Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 19:18-20 Understanding to grow in A non-Christian once asked me: "If God forgives you and you don't have to obey to gain his favour, why not just sin anyway?" That's what Paul now addresses. He stresses the Christian is "free" from having to obey in order to be saved. But he adds that those of faith will, nevertheless, use their freedom to live in love. They do this by following the desires of the Spirit within them (recognizing them because they are consistent with scripture). This is to no longer be "under law" in the sense of having to obey all the Old Testament customs and commands. But it is to "fulfil the law of Christ," as it is to abide by the p...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 19:17 Understanding to grow in The reason it is so serious to be drawn away from the true gospel, is that no other gospel can save. Paul stresses that Christ bore the curse we deserve for failure to obey God's law, so that we need not face it. All who have faith in him are therefore counted as right with God and given the Holy Spirit, which proves they are his. He adds that is fully consistent with what is taught about Abraham, the father of Judaism. By contrast, those who stop relying on Christ for acceptance before God and seek to rely on their obedience to the law, are required to obey it all, making them subject to God's curse for their failure to do so. And this leaves them in slavery, c...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 19:16 Understanding to grow in Nothing could be more serious than turning people away from the true saving gospel. This letter was written to a church in a region of modern day Turkey around 50AD. And it was written to counter just that. People were teaching that in addition to faith in Christ, Christians needed to observe Jewish customs like circumcision if they were to be "justifed" - which is to be declared righteous and so acceptable to God and one of his people (see 2v3, 4v10). In contrast, Paul taught that through faith in Christ, a righteous standing is given as a gift. Although true Christians will seek to live for God, their status before him is not therefore dependent on works of ...