forgive in order to heal!!!! - You will never be “ready” to forgive “Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die” How many times should we forgive our brothers?? Jesus answers: 707 spanget : spanked Rosemarie Claussen-Munchau (the god daughter of Hitler) Nov 11, Spiritual Formation (Richard Dahlstrom) [email protected]  Canlis 28 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “ Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Goals: 1. Understand the difference between justification and ongoing salvation 2. Understanding the goal of the Christian life (Gal 1:17 Christ be formed in you → to become an expression of Christ’s life) OUr calling is to bear fruit by representing Jesus Christ to our world - not an imitation of Jesus’ ethics, not a denominational structure or call to church loyalty, but a living manifestation of Christ’ life. 3. Spirit/soul/body a. Develop and practice habits → growth i. Meditation, daily prayer, soul care Spirit What is it? - The part of you that brings life. (Rom 8:11) - The part of you intended to live in union with God - The part of you intended to run your life I need spiritual life. A new spirit is: - Perfect and complete in Christ - Delights in God’s will - Not ABLE to sin - Gal 5 - walk by the Spirit - Eph 5 be filled with Spirit NEW IDENTITY! 2 Corinthians 5 - if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation - New = different - You don’t overcome it by saying no. If you don’t have a new identity, all you have is your old identity!  Canlis 29 Soul Your soul is your personality (mind, emotions, etc) - In its ideal form, its submitting to the Spirit - In the process of being saved But unfortunately, our soul is broken Broken → believing lies → experienced pain → methods of surviving Identity before Christ = soul + body You can’t carry the banana cream pies and still go to the olympics. It was much easier for him to say no once he had already said yes. Redeeming your soul by bringing to the surface pain, then facing that pain by applying God’s truth, giving freedom Body Should be characterized by JOY and GRATITUDE Body = good, made by God, and decaying Gnosticism → Spiritual stuff ||| physical stuff (separate) See it in the focus in the church on prayer vs sex, being a pastor vs lawyer, etc - Separating the physical from the spiritual The body is not inherently bad!!! - We see things like sex, food, drink, creation, laughter, etc, are all good!!! James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  Canlis 30 Our bodies are the way we display Christ Bodies display the transformation of the soul because we have a new spirit NOTE: give thanks for your body! EVERY SINGLE BODY is made in the image of God. EQUALLY. And…the body is decaying (we all die eventually) but the spirit is eternal Intended to be offered to God everyday Get hyped cause we are also gonna get a new body! Meditation: Building habits!! Psalm 1: meditation helps us reframe our identity - Promise: fruitful Joshua: Before you do anything, meditate on the truth - Promise: successful (in overcoming) Romans 12 and 2 Corinthians 12 tell us the main battle in our lives is NOT the body…that's downstream. UPSTREAM there are lies believed - How to help? Saturate the mind - How? Meditation! The word meditation in Hebrew is the same word as a cow chewing on its cud. (it chews it many times…swallows and rechews sometimes seven times!) Lies: that YOU ARE: your money, skin color, desires, actions, body, athletic ability, sexuality, etc etc etc. Col 2:9-10 “I am complete in Christ” - Identity truths - God says it Inhale: I am complete in Christ Exhale: Thank you Repeat. Transformation comes not from knowledge, but rather from transformation. - Look at neurological effects of meditation! Literally transforming your brain’s neural pathways Trying to align your mind with what Jesus says about us Nov 8, Romans (Michael) *see below*  Canlis 31 Nov 7, Romans (Michael) *see below* Nov 6, Romans (Michael) *see below* Nov 4 & 5, Romans (Michael Kirchdorfer) Considered one of, if not the most, important and influential epistle OUTLINE: 1. Introduction (1:1-17) Greeting (1:7) - all 177 words is one sentence in the original Greek a. Paul calls himself a slave (doulas) of Jesus. He is saying that he is not his own. i. In today's world, we celebrate total autonomy. Where I am the only one who can tell me anything about myself… “I am my own master” - PAUL is different, and us as Christians are different b. Being called involves being called away from something and towards something else. He saw his life as simply all for the Gospel c. He emphasizes Christs’ humanity, equally as he emphasizes his holiness - Jesus wasn’t fully human, then dying on the cross means nothing. But Jesus needs to be fully God in order to save d. When Jesus was on earth, he was the Son of God in weakness, and when we was raised from the dead He became the Son of God in Power Verse 5 and 16:26: “obedience of faith”...that's the bookend!! That’s what it's all about “Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone” e. He describes the recipients of the letter as loved by God. Pauls Thanksgiving and prayer (1:8-15) God seeks ordinary believers to join an extraordinary mission a. Look at how Paul prays for a church he has never even visited: “that without ceasing I mention you” - word in Greek was used to mean a dry cough you can't get rid of. Paul was never too busy to pray and he kept it centered b. In the most positive way, he saw himself as a man with a debt. ‘Jesus has done so much for me, I have an obligation to share it!’ c. The Gospel is not just for beginners. Paul is writing to a church whose faith was known across the whole world. The Theme (1:16-17) (16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek  Canlis 32 - He is writing to the most powerful city in the world. By saying ‘i am not ashamed’ he is really saying that the gospel is the most important thing in his life - 80% of shoppers trust customer reviews! So in the same way people look to us as Christians…our reviews of the bible - The gospel doesn’t have power, it is power - It’s continual…saving faith is a lifestyle, not a one-time thing. Continuing to trust in Christ. - (17) For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, ‘the righteous by faith will live’” - Relationship + position/ status (righteousness of God) 2. Sin (1:18-3:20) a. All people are sinners. Paul is showing us our need for God's righteousness. i. "Sin is the measure of salvation. Only they know what it is to be saved who know what it is to be lost. All heresy has its source in wrong or feeble conceptions of sin." b. God’s wrath is being poured out currently, not a one time thing → towards ungodliness: i. ‘living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God’ “The most unloving parent in the world is the parent who remains indifferent in what their children do” c. The argument is that we all all sinful and without excuse (God reveals himself in nature today) i. The first step to rejecting God is not feeling gratitude towards God. There is no ungrateful believer because that is the way we relate to God First of three exchanges: 1. They exchanged the glory of God for an image (idolatry) Verse 24-32: Paul is describing God's wrath (24) “Therefore, God gave them over…” - Society would celebrate it, but Paul is saying this is God's wrath…God handing us over to our sinful desires Clearest teaching in the bible on homosexuality (26-28): Why would God forbid this? This is not the question to ask…rather ask “do I trust God that he means well? Do I trust that he has my best interest in mind” You can talk all day long about what we think God thinks or why we think he says what He does, but in the end it comes back to this question.  Canlis 33 Is the prohibition of homosexual activity in Romans 1 universal or was he speaking into a specific situation? - Firstly he addresses lesbian sexuality - in ancient Greece, it was no big deal and was a common thing…Rome however already thought it was not great, so why share with Rome? Hint that he was sharing a universal principle - Also the language “natural” and “unnatural” relations (vv 26-27) - What are the provisions on marriage? The law recognizes only natural intercourse with a woman? - He adresses homosexual activity in general - was he calling out Pederasty? (older man taking younger men as their lover…super common in ancient greece) but that's not what he says - He uses the word that means “for one another” or “mutual/consensual” Paul is saying that this is not in God’s will, and is a product of God giving ourselves up We are all called to deny ourselves when we are to follow Jesus. We all have to deny ourselves in different ways. Book to read: Is God anti-gay? By Sam Allberry The fundamental issue is a spiritual problem. It's a rejection of God.  Canlis 34 Moralists (or Jews) under sin (2:1-16) The pride of self righteousness is as equally appalling to God as the blatant sin Excuses for sins will not be excused God judges according to TRUTH (1) There you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. - WITHOUT EXCUSE: when we are self-righteous, we see the blatant sin in other people but not the sin in our own lives - We need to use the blatant sin in other people’s lives and see that we are the same person. (4) Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do ont know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance - Thinking ‘I don't need God’s grace!’ God judges according to our WORKS 2:6-11 Paul is quoting the old testament and wrote the section in a Chiastic structure, and in the middle, Paul condemns self-righteousness. God’s judges unrighteousness Verse 6 Paul quotes psalm 62:12 - and that psalm contrasts two people: the people who trust in God and those who don’t. Those who do, do good works and those who don’t do evil works. If I believe in God, that will eventually show up in how I interact with other people. God judges according to LIGHT 2:12-16 Paul is saying God judges according to works. Those who have the law, will be judged according to those laws. If you don’t have God's word and laws, God will judge you according to a different standard. The more you know, the higher the bar is set. Paul is singling out the Jewish people "If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst. Of all created beings the wickedest is one who originally stood in the immediate presence of God." C. S. Lewis Jews are guilty of hypocrisy 2:17-24  Canlis 35 We are a part of God’s people, and that's a privilege “You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?” (21) How easy it is to read God’s word and think “I wish so and so would hear this…I wish they would hear this section” all the while we are blind to what God is saying to us. We better preach God’s word, first and foremost, to ourselves. We’ve heard it said “the best argument against Christianity is Christians” ‘Just look at those Christians’ The more you study theology, the easier it is to weasel yourself out of your own sin. “It’s always the darkest at the bottom of the lighthouse” -Japanese Proverb We are all naturally judgemental I’m not okay, you’re not okay 3:9-20 Paul is using legal skill and precision to show how everyone is sin. We are universally sinful. (3:9) “I don’t know what the heart of a bad man is like. But I do know what the heart of a good man is like, and it is terrible” – Ivan Turgenev The term to sin is an archery term. It means to miss the mark. And it doesn’t matter if you miss by a millimeter or a mile, you still miss. The indictment: we are totally depraved 3:10-18 “There are two good men, one is dead and one hasn’t been born yet” - Chinese proverb Our entire character is depraved The idea that the heart is inherently good is very unbiblical. It's what most people think! But it's wrong. Our conduct is depraved: Will Durrant’s lessons from history: only a few of the of  Canlis 36 Education will not take care of the human heart. It can definitely do good! But it will NOT solve all problems (look at Germany pre WWI and WWII…one of the most advanced nations in the world) The verdict: we are hopelessly lost No one is able before God to say a word in his or her defense. Paul is talking about you and me. NOTE: he is NOT saying we are not able to do good!! We are all able to help and elderly woman across the street, BUT he is describing our lives from the eyes of God. He’s teaching us how sin has spread to every aspect of our lives. “We have no clear vision of God if we have no deep sense of our sin” God does what we cannot do. 3. Salvation (3:21-4:25) Romans 3:21-26 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. - God’s righteousness is revealed through His word. - Jesus’ faithfulness - Verse 24 is NOT saying universal salvation → the ‘all’ is referencing the believers - Paul is talking about US!! We continually fall short of the glory of God - Simultaneously sinner AND justified - Justified means to be declared righteous! It’s a legal term. To be acquitted of ALL charges.  Canlis 37 We are turtles on a fence post. We had to be put where were Justification excludes pride 3:27-31 “Where, then, is boasting?” Think about hitchhiking…you would never say “look how good my thumb is! Because of how beautiful my thumb is I got all the way from here to over there” SAME IDEA as us saying we are justified through our works (actions) “May I never boast in anything but the cross” The law was not given to save people, the law was given to a saved people We don't obey God in order to be saved, we obey God because we are saved Faith believes God’s promises 4:18-25 “Against hope, Abraham believed in hope” - From a human perspective, there was no hope (they were too old to have children) but from God’s perspective, there was hope. Abraham have devine hope - Abhraham has to take small baby steps of faith. - Where do I need to take small baby steps in my own faith?  Canlis 38 - 4. Sanctification (5:1-8:39) Sanctification is all about becoming more and more like Christ The general trajectory of life is upwards, The benefits of justification Believers have God's Hope (5:1-5) - “Access” to God’s grace - access originally meant “to enter into the presence of a king” - We don't rejoice BECAUSE we suffer, we have reason to rejoice IN suffering. Rejoice means standing up under pressure, sometimes also said as endurance. Not cracking under pressure. Suffering makes you stronger, and through God, we have the strength to get through anything. - It's not suffering itself that produces character, it's about what we do with our suffering and pain. Just because we have suffering, doesn’t mean we automatically grow in Christ’s likeness. - Prayer: “Lord please fulfill your purpose in these difficult circumstances. Let me understand how you want to transform me in this” Paul is saying without a shadow of doubt that we have security in Christ All people are in Adam: Adam represented all of humanity, so when he sinned, we all sinned through our representative. - How is that fair? Fair is not the question - life isn’t fair (babies suffer when pregnant mothers drink, etc etc) - Right thinking and right responding result in right living 1 John 2:19 - can you lose your salvation Romans 6:11 contains the first imperative: Romans 6 is the classic example of relating the indicative to the imperative  Canlis 39 “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (11) If you win the lottery but don’t act on the money in your bank account, its meaningless. So you have to act on it. You have to consider yourself dead to sin. Slavery is inevitable. You can either serve God or the devil. There is no third option What you do today will affect you tomorrow. If you give into your sin today, it will be more difficult to say no tomorrow. “You don’t drown by falling in the water…you drown by staying there” –Chinese proverb Romans 7: Who is Paul talking about? We must die to the law. The problem is not the law, it's our flesh. The Law is good, but the law is not able to free me from the powers of sin. Spoon stirring a glass of water that has a bit of sediment at the bottom. It looks like the spoon made the water dirty, but all it did was reveal the dirt that was already there. (the spoon is the law) We can’t please God by serving the flesh Hebrew 7:12 “No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good” C. S. Lewis Romans 8 The chapter on the Holy Spirit Big idea: Plug into your power source The power of the spirit over sin (v1-6): The only way we can please God is through the Spirit and the only way we can win over sin is through the Spirit Power of the Spirit over death and slavery as well! A future focus affects present perseverance - We have a glorious expectation (8:18-25) - We have a glorious enablement - “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (26)  Canlis 40 - Security leads to stability and productivity - Think about building the golden gate bridge…after they built a safety net to prevent people from dying if they fell, work increased by 25% because they knew that they were safe. - Think double jeopardy - you can’t be punished twice for the same crime! And Jesus already was punished for our crimes, past and present, so how can any condemnation stand against us?? Every chapter on sanctification ends with “Christ Jesus our Lord” 5. Selection/Sovereignty (9:1-11:36) Let God be God MERCY is the key word God is JUST Predestination? “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad– in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls…” - Election had to do with electing a group of people in their role throughout history Paul is here explaining why individual Jews are not saved All of humanity is on a highway to hell, but through God some are saved It's not what you do, it who you know Our responsibility is to believe in Christ and to preach Christ 6. Service (12:1-15:13) - True worship results in service - Love without action is not love - Display sacrificial love - Patient Romans 13 - we have a dual citizenship - Obey the government, except when the government’s law goes against God's will - This includes taxes - Jesus told his followers to pay taxes to a foreign invasive power…we can pay to a government we maybe don’t rly like - Apply God’s righteousness in our ability to live Godly lives The Russian orthodox church fighting about whether the candles should be 18 or 22 inches long WHILE the Bolshavics were planning the Russian revolution and the bloodiest war ever was going on - Seems silly but we do it today Be slow to judge others, be quick to judge yourself  Canlis 41 7. Conclusion (15:14-16:27) Nov. 1, Galatians (Damien) Gospel Character 5:16-25 1. Acts of the sinful nature (verses 19-21) a. 3 words in the area of sexuality (19) i. Pornia, akatharsia, alsagia (debauchery), 1. Look at hebrews 13:4 - sex outside of marriage is an act of the sinful natures b. 2 words dealing with religion (20) i. Idolatry and witchcraft (faking of the work of the Spirit) c. 8 words dealing with relationships (21) d. 2 words dealing with alcohol abuse (21) i. Drunkenness and orgies (less of a sexual context than today) e. “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (21) i. CAREFUL to take out of context, cause we are saved through faith alone and NOT according to our actions…we cannot work our way up to God. If there’s a struggle, it means there is the Spirit of God. If there’s no struggle, that means there's probably no Spirit, which probably means no faith, which means no salvation. ii. Paul is talking about habitual practice with no repentance, rather than lapses 2. The fruit of the Spirit! a. Why does Paul says acts (plural) of the sinful nature but fruit (singular) of the Spirit i. Because everyone’s sinful nature is unique - everyone is different in what they struggle with, but we ALL have the fruit of the Spirit b. The fruit grows slowly…it happens over time. You never see a fruit grow, it just does i. Gradually, inevitably, and symmetrically The words in Greek: c. Agape d. Chara e. Irene f. Makrothumia g. Chrestotes h. Agathosune i. Pistis j. Prautas  Canlis 42 k. Egrateia - How do we do it? Remember that we belong to Christ! We must ask ourselves not just WHAT we do wrong, but WHY we do it To crucify the sinful nature is to say: Lord, my heart thinks that I must have this thing, otherwise I have no value. It is a pseudo-savior. But to think and feel and live like this is to forget what I mean to you, how you see me in Christ. By your Spirit, I will reflect on your love for me in Him until this thing loses its attractive power over my soul. What Crucifying the sin nature does NOT mean: - Asceticism - “Just say no!” thats doesn’t work…can't just stop it at the behavioral level - Being passive - its a continual process We are responsible for all of our actions and words Gospel Relationships Kenodoxoi = conceit Deep insecurity and a perceived absence of honor and glory Provoking and Envying are both conceited - because it’s all self-absorption…it's all about me “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” - C.S. Lewis Gospel based self image - Only the gospel makes us neither self confident nor self disdaining, but both bold and humble. - Defensive around someone: what you think about me is not important - Looking down on someone: what I think of me is not important We are called to help our brothers/sisters who are caught in sin → to restore = katartizo, meaning to put a dislocated bone back in place. It's not a gentle restoring, it hurts. But it's necessary. To love someone so much you can’t NOT put the bone back. It hurts them, but they need it “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2) - Specific things that happen to people (losing jobs, divorce, handicapped child, severe car crash, etc.) Christ carried our burdens for us - we are called to imitate him In greek, the word burden is a very heavy weight, vs a load is just like what's in your backpack We will only answer for our own load, not how we lived compared to others  Canlis 43 If you sow bad seeds you’ll get a bad crop. If you eat fatty food, your heart health decreases. Not because God is vengeful, but because bad things lead to bad things! BUT if you sow good seeds, you’ll grow good crops “You reap whatever you sow” (v7) Is true obedience an illusion or a reality? - It is a pleasure that will remain inaccessible to the person who tries to reach it by his own means - It is a joy that will grow stronger for those who have tasted God’s grace and for whom the transforming action of the Spirit is a daily reality. - I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding (ps 119:32) - Let us not grow weary of doing good (v 9) “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” Galatians 6:14 Oct. 31, Galatians (Damien) Second Defense (Scripture) Abraham! Look at the promise God made to Abraham…he signed it twice Promise came before the law, so when the law showed up 430 years later, it doesn’t superseded the promise 1. Children of God by adoption a. Our primary identity is in Christ b. Closeness of the relationship with Christ i. Look at our clothes! Nothing we own is closer to us than our clothes…they go where we go c. Out acceptability to God We are all ONE IN CHRIST! There are NO barriers 2. The work of the Son (4:1-7) a. He redeems us with full rights as sons i. God sent His son for legal status or objective condition of Son-ship ii. Jesus was the only one who could uphold the law, so He was the only one who could redeem us through the law. We were slaves to the law, but we’re redeemed by Jesus so we no longer have to live under the law. He gives us the full rights of Sons (verse 5) 1. Legal objective condition as being adopted Sons iii. Then in verses 6-7 He sent His Spirit so we could have subjective experience of being His sons  Canlis 44 3. The Work of the Spirit a. Characteristics of the Spirit experience: i. We can call out → “”karazdon” ii. Prayer life 1. The beauty of casual conversation with God iii. Sense of God’s presence 1. Is not some far away God! We can ask for a hug. In the same way you can always ask you father for a hug, He is always there iv. Confidence of love and assurance (Abba = daddy or pappa…its a very intimate word) v. Why use Abba? 1. Because thats the word Jesus used 4. Gospel ministry a. Characteristics of gospel ministry i. Culturally flexible!! Everything about a gospel-central ministry is flexible, except for the gospel itself ii. Transparent 1. LIVE our Christ - people look to us and see Christ through us. People often come to Christ through Christ living in someone else iii. Parenthesis on God and suffering 1. God does not promise to bless Christians so that we won’t suffer, but so that in our suffering we might become like Him 2. Pruning - it hurts to be cut because HE knows best. Sometimes you have to cut things away in order to grow 3. Not telling people what they wanna head, but rather firmly telling them the truth 4. If you love a person so selfishly that you can't risk their contempt or anger, you’ll never be able to tell them the truth. AND THE FLIP SIDE: if you tell them what they need to hear with no love, they’ll never listen Defense of the Gospel Part 3 (results) 1. Gospel freedom (5:1-15) a. Set free for freedom. We follow the law not because we have to, but because we want to. We no longer live under condemnation! We are free to live however we want because its not about our actions. b. “Christ has set us free” - in a tense like the passe compose…something in the past that is finished. Its not a check list!!! In Christ we are free i. Really easy to fall into a legalistic mindset. 1. Fear, what others think of us, performance mindset of salvation ii. Paul uses “stand firm” (v1) - its a military word. Soldiers train and stay strong. In Christ we are pleasing to God. A soldier is never alone. We are soldiers together. Walk in Christ together. Yes you sinned, but you are free to get back up and continue back towards Christ’s likeness  Canlis 45 c. If we follow part of the law, we must follow all of the law. If not, Christ is of no value!! (v 2-4) d. The hope of righteousness “elpida” is a VERY strong word. not ‘i hope i get the new iphone…’ but rather I am firm and secure. An anchor. Elpida hope is total assurance hope e. Circumcision literally doesn’t matter (v6) i. My good performance does not make me right with God. or my bad performance! f. Don't abuse your gospel freedom (v 13-15) Loving your neighbors is CRUCIAL - by loving your neighbors we are being obedient to God and showing our love for Him Gospel Character Galatians 5:16-25 The struggle - What is struggling? - Sarx = sinful nature - Spirit = Christian heart, renewed by the Holy Spirit - We CAN’T satisfy the desires of the flesh AND the spirit - What is the nature of the struggle? A battle - “Epithumia” = over-desire…almost lust (but with more than the sexual) - The main struggle with the heart is not a desire for bad things, but rather OVER desires for the good things! When a good things becomes a god in our lives Sarx = what we think we want Spirit = what we really want Oct. 30, Galatians (Damien) First Defence (Experience, Cont.) 1. Paul’s clash with Peter (2:11-21) a. Peter’s mistake (11-14) i. He wasnt living ‘ortho’ or in step or in line with the Gospel 1. Peter was the first one to get the message from God that it makes no difference what you eat or don’t eat! Because if we have faith in Christ, we are saved! We are all one in Christ! b. Paul’s response (14): pointing out the principle and not the person i. Instead of calling out the wrong behavior, he asked a question 1. Points towards the heart rather than directly attack the practice/act c. Justification by grace i. “To justify in the bible means to declare of a man on trial, that he is not liable to any penatly but is entitled to all the priviledges due to those who have kept the  Canlis 46 law. Justifying is that act of a judge pronouncing the opposite sentence to condemnation - that of acquittal and legal immunity” JI Packer ii. JUSTIFIED means “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned d. Living for God i. “For through the law i died to the law so that I might live for God” 1. OR paraphrased “the law itself showed me that I could never make myself acceptable though it. So I stopped ‘living to it’. I died to is as my savior and so live for Jesus, my true Savior.” 2. Why does Paul act differently with Timothy than with Titus? a. Titus was pure Greek, Timothy was half-Jew - he was very Jewish by race and culture b. Timothy’s circumcision moticated by “christian” pressure from within but by missionary strategy to the outside c. Titus → theological issue was at stake; Timothy → how to win unbelieving Jews to christ was at stake i. “To the Jews, I became a jew in order to win the Jews” 1 Co. 9:20 ii. Applied today: can you use the f bomb when teaching the gospel? 1. “ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 What is the gospel? You’ve been saved by GRACE and nothing else! Galations 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Introduction 3:1-5 a) Obedience through the flesh (v 3) i) Obedience does not equal trying harder Defense of the Gospel Part 2: The Argument from Scripture (Abraham) 1. Abraham’s faith (3:6-14) a. What is faith like Abraham’s? Abraham believed God. He trusted God’s promise to Him i. Belief in the gospel-promise ii. Belief in God’s prvision b. What happens when we believe God in Jesus? 2-fold imputation  Canlis 47 c. 2. Whats the purpose of the law? (3:15-25) a. The promise = the image of a will. You cannot change it! No matter what happens after the death of the person, it doesn’t change! i. For if that inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise ii. Genesis 15-17: The Abrahamic Covenant b. The goal of the law: added to show mans disobedience until Jesus came. Not to show us salvation, but rather our sin. It clearly shows us our problems and how we can never be our own solution c. “Paidogogos” meaning tutor, supervisor, or guardian 1. How does having righteousness credited to us change the way we see ourselves? The christian life? Jesus? 2. How do you obey God’s law? Do you ever obey it for the wrong reasons? (ie not to please the Lord?) Oct. 29, Galatians (Damien) First Defense (continued) Paul's Testimony - Who was Saul of Tarus? - “But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.” – Acts 8:3 - Paul was giving his testimony to point these people towards the Lord - “He who used to persecute us is not preaching the faith he once tried to destroy” -Galatians 1:23 - His conversion was a miraculous conversion  Canlis 48 - Paul shares his testimony to show us to be vulnerable and share personally what the gospel means to us. Personal testimonies take what they've heard and make it real. People are touched by personal things. Vulnerability breeds vulnerability Grace vs Mercy = grace is getting what you don’t deserve and mercy is not getting what you do deserve How is God's grace shown in Paul's testimony? 1. You cannot make yourself acceptable to God through your moral actions 2. The gospel of grace calls us out of “religion” just as much as it calls us out if irreligion a. “Religion” is about working your way up to God…climbing the ladder to God NO ONE is so good that they can receive it on their own and NO ONE is too bad to receive it. 3. All opposition will be seen in the end as having done nothing but further God’s design a. Look at Paul!! He was killing Christians!! Am I being a people pleaser or desiring to please God? People pleasing = giving human approval the rights over our hearts the Christ alone should have Matthew 3:17 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Why did Paul go to Jerusalem? - Divine revelation! - Danger of running his “race in vain”, making sure the other didn;t ruin everything he had put into place (verse 2) - The freedom we have in Christ was under attack (verse 4) - The truth of the gospel was at stake (verse 5) What was the outcome? - Freedom in Christ alone - He brought Titus (an uncircumcised Greek) to prove that its truly freedom in Christ – to show that through Christ it doesn’t really matter - Unity in Christ amongst all believers - We should never maintain unity at the expense of the gospel - Three characteristics of Christian unity found in verses 4-9 - Accepting everyone who is in Christ Jesus - Recognizing our different callings - Continuing to remember the poor Oct. 28, Galatians (Damien Reeves) What is the Gospel? Jesus Christ crucified/died for our sins; resurrected by the Father to ensure us eternal life.  Canlis 49 Gospel = Euangelion Eu = good / Angello = message (news) - Used for military victories or for events in the life of the roman heroes Who is the Gospel for? - Everyone!! - Not only the ABC’s but also the A to Z of Christian life Galatians overview a. Who wrote it? i. Paul! b. When was the book written? i. 47-53 AD c. To whom was the book written? i. Kinda split - majority of people would say the southern area of Galatia d. Why was it written? i. Messianic Jews (Jews who converted to Christianity) came in after Paul and started to teach and add some stuff to the Gospel - so Paul is writing to fix what they taught ii. All of the first Christians were once Jews, so they still were believed in the original Jewish law (circumcision, Jewish calendar, food restrictions) 1. Jewish Christians who wanted to combine the gospel with Jewish practices and traditions iii. Paul is basically saying it doesn’t matter because in Christ we are all saved iv. He also wrote to defend himself! Outline It’s an apologetic letter! Through these three parts a. 1:1-2:21 In the Defence of the Gospel Part 1 i. The argument form Experience (Paul’s own) b. 3:1-4:31 In the Defence of the Gospel Part 2 i. The Argument from Scripture (Abraham) c. 5:1-6:16 in the Defence of the Gospel Part 3 i. The Argument from Results (The Spirit and Righteousness) First Defence (Experience) Greetings 1:1-5 1) Verse 1 – Author: Paul, and apostle, sent by God (NOT by men) a) Already defending against the claims of the Jewdizers 2) Verse 2 – Audience: Galatians 3) Verses 3-5 Contours of the Gospel a) Who we are: Hopeless, helpless, and lost (look at the word deliver!!) i) Exaireo = deliver/save/rescue  Canlis 50 ii) Jesus is not described as a teacher here, but rather a rescuer (different than other religions - teacher vs rescuer) Jesus is rescuer FIRST and teacher SECOND b) What God the Father did: He accepted Jesus’ sacrifice by raising Him from the Dead c) Why did God the Father do it? i) Because of his grace. “According to His will” (1) Not because He had to, or we deserved it, its sheer grace. He did it because He wanted to The Subject of the Letter 1:6-9 In greek, there are two words for another/different: Allos: different but kinda the same (look at cars) Heteros: similar function? but not the same (cars and boats) So a revised/different Gospel = NO GOSPEL AT ALL - Kinda like a vacuum…even if you add a little bit of air it's no longer a vacuum Another gospel brings on condemnation (anathema: devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment) Paul is condemning any teaching that is not based on the fact that: 1. We are too sinful to contribute to our own salvation (we NEED and complete rescue) 2. We are saved through faith in Jesus by the grace of God – PLUS NOTHING ELSE In Paul's time, circumcision was the problem; in Martin Luther's time, it was needed to pay money for your salvation; so how do we apply this to today's world? Examples in our world: 1) “Evangelical” - saved through “surrender” to Christ, plus right beliefs and behavior; saved because of the level of our faith. a) “Give your life to Jesus” or “ask Him into our lives” b) CAREFUL: not to say I GAVE MY life to Christ rather than HE gave his life for me. It's not about I!!!! i) It's not me having sorrow for my sin…where's Jesus in that? ii) Not about our performance, but Christ’s performance We are saved through faith…not by level of faith 2) “Liberal” churches - it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are a good/loving person a) Intolerant of grace in 2 ways: i) It says that our good works are good enough to get God. Nope!! No they aren't!! Plot twist! Surprise! That's why we need Jesus! Good works are not enough to get to God ii) It pushes people to think that if they are tolerant and open, theta re pleasing to God (ie they don’t need grace)  Canlis 51 Without the sense of one's own evil, the power of God's grace will never be transforming 3) “Legalistic” - highly authoritarian, highly ritualized (right dress, speech, eat, customs, etc) It is all. about. grace. Oct. 25, Colossians (Eis)  Ca