Introduction

• Dan Kimball, How Not to Read the Bible

God’s Laws Through the Ages

Genesis 1 – Laws for Patriarchs

• Genesis 3; 6:14; 12
• Genesis 4 – Cain and Abel presenting offerings, showing they had been instructed to do so.
• Genesis 18:19

Exodus 20 – Law of Moses for Israel (Old Covenant)

• Exodus 19:3-6
• Deuteronomy 5:1-3
• This was Gid’s law for Israel. It was specific to that group.

Prophets – Laws for Gentiles

• Isaiah 13:1; 14:29; 15:1; 18:1; 19:1; 21:11, 13 – Examples of God giving instructions to Gentiles.
• Jeremiah 46; Amos 1
• Romans 4:15 – Without law, there is no sin.
• Jonah 1:2 – The Ninevites evidently knew God’s laws.

Transition: Jesus Lived Under the Old Covenant, Taught the New Covenant

• Matthew 5:17-18 – Jesus came to fulfill the law.
• Matthew 4:23

Acts 2 – Law of Christ for ALL (New Covenant)

• Hebrews 1:1-2

• Acts 2:36-39

• Acts 10 – Law is for Gentiles also!

  • Acts 10:34-35

  • Galatians 3:28

• John 12:48 – Jesus’ law will carry on until the last day.

• Romans 1:16

Study each passage in its context to determine its relevance to us.

• Generally, the New Testament is for us, the Old Testament is not. But even that is an oversimplification.
• Not everything in the Old Testament is irrelevant.
• Not everything in the New Testament is an instruction for us.

Attitudes toward giving (continued)

• Elements of giving, continued

  • Planning

    • Giving should not be haphazard, but done with proper planning and management. II Corinthians 9:7

    • Demands thought, premeditation, intent

      • Strike a balance between church collection and charity

      • II Corinthians 8:13-14

    • Consider the gift itself

      • It’s ours – Acts 5:3-5

      • God placed it in our care

  • Following through

    • Determining to do what we’ve purposed

      • Called to be steadfast – I Corinthians 15:58

      • Sign of maturity – Ephesians 4:14-16

    • Review and revise the plan

      • The OODA loop – Observe, Orient, Decide, Act

      • Incomes and circumstances change

      • Ability to “do less with more”

        • Learned trait

        • Comes with time, practice, and purpose

• Individual charitable giving

  • Who is needy? Psalms 41:1-3

  • Where do we find them?

  • What are they in need of? Isaiah 58:6-11; Romans 5:6

  • Acts 4:7-10 – Jesus helped the helpless. We should stribe to do the same.

  • How much to give?

    • According to need and ability.

    • Final rule is within the heart – II Corinthians 9:6-11

    • Example at the judgment – Matthew 25:32-46

    • Act of faith – James 2:15-17

Introduction

• II Peter 1:5-11

Moral excellence (virtue)

• Philippians 2:19-23, 25-30 – Epaphroditus had been entrusted to carry money to Paul. Paul called him a “fellow worker.”
• We want our children to be workers for the Lord. Don’t make excuses for your children to get them out of work for the Lord!

Knowledge

• Colossians 1:3-10
• Do our children know how to serve God?

Self-control (temperance)

• I Corinthians 9:24-27 – Paul had to exercise self-control often in dealing with things that happened to him.
• Our children need experience with self-control and self-denial.

Perseverance (patience, steadfastness)

• Romans 5:3-4
• We have to allow our children to persevere. They need opportunities to grow and build character.
• I Corinthians 10:13
• There is value in the struggle. The struggle causes us to grow!
• If we jump in and help every time our children face a challenge, they will never develop perseverance.

Godliness

• I Timothy 4:7-8; 6:3, 5-6, 11
• Godliness is about dedication to God.
• The most important thing is serving God!

Brotherly kindness

• I John 4:5

Love

• Romans 13:10

Conclusion

• II Peter 1:8
• Are we raising our kids so they will be useful to God?

Eliphaz (Job 22:1-30)

• Eliphaz assumes God is punishing Job, which is a false assumption. He insists that Job needs to repent and get right with God. Be careful what you assume! Starting with a false premise leads to error.

Job (Job 23:1-24:25)

• Job 23:1-9 – Job longs to speak to God.
• Job 23:12-17 – Job still has his faith in God, but is dismayed and confused.
• Job 24:1-12 – Job complains that it seems God doesn’t care about punishing sin.
• Job 24:18-25 – Job acknowledges that the wicked finally meet their end.

Bildad (Job 25:1-6)

• God is so perfect and glorious that no human can stand before Him.

Job (Job 26:1-31:40)

• Job 26:1-4 – Job is not impressed with his friends!
• Job 27:7-23 – Job still sees justice in the world.
• Job 28:1-28 – Wisdom is not a physical item that can be mined from the earth.
  • Job 28:23-28 – God understands wisdom. Fearing God is wisdom!
• Job’s friends had less confidence in Job than God did. We should strive to have God’s confidence, not that of our friends. We should also show the kind of confidence in God that Job did!
• Job 29:1-2 – Job longs for the good ol’ days.
• Job 31:1-40 – Job declares his innocence in various ways.

What does the scripture say?

• I John 1

• “Grace means I don’t have to do anything!”

  • I John 1:5-6; 2:3-6

  • Hebrews 5:9

  • This is a wrong conclusion!

• “Grace means I know/do everything perfectly!”

  • I John 1:8, 10; Luke 18:9-14

  • This is also a wrong conclusion!

• “Grace means I walk in the light and have fellowship with Him.”

  • I John 1:7-9

  • Romans 6:4; Colossians 3:1; II Peter 1:8

  • Walking in light vs darkness

    • I John 2:1

    • Examples of walking in the light

      • Acts 2:41 – Jewish misunderstanding abounded, but they were saved that day! They still needed to grow.

      • Acts 16:32-34 – The jailer rejoiced in his salvation even though he had much growing to do.

      • I Corinthians 1:1-9 – The Corinthians still had plenty of problems to solve, but they were sanctified in Christ Jesus. I Corinthians 15:1-2

      • Colossians 1:9; 2:20-22 – They still needed to learn and grow! They also had some false practices to clean up. Colossians 1:3-5

      • I Thessalonians 1:2-3, 9-10 – Judgment was a comforting thought to the Thessalonians. They had confidence in their salvation. They were recovering idolaters, but they had hope!

So have confidence!

• I John 2:28; 4:17 – If we are constantly fretting about the judgment, something is wrong!
• Romans 4:1-8 – Abraham’s belief saved him – not his good deeds.