Commissioned

As the son of a carpenter Jesus would have learned how to enter into contractual agreements for supplying carpentry work. This experience would have exposed Him to dealing with people in a one on one relationship.

The titles "Blessed Virgin Mary" and "Mother of God" were appropriate for Mary because she indeed was blessed to be a virgin mother and that she was the mother of Jesus, God in the flesh.

The essence of Mary's positive response to the angel was her submission to God as His Servant. From Mary's response we too can learn submit to God's will as His servants. Mary's response was an "informed consent" in that she had heard from the messenger that her cousin who was barren was with child and his confirmation that "nothing was impossible with God." When we respond to God, we consent to submitting as His servant and allow His will to be done.

The virgin conception teaches us that Jesus' nature is divine. The doctrine of the virgin conception is central to the Christmas message in that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Mary's "How?" question (1:34) to the angel's declaration differ from Zechariah's "How?" question (1:18) in that Mary's question was based on the fact that as far as she knew that the only means, she knew of, to become pregnant had never happened to her; whereas Zechariah's question was based on the fact that he knew that his wife Elizabeth was aged and barren. Mary's was rewarded because her response was of faith and Zechariah was disciplined because his response was of unbelief.

The angel's announcement said that Mary's Child was to be called Jesus, that He will be great, will be called the Son of the Most High, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.

The character flaws Diotrephes exhibits are pride, a controlling spirit, intolerance of others who appear to have power and he removes opposing opponents. Pastors can perform in a leadership capacity without the flaws of Diotrephes. A Pastor who operates with a humble spirit will draw people to him and not drive them away. To ward of pride and a controlling spirit we must walk in love and humility remembering that we are all on a mission to complete a work for Christ.

The reasons given in these verses for supporting Christian workers in their ministry are,they are missionaries supporting a cause for Christ,they have gone out in Jesus' name and they need fellow believers to partner with them in the work. When you become a "co-worker," by assisting Christian workers you are rewarded because of your part in helping the work get done. Without the support of others, Christian Workers may be distracted from carrying out the work that they have been called to; and time is taken away from ministerial duties to labor for personal and family support.

The Apostle John tells his readers to refuse hospitality to the false teachers because not doing so would give consent to the false teachings they were spreading. Refusing hospitality for a congregation (as opposed to an individual) indicates a refusal to encourage the false teachers in teaching heresy and their worship which will not conform to the congregation's. The border between tolerance and stupidity begins when false teachers are permitted to spread heresy to a congregation that you lead as opposed to the false teacher being allowed to speak with you personally. With a one-on-one discussion, as leader in the church, you might be able to convert the individual. Divisions of denominationalism cannot find justification in this verse because there are numerous reasons, besides heresy, that cause church splits and the forming of denominations.

The danger of "running ahead" of Christ's teachings to "deeper truths" is the possibility of distorting the Gospel. The danger of "running ahead" of Christ's guidance for our lives is that you end up veering away from the truth. To "abide" or "continue" in Christ's teaching is to live daily according to His teaching, be guided by His teaching and using His teaching as the standard for living. This is important because there are false teachers who would have you believe that there is another way, than the way of Christ and you end up walking in error.

John exhort his "children" to "keep yourselves from idols because it puts something in the place of God. Anything that we put in place of God is a distraction and robs us of time we can spend in intimate relationship with God. Idols that compete for my attention are TV and the internet. Pray with me that these are not longer robbing my time away from God. Thank you.

The two conditions to answered prayer given in 1 John are. "our obedience, and "God's will." We determine God's will so that we can pray boldly, confidently by reading the Word of God to find out what His will is. When we know God's will we can pray confidently knowing that He will answer our prayer. Our prayers are always answered, with a yes or a no. When our main motive is to achieve our will if keep His commandments and our work pleasing to God then He hears us and and answers. "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 1 John 3:22 (KJV).

There is no life in the Christian Church the life we speak of, "eternal life" is in Christ alone. It resides in him personally -- not in a body of doctrine or in a church. In order that we teach a faith relationship rather than a religion we must point men and women to Christ. In order to have "faith in Jesus" you must first have "faith" to believe that He died for your sins to redeem you back to God.

A defeatist mentality differ from a belief that in Christ we have overcome the world because the person has resigned to the belief that all is lost forgetting that Jesus has conquered the enemy and we are victorious in Christ Jesus. In this overcoming we must exercise faith to believe in His Word and the work accomplished by Jesus' death and resurrection. When we do not believe in the victory won at the cross and the fact that when He died and went to hell He took the keys of hell, death and the grave from the devil. We are victorious in Christ and need not have a defeatist mentality.

Our fear towards God should be reverent fear. The kind of fear that is extinguished by His love towards us is a fear of judgment. Our attitude towards future judgment should be one of confidence as we allow love to be perfected in us and become like Him in this world.

The statement "God is Love," is important because only in Christianity is love elevated to the highest level of God's essential character. It say that in every attribute of His nature flows from love. And because of this every action of God towards us is done in a loving way; his justice with love, holiness with love, predestination with love, etc. As fallen man, we have been redeemed to arise once again to the image of love, because Christ blood has cleanse us so that we are forgiven and can forgive to once again love as God calls us to.

The Holy Spirit in each believer is greater than false prophets and even Satan. With the indwelling Spirit we have overcome them because, "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4). We will overcome them in the future because of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. In Revelation we read that the false prophets and Satan are both defeated. The truth gives us the assurance that in every situation we can rest as conquerors in a battle where the victor is already predicted.

Believing that Jesus was God in the flesh is so important because it is a fact that Jesus inhabited human flesh and took upon Him the sins of the whole world. Satan would have us believe that Jesus Christ did not come as God in the flesh because in doing so we would believe his lie and not the truth. The implications of the fact that Jesus could live out His divine life in a human body like ours give us the inspiration that He is indeed acquainted with and is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. Jesus' purpose in coming to earth and dwell in the flesh was to bring us the only path to eternal life. He did this when He died on the cross bearing the sins of the world was buried and resurrected to open the way for each one of us to have a new and eternal life free from sin. No one else could have done what He did, only a sinless Savior could have taken the place as a sacrificial lamb to bear our sins.

We know that God doesn't "owe" us anything but the relationship between obedience and answered prayer is that our continued Christian living and fellowship with Him requires our participation with His grace. We do not "earn" God's favor through obedience, but through our obedience to Him Grace maintains our relationship as children of our heavenly Father who loves to bless his children to live the abundant life.

John explains what it means to "lay down your life for your brothers" in this verse, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." (1 John 3:17-18). Some concrete examples of this kind of love in action within the Christian community is in providing food, clothing and shelter for the underprivileged. In a large congregation, we get to know other members so that you'll be able to lay down your life for them -- and they for you by becoming involved in small groups.

When we hold onto anger, it becomes a resident bitterness within us, that bitterness turns to hatred toward the cause of the anger. Jesus related anger to murder when He said, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment...." (Matthew 5:21-22a). John also related anger to murder when he said, "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him" (1 John 3:15). We get rid of stored-up anger in our hearts so that we may love those who have offended us by forgiving the offender.

Cain resented Abel because Abel's sacrifice was accepted. He killed him because he was jealous of him, of his righteousness. In the same manner the world hates Christians because of their stand and living righteously; it shows up their standard of unrighteous living.

Q5. (1 John 3:3-10) How does John's teaching on sin and righteousness in this passage relate to combating the false teachers? John's teaching on sin and righteousness in this passage relate to combating the false teachers as he points out the importance of acknowledging sin and striving for righteousness; whereas the false teachers minimized sin and its importance. What did they seem to be teaching about sin and righteous living? The seemed to be minimizing the importance of the believer avoiding sin in his daily life.

Q4. (1 John 3:6, 9) How does the presence of God's seed in us keep us from habitual lawlessness and sin? The presence of God's seed is in us working to cleanse our character and keeping us from habitual lawlessness and sin. How does the Holy Spirit sanctify us and make us like Jesus? The Holy Spirit is the deposit that seals us unto righteousness. The Spirit within us wars against sin in our human nature. That is what Paul is referring to in his letter to the Galatians: "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (sarx, "flesh"). For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" (Galatians 5:16-17).

Q3. (1 John 3:4) How does lawlessness show up in a person's attitude and actions? Lawlessness show up in a person's attitude and actions when they perform acts contrary to the Decalogue or the laws God or pure and simple, when one sins. In what sense is an attitude of lawlessness the cause of sin in our lives? An attitude of lawlessness is the cause of sin in our lives because ther an indifference to the laws of God. This indifference is an attitude that ignore the moral laws of God and denies the importance of sin.