Bible Study

2 Peter 3:9-10

[9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. [10] But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Ezekiel 18:23-24

[23] Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? [24] But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

Hebrews 10:37-39

[37] For, 

    “Yet a little while,

        and the coming one will come and will not delay; 

    [38] but my righteous one shall live by faith,

        and if he shrinks back,

    my soul has no pleasure in him.”

    [39] But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Isaiah 30:18

 Will Be Gracious

    [18] Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,

        and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

    For the LORD is a God of justice;

        blessed are all those who wait for him.

Teach Your Children to Repent

PRAY OVER THIS

“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’ And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”

Mark 10:13-16

 

PONDER THIS

When a child disobeys his parents, do you know what that child has done? He’s sinned against God. It’s not primarily you he’s sinned against; he’s sinned against God. We are making a mistake if our primary goal in disciplining our children is to make them sorry for what they’ve done to us. We are missing an opportunity for discipleship. We should say, “Listen, Daddy’s (or Momma’s) heart is broken because God doesn’t want us to behave that way.” Now, be careful. You cannot be the Holy Spirit. You can pray for repentance in that child’s heart, you can try to lead that child to repentance, but remember the Holy Spirit must do that. But you should continually pray for and guide that child to repentance.

What is the danger of only drawing your children’s attention to human hurt but never to the hurt they cause God?

What are some ways you might make the connection to repentance for your children?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend some time writing out ideas for how you might effectively communicate the idea of repentance to your children (or children close to you) in ways they might understand. Help them receive correction according to God’s grace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Great Exchange

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed. (Romans 1:16–17)

We need righteousness to be acceptable to God. But we don’t have it. What we have is sin.

So, God has what we need and don’t deserve — righteousness; and we have what God hates and rejects — sin. What is God’s answer to this situation?

His answer is Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died in our place and bore our condemnation. “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he [God] condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). Whose flesh bore the condemnation? His. Whose sins were being condemned? Ours. This is the great exchange. Here it is again in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

God lays our sins on Christ and punishes them in him. And in Christ’s obedient death, God fulfills and vindicates his righteousness and imputes (credits) it to us. Our sin on Christ; his righteousness on us.

We can hardly stress too much that Christ is God’s answer to our greatest problem. It is all owing to Christ.

You can’t love Christ too much. You can’t think about him too much, or thank him too much, or depend upon him too much. All our forgiveness, all our justification, all our righteousness is in Christ.

This is the gospel — the good news that our sins are laid on Christ and his righteousness is laid on us, and that this great exchange becomes ours not by works but by faith alone. “I'm grace you have been saved through faith. And this isn't not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Here is the good news that lifts burdens and gives joy and makes strong.

John Piper 

Bible Study

1 Peter 2:22-24

[22] He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. [23] When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. [24] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

[30] And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, [31] so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Galatians 3:13-14

[13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Romans 1:17

[17] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Uniquely Made in God’s Image

PRAY OVER THIS

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

(Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

 

PONDER THIS

Did you know Thomas Edison was sent home from school because his teacher said he was too dumb? Do you know what his mama said? His mama said, “I know my boy and he is not stupid. He’s smart. I’ll teach him myself.” And she did. The problem was that the teacher couldn’t realize how smart the boy was, not that he was dumb. You see, every child is different. Parents know the unique proclivities in their children. See your child as unique before God and learn to communicate with your child creatively. Your child is made in God’s image. God has gifted you with the ability to discover the best way to communicate spiritual truth to your child. Do not neglect to disciple your children in the unique ways that only you can.

What are some of the unique things about the children in your life?

How might you disciple the children in your life according to their unique attributes?

PRACTICE THIS

Brainstorm ways you might disciple children in your life according to their unique makeup. Decide on some first steps and take action.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Children of a Singing God

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26)

Can you hear Jesus singing?

Was he a bass or a tenor? Was there a down-home twang to his voice? Or was there an unwavering crystal pitch?

Did he close his eyes and sing to his Father? Or did he look into his disciples’ eyes and smile at their deep camaraderie?

Did he usually start the song? Or did Peter or James, or maybe Matthew, do it?

Oh, I can hardly wait to hear Jesus sing! I think the planets would be jolted out of orbit if he lifted his native voice in our universe. But we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken; so, Lord, go ahead, do it! Sing!

It could not be otherwise but that Christianity be a singing faith. The founder sang. He learned to sing from his Father. Surely they have been singing together from all eternity. Don’t you think so? Would not infinite eternal happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity sing?

The Bible says the aim of our singing is “to raise sounds of joy” (1 Chronicles 15:16). No one in the universe has more joy than God. He is infinitely joyful. He has rejoiced from eternity in the panorama of his own perfections reflected perfectly in the deity of his Son.

God’s joy is unimaginably powerful. He is God. When he speaks, galaxies come into being. And when he sings for joy, more energy is released than exists in all the matter and motion of the universe.

If he appointed song for us to release our heart’s delight in him, is this not because he also knows the joy of releasing his own heart’s delight in his own image in his Son by his Spirit in song? We are a singing people because we are the children of a singing God.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Hebrews 9:11-14

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

[11] But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) [12] he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. [13] For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 John 1:7-9

[7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say 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.

Revelation 7:14

[14] I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

1 Peter 4:1-2

Stewards of God’s Grace

[1] Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, [2] so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.