Friday Bible Study met today before going on holiday for a couple of weeks.
Here are the questions.
The Gospel is the power of God to salvation. God’s person and judgment are discernable in creation. Others have a more personal revelation about God. How have they used that revelatio?
• What sort of behaviour is described in verse one?
• Verse four speaks of God’s kindness. What should knowledge of God’s kindness produce?
• What fruit was actually being produced by these people?
• What does verse four tell us that this fruit is evidence of within their lives?
• Every one is given something according to their works. Consider the use of the word ‘according’ in the light of Matthew 25:31ff.
Observe the following four points about the parable of the sheep and the goats:
i. Sheep are called ‘The blessed of my Father’;
ii. They receive an inheritance, which is a gift, not a wage;
iii. ‘From the foundation of the world’ shows a plan that could only have been God’s; and, finally,
iv. Their surprise shows they were not working at achieving this state.
• What is the point being made by verses 9 to 11?
• What mistake have the Jews made according to verse 13?
• What link between belief and action can you identify here?
• What does this mean for world evangelisation?
Only a few comments this time. Please refer to the notes on last Sunday’s Sermon as well.
Keep in perspective that the argument here is not: ‘some Jews live good lives and are judged righteous and some Gentiles live good lives and are judged righteous and the Gospel is for the rest of us Jews and Gentiles who get the whole thing wrong.’.
The message is that Gentiles have enough evidence to anticipate judgement and Jews have more evidence than that. Problematically God’s people had mistaken that revelation for a proof that they were righteous and not received it as a gracious warning of the spiritual condition of all people whether Jew or Gentile.
Here, as in other places, the life that is lived is evidence of God’s work, not a personal work that earns God’s favour. Faith without works is dead.
We know that the argument here is leading toward the declaration that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone needs salvation.
God’s people should be the most humble and repentent because they have been so carefully and graciously warned by God.
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