Bible Study Walking with God into Freedom and Peace.

[Tenchi]

Walking with God into Freedom and Peace.​

1. SUBMIT to God always. He does not fill, and empower, and change rebels, only submitted vessels.

Matthew 26:38-39
38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me."
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."

James 4:6-7
6 But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God…

James 4:10
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Luke 22:42
42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."


2. SUBDUE every thought and feeling by bringing them all into submission (obedience) to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Romans 1:21
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 8:5-6
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.


3. STAND by faith in God’s Truth, unmoved, waiting patiently for Him to work in you.

Philippians 3:20-21- 4:1
20 For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

2 Thessalonians 2:15
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast…

Colossians 1:23
23 … continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel…

Romans 1:17
17 … The just shall live by faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight…

Isaiah 26:3-4
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is set on you: because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

John 3:21
21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light...

John 17:17-19
17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
19 "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

2 Corinthians 4:2
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.


4. STATE (confess) your sin to God.

1 Peter 3:8-12
8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion toward one another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that you should inherit a blessing.
10 For he who will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

1 John 1:7-9
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Isaiah 59:1-2
1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated you from God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Luke 15:17-19
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you,
19 And am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

James 4:8
8 …Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.

 

[Tenchi]

1. SUBMIT to God always. He does not fill, and empower, and change rebels, only submitted vessels.

Matthew 26:38-39
38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me."
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."

Why did Jesus say this? Why did Jesus say, "Not as I will, but as you will"? As God-in-the-flesh, the second member of the trinitarian Godhead, Jesus enjoyed a communion with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit that would not have required this statement. But, he said it anyway. Why? So we would have a pattern to follow in regard to how to submit to God. Instead, of thinking to himself, "Well, the Father already knows I am submitted to His will," Jesus very consciously, very explicitly yielded himself to the Father. We should do the same, even if we think God already "knows our heart."

Jesus didn't deny the horrendous tension he felt between his natural, fleshly desire for survival and fulfilling his purpose as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." But he set his will under the will of the Father, regardless. We, also, don't have to pretend we aren't torn between following our will and way and submitting to God's. But our choice to submit to God's will must not be made on the basis of our feeling good about doing so, but on the ground of the reasonableness of doing so. Paul explained this in his letter to the Christians at Rome:

Romans 11:36
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Romans 12:1
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Though verse 36 concludes chapter 11, it is part of a thought that continues in the first verse of chapter 12, offering a rationale as to why we ought to give up ourselves, our own will and way, to God as "living sacrifices" to Him. Paul describes the same sort of "It just makes good sense" argument in these verses that we employ when we spend a thousand bucks on new tires for the car, or endure the unpleasantness of a visit to the dentist, or, for the sake of our health, forego a second piece of apple pie. This was certainly the case with Jesus in Gethsemane when he followed the reasonableness of obeying the will of the Father rather than the intense survival impulse arising from his fleshly body.

God has made us to flee pain and pursue pleasure, to pursue our strongest desire in these regards. Sometimes, the prospect of pain (or of more of it than we are already enduring) conquers our pursuit of self-gratification and we leave off various pleasing but harmful things - though often very bregrudingly. God doesn't want this sort of reluctant submission. And so, He offers to us, not just the argument Paul outlined above, but the unparalleled goodness of fellowship with Himself as a benefit of our subjection to Him. It was this same motive that transported Jesus through the horrors of the cross.

Hebrews 12:2
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What was the "joy set before Jesus"? What motivated him into the will and way of God despite the agony of doing so?

John 6:38
38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 5:19-20
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing...

It was the over-riding desire to do the will of the Father, born of their love-relationship with each other, that fueled Christ's atoning work at Calvary. Nothing is more powerful in producing joyful obedience, you see, than love. And so, God commands us not merely to submit to Him, but to do so out of love for Him.

Matthew 22:36-38
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.

Submission to God that is not motivated by love for Him will not last and it will never produce joy. But if love is the core of our submission to God, as it was for Christ, then we can suffer terribly for His sake and move through such suffering joyfully, knowing that, in our suffering, we have pleased the One we love above all else.

 

[Tenchi]

1. SUBMIT to God always. Part 2.

James 4:6-7
6 But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God…

James 4:10
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

When any person - believer or non-believer - charts their own course, following their own will and way rather than God's, they defy their holy Maker, they rebel against Him, and in so doing lift themselves up against Him. There is no greater expression of pride than to think that one can set aside God's will in pursuit of one's own.

Often, though, the believer's independence from God doesn't feel prideful, but wise and pious. When, for instance, God directs the believer to "march around Jericho blowing a horn," the believer resists, holding fiercely to the belief that prudence, decorum and modesty are the highest, most sensible virtues. The self-willed believer knows better than God (especially when personal comfort and reputation are at stake) but denies this attitude - obscuring it even from themselves - piously asserting the need for humility, practicality and "good sense" over the radical and risky will of God.

To such as these, however, God says He sets Himself as an opponent. And so, when the self-willed believer who is opposed by God, attempts to resist the devil (James 4:7b), the believer cannot "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10) because the Lord is the believer's antagonist, too! Doubly certain it is, then, that the "roaring lion" will "devour" them when they try to resist him. Sadly - and painfully - it is, many times, only when the "roaring lion" has overcome their feeble resistance and is gnawing on the rebellious believer's leg that the believer is finally willing to "let go and let God." But, though rescued by God, the believer is frequently left with a permanent "limp."

Much of God's opposition to the believer's defiant self-will takes the form of simply giving the believer over to their rebellion; for He knows that pursuing their own way - sinning against Him - will always bring the rebellious believer to ruin.

Romans 1:21-25 )
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

The cost of persistently pursuing one's own will and way is high:

- one becomes futile in one's thinking, and one's heart grows darkened.
- one becomes a fool.
- one dishonors one's body, acting pervertedly (contrary to God's design).
- one exchanges the truth about God for a lie.
- one worships and serves oneself.

Death, too, stalks the believer's rebellion toward God, as well as spiritual/moral hardness, blindness and deafness (Romans 6:23; James 1:14-16; Hebrews 3:13; 2 Peter 1:5-9; Revelation 3:17; John 8:43-44). The willful believer also grieves the Spirit and may eventually quench his work in them entirely, searing their own conscience in the process, blunting its power and silencing it altogether, in time (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 4:2).

There is a route out of this horrible state-of-affairs, however. Thank God! One can return to joyful, life-transforming fellowship with God, the fellowship for which one was made. How? By taking three steps:

1.) Repent. (James 4:8-10)

Change your mind about your sin. By the illuminating work of the Spirit (Psalm 139:23), and the exposing Truth of God's word (Psalm 119:105, 130), see the lies you've embraced that have brought you into rebellion and sin for what they are and reject them, taking up God's truth, instead.

2.) Confess. (1 John 1:9)

Having changed your mind about your sin, admit to God that your sin is what He says it is. Agree with Him that you have sinned.

3.) Submit. (James 4:7; Romans 12:1)

There is only one relational dynamic within which any person can interact with God and that is as inferior to Superior. So great, in fact, is the difference between Man and God that nothing can properly, fully express how great the difference is. Being indescribably greater than we are, we can only approach God in deep humility and submission, recognizing His right always to govern us completely, His will and way for us always far, far, far better than our own. When, then, we sin and depart from submission to God, we must consciously, explicitly return to a place of yieldedness to Him, a "living sacrifice" once more.

 

[Tenchi]

SUBMIT to God always. Part 3.

Romans 12:1
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

"A living sacrifice. A sacrifice is an offering made to God as an atonement for sin; or any offering made to him and his service as an expression of thanksgiving or homage. It implies, that he who offers it presents it entirely, releases all claim or right to it, and leaves it to be disposed of for the honour of God. In the case of an animal, it was slain, and the blood offered; in the case of any other offering, as the firstfruits, etc., it was set apart to the service of God; and he who offered it released all claim on it, and submitted it to God, to be disposed of at his will. This is the offering which the apostle entreats the Romans to make; to devote themselves to God, as if they had no longer any claim on themselves; to be disposed of by him; to suffer and bear all that he might appoint; and to promote his honour in any way which he might command. This is the nature of true religion." (Barnes' Notes on the New Testament).

When I first read these remarks by Albert Barnes in his commentary on the New Testament, I thought he had captured the sense of Paul's words very well. I have yet, though, to actually live perfectly in the manner of a "living sacrifice," however much I might appreciate the thought of doing so. Though it is eminently reasonable to be the living sacrifice God intended - and created - me to be, I am hindered at every turn by the the World, my Old Self and the devil issuing constant invitations to me to make Esau's Choice and depart the altar of sacrifice to God to enjoy a selfish, worldly and rebellious "bowl of pottage." Sometimes, I still accept those invitations - at times so reflexively and in such subtle ways I don't realize that I have.

Thank God, then, that He goes to work on my desires, cooling unnaturally inflamed ones, dissolving evil ones, and instituting new, godly ones in me.

Philippians 2:13
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

If God didn't take to Himself the responsibility for shaping godly desires in me and enabling the pursuit of them, I couldn't live in fellowship with Him joyfully and consistently at all. More and more, though, He is transforming my desires, bringing them into conformity to the "image of Christ" (Romans 8:29), making me holy such that sin is increasingly the exception rather than the rule of my life.

As God does this in response to my submission to His will, being a "living sacrifice" to Him is happening as a matter of course. Rather than an impossible religious aspiration toward which I exert myself with laborious, wrenching effort but to little good effect, being a "living sacrifice" is the natural result of being under the Spirit's control wherein I move from "strength to strength," "mounting up with wings as eagles," (Psalm 84:5-7; Isaiah 40:28-31) not always just "hanging on by my fingernails," as was typical of my Christian life in the past. It still shocks me how, as I yield myself to the Spirit, the formerly powerful and bitter battlefronts of my life are now quiet crossroads through which I pass, hardly recognizing that I have. How different an experience this is spiritually than what I was taught was the "normal Christian life"!

And so, instead of working, and laboring, and striving to be a "living sacrifice," I just am one as the Spirit responds to my submission to his will and way and transforms me as only he can do.

Philippians 1:6
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:18
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

Jude 1:24-25
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Is this how you've understood what and how it is to be a "living sacrifice"? I hope so.

 

[Tenchi]

2. SUBDUE every thought and feeling by bringing them all into submission (obedience) to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Romans 1:21
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 8:5-6
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Years ago, I watched an episode of a wilderness survival show in which several "wilderness experts" were deposited in the British Columbian coastal rainforest to survive as long as they could. One of them, a young fellow, was doing really well, all his necessaries - food, water, shelter - secured. Barring injury or sickness, it seemed he could win the event. But as he sat in the damp isolation of the rainforest, undistracted from the thoughts and feelings he'd been able, by the busyness of modern life, to ignore, he began to descend into a black depression, fits of weeping overtaking him. Finally, desperate to escape his crushing, inner unhappiness, he gave up the contest and went home.

I was struck by how oblivious to his own awful thought-life the young man was and how uninterested he was in doing anything about it. Rather than come to grips with his dark, subconscious psychology and work through it constructively to better mental health, the youthful survivalist wished only to escape his unhappiness. But he is not, I think, unusual in this condition. In my case, for many years, I passively allowed space in my thinking for all sorts of godless, worldly, fleshly ideas, imaginings, and feelings. I just experienced my inner thought-life; I didn't order, or analyze, or counter the worldly philosophies, corrupt values and selfish impulses swirling around in my mind.

I didn't act upon every thought, or worldly idea, or fleshly impulse that traversed my mind, of course. No, I attended church four times a week, read my Bible, memorized Scripture, prayed, even sang solos in church. Back then, I'd have declared with some fervor, "I don't swear, or smoke, or chew and I don't go with folks who do." And, truly, I didn't. Externally, I seemed like a fellow whose mind and life was well-ordered by his faith. Inwardly, though, my mind was a house with the windows and doors wide open to whatever wished to enter. And many things did, many verminous things, establishing "nests" and "burrows" of lies, evil philosophies and carnal habits that polluted my life as a Christian.

The day came, however, when God made me see the ugly truth about my mind and heart. It was awful, to say the least, a horrifying revelation that endured for more than two years. Only as I learned to do as the apostle Paul had commanded the believers at Corinth to do, to "take every thought captive," subjecting them all to the authority of Christ, did my dark and fouled mind clear, the frightening strongholds of the World, the Flesh and the devil torn down and replaced with the life-giving, stabilizing, liberating Truth of God's word.

This clearing out of my mind was a battle, though! Yikes! So many were the lies to which I'd habituated myself, and for so long! In the light of God's word, I had to see the lies for what they were and consciously reject each of them. And then, by faith, I had to embrace God's Truth just as consciously, refusing to be moved from it. What a storm of conflict there was, especially in the realm of my feelings. But, as God enabled me to "stand fast," my feelings eventually took their proper place under my mind and will which were now under the control of the Holy Spirit and the authority of divine Scripture.

This was all very much a process, occurring over time, not an instant event. It had taken time to establish my bad thought-habits and it took time to replace them with new, godly ones; and, generally, the longer the bad thought-habit had occupied my thinking, the longer it took to do so. I mention this because in the "quick fix" current of modern, western culture, many Christians afflicted with a crummy thought-life who are suffering under the neuroses, and confusions, and sin that result, refuse the process of change God must take them through to establish them properly in His will and way. Instead, they resort to "taking the edge off" of their anxiety, or depression, or obsessiveness, or mania by popping a pill. All they have to do is swallow. No "labor of faith" that is the only way to enter into God's rest (Hebrews 3:7-4:11; Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7); no critical analysis, and repenting, of godless, unbiblical thinking ; no learning to use one's spiritual "sword" (Ephesians 6:17) through Scripture study, memorization, and standing by faith upon it. These Christians just toss a little tablet down the hatch and live in a hazy dullness, a pharmaceutical "safe harbor," that keeps them from ever properly learning to navigate the stormy, tossing open seas of life with God, stable, even joyful, no matter the chaos of wind and waves around them.

Anyway, as God reordered my thinking, bringing my thoughts into subjection to Himself, the common sources of evil beliefs, attitudes and actions - t.v., books, movies, music, relationships - were either sharply restricted, or abandoned altogether. I could not, after all, expect God to cleanse and order my mind so long as I was allowing into it a steady stream of new muck. Bringing my thinking into subjection to Christ, to God, then, necessarily involved shielding myself from the soul-tormenting effect of seeing and hearing the wicked.

2 Peter 2:7-8
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, tormented his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

How many Christians do just as Lot did in Sodom, making a regular diet of the filthy conduct of the wicked played out in movies, t.v. series and popular music? Far too many, I suspect. And they have done so for such a long time that the proper response of their conscience to such things and the convicting pressure of the Holy Spirit has been completely muted. Horribly, they think the absence of these things is a "green light" to ingest more of the evil stuff offered to them on Netflix, or Prime t.v., or Disney +, etc. Never mind that the Bible clearly forbids even speaking of the vile conduct of the wicked (Ephesians 5:1-13), these professing "Christians" slurp greedily at the trough of worldly entertainments, delighting daily in the very things from which they ought to recoil in disgust and horror.

Ephesians 5:3-12
3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.

It is only the person who is subduing their thoughts, actively and constantly bringing the content of their mind and heart into subjection to the authority of Christ, who will live as Paul describes here and thus enjoy the freedom and peace of fellowship with God. Is this you? I hope and pray so.

 

[Tenchi]

Bump.

 

[Tenchi]

Bump.