In lesson three in our Colossians Study, we read Col 1: 15-23. From these verses, Paul describes the following characteristics of Jesus:

1. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (vs15). If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews called Jesus the very character and nature of God imprinted (stamped) in human flesh (Heb 1:3).

2. … is supreme over all creation. The word supreme in verse 15 is the Greek word prototokos, which means firstborn (the one who inherits all of the father’s possessions and authority, like a prince who becomes king upon the father’s death) or the preeminent one. Jesus is preeminent over all creation. Only God can be preeminent over creation.

3. He existed before anything… (vs 16) Jesus existed before anything, therefore Jesus is eternal.

4. Through him God created everything. Everything that exists was created by God through Jesus. Likewise, the Apostle John says that Jesus created everything that was created (John 1:3). This verse also indicates the separate divine personality of the Son to the Father (the Trinity).

5. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see. Jesus created angels and all of the heavenly realms.

6. Everything was created through him and for him. Not only did Jesus create everything, everything that Jesus created is specifically for him and for his glory. Everything belongs to him. We belong to him. Only God can have this kind of authority.

7. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together (vs 17). Jesus not only eternally existed before creation, Jesus holds all of creation together at this very moment. The reason we are alive at this moment and why anything that we know exists at all is because of Jesus. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of His power (Heb 1:3). This kind of power is unimaginable; it is the power of God.

8. Christ is also the head of the church (vs 18). As the divine Son of God who willingly became a man in order to come to Earth and give himself to save human beings from the penalty of sin, Jesus is the head of the church and is the one who the church worships.

9. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. Jesus is described as supreme over all who rise from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection means that death itself and the power of sin is conquered and makes a believer’s resurrection possible.

10. So he is first in everything. Jesus is first and supreme in everything as creator, sustainer, and savior. Therefore, we should place Him first in everything.

11. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ (vs 19). When Jesus came to Earth, he was both God and man, a perfect human being who had all the fullness of God in him.

12. and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross (vs 20). God took the initiative to save human beings from sin and make a way to pay the penalty of sin by means of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. God poured out his wrath for sin upon Jesus on the cross. The creator acted to make a way of salvation for the creation he made, and forever break the power of sin and death.

Jesus is the eternal creator and sustainer, the one who created us for his glory. He is the one who holds everything together and is the exact image of God. This is why there is salvation in no other. Because of who Jesus is and what he has done for us, he alone is worthy of our worship. Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life, a life that only Jesus makes possible.

Last Saturday, we began our new study guide in Colossians. Paul wrote the letter to the church in Colossae from a Roman prison. The church in Colossae was founded by Paul’s friend Epaphras, who Paul describes as a faithful co-worker and a faithful servant of Christ. 

In the opening verses, Paul describes the Colossians using these terms: 

• Holy People (people who are set apart, Saints who already have salvation)
• Faithful brothers & sisters
• Their faith in Jesus Christ
• Their love for all of the God’s people
• Hearers of the Gospel
• The Gospel is bearing fruit & increasing among them
• Understanding God’s grace
• Their love in the Spirit  

As Scott Duncan asked us: how strong is your faith? If Paul were writing to you today, how would he describe you?

After a three week break, our Saturday Men’s Bible Study will resume this Saturday, January 7 at 7:00AM. Some of us meet for prayer at 6:30AM. I hope everyone had a great Holiday season.

Since it has been a few weeks, a review of where we have been is in order.

We have been studying the book of Galatians, which is the first letter that the Apostle Paul wrote that is contained in the Bible. The Galatian church was one of the first churches that Paul helped found as a result of his early missionary activity. The reason Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians is because soon after Paul left them, he learned the Galatians had fallen into the serious error of thinking that their good works or following religious ritual was required before they could obtain acceptance by God. This error was being taught by people within the Galatian church called Judaizers, who were teaching that the Galatians needed to be circumcised before God would accept them. Paul warns the Galatians that no one can gain or merit the acceptance of God by their works, including circumcision. Paul reminds the Galatians in various ways that with the Gospel, God’s acceptance is only through faith in Christ alone, because only Jesus Christ was able to fulfill what was necessary to save us.

In other words, Paul’s argument can be summed up this way:

Religion says that God’s acceptance first requires good works. The true Gospel says that God’s acceptance is only by faith in Christ alone; good works are an outgrowth, or the result of our faith.   

In our last lesson on December 10, we learned that having God’s acceptance by faith and not by works is not a license for sinful living. As believers who have already been saved and have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, our lives should exhibit good works. This is what Paul describes as “walking by the Spirit” as the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do it. Those who are continually practicing sinful or selfish lifestyles are called “walking in the flesh.” Those who are continually walking in the flesh may not have a real faith.

A helpful quote that further explains why walking in the Spirit is important for a believer is this one:

“If a believer doesn’t turn outward in love towards others, they will turn inward in love for themselves.” (Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse)   

I hope everyone had a joyous Thanksgiving holiday. Our bible study resumes Saturday December 3.

What kind of man is God looking for? This question is something Christian men should always be thinking about. In the following article, author Chris Castaldo explains what kind of man God is looking for:

Be the Man

Chris Castaldo

“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).

Not all men are true men—at least not in the eyes of God. True men lead, speak out, and stand firm. They “stand in the gap” in times of crisis. They build great cities and organizations, but at their best, they build up the Church. In the counsels of heaven, a search committee of One looks for those who have the courage and moral fiber to do what is right. Because God is God, He does not need experts, technicians, or skilled orators to accomplish His work. He simply needs men.

During the time of the rise of Babylonian empire, God looked for a man to warn the wicked people of Judah and its leaders of their impending doom. Judah’s breathtaking wickedness prompted God’s swift and righteous judgment on the inhabitants of Zion. The many dark deeds of Judah included bloodshed and murder (vv. 22:1-5), government corruption (v. 6), a hatred of parents (vv. 7a, 10), extortion (vv. 7, 12), sexual immorality (vv. 10-11), and greed (v. 13). For these and like actions, God promised decisive punishment. Although the Babylonian captivity certainly involved physical removal from Jerusalem, the penalty in full meant the complete undoing of an unfaithful people—“I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it” (v. 21).

Religious leaders led the parade of infidelity and hatred of God. The Lord described the prophets as co-conspirators with evil (v. 25). By approving the sin of Judah’s princes or staying silent, the prophets themselves betrayed the innocent. By refusing to speak out against the immorality of their day and by covering up for sins of political leaders, the prophets “smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them” (v. 28). In doing so, these supposed servants of God dipped their hands in blood unjustly shed. Those responsible for leading worship did the same. By failing to distinguish between “the holy and the common” (e.g., corrupting reverence toward God in worship), the priests made the sovereign God into a public laughingstock.

In the midst of such abomination, God “sought a man to build up a wall and stand in the breach” (v. 30). Such a man preaches sin and judgment—and the blessings of repentance—without fear or favor. But in all of Israel, God could not find this man. It takes courage, after all, to stand alone for God. Due to the shortage, God called Ezekiel, who informed Judah that they had not been forgiven. For this message, Ezekiel was mocked (cf. vv. 20:49; 33:30-32). Those who follow Ezekiel’s model should expect the same.

Could the Lord find a man in today’s multitude of preachers and teachers? Could He find a prophet who spoke the truth to cultural power and a priest who resolved to keep the holy things of God holy? Men act upon conviction and virtue. Cowards wait for poll results and position themselves in the middle. Godly men act out of confidence in the Word of God. False prophets say what people want to hear. True prophets embark upon a narrow way, a path not for the faint of heart.

Source: http://www.chriscastaldo.com/2011/10/04/be-the-man/

The last few weeks of our Bible study, we have been reading Paul’s exhortation to Galatian believers to not fall back into a man centered religion of outward appearances and works and instead, keep believing in the Gospel of Grace, where our salvation is available only by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone.

This past week, we read in Galatians 4: 12-20 where Paul reminds the Galatians of how he came to them with the Gospel while suffering physical adversity. In Galatians 4: 19, Paul affectionately calls the Galatians his spiritual children. The verse says:

Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

Paul is saying that his burden and concern to see the Galatians grow in Christ is much like the pains of childbirth that a pregnant mother is willing to suffer for her child. Paul also mentions that his burden and concern will continue until Christ is fully developed in the Galatians lives. What does having Christ fully developed in our lives, or having Christ in us look like?

Pastor Chip Ingram, author of the book “Living on the Edge,” says that Romans Chapter 12 is the key for believers to live a life of true spirituality, a life that is pleasing to God. Romans 12 breaks it down this way:

·         Surrender yourselves completely to God.

·         Don’t conform any longer to the values of the world; let God transform your mind.

·         Conduct sober self-assessment in accordance with the faith God has given you.

·         Be devoted to serving others and honor others above self.

·         Supernaturally respond to evil with good.

Read Romans 12 this week to be reminded of how God wants to transform our lives and how we can have true spirituality.

In our study passage this past week in Galatians 3: 19-29, we learned the purpose of the Law. Scott Duncan helped us understand the Law by listing what the Law is, and what it is not.

What the Law Is:

More than a moral & ethical code, it reveals God’s character of holiness. It also reveals our own sinfulness, what we really are. The Law is simple and clear, it sets God’s standard righteousness, and it is written on the hearts of human beings. The Law is beyond our ability to keep.

What the Law Is Not:

The Law doesn’t give life. The Law doesn’t give us salvation. The Law cannot redeem us. The Law is unforgiving; it does not justify us or relieve us from guilt.

The good news for us: According to Galatians 3: 26, we are sons of God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by keeping the Law.

Near the end of the film Schindler’s List, World War Two is drawing to a close. With liberation by Allied forces imminent, 1100 Jewish factory workers gathered to honor Oskar Schindler, the man who had helped them escape the Nazi death camps. The Jews presented Schindler with a gold ring, made from a gold tooth given by one of the Jews, in appreciation for what Schindler had done for them. Moved by their gesture, Schindler comes to a moment of self-realization: he didn't deserve their honor because he could have saved more people using the many resources that he had wasted in the past. Removing a gold Nazi lapel pin from his jacket that he had worn for many years, Schindler realized that he could have saved two more people with it. Schindler is overcome with shame that he had held back something so small that could have been used to save a life.

This past Saturday, our speaker Kevin Conway from Church Resource Ministries told us that the plight of the people in Croatia & Bosnia so moved him that he gave up his home, business, and career to serve God in the former Yugoslavia. Kevin also asked us to consider this question: Like Oskar Schindler, what is your pin? What are you holding back from God that could be used to save the lost?

Dr. John Piper, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis MN has a free on-line book (in .pdf format) that helps us think about this question: it is called Don’t Waste Your Life. The book is available free at the link below:

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/online-books/dont-waste-your-life

In our lesson last week, we learned that the word justification means to be declared innocent, exonerated, or righteous. This verdict means to be pardoned from the penalty of sin, as well as to receive the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. We receive this gift through God’s grace by faith alone.

We also learned the following from Galatians 3: 1-9:

• Paul tells the Galatians they had fallen into error through their disobedience to the word they had received from Paul, which in turn, caused them to be misled.
• Paul reminded the Galatians that they had received the Holy Spirit immediately when they heard the word of God and had faith, not after keeping any law. This was the same pattern that happened to Cornelius and his family when Peter brought the word to them (Acts 10:1 – 11:18).
• It was Abraham’s faith that caused God to declare him righteous, not circumcision. Abraham was circumcised after he was declared righteous by God.
• All believers receive justification the same way as Abraham did; by God's grace through faith alone.

Scott Duncan also reminded us what the gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 – Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, he was buried, and he rose from the dead three days later.

What did you learn in last week’s lesson?

In our Galatians lesson from last Saturday, we learned that the Judaizers were trying to subvert the Galatian Christians by questioning the Apostle Paul’s credentials as well as the Gospel of grace through faith alone. Paul responded to the Galatians by demonstrating his authority and the truth of the Gospel in at least 4 ways:

• Paul received the gospel message directly from God and not through men, and his dramatic 180 degree conversion from a zealous persecutor and murderer of Christians to a follower of Christ was not due to some convincing argument from another person, but by the miraculous, direct divine intervention, calling, and revelation from Jesus Christ.
• Paul did not immediately begin to minister as an Apostle after his conversion. Instead, he went into the wilderness of Arabia for three years, where the Lord prepared him for ministry.
• Before his conversion, Paul was the ultimate Jewish law-keeper and Pharisee. Having studied under the famous teacher Gamaliel, Paul was intimately familiar with Jewish law, knowing it better than most. Therefore, Paul was ultimately qualified to address the issue of circumcision. 
• Paul’s conversion and Gospel message was corroborated by other Apostles, like Peter, James, and John. The issue of circumcision had already been addressed by the Jerusalem Church. The Apostles commissioned Paul for his work among the Gentiles.

The first lesson in our Galatians Study Guide was departing from the Gospel. In the opening verses in Galatians 1: 1-9, we read where the Apostle Paul is addressing the churches he founded in Galatia, that he is gravely concerned that they have abandoned the Gospel message that they learned from Paul for another, or counterfeit gospel. The question for us is: how can we, like the Galatians, know the true gospel from the false gospel?

US Treasury Agents are law enforcement professionals who protect our nation’s currency by stopping counterfeiters. These agents receive special training in how to recognize a genuine versus a counterfeit bill. This training involves the Treasury Agent becoming so very familiar with what an original bill looks like, that they are immediately able to recognize a bill that is different.

In the same way, we should become very familiar with the true gospel, so that we are not confused or fooled into believing a counterfeit. Some people have only known a counterfeit and not the original gospel. What is the genuine gospel?

The genuine gospel compared with a false gospel can be summed up this way:

• Genuine Gospel: Faith/belief in Jesus Christ + zero (nothing) = Salvation
• Counterfeit Gospel: Faith/belief in Jesus Christ + works (something else) = Salvation

The “works” in the counterfeit gospel include law keeping, rituals, partaking in sacraments, good deeds, church membership, tithing, etc. Basically works are anything we do that adds to what Christ has done, or are things that prevent us from depending completely on Christ alone for our salvation. All other religions and belief systems involve some type of works/salvation system. Only the true gospel of Christianity is by faith alone in Jesus Christ and what he has already done for us.

Our study guide referenced Romans 3: 19-28. These verses contain a detailed theology of salvation by grace through faith alone. Verse 22 says the righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 24 states we are justified (declared innocent) freely (without cost on our part) by His grace. Verse 26 states that God is the justifier (judge that declares us innocent) of the one who has faith in Jesus. Verse 28 states that man is justified apart from (excluding or not involving) deeds of the law (good works or rules).

Remember the true gospel: Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose on the third day. Our repentance (turning away from sin in a new direction) & faith in his sacrifice alone for forgiveness of sins is what saves us. 

Would you like to connect more often with SMBS?

Welcome to our new blog for the Saturday Men’s Bible Study at Wheaton Bible Church! This blog is a way for you to stay connected with each other and with the activities of our bible study.

Our first meeting of the Fall season was September 10. Join us at 7:00AM on Saturday mornings. Some of us come early to pray at 6:30AM; you are encouraged to jump right in and join us anytime.

We are studying the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Galatians, an important book, focuses on one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith: Salvation by grace alone. Our study guide (pictured right) was written by Dr. John MacArthur, who is an excellent Bible teacher. The study guide is available at the WBC Chapters Bookstore, or copies will be available at our first meeting. The cost for the study guide is $9.00.

You may have noticed a few links on this page. If you are new to the Bible study, there is a link to the New Guy’s Sheet. It contains information describing what we do and what you can expect when you attend our Bible study. There are links to two sites that you may find beneficial for Bible study. Bible Gateway and Blue Letter Bible are web sites where you can study the Bible by looking up passages on-line in many different translations. You can also look up passages containing certain key words or phrases by using the search engines on each site. Each sight also has various Bible study helps, including Bible dictionaries, lexicons, Concordances, and commentaries (including streaming audio/video commentaries). Some translations have cross references that are helpful.

There will be regular postings made to this blog, so keep monitoring us for updates.

Yours in Christ,

SMBS Leadership Team