Lion of Grace Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 It's interesting that a paradox is something that is apparently absurd or incredible, yet possibly true! I think the Beatitudes are aptly summed up by that word! This is so much like the kingdom of God and so different from the world! In the world it's "Me" and " More" and " How I got it because I'm so good, talented, and full of knowledge etc." but in the Kingdom of God it's the opposite. It's dependance on God and knowing our smallness and our weaknesses and allowing God to help us and graciously give to us. It's being like a child and simply believing and seeking and having everything added that HE wants for you. It's hard to believe and seems incredible, because we are never raised that way but it is true. The fruit of the Spirit is of the same understanding. We are instructed in Galatians that the Fruit of the Spirit is in contrast to the way of the world. If we belong to Christ, we live by the Spirit so we follow the Spirit. We ask and seek for this fruit. He supplies and we humbly receive. One thing I've learned is that if I forget to ask for help from the Holy Spirit on any given day, my day will not be as filled with these good traits as on the days I'm abiding and asking for help in these areas. It's not on my own accord I can do these things and have good attitudes. It is by the Spirit and by doing the opposite of the world. If someone offends us, it is human nature to answer the offence or harbor it, but being spiritually minded means we forgive and give compassion and find out what we can do to help them in their hurt, because a hurt is usually behind most bad behaviors. Everyone wins in love. It may take awhile, but it works! That's the paradox! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allyntown Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 The first part is the state of the person with the second part being the reward for that state. He wanted to assure those who do suffer that they will get their just reward. Their suffering will be no more. If we have the attitudes in the Beatitudes we will produce the fruit of the Spirit. The seed of the fruit is already in us and these Beatitudes will help to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loisb Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? 1. The first part states who are blessed and the second parts states what you will be blessed with if you obey these things. 2. I think that He wanted to make it clear to the leaders and the followers exactly what is required of everyone. 3. The Beatitudes and the Fruits of the Spirit are similar because they both tell you how God wants us to live our lives in order to possess the Kingdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTDeVoe Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 There are many cases stated in the old testament of God's chosen people not abiding by his laws and rules. In many cases they thought that they knew much better then listening to God what was best for them and disregarded the charge that he had given them. When Jesus speaks on the Sermon on the Mount he once again provides a list of ways that the true and faithful followers of God should live their lives and if they do follow each of these blessings what they can expect to receive in return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brotherbill Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 This is my first attempt at this sort of thing I hope this is near what you are looking for! Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude aparadox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? A.) What are these parts? The position (attitude or action) of a Believer/Seekers heart and the response of God. B.) Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? These are Easily remembered with maximum impact on the hearer! Also in Setting the stage for and introducing the "Kingdom of God" they help by describing the actions/attitudes of those in this Kingdom in contrast to those in the kingdoms of the world which is a reversal of the normal values of the community. C.) What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit? If the beatitudes are descriptions and commendations of the good life, the requirements to be blessed or happy. Then the Fruit of the Spirit may be considered part of those blessings! The out growth of a life surrendered to God and his will and His Spirit. The "Light" and "Salt" of the Christian walk. In the "world" these things may be impossible but with God through the sacrifice of Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit we can put to death the old man, and crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts Gal 5:24 and walk in the Spirit... Holiness. Blessings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherylle Ladner Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 The first part of the question is this: What are these parts of the Beatittude--it contains a blessing for those who found favor and what they will received in the end (i.e: those that mourn--comforted). The ideal of a blessing is an idea of conferring or imparting something. This is what Jesus tries the tell us--We are blessed. B. Why did Jesus make each Beatittude a paradox? He was making aware of the people spiritual proverty. After they discover they are poor in the spiritual aspect, they would seek more--they would seek the riches of Christ--AND those that seek will possess His Kingdom. C. The Beatitude commands us to be happy what ever happens. And the Fruit of the Spirit are the rewards that we win after we follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen Bryant Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? A.) The two parts I see are: 1st the conditions of a heart that is for/in God and 2nd the rewards that awaits such a person. B.) I believe Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox to allow us to see the contrast between what is worldly good from what is spiritually good. C.) see the Beatitudes as parrallel to the fruits (love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), the fruits are the Beatitudes realized in a person's life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeh Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 The two parts of the Beatitudes are first; the spiritual characteristics of the blest and second; the consequences or fruits of those characteristics. In reference to why CHR_ST our Lord would make use of paradoxes, I heartily agree with the observation of Charles H. Spurgeon, "See the sacred art of Him who spake as never man spake, he can at the same time make His words both simple and paradoxical, and thereby win our attention and instruct our intellects. Such a preacher deserves the most thoughtful of hearers." The characteristics of those blest by CHR_ST our Lord, in the beatitudes, appear to be synonymous or equivalent to The Fruit of The SP_RIT; as described in Galations 5:22~23. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BibleDisciple Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 The two parts of each beatitude are 1) the subject being blessed, i.e. type of person being blessed and 2) the reward. Most of the beatitudes are paradoxes because Jesus' intent is to show that the way to true happiness is anti-thetical to the worldly path normally followed in pursuit of happiness. He also wants to strip away our ideas of self-sufficiency and show how spiritually bankrupt we must realize ourselves to be. We bear the fruit of love by being merciful and pure in heart. We bear the fruit of joy by realizing the blessings we have as described in the beatitudes. We bear the fruit of peace as peacemakers. We bear the fruit of patience when we endure persecution and being reviled and insulted for Jesus' sake. We bear the fruit of kindness by being merciful and peacemakers. We bear the fruit of goodness by being poor in spirit and relying on the grace of God through Jesus to reflect goodness. We bear the fruit of gentleness by being meek which means maintaining a humble and gentle attitude that is patiently submissive in every offense and having no desire for revenge. We bear the fruit of faithfulness by hungering and thirsting for righteousness in a way that relies on Jesus for the righteousness that He faithfully imputes to believers. We bear the fruit of self-control by hungering and thirsting for righteousness instead of the things of this world. I considered this very insightful. I wanted to add that I believe at our core, we have no concept of how to bear the fruit of any enitiy. But as the children of G-d, we are able to mirror His design and image. Stepping up to who he has called us to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eudora Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? The first being an anticipation of the expectations of the world and the second part being a reward for living our lives by the same code of ethics that Yah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jepkemboi Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Jesus in the Beatitudes defines the state and needs or weakness of man in the first part and, the way in which God fulfils the need in the second part. The paradox or irony is that Jesus says that those who are weak or needy are the ones who are blessed. It is only when we realize our position of need and dependence to God that we can truly be blessed because God is a loving God who meets the needs of His children. The relationship of the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit is that the latter is a direct result of the blessing that one gets from God arising from our need of His need for strength, comfort etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunga Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? -It is doing good and recieving blessings. -It is because the statement at the beginning sounds negative but the end is positive. -The fruit of the Spirit is a reward to the Beatitudes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? the beatitudes consist of a character trait of the kingdom citizens and the promised blessing God will endow the good news jesus proclaimed was for the poor .......those who saw their need and turned to Him for freedom and a new life provided only by God to those who understood their utterly bankrupt state (spiritually speaking)so Jesus spoke in paradox to show even more dramatically how different Gods ways were from the accepted norms of that day where outward compliance was more accepted without any inward conviction and renewal Jesus desired a heart conviction and a mind and life transformation these were those to whom the kingdom would be revealed and who could partake of His promised blessings the fruit of the spirit all correlate to the character traits the kingdom citizens would manifest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helenmm Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? Part 1 identifies categorieof people who are favoured by God with blessing Part 2 describes the particular blessing to be given to those so identified. We need a jolt to our thinking in order to appreciate the things God wants to show us, things that have remained hidden for ages but which are now revealed. They remained hidden precisely because they opposed everyday standard thinking. Occasionally individual men and women like King David and Mordecai were privy to God's thinking, but by and large it was an unknown quantity, and even a persecuted quantity eg n the days when Jeremiah was put down a well for revealing what God was wanting to tell Israel. Those who truly seek God must contend with an entirely new way of thinking. A good example is Nicodemus and his question about being born again, and Peter when for the first time he stood up and preached, unafraid, on the day of Pentecost. I think one needs to experience (be a producer of) the fruit of the Spirit (ie the results of the infilling of the Holy Spirit of the Living God) before one can truly begin to comprehend what Jesus is saying in the beatitudes. They are as much laws of the Spirit as the law of gravity is a natural law. Deep Christian experience will observe them as incontrovertible laws in exactly the same way as the laws of nature are not controversial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAJU Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? By comparing spiritual things with the material - there is a paradoz , coupled with a riddle-puzzle - in order that we understand the deper meaning We should mirror our character in the light of the beau-attitudes and strive for the friuts of the spirit revealed in gal 5.22 - more easier said than done !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mags Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Each Beatitude consists of a blessing and a reward. The paradoxes show that God will reward us - they show clearly that we don't have to have it all because God will still give us more. We will be rewarded, filled etc if we seek Him and continue to acknowledge that we don't have to 'have it all'. The fruits of the Spirit relate closely to the Beatitudes. It is by the fruits that we can live humbly etc. If we don't have the fruits we will become self-righteous and therefore, won't be poor in spirit etc. Some of the fruits are also similar to the qualities of the Beatitudes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? The word "Beatitude" comes from the Latin root beatus, "happy," from the past participle of Latin beare, "to bless." So the word "The Beatitudes" means "The Blessings." He made each Beatitude a paradox because He is standing conventional religious behavior and wisdom of the world on its head. In studying the Beatitudes, their paradoxial nature requires thought, reflection and prayer. Thus, insight, inspiration, and Christ-like, Godly lives bearing the fruits of the spirit. The fruit of the Spirit spring forth from applying the Beatitudes in our lives and thoughts directing our behavior. Changing our hearts, the very center of our being and soul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vice Posted January 16, 2008 Report Share Posted January 16, 2008 "Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts?" The first part is the Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 The two parts are: Blessing and what we need to do to receive that blessing. ( God's principles of righteousness and how to obtain that righteousness). To let us know how to live to please Him and how to enter the kingdom of God. The Fruit of the Spirit is also a way of life. It is a single minded way of life and walking in fellowship with God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surrenity Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 I believe that the blessing is contained in the second part of each beatitude. The first part of each beatitude speaks to our current condition in this fallen world and the heart attitudes that please God: poor in spirit, those who mourn, pure in heart, etc. The second part of each beatitude represents our future condition and our reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, once we are with God. They also speak to the blessings available to us in the here and now, once we are in Christ. Through faith in Christ we are made citizens of the Kingdom of God, and His Kingdom rule is active and sovereign in our lives and His blessings freely available to us in all their fullness. Jesus made each beatitude a paradox because He wanted to challenge and shake up the religious status quo. He was speaking to those who were being left out and shamed because of the strict religious laws and exclusivist teachings of the Pharisees and Scribes who believed that only Jews - and only those Jews who kept all their man-made laws - could receive God's blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace M. Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 The first part is the heart attitude He desires , and second part is the reward or promise for the Godly attitude. I think He wants us to see that His kingdom is upside down from the world's point of view. In the world, the greatest, is the most powerful, and sits at the pinnacle of a pyramid, if you will. His kingdom turns the pyramid paradigm upside down, and the least, most humble, greatest servants are at the top and the most gifted in the worlds eyes are at the bottom. His method seemed to be to jolt us into completely new thought patterns, and to start thinking about what He values rather than what the world values....almost always opposites. I loved the fruit of the Spirit part of the question, and will be thinking about that all week. Thank you to those who responded so eloquently on this. I'm really looking forward to studying with all of you, and know that I'll be enriched and challenged by your input. I'm new to computers, and it's taken me an hour to figure out how to post my response..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace M. Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? Greetings to all. I, too, am new to this system and to the Forum. All of your responses have enriched me and given me food for thought. Thank you My answer to Q1: The two parts of the beatitude are 1) The description of the recipient of the blessing and his/her attitude and 2) the explanation of why he/she/they is/are blessed The paradox made it clear to those who listened (and could understand) that Jesus' teaching was contrary to what was generally believed - not only by the religious leaders, but also by many of others who were present, even the disciples. These were totally new values. The fruit of the Spirit seems to me to be the evidence of the blessing in the lives of the poor in spirit, for example; they are no longer poor - they are now rich in a ninefold way! We sing a song that says (translated from Spanish) "...And now let the poor say, 'I am rich', let the weak say, 'I am strong' because of what He has done in me, and in you... A thousand thank yous." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwwalker Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Each of the Beatitudes consists of two parts: The blessing and the Paradox. Jesus made each Beatitude a Paradox, to establish the fact that, those who longed for the truth in God, according to God's Truth, would outshine and exists over the standards of what the world sees as "Truth." The worldy version or standard is based upon, "Me first." Or Accomplishments or acceptance by peers. Based on physical attainment in "our own" strength or by our "own actions." The worlds says, "I and I alone am responsible for my destiny"..But in God's Kingdom of truth, it is God, the Father, who has our destiny and all our accomplishments in His hands, according to his purpose and the counsel of His own will. The Kingdom thinking is the relying and believing in God, to accomplish "all things for us" according to his purpose. Man's idea is this : More riches, More Recognition, More of himself. While Jesus spoke of the Riches in the possession of His Kingdom, the recognition of Him as the Messiah, our Saviour, and in developing a closeness in a relationship to bring awareness more of God, in our lives causing a total acceptance and dependence upon God. The Beatitudes relate to the Fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-23 as the fruit is the result of God in our lives. The Beatitudues is our searching of God, to desire the fruit of his Presence in our lives, to be evident among men, in today's world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meandean Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? i think the first part is acknowledging we are sinners. we are empty and cannot come to god on our own means. there is nothing we can think, say or do to make us christians, we must yeild to god and his ways and the life of god will be openned to us.the relationship between galatians 5:22-23 and here is simple, your either walking in the spirit or your not. noone can live the beatitudes out appart from the spirit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 The two parts of each to each Beatitude ; One part is the blessed condiction or state of heart and mind and the second part is the promised result of God's Grace and Favor. I think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox so that those who were listening would hunger for the answers and want to understand how God truly wanted them to live. The relationship between the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit is the godly attitude ,the Christ like charateristic nature that Born Again Christians should walk in. For example, if we are peacemakers ,we are called sons of God and one of the fruits of the Spirit is Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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