Bible Study With Jairus

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.

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 3

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 3

When we first read Romans 3, we felt that there was some confusion in the logic.  For example, Paul   asked a question in the first verse: "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?" (Romans 3:1, NIV).  Then he answered this question in the second verse.  He said: "Much in every way!  First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God."  Logically speaking, we would then expect Paul to say: "second or third" later, but we couldn’t find the second or third in chapter 3, nor in chapters 4 or 5.  When I searched online, I saw that it's not until Romans 9:4-5 before Paul talked about other advantages of the Jews.  So it's not that Paul's logic is unclear.  It's just that we don't understand his reasoning, making it difficult to properly interpret this chapter.

Our understanding of the Bible is often influenced by the teaching we receive.  Witness Lee, a leader in the Local Church Movement where I was saved, taught that Romans, chapters 9-11 were inserted to teach about the Jews' election.  This teaching deeply influenced me, so I didn't see Paul's logic here differently.  I'm sure Witness Lee had reasons for teaching this.  Paul's question about the advantages of the Jews began in chapter 3, was touched on in chapter 8, and continued in chapter 9.  As Paul said in Romans 9:4-5 (ESV), "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.  To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

Witness Lee may have talked about the other advantages of the Jews in Romans 9, but I rarely heard anyone talk about this during my thirteen years of attending there.  Instead, the statement about Romans 9-11 being inserted to speak about the Jews election left a deep impression on me. So the thought came to me that maybe Romans chapters 3-8 in total were added for that purpose.  I am not criticizing others here.  I am just discussing how we can learn from our predecessors without limitations.

In addition to praying for God's revelation, it's important to look at and incorporate teaching from other Bible scholars who have gone on before us.  There are two parts to the process of studying other people's interpretations of the Bible.  One part is to understand the light that others have received; the other part is to unlearn some of the teachings we have received.  We often get some of our understanding of the Scriptures from various Bible teachers.  Many of these teachings are rooted in our memories and even our souls.  On the one hand, these teachings help us to understand the Bible.  On the other hand, they sometimes become concepts, preventing us from further understanding the Bible.

When I was in the Local Church Movement, I often encountered Christians from other churches, especially Chinese churches, who condemned the Local Church Movement and Witness Lee of teaching heresy.  

I left the Local Church Movement and was led to learn the truths and pursue gifts in the Pentecostal Movement.  My understanding of the Bible and some of its truths gradually differed from the teaching of the Local Church Movement, but to this day, I still disagree with the Chinese churches that condemned it.  There are many things in this movement worth learning by the body of Christ.  I do have a problem with some of the Local Church Movement's teaching.  They stay ingrained in their own beliefs and teachings unwilling to grow and learn from other traditions or denominations.  Witness Lee's understanding of the Bible in some areas isn't correct.  For example, his note on "the word of knowledge," in 1 Corinthians 12 says: "The word of knowledge is the word that imparts a general knowledge of things concerning God and the Lord (8:1-7).  The word of knowledge is mainly of our understanding through teaching." (Notes of the Recovery Version).  This explains why I didn't understand what the word of knowledge was when I first came into contact with the Pentecostal Movement.

In the Pentecostal Movement, the miraculous message God has given to some pastors is called "the word of knowledge."  I heard that Derek Prince mentioned at a healing meeting that his wife felt that God wanted to heal someone's leg. He called this the "word of knowledge."   When Prophet Shawn Bolz, who is very gifted in words of knowledge, uses his gift of prophecy, many times he was able to tell the other party's bank account number, birthday, name, social security number, and other information impossible to know.   His gift shocks people into believing that God exists, and often they even get saved. I've attended Shawn's meetings several times and witnessed him using words of knowledge.

The Lord Jesus miraculously knew the history of the Samaritan woman's five husbands.  He had never seen Zacchaeus but knew his name (Luke 19:5).  He saw Nathanael while he was still under the fig tree (John 1:48). In the Pentecostal Movement, these are generally called "words of knowledge."  Witness Lee also had this experience.  For example, he mentioned that under no prior knowledge, he pointed out that a person stole chalk and drew circles on the floor, causing the person to repent and be saved (Witness Lee: "Life-Study of Romans"), and during a sermon, he miraculously pointed out that a woman allowed her husband to work overtime to buy high-heeled shoes for her, which led to the woman's repentance and salvation (Witness Lee: "The Fullness of God").  He also said in another message that John Sung pointed to a woman and said that she was a mistress under unknown circumstances, causing the woman to repent after being inspired by the Holy Spirit (Witness Lee: "Practice Being One Spirit with the Lord").  According to the Pentecostal Movement, this phenomenon is called the "word of knowledge."

I think that the Pentecostal Movement's interpretation of the "word of knowledge" is correct because, generally speaking, the nine gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 are miraculous gifts.  These miraculous gifts are given by God to help evangelists, prophets, and ordinary Christians influence others to repent and come to Christ.  However, Witness Lee believed that the "word of knowledge" came through our understanding and teaching.  This differs from the interpretation of the Pentecostal Movement, which believes that the "word of knowledge" does not come from understanding but is a miraculous message from God.

I think that although Witness Lee studied speaking in tongues in the early days, he distanced himself from it and the Pentecostal Movement.  He might have lacked the experiences or manifestations of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and did not understand what speaking in tongues meant to us today.

He criticized the Pentecostal Movement for not focusing on the growth of an individual's spiritual life.  Although he was correct in this, he misunderstood the gifts of the Holy Spirit due to his lack of spiritual experience.  Leaving the Local Church Movement after thirteen years to learn more about the Pentecostal Movement was difficult.  It was a painful process to expand my mind to receive the truths that God was teaching me, but it was well worth it.  The process of understanding the Bible is similar.  We must pray that God will give us revelation, yet still be willing to learn from others who see things differently. I'm grateful for the teaching and training I received in the Local Church Movement.  After leaving, I studied a variety of church movements and realize that many of the things I learned in my former church are true Biblical teachings that I highly recommend other believers to search out and glean from.  Through my journey of discovery in other churches and ministries, I've examined my views and conflicting thoughts concerning several teachings that I now disagree with in the Local Church Movement.

Each time I lead our Bible study, I go through a process of sorting out the beneficial things I learned from the Local Church Movement and promote them without reservation.  I then present the views that I've studied in other churches hoping to influence Christians in the Local Church Movement.  I maintain an attitude of gratefulness for what I've learned there while hoping to break through the traditional restrictions that I was taught.  This allows the Holy Spirit freedom to lead us to a deeper understanding of God's Word.

This process applies to every Christian group looking to break through the restrictions of their particular denomination.  Each of us inherits spiritual wealth as well as restrictions from our spiritual founders.  My heart is to help people see that when reading the Bible, we should be open to the Holy Spirit and be willing to learn from our predecessors and the body of Christ.  We need to learn to put the teaching to practical use and not allow it to be a hindrance to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

When I read Romans 3 this time, I applied this principle.  I tried to incorporate the understanding I learned from my predecessors, and look up to the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Let's recap our discussion in Romans 1 and 2, which was the historical record of the conflict between Jews and Gentiles in early Rome.  This conflict may have been severe enough that Claudius commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. It was after this incident that the Jews from the Roman Church, Priscilla, and Aquila, came to Corinth and met Paul (Acts 18:2).  At this point, Paul had the burden to go and visit Rome (Acts 19:21). Paul wrote the book of Romans in Corinth because he wasn't sure if he could go to Jerusalem or reach Rome safely (Romans 1:10).  It's possible that this conflict may have been extended to the church - Jewish believers had to live according to the law and even required the Gentiles to obey the law. While the Gentiles boasted of their culture, this induced conflicts. But Paul does not shy away from this. In Romans 2:24 (NIV), he quoted the Old Testament to accuse the Jewish believers, "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of them."

After Paul greeted and praised the faith of the Roman church in chapter 1 verses 1-17, he began to point out the sins of the Gentiles in verses 18-32. Romans, chapter 2, criticized the Jews. Chapter 3 continued this criticism, but its target audience was the Gentiles. Why am I saying this?  

The Holy Spirit showed me that the conflict between the Jewish and Gentile believers could have been caused by erroneous Jewish teaching that led the Gentile believers to backslide.  Paul tried to correct this teaching by immersing himself in the Gentile's lives and teaching them the truth.

At this point, we could speculate that Paul asked the Gentiles whether they believed the Jews had more advantages.  There are some, including the fact that they were entrusted with the words of God.  We had to wait until chapter 9 for him to identify other advantages.  Paul seemed to act like an elder trying to stop people from arguing with one another.  He spoke of the Jew's shortcomings as well as pointed out that they had a purpose in God's kingdom.  Chapters 9-11 follow this train of thought as Paul talks about how God elected the Jews and the burden he had for them.  From this point of view, we can see that Romans, chapters 9-11, were not inserted as Witness Lee described. It can be traced back to the beginning of chapter 3.  Paul interjected his spiritual experiences and the topic of justification by faith between chapters 3-8.  He shared his spiritual experiences to help the Gentiles overcome sin and the Jews to overcome the law. 

Romans chapter 3 begins with the topic of justification by faith (3:28), and chapter 4 explains Abraham's experience of justification by faith in detail.  Romans chapter 5 continues talking about justification by faith but brings in the viewpoint that the law was brought in so that the trespass might increase (Romans 5:20, NIV). Romans chapter 6 explains how our old man is crucified with Christ so that we may now live with Him. In Romans chapter 7, Paul describes being bound by the law of sin, and chapter 8 talks about Christ's resurrection, releasing us from the law of sin and death.  Paul combines his own experience plus the truth of justification by faith, and then in chapter 9 continues his thoughts that he began in chapter 3 that the Jews were worthy of the Gentiles appreciation and acceptance.  The Gentiles should be grateful that the Jews helped to pass on the Word of God, providing us with the Old Testament.  In addition, Romans 9:4-5 (ESV) says, "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen." This all ties into Paul's previous train of thought.

After Paul finished talking about the Jews, he continued to say in Romans 12 that the people of the Roman Church must "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves" (Romans 12:10, NIV), submit to the authorities (Romans 13:1, NIV), and accept one other (Romans 14:1, NIV). In Chapter 15, Paul specifically mentions that he would bring the Gentile's offering to Jerusalem and bring the blessings of the Gentile churches into Jerusalem. From this, not only can we see Paul's logic, but we can also understand why Paul had to go to Jerusalem. Because of the constant conflict between Jewish believers and Gentile believers at that time, Paul was really burdened. He hoped that they could increase communication and reconcile with each other. This has a lot of spiritual significance for the United States today as the country is currently facing racial conflict.

 A man in our study asked why Romans 3:8 (NIV) says, "Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is just!" Previously in verse 5, Paul said, "But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say?" There is no record in the Bible of who slandered Paul for saying "do evil that good may result," but I'm sure Paul had a reason for saying this. Although Paul had not been to Rome before and may not have communicated with the Roman Church, some leaders and believers in this church, including Priscilla and Aquila, etc., communicated with Paul, so he may have indirectly heard the slanderous claims from them.

Paul is talking about justification by faith and not because of our works. Of course, this includes good works or bad works.  In Romans 3:10-18, Paul quoted the words of the Old Testament to prove that no one is righteous. In verses 19-20, he said that it is through the law that we become conscious of our sin. Only after becoming aware of our sin, can we gain righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ.

Another man asked why verse 31 in chapter 3 (NIV) says, "Do we nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."  I answered him by saying that Paul was still talking about his spiritual experience in preparation for what he would say in chapter 8 about being free from the law of sin and death.

The Local Church Movement taught that the woman in Chapter 7 represents the law, and the dead husband represents the old man. When the old man dies, the new husband will be Christ. The law is not a source of trouble; the old man is.

Whether we are talking about the Old Testament Law or New Testament grace, the requirement is to love God and love others as you love yourself.  The problem is when the old man is in control rather than the new man in Christ.  Living according to the old man will always bring condemnation.  For example, if you are trying to love your wife through the old man and can't do it, you'll be condemned for not loving her.  This is how the law works.  However, if you are alive in Christ, you can love your wife to the point of even laying down your life.  You won't violate the law; instead, you'll perfect and strengthen the requirements of the law, which is to love your neighbor as yourself.

The strength of the Local Church Movement is to teach Christians to experience spiritual growth and the renewal of the soul so that the life of Christ can be fuller in us.  This teaching would benefit everyone and is worth learning.

I also shared my spiritual experience.  I talked about the hardship of ten years of infertility, the difficulties it caused in our marriage, as well as how to overcome these difficulties and achieve spiritual breakthroughs in faith and prayer.  The result was having a miracle baby.  My own experience also proves that not only do we have to be saved by faith, but every step of our spiritual breakthrough is also through faith.  I shared how, with the help of God, I had step by step internalized into my own spiritual experience (that is ruling my life) what the law had required me from the outside. Initially, my wife asked me from the outside to love and care for her, but I couldn't do it.  But with this change, I had slowly developed love and sympathy for my wife inside.

My own experience and what Paul said here are all described in Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV): "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

In other words, the law restricts and rules us from the outside.  This is because we are still children, and we need the law as our guardian to discipline us.  But its purpose is to bring us to Christ so that we can be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). The law must go from the outside to the inside of our hearts.  In the Old Testament, the Jews only had the law outside while the law in the New Testament was to be established in our hearts.  But the Jews had a veil over their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14). Likewise, Christians today can also have a veil over their hearts. God's law, whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament, is not wrong.  It is because people's hearts have a veil, and their hearts are distorted, which led them to distort the law.  Here Paul is trying to help the believers remove the veil from their hearts because he knows that when our hearts turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:16).

This statement applies not only to the Jews or Jewish believers in the early church but also to anyone in Christianity today.  Is there a veil over our hearts that prevents us from further understanding the richness of God and His Word?  Even the biblical knowledge and truths we learn from our Christian tradition can sometimes become veils that prevent us from further understanding God.  May God have mercy on us, illuminate us, and help remove all our veils!

 

Bible Study with Jairus - Leviticus 16

Bible Study with Jairus - Leviticus 16

The man who led our Bible study on Leviticus 16 asked a good question.  When the high priest stood before God and used the blood to make atonement, did the Israelites still have sin (verses 14-15)?  Clearly, the sprinkling of blood only covered sin temporarily.  It didn't take the sin away forever.  In the New Testament, our sin was cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus.  Why do we still sin then?  In the Old Testament, Balaam prophesied that Israel was blameless in his sight (Numbers 23:21).  The New Testament also says that the church is holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:27).  How can we look at the Israelites and ourselves as blameless when we know that the Israelites were full of apostasy and sin, and we in the New Testament church also still sin?  How can these two seemingly contradictory truths be explained? This led to a lively discussion.  There is a famous Christian song titled: "I'm only a sinner saved by grace." I also mentioned this in a message.  A Chinese listener sent a letter telling me that I was wrong.  We are no longer sinners; we are saints.  I replied to him, saying that this was translated from an English song into Chinese.  The English title is: "I was a sinner saved by Grace," so this sentence is correct, but because Chinese has no tenses, naturally, the original meaning cannot be seen. There is nothing wrong with the expression in English.

If you search online, there are a large number of articles proving "You Are Not Just a Sinner Saved by Grace."  I haven't read each article entirely, but it's clear that we are no longer sinners after we are saved.  Peter says we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and his own special people (1 Peter 2:9). But how do we understand Paul's comment about himself being the chief of sinners?

Let's look at two aspects of truth.  First, I agree that when we are saved, we are no longer sinners but saints. Once we are saved, the Bible says we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  His death on the cross provided freedom from sin for us.

We can analyze it from several aspects.  1 John 3:9 (NIV) says, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin."  I was saved in the Local Church Movement.  We were taught that "born of God" here refers to our spirit. Our spirit is holy and, therefore, cannot sin. But our souls and flesh have not been transformed by the life of God, so we will still sin.  Because we are still in the transformation process, our soul or flesh isn't holy, which is why we can still sin.  I think this makes a lot of sense.

We are composed of 3 parts: body, soul and spirit.  As a believer in Christ, God has drawn a boundary that keeps Satan and sin from touching our born again spirits.  Even when we sin through our mind, will, or emotions through jealousy, covetousness, etc., our spirit is protected.  The same is true when we sin in our flesh, such as stealing, adultery, etc.  Nothing can come against our born again spirit, which is sealed by God.  When you are born again, you become one spirit with God (1 Corinthians 6:17).  An unbeliever committing the same sins does not have that protection, and his spirit can die.

When we are born again, our spirit is sinless and holy.  In Charismatic circles, the saying is: we are a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body.  Our true new man, which is the spirit, is saved, yet our unregenerate body is still compelled to sin and taints our soul to some extent.  Our spirit remains pure and holy, regardless of the body's sin.

Our body, soul, and spirit can be compared to a gold mine.  Gold represents our spirit, our soul is represented by a stone, and our flesh would be like the dirt.  If you are an experienced geologist or gold miner, you don't focus on the stone or the dirt all over it.  You are only concerned with whether there is gold inside that stone. 

Although we are born again, we still struggle with sin and tend to focus on the dirt or sin. It's hard for us to look past the dirt because we feel so bad about our sins.  When God looks at us, he only sees the gold.  Even though He's aware of our sin, He values us based on our pure born again spirit that was cleansed by Jesus' blood on the cross.  He understands that we are in the process of allowing the dirt to be removed so that the gold can shine through the stone.  We look at our problems through time, but God looks at them through eternity.  His angle is entirely different.

The reason I said that we are no longer sinners but saints and holy people of God's kingdom, is viewed from the perspective of God and eternity.  We were chosen before the creation of the world.  We know that sin came after Genesis 3.  Once we are saved, we have eternal life, and God looks at us from an eternal perspective.  Although we may still sin, God knows that there is a process for us to change and be sanctified. This problem will be solved over time.

Let's illustrate this principle with another example.  We often look at ourselves or fellow believers and notice shortcomings or sinful behaviors.  We observe people at face value, but God looks right through us.  He doesn't just see the flesh.  His eyes are like an X-ray machine seeing the bones as well.  Bones are often used to represent the resurrected life in the Bible, which shows us that God sees the resurrected life inside us.

It's not always easy for us to see from God's perspective.  Kris Vallotton, a prophet at Bethel church in California, said: "It takes a genius to discover the greatness of another person, but it doesn't take a genius to find other's shortcomings." Kris testified that since he operated in the gift of prophecy, he often supernaturally knew the sins committed by fellow believers and would share it when he saw them. This caused a lot of hurt within the congregation. He thought he was doing what 1 Corinthians 14:25 says: "And the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you."  He also thought he would be recognized as a true prophet this way, yet it had the opposite effect and caused much disagreement in the lives of those around him.

One day, God spoke to him, saying this person's sin is not the secret of his heart.  He knows he is sinful.   His heart's secret is that he doesn't know the hope to which I called him and the riches of the glorious inheritance that I gave him.  My beautiful plans and dreams for his life are the secret of his heart.  This word from God had a significant impact on Kris.  He began to understand that although God told him the person's sins, it was only for him to diagnose, heal, and understand their circumstances.  It was not the real message that the Lord tried to give him.  The Lord's wonderful plan is for the prophet to share words of hope and encouragement, not conviction.  

In many churches, there are former drug addicts and others whose lives were a mess before they were saved.  It's often difficult to see the good in them and encourage them to recognize their identity and status in Christ.  They need to be convinced they are no longer sinners but saints of God.  When a person repents after falling into sin, it's difficult to break through the past and the nature of sin that still tries to influence their lives.  Even though an individual may know in his heart that he isn't perfect, it can be even more challenging to see his own life as beautiful in the midst of his weakness or sin.

 It's vital for us to see ourselves as God sees us.  We are fully loved, and accepted children of God cleansed completely from all sin. A revelation of this truth will change our lives.  Rather than permit us to indulge in sin, it empowers us to overcome all of our weaknesses in the flesh.  What makes me say this?

The world we see is not a real-world but a short-term illusion.  The Bible says that the world that can be seen is temporary, but the spiritual world that cannot be seen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).  Our past sins and weaknesses are not real.  They are just an illusion.  But what we are in Christ is real.  I'm not saying this to deny that you have sinned in the past.  Rather the blood of Christ has indeed cleansed you.  Though it may seem like our sin, weaknesses, and past memories are real, we are cleansed and forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross.  The devil may try to tell you who you aren't, but God wants you to know who you are in Christ.

One day, I was doing a Bible study and fellowshipping with a Chinese student in a restaurant at George Washington University.  We discussed Christ's work on the cross, our problem with the old sin nature, and how we should use the blood of Christ to enter into the Holy of Holies without fear.  He didn't understand the concept, so I gave him the following example to explain it better.  We were sitting beside a glass window at the student cafeteria's outer side, and it was raining hard outside.  I compared where we were seated to the tabernacle's outer courtyard, and the dining room in front of us would be the sanctuary. When we go through the dining room door into the kitchen, we enter the Holy of Holies.  When we first get saved, it's like being seated in the outer courtyard, and the heavy rain represents our past sin.  It seems true in one way but not in another.  Why?  As we sit in this room, the glass that separates us from the pouring rain is like the cross represented by the brazen altar of the outer courtyard that separates the holy kingdom from the sinful world.  Once the blood of Christ saves you through the cross, you are transferred from Satan's kingdom of darkness to God's kingdom of light.  You are set free from sin!  The heavy rain outside, representing sin, no longer has any power to soak you. This is a spiritual reality.  Even though you are very close to the rain and can see it pouring down, it can't touch you.  There is no rain or sin in God's kingdom.  Although you still see it with your eyes and sense it, no longer does it have power over you.

This doesn't mean you live in denial that you were soaked by the rain in the past and can still see it pouring down through the window.  It's real in one sense but illusionary in another.  It's real to you because you are sitting next to the window too close to the down pouring rain.  Although you aren't getting wet, it feels very real.  If I were to tell you that God lives in the Holy of Holies represented by the kitchen where there is no rain, you might not believe it because you can't see it.  You are too far away to see it clearly. 

You will still get wet if you leave this building.  Likewise, you still sin if you do not live a life in union with Christ.  But you can live a sin-free life when you make Christ your shelter and hiding place.  Paul calls it the habit of sin.  He says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5).  Paul meant that we have to put to death these behaviors.  But he also said we died with Christ (Galatians 2:20).  This seems controversial.  How is it possible that you have died already but have put to death these sinful behaviors?  There is no controversy here.  It is like the locomotive has stopped, but the momentum of its movement is still very powerful.  When I say you are a saint and sinless, it is like saying that the locomotive has stopped. Christ has put a stop to this train when He died on the cross.  We do not deny that the momentum, habits, or the consequences of your sins or sinful deeds are not there.  They are there, and they are powerful.  But the way to overcome this powerful habit or momentum is to recognize that the train has stopped. 

You think you are still a sinner because you are too close to the outer courtyard.  The closer you are to God, the more holy you will be.   It may not feel that way because the closer to God we get, the more we realize just how sinful we are.  As new believers, it's common to have a "sin consciousness" way of thinking, often dwelling on how not to sin or overthinking our past sin. When we enter the Holy of Holies and get closer to God, we will eventually have a "God-consciousness" that rarely thinks about sin.  Instead, you will focus more on God's purpose for your life and will have the ability to overcome sin and the flesh.  

In other words, what we focus on the most is what we will become. For example, if we spend most of our time focusing on celebrity gossip, we will become celebrity gossip experts.  If we focus on a particular game, we will become an expert in this game.  If we focus on sins and weaknesses, we become experts in sins and weaknesses.  Doing this often leads us into sin and weakness instead of overcoming it.  But when we put our attention on God, we will be transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:18).  When we focus our attention on God and His victory on the cross, we will behold Him and experience greater transformation.

Remember the example earlier of the cafeteria?  I used this example to demonstrate to the student how it works.  As I walked into the kitchen, representing the Holy of Holies, I looked back at the heavy rain pouring outside the window.  Even though I was close to God, I was still looking backward at the rain representing past sin and weaknesses.  Even though I moved forward into the Holy of Holies, looking back makes me susceptible to falling because I'm not focused on the way forward.  The student finally understood the problem.  Many Christians fail to reach a deeper level of spirituality and victory in their lives because their focus is wrong.  Their eyes need to be focused on God's greatness, His goodness, and calling on their lives rather than past sin and weakness.

Although we still need to repent and confess our sins after we are saved, we can't always be focused on how terrible our past was.  That focus will only hold us back.  If our heart's desire is to pursue God, we need to have an attitude of praise and recognize the victory that Christ provided for us.  This type of attitude will bring much spiritual breakthrough.

The book of Hebrews also tells us that we must throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (NIV, Hebrews 12:1).  We must fix our eyes on the glory ahead to run well the journey beneath our feet.

 

God’s Guidance Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 7

God’s Guidance

Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 7

 

Have you ever been in a situation where you faced a tough decision? How did you deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty? Often, when we don’t know what to do, we search for a dogmatic command from God to eliminate all uncertainty. However, God wants us to get to know him personally and accept his unique guidance in each specific circumstance of our lives.

 

Today we are going to discover that God’s word provides unchanging principles, as well as specific guidance that helps us navigate the ups and downs of life.

 

Avoiding Extremes.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul continues his discussion of sexual purity (Ch. 6) by focusing on marriage and singleness. Paul emphasizes the importance of loving God from the heart rather than merely conforming to a rule or imitating a standard. No matter our external circumstances, we must respect God from the heart.

 

Paul explains the dangers of two extremes. On the one hand, immorality is not good, as Paul explained in chapter 6. On the other hand, it is not helpful to completely ban natural desires. In the spiritual experience, we tend towards one of two extremes. Either we indulge the lust of the flesh, or we swing to the opposite extreme of total sexual abstinence. In the Catholic church, we see these two extremes played out. On the one hand, we see the indulgence of clergy in Catholic history, and on the other hand we see the abstinence in the monasteries later in church history.

 

Paul explained that spirituality does not come merely from imitating another believer’s way of life. Believers in the Corinthian church wanted to imitate Paul’s singleness, perhaps in response to the rampant immorality described in chapter 6. But Paul stated that true spirituality lies in learning to live in the Spirit in any circumstances and in always putting God first. Whether we are married or unmarried, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, God does not require us to change our outward experience. Instead, he wants us to honor Him from the heart. Although Paul is single, he does not want the Corinthian believers to automatically imitate him. Instead, he wants everyone to learn to serve God according to God's guidance.

 

Paul’s words were aimed towards specific problems in the Corinthian church. Although God's words transcend time and space, we still must not regard Paul's words as laws and dogmas. Throughout the ages, many Christians took Paul's words as dogma, which caused a lot of harm to the church. For example, when Paul talked about the question of whether slaves should be freed, he was not at all supporting slavery. He was emphasizing that true spirituality does not lie in external imitation or in changing the outward environment, but in finding inner freedom and exalting Christ in all circumstances.

 

No Shortcuts to Spiritual Growth.

Understanding the context in which the biblical authors wrote these words will help us better understand the text. Through the Holy Spirit’s illumination, we can interpret God’s words accurately and avoid misunderstanding. For example, 1 Corinthians 6 discusses the issues of litigation and immorality. How does a discussion of marriage connect to these topics? 1 Corinthians 7:1 gives us a clue: "As for what you wrote, I think it is better for men not to be close to women..."

 

Theologians believe Paul wrote more than two epistles to the Corinthian church. Some other epistles were lost. The Corinthian church also wrote many letters to Paul, but these epistles were also lost. These verses give a clue to what the Corinthians may have asked Paul in their letters.

 

We know that some people in the Corinthian church were involved in immorality, but certainly not everyone was. When church problems arise, there are often certain members who are particularly disgusted with what is going on. For example, Boaz did not concur with the prostitution his mother was involved in. Jephthah, the son of another prostitute, was a judge of Israel and dedicated his daughter to keep her virgin for God. Although he swore rashly, it was definitely not accidental (Judges 11). Similarly, some believers in the Corinthian church were uncomfortable with the promiscuity all around them. Like the Catholics who reacted to sexual indulgence by forming monasteries, the Corinthians may have protested against the immorality in the church by making vows of sexual abstinence. They were eager to imitate Paul and learn to stay single. They may have asked Paul if they should stay single and lead a life of total abstinence.

 

In context, we see that the topic of marriage and singleness in chapter 7 are a continuation of the discussion of immorality in chapter 6. Members of the Corinthian church could not accept the behavior of the promiscuous believers, and they wanted this behavior to be corrected. But since they were spiritually immature, and their spiritual father, Paul, was single, they concluded that being single was a more spiritual way to avoid impurity.

 

However, Paul tells the church that his singleness was a special gift and calling of God. Without this special gift, believers would not be able to sustain their commitment to abstinence. A believer who is relying on their own sexual abstinence to please God will start to burn with passion and be easily tempted towards immorality.

 

Paul instructs couples to meet each other’s physical needs in order to avoid temptation (1 Corinthians 7:1-7). He counsels married couples not to sleep in separate rooms, so that Satan does not seduce them. The only exception would be when both partners agree to a short time of dedicated abstinence for the purpose of intense prayer. Paul specifically stated that his words are not commands, but suggestions. Not everyone has the gift of being single like Paul.

 

In verses 8-9, Paul tells the unmarried and widows that it is best for them to be single like he is. However, if they cannot control their lusts, it is better to marry. In verses 10-16, Paul discusses the topic of divorce. He says it is best that the husband and wife remain together. But if the unbelieving spouse wants to leave, let them leave. Paul’s discussion of divorce continues the conversation about avoiding immorality. Paul specifies that these directions are from the Lord, not merely his own opinion.

 

Paul continues, “Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (vs. 17, ESV). As he responds to the Corinthians’ questions, Paul acknowledges that each person's gifts and callings are different. As we pursue spirituality, we should not simply imitate another believer’s external life choices. At the same time, imitation is an important first step for every young believer. We all start our Christian lives as spiritual babies, imitating people who led us spiritually. Our spiritual parents subtly shaped our spiritual growth, and we imitate them unwittingly. This is understandable. But when our spiritual life has reached a certain stage and it’s time to enter into a deeper and more abundant spiritual life, simply imitating others is not enough. We must strengthen our fellowship with God, understand the gifts and unique calling God has given us, and then personally and subjectively follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we continue to pursue spiritual growth.

 

I heard a story about a spiritual sister who discipled many other ladies in their spiritual growth. This sister walked very slowly. Many people she discipled began to think that walking slowly was a manifestation of spirituality. They imitated her by deliberately walking slowly. This is not spiritual growth, but just imitation.

 

Another time, several Christian sisters in Korea read from the Bible that Peter walked on the water. They imitated him to show their faith. But unfortunately, they drowned. Another brother from Taiwan tried to imitate Daniel by entering the lion’s den at the zoo to show his faith. Unfortunately, he was bitten by the lion. An American pastor who saw that Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake but did not die, took a poisonous snake in his hand. Tragically, he was killed by the poisonous snake.

 

I cannot confirm the authenticity of these stories, but there are countless examples of such imitations. Each of these stories remind me of the Corinthians. Throughout the ages, many Christians have tried to show their faith by imitating Paul, Peter, or other saints. But they only imitated them on the outside. What seems like a shortcut to growth is actually a dead end.

 

In the next section of the chapter, Paul continues to contrast outward imitation with inward obedience. Paul says that obeying God’s commands matters more than outward circumcision (verse 18). Today, Christians easily accept the fact that circumcision is not required. But for Jewish believers, this assertion was a major betrayal of all they had learned throughout Jewish history. The topic of circumcision led to many disputes between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. However, Paul emphasized that external surgery (circumcision) had no real impact on the heart.

 

There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth. We must not rely on imitating other believers’ outward choices. Instead, we should get to know God personally and ask him what his will is for our life.

 

Slavery

In verses 21-22, Paul seems to imply that slaves who were believers should not seek freedom. Paul explains, “Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called. Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.” (BSB) Many believers in history have misused these verses, asserting that Paul was supporting slavery. This opinion comes from a legalistic, dogmatic interpretation of Paul’s words. What Paul meant was that true spirituality does not lie in external behavioral changes. We don’t please God by changing our environment or our identity, but through worshiping God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

 

God’s Guidance.

In verse 25, Paul shares his opinion about singleness. He seems to encourage individuals to stay single, even encouraging those without wives not to seek wives (verse 27). Verse 38 says, "It is good to ask your virgin daughter to marry, and it is better not to ask her to marry" (verse 38). Paul also said that although widows can remarry, it is best to preserve chastity (verse 39). Paul mentions that though his opinions do not reflect a specific command from the Lord, they are guided by the Spirit of God (verse 40).

 

Though Paul seems to lean towards the opinion that virgins and widows should not marry, we must look at these words in the overall context of the chapter. Paul's desire is to encourage people to learn how to best serve the Lord in their own environment. For example, he instructed people who are bound to marriage to stay faithful to that commitment (vs. 27). If you are married, you understand that marriage is full of difficulty. Many people are eager to be free from the commitment to each other. Many couples don’t seek a divorce because they want to commit immorality with someone else. They simply are tired of the difficulty of getting along with another person. Corinthian believers may have raised the issue of singleness because they wanted to break free from the bondage of marriage. However, Paul clearly told them that those who are married should stay faithful to that commitment.

 

Paul said in verse 26, "Because of the current hardship, I think it is best for people to maintain the status quo." The Holy Spirit highlighted the words "the current hardship.” What does Paul mean by this phrase?

 

Even though the United States is a Christian country, Christians still feel great pressure from the secular world. Similarly, the brand-new Corinthian church faced powerful social pressures toward idolatry, secularization, and immorality. The pressure they faced were even greater than the pressure Americans face in their “Christian” nation.

 

Corinthian believers experienced pressure from the outside, as well as from the inside. Their own weaknesses caused spiritual problems. Therefore, in their specific situation, Paul advised them to maintain the status quo. Perhaps the " current hardship " referred to the secular pressure faced by the Corinthian church at the time.

 

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, some Pharisees tested Jesus by asking if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus quoted Genesis 2:24, where God commanded the husband and wife to unite and become one flesh. Jesus explained that in the beginning, divorce was not God’s plan. Because of the hardness of Israelites’ heart, Moses allowed them to divorce their wives (Matthew 19:8).

 

In this chapter, Jesus explains the difference between the overarching principle established by God, and the unique methods that we deal with problems in special circumstances. Christians often make the mistake of reading about God’s unique ways of dealing with special circumstances, and then applying those solutions as universal principles from God. The words of the Bible are undoubtedly from God’s inspiration, but some words clarify divine nature and overarching principles, while other words clarify God's guidance in a certain situation.

 

Therefore, we need both Bible teachers and prophets in the church. Bible teachers help us understand God's word, nature and principles. Prophets help us obtain God’s timely words about how to deal with special situations. We must understand the true meaning of God's words in the Spirit, and we must not misinterpret God’s words. We need to understand God's words in light of the linguistic context and target audience at the time. I absolutely believe that the words of the Bible are the breath of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. However, when we actually apply it, we also need to pray to God and receive revelation from the Holy Spirit on how to apply it to our lives. For example, Paul’s encouragement towards singleness was specifically related to the "current hardship" they faced in their unique circumstances.

 

When we use the word of God, we need to avoid dogmatism and legalism. I once heard a parable about a believer who decided to read God’s words and literally obey every word. For example, when he reads about giving alms to others, he gives alms to others. When he reads that he should love his neighbor, he will love his neighbor. He is very dogmatic and stubborn, literally imitating every Bible character he reads about. One day, he read that the Bible says that Judas went out and hanged himself. He did not know what to do. Although this story is a joke, it demonstrates that we should not interpret God’s words mechanically, out of context. We should interpret them in context in accordance with the personal guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

As we interpret God’s word, we must make a distinction between God’s nature and principles, and his specific guidance for special circumstances. For example, Scripture tells us about God’s overarching principle of purity. God is not pleased with sexual immorality. This principle applies to anyone at any time. In the same way, God's principle unites a man and a woman in marriage for life. God’s unchanging character values purity and faithfulness in marriage.

 

But does this mean that people can never get a divorce? No. The Lord Jesus explained that spouses should not separate unless one partner is unfaithful. If a husband or wife commits the crime of fornication, divorce is permissible. Paul also added that if an unbelieving spouse insists on leaving, believers can get divorced. God provides guidance for these specific situations. Each person's situation is different, so God's guidance for each person is also different.

 

The same principles apply to the decision to marry or stay single. From Paul’s personal point of view, it is better to remain single. But he explains that this is not an issue of God’s nature and principles, but of specific guidance. God may lead a person to remain a virgin, like he led Paul. He may lead another person to marry, establish a family, and have children. God provides different guidance to different people.

 

Paul was an apostle and a pioneer of the gospel. If he had a wife or children, it might prevent him from preaching the gospel unhindered. Practical considerations and worry for his family would hinder his gospel ministry. But for a person serving as a pastor in a local church, getting married and having children could be a good thing. Having a family enables the pastor to serve not only brothers in Christ, but also sisters and children. Because of their experience in married life, they can serve everyone.

 

Living a Life that is Free from Worry

At the end of the chapter, Paul shares some fascinating verses that appear to be contradictory at first glance. Paul says, “What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away." (BSB)

 

What is Paul trying to say here? Verse 32 to provides some insight: “I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.” Paul wants us to be free from worry so we can focus on the Lord. Ultimately, Paul is not concerned with whether or not you are married, whether or not you decide to make a purchase, and whether or not you are happy. He is concerned that you are free from worldly worry and care. He wants us to have nothing to worry about so we can worry about the things of the Lord.

 

Paul’s words provide a powerful word of encouragement to believers today. Many American churches today are full of worries. These worries distract us and keep us away from the Lord. What is the solution? Do we need to swing to the opposite extreme, resign from work, divorce our spouses, stay single, and live in a monastery? No, God wants us to turn our hearts to him in all circumstances.

As we allow the Lord to reign in our daily lives, we will learn to please Him. Rather than imitating other people externally, we must follow God alone according to the specific gift, calling and guidance that God gives us. We must not treat God’s words mechanically and dogmatically, turning them into "laws" for beating people over the head.

 

I trust these words have been an encouragement to you. God offers you a personal relationship with him and personal guidance in your unique circumstances. Open yourself to his loving guidance today.

Bible Study with Jairus - Numbers 28

Closeness with God through Prayer

Bible Study with Jairus - Numbers 28

Habits of Gratitude and Prayer

Have you ever been speeding through a parking lot when your car suddenly jolted, bouncing violently up and down? You hit a speed bump. The purpose of speed bumps is to force us to slow down our vehicle and pay attention to our surroundings. In the same way, God has created rhythms and healthy rituals that help his people slow down and focus on him. That’s the message of Numbers 28.

This chapter explains the habit of morning and evening sacrifices, as well as the special offerings during sacred festivals. In the New Testament, believers offer prayers to God instead of sacrifices. Revelation 5:8 says that the elders in heaven were “holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.” (NIV) In other words, our prayers are the offerings that we present to God each morning and evening. 

In addition to daily prayers, we may fast once a week or set aside a few days each month to pray. Having special dedicated times to come close to God allows us to offer more to God and maintain an intimate relationship with Him. Believers are not required to observe Israelite festivals, but they may choose to do so if these festivals help them to slow down and focus on the Lord. I believe that the purpose of festivals is to allow us to slow down and focus on God rather than to obey the laws. This is the goal. When we slow down, still our hearts, and draw near to God in silence, our lives are changed. As we offer our prayers to  God, we experience the closeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Numbers 28 gives us details about the Israelites’ offerings (vs 2). The people were to offer regular offerings (verses 3-8), a burnt offering every Sabbath (verses 9-10), a burnt offering at the beginning of each month (verses 11-15), burnt offerings for seven days after the Lord’s Passover (verses 16-25), and a burnt offering at the Feast of Weeks (also known as Festival of Harvest and Pentecost). In Numbers 29, the people were to offer a burnt offering at the Feast of Trumpets (verses 1-6), a burnt offering on the Day of Atonement (verses 7-11), and a burnt offering at the Festival of Booths (verses 12-38). These offerings cover all of Israel's festivals throughout the year.

The goal of these offerings is not to cover Israel’s sins, but to offer a pleasing aroma to God. Verse 2 says, “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’” This verse clearly states that the aroma of these food offerings brought God pleasure, just like he was pleased by the aroma of Noah's offerings (Genesis 8:21). In the Old Testament, the pleasing aroma of burnt offerings is always mentioned.

But in the New Testament, we no longer offer bulls and lambs. Instead, we rely on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Hebrew 13:15 says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” This verse clearly states that when we offer our grateful prayers to God through Jesus Christ, they become worthy sacrifices. This kind of praise brings joy to God. Ephesians 5:20 also says, “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Psalms 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Thanksgiving allows us to enter the door of God’s tabernacle (the outer court), and praise allows us to enter the inner court (the Holy Place). Thanksgiving is an entrance into the gate, and praise brings us a step further into God's dwelling place. We can enter directly into God's presence when we worship him, as if we were in the Holy of Holies itself. Many people refer to "thanksgiving," "praise," and "worship" as the three steps to enter God's presence.

Every skill we learn requires practice, and practice leads to mastery. Through practice, we develop habits. This is the reason God instituted festivals. At these appointed feasts, God’s people would bring offerings with pleasing aromas. God’s purpose was to assist Israel in developing good habits. The Chinese believe that once you develop a habit, it becomes second nature to you. After we've formed a habit, it will eventually become a part of our lives and personalities. At the end of the day, this habit will determine what kind of life we are going to have. For example, if we have a habit of going to the movies every Sunday but never attend church services, this habit will lead to a worldly lifestyle. However, if we make it a habit to attend church every Sunday, we will develop a more spiritual lifestyle over time.

New believers have formed many worldly habits and are not accustomed to approaching God's presence with thanksgiving, praise, and worship. That is why it is critical to assist these new Christians in developing good spiritual habits.

Thanks to God’s mercy, I was taught good spiritual habits soon after being saved. I was saved in the Local Church Movement, a denomination that places a strong emphasis on spiritual practices. Morning prayers (praying and reading the Bible in the morning) and evening prayers are two of these spiritual practices. They also taught us that Christians should pray three times a day (morning, afternoon, and night) like Daniel. When I first believed in God, I was 27 years old and did not have the habit of praying in the morning. As a result, an older brother called me every morning and prayed with me in the morning. We prayed and read the Bible together. At first, I couldn't get out of bed on time. However, this elderly brother insisted on calling me every morning. If I did not wake up on time, he left voice messages saying that he was praying for me and blessing me. I eventually developed the habit of praying in the morning. This habit does not develop overnight. It takes time to establish these habits, practices, and rhythms of the Christian life.

With the help of the Local Church Movement, I also began a habit of praying at night. In our church, we had a dormitory called “Brothers House.” It was designed specifically for Christian young men. When I lived there, older Christian brothers would frequently visit our dorm, read the Bible with us, and pray with us at night. As a result, we eventually developed the habit of praying at night.

Metaphors and Pictures of Salvation

We often say that the Old Testament is a picture and the New Testament is the reality. The Old Testament stories are pictures of Christians' spiritual experiences in the New Testament. For example, we all know that the image of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea in the Old Testament describes the experience of salvation as we journey from darkness to light.

Similarly, Numbers 28:3-8 expounds on the rules for daily morning and evening offerings. This is a spiritual picture of the morning and evening prayers that I previously mentioned. Every day, two male lambs with no blemishes would be offered to God. One lamb would be offered in the morning, and the other lamb would be offered at twilight. These lambs represent Jesus Christ, our flawless offering. These are the offerings we make in the morning and at night, along with grain offerings and drink offerings.

 

My Story of Fervent Prayer

Before we go further in the chapter, I want to tell my own story of daily prayers. During the ten years that I was infertile, I prayed diligently and fervently for a child. For many years, I would take a midday walk every day. In my prayers, I offered myself (burnt offering), repented (sin offering), was contrite for my sins (guilt offering), maintained my fellowship with God (peace offering), and experienced growth in my character and experience of salvation (grain offering). For a period of several years, I continued to make various offerings through prayer. After a certain period of prayer, I moved the heart of God.

One day in 2016, I met an English prophet. She told me that she felt God had some words to say to me. She didn't know who I was, but she felt God telling her that I prayed often and offered myself to God, and that my offering was very pure and pleasing to God. Her prophetic words were very comforting to me, reassuring me that prophetic gifts are real. Though I had never told her about my prayers, she was able to reveal my hidden situation. Her words assured me that God heard my prayers. Another Korean prophet stated, “God has given you difficulty in exchange for your prayers. God will answer your prayers when the cup of prayers is full.”

During that time, in addition to praying regularly in the morning and at night, I spent extra time praying during the day. I felt close to God during these prayer times. These moments of prayers felt very sweet. Not only did I feel like I was in God’s presence, but I even felt like I was in the clouds a few times. The feelings of being with God was so real. If I hadn’t had these trials in my life, I wouldn't have had as much time for prayer or as much sweet communication with God in prayer. I wouldn’t have been able to offer God so many offerings with a pleasing aroma that satisfied him. The more time we devote to prayer, the more spiritual offerings we will be able to make. Each offering will emit a pleasing aroma that satisfies God.

Details of the Offerings

Why are there so many special offerings at festivals and on special occasions, when we have offerings every morning and night?

As a morning and evening offering, the Israelites offered two male lambs a year old, a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, and a quarter of a hin of beaten oil, respectively. However, the number of offerings at festivals is much greater. This implies that the time devoted to the offerings (correlating to the time devoted to prayer) for special festivals will be much more. Two male lambs were offered for Sabbath day offerings, and the amount of fine flour was increased to two tenths of an ephah. The change in the amount of wine for the drink offering is not mentioned.

At the beginning of the month, Israelites offered even more sacrificial animals. Two male bulls, one male ram and seven male lambs were offered as a burnt offering at the beginning of each new month. The amount of flour for grain offerings was also increased. For each male bull, three tenths of an ephah of fine flour and half a hin of wine were required. The number of rams was the same as for the Sabbath offering. This offering required two tenths of an ephah of fine flour, and the volume of wine was increased to one third of a hin.

A tenth of an ephah of fine flour and a quarter of a hin of wine were required for each ram. This requirement matches the requirement for the morning and evening offerings. In addition, one male goat was required as a sin offering to the Lord. At the beginning of each month, many more sacrifices were required than on the Sabbath.

The burnt offering after the Passover and the corresponding amount of fine flour are the same as the offerings at the beginning of each month, except that this ceremony lasts for seven days. As a result, the total number of offerings is greater.

Seven days after the Lord’s Passover, the Israelites offered the same sacrifices as they offered at the beginning of the month and the day after Passover.

At the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, the Israelites offered the same number of sacrificial animals (Chapter 29). However, the number increases for the Festival of Booths. The first day, the Israelites offered thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old. These offerings were offered seven days in a row. The number of male rams and male lambs did not change, but the number of male bulls decreased by one every day. The quantity of male bulls are 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 1 respectively.

The number of sacrificial animals increases incrementally. From the daily sacrifices on the one end of the spectrum to the Festival of Booths on the other end, this increasing trend in the number of offerings indicates that the more time we devote to prayer, the more offerings with pleasing aromas are offered to God, bringing God pleasure.

The first time I read this chapter, I didn’t realize that these words conveyed an important insight about today's spiritual experience. Later, I could see that this picture tells us to set aside more time to dedicate specifically to prayer. After receiving this revelation from the Holy Spirit, I noticed that the amount of time I set aside for prayer had been dwindling in recent days. Every day is such a busy day. Although I still pray in the morning and at night, my prayers don’t last as long. As a result, I miss my previous feelings of being close to God. Even as I urge my brothers and sisters to devote more time to prayer, I am also reminding myself to seek God more and more every day.

 

Should we observe Jewish festivals?

A woman in our study asked a good question: “Many Chinese Christians advocate for the observance of Jewish festivals, but other churches are opposed to this idea. So, should we observe Jewish festivals or not?”

I said, “Based on my observations, most Protestants follow Martin Luther, who was an Anti-Semitic. As a result, he ignored Jewish culture and went to an extreme in his interpretation of Paul’s writing. But in the Charismatic church, some prophets and pastors modified Luther’s belief. For instance, American prophet Kat Kerr testified that she saw Jewish festivals in heaven. Another prophet, Chuck Pierce, even teaches people that the Jewish calendar has implications for prophecy about the timing and wisdom of God’s actions. Thus, he consistently teaches the truth about Jewish festivals. Many of his teachings have been translated into Chinese, and as a result, many Christians from Chinese churches may begin to support Jewish festivals.

But Paul was clear in his words. He said, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). Paul also said, “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God” (Romans 14:6). Clearly, Paul teaches that we all have freedom to choose whether we observe or do not observe these feasts. If you choose to observe a particular day, you do so in God's name. But you also have the option of not observing these days. As Christians, we must embrace each other, no matter what our beliefs on this matter. Today, our observance of the feasts is just a shadow of what is to come. Jesus Christ is the reality (Colossians 2:17). The reality is to enjoy freedom and peace in Jesus Christ and to have close communion with God.

A godly man once said, “God’s greatest desire is for us to have fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ.” But how can we have an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ if we do not pray? How can we know God if we do not prioritize making time for prayer? A brief and fleeting prayer may be a means of communicating with God, but it does not provide a context for closeness and depth. So, whether we’re learning from the increasing numbers of sacrifices in the Old Testament or the various commands to pray in the New Testament, our goal is to have more and more time to speak with God through Christ so that we can present more and more spiritual offerings. The best offerings we can offer God are our prayers. Our prayers and praises produce a lovely aroma that pleases God.

When Chinese Christians celebrate Jewish festivals do they do it only because others do it, or do they do it because they genuinely want to grow closer to God? I have no objections to Christians participating in Jewish festivals, but I hope we can all appreciate that the purpose of festivals is to allow us to take time out of our busy lives to pray and give offerings to God. If we want to observe Jewish festivals so we can devote more time to prayer, why not? If the purpose of observing Jewish festivals is just a ritual or a religion, then we have no basis for observing them.

At the start of Covid-19, I fasted and prayed for a certain amount of time every day at mid-day. These special times of fasting and prayer led to spiritual breakthroughs.

In addition, South Korean minister Yonggi Cho promotes Prayer Mountains, which is the practice of devoting time to being close to God and praying to Him. The practice of Prayer Mountain is taught in many American churches. The author of Heaven Awaits the Brides, Anna Rountree, testified that her church practices Prayer Mountains. If we are unable to go to the mountains to pray, we can always pray in our own closet at home. Let us take time out of our busy lives to come closer to God and make offerings that are acceptable to Him.

Remember that the more time we devote to prayer, the closer our fellowship with God becomes, and the more we can offer a pleasing aroma to God. This is a habit that we must cultivate.

 

Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 5

Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 5

Seeing With Spiritual Eyes

We are challenged when reading 1 Corinthians 5 because the Corinthians were arrogant (weak in dealing with the wicked and arrogant towards God) and did not remove the wicked from their midst. Paul’s spirit gathered with them there, and only after Paul judged the wicked in the spirit was the wicked removed. Similarly, today the church is arrogant (weak in dealing with sin and arrogant towards God). The church is accommodating to wicked people and wickedness, so the Spirit of God comes to intervene in order to drive the wicked people and wickedness out. The coronavirus pandemic and the difficulties of this year are all for this purpose. All things work together to drive the wicked people and the wickedness out of the church and other sectors of society so the church can be pure and revival can come.

Arrogance and Compromise in the Church

In the study of the last chapter, we noted that Paul mentioned three times that the Corinthians were arrogant (1 Corinthians 4:6, 18, 19). They were arrogant towards each other, shown in how they belittled and despised others (4:6); or thought that Paul would not come to the Corinthian church, so they were arrogant (18-19). But Chapter 5 says that the Corinthians were arrogant and did not remove the wicked who were sexually immoral from the church. How are we to understand this arrogance? Let us look at the example of Eli. When God criticized Eli, he said that Eli had more respect for his son than for God, so God had to discipline him severely. From this story, we can see that to respect people more than we respect God is actually a kind of arrogance. Eli didn’t discipline his son severely -- he accommodated his own son in his flesh. The Corinthian church did not drive out the sinners, but also accommodated sin and the flesh in the church, so in the eyes of God and Paul, they were arrogant.

Don’t we have similar examples in modern churches? In some churches in the United States, in order to be "User Friendly," they dare not criticize sin. The church has gradually compromised with sin and become like Eli and the Corinthian Church in the eyes of God.

Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 4 that some people became arrogant when they thought Paul was not physically going to the Corinthian church. We don't know where Paul was at the time, but it seems that he could not go to the Corinthian church physically. Chapter 5:3-5 (Recovery Version) says: "For I, on my part, though being absent in the body but present in the spirit, have already judged, as if being present, him who has thus done this, in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you and my spirit have been assembled, with the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." This has the same meaning as the ESV. The ESV says "For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." Paul’s spirit and the Corinthians gather. But the Chinese Union Version translation is: "Although my body is not with you, my heart is with you, as if I am personally with you. I have already judged those who do this. My heart is also there, in the name of our Lord Jesus, with the power of our Lord Jesus, to hand over such a person to Satan and corrupt his flesh so that his soul can be saved in the day of Lord Jesus." The translation of the Chinese Union Version does not clearly state that “Paul’s spirit assembles with the Corinthians,” but uses a metaphor by saying his heart was with them.

(A note about translation tools: One of my New Testament professors at United Theological Seminary told me that many theologians believe that the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is one of the most accurate translations of the original text, so we were required to do all exegetical tasks with this version. Because some students in the seminary did not understand the original Hebrew and the original Greek, she also recommended using STEPBIBLE.ORG. This website has a word-by-word explanation of the original text, which is very convenient for reference when you understand English but do not understand the original text of the Bible. The website has only the English Standard Version, but she said that the accuracy of the translation of the English Standard Version is comparable to that of the New English Revised Version, so it is still beneficial.)

An Out of Body Experience?

Let’s focus on verse 5 in the ESV. This experience in which Paul says his spirit is present seems to be an experience like "transformation." We need to study this experience more in order to have a fuller picture of what this chapter is saying. The Bible records the experience of Philip being caught away (Acts 8:30) where Philip's body was raptured, because people later saw Philip elsewhere. But Paul's experience here may only be that he was brought to the gathering of the Corinthian church in the spirit. Many believers in the Charismatic Movement have had such experiences, but many Evangelical brothers and sisters are more cautious about this. I personally have had many such experiences in my dreams. It is like my body did not go to these gatherings, but in my dreams, I attended gatherings of different churches in China. In these gatherings, I not only heard what they said, but also had dialogues and conversations with many people. I have had such experiences often. What is even more strange is that I not only participate in these gatherings, but I also eat and drink with the people in them. From the Biblical example and my personal experience, plus the similar testimonies of many people, I am inclined to believe that this was the experience of Paul being brought to the Corinthian church by God in the Spirit.

Paul mentioned in the fourth chapter that because he could not go to the Corinthian church, some people were arrogant. Perhaps he prayed eagerly to God, and the Spirit of God lifted his spirit to participate in the gathering of the Corinthian Church where he judged the evil man. I personally think that this did not happen in a real and physical meeting, but was something that happened in the spirit. If it was something that happened in a real meeting, Paul would not need to write to the Corinthians and ask them to remove the wicked person from among them.

The world we live in is a material world, which is visible, but we also have a spiritual world. It is invisible, but it is real. Often what happens in the physical realm is a reaction to what happens in the spiritual realm. And since our spiritual man often receives something first, our soul and body may not be able to keep up. But the close connection between the spiritual world and the material world cannot be denied. Our communication and the links between the two may be beyond our imagination, especially when it comes to the spiritual world.

The Importance of Connections

We know that even the plants in the forest can transmit information through various methods. Animals can send information to the same species or to enemies through roaring, feces, and so on. If people stay together for a long time, they also pass on information to each other. Some people say that after a couple lives together for a long time, they can transmit hormones to each other. So if a husband and wife sleep in separate rooms, you will find that they become alienated from each other after a long time, which could be the lack of such hormone transmission. In the spiritual world, we may also have a strong connection with the Spirit of God, the spirits of other Christians, and even evil spirits.

I once studied the Deliverance Ministry systematically. In the Deliverance Ministry, there is a concept called the "ungodly soul tie." The concept is that if a believer has some ungodly tie with others, such as extramarital sex, he or she will have ungodly soul ties with others. Although you may not have contact with them on the outside anymore, (as in these things happened before you were married or saved), you may still have ungodly soul ties with them. Therefore, the ungodly soul tie becomes a channel for the evil spirits of the opponent to attack you. In other words, if you have ever had this kind of sexual contact with others, but you have not cut the ungodly soul tie through the work of exorcising evil spirits and praying for repentance, the evil spirits from the other party are free to attack you. The Chinese saying "the lotus root snaps but the fibers don’t break" can describe this picture very well. Although your relationship is broken, the relationship in your soul hasn't broken yet. Therefore, in the Deliverance Ministry, the special teaching is to cut the ungodly soul tie to help Christians be released from the bondage of evil spirits. There is a normal soul tie between husband and wife and family. But once one party in this tie is tainted, it will also bring damage to the other parties. For example, although we do not need to bear the sins committed by our ancestors, the sins committed by our ancestors will bring us a family curse. Therefore, the Deliverance Ministry also specifically teaches  breaking your family curse through prayer and repentance for the sins of your ancestors.

In addition, the example of blood is also a good illustration. Our blood circulates in our body, supplying the different parts, even all the way through our limbs. But once a limb is injured, it needs to be disinfected in time so that the wound can heal as soon as possible. If the wound cannot be treated and disinfected in time, the germs will spread to the entire body of the person through the blood. Each of us in the Body of Christ is part of the circulation of the blood of this divine life. If a person commits a sin and does not deal with it, it will bring the sin into the entire blood circulation, thus causing the entire body to be injured or even die. Paul said, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). He also said, “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written ’The two will become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him "(1 Corinthians 6:16-17). Paul’s words in these two places have the same meaning. When we have a normal tie with God and an ungodly tie with others, we must cut off our ungodly tie with others. Because we have a physical tie with a person, we become one with that person. We are tied to the Lord, and we are also one spirit with the Lord in the Spirit. It really is true that the depths of the links of our flesh, soul, and spirit are beyond our imagination.

 

The difficulty is that, for many of us, our spiritual eyes are not opened; we cannot see what is happening in the spiritual world. For example, when we often watch movies full of foul language, the foul language will pollute our souls and tie our souls with the evil spirits behind the foul language, thus giving the enemy a chance to attack us. It even gives evil spirits a chance to enter us. I used to have to watch certain videos because of my work as a translator, but these videos had some foul language, which made me very uncomfortable. One time I prayed to God to cleanse my soul. As a result, I had a dream at night and found that my hands were covered in green stool. And I saw that there was a cesspool in front of me. Some people were immersed in it. They were still very satisfied, but I felt very sick. Then the Holy Spirit said to me, the foul language is like green stool. Once it contaminates your soul, it is difficult to clean off, so it is best to stay away from it. This dream made me deeply disturbed, so I stopped accepting these kinds of film translation jobs. Although I got some income through these jobs and supported my work of serving the Lord, in the end, I looked past money and refused to let the foul language contaminate my soul. Because God opened my spiritual eyes, I saw that the foul language and uncleanliness would bring great obstacles to my prayers and spiritual life. I won! The opening of our spiritual eyes to see what is happening in the spiritual world is very important.

Similarly, did Paul's gathering with the Corinthians in the spirit really happen in the material world, like the rapture of Philip? It seems that this is not the case, but something that happened in the spirit. If it happened in the spirit, did the Corinthians feel it? I believe that the Corinthians did not see Paul in the flesh or through the naked eye, but it does not mean that this matter did not happen in the spirit. Many things often happen in the spiritual world, but we don't perceive it. For example, Hebrews 12 says that many saints in glory look down at us from the sky like clouds, but most of us do not see the saints in their glory. This does not mean that it did not happen.

Reassurance for Today

Paul's gathering with them in the spirit, as well as his spiritual judgment on the evil man and his epistles, are important reasons that led to the final repentance of the Corinthian church. Why was the Corinthian church unable to drive out the evil man? Because they lived in the flesh, and their leaders also lived in the flesh. They exalted Paul or Apollos, but in fact, they were competing for leadership. These leaders may also have had a certain natural relationship with this sinful man. They could not stand up and remove this wicked person from the church. Therefore, the situation caused Paul to judge the evil man after gathering with them in spirit, and he finally helped the Corinthian church drive him out or chastise him for repentance.

Likewise, the Spirit of God is with us in every meeting today. Even if Paul gathering with the Corinthians in the spirit is still controversial, it is still an indisputable fact that the Spirit of God is with us in our meetings today. But can we all feel and see the spirit? Not necessarily. We also need God to open our spiritual eyes to see.

Through countless dreams, God has told me that a world-wide gospel revival is coming. Before this revival, God must cast out the wicked who are in power in various fields, including politics, economics, and religion; and place those who love God in a godly way in such leadership positions. Only in this way can a political, economic, and religious environment conducive to the spread of the gospel be established. But when we look at it, we see many wicked people in power. In most cases, we are as powerless, unable, or even unwilling to drive them out, just like the Corinthians. But the Spirit of God is gathering with us to judge these wicked people. These wicked people will soon be driven out from all fields, making way for those who love God. Such changes will not only happen in the United States’ democratic society, but also in countries such as China and North Korea that live in a totalitarian society. In my visions, I have even seen a great revival in China where China changed into a democratic country.

The reality we see on the outside is often the opposite of the spiritual reality. But we cannot see the spiritual reality with our eyes; we must see it with our spiritual eyes to see the truth. In this way, we can be full of confidence and hope for God's promise.

 

 

Written by Sean Song on 5/13/2021