Book Introduction

The Apostle Paul had reminded his readers of the glory and promise of God, our need for His grace and provision, our new standing before God—as both individuals and as a family of believers, the magnificence of God, a healthy perspective of suffering in the life of a believer, the love, power and provision of God, and His calling to a life of holiness, and greater specificity as to how one lived a life of holiness.

In Chapter 6 he addressed parent-child relationships, slave-master relationships, and spiritual warfare.

Sunday (Ephesians 6:1-4)

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

6:3 “that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth.”

6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Prayer

Lord, Your blessings are conditional, they come in response to obedience. May I be salt and light in my family and community because of my obedience to You as Your devoted child.

Summary & Commentary

Paul begins with a paraphrase from the 10 Commandments “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. (Exo. 20:12, Deut. 5:16) then addresses parents “... do not provoke your children to anger.”

Only a few notes are in order as the verses, at least as translated in the NET Bible, are self-explanatory.

In 6:1 the phrase “... in the Lord” may be understood in one of three ways;

The first is to infer that Paul means Christian parents—this is reasonable since his primary audience throughout the Book of Ephesians is believers.

[Note: Paul does not specifically address the obedience of children toward non-Christian parents and the admonition to the parents to “raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” may be taken to affirm exclusivity in the text to Christian parents; however, Paul is not condoning the rebellion of children against a parent merely because they are not believers.]

The second understanding infers that Paul intends that the children remember that they are Christians and that they must view their parents through the eyes of the Lord, being obedient, patient, and prayerful.

There is nothing in the context or the literal text to justify the exclusion of either the first or second inference/understanding.

The third understanding would misrepresent the apostle Paul as he does not offer “raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” as a mere suggestion but as both a way to avoid “... provoking your children to anger” and as strong directive for a true Christian parent; therefore, one may not rightly-infer that avoiding conflict and avoiding discipline is a wise form of parenting.

[Note: Paul does not encourage parents to delegate this discipline and instruction to others but is telling them that it is their direct responsibility.]

[Note: The Biblical definition of anger, it’s sources, and the correct response were discussed earlier in the Ephesians study series, for our purposes here suffice to say that absent maturity in the Lord every child will be angry and hopeless.]

[Note: Our eternal and supreme ‘parent’ is the Lord God, therefore, a Christian child may find no parental-order to sin acceptable; though a child must be willing to accept the worldly-consequences of righteous-obedience (to God) when they take a stand for holiness. It is remarkable how often a child (or an adult) may be willing to risk and receive punishment for sinful rebellion but how rare it is that they will do so for righteousness, even in Christian homes. The influence of the Fall is powerful.]

Interaction

Consider

The Lord God knows what is best. God says that children are to obey their parents since there are few other sources of authority who care more or understand better; God gives parents to children for a reason. Raising a child in the discipline and instruction of the Lord helps them to be more emotionally, intellectually, physically, and spiritually healthy and safe.

Discuss

What are practical examples of the meaning of “... do not provoke your children to anger.”?

Reflect

The Lord God knows that when we “raise them [children—literal and spiritual] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” we equip them to be more emotionally, intellectually, physically, and spiritually healthy and safe.

Share

When have you observed the consequences of a parent’s failure to raise their child the way that the Bible teaches may cause them to drift into an angry relationship with the parent(s) and the world?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a child, be he or she a literal child or a child-in-faith, new to the family of God, for whom He would like you to pray and to minister in His Name.

Action:

Today I will offer to teach the discipline and instruction of the Lord the one whom the Holy Spirit has directed me. If I am that ‘child’ I choose to be obedient, patient, and prayerful as I humbly submit to the teaching of the one(s) whom God has sent to disciple me.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Monday (Ephesians 6:5-9)

6:5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ,

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching—as people-pleasers—but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.

6:7 Obey with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord and not people,

6:8 because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this will be rewarded by the Lord.

6:9 Masters, treat your slaves the same way, giving up the use of threats, because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Prayer

Lord, You require that we give our best to every effort, no matter the circumstances. Our most important reward is with You and not here in this temporary world. May I remember this, especially when the task is dreary or unpleasant, and therefore be salt and light by example.

Summary & Commentary

Paul addressed an unfortunate condition of man since early in his existence, that of slavery, in which circumstance one man compels another to provide labor without freedom. "Master" could refer to "overseer" or "slave-owner". It is important to note that Paul is in no way condoning slavery.

[Note: Slavery is a heinous tool of greed and oppression, sometimes one of the ‘spoils’ of war, sometimes driven by the selfish pursuit of power, wealth, and worldly prestige, and sometimes an expression of some twisted demographic superiority. The use of the terms “master” and “slave in this case do not appear to refer to a context parallel to African slaves captured and sold by their peers to pre-Civil War American plantations or Caribbean and central/south American plantations, nor the slavery known in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere in the past and even today but to the more common “bond-servant” arrangement.]

A bond-servant is a Biblically-described sub-category of slavery entered into willingly to resolve debt and was generally protected with a limited 7-year maximum length and dismissal at 30 years of age. Physical abuse of a bond-servant was historically-uncommon. The other most common form of slavery was typically unlike the righteously-condemned brutal and heinous slavery, which has historically received the greatest attention, but rather was one in which slaves (however they fell into bondage) were allowed a great deal of freedom to earn money, own property, and to raise their families. Many bond-servants as well as many slaves, especially those captured in war, were educated and thus were used as care-givers and teachers to children.

In Paul’s address to “Masters” he warned them to treat their slaves “... as though serving the Lord ...”. The NET Bible transliteration of the text immediately following says “...because ... both you and they have the same master in Heaven ...” actually reads “... because of both they and you, the Lord is, in Heaven ...” which implies that Jesus is Lord of both because he is addressing Christians who are in slavery.

Interaction

Consider

In the Sudan today the children and parents of the Bahai, Christian and competing Muslim sect religious groups are kidnapped and forced into slavery by brutal and lawless militias. The ugliness of slavery, as but one visible evidence of fallen-nature of man, lives on.

Discuss

How do you handle the challenge that when we are as 'bond-servants' as a contractor or in a place of employment, we have agreed to perform a service in return for a benefit—within the rules of that organization; do you serve with the integrity you would if they were Jesus?

Reflect

When we are the equivalent of the master or the over-seer—do we treat the one(s) we supervise with the honor due a fellow, or potential, child of God?

Share

When have you observed an example of someone who handled authority in a Biblical manner. What was the result in the workplace?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a way that He wants you to change the way that you handle authority, whether as one humbled by it, or being humble in your use of it. Ask Him to identify a specific person with whom you have been interacting with a less-Biblical attitude than you should.

Action:

Today I will intentionally and prayerfully bring myself into alignment with the Word of God. Today I am choosing to ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement with me and will report back to them the results. I will thank the Lord God that as a bond-servant in a contract or a job I may be a positive witness to the truth of His promise and power as I serve my employer with the integrity I would were they Jesus. If I am in a role that is the equivalent of the master or the over-seer may my conduct honor your name as I treat the one I supervise with the honor due a fellow, or potential, child of God.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Tuesday (Ephesians 6:10–13)

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

6:11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

6:13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

Prayer

Lord, You warn us that we are in the midst of spiritual warfare, and You provide us with the tools for victory. May I be wise in gathering and using those tools daily.

Summary & Commentary

Paul addressed the threat of the “schemes” or craftiness of “... the devil ...” and the need to defend oneself through the power that comes from God “... be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of His power.”

The Apostle is not stuttering or repeating himself, he is saying two similar but different things; first, “... be strengthened in the Lord”; that is, to learn and to apply what the Lord God is teaching in order to mature, second “... be strengthened ... in the strength of His power.”; that is, to leverage His power as your power as a Child of God.

“Clothe yourself with the full armor of God ...” was how he addressed the how of leveraging God’s power, and “... so that you may be able to stand ...” addressed the why.

[Note: He used the word “may”, that is because one has to have done the first part of “... strengthening in the Lord”, so as to be discerning enough to know when, informed enough to know how, and strong enough to act despite ones fear, because “... our struggle” denotes the reality of the struggle, not that it may be avoided or ignored, and explains that “... is not against flesh and blood”; therefore, we must not be too distracted by the things in the visible world, “... but against the rulers, the powers ... of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”. The battle is a spiritual battle and we are in it—like it or not.

Paul concluded with a summary; “... take up the full armor of God” to “... be able to stand your ground” “... on the evil day”. The “... evil day” is to come, and is now, both at once; every day is an “evil day” as we only get one chance to stand with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit when tested, else we to surrender our position to the Enemy, which once gone means that we have failed “to stand” and it is not reclaimable. No do-overs. The “evil day” is also yet to come in the existential sense of the day when the chains are released and the Enemy and all of his desperately evil demons are allowed to mount a final attack. In that day we will need every shred of “in Him” and from Him” spiritual power which we should have been storing up and testing out all-along.

Interaction

Consider

We each have our struggles, usually more than one. The symptom of the substance abuser is their physiological addition but there is a back-story that has a spiritual element. The obsessive-compulsive seeks control due to the false belief that through a forced and artificial ordering of their environment they may create a bubble of safety in a challenging world, but there is something more to their fears. The one in slavery to gambling, money, pornography, power, prestige, or some other idol also does so out of a false need to compensate for something and is a casualty in need of reinforced armor in waging their part of the larger spiritual battle.

Discuss

What are some specific ways to practically apply Paul's teaching.

Reflect

Although we all have weaknesses in our imperfect flesh, because of grace, in and through Jesus we are made strong. Acknowledge that the battle is first spiritual and then physical and that we must have His full armor to have any hope of safety.

Share

When have you faced a challenge in your life where you have applied Paul's teaching?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a clearer understanding and implement of the disciplines necessary to prevail in spiritual warfare and where you most need strengthening.

Action:

Today I will humbly receive a better understanding of what are my weaknesses and what are the ways that the Enemy has been exploiting them. I will select one weakness and ask someone I trust to assist me with accountability, encouragement, and prayer as I partner with the Holy Spirit to overcome it.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Wednesday (Ephesians 6:14-17)

6:14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,

6:15 by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace,

6:16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

6:17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Prayer

Lord, You equip us for battle because our choice for Jesus places us in opposition to the evil one, incurring his venal wrath. May I remember that the attacks are coming, both obvious and subtle, and therefore not be found unprepared and unarmed.

Summary & Commentary

Paul addressed the how-to of the “... full armor of God ...” in defending oneself against the devil using the visual imagery of a Roman soldier. “Stand firm therefore, by”:

“... fastening, the belt of truth around your waist,” (This is to what most other elements of the armor would be attached—truth, God’s absolute truth, is the central connecting value.)

… and

“... by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,” (Clipped to the belt to keep it from moving the breastplate is defensive in purpose and is a result of applying God’s truth to our life through righteous living that keeps us safer from temptation.)

… and

“... by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace,” (The soldier’s feet were covered and protected, the believer is covered by positional standing as a child of God and protected by His power and the certainty of salvation through the peace that comes in accepting the propitiation of Christ which established our right-standing with God with whom we were formerly eternal enemies due to sin. Many of Satan’s lies go back to the Garden of Eden—certainty of Who God is and of His certain-promise to us as His eternal children is powerful protection indeed.)

“... and in all of this,”

“... by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (The shield was a defensive tool covered in metal as enemies would literally set the old wooden shields ablaze with flaming arrows, so also the believer needs the shield of faith which provides both salvation and the ‘ultrafidian’ (beyond faith) capacity to fearlessly serve God knowing that he is our defender.)

… and

“And take the helmet of salvation ...” (Another defensive tool in Paul’s illustration, looking back to Isaiah 59:17, refers to justice and righteousness.)

… and

“... the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (The only tool primarily used for offense, though surely also defensive as well. In addition to the two foot long short-sword carried by a Roman soldier for close-in fighting Paul may have had in mind the sword carried by a “bystander” Mark 14:47 and used offensively to defend Jesus from capture, a machete-like sword used against wild animals, roadside attackers, and clearing bushes and branches during off-path travel. A sword is only as useful as the abilities of it’s owner, in the hands of an impulsive or inept person it could escalate an otherwise less-violent confrontation or be taken and turned against them. Similarly the Word of God is an effective and powerful tool in the hands of a “good Berean”, or one readily misquoted and used against the careless believer by the Enemy.)

Interaction

Consider

The Lord God’s absolute truth is the “belt” or anchor we need as a point of reference for stability in a chaotic world. If I view myself as a child of God, a saint, guaranteed Heaven for eternity how my certainty of salvation can help me to ward-off many of Satan’s lies about vulnerabilities that do not exist and fears that are irrational. God gives us, through the Holy Spirit, an “ultrafidian” (beyond faith) capacity to fearlessly serve God “and the very gates of Hell cannot prevail against it”. (Mat. 16:13, Gal. 10, Mal. 1:1-5)

Discuss

What are some non-legalistic righteous living-based boundaries that can help to keep us safer from temptation when we are tested?

Reflect

When perfect justice is defined by God, it is certain at the “End”, and it is not confused with a mere human definition of “fairness”. For the same reason, righteousness defines the way I view the world, thus my clear-thinking is protected. The Word of God is an effective and powerful tool in the battle for truth, and in warding-off the attacks of the Enemy; the better we learn to handle that tool the more valuable it will be.

Share

When have you experienced the enemy had been lying to you about something he wanted you to believe was an impossible-to-overcome weakness or vulnerability and a better understanding of the truth of God’s Word set you free?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of His truth, His definition of righteous living, His assurance of salvation, His provision of opportunities for 'ultrafidian’ (beyond faith) service, and His standard for and provision of the last word about justice.

Action:

Today I am choosing to thank the Lord God for all of the tools that are in His “full armor”. I am choosing to put on that full armor at the beginning of the day and to walk through the process again later in the day as I feel myself weakening. I will seek an opportunity to encourage a fellow saint to do the same, or to affirm them if they are already doing so.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Thursday (Ephesians 6:18)

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Prayer

Lord, You have given us Your presence through Your Holy Spirit, and You have instructed that we pray for others with the guidance, perspective, and power of the Spirit. May I remember to Whom I am praying, through Whom I am praying, and for whom I am to raise most of my prayers; others.

Summary & Commentary

Paul instructed the Ephesians to pray “... in the Spirit”, to “... be alert”, and to do so “... with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.”

His purpose to remind believers that their prayers are facilitated by the indwelling Holy Spirit, are motivated by Him, and are blessed. Our prayers are to be righteous, we are to be alert to deception and aware of needs, and as he noted elsewhere to “... pray without ceasing” (1Thess 5:17) for other the requests of other saints.

Paul’s instructions are tied to the preceding text as prayer is part of the “full armor”, it is necessary to wisely use the armor, and is what keeps us grounded in Christ.

Prayers are also designed to keep us constantly-close to the Lord God in conversation so that we remember Whose we are, we remember Who dwells within us, and we remember that we are to pray with hearts of loving-compassion.

Interaction

Consider

The Lord God will bless and protect us if we exercise the discipline to remember to “put on the full armor” every morning there thereby we acknowledge the Holy Spirit.

Discuss

When you have prayed first thing in the morning did you discover that it got your daylong conversation started with the Lord God?

Reflect

When we activate the armor we become alert as a good spiritual soldier should be.

Share

Have you experienced that persevering in prayer, especially for others, kept you humble and focused on what was most important to the Lord God?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to remember to put on the full armor of God, to pray without ceasing all day, to be alert to the deception and trickery of the Enemy, and to pray for others so that you remain in a mindset of humble service

Action:

Today I am choosing to keep a simple journal of my day and share it with a friend—noting the difference that this spiritual discipline made in my day.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Friday (Ephesians 6:19-20)

6:19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak—that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel,

6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Prayer

Lord, it is Your message and not my own that I speak in Your Name, and my confidence comes from You and is because of You. May I be bold to share Your saving and maturing Word.

Summary & Commentary

Paul asked the Ephesians that they pray in-agreement with him for the challenges that he faced.

Even Paul valued the prayers “in the Spirit” of the saints, raised in-obedience to his prior teaching and with perseverance (without ceasing).

He wanted the Ephesians to understand that no mere human, not even Jesus in the temporary human shell He occupied (and without His full glory), walked without constant refreshment from the Lord God through prayer.

The Ephesian believers had to be far more alert, due to their desperate need for the Lord God’s presence, because their enemies (physical and spiritual) were actively opposing them.

Interaction

Consider

When we awake every morning and begin with a prayer of dependency on the Lord God He will bless that. When we remember fellow saints in prayer, in the morning, and all day—He honors that. When we maintain a continuous conversation with God all day He blesses us with comfort and discernment and wisdom in all that we think, say, and do.

Discuss

How would you develop a practical discipline to wake every morning and begin with a prayer of dependency on the Lord God, without it becoming like a pagan chant or a mindless ritual?

Reflect

We have active enemies in both the physical and spiritual realms.

Share

When have you tried maintaining a continuous conversation with God all day? How did He bless you with comfort and discernment and wisdom in all that you thought, said, and did? Compare and contrast that with a different day when you did not do so.

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to begin your day with a prayer of dependency on the Lord God, to remember a fellow saint or saints by name in the morning and all day in prayer, and that I will maintain a continuous conversation with Him.

Action:

Today I will ask a fellow believer to join me in this, and at the end of the day (or some time the following day), we will compare our experiences.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Saturday (Ephesians 6:21-24)

Farewell Comments

6:21 Tychicus, my dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you too may know about my circumstances, how I am doing.

6:22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

6:23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

6:24 Grace be with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Prayer

Lord, You provide grace and love and peace to Your children, and as we understand that better we experience it more profoundly. May I grow in understanding so that I may be better encouraged and equipped through Your grace and love and peace.

Summary & Commentary

Paul concluded his letter to the Ephesians with a letter-of-introduction for Tychicus and a blessing for all believers.

He promised them a report of praise and of need, from his ministry to them—with the assurance that what they hear about them will “... encourage your hearts”.

Paul commended to them peace and love with faith from “... God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.

He reminded them that grace is with all “... those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

Paul once-again affirmed the divinity of Christ when he referred to Him as “Lord”.

The concluding words of Paul contained a believer-only qualification, and a powerful word of encouragement.

Interaction

Consider

The Lord God’s desire is that though grace and love we will have peace with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Discuss

Does our Christian-faith flow from an undying love for Jesus that provides the grace we need to live in peace with one-another?

Reflect

Give thanks to the Lord God that, if you choose the path of faithful-obedience, you will have peace and love with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Share

When has grace flowed to you, and/or through you to another, as a result of your intentional love-relationship with Jesus?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a specific brother or sister in Christ, with whom a loving and peaceful relationship has been difficult, for whom He wants you to pray and to reconcile.

Action:

Today I am committing to pursue peace and love with a difficult brother or sister in-Christ, beginning in prayer and followed by communication and fellowship. I will ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement with me for success in this reconciliation.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Additional Resources:

Slavery http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1499 

Slavery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery

 

All Bible text is from the NET unless otherwise indicated—http://bible.org

 

Note 1: These Studies often rely upon the guidance of the NET Translators from their associated notes. Careful attention has been given to cite that source where it has been quoted directly or closely paraphrased. Feedback is encouraged where credit has not been sufficiently assigned.

Note 2: When NET text is quoted in commentary and discussion all pronouns referring to God are capitalized, though they are lower-case in the original NET text.

Commentary text is from David M. Colburn, D.Min. unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2011 by David M. Colburn. This is a BibleSeven Study— “Ephesians”—prepared by David M. Colburn and edited for bible.org in October of 2011. This text may be used for non-profit educational purposes only, with credit; all other usage requires prior written consent of the author.

A Daily Bible Study in 7-Day Sections with a Summary-Commentary, Discussion Questions, and Daily Application

Sunday (Galatians)

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead) 1:2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia.

1:3 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 1:4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 1:5 to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen.

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel—1:7 not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.

1:8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!

1:9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!

1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!

Paul’s Vindication of His Apostleship

1:11 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.

1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. 1:14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

1:15 But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased 1:16 to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being, 1:17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.

1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 1:19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.

1:20 I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!

1:21 Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 1:22 But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 1:23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 1:24 So they glorified God because of me.

Prayer

Lord, Yours is the one and only Gospel, all others are frauds designed by the enemy to deceive people to block their path to truth and to salvation. May I be faithful in sharing and teaching Your Gospel that many will be saved and then also equipped to “go forth”.

Summary & Commentary

Paul greeted the fellowship of believers in Galatia emphasizing that he spoke only from God, Who “raised (him) from the dead” [dead in sin], and that it was Jesus the Christ Who sacrificed to save them from “this present evil age”

[Note: This phrase is variously understood by some to refer to the “end times”, that period of history from the ascension of Jesus to His return, and by others to the larger time-span of alienation of humankind from the Lord God - beginning with the Fall in Eden and onward to the heavenly-admission of those whose names are written in “The Lamb’s Book of Life”.

Paul chastised them for tolerating false teachings since they knew what was right from him.

He declared that any being, man or angel, who preached a gospel other than the one God had given him to give to them, should be “condemned to hell”.

Paul reminded them of his former persecution of Christians, and of the Lord God’s call that he become an ally instead.

He also explained that he was not subservient to other apostles as the Lord God had sent him to preach, and that “... they Glorified God because of me” when they heard the reports of his [Paul’s] conversion and preaching.

[Note: Paul refers to “Arabia” in 1:17. The NET translator’s Notes explain “As a geographical region Arabia included the territory west of Mesopotamia, east and south of Syria and Palestine, extending to the isthmus of Suez. During the Roman occupation, some independent kingdoms arose like that of the Nabateans south of Damascus, and these could be called simply Arabia. In light of the proximity to Damascus, this may well be the territory Paul says he visited here.”]

Interaction

Consider

Why the relative ease with which believers may be lured into a faulty gospel by a clever orator?

Discuss

Can an individual believer, or a body of believers, best defend themselves against false teaching through the knowledge of the Word?

Reflect

The anger of the Lord God at false teachers must have been great to cause Him to instruct Paul to identify them as worthy of condemnation to hell.

Share

When have you observed an effort made by a clever speaker to “preach another gospel”? How was a fellowship, or an individual, either led astray or able to stand on truth and overcome the deception?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you, from among the sources you trust for Biblical counsel and teaching, any that are providing deliberately-false and/or carelessly-faulty content.

Action:

Today I will Biblically-challenge anyone who is deliberately distorting the gospel and if they prove unteachable when shown their error, I will make their error known to others and I will flee their influence.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Monday (Galatians 2)

Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2:2 I went there because of a revelation and presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so only in a private meeting with the influential people, to make sure that I was not running—or had not run—in vain. 2:3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 2:4 Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. 2:5 But we did not surrender to them even for a moment, in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

2:6 But from those who were influential (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people)—those influential leaders added nothing to my message. 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter was to the circumcised 2:8 (for he who empowered Peter for his apostleship to the circumcised also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 2:9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who had a reputation as pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 2:10 They requested only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.

Paul Rebukes Peter

2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong.

2:12 Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. 2:13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them by their hypocrisy.

2:14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Jews and Gentiles are Justified by Faith

2:15 We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, 2:16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not!

2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law.

2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.

2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2:21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

Prayer

Lord, You came in the form of the humankind—which You created and who rebelled against You in the Garden—in order to provide a way to reconciliation and restoration. May I remember that Your grace is offered to everyone who will repent and surrender, without regard to age, gender, national origin, race, or social status.

Summary & Commentary

Paul reported that after fourteen years of ministry he traveled to Jerusalem to deal with a threat from the “Judaisers” who were attempting to impose pre-Christian Jewish rituals upon Christians.

He observed that once the leaders there understood that he had been called to the non-Jews by the very same God Who had called Peter to the Jews they became supportive.

Paul later found it necessary to rebuke Peter in front of the other leaders for drifting into the camp of the Judaisers out of fear and the influence of James.

Paul instructed them all that one is justified in Christ alone, to add anything whatsoever to that is to question the faithfulness of Christ and makes one guilty again before the law.

Paul wrote “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

Interaction

Consider

Peter suffered a chronic weakness, the fear of fellow man, which caused him to make bad choices as a leader. This was in contrast to the consistent strength of Paul who was steadfast in obedience to Christ no matter the cost.

Discuss

What are some attitudes, habits, and traditions in your fellowship that distract members from focus on Christ, or even worse, that directly contradict Biblical teaching? Who is promoting them and why are the leaders not intervening effectively?

Reflect

What do Paul's words "I have been crucified with Christ …" mean to you?

Share

When have you had the experience that your growth in Christ was blocked or slowed by non-Biblical attitudes, habits, and/or traditions in a family or fellowship? Once you were set free from those distractions how did the Holy Spirit bless you with growth?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to your a place where you are distracted or deceived into wrong thinking due to non-Biblical attitudes, habits, and/or traditions.

Action:

Today I will repent of any part I have had in tolerating those distractions and/or deceptions and if I cannot cause a change I will seek a more Biblically-faithful fellowship.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Tuesday (Galatians 3:1-22)

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified!

3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?

3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? 3:4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing?—if indeed it was for nothing.

3:5 Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?

3:6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, 3:7 so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.

3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.”

3:9 So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer.

3:10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”

3:11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.

3:12 But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them.

3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) 3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law

3:15 Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.

3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.

3:17 What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise. 3:18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise.

3:19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary.

3:20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one.

3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

3:22 But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given—because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—to those who believe.

Prayer

Lord, You promised Adam and Eve a redeemer, and you promised the same to Abraham. You gave the law as a step to Your Redeemer, a convicting-tool, as You kept Your promise to Adam and Eve and Abraham.

Summary & Commentary

Paul chastised the Galatians further, challenging them to answer if they had received the Holy Spirit as a result of the law or grace.

He continued his challenge, asking “… you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?”

Paul reminded them everyone who fails to complete every letter of the law without a single failure is condemned by the law, but Abraham was blessed because he believed, therefore all who believe are co-heirs to the blessing promised the “sons of Abraham”.

He reinforced his point by reminding them that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).

Paul gave them a history lesson, noting that the law came 430 years after God’s promise and did not apply to the One [the promise specified a singular descendant—because He would keep it perfectly as the God-Man] and Who would thereby have the right to claim the promise on behalf of those who would believe, repent, and surrender.

He did note that the purpose of the law was to separate arrogant and rebellious people from any notion that they could earn their salvation nor that they possessed any special standing before the Lord God that could empower them to bypass His unyielding qualifications for entry into Heaven.

[Note: It was for relationship that the Lord God created mankind and while it was a “law” that Adam and Eve violated - the consequence was a breach of relationship due to their failure to “believe” the Lord God over the lies of the Serpent. Therefore, felicity to the law could not be sufficient to restore the broken relationship; only a genuine-belief that includes absolute surrender to the Lordship of Christ is necessary, which is what Jesus provided via the Cross, resurrection and ascension.]

Interaction

Consider

The purpose of the law and the folly of those who, because of fear and tradition, who tried to reinstate it after Jesus had granted them the grace of their salvation. [Could this be what was intended by “Blaspheming the Holy Spirit and/or “another gospel?”]

Discuss

Humankind has a long pattern of attempting to arrogantly declare parity with the Lord God, that was at the heart of the serpent’s deception in the Garden, it was the sin of the builders of the Tower of Babel, it was in the rebellion against Moses by the Israelites, and it was the sin of the religious leaders in Jesus’ time. Setting up “works” to earn salvation was a scheme to pretend to declare himself worthy though mere human effort.

Reflect

The Lord God’s longing has been to restore a right-relationship with His creation. One Lord God, one Redeemer, one path to salvation.

Share

When have you experienced a circumstance where someone in a fellowship attempted to impose a human “law” upon believers saved by grace. What was the result?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to search my attitudes and habits for any evidence that I am living as though my salvation depends upon anything other than belief in and submission to Jesus.

Action:

Today I will ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement with me for complete repentance and to walk with me through reconciliation to a purely Biblical faith walk.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Wednesday (Galatians 3:23—4:7)

Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise

3:23 Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed.

3:24 Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.

3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

3:26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.

3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

4:1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. 4:2 But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 4:3 So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world.

4:4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.

4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!”

4:7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.

Prayer

Lord, You provided the 'container' of the Law to show us that we were dependent upon You and how we must live so that we could be in right-relationship with You, but Jesus the Christ came and brought us saving-grace and we are no longer law-keeping works-righteousness people but children of grace who obey in loving gratefulness. May my heart be continually-reminded that everything that has value comes from You and is a gift to me for which my right-choices are my thanks to You.

Summary & Commentary

Paul concluded Chapter 3 with a reiteration of the obliteration of worldly boundaries among believers “There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

In the first seven verses of Chapter 4 Paul used the illustration of a minor child or a slave under the authority of another to describe God-sensitive people prior to their opportunity for salvation—they awaited the Lord God’s determination of the perfect time for Jesus to come.

He then concluded that we become “sons” into whom God sent “the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” so that we became “heirs through God”.

Interaction

Consider

Paul’s teaching that the Lord God watches over those who have hearts sensitive toward Him, hearts that respond to truth.

Discuss

How is your life different from what it was prior to salvation? What it was that the Lord God touched in you to prompt your acceptance of His lordship and your surrender of everything else?

Reflect

God's multiple repetitions through Jesus, Paul, and others of His obliteration of boundaries between Jews and non-Jews, slaves and free men, males and females as applies to His family of believers.

Share

What does it mean to you to be considered a “son” [or “child”] or God?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a specific person who has been considering-Christ and whose heart He has prepared to repent of their sin, reject the things of this world, and to accept the Lordship of Christ.

Action:

Today I will pray earnestly for the one whom the Holy Spirit has identified, they will take the final step to eternity in perfection with God, and if-appropriate that He will allow me to be His instrument in leading them through a clear commitment and some of their early steps of discipleship (baptism, learning, participation).

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Thursday (Galatians 4:8-31)

Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law

4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.

4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

4:10 You are observing religious days and months and seasons and years. 4:11 I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain. 4:12 I beg you, brothers and sisters, become like me, because I have become like you. You have done me no wrong!

Personal Appeal of Paul

4:13 But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you, 4:14 and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God, as though I were Christ Jesus himself!

4:15 Where then is your sense of happiness now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me!

4:16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

4:17 They court you eagerly, but for no good purpose; they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. 4:18 However, it is good to be sought eagerly for a good purpose at all times, and not only when I am present with you.

4:19 My children—I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! 4:20 I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, because I am perplexed about you.

An Appeal from Allegory

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?

4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 4:23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.

4:24 These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.

4:25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”

4:28 But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.

4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now.

4:30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” of the free woman.

4:31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

Prayer

Lord, You have made freedom from the enemy and the Law possible, and You have taught us all about that through Your Gospel. Only the gift of eternal spiritual salvation through Christ can save anyone. May I be faithful to Your Word and never accept anything but Your Gospel.

Summary & Commentary

Paul warned the Galatians to not drift back into the worship of, therefore slavery to, powerless idols.

He reminded them that he had become a child of the Lord God the same as they and appealed to them to not abandon the blessings of faithfulness to God.

Paul reminded them that he arrived with a physical impairment but rather than “despise or reject” him, they instead “welcomed me as though I were an angel of God”. [Verse 4:15b implies a vision problem.]

He noted that those who were trying to “recruit” the believers were doing so “for no good purpose”, that he was “again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed” in them, and that he was “perplexed about” them.

Paul concluded with an allegory from the two women who bore Abraham children, Hagar the slave woman, and his wife, Sarah.

He asked them to view Hagar as representing those who are enslaved to the world and her naturally-conceived (she was young and fertile) and birthed son representing those who harass believers.

He asked them to view Sarah as representing those whose “son” (or children) was (were) born of a miracle of God (she was elderly and not fertile), as a promise-kept, and as the target of the persecution of the God-resistant natural world.

Interaction

Consider

The temptation for Christians to drift back into old patterns of bad choices and bad thinking is not new.

Discuss

What are some ways that believers may resist the temptation to back slide?

Reflect

Paul’s allegory is a valuable tool to help people to understand the fundamental gap between believers and non-believers.

Share

When have you experienced a situation where someone entered your fellowship and attempted to recruit believers into a non-Biblical doctrine and/or lifestyle. What happened?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a believer who needs to confessed to you, and Him, that they are struggling against the temptation to back slide in some area.

Action:

Today I will commit to pray in agreement with that believer that they will allow the Holy Spirit to be their strength.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Friday (Galatians 5)

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.

5:2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! 5:3 And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

5:4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace! 5:5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness. 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight—the only thing that matters is faith working through love.

5:7 You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?

5:8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you!

5:9 A little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise!

5:10 I am confident in the Lord that you will accept no other view. But the one who is confusing you will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

5:11 Now, brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 5:12 I wish those agitators would go so far as to castrate themselves!

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another.

5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.

5:16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

5:17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, 5:21 envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 5:23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

5:24 Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit.

5:26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.

Prayer

Lord, You have given so much to us, yet we often look everywhere but You for value. May I be intentional in my daily pursuit of Your approval and to make myself a useful instrument of Your ministry in this lost ad dying world.

Summary & Commentary

“For freedom Christ has set us free.” In a phrase Paul defined his plea to the Galatians. He then warned those who choose the legalistic path of the Judaisers that their choice created an obligation on their part to keep the whole law and to live apart from the blessings of Christ.

Paul challenged them to recognize that those who had been trying to lead them away from the freedom of grace and back to the slavery of the law were agitators and were not sent from God.

He was so angry that he declared that those calling for the legalistic requirement of circumcision for new believers, especially applied to Gentiles, should castrate themselves [Paul was being sarcastic, since castration would have been a physiological amplification of circumcision, therefore should be what they should do as a works-righteousness gesture].

Paul calls upon the Galatians to turn instead toward loving one another and reminded them “... to live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.”

[Note: The Bible elsewhere states that it is impossible for one to have the Holy Spirit and to not show “the fruit of the Spirit.”]

He declared that “... the works of the flesh are obvious”

• sexual immorality
• impurity
• depravity
• idolatry
• sorcery
• hostilities
• strife
• jealousy
• outbursts of anger
• selfish rivalries
• dissensions
• factions
• envying
• murder
• drunkenness
• carousing
• and similar things

He reminded them that such unrepentant sinfulness defined them prior to salvation and that those who continued to be so defined were obviously not saved and “... will not inherit the kingdom of God!”

Paul then listed for them to corollary, those things that were evidence of the truly-saved person, one in whom the Holy Spirit indwelt:

“... the fruit of the Spirit is …

• “love”
• “joy”
• peace”
• “patience”
• “kindness”
• “goodness”
• “faithfulness”
• “gentleness”
• “self-control”

He concluded with a warning against believers becoming “... conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.”

Interaction

Consider

Compare and contrast, the list of “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit”.

Discuss

What is the power that “living in love” gives to believers to resist the efforts of evil-doers to lead astray?

Reflect

Why is there a problem within, or between, fellowships with believers becoming “... conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another”?

Share

When have you experienced “the works of the flesh” causing you to struggle? How has the Holy Spirit led you instead to be a vessel of positive “fruit”?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to identify an item from "the works of the flesh" list which defines some part of your life.

Action:

Today I will ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement with me as I partner with the Holy Spirit to purge “the works of the flesh” from my life.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Saturday (Galatians 6)

Support One Another

6:1 Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.

6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

6:4 Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else. 6:5 For each one will carry his own load.

6:6 Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches it.

6:7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, 6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 6:9 So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.

6:10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.

Final Instructions and Benediction

6:11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand!

6:12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

6:13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh.

6:14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

6:15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! 6:16 And all who will behave in accordance with this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on the Israel of God.

6:17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.

6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Prayer

Lord, You call us into a believing community for accountability, discipleship, encouragement, and support—it is in our best interest in this world and for our right-relationship with You. May I invest in building a healthy community-relationship with fellow Biblical-Christians.

Summary & Commentary

Paul provided the Galatians with a Biblical philosophy to manage those “... discovered in some sin”, he provided a checklist:

• you who are spiritual
• Restore such a person
• in a spirit of gentleness
• Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.
• Carry one another’s burdens
• If you think that you are something when you are nothing you are deceived
• Examine your own work and take pride in yourself
• Do not compare yourself with someone else
• Each one carry his own load

Paul instructed them to “... share all good things” with the one who teaches [accurately] the Word of God.

He warned them that one who “... sows to his own flesh” is either selfish, or pretends to be a trustworthy teacher but who is more interested in money and prestige, therefore will be seen to only “... reap from the flesh”.

Paul contrasted that with one who “... sows to the Spirit receives eternal life”, then encouraged to not “grow weary” and to not “give up” doing good [as defined by the Bible, not man]

He included an odd parenthetical, not unique for Paul, where he observed that his handwriting forms “big letters”. He has made reference elsewhere to others writing for him. [Note: One may speculate that this comment may either underline the prior inference of poor vision or suggest another ailment as a result of beatings, illnesses, or age. There is nothing in the text that supports any hidden spiritual meaning.]

Paul returned to his warning against the Judaisers, noting that they demand circumcision for new believers so that they may brag about them [as a salesman brags of new sales] but that while these men are circumsized they fail to live according to the law [so how important could the law be to them after all.

Paul also observed a second motive, fear of persecution from the majority Judaisers.

Paul proclaimed again that circumcision or uncircumcision is nothing, that all that matters if the “new creation”.

He concluded his letter instructing them “no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body”, and a prayer:

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. “Amen.”

Interaction

Consider

No matter how Consider Paul's additional signposts for a false teacher; they are focused on money and prestige and their fruit is found in the flesh.

Discuss

What are some practical implementations of Paul’s checklist for dealing with a brother or sister in sin? What is the difference between the instruction to “6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” and “6:5 For each one will carry his own load.”?

Reflect

What does Paul’s admonition that we “not grown weary in doing good” mean to a Biblical Christian?

Share

When have you observed an example of a leader within a fellowship who was more concerned about numeric growth than spiritual growth, personal profit or prestige, and/or pleasing men to avoid criticism or other threats. What was the result?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to identify an area where You are feeling weary in need prayer and words of encouragement and someone whom He has prepared to walk alongside you for a time.

Action:

Today I will humbly allow a fellow believer to pray for and to encourage me from the Word and I will later share with them how it made a real difference.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

All Bible text is from the NET unless otherwise indicated—http://bible.org

Note 1: These Studies often rely upon the guidance of the NET Translators from their associated notes. Careful attention has been given to cite that source where it has been quoted directly or closely paraphrased. Feedback is encouraged where credit has not been sufficiently assigned.

Note 2: When NET text is quoted in commentary and discussion all pronouns referring to God are capitalized, though they are lower-case in the original NET text.

Commentary text is from David M. Colburn, D.Min. unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2011 by David M. Colburn. This is a BibleSeven Study—Section 2 of the series, “Acts”—prepared by David M. Colburn and edited for bible.org in October of 2011. This text may be used for non-profit educational purposes only, with credit; all other usage requires prior written consent of the author.

A Daily Bible Study in 7-Day Sections With a Summary-Commentary, Discussion Questions, and Daily Application

A Daily Bible Study in 7-Day Sections with a Summary-Commentary, Discussion Questions, and Daily Application

Sunday (1 Thessalonians 1)

Salutation

1:1 From Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you!

Thanksgiving for Response to the Gospel

1:2 We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly in our prayers,

1:3 because we recall in the presence of our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4 We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,

1:5 in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).

1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction.

1:7 As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 1:8 For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything.

1:9 For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

Prayer

Lord, You have told the story of Creation, the history of humankind in relationship with You, have given us examples of right and wrong living through characters in the old and new testaments, humbled Yourself to come in mere human form to set us free, and have given us the apostles and early believers as role models. May I be found as faithful as the Thessalonians in sharing Your truth with others.

Summary & Commentary

Paul offered a praise report for the Thessalonians, noting that when he brought the Lord God’s message of Christ to them they responded “... despite great affliction”.

He had delivered the gospel “... with deep conviction” he also performed miracles “power” and the presence of the Holy Spirit was made obvious.

[Note: Paul does not provide any detail but from his earlier writings this reference could suggest prophesy and tongues, it could suggest that the Holy Spirit had “prepared the harvest” as Jesus explained to His disciples, or both.]

Paul commended them “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit …”. Once saved they accepted the mission and lived in the promise that God confirms via His indwelling Holy Spirit - as a result they “... became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

He celebrated their “ultrafidian” (beyond saving-faith) response, one that was so profound that everywhere Paul and his associates traveled word of their faith and faithfulness preceded.

Interaction

Consider

The Holy Spirit of God partners with those whom He sends as His emissaries, we are never alone as believers engaged in sharing the gospel.

Discuss

What are some practical ways that you, and members of your fellowship, may become better imitators of the apostle Paul and of the Lord?

Reflect

The boldness of the Thessalonians, discerning the truth in Paul’s earnest presentation of the gospel and immediately acting to separate themselves from their old lives and to begin living in the new.

Share

When have you observed an example of a population of people who responded to the gospel in a similarly radical way? What was the impact within their immediate community and perhaps a wider population - directly or via media coverage?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a specific area where you have not been a good imitator of Paul and Jesus (and the Thessalonians).

Action:

Today I agree to partner with the Holy Spirit, and an accountability/prayer partner, as I explore and implement disciplines to enhance my spiritual maturity in practical ways.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Monday (1 Thessalonians 2:1-16)

Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

2:1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, about our coming to you – it has not proven to be purposeless. 2:2 But although we suffered earlier and were mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of much opposition.

2:3 For the appeal we make does not come from error or impurity or with deceit,

2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts.

2:5 For we never appeared with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is our witness –

2:6 nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others,

2:7 although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became little children among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children,

2:8 with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

2:9 For you recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

2:10 You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe.

2:11 As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children,

2:12 exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory.

2:13 And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.

2:14 For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews,

2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely. They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people,

2:16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them completely.

Prayer

Lord, You tested the heart – the motives of Paul – as he promoted Your Gospel. You found him without greed or lust. May I examine my own motives to that will also be found free of the same and therefore a worthy instrument to share Your saving-truth.

Summary & Commentary

Paul greeted the Thessalonians again, reminding them that his only motive was to please God by rightly delivering His Word.

He could have misused his authority as an apostle but chose instead to emulate Jesus, coming to them as humble as a child and as loving as a mother to her children; images evoked by Jesus of Himself.

In Verse 2:9 Paul reminded them that to prevent any false-comparison of his motives with those of others who had come with “... a pretext for greed” he chose to be “... working night and day” then to preach “the gospel of God”.

He celebrated that they received the message not as one from men but from God, which it truly was.

Paul reflected upon the way that the Thessalonians were mistreated by their peers, similar to the mistreatment of believers in Judea by theirs, yet they stood with Christ.

Interaction

Consider

The growth in maturity and numbers of the Thessalonians came despite fierce resistance from the unbelievers all around them.

Discuss

In what other circumstances might a Christian leader choose to set-aside a “right” for the sake of his or her ministry?

Reflect

Paul chose to allow the Lord God’s Word to speak authoritatively, he was it’s humble messenger who served them from genuine love, therefore he modeled Jesus before them.

Share

When have you observed examples of both the right and the wrong way to lead? (The right way is Paul’s model. The wrong to make the momentary human leader the focus of authority and trust rather than the Lord God and His Word.)

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you, and to affirm His direction through at least one fellow believer whose spiritual maturity whom you have Biblical-cause to trust, where you need to sacrifice a “right” in order to become a more effective servant of Christ.

Action:

Today I will prayerfully pursue the necessary steps to actualize the sacrifice the Holy Spirit has asked of me for the sake of the Gospel.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Tuesday (1 Thessalonians 2:17 – 3:13)

Forced Absence from Thessalonica

2:17 But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person.

2:18 For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan thwarted us.

2:19 For who is our hope or joy or crown to boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not of course you?

2:20 For you are our glory and joy!

3:1 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone. 3:2 We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, 3:3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

3:4 For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know. 3:5 So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

3:6 But now Timothy has come to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection and long to see us just as we also long to see you! 3:7 So in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, through your faith.

3:8 For now we are alive again, if you stand firm in the Lord. 3:9 For how can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel because of you before our God?

3:10 We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person and make up what may be lacking in your faith.

3:11 Now may God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.

3:12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you,

3:13 so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Prayer

Lord, You allow Satan to be active in the world over which he is the temporary prince, but You limit his impact on Your children and/or their mission for You. May I be fearless, knowing that You have the ultimate power, and that Your will shall be done no matter what Satan does.

Summary & Commentary

Paul reminded them of his effort to return to Thessalonica, along with a report that Satan had actively blocked him several times.

[Note: The NET Translator’s notes include Greek and Hebrew which affirm that the original text intended to communicate a being called Satan as intentionally keeping Paul from the Thessalonians, rather than a generic human opposition rhetorically labeled as “Satan”. The Lord God provided Paul a way around the opposition but otherwise permitted it.]

He celebrated that they were his “... hope or joy or crown to boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming”.

Paul sent Timothy in his stead to “... encourage you about your faith, so that no one would be shaken by their afflictions.” He celebrated the good news of their faithfulness despite “affliction”.

He concluded with a prayer “... may the Lord direct our way to you. And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you, so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Interaction

Consider

The active interference of Satan versus Paul is evidence that the enemy is still active. Did you put on your “full armor of God” today?

Discuss

What are some practical ways to strengthen your faith so that when trouble comes you may stand - like the Thessalonians?

Reflect

Could Paul’s prayer be the Lord God’s prayer for every fellowship?

Share

When have you observed an example of someone who faced challenges that might have shaken their faith but who stood strong because of their knowledge of an love for God, and their trust that He would sustain them?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a person, group, or fellowship for whom He wants you to pray Paul’s prayer.

Action:

Today I will pray Paul’s prayer for one revealed to me and I will ask others to join me

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Wednesday (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12)

A Life Pleasing to God

4:1 Finally then, brothers and sisters, we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how you must live and please God (as you are in fact living) that you do so more and more.

4:2 For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

4:3 For this is God’s will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality,

4:4 that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor,

4:5 not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.

4:6 In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him, because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases, as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly.

4:7 For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness.

4:8 Consequently the one who rejects this is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

4:9 Now on the topic of brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

4:10 And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,

4:11 to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you.

4:12 In this way you will live a decent life before outsiders and not be in need.

Prayer

Lord, You see us – through Christ – as cleansed and made-holy in heaven, and You ask us to conduct ourselves in such a way as to grow toward that goal. May I be found pressing-away sin, seeking-after righteousness, and maturing in my daily walk.

Summary & Commentary

Paul challenged the Thessalonians to increase the degree to which they “... live and please God.”

He listed the elements of right living before God, to

“...become holy”:

“... keep away from immorality”

“... each ... possess his own body in holiness and honor”

“... not ... lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God”

“... no one should violate the rights of his brother, or take advantage of him, because the Lord is the avenger in these cases”

He summarized his admonitions “For God did not call us in impurity but in holiness ... the one who rejects this is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”

Paul celebrated their brotherly love “... toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia.” but still challenged them to do so even more.

He challenged them to “... aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands”

Paul’s goal for them was integrity and self-sufficiency, for the sake of a positive witness to a watching and not-yet-saved world, and to prevent dependency upon that world.

Interaction

Consider

The challenge of Paul, one he applied to himself, that in holy and righteous living before God good is to be celebrated - but better is to be sought.

Discuss

Jesus and Paul both condemned sloth. What are some ways that you could lead a more quiet/peaceful life and also be self-sufficient - not dependent on an unbelieving world or becoming an unnecessary (due to sloth) burden upon believers?

Reflect

Do you need to address any of Paul’s list of elements of right living before God, to “...become holy” in your life?

Share

When have you observed a practical example of someone who violated the rights of a brother (or sister, in the faith) or took advantage of them? How did God avenge that misdeed?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal an element of Paul’s list for holiness in your life upon which you need to work, or identify an area of brotherly love and/or peaceful and self-sufficient living where you are doing well.

Action:

Today I will address the area(s) needing work and seek ways to do even better in those where I am doing well. I will ask a fellow believer for accountability and prayer support.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Thursday (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

The Lord Returns for Believers

4:13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.

4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.

4:15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.

4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Prayer

Lord, You will return, You will restore those who have been “asleep” and unaware of the passage of time, and You will gather with them those who are alive in the flesh – because that is why You endured the Cross and empowered Easter. May my faith be renewed every time I remember what You have done and what You will do.

Summary & Commentary

Paul explained that the dead in-Christ would be raised first to Christ, the living would then be raptured to join them, and that both will enjoy eternity with Him.

He cautioned them to understand that the dead in Christ are “asleep” in an eternal sense - so they must not “... grieve like the rest who have no hope.” because their hope is in a risen Lord Who is God.

He reminded them that “... we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.” - reconciliation has always been the plan of the Lord God.

Paul declared “... we tell you this by the word of the Lord” that the living will wait for the dead to be resurrected before they are raptured. He gave no reason for the sequence.

He wrote “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God”, then will come the resurrection of the dead followed by the rapture of the living - “... together ... in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.”

He concluded “therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Interaction

Consider

Physical death is similar to sleep for a saved person, they are unawares until resurrected by God, and they have not died spiritually.

[Note: Linear time, as we know it, did not exist prior to Creation and will cease to exist after the Great White Throne Judgment. Where one reads Biblical text that suggests immediate presence with God at death one must understand that such is written from a heavenly rather than earthly perspective.]

Discuss

Imagining the return of Christ, how incredible will be your awe at His appearance, the resurrection of the dead, and the rapture of His children (including you)?

Reflect

There is a peace-bringing perspective from knowing that the death of those whom we love (who are also fellow believers, the most-true family of a Christian) is only a temporary place of waiting for His return to bring them (and us) to a perfect eternity with Him.

Share

When have you observed an example of a celebration of the life of a believer, who has died, where those gathered truly celebrated both their life and the promise of eternity together with them and Jesus?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to bring you to a more-Biblical understanding of death and the resurrection

Action:

Today I will prayerfully contemplate what I have been taught and share it with a fellow believer and look at the Word together, in-person or electronically.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Friday (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

The Day of the Lord

5:1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you.

5:2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night.

5:3 Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

5:4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would.

5:5 For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness.

5:6 So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober.

5:7 For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

5:8 But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation.

5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

5:10 He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him.

5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.

Prayer

Lord, we are to be at peace about our salvation, and assured of Your return – not worrying about the day but invested in right-living. May I build-up fellow believers, invest my time wisely in the things that You value, and tell Your story to the lost.

Summary & Commentary

Paul addressed the problem of speculation about the “... times and seasons” as to when Jesus will return. He told them to forget about it as Jesus will return “... the same way as a thief in the night”, without warning, and with negative consequences for those who are not under protection.

[Note: For those whose sense of security comes from the world - the confrontation with Christ will be shocking, for those who know Him as their savior the moment will be exhilarating.]

Paul then revisited elements of an earlier teaching about the “armor of God” as tools to

“... stay alert and sober ... because we are of the day” ...

“... by putting on the breastplate of faith and love”

“... and as a helmet our hope for salvation.”

He reiterated his central message about the return of Christ “He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep [meaning saved people physically alive or dead, or living rightly or in rebellion] we will come together with Him” [via resurrection or rapture].

Paul concluded this section by again celebrating their faithfulness and encouraging them to continue.

Interaction

Consider

We have the Lord God’s promise in-hand, so we are not to worry about the return of Christ - unbelievers should - as that is the end of the line for them.

Discuss

What are some practical ways to “... stay alert and sober”?

Reflect

There is an uncertain but impending deadline faced by the unsaved - and our commission is to reach them first!

Share

What are some examples of people you know who are entirely invested in the world for their sense of purpose and value and who will face a devastating and eternal shock at the return of Christ? Do you remember when that was you?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you one person who faces eternal separation from the Lord God for whom He wants you to pray.

Action:

Today I will pray for them to hear and to respond to His gospel of salvation. I do not presume to know how and through whom the Lord God will work - I will simply pray for their salvation.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

Saturday (1 Thessalonians 5:12-28)

Final Instructions

5:12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you,

5:13 and to esteem them most highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 5:14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.

5:15 See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

5:16 Always rejoice,

5:17 constantly pray,

5:18 in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

5:19 Do not extinguish the Spirit.

5:20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt.

5:21 But examine all things; hold fast to what is good.

5:22 Stay away from every form of evil.

Conclusion

5:23 Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

5:24 He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this.

5:25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us too.

5:26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.

5:27 I call on you solemnly in the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.

5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Prayer

Lord, You bring peace and stand ready to commune with us through prayer; asking that we remember to pray, to avoid evil, and to honor one-another. May I be found frequently-faithful and less-frequently unfaithful as I grow in spiritual maturity.

Summary & Commentary

Paul addressed the right-treatment of spiritual leaders (elders) among the fellowship of believers “... acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them most highly in love because of their work.”

He reminded them once-again to “Be at peace among yourselves.”, followed by a series of summary instructions:

“... admonish the undisciplined”

“... comfort the discouraged”

“... help the weak”

“... be patient toward all”

“See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone”

“... Always pursue what is good for one another and for all.”

“Always rejoice”

“... constantly pray”

“... in everything give thanks.”

Paul paused to cite his authority for his instruction “For this is God’s will for you.” He wanted them to be clear in the understanding that these were not suggestions.

Then he exhorted them “Do not extinguish the Spirit.”, which would be the consequence of failing to pray, failing to be in the Word (as they had it at that time), failing to be in fellowship, failing to worship, and failing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He led them forward in maturity and service.

Paul warned them “Do not treat prophesies with contempt.” as they were evidence of the Lord God’s perfection from the past and His guiding lighthouses to the future.

He counseled them “But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil.”, meaning that they were responsible for their choices and the consequences; to partner with the Lord God or with the enemy, in every choice they made.

Interaction

Consider

A fellowship of believers may “Be at peace among yourselves.” if they make the right choices.

Discuss

What are some practical ways to “... acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them most highly in love because of their work.” without displacing our sovereign Lord through a form of idolatry toward a mere human servant-leaders of His?

Reflect

How have you experienced the practical working-out of Paul’s instruction “... examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil.”?

Share

When have you experienced obedience blessing your fellowship, and/or disobedience causing discord.? Has the former been celebrated and the latter addressed appropriately and promptly?

Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to identify a spiritual leader (preferably within your local fellowship or community) whom He wishes you to “esteem”, and also one element of Paul’s summary instruction where you excel and one where you struggle with a compromise in your life where you are failing to “Stay away from every form of evil.”

Action:

Today I am committing to “esteem” the identified spiritual leader through prayer and a more-mature walk with Christ built upon His teaching of the Word. I will celebrate where I excel and partner with the Holy Spirit to address where I struggle. I will immediately and intentionally act to purge that “dark place” (as King David phrased it) from my life.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

All Bible text is from the NET unless otherwise indicated - http://bible.org

Note 1: These Studies often rely upon the guidance of the NET Translators from their associated notes. Careful attention has been given to cite that source where it has been quoted directly or closely paraphrased. Feedback is encouraged where credit has not been sufficiently assigned.

Note 2: When NET text is quoted in commentary and discussion all pronouns referring to God are capitalized, though they are lower-case in the original NET text.

Commentary text is from David M. Colburn, D.Min. unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2012 by David M. Colburn. This is a BibleSeven Study – Section 1 of the series, “Thessalonians” – prepared by David M. Colburn and edited for bible.org in March of 2012. This text may be used for non-profit educational purposes only, with credit; all other usage requires prior written consent of the author.