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Redeemed Day 4 The Lord Is Against Me: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Lord Is Against Me!

The Questions

1) What does “at the right time” mean for the helpless? (verse 6)

2) How does God prove His love for us? (verse 8)

3) What does the apostle Paul, the author, mean by saying that we will be saved “much more” by Christ’s life? (verses 9-10)

Romans 5:6-11

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

Original Intent

1) What does “at the right time” mean for the helpless? (verse 6)
Chapter 5 begins by recounting the gains that come with being declared righteous by God. The righteousness of Abraham has been credited to all who have his same faith in God’s promise of a Redeemer. (Romans 4:20-24) As we stand in His grace, we experience peace with God, and we rejoice in our temporary suffering because of future hope. Paul begins with the good news before describing our condition in Adam (Romans 6:12-14) as part of the human race. It is especially good news because we recognize how the world was primed for Christ’s coming. Paul writes, “God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” Paul was always in awe of God’s love for people who didn’t deserve it. Just like himself! (1 Timothy 1:13-15) His love isn’t given to us in a trickle, it is poured out in our hearts. A broken and hopeless world was eager in every way for Christ’s appearance. Jews and Gentiles alike were spiritually, economically, linguistically, politically, philosophically, and geographically prepped and ready for a Savior they so desperately needed. (Malachi 3:1, John 6) So, Christ died exactly when we who were sinners needed a Savior. His timing was just right for all. (enduringword.com)

2) How does God prove His love for us? (verse 8)
What a difficult decision was made for the Father to send His only Son to an undeserving world! (John 3:14-17) In the Son, God was reconciling to Himself those who were vile and rebellious. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) Paul understood the enormous sacrifice God was making. Beyond our human comprehension, God’s love is so deep that He gave Himself through Christ on the cross. Jesus’ unity with the Father is shrouded in mystery, but it is also an essential and core belief to understanding the love of God. (John 10:25-30) The finished work of Jesus’ death on the cross is the definitive proof of God’s love. He can give no greater proof.
“It would be easy to see the cross as demonstrating the indifference of God, a God who let the innocent Jesus be taken by wicked men, tortured, and crucified while He did nothing. Unless there is a sense in which the Father and Christ are one, it is not the love of God that the cross shows.” (Morris, Epistle to the Romans)

3) What does the apostle Paul, the author, mean by saying that we will be saved “much more” by Christ’s life? (verses 9-10)
Previously (verses 1-5), Paul referred to five blessings of being declared righteous (aka, justification): 1) righteousness itself (verse 1); 2) peace with God and 3) access to God (verse 2); 4) joy in the hope of God (verses 3-5); and 5) the indwelling Holy Spirit (verse 5b). Still there is “much more” the Lord gives! Paul explained how our sin separates us from God resulting in our helplessness to save ourselves. But God’s love is so great He offers us reconciliation through Jesus Christ’s death. Even greater though is our deliverance from His holy wrath. Paul refused to separate himself from this vitally important truth about salvation, while it is true we must be saved from our own unrighteousness (Romans 3:22-26), as God’s enemies we must also be rescued from His righteous wrath (verse 10). John Trapp said, “It is a greater work of God to bring men to grace, than, being in the state of grace, to bring them to glory; because sin is far more distant from grace than grace is from glory.” (studylight.org) It is mercy to us that we are reconciled to God through the death of Jesus. It is even greater mercy that we will be rescued from being eternally separated from God, and from His angry judgment

Everyday Application

1) What does “at the right time” mean for the helpless? (verse 6)
It likely seemed late to those waiting for hundreds of years. But Jesus’ coming – His birth, death and resurrection – was done at the perfect time in God’s plan. (Galatians 4:4-5) We are told by Paul that God’s love is communicated through the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5) The Spirit, also given at the right time (Acts 2:1-4), helps us recognize and walk in God’s love every day. In the 80s, singer, Sandi Patti, sang these words, “The Father gave the Son, the Son gave the Spirit, and the Spirit gives us life so we can give the gift of love. And the gift goes on.” (The Gift Goes On) We were doomed. We were needy. And God showed up in His impeccable timing with a perfect gift! “Helpless emphasizes moral frailty rather than physical weakness. We were quite powerless to help ourselves or even to understand. In short we were up a creek without a paddle, and did not even understand our abysmal predicament.” But JUST IN TIME God’s love triumphed where human power (and understanding) failed.” (preceptaustin.org)

2) How does God prove His love for us? (verse 8)
“What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul?” (Author Anonymous) In his book, “What Do we Believe, Why Does it Matter?”, Professor Jeff Asley said, “When we see how Jesus died, we ‘pour contempt on all our pride’. On the cross, which is the ultimate sign of man’s hatred, the love of God accepts humankind in its most extreme sinfulness and bitter enmity. God’s ideal love both motivates us and empowers us to emulate this love.” God proved His love by dying for His enemies. The apostle John said in his gospel, quoting Jesus, that no one has greater love than to willingly die for a friend. (John 15:13) Jesus went even further, however, and loved even more greatly when He died for His enemies. “Amazing love, can it be that I should gain from the Savior’s blood? Me, the one who cause His pain. The one who caused Him to pursue death. Oh, how can it be that God would die for me?!” (Charles Wesley)

3) What does the apostle Paul, the author, mean by saying that we will be saved “much more” by Christ’s life? (verses 9-10)
MUCH MORE! Sisters, it is difficult to fathom any more grace being bestowed upon us! Rebecca said, “He is not repulsed by our lack of faith, our bitter tears, our slowly plodding feet, or the misnomers with which we title our stories. He smiles, holds out His hand, wipes our tears, and invites us to take just one more step. When we pushed the Lord away angrily, He drew near and sacrificed Himself for us, spilling His blood and providing the payment for a debt to Death we owed, but could never pay.” As the redeemed ones, we are presently experiencing the ‘much more’ of our salvation as we also wait for the ‘much more’ of our salvation. It’s past, it’s present, and it’s future grace. We have experienced a pardon from God, though we were guilty if we choose to accept it. That finished work of Jesus on the cross sustains us day to day. And one day, His shed blood will eternally purify us and protect us from God’s reasonable wrath. (Hebrews 9:11-14)
“Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power,
till all the ransomed ones of God be saved, to sin no more.
Till all the ransomed ones of God be saved to sin no more.” (by William Cowper)

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Lord Is Against Me!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Redeemed Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Roads Day 7 Quest For Truth: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Quest For Truth!

The Questions

1) What would Jesus not give the Pharisees and Sadducees to prove He was God?

2) What did Jesus mean about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

3) What is the significance of the exchange between Jesus and His disciples about who they say that He is?

Matthew 16:1-6

The Pharisees and Sadducees approached, and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
5 The disciples reached the other shore, and they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? 9 Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected? 11 Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”12 Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Original Intent

1) What would Jesus not give the Pharisees and Sadducees to prove He was God?
Seemingly, a visible sign could have once and for all removed any false accusations that Jesus was fully God. But Jesus knew it wouldn’t because human beings without the Holy Spirit, will always choose to believe what they want to believe. He pointed out that these religiously righteous follow the signs they want to follow, like weather markers. Jesus knew the heart of these leaders, and they wanted nothing to do with following God in their hearts. Jesus spent His entire ministry giving “sign after sign” that He was God. He healed the sick, brought sight to the blind, mended the lame, and even forgave sin. (Mark 2:5-11) Yet, the self-righteous still refused to accept truth because it would radically shift their entire lives. Even the most incredible “sign” of all, Jesus’ resurrection after 3 days of being dead (likened to Jonah in this passage who was in the belly of the sea creature for 3 days), would not be enough to turn hard-hearted skeptics with no sincere desire to know truth to accept truth. Signs weren’t the problem, their hearts were.

2) What did Jesus mean about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?
To get the full understanding here, we travel back to when the Israelites were being freed from slavery under the heavy hand of the Egyptians. Their exit would be quick, at a moment’s notice, and they had to be ready to leave. Of course, having no groceries along the way, they needed to quickly prepare bread for the journey, which meant not using yeast because it took so long to rise. The Israelites were commanded to remove all yeast as they hastily prepared to leave when the Lord said Go! Over time, yeast became a byword for evil or wickedness. Paul uses the same phrasing in Galatians, “This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little leaven (or yeast) leavens the whole batch of dough.” Just as a small amount of yeast spreads quickly throughout the dough, so do distortions of truth. Jesus was warning His disciples to be on guard against evil teaching from the Pharisees and Sadducees, who, though they had the appearance of righteousness, they denied the Holy Spirit room to work in their lives. Both Jesus and Paul warn to “avoid these people” and their insidious deceptions. (2 Timothy 3:5)

3) What is the significance of the exchange between Jesus and His disciples about who they say that He is? 
Jesus and His disciples have crossed the sea of Galilee in this passage, and are walking together on their way to Caesarea Philippi, an ancient Roman city located at the base of Mt. Hermon. It’s a beautiful spot, lush and green as it was the chief source of water for the Jordan River. It’s also the historic location of idol worship for the then-current mythological Greek god “Pan” and, going farther back, to King Jeroboam, who led the entire Northern Kingdom of Israel into idolatry as they worshipped Baal here. The significance of the location wouldn’t have been lost on the disciples as Jesus posed His question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”. The competing voices for worship were loud. The disciples gave several names the crowds were throwing around for who this Jesus really was, the spirit of John The Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or other prophets. All were important people, all carried the weight of respect with the people, but none of these were God. None deserved total life worship and surrender. Jesus presses in as He turns the question to them as individuals and Peter responds based on everything he has witnessed in his time with Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (verse 16)

Everyday Application

1) What would Jesus not give the Pharisees and Sadducees to prove He was God?
People will always excuse away evidence, even if it’s right in front of them and seemingly undeniable, in order to hold on to what they want to believe. That’s why being “free” to “choose our truth” is so dangerous. While it appears welcoming to all beliefs and safe from any judgment, having no “real truth” leaves us, and our lives, empty and meaningless, like waves tossed to and fro that are neither here nor there. Even Christians are susceptible to this precarious way of thinking. How often have you held to what you thought was a biblical perspective only to find out through careful study and conversation with another trusted Believer, that you were wrongly interpreting Scripture? We must be studying God’s Word for truth, aligning our lives with it, and constantly asking the Holy Spirit to convict us where our beliefs are out of line with His perfect truth! Check your heart as you seek truth; are you willing to sacrifice your beliefs if you discover truth?

2) What did Jesus mean about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?
False doctrine and belief systems run rampant in our society. Even pastors claiming to be true and biblical have distorted the truth. We must always be on our guard, constantly comparing what we are taking in from leaders and teachers and friends to the truth of the Bible. It’s not enough to trust “someone else’s” study, we must know our Bible for ourselves! Paul says it like this, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!” (Galatians 1:8) The people in Berea, who listened to the teaching of Paul and Silas, didn’t simply take their word for it. They poured over the Scripture to see if what they’d heard was true. (Acts 17:10-12) We would be wise to follow their example of faithfulness to truth! Despite how appealing it may seem to have the freedom to “believe whatever you want”, truth matters.

3) What is the significance of the exchange between Jesus and His disciples about who they say that He is? 
In yesterday’s Journey Study, Sara likens the Unitarian view of Jesus not being God, to Him being on an “all-star” team of super prophets. Jesus intentionally allowed the question of His true identity to sit with His disciples as they sorted through what others said versus what they had witnessed day in and day out. Owning that truth was a turning point for Simon Peter, as it is for each one of us that call Jesus Lord. Has there been a day, a moment, when you stood surrounded by other voices, other religions, other deceptions, and it became clear to you that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of the Living God? I pray so! If you ever find yourself in a conversation and feel the Spirit tugging you to turn it to spiritual matters, follow Jesus’ own example and ask, “who do you say Jesus is?”. It’s a great, open-ended, non-threatening way to give the other person a chance to talk and share freely. Listen closely, build the relationship, and when it’s the right time, don’t shy away from sharing who Jesus is to you!

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Quest For Truth!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Roads Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.