Focal Passage: John 5:2-11, 19-21 

Words like restoration, restitution and reparations are “hot topic words” these days. 

Often, they are used in ways that are harmful and unrealistic. At other times, they are mocked as impossible goals. These words have been politicized. Though Jesus seemed to be uninterested in using political means for spiritual ends, He was consummately interested in restoring the lives of broken people. Take for example the paralyzed man of Bethesda.

Restoring the helpless (John 5:2-7). Paralyzed for 38 years, this unnamed man of Bethesda was living by a pool near the Sheep Gate of the city. He was not only physically impaired, but he was spiritually dead, putting his hope in a myth that at the stirring of the pool by an angel he could slip in and be healed. It never happened.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: John 4:7-18; 25-26 

Have you ever met a famous person? If so, you might remember how it made you think or feel at the time. In some small way, that encounter changed your life, an encounter that became a talking point for you in future conversations with friends. 

John 4 tells us the story of Jesus with the nameless, but needy “woman at the well.” Her encounter with Jesus would prove to be the single greatest event in her life, an event that met her need and changed her life forever. What happened in this encounter with Jesus that still happens to this day whenever the repentant sinner encounters the righteous Savior? [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Colossians 3:1-14 

Since Jan. 22, 2023, the Bible Studies for Life have been focused on the issue of discerning the voice of God. Issues such as biblical faithfulness, convictional living, in addition to trusting and honoring God have all been in focus. But what’s the ultimate purpose of this series? The final lesson in this series sums up the intent of the series — discerning the voice of God leads us to be more like Jesus. But how? Colossians 3:1-14 is instructive.

God’s voice, our thoughts (Colossians 3:1-4). Being more like Jesus is not just a matter of the heart, but of the mind as well. Often, we ask, “Have you given your heart to Jesus?” We rarely ask, “Have you given your mind to Jesus?”  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: John 17:1-9 

God’s voice always leads us to glorify Him and accomplish His purposes. We can glorify God by honoring God in how we speak and live. But what specifically needs to be a part of how we speak and live that would honor God? In what has been called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer on the eve of His arrest, trial, crucifixion, and subsequent resurrection reaches the zenith in what honors our heavenly Father.

Honoring God in the gospel (John 17:1-3). We honor God when we know, believe, and share the good news. While the entire prayer is remarkable, the first three verses is stunning. Jesus asked His Father to glorify Him in His death so that Jesus might glorify the Father through His obedience. The good news grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a demonstration of Jesus’ authority over all people, so that He might “give eternal life to everyone you have given Him” (v. 2).

These monumental truths set the stage for what John 17:3 states: “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the One you have sent — Jesus Christ.” Jesus’ death and resurrection makes way for us to personally know the Father in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is by this gospel that repentant sinners are given eternal life. We honor God when we know, believe, and share this gospel. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 34:1-9 

How are we to discern the voice of God? How are we to know how to live for Him? One answer is that we are to live in ways that align with God’s character. 

God would never ask His people to do or say anything that He Himself would not do or say. Making sure we’re aligned with the character of God is essential. But who is our great God? God’s character can be described through several challenging, but important words. 

God is holy (Exodus 34:1-5). The attribute of God that might serve as the “universe in which all other attributes orbit” can be referred to as the holiness of God. Holiness is more than perfection. Holiness means that God is totally other, in a class by Himself (in Latin, sui generis).  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Hebrews 11:1-6; 13-16 

Discerning and obeying God’s voice calls for faith in God. But what is faith? Just as we talk about love without knowing what love is, we talk a great deal about faith without understanding its definition. What is the anatomy of faith that enables us to discern and do the will of God? Hebrews 11 is our guide.

First, Hebrews 11:1 says that “Faith is …,” meaning that faith is something and not nothing. We do not believe in nothing or in thin air. This leads us to a second, complimentary point — faith is a reality, it has substance. In other words, faith is not wishful thinking. Christians believe (have faith) in historical facts and events that took place in time and space and that form the basis of our trust. The leap of faith lands on the hard soil of historical reality. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Acts 2:32-41 

The word conviction is used in at least two ways in Scripture. 

First, it is used in reference to the Holy Spirit’s work of convicting us of sin, righteousness and judgment, so that we might repent and believe the gospel (John 16:8-11). Second, it is used with the notion of someone holding a belief with “great conviction.” The two are connected. The convicted sinner comes to embrace certain truths with great conviction.

Sadly, conviction is on the decline. To hold a belief with “great conviction” can get one labeled as narrow-minded and canceled as intolerant. And since no one wants to be unliked, we too often sacrifice our convictions on the altar of acceptance. We do this to our own spiritual detriment. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Genesis 3:1-6 

Discernment or making sound judgments is a lost art. We have allowed a wrong interpretation of the phrase “Judge not, that you be not judged” from Matthew 7:1 to frighten us away from discerning between right and wrong, of making value judgments based on eternal truths. God repeatedly calls His people to make judgments. We are called to discern between one thing and another. In fact, discernment is listed as a spiritual gift (I Corinthians 12:10). 

We can make appropriate judgments based on God’s Word. Genesis 3 is an illustration of this truth because it answers the questions, “Who gets to say so?” and “By what authority do we do or not do a thing?” God’s word alone is the basis of our discernments and judgments. As the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 notes, Scripture is “the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and religious opinions should be tried.”  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Psalm 139:1-10, 13-16 

Though not a Catholic, we should appreciate the words of the late Pope John Paul II in his 1995 Papal Encyclical — Evangelium Vitae — when he compared two opposing cultures: the “culture of death” that devalued life and the “culture of life” that valued life from conception to death.As Baptists whose worldview ought to be grounded in Scripture, we value life from conception to death because God does. Psalm 139 makes the promotion of a “culture of life” crystal clear. 

God For Us (Psalm 139:1-6). God does not love us because we are valuable; we are valuable because God loves us. God, the progenitor of life itself, values life because He not only creates life, but knows our lives in intimate detail. Psalm 139 notes that God knows us (v. 1), understands us (v. 2), is aware of all our ways (v. 3), knows what we will say before we say it (v. 4) and encircles us and leads us with His kind providential care (v. 5). The knowledge that God knows us is enough to confound the wise, but console our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Zephaniah 3:9-20 

Fear is an effective tool used by Satan to demoralize and discourage people, especially God’s people. Scripture repeatedly commands us: “Do not be afraid.” And yet, we fear anything and everything all the time: fear of loss, fear of man, fear of being without, fear of sickness, fear of death, etc. 

In addition, we don’t often think of replacing fear with joy. However, if our confidence in God is ever-increasing then there is every reason to be full of joy, the kind of joy that springs out of a faith and contentment in God’s sovereign and gracious care. We may want to take a lesson from the Shepherds of Luke 2:10 whose fear was replaced by the “good news of great joy.” The prophet Zephaniah reminds us of the process of replacing fear with joy. [Read more…]