Berean Bible Club

Berean Bible Club Let us search the scriptures. (Psa 119:140) Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

(Act 17:11) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (2 Tim 2:15) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

04/01/2014

THE BEAUTY OF SEPARATION

The beauty of being separated from the world and unto God is not that we have to do something, but that it is something God has already done! God has already placed us in Christ. God has already set us apart UNTO HIMSELF forever.

1 Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified (“hagiazo” – set apart or separated) in Christ Jesus, called to be saints (“hagios” – those set apart or separated ones), with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord…

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized (placed) into Christ have put on Christ.

What must we do? Separation is not something that you must gain, it is somethine that you must claim. You must exercise and enjoy this separated life that God intended for you. You must live your position in Christ. We must “…walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph 4:1)

04/01/2014

THE DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION – the believer is separated from the world unto God.

The basis of this doctrine is found in the very nature of God Himself. God is Holy (Isa 6:3), “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is the LORD of hosts” In Hebrew (Kadesh) and Greek (Hagios) it means to be separated. God is separated from the earth and creation. He is separated from all that is morally unclean.

The believer is set apart and separated unto God.

1 Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, CALLED TO BE SAINTS (HAGIOS), with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

We are delivered from the power of darkness unto the kingdom of His Son (Col 1:13). God called us unto holiness (1 Thes 4:7).

2 Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and BE YE SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

There is a great difference and distinction between the saved and the unsaved. There is no middle ground. “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed…” Luke 16:26

God demands that this distinction be maintained. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:2). Separation is a command.

03/01/2014

"God...has not confined Himself within the narrow limits of any school of doctrine—high, low or moderate. He has revealed Himself. He has told out [made known] the deep and precious secrets of His heart. He has unfolded His eternal counsels, as to the Church, as to Israel, the Gentiles, and the wide creation. Men might as well attempt to confine the ocean in buckets of their own formation as to confine the vast range of divine revelation within the feeble enclosures of human systems of doctrine. It cannot be done, and it ought not to be attempted. Better far to set aside the systems of theology and schools of divinity, and come like a little child to the eternal fountain of Holy Scripture, and there drink in the living teachings of God’s Spirit."

C. H. Mackintosh

03/01/2014

THE ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN BEFORE THE FALL

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

It is important to know that man is a creature and not co-equal to or co-eternal with God. God “formed man” and therefore he is responsible to God who made him and will one day give an account to Him. If God made us we should find out what He wants and obey Him.

The Lord God made us from dust and not through an evolutionary process. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This refutes the evolutionists thinking that man evolved from some form of lower animal life (without breath of life).

Man became a living soul. Man is distinct from the animal kingdom. He has a spirit (1 Thes 5:23) that is capable of knowing God and having fellowship with Him. God gave man intelligence to understand His will and His requirements.

God gave man a free will to choose. God placed upon Adam and Eve the restriction to not partake of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. God did not eternally decree Adam to sin, but Adam chose to disobey God’s command. The restriction was a lesson to man that he is responsible to his Maker, His Creator.

04/07/2012

2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

V17 describes the purpose of God for every believer. To be perfect and furnished. Eph 1:4 says that believers are chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless. This is God’s plan before the foundation of the world. God’s plan with believers will be completed at the adoption, the redemption our body (Rom 8:23).

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We are called and predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, holy and blameless, perfected and furnished. For this purpose God has chosen His inspired Word. All scripture is sufficient and is God’s method by which He speaks to us through His Son (Heb 1:1).

We do not need extra biblical revelation and should not think above what it written (1 Cor 4:6) for the faith was once and for all delivered to the saints (Jud 1:3) and God has given us everything that pertains unto life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3)

The Word of God is your food. Eat it!

23/05/2012

1 Pet 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Being born again is the most humbling truths of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus declared this truth to all men by saying, “Except a man be born again” (John 3:3), that is every man, Jew or gentile, rich or poor, high or low.

The word “again” (John 3:3) comes from the Greek word “gennao” that means also “from above”. To be born again means to be born from above. Not from corruptible seed, not from the seed of a man that is mortal, but born from the incorruptible seed, the seed that comes from God that is immortal.

The incorruptible seed is the word of God that never dies, is unending, abides and endures forever. We became born from above through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17). The incorruptible seed of God’s Word were planted in our hearts and now we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).

We were born of the Spirit and therefore we have received a new spirit nature (John 3:5). We have become sons of the living God and are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4) that is incorruptible. We cannot die spiritually. Once a child of God, always a child of God. Once saved, always saved.

21/05/2012

1 Pet 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

These are a series of commands to the Christian in response to the great salvation that God has given to us. We owe this to Him, because He has given us the greatest gift of all, the redemption of our souls and eternal life.

It is by grace that we were saved and by grace that we are kept saved. When Jesus Christ returns we will receive the grace of God to redeem us from our bodies, our sinful nature (Rom 8:23). This will complete our full salvation, body, soul and spirit. God will finish the work He began in our lives from regeneration to the redemption of our bodies (Php 1:6).

We have to gird up our loins of our minds, be alert and think straight, prepare ourselves and get ready for the day when Christ will return. We must focus on the grace that will be brought to us on that day. We must live in the light of that glorious day.

God saved us and begotten us unto a lively hope (1 Pet 1:3). Salvation without hope is not salvation at all. We are not supposed to live for here and now, but to live in hope of that glorious day. We are destined to be holy and without blame (Eph 1:4).

We are sealed with the Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13), the Spirit that guarantees our inheritance, that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away (1 Pet 1:4), that is reserved for us in heaven, not in our own efforts or power, but kept by the power of God through faith (1 Pet 1:5).

Be sober and do not be intoxicated by worldly things, but get your mind straight, your priorities in order and live for that glorious day.

17/05/2012

Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

He is our Father! God gave us the power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). We are led by the Holy Spirit and received the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:14, 15). We have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour by believing on His name. We are His children and cry to Him, Abba Father.

He is our Father! We are His beloved children. Therefore we are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. He made us children according to His good pleasure and will (Eph 1:5).

Once we were children of disobedience and by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:2,3). Now we have a spiritual nature, being born into the family of God and have become children of the light and of the day (Eph 5:8; 1 Thes 5:5), let us walk like children of light.

16/05/2012

Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

What does God want from us? What works can we do to please Him? NOTHING!! Our works will never please Him. The idea of doing something to merit salvation is one of the last that a sinner ever has to give up.

Jesus said that it is not something we have to do, but it is the work of God. We cannot regenerate ourselves. We cannot be born again by ourselves. It is a sovereign work of God. It is not by the works of righteousness that we have done, but by His mercy that He saved us. He regenerated and renewed us by His Spirit (Tit 3:4, 5).

Man is justified by faith alone, sola fide (Rom 3:28). We must believe in Jesus Christ, who He is, what He did for us, and what He said. Faith in itself cannot be a work else it would not have been grace. If it by grace then it is no more of works. If it by works then it is no more grace (Rom 11:6).

Good deeds or godly works are the evidences of faith. Saving faith will always produce works. If faith does not produce works it is dead and cannot save. Jas 2:17 “Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.”

Do you believe on Him whom God has sent?

Joh 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

15/05/2012

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The Protestant Reformation can be summarized by their basic theological beliefs, the five “solas”. Sola means “alone”. And these are the pillars of the Reformers belief that is essential to the Christian life and practice.

Sola scriptura – the Bible is the only inspired and authoritative word of God.

Sola fide – justification is received by faith only without the mixture or need for good works.
Classical Protestant theology has always said that saving faith is always evidenced, but not determined, by good works. It is not faith and good works that justifies, but faith alone that is always evidenced by deeds.

Sola gracia – salvation comes by divine grace that is the unmerited favor of God. Salvation is a gift of God that can not be earned.

Sola Christo – Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. No man comes to the Father accept through Him (John 14:6).

Soli deo Gloria – God alone deserves to be glorified , because He accomplishes salvation through His action and will.

Let us repent from all our own efforts and accept His forgiveness by faith. To God be the glory.

14/05/2012

1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

How do we know if someone is a true Christian? If they practice what they preach. Saying you are is not enough. The proof is in the doing.

Let’s be clear on this. We do not become a Christian if we keep the commandments. We do not change into a Christian doing Christian deeds. We keep His commandments, because we ARE a Christian. We do godly deeds, because we HAVE a godly nature.

A true Christian is known by the fruit he bears. Jesus said in John 15:5 that those who abide in Him bring forth much fruit. According to 1 John 2:4,5 there is no such thing as a fruitless Christian. Every true Christian keeps His Word. This is the way we know that we are in Him.

John allows for no knowledge of God where there's no love for the teachings of Christ and heartfelt desire to obey them.

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