Bible Studies

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91. Worthy of the Kingdom by Jon von Ernst  
    The apostles understood that we are in a spiritual battle. They understood that the flesh is warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit is warring against the flesh. Therefore, they repeatedly warned believers to be careful about how they lived.
    They begged them, they implored them, and prayed for them that they would walk worthily of God, that they would be counted worthy to enter His kingdom. They exhorted them that they would not sin, that they would not love the world.
    
    
    
92. Take Heed Lest You Fall by Jon von Ernst  
    Paul is speaking to believers that have been grafted in and have become part of the body of Christ. He warns them not to be arrogant, but to fear.
    When he says not to be arrogant, he seems to be referring to those that believe it is not possible for themselves to be cut off. He reminds them that they stand by faith and that those natural branches that have been cut off were cutoff because of unbelief.
    He charges them to consider God?s kindness and severity. Severity towards those that have fallen, but kindness toward you, if you remain in His kindness. Otherwise they, the Christians in Rome, would also would be cut off.
    It is amazing how God?s word, when taken at face value, can cause us to tremble!
    
    
93. He Will Never Forsake Us by Jon von Ernst  
    Whenever we see the word ?if? used, we need to be aware that the one thing being mentioned is contingent on the other thing being mentioned. If you continue faithful, you will not be cut off. However, if you do not continue faithful, you will be cut off.
    
    
94. No One Can Take Us Out of His Hand by Jon von Ernst  
    Once we are born again, the most crucial thing we must keep in mind is the absolute necessity of enduring to the end, that we finish the race, that we finish our course. We must lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with perseverance.
    We do this by looking away to Jesus, by keeping our focus on Him. We do this by encouraging one another daily, while it is called today, so that none of us is hardened by sin?s deception, so that none of us fall into the same pattern of disobedience as those that rebelled and fell in the desert.
    
    
    
95. Eternal Security by Jon von Ernst  
    Do not be deceived. You are not in the Spirit unless the Spirit of Christ is in you. If the Holy Spirit does not live in you, you are not truly a Christian, you are still in the flesh. It does not matter what you believe, if the Spirit of Christ is not in you, you are none of His. You must be born again, born from above, born of the Spirit.
    If someone?s professed salvation experience contradicts the entire counsel of scripture, they are not really saved. If we have been deceived into thinking we are saved, when the scriptures assure us that we are not, then the teaching of ?once saved, always saved? is irrelevant. The teaching of eternal security for that person would more accurately be expressed as ?never saved, still lost.?
    
    
96. Escaping the Devil's Trap by Jon von Ernst  
    By faith in Christ, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has now set him free from the law of sin and of death. The condemnation of slavery to sin has been removed through his baptism into Christ?s death by faith in Jesus. Having been baptized, by the Spirit, into Christ?s death, the believer is now made alive unto God, by that selfsame Spirit, to walk in a new way of life.
    
    
97. A Wretched Man by Jon von Ernst  
    Paul could not be more clear. Those who practice the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who practice evil will not inherit the kingdom of God! Genuine Christians are led and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to live holy lives, to live just as Jesus lived.
    
    
98. Set Free to Walk by the Spirit by Jon von Ernst  
    Praise God! As genuine born-again Christians, not only are all of our past sins forgiven, but even more glorious, we are no longer enslaved to sin. Sin no longer has dominion over those that are in Christ. By Christ?s death and resurrection, genuine Christians have been set free from bondage to sin.
    
    
99. No Condemnation by Jon von Ernst  
    Because we have experienced so little revelation, because we have experienced so little teaching directly by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have a very limited understanding of the scriptures. The typical Christian today is virtually ignorant of the scriptures. Most of what we know is what some person has told us. And most of what we have been taught has never been challenged.
    With much of what we have been taught, we have never attempted to verify by searching the scriptures to see if those teachings are true or false. Therefore, we, the church, have become very susceptible to being led astray by false teachings.
    
    
100. Knowing the Truth by Jon von Ernst  
     The secret to being delivered from the deception of these false teachings is to know the scriptures and the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within the born-again believer. The secret is to know the truth, to know Christ.
     We must meet Jesus. We must have a genuine, living relationship with Him wherein we come to know Him as both Lord and Christ. It is not enough to know about Jesus. We must know Him personally. We must live in a close intimate relationship with Him as our Lord and Master.
     
     
     
101. A Righteous God by Jon von Ernst  
     Here Paul is addressing the problem in the church of how believers see the sinners in the world living in the wretchedness of their sins and they judge them, even though they themselves, the believers, do the same things that they judge. In the church, we are often quick to judge the sinfulness of those in the world while we wink at the sin in the church, the sins being committed by the professing Christians.
     Paul?s point in this passage is that there is no favoritism with God. He is not a respecter of people. Whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, He will judge each one righteously.
     
     
102. Unmerited Favor by Jon von Ernst  
     Once anyone responds to God?s compassion, His free offer of love and mercy, by obeying God and believing in the one He sent, God immediately pours out His grace upon them. He cleanses them from their sins. He sets them free from the condemnation of slavery to sin and fills the cleansed vessel with His Holy Spirit. This power of God works in the believer?s life filling them with unexplainable joy, restoring them to fellowship with God by empowering them to hear God and obey God.
     
     
103. No Respecter of Persons by Jon von Ernst  
     If you are a professing Christian, but have been living by the lusts of the flesh, doing the same things the people in this corrupt sinful world are doing, you need to repent, and you need to repent now. Today is the day of salvation. God tells us in Genesis 6:3, ?My Spirit will not strive with man forever.?
     
     
104. Grace by Jon von Ernst  
     Now that we have obeyed the good news, the gospel of the kingdom, we begin to receive of the many blessings that God has prepared for us in Christ. Being reconciled to God, justified by the blood of Christ, having our sins forgiven by His love and mercy, God begins to pour out His grace richly upon those that have obeyed the gospel and joined works of obedience to their faith. It is by this grace that we are now being saved.
     
     
105. That He Might Have Mercy On All by Jon von Ernst  
     Now here is a word that deserves some consideration as to what the writer intended it to mean. What exactly is meant by the Greek word ?eleos? that is translated as mercy. God has imprisoned all in disobedience that He might have mercy on all.
     
     
106. COME AS A LITTLE CHILD: Study, Matthew 18:2-4 by linzy bruno  
     "Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as a little child, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
     
     
107. LAWS WERE MADE FOR THE LAWLESS by linzy bruno  
     "But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 13:11)
     
     
108. "PRAY WITHOUT CEASING:" 1Thessalonians 5:17 by linzy bruno  
     ".....no longer any hidden places of the heart....."
     
     
109. DISCERNING SCRIPTURAL PARALLELS by linzy bruno  
     "This is how we grapple with the full counsel of God, by comparing parallel verses on the same topic....."
     
     
110. Miniature Interpretation of the Book of Revelations by Maurice A. Williams  
     I have been intrigued with Revelations most of my life, but I find mort of the interpretations bizarre and unconvincing. I finally came up with a sensible interpretation based on the text showing he demise of Judea and and on historical records afterwards showing an unusual connection with God and events on the Earth.
     
     
111. LIVING ABOVE CIRCUMSTANCE by linzy bruno  
     ".....growing in our trust of God carries with it a freedom that is beyond measure, as unpleasantness, discomfort and even pain loses the power to......."
     
     
112. GOD WILL NOT FORSAKE HIS PEOPLE by linzy bruno  
     "......And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24)
     
     
113. NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH by linzy bruno  
     "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." (Romans 5:9)
     
     
114. DISPENSATIONALISM by linzy bruno  
     ".....they did not obey God and repopulate the earth because they were preoccupied with their own desires and sought after ways to live without God's Sovereignty, therefore......"
     
     
115. TYPES of CHRIST by linzy bruno  
     "Moreover, those who prefigured Christ in the Old Testament acted as crucial evidence for salvation of those in the years before Christ."
     
     
116. GOD'S MASTER PLAN And A Few More Interesting Facts by linzy bruno  
     "The Bible is the most amazing Book ever written for a variety of reasons, but perhaps the most fascinating is that the Bible is the only book that chronicles the past, has a place that can be pinpointed as to where the world is currently, AND lays out God's plan for the future."
     
     
117. Total Depravity by Henry Miranda  
     Rebellion is opposition to authority. It always begins in the heart. Rebellion against God?s authority was humanity?s first sin and continues to be its downfall. Our sinful nature does not want to bow to the authority of another, even God. We want to be our own bosses, and that rebellion in the human heart is the root of all sin (Romans 3:23).
     
     
118. Creation / Fall by Henry Miranda  
     God created a paradise, a perfect, exquisite, and lush garden filled with all manner of God's special treats. Every tree was unique in its shape, vibrant color, and each with its own distinctive and delectable fruit. It must have been a breathtaking wonderland for Adam to wander through and visually take in the magnificence, smell all the fragrances, and taste the sweetness of all the different fruits, each in their original uncontaminated state.
     
     
119. The Fallen Angel by Henry Miranda  
     Since Lucifer had been the model of perfection, what sort of sin led to his fall? His heart became proud because of his incredible beauty. Lucifer allowed his perfection to be the cause of his corruption. He was not satisfied with worshipping God; instead, he wanted to be worshipped. Once a beautiful, powerful angel of God, he lost his former, exalted position in Heaven.
     
     
120. GOD'S REWARD SYSTEM by linzy bruno  
     "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time," (1Peter 5:6)
     
     

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