Key To Bible Study

‘that no prophesy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.’( 2 Pe. 1:20)
While we study the Bible grace the single most essential quality we need to ask for. As Peter says it is God of all grace who can make us perfect, strengthen and settle us (1 Pe 5:10). If we rely on our own wisdom or imagination we are likely to go out of bounds and arrive at conclusions that may prove to be contentious and also detrimental to our own spiritual growth. Grace of God however does not make interpretation fit only one size but does according to each person’s needs. If it were the case Paul would have had no case for finding fault with Peter while he visited Antioch. (Gal 2:9-11) Grace was given to Paul as one coming to the Lord from a Gentile background to worship Him in a manner that Peter could not entertain. We see Peter was too steeped in Hebraic tradition to hearken unto the vision of God. While in Joppa he heard the voice say: ‘Arise Peter; slay and eat.(Ac 11-7’ Was not the vision in preparation for an important turning point in the history of the Early Church? We have no right to give private interpretation but exercise the spirit given to us from above. By which grace working in Peter allowed him to give Paul an upstart in comparison his freedom to go among the Gentiles as he himself would minister to the converts from Jewish sect.
All interpretations that build up the church in love and unity must be considered as from God. That of the worldly wisdom caters to divisions, pride; such division distracts us from God. What is not glory for the Lord might end up as grist for the mill of Satan.
What are we at best? We are rational in thinking and yet we are far from adequate in measuring His Wisdom and Power.
In the coming posts I shall try to explain the nature of Dispensation to explain the second part of Genesis.
benny

Our Strengths...

In serving God we need to have an entirely different attitude. Our strengths are weaknesses since we rely on our own bodies than What He Can do. The gospel of Luke gives an interesting example. Peter who had known the lake of Gennesaret like the back of his palm would fail to catch any fish. He might have persevered whole night but still he drew a blank. His own industry shall fail. Why? It was not because there weren’t any catch but his own knowledge was at fault. (Lk 5:4-5) Our knowledge however excellent is still the second best and also erratic at the best of times. Knowledge of good and evil is what we have to work with. Where we attempt on our strengths alone we may no be able to set apart the two as God can. Hence we let Him guide us and also take control of the events.
Coming back to the sacrifice of Cain, he was working with a ground that was accursed. He should have left out himself from the equation and presented the fruit of the ground to God as it was his duty to do. His abundant grace could have transformed it unto a sweet savour.
Our best effort in wrestling with our bodies only highlights things of the body. Vow of silence, dietary restrictions etc., aren’t worth a fig if grace was not present in the equation. Not our weakness or strengths but God ought to be glorified above all.
benny

Counting The Cost

‘If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother…’ St. Lu 14:26
The Bible is all things to all men. Many sects with their strange practices and exclusiveness owe their being to some verses scattered here and there in it. These sects or cults have a form of godliness but for any one seeking spiritual nourishment and an all round growth, a system that is built on superfluities than God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as the core value, shall come indeed short of His Will. A tree planted by the river of water is of a different league than a seed swept along the current willy-nilly by some isolated verses. (Ps 1:3)
Did Jesus literally want Peter, Andrew, John and others to hate their kith and kin or families in order to be considered his disciples? If this were truly as intended why did Jesus assign to Peter the building of the Church he had in mind? (Mt 16:18)
We read from the gospels that Peter was married (Mk1:30) and his wife traveled with him in his later ministry(1 Co 9:5). It seems to me that the significance of the key verse cannot be taken in a literal sense. Perhaps the key to the problem of deciphering this hard saying is not in hate but in the verses that follow. Our Christian growth is gradual and we need to take stock of what our abilities are and whom we have put our trust in. We have been called to glory through Jesus Christ. Then it is not works but Grace ( 1 Pe 5:10) that we bank on.
Who will wait to set up a home till one is hundred percent mature? Is it not more of a challenge that each partner hopes to be made mature from marriage than out of it? Maturity comes from a spirit of accommodation, love and shared responsibilities etc., that marriage enjoins on each partner. We are more likely to cast ourselves into the business of living with all that is at our command and leave the rest on Him to supply our shortfall.
Christianity in practice has always been the enterprise of the imperfect to work its way up on the wings of faith and grace. What a Christian could supply in that pursuit unto excellence has been faith,- and of course to keep flying. The matter of the other pinion, that of grace, would be the testimony of all believers, without any exception.
benny

Building Bridges

On the day of Pentecost the act of pouring down Holy Spirit in cloven tongues of fire was a proof that God bestowed grace to all.
What is Holy Spirit ? It works in us with the same creative genius by which God masterminded the genesis of the earth and heaven: He found all things as good( Gen1:31).
Grace backed by Holy Spirit surely must allow man to strive for something better for His glory though he might fail in the attempt. Putting the candlestick under the bushel isn’t the profitable way of Christian life. Each of us can work with the spirit so the world may see grace in his or her life.
Attempt greater things and with a clean and renewed frame of mind one might find healing even in hopeless cases. Medical science has not written the last word on the way our body and mind can work together. Solution for the Canaanite woman with the issue of blood was not because she couldn’t find competent physicians to treat her but the moment for grace hadn’t arrived. When she was inspired to touch the hem of the lord lo and behold grace sprang forth to effect healing. In some cases the art of medicine works through human agency with lot of co-operation from the sufferer.
God raised Bezaleel and Aholiab to assist Moses in raising the Tabernacle ( Exo 31:1-7)Bazaleel was from the tribe of Judah while the latter was from th tribe of Dan. They were to work together. This brings me to the main point.
ii
Inspiration touches man and woman so they may prove their universality. With that single event Galilee is no further than Crete or Arabia. In God’s sight the wall of separation between Medes and Parthians are man made that shall be removed. It is done under the inspiration of Holy Spirit.
My soul or that what makes me distinct from another, as an individual knows no man-made labels. Thus separation of mankind into tribes or nations by language of any other is superficial and a lie. Soul does not accept gender difference or ageism. Before Truth soul is like a mirror reflecting the truth of the Highest. Where the mirror from which our body takes its measure shall always be clouded. ‘Through a glass darkly’ we see our human aspects whereas Truth sees it plainly.
You shall agree then there is a wide chasm within our own being: between body that is carnal and soul that is sacred.
The work of Holy Spirit is to bridge that abyss.
The king in the story of ‘Spare The Rod’ succeeded in disciplining his son because he could take his understanding to a higher
plane: appeal to what was the quintessence of the boy than resort to a rod.
benny

Our Enemies Are..

Love of God, we must understand, is not the love that is defined in our lexicon. Jesus when he began the ministry mentioned love of his father. He characterized His all embracing love: He makes the Sun rise on the good as well as on the evil. (St.Matt 5:45) Those whom we may consider as bad or wicked are also in His safekeeping. Why do others ridicule or belittle us? In all probability we have given cause for others to doubt our sincerity though we profess His name. Is my ego hurt because others see through my hypocrisy? Our hearts are too deep for us to fathom. ( Jer.17:9) Who can tell where the fault lay, in us or in them? Instead of being abrupt or judgmental with them we ought to concentrate on matters that we may do better. Allow them to their views and accept what is real: real motives of man shall only be revealed in His own Time.
If God so loved the world why we suffer for no apparent reason? He sent Jesus to the earth as embodiment of His Love. Truth being absolute stands by itself. Whereas love according to our definition is conditional and it requires an object. Jesus as the Son in taking the form of Man didn’t surrender his basic quality, Truth, but demonstrated love can still go higher than possible with us. Love that can link Truth in one stroke is not what human dictionary speaks of.
Truth and Love. In Jesus it was personified. Truth of God like a diamond of the first water merely lay merged in the water of his humanity. His temptations and his sufferings were in context of Truth even as our sufferings are. We shall not decipher why we have suffered in context of our critics. When we shall know Truth in its perfection or see Him face to face we might say we have been wrong to dub our critics as our enemies.
Our enemies are not His enemies since Grace have been extended to them as well.
benny