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3 Important Terms for Anyone Who wants to Understand the Scriptures
10/7/2015 Notes from Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, pp. 37f
Knowledge
First it is important to remember
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
--1 Cor 13:1-2
The reference to knowledge is a factual, doctrinal, theological, biblical kind of knowledge. But don’t miss the emphasis: “Let there be love with knowledge!” Without love, all those facts leave us empty— hence “I am nothing.”
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
--2 Cor 10:3-5
Our enemy often targets our knowledge of God. Satan’s lies are meant to get us to misunderstand God! Knowledge without love is not enough but we must be knowledgeable!
Discernment
The ability to perceive beyond what is being said. It is perceiving something that’s either present or lacking in another person’s words, behavior or attitude.
Spiritual discernment enters into the realm of wisdom– the wisdom of God.
Discernment includes the idea of sizing up a situation or a person correctly. Spotting evil that’s lurking in the shadows. Sensing something that’s missing. Not just matters of evil, but also discernment helps us sense truth and good.
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (discernment)..." Phil 1:9
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits (discernment) to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." --1 John 4:1
I do not believe you can spell out the process of learning discernment in a step-by-step, one-two- three-four fashion. Discernment isn’t taught as much as it’s caught. But it can happen if you seek it and spend time with those who model it
Balance
By balance I have in mind remaining free of extremes, being able to see the whole picture– not just one side or a small part of it.
Maintaining one’s spiritual equilibrium is another way to describe balance.
Balanced Christians ...
It has been said that heresy is nothing more than truth taken to an extreme. Check that out. Trace the heresies and you will find that they usually began with a certain truth that was pushed to an out-of- balance extreme.
Questions & ReflectionsThink about the people you have met that are balanced Christians.
What traits do you appreciate the most about these people?
What has helped you as a Christian maintain balance?
3 Important Terms for Anyone Who wants to Understand the Scriptures
10/7/2015 Notes from Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, pp. 37f
Knowledge
First it is important to remember
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
--1 Cor 13:1-2
The reference to knowledge is a factual, doctrinal, theological, biblical kind of knowledge. But don’t miss the emphasis: “Let there be love with knowledge!” Without love, all those facts leave us empty— hence “I am nothing.”
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
--2 Cor 10:3-5
Our enemy often targets our knowledge of God. Satan’s lies are meant to get us to misunderstand God! Knowledge without love is not enough but we must be knowledgeable!
Discernment
The ability to perceive beyond what is being said. It is perceiving something that’s either present or lacking in another person’s words, behavior or attitude.
Spiritual discernment enters into the realm of wisdom– the wisdom of God.
Discernment includes the idea of sizing up a situation or a person correctly. Spotting evil that’s lurking in the shadows. Sensing something that’s missing. Not just matters of evil, but also discernment helps us sense truth and good.
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (discernment)..." Phil 1:9
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits (discernment) to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." --1 John 4:1
I do not believe you can spell out the process of learning discernment in a step-by-step, one-two- three-four fashion. Discernment isn’t taught as much as it’s caught. But it can happen if you seek it and spend time with those who model it
Balance
By balance I have in mind remaining free of extremes, being able to see the whole picture– not just one side or a small part of it.
Maintaining one’s spiritual equilibrium is another way to describe balance.
Balanced Christians ...
- are realistic tolerant people, patient with those who disagree.
- are serious when necessary, yet still having fun, still enjoying life.
- are less and less intense, free from fanaticism, not afraid to say, “I don’t know.”
- listen to and value another opinion, even one with which they may disagree.
- uphold the dignity of others, refusing to put them down.
- are not easily threatened. Why? They’re balanced! They’re open to the possibility of alternative positions that give new slants and fresh perspective.
It has been said that heresy is nothing more than truth taken to an extreme. Check that out. Trace the heresies and you will find that they usually began with a certain truth that was pushed to an out-of- balance extreme.
Questions & ReflectionsThink about the people you have met that are balanced Christians.
What traits do you appreciate the most about these people?
What has helped you as a Christian maintain balance?
Primary Need– To Know God
What were we made for?
To know God.
What should our life’s goal be?
To know God.
What is the eternal life that Jesus gives?
Knowing God.
What allows man to be fully human?
Knowing God.This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. — Jesus, John 17:3
But whatever things were gain to me, those things
I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of
the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
—Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:7-8
The Privilege Of Knowing GodIt is a tragedy that many people go through life without ever becoming acquainted with their Creator. To overlook that relationship is to miss the purpose for our existence and the greatest privilege available: knowing God. Even Christians can undervalue the honor of getting to know Christ more intimately.
Paul’s all-consuming passion to know God caused him to count everything else as worthless in comparison to that tremendous blessing. Though believers can accept Christ as their Savior, faithfully serve Him, and anticipate being with Him in heaven, many have no hunger to know Him right now. How can we be satisfied with simply being saved and have so little interest in the most gratifying relationship available to us? Pursuing Christ with passion requires sacrifice—spending time with the Lord, surrendering our will, and knowing Him through suffering. Although salvation is a free gift and the rewards are invaluable and eternal, intimacy with God is a costly process.
Our culture floods us with distractions that can fill our minds and hearts, leaving us indifferent about developing a deeper relationship with Christ. Some people even substitute learning facts about the Lord for knowing Him relationally.
Find what is hindering your passion for God. Consider ways to carve out time each day to be alone with Him. As you go about your routine, seek His guidance and listen for His voice. You, too, will eventually count everything else as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.
Quotes from J.I. Packer, author of Knowing GodWhatever else in the Bible catches your eye, do not let it distract you from Him.
Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.
The healthy Christian is not necessarily the extrovert, ebullient Christian, but the Christian who has a sense of God’s presence stamped deep on his soul, who trembles at God’s word, who lets it dwell in him richly by constant meditation upon it, and who tests and reforms his life daily in response to it.
Confidence that one’s impressions are God-given is no guarantee that this is really so, even when they persist and grow stronger through long seasons of prayer. Bible-based wisdom must judge them.
How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each Truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.
The Life of true holiness is rooted in the soil of awed adoration.
He that has learned to feel his sins, and to trust Christ as a Saviour, has learned the two hardest and greatest lessons in Christianity.
Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God (John 17:3).
What are the ways? In how many different ways can we know God, and thus know eternal life?
Here are some thoughts.
Questions for Reflection, Application & DiscussionHow often each day are you intentionally thinking about knowing God?
Which of the Scriptures or Quotes from J.I. Packer jumped out at you? why?
Are there any of the 13 Thoughts about how God may reveal Himself that may be especially helpful for you this week?
Paul wrote “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.” (Colossians 1:19 NIV) and (although there is some debate but most scholars identify Paul as the writer of Hebrews) “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV).
We come to know God essentially and most clearly by knowing the Son! Reading the gospels must always be primarily about how one can understand and get to know Jesus better.
What were we made for?
To know God.
What should our life’s goal be?
To know God.
What is the eternal life that Jesus gives?
Knowing God.
What allows man to be fully human?
Knowing God.This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. — Jesus, John 17:3
But whatever things were gain to me, those things
I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of
the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
—Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:7-8
The Privilege Of Knowing GodIt is a tragedy that many people go through life without ever becoming acquainted with their Creator. To overlook that relationship is to miss the purpose for our existence and the greatest privilege available: knowing God. Even Christians can undervalue the honor of getting to know Christ more intimately.
Paul’s all-consuming passion to know God caused him to count everything else as worthless in comparison to that tremendous blessing. Though believers can accept Christ as their Savior, faithfully serve Him, and anticipate being with Him in heaven, many have no hunger to know Him right now. How can we be satisfied with simply being saved and have so little interest in the most gratifying relationship available to us? Pursuing Christ with passion requires sacrifice—spending time with the Lord, surrendering our will, and knowing Him through suffering. Although salvation is a free gift and the rewards are invaluable and eternal, intimacy with God is a costly process.
Our culture floods us with distractions that can fill our minds and hearts, leaving us indifferent about developing a deeper relationship with Christ. Some people even substitute learning facts about the Lord for knowing Him relationally.
Find what is hindering your passion for God. Consider ways to carve out time each day to be alone with Him. As you go about your routine, seek His guidance and listen for His voice. You, too, will eventually count everything else as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.
Quotes from J.I. Packer, author of Knowing GodWhatever else in the Bible catches your eye, do not let it distract you from Him.
Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.
The healthy Christian is not necessarily the extrovert, ebullient Christian, but the Christian who has a sense of God’s presence stamped deep on his soul, who trembles at God’s word, who lets it dwell in him richly by constant meditation upon it, and who tests and reforms his life daily in response to it.
Confidence that one’s impressions are God-given is no guarantee that this is really so, even when they persist and grow stronger through long seasons of prayer. Bible-based wisdom must judge them.
How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each Truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.
The Life of true holiness is rooted in the soil of awed adoration.
He that has learned to feel his sins, and to trust Christ as a Saviour, has learned the two hardest and greatest lessons in Christianity.
Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God (John 17:3).
What are the ways? In how many different ways can we know God, and thus know eternal life?
Here are some thoughts.
- The final, complete, definitive way, of course, is Christ, God Himself in human flesh.
- His church is His body, so we know God also through the church fellowship, instruction, worship, etc.
- The Scriptures are the inspired record of God’s revelation.
- The Spirit of God is His active presence here on earth.
- Scripture also says we can know God in nature see Romans 1. This is an innate, spontaneous, natural knowledge. I think no one who lives by the sea, or by a little river, can be an atheist.
- Art (beauty) also reveals God.
- Conscience, trained properly is the voice of God.
{5-7 are natural. 1-4 are supernatural. 5-7 reveal three attributes of God,
3 things the human spirit seems to be drawn to: truth, beauty, and goodness.
God has filled His creation with these three things.]
Here are six more ways in which we can and do know God. - By Reason— reflecting on nature, art, or conscience, one can come to know some things about the nature of God.
- Experience, life, your story, can also reveal God. You can see the hand of Providence there.
- The collective experience expressed in literature, also reveals God. You can know God through others’ stories, through great literature.
- Mature believers reveal God. They are advertisements, mirrors, ‘imitators of Christ’.
- Our ordinary daily experience of doing God’s will will reveal God. God becomes clearer to see when the eye of the heart is purified: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”
- Prayer meets God—ordinary prayer. You learn more of God from honest confession of one’s concerns, failures, thoughts, etc.
Questions for Reflection, Application & DiscussionHow often each day are you intentionally thinking about knowing God?
Which of the Scriptures or Quotes from J.I. Packer jumped out at you? why?
Are there any of the 13 Thoughts about how God may reveal Himself that may be especially helpful for you this week?
Paul wrote “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.” (Colossians 1:19 NIV) and (although there is some debate but most scholars identify Paul as the writer of Hebrews) “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV).
We come to know God essentially and most clearly by knowing the Son! Reading the gospels must always be primarily about how one can understand and get to know Jesus better.
Are You Drawn or Driven?
Consider this question:
What motivates you— Are you drawn or driven?In general driven-ness in certain short-term situations is necessary (driven to meet a deadline or correct a problem) but as a lifestyle if someone is driven it a negative.
If someone is driven to succeed, he will end up using people. If one is driven by pain, selfish passion, guilt, revenge, fear, hate, shame, etc. then life becomes toxic.
In contrast consider being drawn to something.
Some have pointed out that humanity is so often drawn to 3 qualities:
truth, beauty, and goodness.
And humanity is at its best when we are drawn by these qualities.
Being drawn to something good is a life of adventure.
And it is not by accident that Jesus said,
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself…”
This and other I AM statements of Jesus indicate things that draw us, invite us to Him
I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 6:41, 6:48)
I AM the light of the world. (John 8:12, John 9:5)
I AM the gate for the sheep. (John 10:7,9)
I AM the good shepherd. (John 10:11,14)
I AM the resurrection and the life. John 11:25
You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I AM. 13:13
I AM the way and the truth and the life 14:6
I AM the true vine 15:1 15:5
The enemy uses drives to get us off balance, tempt us with the wrong things. He uses fear, guilt and shame to drive us. He entices us with temptations to drive us— “You must, you have to, you’re missing out…” etc.
Humanity is at its worse when it is driven by hatred, fear, greed, power, jealousy, pride, revenge, etc.
The Philippians 4:8 Principle
Are you living your life being drawn to
“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable?”
Remember:
“If anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
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Questions for Reflection, Application & Discussion
Share a recent example of being drawn to something good, beautiful or true.
Repeating: “In general driven-ness in certain short-term situations is necessary (driven to meet a deadline or correct a problem) but as a lifestyle if someone is driven it a negative.”
What do you notice about yourself when you become driven because of a problem or deadline?