Bible Study With Jairus

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 12

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 12

Leviticus 12 is a short but intriguing chapter. In this discussion, we will focus on the specific laws, which may seem strange to us today.  This chapter describes how when a woman gives birth to a son, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days and must stay at home for 33 days, but when she gives birth to a daughter, she will be ceremonially unclean for two weeks and she must stay at home for 66 days. This discussion will focus on that law and the reason for the differences.  (Leviticus 12:1-5). Why does it take twice as long for the woman to be unclean when giving birth to a daughter?

Does the Bible discriminate against women? It may sound this way to the modern ear, but when we take a closer look and understand the culture of the time, we realize that this is not a discrimination against women. When a woman gives birth to a boy, she will be ceremonially unclean for 7 days, but on the 8th day the boy is to be circumcised (NIV, Leviticus 12:3).  This represents that the flesh is being dealt with. But the girl will not be circumcised, so it took twice as long being unclean, which means that it would take longer to experience spiritual cleansing and become spiritually mature. Boys also represent a strong part of the people of God; they are willing to accept being circumcised by God, which represents dealing of the cross and becoming a strong people of God. Girls represent a weak part of the people of God. They may not have experienced circumcision and the cross, so they need double grace and additional time to being perfected by God before they could become clean and mature.

This does not mean that girls are inferior to boys.  David established a principle that those who went out to the battle and those who stayed with the supplies would both share the spoils. It is not only those who go to battle who benefit from their victory. Those who stayed home also benefited. This reveals that God will raise men, God's strong people to achieve victory in battles. But with regards to God's weaker people, He will also look after them. This is what the Bible means when it says that He will treat the parts that are unpresentable with abundant and complementary love and grace.

Spiritually, each of us is like a woman.  We are all Mary. Our spirits are all spiritual wombs, in which the seeds of God's immortal words are sown, and the life of Christ is born in us. But not every pregnant woman’s child can be born easily. There are abortions and premature death.   The same is true spiritually. Although some people may hear the gospel, they are not always reborn. There are also others that have been reborn and saved, but are not free from sin and weakness, and have not lived a victorious life; while still others are free from sin, but have not achieved spiritual maturity. Every Christian can achieve spiritual maturity, which is what the man child represents. But many people have not reached spiritual maturity by the end of their journey on earth, so they still need to continue learning in heaven.

On the individual side, the man child represents the maturity of our spiritual life as Christians. But this maturity does not come automatically. It comes at a price. Here, circumcision represents the price we have to pay. Only when we die to ourselves and the world can we reach spiritual maturity. Circumcision is a physical way to give a part of yourself.  It symbolizes sacrifice.

The woman can also represent the church. As a woman, the church collectively is predestined to bear a man child. There is a woman in Revelation 12 that may be a representation of the church. The man child born later may be a representation of God's strong people, because this man child will rule all the nations with an iron scepter, and was snatched up to God and to his throne (NIV, Revelation 12:5). The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days (NIV, Revelation 12:6).

I don't know if you agree with the statement of the woman representing the church and the man child representing the victor, but that was the teaching I received in the Local Church Movement. I remember when I was attending meetings at a church in Baltimore, I was often tended in love by a brother and his wife. When my wife and I were infertile and seeking medical treatment, he often helped us through acupuncture, hoping to help us. While doing acupuncture, he also shared some spiritual provisions in order to comfort us. He told us that the first time he heard the explanation of Witness Lee, the leader of the Local Church Movement, about the woman and the man child, he was very encouraged.

This brother described Witness Lee's teaching as follows: Most churches are like women, and the few victors are each a man child. Without a woman, there would not be a man child. Therefore, among the churches, even families and couples, there are people who seem to be the women, nurturing and perfecting man childs; while others are man childs who accept perfection and who reach maturity in the end. Even in a family, unbelievers persecute those who believe, and those who turn away persecute those who love the Lord more. God often arranges an environment in churches and houses to allow us to experience the lessons of the cross. Some people, like Joseph's brothers, were used by God to perfect Joseph. Joseph's brothers were like the women here. They played the role of nurturing and perfecting Joseph. Some people are like Joseph. They are in a position of being persecuted, but in the end they are perfected and have become victorious. Most people in the church are like women, but the few victors are the man childs. Most people, God will use to perfect and mold others. Some, however, God will bring to perfection.

This brother told me that when he heard this teaching, he sighed, and said that he was determined not to just be a person whom God used to perfect others, someone who will learn how to bear the cross and become a spiritually mature person. He said that he hoped to experience the death on the cross to let the life of Christ be fully mature in him.

His words had a great influence on me. God had used my marriage and the difficulties of my wife’s ten years of infertility to give me a lot of trials and training. Many times, I have to die to myself again and again, but I am not willing to die. Sometimes, I asked the Lord, “Why do I have to give in, admit my mistakes and change every time? Why don't you change my wife?” I prayed to the Lord many times. The inspiration that the Lord gave me is like when Peter was asking the Lord Jesus about John. "What about him?” And the Lord's answer to him was "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” (NIV, John 21:21-22).

The Lord told me that He wants me to learn the lesson of obedience through this environment. I was unable to obey in the beginning. I could only kneel down and pray before the Lord, asking Him to help me. At that time, Satan often spoke to me, provoking me to quarrel with my wife through the flesh. I experienced a deep internal battle. God overwhelmed me through the situation of marriage and infertility. Deep inside, I refused to be obedient, so I was in a lot of pain. During our ten years of infertility, in addition to being used by God to build my faith in Him, He also used it to deal with my flesh, allowing me to experience death on the cross.

After a long process, with countless prayers and tears, I finally gradually moved towards being obedient to God. I am also grateful for the marriage God had arranged for me. I sincerely realized that all the difficulties I experienced were tailored to me by God, and my wife was just a tool in God's hands. After I had fully obeyed God from my heart through all the situations that He arranged for me, I sincerely thanked my wife and everyone around me.  I then experienced a breakthrough in my spiritual life. I am not saying that I have won all my spiritual battles. However, I did experience a great breakthrough.

In 2016, after ten years of marriage, I experienced a miraculous healing from God - He gave us a miraculous baby. Before and after this, the Lord appeared to me many times. Once, he appeared to me in a dream as an eagle with multicolored wings covering almost the entire sky. He told me how the great eagle is perfecting the little eagle.  He will also train me personally. On the last day of 2017, I was even taken up to heaven in a dream. The Lord Jesus personally said to me that if I would be obedient, He would greatly use me. There are still many problems in me that God needs to continue to deal with, but I did experience a spiritual breakthrough.

Looking back at this difficult process, I know that it is very difficult for us to give birth to a child whether physically or spiritually. Many people long for spiritual maturity, but not everyone is willing to pay the price. I rarely talk about this experience. I remember that Watchman Nee had said that an apple tree does not need to tell how deep its roots are, as long as it bears a lot of fruit, others will know how deep its roots are. Similarly, a spiritual person does not need to talk about how he experienced the cross. As long as he lives the abundance of life and bears rich fruits, others will know how deep he has been dealt with by the cross.

It is also okay if I choose not to obey. I have my own free will. But then, God's calling for me will be hindered. I remember hearing the testimony of Kathryn Kuhlman, a healing evangelist. She said that when God gave her the healing anointing, He told her that she was not His first choice. Before that, God tried to give this anointing to another man, but that person refused to obey, so God did not give him this anointing. Therefore, as an individual Christian, many people may not be able to give birth to this child. This child may be salvation, or spiritual maturity, or it may be a ministry entrusted to us by God, or obedience to God so that God can use us. Many times, obeying the Lord is a difficult task. I know when I obeyed, I was able to receive from God and grow and mature.

Genesis 3 records that the descendants of the woman would crush the serpent's head, and that women have to suffer through the pain of childbearing. Paul said, “Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (NIV, 1Timothy 2:14-15). Christians have many different views with regards to the meaning of “women will be saved through childbearing”. My personal view is that not only can women be saved because they have suffered, but that they can always have children through childbearing, and they may become the woman who bears the “descendant of the woman”. For example, God only promised that Eve's descendants would crush the serpent’s head, but did not promise when this will happen. The descendants of the woman may refer to Christ, because He crushed the serpent's head on the cross. Before the coming of Jesus Christ, every time a man child was born, it may have been Christ. Although Christ was destined to be born in Bethlehem as a Lion of the tribe of Judah, this was revealed later. So perhaps when Eve gave birth to Cain, she might have thought that he was a descendant of that woman. Cain means "get". After giving birth to Cain, Eve said "Jehovah, I have brought forth a man." (NIV, Genesis 4:1). From the meaning of the name and Eve’s words, we can guess that Eve might have thought that Cain was the "descendant of the women" that Jehovah promised. Unfortunately, this was not the case. But this does not mean that the hope brought by each birth of a boy is not true. This hope is true. Christ has already come in the flesh.

The descendants of this woman can also be a victorious man child, as shown in in Revelation 12 because they represent God’s judgment of fallen angels. Revelation 12 recorded that after the man child was brought to God, war had broken out in heaven as recorded in verses 7-9. In the end, the devil and his angels were hurled to the earth. In addition to our hope of the return of the Lord Jesus, the birth of this man child is also the hope of the church.

The most important thing for each of us as Christians is to be spiritually mature on earth and give birth to the man child in ourselves. Unfortunately, many people did not give birth to this spiritual maturity. I often listen to Rick Joyner’s preaching, a prophet in the United States. He often mentioned in his message that the prevalence of abortion in the United States is a natural manifestation of spiritual abortion in the church. Many Christians have buried the calls and gifts that God has given them, and have aborted all the “spiritual children or dreams” that God has given them. When he was thinking about how to deal with the prevalence of abortion in the United States, he heard God say to him, “Your church is also like that”. In his preaching, he reminded Christians not to bury God’s inspiration, dreams, leading and gifts for them so that they could give birth to this spiritual life or spiritual ministry.

A Christian attending the meeting was encouraged by this light. She said: "I feel very hopeful that each of us is Mary spiritually, but the key is whether we can give birth to children and push them out." Many Christians have experienced a spiritual miscarriage as Christ who is the head, did not mature and grow in them. They didn’t grow into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness.  This does not mean that God has abandoned them. They will experience God's double grace and mercy. It is like what Paul said that God would treat the parts that are unpresentable with special modesty (1 Corinthians 12:23-24). They are like those who went up with David to chase after the enemies and those who stayed with the supplies. Although they could divide the spoils, David still had to rely on a small number of warriors to chase after the enemy, win, rescue the captives and recover the plunder. For God to fulfill His purpose on earth, He requires a small number of victors to cooperate with Him to reach spiritual maturity.

My testimony sharing ends here. I hope that my testimony and experience can help you better understand the spiritual significance of the story that I was talking about here. Let's look back at Numbers 12:1-8 again. We have already talked about verses 1-5, which is about the difference in days of purification of the woman after giving birth to a boy and a girl. The third verse specifically mentions that the boy is to be circumcised on the eighth day. Verse 6 (NIV) says when the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. The priest shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. (NIV, Leviticus 12:7). If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean (NIV, Leviticus 12:8). The whole chapter ends here.

The same is true when Paul says "women will be saved through childbearing" in 1 Timothy 2. The church, as represented by the woman, must bear a certain number of victors (man child), in order to meet the conditions of the second coming of Jesus. But when the man child is born and when a part of God’s plan has been completed, God will continue to perfect this woman so that she may mature.

Therefore, the circumcision makes the male baby clean, and childbearing makes the woman clean. This is why a woman stays unclean for a longer period of time when she gives birth to a female child.

Xiulan Laiwang of Taiwan mentioned her testimony of heaven in her book "Jehovah Jirah". She said that in the valley outside the paradise, there are some Christians who are being disciplined and studying the Bible and spiritual truths, and some mature people are specifically keeping watch over them and help them (pages 160 -161). She saw her mother-in-law and dad studying the Bible in paradise. In paradise, there is an angel in each family who is teaching them the Bible (page 45). Xiulan Laiwang said that her father and mother-in-law had received salvation when they were already old. They had no chance to study the Bible on earth, so they still have to study the Bible in paradise. She reminded Christians on earth that if they did not study the Bible well on earth, they would still have to make up missed lessons in the future so they need to seize the opportunity on earth. I was also taken to a place where my father-in-law was in a dream (I am not sure if it was paradise or a valley outside the paradise that Xiulan Laiwang mentioned). I saw many people there. An old, Chinese lady sitting at the door even showed me the Large Print Bible she was reading. I believe that my father-in-law did not believe in the Lord during his lifetime, but I believe he did not perish nor was he in the lake of fire. Thank God, they still have the opportunity to continue to study the Bible in after life. I don’t know how to explain this theologically but it was one my spiritual experiences. Perhaps God judged him by his conscience, as Roman 1 suggests.

Heaven is just the beginning, not the end. If some people reach spiritual maturity on earth, they will be used by God in the afterlife to help train many other people who are not spiritually mature. What's more, if we reach spiritual maturity on earth, we can be used by God today to bless many people. Why not? May we all be able to nurture, give birth, push out the "man child" - God's calling, gifts, entrustment, and ministry to us, and more importantly, spiritual maturity.

 

 

The Intercession of the Holy spirit Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 8

The Intercession of the Holy spirit

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 8

 

Defining the Groaning of the Spirit

Romans 8 is a very familiar chapter for Christians. Many are familiar with verses such as, "For the law of the Spirit of life has set youfree in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death" (ESV, Romans 8:2) and "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." (ESV, Romans 8:6). These verses are often quoted by Christians when they are talking about their spiritual experiences. But the focus of our Bible study this time was the meaning of the verse that talks about "the Spirit’s groaning" (8:26).

Let’s take a look at the verses in Romans 8:26-28 first.

8:26 (ESV) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 

8:27 (ESV) And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, becausethe Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

8:28 (ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 

Different Interpretations

What does the groaning of the Holy Spirit mean in these verses? The original Greek is word is στεναγμός (stenagmos), which translates to groaning. It is not controversial if you take it literally, but in terms of spiritual experience, there are different interpretations.

The Local Church Movement’s explanation is closer to the literal translation. The teaching I received in the Local Church Movement said that sometimes, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings when we are struggling in the flesh and cannot overcome a struggle. We can also pray through groanings. We can pray prayers such as, “Oh, God, I can’t overcome this weakness, and there's nothing I can do about it. Please help me. Oh, how I wish I wasn’t like this!”

There was a period during my spiritual journey when I was disappointed with some of my fleshy behaviors, so I often prayed with groanings, asking the Holy Spirit to help me overcome these difficulties. I found it very useful, and God listened to my prayers and helped me overcome these weaknesses.

But when I went to study in the Pentecostal Movement later, the explanation I heard was quite different. One explanation was that the unspeakable groanings here could be applied to praying in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 - “For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.” (ESV, 1 Corinthians 14:2). So when a believer is praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit will intercede for them with groanings. These charismatic teachers explained that God asked us to intercede for all people (1 Timothy 2:1) and also to pray for the enemy (Matthew 5:44).  However, many times we cannot overcome our mind and emotional constraints, so we intercede less for our enemies and the people we don’t know. But when we are praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit can intercede for us with unspeakable groanings, thus taking the role of interceding for all people and those in the body of Christ.

 

Perspectives from Different Backgrounds

I heard Kenneth E. Hagin, a pastor of the faith movement in the United States, telling the following story many times. The story was about an American missionary to Africa who encountered a tribe that kidnapped a family's daughter under his care. This missionary decided to rescue the child personally. When he got there, he gave the tribal chief a gift, and the tribal chief promised to release the child to him. But when he was on his way back with the child, the tribal chief set up an ambush. The tribal chief wanted to kill the missionary and capture the girl again. In this moment of danger, the missionary suddenly saw the indigenous people who had been attacking him begin to kneel in front of him. It turned out that these indigenous people had seen huge angels protecting the missionary and the girl, which scared them. At the exact same time, this was happening, some Christian friends of the missionary in the United States couldn’t sleep at night. They felt a heavy burden in the spirit to pray, but they didn’t know why or how to pray, so they knelt down and prayed in tongues. They prayed until early morning before the burden was released, and they could go back to sleep. When the missionary returned from Africa, and they talked about these things, they realized that the time these intercessors were called to pray was the exact time the missionary encountered danger in Africa. The Holy Spirit had moved these intercessors to pray for the missionary when he encountered danger, and it miraculously freed him and the child from danger.

Andrew Wommack, a pastor with an American Baptist background, shared a similar experience. When I had just left the Local Church Movement to study the teachings of the Pentecostal Movement, I listened to a lot of his preaching. Because his journey began in the Baptist church, and they are extremely opposed to praying in tongues, how he experienced a breakthrough and started praying in tongues helped me a lot. The teaching of the Local Church Movement is also against speaking in tongues, so I experienced the same breakthrough and started praying in tongues. Andrew Wommack talked about an experience in which his son had a car accident. Before he knew about it, he felt a heavy burden in his spirit to pray, but he did not know why or how to pray. He and his wife began to pray in tongues until the burden of prayer was released. He later learned that they felt burdened to pray at the exact same time that his son had a car accident. Because of their prayers and God's protection, their son was safe and sound, although his car was completely totaled. He also shared another example where a person accidentally fell off a cliff. His relatives felt burdened to pray and didn't know what happened, so they just prayed in tongues. Later, the person who fell off the cliff was also miraculously saved.

When we pray in tongues, we often intercede for others. We may not fully know ourselves, but the Holy Spirit fully knows us. We also may not fully know God's will for us, but the Holy Spirit knows God's will for us. Therefore, when we are praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit often intercedes for us according to God's will for us.

 

Personal Example of Divine Help

I also have many examples of receiving divine help when I prayed in tongues. One example was the topic for a "history essay" on my recent doctoral dissertation. The topic of my doctoral dissertation is "Comparing the practice of prophecy in the Local Church Movement and the Charismatics.” My general argument is that the practice of prophecy and PSRP (Pray-reading, Study, Recite, Prophesying) in the Local Church Movement is very helpful for believers to create a solid foundation with the Bible. Through this, they can experience transformation by the Word, which is valuable, and the Pentecostal Movement and other churches would benefit from it. Although there are false prophecies that are put into practice in the Pentecostal Movement, there are also many true prophecies. Once these miraculous revelations from God are released, they will greatly encourage the faith of many brothers and sisters. These revelations would also benefit the Local Church Movement and other evangelical churches. One chapter of the doctoral dissertation must be a history essay. I had to write about a character or a movement from 100 years ago that was related to the topic that I’ll be writing in my dissertation. What historical figure or movement from 100 years ago could be related to both the Local Church Movement and the Pentecostal Movement?

When I started, I thought of writing about Hudson Taylor. He was a historical figure that lived over 100 years ago, and he was a missionary to China. It is said that he saw a vision of countless Chinese people lining up to go to hell on the coast of England. This vision wasn’t closely related to the Pentecostal Movement's emphasis on prophetic visions and dreams, and it had nothing to do with the history of the Local Church Movement. My mind was not sharp enough, and I felt slow on the draw. I really couldn’t think of a better person or a suitable topic, so I decided to pray in tongues and ask the Holy Spirit to help me. I went out and prayed in tongues for an hour, and when I came back, I suddenly received inspiration. I started thinking of a comment related to John Nelson Darby that I had read after I left the Local Church Movement. The Holy Spirit often speaks to us by reminding us of things that we have seen. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would remind his disciples what the Lord has said to them (John 14:26).

I had read a comment that had to do with the Brethren Movement led by Darby, which took place around 1820. At that time, manifestations of Pentecostalism happened in the said movement. There were Pentecostal manifestations such as praying in tongues, healing, and prophesying that occurred in some meetings. But because Darby and some leaders believed that gifts belonged only to the apostolic age, they negate the birth of these Pentecostal Movements. Although the Pentecostal Movement was rekindled in the "Holiness Movement" (a denomination influenced by John Wesley) in the United States around 1900, God's will was for the Pentecostal Movement to emerge early in the Brethren Movement. However, because of the suppression of Darby and others, this birth was killed.

The Local Church Movement highly praises Darby and his teaching. But in the teaching I received in the Local Church Movement, I had never heard about this Charismatic manifestation regarding Darby and the brethren. I checked Darby's biography and the history of the Plymouth Brothers, and this manifestation was indeed there.

Therefore, I chose Darby and the Plymouth Movement as the topic of my history essay. I examined how Darby was saved, how he served as a pastor in the Anglican Church, and how he saw the corruption of the Anglican Church. Because of the corruption, he broke ties with institutionalized Christianity and the influence of the world and embarked on a path of pursuing holiness. Under his influence, a large number of wealthy Brethren members donated their property and embarked on the path of willingness to serve God in poverty. This occurred to such an extent that a local theater shut down where the revival took place. The theater owner didn’t even blame them. He instead joined them in their path of devotion to God.

I also thought about how Brother Watchman Nee of the Local Church Movement highly praised Darby's books "Synopsis of The Books of The Bible" and recommended them to Witness Lee. Witness Lee was deeply influenced by Darby and later by Cyrus I. Scofield's correspondence course, which shaped his theology. A story that caused Witness Lee to have great admiration for Darby was about a time when Darby, who was 84 and had never been married, was staying in a small inn alone and prayed, "Lord, I still love you." Witness Lee used Darby as an example to encourage the brothers and sisters in the Local Church Movement to learn from Darby's spirit of loving and sacrificing to the Lord. This story about Darby and Witness Lee’s prayers based on it were all composed as songs, and the poems written by Darby were widely sung in the Local Church Movement. The spirit and the dedication of Darby and the Plymouth Brethren to seek holiness and truth deeply influenced the Local Church Movement.

After looking back through the history of these events, I reviewed the details of the manifestations of the Pentecostal Movement among the Plymouth Brethren. I quoted how Darby believed that the gifts belonged only to the Apostolic Age and not in today’s era, which killed the birth of the Pentecostal Movement. I have no historical evidence to prove that the attitude of the Local Church Movement towards the Pentecostal Movement was influenced by Darby. But for various reasons, the Local Church Movement refuses to have any interaction with the Pentecostal Movement after several encounters with it. One of their main reasons for not wanting to interact is that they believe the Pentecostal Movement overemphasizes pursuing gifts, which they believe can affect Christians' pursuit of a deeper spiritual life.

After submitting my history essay, my DMin (Doctor of Ministry) advisor read it and said that his background was with the Wesleyan Church, and he didn't know that much about Darby's history. Although he believed that John Wesley was more influential and had a greater impact on the later rise of the Pentecostal Movement, he was still impressed with me for linking the Local Church Movement to the Charismatic Movement in my dissertation and found it deeply inspirational. In addition, he said that my history essay was also connected with the arguments of my overall thesis. My argument is that if we can learn to put the prophecies and PSRP of the Local Church Movement into practice, it will help fellow believers pursue holiness and spiritual maturity. In addition, if we can also pursue the prophecies and gifts of the Pentecostal Movement, it will help the church make better use of God's gifts when ministering to people. In the end, holiness and power and the Word and the Spirit will converge. The church will be full of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, bringing greater revival to the church.

The theme and completion of this history essay were completely inspired by the Holy Spirit after I went out and prayed in tongues for an hour because I had no idea what to write about that day. Looking at the few examples above, the Spirit’s groaning being interpreted as prayer in tongues cannot be completely far-fetched.

 

Situations that Hinder the Holy Spirit’s Leading

During our study, we were inspired by the Holy Spirit in a different aspect, which is also very consistent with my personal spiritual experience. The Holy Spirit lives in us and often inspires and leads us. But there are two situations where the Holy Spirit cannot lead us. The first is when we are not obedient. The Holy Spirit may have inspired us many times, but because of our disobedience, the Holy Spirit has no way to get through to us. Therefore, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf to Jesus and our Heavenly Father with unspeakable groanings, asking the Heavenly Father to arrange the environment and difficulties around us to allow us to learn to obey through the environment.

This secret is revealed in verses 8:27-28 (ESV), "He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Here, the "one who searches the heart” is the Lord or the Father, because the Lord searches all hearts. The Father knows the groanings of the Holy Spirit within us because the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s will. It is like the Holy Spirit saying to Jesus and the Heavenly Father: "As you can see, I have been moving him to repent, but he never listens. What should we do? Maybe we should arrange some difficulties for him? People just don’t repent if they are not disciplined. It seems that a little discipline is needed for the stubborn people." The Father understands the Holy Spirit, so He arranges environments (that He allows) to lead us into repentance. Many times, people only draw near to God when they need to be saved or to be set free from a certain sin or weakness. This is something common to many Christians. A woman in our Bible study very much agreed with this statement because her own experience also proved that she could not obey when God did not use discipline. It wasn’t until later, when God arranged a difficult environment, that she drew near to God. I also have many experiences similar to these and have experienced God changing the environment around me, so I am very familiar with this subject.

Verse 28 specifically states that all things work together for good for those who love God. God hears the intercession of the Holy Spirit and arranges difficulties in the environment not to harm us, but for our own good (ESV, Hebrews 12:10). When we encounter difficulties, we often doubt God’s love for us. However, Romans 8:28 states that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (ESV, Romans 8:31-39). These verses are closely related to the intercession of the Holy Spirit that was mentioned above.

Now that we have discussed the first situation, which dealt with us not obeying God's inspiration and leading, we can move on to the second. The second situation is that our minds may not understand God's leading and inspiration. I also have many experiences with this. Around 2015, God had been leading me to leave the Local Church Movement to study the Pentecostal Movement in preparation for the convergence in the future. Later the Lord appeared to me in a dream, and He also talked about this convergence. However, my mind at the time couldn't understand God's leading. My Christian experience and theology were completely shaped by the teachings of the Local Church Movement. If I went to the Pentecostal Movement to study, I would be considered an apostate. I was full of fear and uncertainty. And I had not dared to take this step. Therefore, the Holy Spirit interceded for me with unspeakable groanings. The Heavenly Father then arranged an environment for me. My wife was infertile for ten years, and people from the Local Church Movement could not help us solve this problem. Because of this, the Holy Spirit inspired me to look for people in the Pentecostal Movement with the gift of prophecy and the gift of healing to pray for us and help us. Though it was a slow process, I gradually opened my eyes and realized there was a lot of abundance outside the Local Church Movement. I also found that there were many areas in the Pentecostal Movement being stigmatized, and the Pentecostal Movement actually had many truths and true gifts.

When I asked for prayer and help in the Local Church Movement, we did not receive healing. Our various attempts through IVF and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments also failed. In the end, God Himself spoke to me and told us the child’s gender and specific time of birth through prophetic prophecies. Finally, my wife became pregnant, and we received a miracle baby. God had spoken to me and tried to lead me many times, but because I was slow on the draw and unable to break from traditional teachings, I did not understand and couldn't follow His leading. Therefore, the Holy Spirit interceded with groanings to our Heavenly Father to arrange various environments for me. In a way, I could say that He forced me to leave the Local Church Movement to go learn the truths and gifts in the Pentecostal Movement.

From the examples I shared above, and from my personal experiences, you can see that the Holy Spirit sometimes talks with the Father and the Lord Jesus through unspeakable groanings. In verse 27, where it says, (ESV), "he who searches hearts," it is talking about God the Father Himself. When the Father hears the groaning of the Holy Spirit within us, He will arrange environments for us and discipline us. Knowing this, you should understand that if you obey or understand and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, you will have fewer environmental difficulties in your life. Every difficulty is specially permitted by God and the Heavenly Father to help you learn a specific lesson and become spiritually mature. You can never go wrong by listening to God.

I hope these words bless you. I pray that you can obey and understand the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life. If you are facing a certain difficulty, I also pray that you are able to see the will of Heavenly Father for you.

 

 

Victory in Jesus Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 5

Victory in Jesus

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 5

Romans 5 continues the discussion of justification by faith, and takes it a step further. This chapter reassures believers that if they were reconciled to God while they were still his enemies, how much more will they be saved by his life! (ESV, Romans 5:10).

In the second half of the chapter, Romans 5 uses the word “reign” in four different contexts. Today, we will discuss the relationship of these four “reigns.”

The first time the word appears is in verse 14: "Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses." (ESV) Verse 17 says, “For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." (ESV) Both verses are discussing the reign of death.

The second use of the word “reign” is the reference to believers, who have received abundance of grace, who will “reign in life.” (Romans 5:17 ESV)

Reign is also mentioned twice in verse 21: “so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (ESV) In this verse, the sin that reigns in death is contrasted with the grace that reigns through righteousness.

Let’s look at these concepts in detail. First, God tells us that death reigns. The power of death was in the hands of Satan. When Jesus won the victory on the cross, he seized the keys of death and hell.

How and when does death reign? Verse 14 clearly says that death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. A question remained: did death continue to reign from the time of Moses to the time of Christ? Why doesn’t the verse say that death reigned from the time of Adam to the time when Jesus came?

We know that after Christ’s coming, He reigned in righteousness through “grace.” The reign of grace in these passages refers to the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, believers can reign in life through Jesus Christ. Finally, the passage explains that sin reigned in death. This fact may answer the question we posed. Perhaps death reigned from Adam to Moses, and then sin reigned through death from the time the law was given to the time when the Lord Jesus came. This period is called the Age of Law.

These reigns can be a bit confusing, so let’s look at them in more detail through the lens of four people who reigned.

The Reign of Satan.

The first person who reigned was Satan, who is the embodiment of death. Originally, before the fall of man, Adam reigned in the Garden of Eden. He controlled everything. God instructed him to rule over all the plants and animals in the garden, including the serpent which represented Satan. But the serpent enticed Eve. Adam and Eve violated God’s command by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the process, they accepted death (which is Satan himself), Adam lost his position of authority, and the world was given over to Satan. During Jesus’ temptation in the desert, Satan mentioned that he had the authority to give the entire world to Jesus if He worshipped him. It appears that Satan did receive the authority to rule the world from Adam. In other words, the first person to reign following Adam’s sin was Satan (death). Romans 5:12 says, “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." (ESV) Adam’s sin brought in death, which is Satan’s essence. Satan’s reign of death came into the world through Adam’s sin.

When God created man, he breathed his life into the dust of the ground. A living soul was created (Genesis 2:7). When Satan counterfeits the work of God, he combines our weakness with his own evil influence to create a fallen, sinful Adam. This sinful Adam has completely internalized the rule of sin.

Verse 13 continues, "For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.” (ESV) What does this mean? Let me give an example. My wife suggested that we should not discipline our little daughter before the age of three. Instead, we should let her play and enjoy her childhood. But when she is three years old, we should start to set rules for her. If she makes mistakes, we should discipline her. This is what establishing the law means. God is our Father: the father of Christians, the father of the Israelites, and the father of all mankind. God did not count sins against us before the law was established, because we didn’t know any better. Since Satan tricked Eve, this sin was charged to Satan’s account, not ours.

After Adam sinned, God promised that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). This prophecy refers to Jesus Christ. He came to destroy Satan, the serpent of old. Christ was not only born of a virgin, but he was also born under the law (Galatians 3:24). The Age of Law is no longer included in the Reign of Death. Why?

First, the law sounded Satan's death knell. When I was young, I used to shoot off firecrackers every year at our Chinese New Year celebration. As a very young child, I enjoyed firecrackers, but I was afraid of burning myself. Our next-door neighbor’s fingers were blown off by firecrackers, so I invented a way to protect myself from them. I wrapped a long strip of paper around the firecracker core to serve as a very long wick. I would light the paper and have time to run away before the firecracker exploded. I watched the paper burn slowly until it finally lit the firecracker.

Once the paper was lit, a chain of events had been set in motion that would ultimately and inevitably lead to lighting the firecracker. In the same way, once the law was given, the chain of events had been set in motion to usher in the salvation of Christ. The purpose of the law was to bring us to Christ (Romans 14:4). Although Jesus Christ came long after the law was given, the heavenly plan had already been set in motion. Like the firecracker I ignited as a kid, the death and resurrection of Christ "blasted away" the enemy.

Why do the Chinese light firecrackers during Chinese New Year? Legend says that there’s a ghost called "Nian" that can be driven away by shooting off firecrackers and decorating the sides and top of doors with red strips of paper. From this tradition, some people inferred that ancient Chinese people might have known about the God of Israel and inherited some of the traditions of Israel. Some people say that these red decorations mimic the lamb’s blood that the Israelites painted on the doorposts during Passover.

Although the giving of the law did not immediately bring about change, Satan's death knell had sounded. This may be one reason why Paul said that death reigned from Adam to Moses.

The Reign of Sin and the Law.

After the giving of the law, death no longer reigned. Who reigned after the law was promulgated? The law of God reigned during the Age of Law. Those who wholeheartedly followed the law would gain life.

However, no human was capable of following all the laws. Violating even one law was as serious as violating all of them. James says “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” (ESV, James 2:10). The law provided a way of life if they were followed wholeheartedly. But since people could not follow them all, sin began to reign through death.

First, death reigned through Adam, before the law came. Second, sin reigned in death. After the law was given and before the coming of Christ, sin wielded total control. The direct reign of Satan and death were over, being superseded by the indirect rule of the law and sin.

Sin and the law are related to one another. Romans 5:20 says, "The law came in to increase the trespass." (ESV) Let’s refer back to the example of disciplining children. Only after rules have been made can you be held accountable for breaking them. It’s not that the child made more mistakes, but that her mistakes are now being brought to her attention.  

The law sets up the rules. Its function is to expose people’s sins. For example, the Old Testament records that after God gave the law about the Sabbath, a man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath and was taken to Moses. Moses asked God what to do. God told Moses to allow the Israelites to stone him (Numbers 15:32-35).

Yes, sin existed before the law was given. People had been rebelling against God since the time of Adam. But after the law was given, people sinned willfully and knowingly against God’s commands. This man was held accountable because he clearly understood and violated God’s law.

The reign of Satan and death are no longer in view here. Instead, sin becomes the subject who rules, by means of death. How is this different from the first point?

Let’s use the example of a drug dealer. At first, the drug trafficker will trick you into trying drugs. The drug dealers reign through death (drugs). But when you get hooked, you are addicted to drugs. There is no longer any need for the drug dealer to ask you to take drugs. You have the life of the drug addict inside yourself. You naturally want to take drugs. At this stage, the drug dealer can go to jail or go into hiding, and you will still have the life of the drugs living inside you. The drug dealer no longer controls you directly; rather, the drug itself controls you. Drug dealers bring drugs. Drugs will take you to drug dealers to buy more drugs. In the same way, sin brings death, and death brings more sin. This cycle continues.

During the reign of death, sin comes from seduction. Satan tried to seduce people into sin, and drug dealers try to seduce you into taking drugs. This temptation takes advantage of your weakness, but if you resist and refuse, the seducer has no power over you. If you refuse to take drugs, drug dealers simply can't do anything with you. Satan tried to tempt the Lord Jesus, but the Lord Jesus did not sin, so he couldn’t do anything about it. Satan (the drug dealer) is powerless apart from our own human weakness and desire to sin.

During the second stage, sin (drug addiction) reigns. Because of your weakness and sin, you have already accepted drug addiction (or the life of sin) into your innermost self. This is why the Bible says that “sin reigns through death”. Your weak, depraved and addicted life is in complete control of you. This life will lead you to look for a drug dealer (death); every time you find a drug dealer to buy drugs, you will sink deeper. Many people take drugs because of their weakness but later became addicted to substances. They even commit murder, theft, and other crimes, turning into evil drug dealers themselves.

What is the role of the law? The law functions as a drug treatment and rehabilitation center. The purpose of the law is to punish and correct. If you cannot get sober, you will be locked up. If you are clean for a certain amount of time, you can return to society. Without strict laws making drug trafficking illegal, it would be impossible to correct these behaviors.

In the same way, God gave the law through Moses so the Israelites would know they could no longer live a life of sin. There would be punishment if they violated the law. The purpose of the law was to help them get rid of their sin of drug addiction.

But the function of the law is limited. Although the law brings life, and God justifies those who keep the law, people often find themselves unable to keep the law. The law of sin and death in our flesh wars against the law of God in our minds (Romans 7:22-23) Often, the flesh wins against the law of God, making us distressed and conflicted people. The third law Paul discovered in Romans 8 was the law of the Spirit of life. This law set him free from the law of sin and death.

In other words, there are three laws inside us. The law of sin and death resides in our fallen flesh. The tendency to serve God’s law resides in our soul, because God created us good. Finally, the law of the Spirit of life resides in our spirit.

The law fights unsuccessfully against the sins of our flesh. Although we want to keep God’s law in our minds, our flesh cannot keep God’s law. Though we try to overcome sin, death reigns through the drug addiction we previously accepted. The law, which was meant to usher us into life, instead becomes a tool for death. But because the flesh is so powerful, we violate the law and are convicted by it, leading us to more death. The law becomes a tool to kill rather than to give life. Paul says, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Of course, it is not the law’s problem. It is a problem of the sin (drug addiction) of the flesh.

As a result of this continual fight, we realize that we humans cannot get rid of the influence of sin through our own efforts, even by keeping the law of God. We need a Savior to save us and remove the sin of the flesh. In this way, the law led directly to Christ.

The Reign of Jesus (Grace)

When the Lord Jesus Christ came, He became the Grace from God. He never sinned, and he overcame Satan and sin on the cross. The grace of Jesus Christ reigns through righteousness, in heaven and on earth. Through shedding his blood for us, Jesus satisfied the requirements of God’s righteousness, thus ushering in the reign of God’s righteousness. When we are justified through faith, we also become the righteousness of God through him.

Even after trusting Christ as Savior, many Christians fail to overcome the sins of the flesh. Although Jesus has already provided grace and power to help us overcome the sinful life, many people do not live a victorious life because the flesh is too powerful. These believers lack renewal in their souls.

Though the Lord Jesus has accomplished salvation on our behalf, many people do not believe Him and cannot access his salvation. Similarly, because of unbelief, many Christians are unable to experience the law of the Spirit of life working in their hearts. Although they are saved by faith, many Christians need more faith so they can be changed by the law of the Spirit of Life. The law of the Spirit of life is as powerful as electricity. But unbelief and sins of the flesh are like insulators, rendering this power inoperable.

If we are really justified by faith, we will also live by faith. As we live out our faith, we will accept the law of the Spirit of life that God has prepared for us.

A Christian may go through four stages in their walk with God. First, Satan controls them through death, just like a drug dealer controls his victims through their weakness and sin. Second, individuals are controlled by the life of sin itself, like an addict who is controlled by the addiction itself. Third, Christians try hard to keep the law, hoping to be a good Christian, but find themselves unable to overcome the law of sin and death. This is like an addict trying to break his addiction on his own. Finally, Christians may experience freedom through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which enables them to overcome the law of sin and death.

Sadly, many Christians live in the first three stages. In order to enter the fourth stage of reigning in life, we must know the following:

1. Satan has been dethroned through Jesus’ work on the cross. The drug dealer is already in prison. He can no longer influence you. The only way he can influence you is through your own flesh. The first reign, the reign of Satan (death), has been defeated.
2. Your flesh and the old man have been crucified with Christ on the cross. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (ESV, Galatians 2:20). The second reign, the power of sin and the flesh, has been defeated as well. As we set our minds on the things of the Spirit, we experience life and peace.
3. The purpose of the law is to usher in the reign of Christ. When Christ came, the law had completed its work. Salvation cannot be achieved through good deeds and human effort. We must rely on the life of God, the lamb of God. An apple falling from a tree will be overcome by the force of gravity, and our attempts at perfection will be overcome by the sins of our flesh. The law tried to help our nature overcome the sin of the flesh, but it ended up condemning us. However, Jesus is like a spacecraft that can help us overcome the law of gravity to bring this apple to the moon. Jesus’ grace reigns in righteousness.

Believers Reign in Life.

Although His grace already reigns through righteousness, we need to choose to allow this grace to live in us. We must allow the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ to move freely in us so we can reign in life. Jesus already won the victory, establishing the law of the Spirit of life inside you when you received him. But you have to allow this powerful new law to rescue you from the power of sin, the law, and the flesh.

Once you received Jesus Christ as your Savior, the drug dealer (Satan) and the drug addiction (the life of sin) was taken care of by Jesus on the cross. The drug treatment center or drug rehabilitation center (law) were proven to have limited efficacy. There is only one way to be rescued: accepting the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ by faith. By doing so, you will be freed from the law of sin and death in the flesh, and from the conviction that inevitably comes when you try to keep the Law on your own in your mind. Once you open your eyes to these spiritual truths, you will experience freedom to reign in Christ.

In summary, Romans 5 continues to discuss victory by faith. If we were justified by faith, much more will we be saved by his life (5:10). May our spiritual eyes be opened and may our faith increase so that we can live out the law of the Spirit, reign in life and overcome sin, the flesh, the world, and the power of Satan.

 

 

Paul’s Letters to the Romans Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 2

Paul’s Letters to the Romans

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 2

 

Judging Others

The first paragraph (verses 1-16) of Romans 2 discusses Paul’s criticism of self-righteous people. For example, verse 1 says, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things” (NIV). While paragraph 2 (verses 17-29) discusses Paul’s criticism of Jews who boast in the law. For example, verse 17 (NIV) says, “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God,” but in verse 23 (NIV), Paul also criticized them as “someone who brags in the law but has dishonored God by breaking the law.”

These words sound harsh. How do you think you would feel if you were a believer in Rome, opened Paul’s letter, and only read up to the second chapter?  Why did Paul scold the Roman believers in this way? It’s possible Paul is not berating only Roman believers, but others as well. But Paul did not mention any names, so we have no way of knowing. However, in verse 24, Paul quoted the Old Testament and said, “God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (NIV). Here is it is clear he is criticizing the Jews. There were many Jews in the early church, and there were also many Jews in the Roman church. So, it would be difficult to say that Paul was not criticizing the church in Rome.

Imagine if person A wrote a letter to person B and criticized person C. It might be because both person A and person B don't like person C. But this type of exchange would be out of character for Paul. There was no need for Paul to write a letter to one person and criticize another. Paul did criticize some people such as Alexander in 2 Timothy 4:14, but he made it clear by mentioning his name. The reason why Paul wrote certain letters to a group of believers was mainly to suggest corrections to some problems these believers were facing. For example, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, which were aimed at addressing the problems of the Corinthian church he founded.

 

The Intention of Paul’s Letter

But a man in our Bible study asked, "How could Paul write such a serious and critical letter to the church in Rome if he had never been to Rome before?" I replied that in chapter 16, Paul mentioned that he greeted a dozen people he knew at the Roman church. In Romans 16:3, Paul mentioned Priscilla and Aquila because, as it is recorded in Acts 18, when the Jews were forced to leave Rome, they saw Paul in Corinth. Paul was a tentmaker like they were. After they met, Acts 19 recorded that Paul decided to go and visit Rome. And Romans 16:5 also mentioned that there was a church in Priscilla and Aquila's house. In other words, Priscilla and Aquila were a couple of the leaders of the Roman Church. We don't know how many people there were in the Roman church, but at least some church leaders were familiar with Paul.

In Romans 16:7, it even mentioned that two people had been in prison with Paul. These two people were Andronicus and Junia. Paul said, "They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was" (NIV). This shows that there were apostles in the Roman Church. These apostles were not only in Christ before Paul, but they also had been in prison with Paul and were inmates. So they also had friendships with Paul. Paul may have learned about the Roman church when he was setting up tents with Priscilla, Aquila or when he was with Andronicus and Junia in prison. This could have led him to be so burdened that he wrote 16 chapters of Romans to them. One of the reasons we mentioned in our previous study was the dispute between the Gentiles and Jews in Rome, and even the Jews were forced to leave the city.

As we mentioned last time, during Paul's time, the letters might have been written on parchment. To write so much content was not as convenient as having a computer, email, or paper like we do today. Since it is not very convenient, it must have been a heavy burden.

 

Disputes Between the Jews and Gentiles

Acts 18:2 says, Because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome, Aquila had brought his wife Priscilla who had recently come from Italy, and Paul went to see them. Historical records prove that the Jews and the Gentiles at that time had a lot of disputes which caused so much turmoil that Claudius ordered the Jews to leave Rome. From these records, we can see the historical background of the Roman church. We can speculate that the conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles was not only outside the church but inside as well. For example, Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 1:22 (NIV), "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom," demonstrates Paul's observation of this. Paul met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth. Corinth was also where he wrote the book of Romans and made the decision to visit Rome. This verse may reflect Paul's observation of the Roman Church – Both the Jews and Gentiles had something to brag about. Paul continued in 1 Corinthians 1:23 (NIV), "We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." These were also some of Paul’s thoughts on the subject.

We believe that the church in Rome, like other early Gentile churches, consisted of Jews and Gentiles. If both Jews and Gentiles were present, it would lead to a lot of conflicting ideas. For example, let’s take a look at the story recorded in Galatians 2. Peter used to eat with the Gentiles, but after certain men from James arrive, he dares not to eat with the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. Thus he pretended. Even Barnabas joined him in his hypocrisy.  There was a lot of pressure among the Jewish Christians to follow the rule of circumcision as this was in accordance with the Jewish law. Similarly, we can guess that such difficulties also existed in the Roman church. The Jews hoped that the saved Gentile Christians would be able to accept circumcision or become Christians who also observed the law. It was not easy for the Jews to deal with the Gentiles. Many of them were not subservient to the thoughts of the Jews. Since the Jews could boast about their own law, the Gentiles, especially the Greeks, could also boast about their wisdom and philosophy.

 

Navigating Cultural Differences

Some of the problems in the church were specific to their culture and setting, while other problems were the type even churches today could experience. I will cite some examples of what I have encountered in the church. I am Chinese, and in the Chinese churches in the United States, there are often people from Taiwan and mainland China. Many people from the mainland believe that Taiwan belongs to China; they advocate unification, while many Christians in Taiwan want independence. But most of the time, when these believers meet together, they don't talk about politics. They only talk about spirituality and how to love and serve the Lord, so they live in peace. But there are always people who don’t follow this rule. Once, I saw a dispute occurring between a person who advocated for unification and a person who advocated for Taiwan’s independence. It ended very unpleasantly. This is an example of a problem in the modern church.

Witness Lee, the leader of the Local Church Movement, placed great emphasis on teaching how to "live out Christ." No matter what the circumstances, one should not live according to one's own culture and religion, but according to the life of Christ within us. I heard a story where Witness Lee was with some American Christians, and they were eating cheese. Witness Lee said he would also eat a slice. An American Christian sister immediately said, "I thought that the Chinese do not eat cheese." Witness Lee immediately replied, "Sister, I am not Chinese." Witness Lee was indeed Chinese from Shandong, China. This story was told by an American Christian brother. He said that this was a great shock to him as he respected Witness Lee very much and believed that Witness Lee was a model of "living out Christ." He was not living by the life of a Chinese, but by the life of Christ within him. The American brother sighed as he couldn't honestly say, "I am not an American" at the time because he felt that he was still living his life based on American culture.

Although the Local Church Movement teaches "living out Christ," there are similar conflicts between members of many American churches and Chinese churches. For example, many Chinese Christians often cook Chinese food when serving meals. Some Americans like Chinese food, so it goes over well. But some Americans do not like Chinese food, so they complain and say things like, " there is too much Chinese food." I have been in the Local Church Movement for 13 years, so I have experienced things like this many times. An American believer told me that one of the biggest problems of the Local Church Movement was it included too much Chinese culture. Because the Local Church Movement originated in China, the founders are Chinese, and many members are also Chinese. Naturally, it would be heavily influenced by Chinese culture. As a Chinese, I certainly don't like to hear this, and I clearly saw that this American Christian was living his life according to American culture. Chinese culture emphasizes collectivism, respect for authority, and respect for the elderly. American culture emphasizes individualism and does not emphasize respect for authority or the elderly, which is reflected in the church.

 

Unity in Christ

I remember when I was in graduate school, we were taking a course called "Organizational Culture." We had an assignment that required us to observe an organization in order to study the organization's culture. I suggested my group observe our church. Three of my Chinese students, including me, came to our church to observe and write our research paper. Our approach was for each of us to write down our own observations, and through the different observations, we would compare the organization's culture and draw our conclusions.

Half of the people in our church were Chinese, while the other half were American. I was a member of the church, and I represented the internal point of view of the church. The other two members of my group were not believers. I invited them to come to our church, but they were not interested. Therefore, when writing this observation for our class, our perspective was naturally different. I had written the characteristics of the Local Church Movement from the Church's perspective. The church is love and light, and the brothers and sisters are in oneness. The Local Church Movement advocates living out Christ and not living according to culture. So when we sing, we all sing the same song, but each of us sings in our own language. This shows that although we have different cultures, we are all one in Christ.

But their observations were different. They had come to a conclusion that although the church advocates unity in Christ, they still live according to their own culture. The example they cited was when a Chinese church leader came to the dinner table, several of our young Chinese Christians stood up and gave him a seat. They, therefore, concluded that this church was deeply influenced by Chinese authoritarian culture as it is not a common phenomenon for young people to stand up and give seats to the elderly in the United States. So they believed Chinese people in these churches were unconsciously influenced by Asian authoritarian culture. I disagreed with this observation because I believe that it's done out of love and respect for one another. But then another thing occurred that made me rethink my point of view. A retired white believer often attends our meetings. He is 80+ years old already and walks a bit slowly. I once offered him a seat, and he thanked me and said, "That's very kind of you. At my age in the United States, young people think that I'm a hindrance and just want me out of the way. But the young Chinese are not like that." Hearing what he said, I realized that American culture and Chinese culture are indeed very different in dealing with the elderly.

I am not saying this to deny the teaching and practice of "living out Christ" of the Local Church Movement. On the contrary, I think that it is a wonderful concept and it is needed by many churches. I remember one morning in 2008, I went to see a doctor in a hospital in Baltimore. I was singing some Bible verses composed by a man in our church using a familiar Christian melody. I was practicing "live out Christ" while waiting for the doctor. While I was humming the song, I felt very joyful. An African American woman next to me asked if I was a Christian and asked why I was so happy. I said, "I am a Christian. I am practicing according to the teaching of Witness Lee of living out Christ in any case such as while waiting for the doctor.” She told me that she had heard and read Watchman Nee's books, but she had never heard of Witness Lee. After returning home, she started to read Witness Lee's works according to my recommendation. Later, she wrote several times to thank me. She said that she had been in a Pentecostal Church for decades, but she had never heard anyone teaching to "live out Christ."

 

Living Out Christ

In today's culture, where racial tension is rising in American society, "living out Christ" instead of "living according to culture" and "living according to race" may be a good solution.  If every Christian can live according to the life of Christ in us instead of living according to our natural flesh, religion, culture, and race, it can naturally become the answer to all kinds of conflicts in the world. But if all the church members are living according to their race, culture, and not the life of Christ, it is difficult to imagine that the world will have an answer to this problem. In other words, such a serious situation of racial tension in American society is actually a reaction of the situation of the church members who are living according to flesh, culture, religion, and race. Looking at the American church, Christians in the United States are still not doing enough to let Christ's life fill them and reveal His life through them. The church is the soul of our society. If we are not mature in Christ, we will see this reelected in the society we live in.

Of course, there are also positive interactions occurring as well. For example, when we see white Christians and African American Christians kneeling and forgiving each other, it sets a good example. If we can all do this, it will slowly have a positive impact on society. The reason I said the church in the US is not mature in living out Christ is not to criticize or neglect these positive examples. Rather it is my observation that the church needs to grow in Christ, and many Christians in the US should go deeper in the life of Christ. In other words, they need to live out what God tells us through the Bible.

After sharing these personal experiences and observations, we went back to Romans 2 to discuss the problems that the Roman church may have faced and also discuss Paul's burden. My guess is that many Jewish Christians in the Roman church at that time did not live out the life of Christ but lived according to the Jewish religion, law, and tradition. Not only that, but they may have also required some Gentiles to follow their traditions. Many Gentile Christians had not even completely broken free from sin. Therefore, Paul was particularly burdened with writing to the church in Rome to criticize this situation.

 

Living a Victorious Life In Christ

When you read Romans 1 and 2 again after our analysis, it will make more sense to read it within the context of what was going on at the time. In Romans 1, after praising the Romans' faith and gospel work, Paul began to talk about the wrath of God against the unrighteous (Romans 1:18-32), which describes the various sins of man. For example, idolatry (Romans 1:23), sexual impurity (Romans 1:24), homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27), and at least 21 kinds of unrighteousness (Romans 1:29-32) such as evil and greed. In this situation, it is difficult for anyone to believe that these verses are not talking about the sins of the Gentiles. I‘m sure that you will agree that this is also the picture of today's society.

In Romans 2, it seems that Paul's remarks changed. He began to criticize the Jews. He first criticized the sins of the Gentiles, then the mistakes of the Jews.

Ephesians 5:8 (NIV) says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light". In this verse, Paul said to the believers, "We used to live in the darkness and also in sin, but today we are light in the Lord. We should live a life of light and as children of light." This sentence can also be applied to the Gentile believers in the Roman Church. This must mean there were Gentile believers who although they had been saved, were not living this life of light. These are all foreshadowings. In Romans 7, Paul was distressed. "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing" (NIV, Romans 7:19). So much that in Romans 7:24 (NIV), he sighed, saying, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" But in Romans 8, he said, "Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set me free from the law of sin and death." (NIV, Romans 8:2). In other words, what Paul had written in the book of Romans was based on his own experience and how he overcame his flesh and sin. Having freedom in Christ and in the Holy Spirit is to live out the life of Christ. This is what I meant by "living out Christ" earlier.

One of the purposes of Paul’s letters to the Roman Church was to tell them how he was he able to live a victorious life in Christ through the process of overcoming the flesh, religion, and the traditions of the Jews. His goal was to help both the Gentile and Jewish Christians in Rome overcome sin, religion, and unhealthy cultural norms that would hinder them so they could have freedom in Christ. Instead of sharing this profound wisdom from the start, Paul started by sharing the most basic concepts first and slowly built them up. It wasn’t until Romans 8 that he shared the burden on his mind.

 

Living by the Law

If the sins of the Gentiles weren’t exposed, it would be difficult for them to repent. Similarly, if how the Jews who were living according to the law weren’t exposed, it would be difficult to persuade them to live out the life of Christ. Therefore, after exposing the sins of the Gentiles in Romans 1, Paul began to expose the limitations of the Jews who were living by the law in Romans 2. Paul said that they should not pass judgment on one another or be self-righteous. The Bible says, “God will judge you in the same way you judge others, because you who pass judgment do the same things (NIV, Romans 2:1)”. This indicates there was probably judgment going on between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers in the Roman Church. Paul went on to say that God would judge the Jews as well as the Gentiles. "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (NIV, Romans 2:9). God does not show favoritism (NIV, Romans 2:11). All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law (NIV, Romans 2:12) For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (NIV, Romans 2:13).

In other words, it isn’t really necessary to live according to the requirements of the law in our daily life. According to the language of the New Testament, we should live out the life of Christ every day to manifest His love and sacrifice for us. The law of the Gentiles, who did not have the law, is their conscience (Romans 2:15). As long as they live according to their conscience, they are keeping the law. This verse is also a timely warning for Jewish Christians who may have felt superior because God gave the law to the Jews. Although the Jews had the law, the Gentiles also had one. God let their conscience act as their law.

In verses 17-20, Paul began to criticize such Jews. He said, “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth”. Then starting in verse 21 he said, “you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’” Then Paul talked about circumcision and how the law was not merely an external guide, but a matter of the heart and the Spirit, not just a written code (NIV, Romans 2:25-29), and this concludes the chapter.

 

Living out Christ Impacts Society

If I were a Jewish Christian in Rome, I might have been offended by Paul’s words! Even yesterday, my wife and I discussed some situations of racial conflict in the United States. I said that many of the participants are Christians. When you belong to a specific race, and you want to talk to other people of another specific race, especially those who are hurt, about living out Christ and not living according to race, culture and religion, they will definitely not listen. They might even get offended. My wife jokingly said, "So God will raise Paul to talk about this issue to the Jews. He was a Jew, and it would be easier for him to talk with other Jews. The Jews at that time would probably have a hard time listening to similar criticism from Gentle apostles." I said it is true that Paul's work seemed to be effective. We did not see the records of negative responses from the Church in Rome or the Jewish believers there. Paul's Gospel of Romans still speaks to us today. I hope sharing this will enlighten the American church in the case of racial conflict. Only when the church lives out Christ can it have a positive impact on society. This may be the reason why Paul had the burden of writing the book of Romans for the Roman church during the conflict between the Jews and Gentiles in Rome. He wanted to share his own experiences with the Romans of how he attained freedom from the law of sin and death and reached freedom in the law of the life of Jesus Christ.

It’s true that racism is one of the giants we are facing in the US today. But we are called to be giant slayers like David. What is the stone that will kill the giant? It is deliverance from the law of sin and death. The church, or individual Christians need deliverance from this law and we have positive examples such as Paul to guide us. Social and political reforms are only a temporary means to subside the problems. The real answer is for the church to live out Christ. This is our ultimate calling.

 

 

Understanding Jehovah’s Commands Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 17

Understanding Jehovah’s Commands

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 17

 

Consuming Blood

Leviticus 17 talks about Jehovah’s command against consuming blood. Our discussion focuses on why God does not allow blood to be consumed. Of course, in addition to health and hygiene considerations, there are also spiritual considerations.

I was contemplating this question while I watched Sid Roth, an American Christian TV host, inviting Michael Brown, who is Jewish and a doctor of theology, to debate with a Jewish rabbi on his show. This man who had his doctorate in Christian studies tried to prove to the rabbi that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He tried to prove Jesus was sacrificed on the cross once, and He forever satisfied God’s request so we can receive eternal salvation in Him. But the way that this Jewish rabbi understood the Old Testament was different from this man with a doctorate in Christian studies. The Jewish rabbi said that in the Old Testament, Jehovah repeatedly emphasized that one’s own son should not be sacrificed to the idols, and when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, Jehovah personally stopped him. This shows that Jehovah was very opposed to the sacrifice of sons. Therefore, he believed that the statement that God has sacrificed his son Jesus Christ was unacceptable. This is not what he believes Jehovah would do.

We certainly did not agree with this Jewish rabbi, but we did have to think about why Jehovah had repeatedly warned the Israelites not to sacrifice their children to Molek, but He had offered His Son as a sacrifice. We also had to consider why Jehovah prohibited anyone from consuming the blood of any creature, but He prepared the blood of His Son for us to consume. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus clearly stated that “You will eat my flesh and drink my blood” (John 6:54).

 

Spiritual Significance

Our guess is that it involves not only the Israelites and God but also the idols and the evil spirits attached to them. We can see the sins of the Israelites, but the spiritual forces of evil are invisible and are of the Devil. They often counterfeit God’s work. In other words, they mock the work of God and behind this type of action is a mocking spirit.

For example, God’s eternal purpose is to dwell with mankind and for God and mankind to become united. But before God came to earth in human form, there was a mingling of evil spirits and daughters of men, which produced giants. This story is recorded during Noah’s time. This may be the main reason why God wanted to wipe out the human race at that time. Mankind had been corrupted by mixing with evil spirits. The act of evil spirits becoming flesh stems from the work of a mocking spirit.

In the same way, God also prepared His Son for eternal salvation. Thus the evil spirits also imitated this and tempted the Israelites to offer their children to Molek. This may simply look like idolatry, But the purpose behind it was to mock God’s plans. Therefore, God hated them and prohibited the Israelites from participating in this ritual.

 

Current Cultural Applications

This is also true when we consider the situation of the church today. For example, everyone discussed that the animals slaughtered in the United States are reportedly killed before their blood is released, so because of this, did everyone unknowingly consume blood? Although the kosher meats sold by the Jewish may have their blood released before they are killed, it is expensive to purchase this type of meat. This type of meat is not mainstream, and not everyone can afford it.

Some Chinese people consume duck blood or duck blood curd etc., when they eat a dish called hotpot. If that’s the case, does it mean that many Chinese people have violated God’s commandments? When you encounter a Chinese believer doing this, what attitude should you have if the two of you talk about it? Should you tell them that what they are doing is prohibited by the law? How can we explain that Leviticus asks people not to consume blood or pork, but now most Christians believe that everything is cleansed by God and everything can be eaten? Why do most Christians now eat pork?

A woman who shared at the beginning of our study specifically mentioned that churches that are more legalistic still believe that blood should never be eaten, but Christian groups who hold more liberal views believe that everything is clean and can be eaten. What do you think of this conflict?

Our attitude is that you have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial. First of all, it is not beneficial to our health. Second, In the Old Testament, God did not allow us to consume it, so if it is avoidable, you should not eat it.

But if we treat this as a strict law, we can see that many Americans, even Christians, have unknowingly consumed blood. Many Chinese who were not aware of the gospel have also consumed blood, but we didn’t see any evidence of God getting angry.

 

Spiritual Implications Behind Consuming Blood

Therefore, the first thing to consider is the situation faced by the Israelites at that time. Perhaps they realized there was a connection between consuming blood and idolatry. This was the intention of the evil spirits behind it to mock God’s work, so they were hated passionately by God. Among the Chinese, there are some common ways that people consume blood that we attribute mostly to ignorance and food issues; they may or may not involve idolatry. Practices in Chinese culture such as sacrificing chickens to a banner and blood alliances may all involve idolatry. If evil spirits are behind something, or if they intend to mock God’s work, this is something that God hates very much. In the Bible, Jehovah has some harsh words concerning these issues.

The mocking spirit is just one aspect of the work of the evil spirits. Another aspect of the work of the evil spirits is the religious spirit. Paul made it clear that some people were unworthy of eating the Lord’s bread and drinking the Lord’s cup, so they were punished. There were even situations where people became sick and died. Instances such as these make some churches very religious when considering the bread. Although I believe partaking of the bread is a serious matter, I have heard some American Christian leaders testify of situations that could be better handled. For instance, many young people in American Christianity, who were not yet baptized, had participated in communion without knowing during a church meeting and they were severely reprimanded and excluded, which lead to them falling away from Christ and leaving the church. In the case of the Corinthian church, there may have been some people who had inappropriate attitudes. What they did would be considered blaspheming the Holy Spirit. They were therefore disciplined by God. But the youth in these American Christian churches did this unknowingly, and they were severely condemned. This was the work of a religious spirit.

I was saved in the Local Church Movement. Later, God led me to an American Charismatic meeting to learn the truths they teach. I observed a phenomenon, which was that many charismatic members had come out of many other American denominations that were more legalistic. They told me that many churches pay too much attention to the rules and regulations, which causes trouble. I personally realized on a deep level that the religious spirit has caused some churches to focus on absolutes, extremes, and dogmatic approaches to God’s law which has brought harm to some believers.

 

Understanding the Spiritual Depth of God’s Word

We have now analyzed two methods commonly used by the evil spirits here. One is to imitate and mock the work of God. This is a mocking evil spirit. The other is to take God’s laws, words, and teachings to the extreme and destroy His work. This is the work of a religious spirit.

The church needs to make a lot of progress in recognizing and overcoming the works of the evil spirits. Many times, the church may be led around by the nose by the evil spirits. First, the church may not recognize the work of evil spirits. Second, they have no way to overcome them because they were not even aware of their existence. God has given the church power and authority over the evil spirits. We must strive to grow spiritually and discern the gifts of the spirit that are meant to go hand in hand with life. Many churches ignore the teaching of spiritual gifts, evil spirits, and angels, which may be one of the reasons why the church does not grow well in this area. These things are not only meant for the Charismatic church. They are well documented in the Bible and are prepared for all of the children of God. When we read the Bible, we must read not only about the characters in the foreground but also the struggle between God and the evil spirits in the background. Only then can we understand the spiritual depth of God’s Word.

For example, at the beginning of Leviticus 17, it mentions that the Israelites must not kill the sacrifices themselves and that they should not shed blood. If they shed blood, they will be cut off from the people (17:4). Probably because of this rule, both Judaism and Islam have specialized priests that will kill the sacrifices. What is the reason for this? The reason is clearly recorded in verses 5-7. Verse 5 (ESV) says: “This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.” What is a peace offering? In the peace offering, the blood and fat are given to God, while the meat is given to the priest. Verse 6 (NIV) says: “The priest is to sprinkle the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” The blood is for atonement, and the burning of fat is to satisfy God. We know that when Noah offered a clean sacrifice after the flood, Jehovah also felt satisfied with the “pleasing aroma.” Why does animal sacrifice satisfy God in these instances?

The answer to this question seems like a mystery. In reference to this, David wrote in Psalm 51 that God was not pleased with the burnt offerings but rather pleased with a “broken spirit, and a broken and contrite heart” (NIV, Psalm 51:17). David also said in Psalm 51:16 (NIV), “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.” So God is not a carnivore, nor a bloodthirsty figure who would be satisfied the moment He smelled the aroma of meat or blood. Rather, God’s satisfaction comes from the worship that people bring through sacrifice. Because although it is the animal sacrifice that satisfies God, the ones who offer the sacrifices are human. In fact, it is human actions (in this case, the act is to offer animal sacrifice) that satisfy God.

 

God Desires Worship

What God wants is for His people to worship Him. What Satan and the evil spirits are stealing from God is not the sacrifice itself but people’s worship behind the sacrifice. Thus Leviticus 17:7 (NIV) says, “They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come.” The reason why God stipulated that people couldn’t offer sacrifices outside the tabernacle was not because of the issue of whether the sacrifice was slaughtered in the tabernacle or in the field, but whether the sacrifice was dedicated to God or the idols and the evil spirits. Satan used the idols, such as the goat idols mentioned, to try to steal people’s worship from God. This was the crux of the matter. It was not about the format that was used to worship God. Worshipping God with our hearts is the key. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus came, His way of worshiping God was different from that of the Israelites. For example, when He healed the sick on the Sabbath and ate ears of grain, he was attacked by the Israelites. This was where Satan attacked Jesus through a religious spirit, as I mentioned earlier. Satan often tries to twist the meaning of words. What God cares about is “who do you worship?” but Satan twists the question into “what ways of worship do you use?”. One method that Satan often uses today is to take a legalistic and religious approach to past teachings or commands of God.

In the conversation between the Lord and the Samaritan woman in John 4, the Samaritan woman said, “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” (NIV, John 4:20). But the Lord Jesus’ answer was, “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (NIV, John 4:21-24).

In other words, the Samaritan woman was talking about the correct way and place to worship, but Jesus was talking about "who are you worshipping?” or “how are you worshipping?". Worshipping in spirit and in truth is not just a method; it’s also about worshipping God (who is the spirit) from our heart. The correct way to worship is the natural unity of "objects of worship/God" and "ways of worship/in spirit and truth or in Jerusalem." I’m not saying that we should trivialize the various ways of worship. The different ways of worship are very important. In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were indeed ordained by God, and there were many details. We cannot separate the ways of worship from the objects of worship, nor can we exalt the ways of worship over the objects of worship. An example of this in today's church could be habits of over-exalting a certain religion (a form of worship) while ignoring our objects of worship and hurting people who also worship one God using different ways of worship. When the Catholic Church burned the Protestant heretics to death because of their way of worship, were they the same as the Jews persecuting the Lord Jesus Christ?

 

Forms and Ways of Worship

The enemy has two tricks. The first is to imitate, counterfeit, and steal your worship. This comes from the mocking spirit we mentioned earlier, and the goat idols in this chapter are an example of this. The second is to idolize, use religion, dogma, and legalistic approaches to the ways of worship you value so that you feel when others violate your customary ways of worship, they are violating the God you worship. This is certainly not true.

The same is true for consuming blood. The reason why people can't consume blood is very clear. It is because the life of a creature is in its blood; it is the blood that atones for one’s life (NIV, Leviticus 17:11). It is similar to the relationship between the "ways of worship" and the "objects of worship" we mentioned earlier. The two we are discussing here are "can't consume blood" and "make atonement. " “Can’t consume blood” is the “way of worship.” Of course, we must respect the way of worship set by God. But the "ways of worship" cannot replace or be exalted over the "objects of worship." The key here is to "make atonement" before God. When the Lord Jesus comes, the ways of worship will change, but the objects of worship will not change.

Hebrews 9:12-14 (NIV) says: "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtainingeternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"

Blood is a representation, a form, and a way of worship. In the Old Testament, the way of worship and the object of worship were not the same. But in the New Testament, the way of worship and the object of worship have become one, which is the Lord Jesus Himself. He is our way of worship, because there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus (NIV, 1 Timothy 2:5); He is also our object of worship, because “worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise" (NIV, Revelation 5:12).

 

Unifying the Form and Content of Worship

Hebrews 10:5-8 (NIV) says,

So when Christ came to Earth, He said, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’” First, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law."

When the Jews were opposed to Jesus changing the ways of worship, it was actually Satan who opposed the unity of the ways of worship and objects of worship through a religious spirit. The ways of worship can be seen as a form, and the object of worship can be seen as the content. The form and content need to be unified. But if the form and content cannot be unified, we need to exalt the content, not the form.

Paul said: "When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” (NIV, 1 Corinthians 14:26). The hymn, word of instruction, revelation, tongue, and interpretation mentioned here are all forms of worship. The content and objects of worship are God and Christ Himself. When Christians quarreled about whether to speak in tongues and use other ways of worship, they were completely misguided because they were already deceived by the enemy through the religious spirit, transferring their attention from the content and objects of worship to the "ways of worship." Paul said very clearly at the end of this sentence, "Everything must be done so that the church may be built up," which is the content.

As for consuming blood or not, that also falls under the ways of worship. Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 10:23 that we have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial; we have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive (NIV). The Word of God does not say whether we can consume blood or not in the New Testament. But I choose not to consume blood because it violates the form of worship ordained by God in the Old Testament. However, I will not try to impose this conviction on others because it does not conform to the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” in the New Testament.

I hope we can all see the light and achieve the natural unity of the form and content of worship. Remember not to exalt any form of worship over the object and the content of worship. The method of worship may often change, but the object and content of worship will never change. We must allow some freedom in the way others worship, as long as we worship the one true God. God is great! He created every snowflake to be unique. He is also pleased when people use different methods of worship to worship Him.

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 13-14

Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 13-14

In chapters 13 and 14 God gave Moses detailed instructions on how leprosy should be handled by the priests.  I was puzzled reading these chapters wondering why God spent so much time discussing the details of this disease.  What spiritual significance do these chapters hold for us today?

Because I was travelling, I did not participate in the Bible reading of Leviticus 13.  It was led by another man.  I asked him several questions about the following verses.  Let’s look at the verses first and follow up with my questions.

13:9 (NIV) “When anyone has a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest.

13:10 (NIV) The priest is to examine them, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling,

13:11 (NIV) it is a chronic skin disease and the priest shall pronounce them unclean. He is not to isolate them, because they are already unclean.

13:12 (NIV)  "If the disease breaks out all over their skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot,

13:13 (NIV) the priest is to examine them, and if the disease has covered their whole body, he shall pronounce them clean. Since it has all turned white, they are clean.

13:14 (NIV) But whenever raw flesh appears on them, they will be unclean.

13:15 (NIV) When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce them unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; they have a defiling disease.

13:16 (NIV) If the raw flesh changes and turns white, they must go to the priest.

13:17 (NIV) The priest is to examine them, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean; then they will be clean.”

 These verses are very confusing.  Looking at verses 1-8, it says if a person has leprosy, he must come to the priest to seek a diagnosis. If it is deeper than the skin, it is leprosy.  If it is not deeper than the skin, it needs to be observed for a while.  If it spreads in the skin, it is also leprosy.

Here are the questions that I’m not clear about. Why is it when there is quick, raw flesh in the rising, it is an old leprosy and is unclean but he does not need to be isolated (verse 9-11, KJV)?  And if the leprosy has covered his whole body, he will be pronounced clean (12-13)? But when the raw flesh grows again, it is unclean (14)?  And when the raw flesh turned white, it would become clean again (17)?

This man’s explanation helped me understand a bit.  He said that both the disease on the skin and the raw flesh inside represent sin.  But the skin represents sins outside the body or sin that is not serious.  It does not go deep inside.  While the raw flesh represents sin deep inside.  In this situation, it is like the people have not given the Holy Spirit preeminence inside of them, so the sins have completely overcome them.  We have to confess our sins to receive the salvation work of Jesus through His blood so we can invite the Holy Spirit to come inside of us.  Those who received salvation through repentance may have the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in them, but it doesn’t mean that all of their actions are sinless.  He felt that if the raw flesh was inside, it would indicate that the Holy Spirit had no status in it as the flesh had been corrupted.  Or these types of people have not confessed through repentance.  But if there is no raw flesh inside and there are still problems with the skin, it shows that there are still problems on various behaviors outside.  For example, a person who already received the Lord and has the Holy Spirit in him may still have some outward sins.

The raw flesh would be comparable to people living in sin but were willing to repent.  Repenting is not just a one-time act, but a continuous one throughout life.  When a person confesses their sins, they are forgiven and transferred into the kingdom of God’s son.  Transformation into a holy life takes time after repentance.  In the case of the leprosy, although the person’s skin turned white on the outside, they were not pronounced a leper because the raw flesh (or sin) was repented of.  The raw flesh in Leviticus 13:10 refers to old leprosy, which is unclean. The person doesn’t need to be isolated because he was at the beginning of his repentance process.  This is what we believe verses 9-13 mean.

But verse 14 says that when his raw flesh appears again, it is an indication that he would deliberately sin again, which is leprosy.  But if the raw flesh turns white again, it means that he repented again so he will be pronounced clean.

A man reviewed the causes of leprosy in the Bible.  Leprosy mainly came from rebellion against God.  Rebellion is a sin and repentance is required.  And this process of repentance is the process of a sinner who continuously uses different sacrifices and blood through the outer courtyard to grow spiritually, get closer to God, and enter the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.  In other words, there is sin in him, which is the leprosy represented by the raw flesh.  The greatest sin of mankind and Satan is rebellion against God, so both are considered lepers.  The Lord’s road of redemption is where the high priest (which is the Lord Jesus) examines us.  If we accept Jesus’ road of redemption,, the high priest will decide whether we are clean according to our repentance.  If we have repented, it means the raw flesh is gone and we are clean.  The example would be a Christian who was just saved before his death.  Although his behavior has not manifested the holiness of the Lord, he is still saved and would go to heaven.  But this does not mean that God doesn’t want his behavior to change, and for him to put on a white robe to feast with Him.  That’s the Lord’s intention. But God knows that it’s a process going from repentance to salvation, and then to be filled and changed by the life of God and live out the righteousness of saints.

I was inspired by this man’s insights.  I feel that God is really tender and considerate.  Every time the Bible illuminates truths to me as I read, I’m more aware of how loving, tender and considerate God is.  He is not the fierce and constantly killing God that people thought in the Old Testament.  Instead, I see that He is really a loving Father.  Although He chastises us because of our unrighteousness, He also prepares the road of redemption for us.  If we have even a little bit of repentance and deeper change is still in progress, He will keep that in mind, and recognize and acknowledge it.  He is really a tender and loving Heavenly Father.

Because of what this man shared, I was able to understand these two passages from different angles.  There are several situations here, which may or may not be leprosy.  For example, Leviticus 13:2 (NIV) says:  "When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sonswho is a priest."

Actually, there are certain confusing places here.  For example, a rising, scab or bright spot may or may not be leprosy.  The priest needs to decide and judge here.  On the one hand, the priest is the decider or the judge, which represents God’s righteousness.  On the other hand he is a doctor, which represents God’s salvation and love.  If you were a priest hastily diagnosing a person who has a rising, scab or bright spot with leprosy, what impact would this have on him and his family?

Looking at the history of Christianity, how many brothers and sisters who love the Lord have been convicted by the church as heretics or even beheaded?  Bruno was burned alive because he supported the heliocentric theory. Can this be considered as an example?  If Bruno seems controversial, what about the Protestants who advocated the reformation and were burnt to death by the Catholic Church?  Or those Anabaptists who were drowned in the river by the Reformists?  They were usually charged as rebelling or challenging traditional doctrines and religious authority.   These mislabeled cases are similar to the priest hastily declaring a person leprous.  Those who misjudged or mislabeled them would think if this "rebellion" is not burned or stopped, the "plague" will be constantly spreading. Isn’t that what the priest's misjudgment was in a spiritual sense?

We won’t even mention the history of Christianity.  Let’s just talk about the examples in our actual church life today.  If someone accidentally commits a sin and becomes weak, if we push him too hard and condemn him, will he fall?  In my church experience, I’ve seen examples of condemning others and letting them fall because of a lack of compassion.  Even Paul condemned the man who slept with his stepmother in 1 Corinthians, but said in his second letter to the Corinthians   not be too hard on him so Satan doesn’t take advantage of this.  He charged the church to forgive that man since he repented.

 Let’s look at the four ways God does things.

First of all, God is very detail oriented.  He wants to let the priests see that when it is skin-deep, it might not only be a rising, scab or bright spot.  Rather, it’s a problem inside.  Watchman Nee said that the problems caused by those who overstep one’s authority in the church are far less than the problems caused by those who should but didn’t shoulder responsibility.  Many responsible believers, because of their weakness and unwillingness to offend people, don’t dare to come forward when there is a need to point out problems.  It’s like when parents don’t point out their children’s mistakes and correct them, it eventually leads to bigger problems.  

If we are acting as the priest and should have pointed out leprosy but didn’t because we wanted to be nice, more people would die because of our irresponsibility.  The man who led the study works in a large corporation and said that this same principle applies there. If a company has minor problems in management and those in charge don’t initially point it out, it can slowly spread and become a companywide situation that eventually causes it to collapse.

Second, how should we in today’s modern church confront sin with individuals?  Is the rising, scab or bright spot truly leprosy?  Perhaps a man who was weak and overcome by sin comes to church.  Do we immediately call out the sin and shout “leprosy!?” This could bring serious harm to him and his family.  If we are wrong, it is a serious matter.  If a person is suspected of having leprosy (sin) because there is evidence of a rising, scab or bright spot, this person should be careful not to be around others.  This is a time for observation.  Seven days is a good amount of time.  God encourages us not to condemn someone too quickly.  We wait and observe and if it doesn’t spread, it may not be leprosy so the person doesn’t need to be isolated.  It could be that this person repented in their heart but the behaviors still look sinful.

Third, in addition to this observation, there is still gradual decrease of changes in these symptoms similar to leprosy.   It is a process of change from our inner self to the outer self, or from the innermost circle to the outermost circle.  First of all, the raw flesh in leprosy is a manifestation of sin and rebellion inside us.  A rising, scab or bright spot is also unclean, but they are at a different level.  Some people   rebel inside and don’t repent.  These people need to be isolated.  Otherwise, they will be contagious and   cause a lot of harm.  Some have repented inside, but the manifestation of their outside behavior requires a period of continuous work of the Holy Spirit to be manifested outside.  This person may still have a rising, scab or bright spot in this process and it’s possible that these can grow back in areas affected by leprosy.  The verse here clearly tells us that the priest should carefully observe and determine whether it is leprosy or not.  If the problem is inside the skin and it spreads, it should be pronounced as leprosy and he needs to be isolated.  If the problem is not inside and there is no spread in the skin, then it is not leprosy and he does not need to be isolated.  This is very meticulous work.  Priests not only need to know the righteousness of God, but also His heart of love. They must show mercy to others.

The church is often divided because church leaders are accused of teaching heresy.  I’m not aware of the specific situations in every church but it happens frequently.  Division is also prevalent between church groups.  I’m sure there are real situations of heresy, but it seems that many are falsely labeled heretics.  Falsely accusing others of heresy could be compared to violating the principle that God set up for Moses concerning leprosy.   I can use myself as an example.  I was part of the Local Church Movement for over ten years and many Christians accused this church of teaching heresy.  I can attest to the fact that although not perfect, this church taught me many things that I continue to practice in my walk with the Lord. Although there may be some discrepancies in the teaching, it hasn’t altered my overall positive experience there.  In recent years, I’ve been in touch with Christians who attend other Chinese churches.  Because they are biased against the Local Church Movement, they have been deprived of the rich lessons I learned there.  Even when I was evangelizing Chinese students on campus in the United States, there were people telling them that my church was teaching false doctrine.  As Christians no matter what group you are involved with, evangelism is the ultimate goal.  The Local Church Movement can also over-react and be harsh in its criticism of other groups.

 

Fourth, there is gradual shift from inside to outside. The sequence is from the flesh inside, to skin, then clothing (including leather, woven or knitted material, etc.), and last to the house mentioned in Leviticus 14:33-57.  This is all a process from the inner to the outer - One is to deal with the sins inside, and the other is to deal with the impact of the sins outside.  Jehovah is a very careful God. He knows the difference between them. Between the end of Leviticus 13 and Leviticus 14:33, it inserted the regulations for the diseased person at the time of his ceremonial cleansing.  This is a redemption solution.  There’s a lot of detailed discussion and explanation regarding this part but we did not discuss this in detail at this meeting.

The man who led our study questioned Leviticus 14:47 (NIV) which says: “Anyone who eats or sleeps in the house must wash his clothes.”  He said it seemed awkward and didn’t understand what it meant.  He quoted the notes of the Recovery Version of the Bible that we are reading: "Sleeping here represents not actively serving in your church’s life, and eating represents only accepting supply."  In my opinion, this explanation wasn’t comprehensive.  I shared examples of the prophetic dreams that the Lord gave me.  In many of the dreams I was eating together with many people in a heavenly place or Paradise.  I feel that eating represents actively accepting supplies and sleeping represents rest.  To me it is more of a positive thing than a negative, but the man felt that the context based on the footnote denoted a negative take rather than a positive one.

I was inspired by the Holy Spirit as I read Leviticus 14:46 (NIV): “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening.”  The Holy Spirit seemed to highlight the words “closed up.”  I believe we can look at this confusion on another level.  I presented my view from a different angle with the footnote that the man quoted above.  The house was closed up because it was contaminated.   Anyone entering the house would naturally also be contaminated regardless if it was from ignorance or disobedience.  The Lord teaches us to be shewed and faithful servants.  Faithfulness involves loving, following and pursuing the Lord.  Faithful people are not necessarily always shrewd.  Shrewd people know how to make money by gaining interest or they may have the ability to bring more people into God’s kingdom.  A person who loves the Lord but is deceived by the enemy may be regarded as faithful but not shrewd.  It isn’t always easy to be a Christian.  There are many who are faithful and love the Lord but are deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothing or pulled into heretical cults.  The deception may not be entirely their fault but they do have to accept some responsibility in it because they lack discernment.  Going back to Leviticus 14:46, the house is clearly closed because of leprosy.  Whether a person is ignorant or deceived, even though well intentioned, they still have a responsibility.  Isaiah 5:13 (NIV) clearly tells us:  “My people will go into exile for lack of understanding.”  When Christians are deceived by wrong teaching or doctrine, they still bear certain responsibilities.  The “sleeping” and “eating” mentioned in Leviticus 14:47 don’t refer to negative things.  The real issue is that they are sleeping ( or resting) and eating (or receiving) in the wrong place without using proper discernment.

This is especially true in China. Many new believers were led by different heretic groups into traps. I’ve seen firsthand how genuine Chinese believers were abducted by a heretic group and get brainwashed. These simple and naïve believers have the best intention to receive from the Lord but they were deceived. Receiving was a positive action but their lack of judgement in how and where they received was the problem.

 

Bible Study with Jairus- Romans 11

Bible Study with Jairus- Romans 11

In chapter 11, Paul focuses on how salvation came to the Gentiles because of the Israelites unbelief.  He discussed how God’s salvation would come to the Jews again, and all Israel will be saved when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  A man in our study questioned Romans 11:32, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”  Why did consigning us to disobedience instead become God’s mercy?

There are many different beliefs about why the Israelites are consigned to disobedience and what God's plan is for them.  There are also many theological controversies about when the full number of Gentiles is and how the Israelites are eventually saved.

One of the controversies is whether the Israelites’ unbelief results from them living under a curse. Matthew 27:24-25 records that Pilate refused to be involved in Jesus’ crucifixion because he did not want the man’s blood on him, so he washed his hands and told the Israelites to take care of it.  But the people of Israel answered him, "His blood is on us and on our children!"  So Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.

There has been much controversy over-interpreting the sentence: “His blood is on us and our children.”   Some people believe that the tragic fate of the Jews, including the Holocaust during World War II, was brought about by this curse.

In the history of Christianity, some believe that since the Jews crucified Jesus, they should be held accountable for their actions.

In the second century, this trend of thought appeared among Christians.  In the 4th century, the famous "St. John Chrysostom" pushed this discourse to a peak.  He said that the Jews murdered Jesus and worshipped the devil.  You can find his book "Saint John Chrysostom: Eight Homilies Against the Jews” on the Internet, which carried out severe attacks on the Jews.  Under his exacerbation, anti-Semitism in Europe began to take root.

Martin Luther, who sparked the Reformation, is also an anti-Semitist.  His later work "On the Jews and Their Lies" also expressed serious allegations against the Jews.   He encouraged believers to burn down Jewish synagogues and schools, warn people against them, refuse to let Jews own houses among Christians, take away Jewish religious writings, forbidding rabbis from preaching, and offer no protection to Jews on highways.  He also wanted to prohibit usury, remove all of the Jew's gold and silver, and set it aside for safekeeping.  It was only to be given back to those Jews who truly converted.  Young, strong Jews were to be given a flail, ax, spade, and spindle and let them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow.

Generally, Christians do not pay much attention to theology, but theology’s impact on us is very significant. You may unknowingly accept certain theological thinking, believe that it is the truth, and practice it in your life.  One day you may find that the erroneous theological thinking you unknowingly accepted may cause you to make some mistakes or be an accomplice of mistakes.

Because of Martin Luther’s anti-Semitism teachings and anti-Semitic thoughts in European history, Hitler of Germany used this kind of thinking to promote anti-Semitism.  Except for a few Christian people with great insight who were against Hitler and imprisoned or exiled in Nazi Germany, most German Christians played a tacit and conniving role in Hitler's anti-Semitism.  Therefore, in recent years, many theologians have also argued that the mass murder of Jews by the German Nazis is related to erroneous Christian theological teachings. These theologians all reflect that Luther and St. Johns Chrysostom’s arguments about the Jews may be wrong.

If you think that Matthew 27:24-25 is about the Jews being punished by God because they said that the blood shall be on them and on their children, it does not hold water.  There are two arguments.  The first is that the Lord Jesus prayed on the cross and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (ESV, Luke 23:34).  This shows that the Lord Jesus has already forgiven them and asked Heavenly Father to forgive them.  The second argument is that the Bible says that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (ESV, Galatians 3:13).  If the Lord has forgiven us and redeemed us from the curse of the law, why didn't He forgive the Jews from the curse?  Aren’t the Jews included in this? According to this statement, the Jews were also forgiven and redeemed from the curse.  Therefore, the Jews experiencing so much suffering and mass murder does not mean that God is cursing them.  It may be that Satan had taken advantage of the erroneous Christian teachings and hatred towards the Jews.

So if God consigning the Jews to disobedience is not His curse to the Jews, then what is it?  I cited some examples, including personal examples and national examples, to illustrate this problem.

First, I cited a personal experience and then my friend’s experience.  I was the first Christian in our family to be saved.  I only got saved and believed in the Lord at the age of 27. I naturally sinned before I believed in the Lord.  After I was saved, I lived in two different student dormitories for six consecutive years.  Many of the people who lived with me grew up in Christian families.  I envied them.  They had known the Lord since they were children and hadn’t made any major mistakes in life.  They were under God and the churches’ protection.  One day we shared our salvation experiences.  I told them about my miraculous experience.  They were shocked especially knowing that I had survived miraculously with just 300 dollars when I first arrived in the United States.  They told me that they envied my experience because I had so much real and vivid experience of God.  Although they had been protected since childhood, they lacked experience.

After I was saved, I asked the Lord why He didn’t allow me to be born into a Christian family to know Him from a young age and avoid making so many mistakes and taking so many detours in my life.  I didn’t realize until much later that God was calling me to help evangelize China.  The Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me about the great revival that would happen in China.  This became a burden that burned in my heart.  A Korean prophet told me that the Holy Spirit was leading every step of my life.  He said that God would use me to teach His truths and preach the Gospel all over China during that great revival.  In a prophetic dream, the Lord appeared to me as a big eagle with colorful wings, training a little eagle to fly.  I heard Him say, “I will train you like a big eagle trains a little eagle.”  If this is true, why did God allow me to experience all I have gone through?

I asked the man who questioned Romans 11:32 at the beginning of our study whether he thought being born into a Christian family or an unbelieving family was more conducive to God’s plan for my life.  We both felt that it was God’s wisdom that I was born in an idol-worshipping family.  The house I grew up in was built on an abandoned Bodhisattva temple.  My family was a lowly peasant family, and I experienced suffering and sin amongst people who didn’t know or believe in God.

Once I was saved, I understood how terrible sin was and how stubborn idols and evil spirits are.  Perhaps God is preparing me to deal with all of these things when I preach the Gospel in the future.  By experiencing the pain of sin in the world and then being delivered from it through salvation, I realize that there is no darkness in God, and my wholehearted love for Him continues to deepen and mature.  I am also more empathetic toward those compatriots who have suffered as I have.

 My friend who later lived in this dormitory and slept in the bunk above me had a very different experience. He said that he was born into a Christian family, but because he didn’t have an experiential relationship with the Lord, he went abroad to do business and left the Lord for many years. Later, after retiring, he sold his business and returned to the United States to take care of his mother. He began to go to church with his mother, mainly to accompany her.  Over time as he listened to the sermons, his heart became open and alive to God.  He started serving full-time in the church, fell madly in love with the Lord, and became a good friend and an encouragement to me.

Looking at the examples above, people's individual experiences reflect God’s wisdom.  Whether we were first consigned to disobedience, or when we consigned ourselves to disobedience for a period of time after salvation, it is all God’s wisdom.  The purpose is for us to experience some setbacks and to have a deeper understanding of God’s salvation.  God's purpose is not to punish or neglect but to train and help us better experience His love and redemptive grace in a more profound way.  My personal experience has been like that.  The same is true of a country’s experience.  I read a story about Hudson Taylor, which left a deep impression on me.  He went to China to preach the Gospel.  A Chinese man was saved, and he asked Hudson how long the British had known about the Gospel.  Hudson told him for hundreds of years.  The Chinese man said his father had sought after the truth all of his life, but no one had told him about Jesus or salvation.  He blamed Hudson for the fact that the British knew about the Gospel for hundreds of years, yet his father left the world not knowing the truth of the Gospel.

When Paul was preaching the Gospel in Asia Minor, the Holy Spirit did not allow him to go east or north, nor did he allow him to preach in Asia Minor(Acts 16:6).  Instead, The Holy Spirit gave him a prophetic vision of Macedonia, letting him go west and evangelize Europe.  So, why did God want Paul to evangelize Europe first?  If the Holy Spirit led Paul to preach the Gospel from Asia Minor to the east at that time, wouldn’t it be possible for China or Asia to be evangelized?  Why did God allow China to stay in the dark so long without preaching the Gospel to the Chinese people, like the father of the Chinese man who went to his grave without the truth?

A viral video circulated on Facebook and other websites showed a group of Chinese people rushing to grab a copy of the Bible being distributed.  The people were very excited and emotional over receiving them. Some kissed the Bible while others held it close to their chests.  Many Christians were astonished by the video, saying that many Christian families in the United States have multiple Bibles in their homes that are not read or cherished like the Chinese people in the video. In fact, these Bibles are often gathering dust on the bookshelf.

Many prophetic words say that God will significantly use Chinese people to preach the Gospel in the last days. This could be why God has consigned the Chinese people to disobedience for so many years.  Actually, this is the great wisdom of God.  Because the Chinese people are in the dark experiencing the pain and torture caused by Satan for so long, they will burst into great spiritual power once they know God and are freed from Satan's slavery.  As Napoleon said, the Chinese are the sleeping lions of the East.  Many people in politics often cite this, but it can also be applied to spirituality. The following statement could be prophetic: the spiritual power that the Chinese bring forth after they are released from the darkness could be phenomenal.

We aren’t saying this because we are Chinese; many western Christians say the same thing.  An American woman that I know said that God revealed a lot of things about China to her.  She has been praying regularly for China.  God told her that the last would be first.  Although China is late in coming to the kingdom of God, He will profoundly use China and its people to preach the Gospel through Central Asia, the Middle East, and then to Israel.

When we compare evangelization in Europe and the United States, China lags behind.  China has been consigned to disobedience for a longer time, but this doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love the Chinese people.  He is sovereign and wise.  Every country has a specific call and development time for the kingdom of God, whether Peter called to evangelize the Jews, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, or Christians evangelizing the Roman Empire, Spain, Portugal, and later, the United Kingdom and the United States.  The timeline and calling are God’s, and even if we don’t see Him effectively working in a country, it doesn’t mean he loves them less. In Matthew, chapter 20, Jesus told the parable of the workers in the vineyard.  They were all God’s workers, some were sent into the vineyard later than others, but all were paid the same.  When I said the last would be first, I wasn’t trying to exalt China. Instead, I tried to illustrate that God’s grace is priceless and His riches, wisdom, and knowledge have incredible depth.  We are not competing with one another as to who is first in God’s kingdom because it’s not by our works or effort but by His grace alone that we enter.

Similarly, because the Israelites refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah, God temporarily rejected them, but not to just curse or punish them. Instead, He hoped that they would learn to be obedient to the faith through suffering, thereby having a deeper understanding and experience with Him.  The Jews are like Simon the Pharisee in Luke 7 when he condemned the woman, a sinner, who offered the alabaster jar to the Lord.  The Lord’s response to him was, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (ESV, Luke 7:47).  This is a very profound statement.

When the Jews or we are consigned to disobedience, it is actually God’s mercy that allows us to become like that woman when we know Him and are forgiven one day.  Her sins, which were many, are forgiven--for she loved much. God's plan for us in this life is to experience His love and redemption.  It will take eternity for us to praise God.  If it takes some time on this earth to learn this lesson, it is undoubtedly worth it. If we have been able to express our sincere gratitude and praise to God in all things in this life, it may indicate that we actually know God quite well and have a very subjective experience with Him. This principle applies to the Gentiles and also to the Jews.

Therefore, Paul exclaimed at the end of Romans 11:

11:33 (ESV) “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

11:34 (ESV) “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

11:35 (ESV) “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

11:36 (ESV) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Paul really knew God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge! He was full of praise for God's plans for the Israelites! How unsearchable are God’s judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. We can only imagine what it will be like for the Jews once their time of discipline and consignment to disobedience is over.  They will praise and be grateful for coming into the full knowledge and truth of Jesus Christ.  We are bound by time, but God is not.  He is beyond time restraint.  We must view this from eternity’s perspective.  It is not about when we get into the vineyard, but it is about the bountiful grace of God being extended to anyone who enters the vineyard.  In a sense, it does not matter that much WHEN you get into the vineyard.  People are anxious because their mindset is still on the WHEN.

Sometimes, our loved ones face the same situation, especially in the United States.  Many children from Christian families have wandered far away from God, even taking drugs and committing sins.  Why does God allow these things to happen?  On the one hand, it is their own choice.  On the other hand, God consigned them to disobedience for some time to have mercy on them.  Don't give up hope.  Know the depth of the richness, wisdom, and knowledge of God!  May we praise Him; May His mercy come to them when the time is up.  Temporary rejection or discipline is not permanent rejection or punishment, but God's wisdom!  May we rest in the Lord!

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 10

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 10

Romans 9 talks about the Israelites being temporarily abandoned by God. The Gentiles—who did not pursue righteousness—were instead justified by faith (Romans 9:30). Meanwhile, the Israelites who were pursuing a law that would lead to righteousness failed to reach that law (Romans 9:31). Why? And what warning does this have for Christians today?

At the beginning of our meeting, a man asked a question about Romans 10:5-8 where it says, "For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down) or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)." This man’s question was, "Moses words that Paul is quoting are very difficult to articulate and understand. What exactly is Paul talking about?"

First, I shared some of my own Bible reading experiences with this man. When we read a verse in the Bible, we should also pay special attention to the preceding sentence and the following sentence. Usually, the author has his own logic as he writes. The Bible is ancient and translated from other languages, and we sometimes read it with a dull mind and a lack of illumination.  We don't often understand the logic behind it. But when you pay attention to the previous and following verses, you will gradually understand what the author is saying.

Second, especially when reading the New Testament, pay close attention to the Old Testament verses the author quotes. You need to go back to the Old Testament to see the background and importance of these quoted verses, so you can understand why the author chose these particular verses out of all the verses in the Old Testament. Remember, the New Testament author's train of thought and the verses he quoted from the Old Testament may express the same meaning. Since he can only quote a few sentences and not the entire Old Testament, it is important to pay attention to the background of the Old Testament verses.

Third, we should pay special attention to the first sentence of each chapter. Although the Bible was not originally divided into chapters, the translators may have received inspiration from the Holy Spirit as they split the Bible into chapters. I feel these chapter divisions have the intention of the Holy Spirit on them. So, figuring out the first verse can help you understand the main point of the entire chapter.

We will apply three principles to answer the question raised by our brother. The first is to pay attention to context. I feel when Paul quoted the words of Moses in verses 5 through 8, it was mainly to illustrate verse 4: where it says, "It turns out that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." To illustrate verse 4, let me give you an example I have used before. When I was young and lighting firecrackers, I always put a piece of paper on the firecrackers because I was afraid to burn myself. I would light the paper, which would light firecrackers' fuse, and then the firecrackers would explode. The law is like that paper, and the people pursuing the law are like lighting the paper, which will eventually bring about an explosion, which in this case would be the coming of Jesus Christ. But if the paper's fire goes out during the burning process, the firecracker will not be ignited. Similarly, the Israelites will be able to find Christ in the process of pursuing the law because the end of the law is Christ. But if they misunderstand the law, they will not be able to find Christ.

In Luke 2, the Holy Spirit revealed to an Israelite named Simeon that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ (Luke 2:26). So when baby Jesus came to the temple, Simeon was able to recognize Him as Jesus Christ. In that same section of Scripture, the prophetess Anna also recognized the baby as Jesus Christ. Later, Peter, the disciple, a Galilean, also recognized Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). All three people were Israelites, and as a result of pursuing the law, they were able to find Christ. This should be the end of all Israelites. But many Israelites fail to recognize that Jesus is Christ. What went wrong?

Choosing Life or Death

To explain this, we need to apply the second principle. Paul's verse is from Deuteronomy 30, where Moses explained God's law to the second generation of Israelites. After telling them about God's law and God's leading for Israel, Moses instructed the Israelites to obey God's commandments and turn to the Lord with all their heart and soul (Deuteronomy 30:10).

Then in Deuteronomy 30:11-14, Moses said, "For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it." Then Moses goes on to say in verse 15, "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil."

If the Israelites obeyed God's commandments, they would be blessed; if they deviated from God's commandments and worshiped idols, they would be cursed. This is connected with the inspiration for Romans 8 and 9. We saw in Romans 8:6 where Paul said, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." That verse can be applied here to explain this chapter. Paul is saying it is a question of how to choose. When dealing with the law, the Israelites must choose whether to obey God's law or rebel against God and worship idols, to choose between blessings and curses.

The same is true in the New Testament. We need to choose whether we will set our mind on things that are above or things that are on earth as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:2. If we think about spiritual things—things that are above—there is life and peace. But if we set our mind on the flesh, there is death. This is the theme of this passage in Deuteronomy and explains why Paul quoted Moses’ words, both here and in Romans 8.

Confessing that Jesus is Lord

In Romans 10:9-13, Paul continues to talk about verse 8: "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart." Salvation has been accomplished through Jesus Christ, not through our efforts in the flesh to keep the law. As Paul said before, "For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Romans 10:3). As long as we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. In verses 11 through 13 Paul writes, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Could the truth be any clearer than this? Yet, why didn't the Israelites understand it? Why did they pursue the law and not find Christ at the end of the law like Simeon, Anna, and Peter? Is Christ wrong? No. Is the law wrong? No. So what went wrong?

Remove the Veil

This truth is implied in Paul's Old Testament quotation from Deuteronomy 30, where it states that the Israelites disobeyed and rebelled. Paul noted in Colossians 3:5 that they have chosen idols and have "covetousness in their hearts, which is idolatry". Samuel told King Saul that obeying is better than sacrifice and rebellion is equivalent to divination. In 1 Samuel 15:23 he said, "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king." When we have idols in our hearts, it means we have a veil lying over our hearts. Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 3:15-17, "Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." This passage can also be used as an explanation in Romans 10. The Israelites are very near to salvation, because salvation is in their hearts, in their mouths. So as long as their hearts turn to the Lord, the veil will be removed, and they will be able to receive God's salvation. But when a person has a veil in his heart, he will think about his own efforts and say to himself, "How is the hard work of keeping the law justified? Who will go to heaven and earth for me?" This is why Paul quoted Moses' words of heaven and earth.

Actually, there is no need to go to heaven and earth, because Jesus Christ has completed this already. As long as we believe this, we can receive His salvation.

It is a pity that people have veils over their hearts. It's like a piece of paper in a window blocking the light, causing their minds to be darkened. Therefore, it’s not that God didn’t provide salvation for the Israelites, nor is the law wrong. The Israelites had a veil over their hearts, causing them to misread the law allowing themselves to be led in the wrong direction. True obedience to the law will lead you to seek and find Christ because Christ is the end of the law.

Calling on the Name of the Lord

The third principle we mentioned above is to pay attention to the first sentence of each chapter. Romans 10:1 says, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved." This verse fully reveals the meaning of what Paul is going to say in this chapter. Paul was anxious, and clearly, salvation was near to the Israelites. As long as their hearts turned to the Lord, the veil would be removed. If they confessed with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believed in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, they would be saved. Romans 10 says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But they had a veil over their hearts and could not see the accessibility and wonder of the Lord's salvation.

When I was in the Local Church Movement, the teaching I received was that when you are preaching the gospel, you should pay special attention to calling on the name of the Lord. I have put this into practice many times. I've observed many times that I can tell whether the person is seeking the Lord by noticing whether the person is willing to call on the name of the Lord and whether the person is sincere or just pretending when calling on the name of the Lord. Most who are willing to sincerely call on the name of the Lord to pray will be most likely saved. Later, I discovered that the people who refused to call on the name of the Lord, or pretended to call on the name of the Lord but were just going through the motions, are not likely to get saved, or were not ready to receive salvation at that time.

Then in verses 14-15, Paul said, "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?" Paul revealed the burden of the gospel again. We need to receive burdens and be sent by God to preach the gospel. People will only believe when they hear the Lord's words, and only by believing will they call on the name of the Lord. Only by calling on the name of the Lord will you be saved. Paul specifically quoted the verse in the Old Testament, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" (Romans 10:15). Paul also clearly said that "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

In verses 16-21, Paul talked about the situation in which the Israelites heard the gospel but refused to obey. In verse 16 he quoted Isaiah, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" Did the Israelites hear these words? Paul said, "But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Romans 10:18). In verse 19 Paul once again quoted Moses, "I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry." He again quoted Isaiah in verses 20 and 21, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me." And in 21 quoted, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."

In other words, the Israelites did hear the gospel.  However, we see in verse 16 that they did not obey the gospel. The Israelite’s rebellion was idolatry, and this idol became a veil over their hearts. When they were reading the Old Testament and the Law of Moses, they misunderstood God's law thereby not finding Christ by pursuing the law.

I have used the three principles of Bible reading that I mentioned above to answer the man’s question, which was, "What exactly does Paul mean when he quoted Moses' words of heaven and earth."  We should now understand that the verses Paul quoted make sense.  We just needed to understand Paul’s thinking.  Let me say this again: the Bible is very easy to understand; the difficulty lies in our minds being too complicated. If our minds were like children's and we didn't have a veil, the Bible would light up for us.

When I was done sharing this, the members of our study collectively sighed agreeing that this lined up with their experience.  One man said that it’s terrible that we can have a veil over our hearts and not even realize it.  This veil makes people think that their way is the only right way.  Likewise, Paul had a veil over his heart when he was persecuting and killing God’s people thinking that he was serving God.  This is sad, but true.

Examine Your Heart

Do you have a veil over your heart today?  Perhaps you do and you aren’t aware of it.  Do you have other idols besides God in your heart? Do you love the world? Do you rebel against God in your life? Maybe God has asked you many times to repent of certain things or forgive certain people, but you refuse to obey Him. Do we love our denomination more than we love God Himself and the entire body of Christ?

We need to fast and pray, humble ourselves before God and examine our hearts through prayer to see if we have a veil. If we have a veil, as long as our hearts turn to the Lord, the veil will be removed immediately. If we don’t know whether we have a veil on our hearts, or how to remove it, we can practice calling on the name of the Lord. Because everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. When you call on the name of the Lord over and over again, the Lord will illuminate your heart, allow you see the veil on your own heart, and let you be enlightened. The practice of calling on the name of the Lord is one of the best, simplest, and most effective practices that I learned in the Local Church Movement. It's a pity that many people don't know how beneficial this truth and practice is, and how it deserves to be promoted. Unfortunately, due to busy work schedules, many people who do know this lack sufficient practice and have lost many opportunities to be blessed.

I hope that through the study of this chapter, God can help you see the veil in your heart and remove it. Let’s practice constantly calling on the name of the Lord, asking the Lord for help, so that we can experience miraculous salvation. The most practical and effective practice is to kneel and call on the name of the Lord for more than half an hour before we do anything after we wake up in the morning. By continually calling on the name of the Lord all day long, you will be able to always live in the presence of God.

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 6

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 6

The subject of Romans 6 is about being united with Christ, including the experience of death and resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:1-5).  Paul specifically mentioned that our old man was crucified with Christ.  The sinful flesh has already been annulled (Romans 6:6-16), so we should consider ourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).   Although many Christians know this truth, they often find that their old man and flesh are still very active in their experience. How do we make sense of this? Paul's explanation in verses 12-23 says that we should offer our bodies to God as instruments for righteousness and not offer them to sin as instruments for unrighteousness (Romans 6:13).  In other words, as Paul said in Romans 8, "Setting our mind on the Spirit is life and peace, but setting the mind on the flesh is death." (ESV, Romans 8:6).

How do we better understand Paul's message in Romans 6?  During our meeting, we cited a few examples to help our bible study members understand what Paul meant.

First of all, we must know that man is a living soul, and this living soul is the product of the combination of God's Spirit or breath and the body formed by God from dust.  Genesis 2:7 (KJB) explains, "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul."  The "breath of life" here can be translated as "spirit" or "God's breath."  So the soul acts as an intermediary when God's breath and man's body of dust are combined.  The soul can contact the material world through the body's senses, and it can also contact the spiritual world through the Spirit in a person.  For example, I have had many prophetic dreams since 2015.  In these dreams, I will go to heaven and paradise to watch various situations.  If this is a real experience, then this should be something that happens in the Spirit.  It should be an experience of contacting the spiritual world in the Spirit.  But I need my soul and mind's function to remember these dreams and record them in time.  Therefore, we can see that the soul helps the Spirit or uses the Spirit to contact the spiritual world.

The power of the soul is great.  For example, before Adam's fall, God asked all animals to come to Adam for him to name them (Genesis 2:20).  This shows that Adam's knowledge was very extensive. In the Local Church Movement, they often mention that after man's fall, the body of man will fall into the flesh, the soul will fall into selfish self, and the Spirit of man will die. This is a fascinating thought. Here, we only look at this fallen soul.  The Lord Jesus said, "For whoever would save his soul-life will lose it, but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake will save it." (Luke 9:24).  According to STEPBIBLE.ORG, the "life" indicated in the original text does have the meaning of "soul."  There are two souls here; one is the old, fallen soul-life that must be discarded.  The other is the renewed soul-life that must be gained.

After man's fall, the body did not immediately die, but the Spirit of man died. The soul of man is continuously dying. At this time, the man's soul-life is no longer the wonderful soul-life that God created. Instead, it is the fallen soul-life that is mixed with the sinful life of Satan.  This is the life of the old man mentioned by Paul here in Romans 6.

God created the soul the same way Satan merged his life with man's sin producing sinful flesh.  The example I gave in a previous study can still be used to explain this.  Satan is like a drug dealer. If a drug dealer comes to sell drugs, and you are not weak or vulnerable, he can't deceive you. Therefore, if a person is tricked into taking drugs and becomes addicted to them, on the one hand, it is the fault of the drug dealer. On the other hand, it is also because of the weakness of the person being deceived.  When these two things are combined, it can produce a drug addict.  If a drug dealer came to entice you, and you refuse to give in to him, then the drug dealer has no influence over you, nor can he cause you to be an addict. When Satan's deception and the sin of Adam's rebellion are combined, it produced a sinful life, which is the man's fallen soul-life or the life of the old man that Paul mentioned.  When the Lord Jesus came to accept Satan's temptation, He did not sin and therefore, did not produce this fallen life.   As He said in John 14:30 (ESV), "The evil one has no claim on me."

When I was young, I used to work on a construction site.  We mixed limestone and water, which caused a chemical reaction that produced the white plaster we used to renovate houses on the construction site.  It was fascinating to watch the chemical reaction of two substances producing a third substance. Similarly, the combination of God's Spirit and man's body produces the soul-life, and the combination of Satan's life and the sin of man produces the fallen old man.  How do we get rid of this old man's life?  Satan is immortal.  He will be tormented forever in the lake of fire. The purpose of Jesus' death on the cross was not to kill Satan but to dethrone him and renounce his work.  How is his work renounced?  It is by crucifying the old man's life, which is a combination of Satan's life and humans' sins.  The old man is crucified by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, removing human sin once for all.   When human sin was removed on the cross, then the old man's life, which is the combination of human sin and Satan, no longer exists; it is dissolved. This is a spiritual truth and reality.  Another way to look at it is to liken Satan to the water, human sin as limestone, and white plaster as our old man.  Removing the limestone and changing it to another kind of stone that doesn't react to water will not produce the white plaster or old man.

Why do many Christians seem to operate out of their flesh and sin even after they are saved?  Why can't they overcome sin?  One reason would be cooperating with Satan's lies through their imaginations and living in an illusion of sin.  Or perhaps they set their minds on the flesh, which the Bible says is death.  Why is it that setting our minds on the flesh is death and cooperating with Satan's lies through our imaginations leads us to live according to the crucified old man?

After I left the Local Church Movement, I started to listen to many Charismatic pastors' sermons on the Internet.  One of them is Mel Bond.  But an example he cited left a deep impression on me.   He said that human imagination is very important.  Just as God can create anything, He gives people a similar creative ability.  For example, we often say that there is nothing you can't do that can't be done, only things that you haven't thought of.  There are often many things that you haven't thought of. If you come up with an idea, you will find that others have already done it.  Even the Bible recognizes the importance of imagination.  For example, when people were building the Tower of Babel, the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do.  And nothing that they propose to do will be impossible for them." (ESV, Genesis 11:6). The word "propose" here can also mean "imagination." If the people united and plotted evil, even God couldn't stop it. This is why God confused their language.

Mel Bond asked, "How can we have the signs and wonders of the spiritual world, or how do we use prophetic gifts to obtain the word of knowledge and prophetic words?" He said that in addition to prayer, it was mainly through holy imagination.  When we focus our imagination on the spiritual world and the presence of God, we will often be miraculously inspired and receive prophetic gifts such as prophetic words and words of knowledge.

He said that many evangelical Christians do not dare to talk about imagination for fear that they will come into contact with evil spirits after the imagination is opened up.  This fear is justified, but it's not without a solution.  Satan often influences our thinking and imagination through worldly and degenerate images such as TV and movies, filling our imagination full of sinful things all day long, making us prone to sin.  Similarly, as Christians, we should sanctify our imagination and always set our minds on God and heavenly things.  Only then will the holy imagination open the door of the spiritual world.

This is similar to the Local Church Movement's teaching of exercising the Spirit and setting the mind on the Spirit. In the Local Church Movement, special attention is paid to turning one's mind away from sin and the world through pray-reading the Lord's words, calling on the Lord's name, and other methods of exercising the Spirit. This helps a person set their mind on the Spirit, which brings life and peace. I like to sing a song composed by a brother using Colossians 3:2-4 (ESV) "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."  I often sing and read this verse to help me set my mind on the Spirit and things in heaven. I also like to pray 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (ESV), "But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

When our minds are constantly focused on the Spirit and heavenly things, we unconsciously and naturally open up a sacred and holy imagination, thereby entering the kingdom of God's presence and peace.  At this time, our actions in life can easily flow from the Spirit and not from the mixed life of the flesh and the fallen soul. The negative experiences happen when we don't actively focus on heavenly things and the presence of God.  We live in anxiety and sorrow, ending up controlled by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life John described in  1 John 2:16.

Why? The example cited in Mel Bond's sermon can explain this. Mel Bond said that a man drove a red Ferrari to the church for a meeting one day. During the meeting, text and pictures were displayed on the big screen, showing that a red Ferrari was smashed by a passing truck.  When he heard the news, he immediately experienced all kinds of negative emotions, including anger, resentment, pain, anxiety, etc. so much that if he were tested, his body would be hypersecreting hormones. He rushed out to take a look.  As expected, a red Ferrari was wrecked.  Taking a closer look, it turns out that the crashed Ferrari was precisely the same as his red Ferrari, but his car was still parked in another place and was in perfect condition.

After telling this story, Mel Bond asked the audience, "The man's red Ferrari was not damaged, but he began to think it was.  This was a false fact.  But I would like to ask because he thought his red Ferrari was damaged, was the feeling of anger, pain, and increased hormone secretion that he produced a real experience?"  He said yes.  Even though it was a lie that his car was wrecked, the experience in his heart caused by his imagination was completely real.

This is the story that Paul talked about in Romans 6.  Our old man died on the cross with Christ. The Lord Jesus, as the spotless lamb, took away the sins of the world.  So the old man's life produced by Satan who combined himself and man's sins no longer exists.  This is a sacred fact.  But if you think it still exists, and you live with it by imagination, you will fall into Satan's tricks, letting it continue to live out sin in you by deceiving you. The world looks as real as how the person in the above example felt the first time he saw the photo and heard the announcement that someone had damaged a red Ferrari.

Satan has no jurisdiction over you once you are saved, but he can still control you if you believe his lies.  So in the past, Satan controlled people through their sins, but now Satan controls people through lies.  If you believe his lies, you will still live under his control.

If you believe in a lie, you can create a false world based on this lie.  If you believe in spiritual truth, such as "justification by faith," "he who believes and is baptized will be saved," you can enter a real spiritual world.  Christians who received salvation have this kind of experience.  If someone said to you, "you can't do anything," and you believe it, you will find that you really can't do anything.  But if you believe that all things are possible with Christ, you can do all things through His power.

This is the importance of imagination.  If the word imagination makes you uncomfortable, use the terminology in Romans 8 "setting the mind on the Spirit" and Colossians 3 "setting the mind on things that are above" to express the same meaning.  2 Corinthians 3:16-18 say that we who behold the glory of the Lord gradually become the same image as Him.  In other words, we are like a mirror. What we look at, reflect on, think, and imagine, we will become.

Bill Johnson, another Charismatic pastor, often says, "You are what you are most aware of." This means what you paid most attention to is what you will become.  If you pay more attention to the glory of God and the presence of God in your life, you will slowly live in the scope of God's presence and His glory.  If you pay more attention to worldly things, you will become a part of this world. If you continuously pay attention to sinful things, you will sin and become a part of sin.

What Paul said in Romans 6:12-23 is nothing more than this.  In verse 13, he said that we must offer our bodies to God as instruments for righteousness, not to sin as instruments for unrighteousness.  Verse 14 says that if we offer our bodies to God as instruments for righteousness, sin will have no dominion over us because we are not under the law but under the grace of God.  Because we have been set free from our sins and have become slaves of God, the fruit we get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life (ESV, Romans 6:22).  These experiences are Paul's way of laying the groundwork of saying, "Setting the mind on the Spirit is life and peace but setting the mind on the flesh is death" in Romans 8.

What kind of life we live today depends entirely on our choice.  By the mercies of God, we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual worship (ESV, Romans 12:1).  Our bodies must be offered to God as instruments of God and righteousness.  You can't say you want to pray and worship God while watching worldly TV programs.  This type of thinking won't work.  You must separate yourself from sin, sinful behavior as well as living habits and present it to God.  Second, you have to dedicate your soul and mind to God, or at least your imagination, and you should set your mind on the things above and the Spirit to live a heavenly, victorious Christian life.

Romans 7 begins to talk about the various experiences of a saved person in the flesh.  Paul sighed and said, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." (ESV, Romans 7:19).  He even sighed that he was a wretched person (ESV, Romans 7:24).  This was a real experience, but it was also a false experience.  Why?  Your imagination has not been sanctified.  You are still living in the deception of the enemy.  After you see this spiritual fact clearly and set your mind on the Spirit, you can enter into Paul's experience in Romans 8; you will be set free from the law of sin and death through the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:2).

One of the biggest problems of many Christians today is they set their minds on the flesh.  They can live a holy and victorious life, yet they choose to offer their bodies to sin as instruments for unrighteousness or put their imagination or minds on the flesh.  Combining this with Satan's deception, they live a sinful or worldly life.  However, this life is an illusion.  The actual spiritual reality is that Christians have already been crucified with Christ.  The life of your old man no longer exists.  You only need to sanctify your imagination or set your mind on the Spirit and the things above, and you will be able to be free from all the sins, failures, and weaknesses in your body and live a victorious life!

No matter what lies you believed in the past, such as "I can't do anything," "I am not good at socializing," "I am not good at doing business," "I can't overcome a certain fear," "I can never do that," "No one likes me," and so on, these words have no power in themselves.  When you believe and focus on those thoughts, you create a false imagination in your mind and end up living out what you believe.  I   believed these lies before, but God used His miraculous salvation to bring me into the experience of healing and casting out demons.  Then I was able to break countless similar lies.  My life has been different from that point on.

Because I lived in a rural area in China when I was young, and my family situation was not that ideal, I believed in a lie, which was, "The reason why I am not successful is that I am the son of a farmer.  Success is not in my genes."  My life was in bondage because of this thinking.  I experienced inner healing in my soul, broke this lie, and broke through the life that I designed for myself because of believing this lie.

Negative words can only affect you if you believe in them.  Similarly, positive words can only produce positive results by combining your faith, positive thoughts, and the power of your imagination.  I hope this study blesses you.

 

Justification by Faith - Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 4

Justification by Faith

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 4

Romans 4 continues the theme of justification by faith, which Paul introduced in Romans 1:17: "The righteous shall live by faith." (ESV) Romans 5 builds on the concepts of justification by faith which are discussed in chapter 4. Romans 5 begins, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1 ESV) Clearly, the theme of Romans 4 is “justification by faith.”

Although the chapter tells the story of Abraham and Sarah’s justification by faith, that will not be the focus of today’s discussion. Since Christians are already familiar with Abraham’s story, we will focus our time on the Psalms Paul quotes to uphold justification by faith.

David’s Words of Faith

In Romans 4:5-8, Paul says, “And to the one who does not work but believes inhim who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” (ESV)

In this passage, Paul quotes Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. Both Psalms were written by David after God forgave him of his sin with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 focuses on repentance while Psalm 32 focuses on gratitude.

Both David and Paul wrote both under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When Paul and other New Testament authors quote Old Testament authors, they use these Old Testament verses to illuminate New Testament themes. Old Testament truths provide a new angle on New Testament truth.

When New Testament authors quote the Old Testament, there are often some small variations between the Old Testament text and the New Testament quote. For example, Psalm 32:1-2 says: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (ESV) Paul's quotation omits the phrase, "in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

In addition, there are some translation differences between the two quotations. For instance, where the Psalm says “LORD (Jehovah),” most translations say, “the Lord.” Only some versions such as the Darby Bible and ASV still translate it as “LORD (Jehovah).”

The New Testament often uses the Old Testament as a picture that points to a New Testament reality. For example, the Old Testament crossing of the Red Sea is a vivid picture or depiction that helps us understand the New Testament concept of receiving salvation and breaking free from sin.  Similarly, David's experience and his emotions in Psalm 32 may be a picture that can help us better understand the truth of "justification by faith."

David’s Repentance.

How does David's experience prove Paul's argument? We know that David was chosen by God while he was a shepherd. David, the youngest of eight siblings, was tending sheep in the wilderness. When Samuel went to the house of David's father, Jesse, to find the person God had appointed to be the next king, David was not present. Only after Samuel had met all seven other sons did he ask Jesse about his eight sons. Jesse admitted that he had one more son, who was out in the wilderness.

It seems that David really has no status in the family. Some theologians have speculated that David may have been a child of Jesse’s mistress or even an illegitimate child, since there was so much discrimination against him in his home. This conjecture makes sense. Whereas most families treasure the last child as the apple of their eye, David’s family didn’t even remember that he existed until Samuel asked if Jesse had another son. Later, when David brought food to his brothers at the battle line, David was ridiculed by his own brothers. Clearly, David was devalued within his own home.

We can’t be sure whether this conjecture is accurate. Either way, we know that David lacked status in his family. However, David went through God’s training in the wilderness. In his own words, the Lord was with him. God gave him opportunities to deepen his trust in God. When a lion or bear threatened the flock, God helped him conquer these wild animals. Later, God anointed him as king. After he rose in power, his morals began to weaken. One evening, he was walking on his palace roof when he saw a married woman bathing down below. After committing adultery with her, David murdered her husband.

After this incident, God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke him, and he immediately repented (2 Samuel 12). The introduction to Psalm 51 records that after Nathan came to see David, David wrote Psalm 51 for the director of music.

Normally, people’s impression of David is that he is quicker to repent than Saul. When Samuel rebuked Saul for offering an unauthorized sacrifice, Saul only quibbled. He did not admit his mistake. Samuel was very angry, saying that rebellion is equivalent to idolatry and that obedience is better than sacrifice. Samuel prophesied that the Lord would take Saul’s kingdom and give it to the chosen person in His heart.

The book of 2 Samuel tells us that after Nathan reprimanded David, he immediately repented. However, Psalm 32:3-4 records a time of hesitation during which David was reluctant to repent: “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah” (ESV)

David’s reluctance to repent was very painful for him. No matter when this time of hesitation occurred, this passage gives us an important insight into David’s inner feelings. The longer he waited to confess his sins, the more he felt the pressure of God’s hands on his life.

I can relate deeply to David’s experience. When I was studying in London, England, I heard someone mention the gospel. Suddenly, I began to feel uneasy. I realized I was a sinner. I suddenly felt guilty for many things I did not even previously consider to be sins. It was a very painful experience. I didn’t know where to find relief. I would often browse my computer until midnight before I could fall asleep, and I would wake up suddenly during the night. During that time, I often ran to a nearby park at night, where I cried out with a loud voice to the sky and admitted my mistakes and sins. Even though it wasn’t raining, I felt low air pressure, as if a storm were about to come. I felt out of breath.

Later, when I reflected on this experience, I realized that God's hands were weighing heavily on me, not allowing me to get by without repentance. Since then, I have repented regularly. After I was baptized in the United States, I have knelt down on the ground every night to pray for repentance. After coming to the United States, I experienced the joy of the complete forgiveness of sins.

David also experienced this powerful spiritual experience of forgiveness. He said in Psalm 32:5-7, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah” (ESV)

These verses describe David gradually receiving forgiveness and joy as he repented and confessed his sins. These experiences may seem like nothing special to modern Christians, but for an Old Testament saint like David, the feeling of forgiveness was unprecedented. Similarly, Martin Luther felt like forgiveness and justification by faith were a big breakthrough.

In many Psalms, David would begin writing from his human perspective. Then the Holy Spirit would come upon him, and he would speak directly from God’s point of view. This is the case in Psalm 32:8-11. In these verses, the Spirit of the Lord says through David: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (ESV)

Generational Curses.

David lived a life of purity and loved God’s law. He often boasted about his righteousness and the unrighteousness of others. Yet he committed many violations of God’s commandments with Bathsheba. For example, he broke at least three laws: do not kill, do not bear false witness, and do not commit adultery. David’s sin gave the enemy a great opportunity to discredit David’s God. This defeat was a big blow to God’s reputation.

In American society, many Christians commit sins of adultery. Randy Clark, the founder of Global Awakening and the supervisor of the "Randy Clark Scholars" Doctor of Ministry Program at the United Theological Seminary where I am studying now, admitted his struggle in this area. Though he tried his best to love the Lord, Randy fell into adultery in his younger years. After he his wife betrayed him and sinned against him, he began to be sexually immoral, even to the point of taking drugs. He later mentioned the importance of deliverance ministry in his life. After demons were cast out of Randy, he discovered that his family's ancestors had committed the same sins. It was then that he realized that he was suffering from a generational curse. After he experienced deliverance, he escaped from this curse, defeating the strongholds set up by the evil spirits. His children became godly people, and none of them have repeated this generational mistake. He testified that his children had never kissed anyone except their husband or wife.

Randy Clark comes from a Baptist background, and he attended a liberal seminary, so he didn't believe in deliverance. But his experience proved the effectiveness of deliverance. I completed the course in divine healing and deliverance that he offered at his ministry. During this period, I read many books about deliverance. One of these books suggested that David sinned because of a generational curse that could be traced back to his great-great-grandmother, the prostitute Rahab. Rahab was justified by faith and the whole family was saved when she married Salmon, an Israelite spy, and gave birth to the godly man, Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David. Boaz was a very pious man. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Obed and Jesse sinned sexually. However, the deliverance ministry suggests that David sinned as a result of a family curse. Since Rahab was a prostitute, she interacted with many people. Naturally, she brought in many evil spirits. These evil spirits established strongholds in David’s family. Therefore, although David pursued purity throughout his life, he could not overcome the power of these evil spirits. Thus, he eventually failed.

Of course, this does not mean that David himself carries no responsibility for this act. We should not blame his sin completely on the evil spirits. But we do need to acknowledge the existence of evil spirits and generational curses. In Randy’s case, he realized that demons were involved as he saw a pattern of similar sins in his family. But once he was delivered from these demons, the pattern was broken. Randy explains that there is often more to the story than our own personal sins. We need to confess our sins, but we also need to cast the demons out. Fortunately, Christ has delivered us from the curse through his work on the cross, and deliverance ministries seek to apply that deliverance to daily life.

Not only must we believe that God is able to save us, but we must also admit our own incapacity to save ourselves. Even if our own hard work could make us pure, how would we deal with the sins of our ancestors which still flow in our blood? Our sinful nature needs the blood of Christ and his work on the cross to be removed once and for all.

Although David is an Old Testament believer, many of his experiences can be related to common New Testament phenomena. David experienced moral failure, but he has also experienced God's forgiveness and possibly the deliverance from demons or family curses. David’s life was like a roller coaster. After the depths of sin and despair, David experienced the heights of joy and forgiveness. In Psalm 32, he sighed in authentic joy: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (ESV) He experienced the joy of "justification by faith" and the deliverance from family curses and demons.