smithj7

We are part of the kingdom of God, a holy nation. As noted in the lesson, the Greek word used here is hagios, "pertaining to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God, holy, sacred," here, of people, "holy ones."[13] Previously only Jews had the status of God's holy people. Now it is granted to Gentile believers as well.

Jesus says that we are the light of the world. People don't hide lamps under bowls, nor do cities on hills conceal themselves. So likewise, we must be His witnesses.

What might be the symptoms of a Christian who has lost his "saltiness"? Just like real salt in Jesus day often looked like salt but was impure becaused it was mixed with alkali salts, our "salt" can become impure especially when we accept the world's values as if they were "kingdom" values. Is it possible for a believer to detect such symptoms in himself or herself? When we turn toward God and ask for his repentness and guidance he can help us detect these symptoms. It may take trails to "burn out the impurities". What do secular people notice about a "de-saltified" Christian? Secular people will think Christians are hypocrites, if their confess by moth to be Christian but show no salt, or that there isn't anything worth learning about. What do other Christians notice about you? It is sad, but many of the Churches I have attended are large. There is little interaction between fellow Christians. The model seems to be one of people who preach and people who should be listening. Is it possible to "resaltify" your life? It is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit and a person who is willing to allow the Spirit to work through herself or himself.

I don't know if you are still on this board, but your post, especially the bold and coloring, was very useful for me.

The "perfect law" is not the Mosaic Law, as interpreted by the Pharisees of Jesus' time. This perfect law is what Jesus taught us: Love God with our all hearts, souls, and mind, and love our neighbor - any human being - as ourselves. In using the term "royal law" in James 2:8 and saying "Love your neighbor as yourself", James is reminding us that the KING or Jesus, commanded us of the kingdom of God to follow this law. James is underlining that fact the Jesus, as King, is commanding this. Jesus fulfilled the prophesy in Jeremiah 31 and we are now living under a new covenant: "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." This brings us liberty in that we don't need to be burden by the legality of the law. We need to allow the Spirit of God to direct our lives.

In part, I believe that many people in the U.S. have been taught to departmentalize their lives. Going to church and listening fulfils the criteria established by a society. We are like folks who look in the mirror and turn away, FORGETTING that our might have needed to be fixed. The nature of the self-deception seems to be revealed in Ephesians 21: " Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." We in a sense are not allowing the word to grow in us. As you lesson noted: 'We are to replace this moral evil with "the word planted in you" (NIV), "the engrafted word" (KJV) that is able to save your souls (psuchē ). This word "engrafted" is a compound word in Greek, emphutos, "implanted, engrafted," from en, "in, into" and phuteuō, "to plant." '

Hi Vicki. I'm doing the same lesson. I love your simplicity: To have "access to the Father" means exactly that; we can talk to Him. I often try to complicate things.

Importance To understand why access to the Father is important, we need to look back to Ephesians 2:11-13. It says: "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called 'uncircumcised' by those who call themselves 'the circumcision' (that done in the body by the hands of men) -- remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world." (2:11-13) Without access to the Father, we are in pretty sorry shape and without hope. We are separated from Christ, excluded from the citizenship, alienated from the covenant promises, and without God. The total hopelessness and lose is overbearing. Access changes this! "Access" is the Greek noun prosagoge, "a way of approach, access," from the verb prosago, "bring into someone's presence, come near, approach." This is pretty exciting we can approach the Father anytime and anywhere. Similar to Diplomatic Relations This access is similar to diplomatic relations in that we were estranged from God, and through the cross, we are reconciled to God. We can approach the Father day or night and anywhere. How did We Obtain this Access The access came at a great cost: through the cross. Access and The Great Commandment and Serving the God Matthew 22:36-40 tells us to love God with all our heart, mind, and should and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are not able to love God without being reconciled to Him. We are not able to fulfill His purpose without the reconciliation that was made possible through the cross.

I really liked your statement: If the church is God's, it has unlimited possibilities. This is pretty exciting! May God's church be "reborn".

The word of truth is used five times in the English Bible, three times it is appended with the term "gospel" - good news - the word of God. In order to gain spiritual life, like Nicodemus, we must be born again. We gain faith through hearing the Word of God, and it is through faith by grace we are saved and become God's workmanship. Then this leads to a spiritual life as we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us! The purpose of this spiritual birth: "to be a kind of first fruits of all he has created" (1:18). This first fruit is a sacrifice to God and not possible without the word of truth.

hi! I'm Jamie. I'm also doing the Sermon on the Mount study. I'm in the second lesson: Witnessing People. The lessons so far are really great.

Matthew 5:13 states: "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." (5:13) There are two ways then to look at how people used salt: as a preservative and as seasoning. These two manners provide us with two models to interpret this verses. Preservation Analogy In the preservative model, salt is used to preserve food to make it last longer. In this sense, Christians are preserving the world. Seasoning Analogy In the seasoning analogy, salt is used similar to how many in the U.S. use it, as seasoning. In this sense, the food is better and more flavorful. Summary From the lesson, the later analogy seems to be what Jesus was speaking of. Jesus wants us to live our life with zest. Otherwise, if we lose our saltiness, then we really our worthless. As noted in the lesson, these verses come directly after, rejoice and be glad when you are persecuted for his sake. Jesus wants his followers to live for him in word and deed, without fear or shame.

We should rejoice because we will have the favor of God rather than people. The reward for righteousness is an eternal one rather than a temporary earthly one. Be glad or rejoice in suffering is possible because we look at the glory of God in the future. We are looking for something beyond this earth. I think what would keep it from becoming some sick masochism or finding pain is that if we are being persecuted for righteousness, that very righteousness would be what sustains us in suffering. Those seeking such for human glory would not be able to sustain the suffering. But one YNN. It is appropriate for persecuted believers to receive the blessing of the kingdom of heaven because it puts them in the same sphere as the prophets that came before us.

The pure of heart can see, know, and discern God because they live out the will of God. They know his will and are in sync with God. Otherwise, we can't see God because we are in a sense on a different road. The road isn't leading toward the way of God. Only God can purify or clean our hearts so we might see, know, and discern Him.

An intense desire for righteousness in the sense Jesus means, can put us at odds with the world in two ways. Some within the world do not believe in righteousness. They believe something can be right for one person and wrong for another and something else can be right for someone else and not for them. There is no real standard. On the other side there are folks that are seeing righteousness in the sense of legal righteousness. Doing the law from self. But Jesus is not talking about moral perfection, but rather a change in heart that leads us to do the right thing; to become righteous through his power. Jesus promised that we will be filled with righteousness as long as we hunger and thirst for it. This is not from self, it is the blessing and power of God's spirit within us.

The power is at work within us! This power is quite beyond measure from the Greek adverb huperrekperissou. It is not evident because of our unbelief and or inaction. If the Church exercised this power, there would be mighty works, just as seen in the Gospels and Acts. These signs and works could bring others to Christ Jesus and strengthen the Church. In this, God would be glorified.

In verse 5 God promises to give us wisdom to everyone that asks. However when we ask, we must believe without any doubt as noted in verse 6. If we doubt, we are will waver like a wave in the sea that is blown about by wind. Trails help us build up faith. These trails help get our attention. They help us to be stable rather than unstable or double minded.

I have read Ephesians many times and never really saw the "for" in the phrase "for the church". I was thinking in terms of head of rather than for. This is powerful. As you said in the lesson: "If Christ is head for the Church, it means that he plans to use the Church in the exercise of his power and authority." This means that Church has power! Power to use to serve his purpose.

After re-listening to the lesson, I begin to under the manner in which the question means Christians must mourn. We must feel sadness and mourn injustice and unrighteousness. And we can look forward to that time when there is no need to mourn.

Many of us - inside our being - fight a battle of the flesh against the spirit. In a sense, this leads to doublemindness. But through the spirit of God, we can overcome the desires of the flesh. We can ask for wisdom, without doubting and God will give us wisdom. Doubting can lead to doublemindness. Trials help us grow in Faith when we overcome them. The trials can help us better focus. We can then gain boldness in Faith through these trials. If we had no trials we could not grow-up. We would be like little children. But when we have trials and succeed we can have joy!

I believe that people who blame God for evil do not understand that nothing bad can come from God. They don't know God. God is good. Evil and temptation comes from self or others. God allows evil, but God does not create evil or injustice or unrighteousness. God gives people a choice. This choice opens the door to sin. But without freedom, there can't be real love. We would live in some totalitarian world, forced to react in a specific way, or we would be like robots programmed to react in a specific way.

I am in AWE! I have read Ephesians and never understood the power given to us the believers of the CHURCH. As noted in your lecture, If we are seated with Christ in the spiritual authority hierarchy, that means that we, too, are seated far above all spiritual powers. If demons and evil spirits are "under his feet" then they are under our feet, too. We as believers have been provided with the tools to do God's work in the Church and the world! May God give direction in how to use this gift for his glory.

Paul used the term "heavenly realms" on purpose. The pagans of his time understood the concept within their own religious terminology. By doing such Paul was able to let Gentiles know that Christ is supreme all spiritual beings of any religion. As noted in your lecture, Paul uses both the ideas of "far above" and "under his feet" (1:22a). The phrase under his feet" is used for utter subjugation, both in the Old and New Testaments (1 Kings 5:3; Lamentations 3:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25-27; Hebrews 2:8). Jesus' exaltation echoes Psalm 8 which the Jews understood as referring to the conquering Messiah: "You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet" (Psalm 8:6). The terminology "Far above" and "under his feet" provide clarity to the Gentiles that Jesus is above all and in control of all. Paul was using terms and ideas common in the cultural norm of the listeners. Most likely they witness acts where a "lord" over someone (e.g. roman soldier over person, master to a slave) exerted such power over that someone physically. These ideas, which may be more or less philosophical to us in the U.S. were commonplace to the people Paul was writing to. Through this question and the reading of the word, I sense the power that Jesus, our lord and savior, really has. I have head knowledge of such but that which makes me who I am in Christ - the spirit within- did not truly sense or feel or KNOW (not intellectually) that Power!

Blessed are the meek, the humble, the gentle, .... Often when one thinks of gentleness one thinks of weakness, though the term gentleness could be acceptable as a female quality, but hardly a man. In business, in the U.S. gentleness or meekness for man or female is seen as weakness. The business person is supposed to do the opposite, sell him or herself to get a head. However the word meek comes from the Greek word praus. Praus means "pertaining to not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance, gentle, humble, considerate, meek" . It is important for Christians to be humble or meek as Christ was humble or meek if we want to be like him. He had power, power over life and death, but He humbled himself for our sakes. Jesus noted that "I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for you souls." More important if we trust in self we will have nothing. If we are meek, we will inherit the earth!

This is a power pact question! First, I feel it is necessary for a Christian, in a social environment like the U.S., to be aware of spiritual poverty because it is so easy to listen to the culture values around us. We are given message after message that one must be RICH, RICH, RICH. Humility, spiritual poverty, basically being teachable are needed by all. The second and third part of this question are somewhat of a paradox to me. The idea of NEEDED mourning with the reference of Isaiah 61: 2-3 is not computing with my experience as a Christian. In Isaiah, God says He gave me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that I can be a tree of righteousness ... I came from a very dysfunctional home. I was abused. This verse and Timothy, I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and strong mind, have been what sustain me. God has and does provide me with the oil of joy for mourning!! I never equated, Blessed and happy are you who mourn, you will be comforted, with you MUST mourn... I believe there are other verses that speak to repeating and therefore feeling regret and "mourning" but I don't think this particular verse is speaking to that. Perhaps that is what this question is looking for. I'm here to learn and will look forward to comments regarding this paradox.