Archives for February 2021

This is The Living Word (TLW) Bible study on the Sunday lectionary readings shared by many denominations (Revised Common Lectionary). This is Sunday, February 28, 2021 (Year B) reference TLW08B. It’s a Bible study and so we don’t follow the form of any particular liturgy but allow the Bible to tell its story in the order of its own progressive revelation from Old Testament, the time of Jesus recorded in the NT gospels, and the era of the early church experiencing the leading of the Holy Spirit in the NT letters. We recommend you read the passages through as they stand and let t he Holy Spirit begin to reveal them to you, and then go deeper with the verse to verse commentary ands the reflection notes. This will be a preparation for what you hear on read and preached Sunday or discuss in your home group.

Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16 — God extends His earlier covenant promise beyond the nation of Israel

Mark 8:31-38 — Jesus explains how the Messiah must suffer rejection and death

Romans 4:13-25 — Salvation by faith in Christ Jesus is a truth rooted in Abraham’s righteousness

And also read: Psalm 22:23-31

Theme: Salvation comes by our trust in God

Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16 — God extends His earlier covenant promise

The vision is an inclusive one embracing other people groups and their rulers

1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty (El Shaddai); walk before Me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make My covenant between Me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

“El Shaddai” — meaning something like ‘The Lord of boundless sufficiency’, emphasising God’s generosity and power to overcome impossible circumstances.

“Then I will make My covenant”— God has already covenanted with Abram to give him the land, Genesis 15:18-21, and now adds the promise of descendants on condition that Abram maintains his unwavering trust of God.

3-5 Abram fell face down, and God said to him, “As for me, this is My covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram (Exalted Father); your name will be Abraham (Father of many), for I have made you a father of many nations.

“Your name will be Abraham” — a person’s name was their identity. The new name also conveys the purpose of this covenant. 

6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

“Nations… and kings will come from you” —not just the Israelites; he is father of Ishmael and the Arab peoples. This covenant has a wide reach.

• For further study see Romans 4:16-18; 15:8-12; Galatians 3:29; Revelation 7:9; 21:24

7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

“Everlasting covenant… for the generations to come” — the covenant will have the same force generations later.

8  The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

“I will” — much repeated by God assumes a response from Abram e.g. “I will walk before You faithfully, I will be found blameless before You” like marriage vows today.

15-16 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.“

“Mother of nations” — parallel to “Father of… nations”, v5. The covenant is for Sarah as well.

Reflection

SUMMARY God visits Abram, whose unshakeable faith has been tested over many years, and makes a covenant with him, promising to give him a dynasty of believers. This will not be restricted to his own tribe, but he and Sarai will become the father and mother of nations. Included is the land of Canaan, future possession of his descendants — the “Promised Land’.

APPLICATION Most of us reading this have no biological claim to be descendants of Abraham. But as the patriarch and shining example for all who trust God and walk with Him in faith, Abraham has a special place in the Christian tradition. When God made the first part of this covenant with Abram, promising him a huge number of descendants, “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited to him as righteousness”. Biblical Christianity asserts that we are made right with God, not through any merit or ritual, but by our faith meeting God’s grace, in the same way as Abraham.

QUESTION Which is harder, to work away at things that might make us more right with God — or, like Abraham, to believe what God says and receive it? 

Mark 8:31-38 — Jesus explains how rejection and death must come

The disciples did not expect Messiah to suffer but to be an overcomer

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.

“Son of Man” — refers to Daniel 7:13 and Jesus’ most common title for Himself. Closely linked to Peter’s “You are the Christ”, this declaration shows Him to be the representative human agent of God who is vindicated by God.

“And be rejected… and… killed” — the sacrifice that will bring about reconciliation between God and man. Jesus’ disciples expected to follow Him to a victorious kingdom, not the suffering servant and martyrdom foretold by Isaiah.

“Elder… chief priests… teachers of the law” — the three power groups of the Jewish ruling Sanhedrin.

32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

“Peter took Him aside” — because to him, what Jesus was saying was nonsense.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” He said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

“Jesus turned and looked at His disciples” — this was a rebuke for all of them, not just Peter, and the line of thought was satanic, not the person.

34 Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.

“Deny themselves” — not the medieval idea of self-abasement, but letting go of all that it self-centred to be dependent on the Lord.

35-39 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

“Save their life… loses their life” — living a self-determining life is not the way to find eternal life with God, but giving up independence from God by responding to Christ and the gospel.

When He comes” — Mark’s first reference to Jesus’ second coming. Later, Jesus goes into detail about this at Olivet.

• For further study, read Mark 13:1-37.

Reflection

SUMMARY Jesus gives the disciples a difficult teaching that throws them into consternation. They shared the popular expectation of the time, that Messiah would come as an overcoming leader who would reclaim the nation for God. They had no concept of a leader who would save those who believed in Him by personal and horrific self-sacrifice. Outspoken Peter challenges the Lord about this, because he is convinced that the Lord has got it wrong. This earns him and the disciples a rebuke for putting their desires and popular expectation above God’s plan and purpose.

APPLICATION They — and by extension we — have to learn that the way of a disciple of Jesus is about letting go of all ambition and self-determination to be available to God and His kingdom mission.

QUESTION How can we help people who dismiss Jesus and His teaching as too difficult? What is our story about this?

Romans 4:13-25 — Abraham is the father of all faith

Salvation by faith in Christ Jesus is a truth based on ancient origins

13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

“Heir of the world” — Genesis 17:6, “I will make nations of you”. Paul is seeing Abraham and his huge faith influencing a “world” of the faithful who look to Abraham as a “father”, v.17, because we, like him, are justified by faith.

“Not through… law… but through… righteousness that comes by faith” — the basis of the whole Protestant church and all others who believe salvation comes simply through our faith meeting His grace, and no “law” of church or other actions.

14-15 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

“The law brings wrath” — the law demanded obedience and violations were likely so the law may even have encouraged sin, Romans 7:7-11. If the law was violated, wrath (meaning God’s righteous judgment) ensued – it was not a system of grace, like the New Covenant in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

16-17 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

“So that it may be by grace and… guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring” — Paul teaches that the law shows people where they have broken the rules, but truly living right by God is not about rules but personal faith. Keeping the rules is not the same as knowing God through Jesus. God is looking for a relationship with us trusting Him.

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

“Against all hope” – from human perspective, impossible.

“So shall your offspring be” – The “count the stars” passage quoted from Genesis 15:5

19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

 “Without weakening in his faith” — faith and hope are sometimes used interchangeably, but hope is more a general, confident expectation based on God’s goodness, kindness and faithfulness to us. Faith stands on that foundation of hope and is specific, e.g. believing what God has said. 

20-22 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

“He did not waver… but was strengthened” — Abraham’s outlook changed as God spoke to him with the original promise, Gen. 15:5. Still waiting when it was physically impossible to have children, he was ready to hear God speak again, Gen. 17:5. In this test he was “strengthened in his faith”, not weakened.

23-25  The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

“For us… God will credit righteousness… who believe in Him” — it comes to us through believing that Jesus went to His death for our sins and then was raised to life for our justification.

Reflection

SUMMARY Paul discusses the covenant God made with Abraham. He teaches that Abraham took hold of the promise — that seemed humanly impossible — by faith. This character quality in Abraham, believing God and taking Him at His word for what he could not see, conceive or even imagine in normal life, is what justified Abraham before God. It was “credited to him as righteousness”, in other words, God counted Abraham as righteous, because he had believed and trusted Him. 

APPLICATION And as Paul teaches, that wasn’t just for Abraham, but to be a model for us. The three passages this week lay out the basis for our salvation, and there is no mention of things we have traditionally considered important. The emphasis of this Bible teaching, not contradicted anywhere else, is on us simply coming to trust beyond what we can see. Specifically, it’s believing that Jesus, God’s Son, paid for our sins by His death and then was raised to new life so that we can be in a good and ongoing relationship with Him now. This is how we are made right with God and therefore saved.

QUESTION Where is our faith located — how much is about living and worshipping correctly, and how much is about personal faith in God through trusting what Jesus has done?

PRAYER Father God, in this season of reflection and self-examination it is good to be reminded of what You have done for us, or rather Your Son Jesus in His selfless sacrifice.
We are challenged again to simply believe, and to trust, beyond what makes sense according to human logic. Abraham believed You and You counted him a righteous man.
We turn to You again, with no merit of our own, nothing that we have done, no good record to count in our favour. We simply confess Jesus as our Saviour and ask Him to be our Lord, for the first time or perhaps the hundredth.
It is good to know where we stand — completely reliant on the force of your gracious love coming out to meet our wavering faith.
And knowing we belong to You! Thank You, Jesus! Amen.

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INTRODUCTION  This is The Living Word Bible study for for Sunday, February 21, first Sunday in Lent (TLW07B). The theme is drawn from the Revised Common Lectionary readings following the natural progression of the Bible itself in the three perspectives of Old Testament, New Testament pre-resurrection and NT post-resurrection with the Early Church experiencing the life of the Spirit. Prepare for hearing these read and preached on Sunday in your livestream or broadcast service — read the passages as they stand first and let them speak to you, then study a little deeper with the help of the commentary and reflection notes. There is a linked article, and also a printed version of this Bible study with permission to print for your own use, or your church home group or bulletin (at the end).

Genesis 9:8-17 — God asserts His covenant promise to Noah

Mark 1:9-15 — The Father’s voice was heard in the Son’s baptism

1 Peter 3:18-22 — Christ proclaims His victory to the demons

And also: Psalm 25:1-10 — “Show me Your ways”

Theme: We have confidence in what God has proclaimed

• This week’s article on the theme: ‘What God Speaks, Endures‘

Genesis 9:8-17 — God asserts His covenant promise to Noah

The giant vessel having served its purpose, God’s promise creates the first covenant

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:

“Then God said” — leads into agreeing a covenant with Noah, his family, descendants and every living creature following the flood. The importance of the concept of covenant committing God to man and man to God cannot be overestimated.

9-10 “I now establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you — the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you— every living creature on earth.

“I now establish My covenant” — the first covenant in the Bible (already promised in Genesis 6:18). A covenant formally binds two parties together in a relationship of mutual commitment, but this first covenant is a one-sided promise by God.

11 “I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

“I establish My covenant with you” — the language is that of a royal grant or unconditional promise.

“Never again” — this covenant is eternal.

12-15 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

“You and every living creature” — “all life” is part of God’s creation and important to Him. We can seek His blessing for ourselves, our livestock, crops — and pets.

16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

“The rainbow… remember the everlasting covenant” — covenants in the Bible usually have an accompanying sign or symbol like circumcision, Sabbath observance, or the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. The rainbow is the sign of God remembering His covenant with man and all living creatures.

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

Reflection

SUMMARY  In the instructions God gave Noah for building the ark, and the animals he should expect to come to Him to be kept alive, He made the first of a number of significant proclamations in this story: “I will establish My covenant with you…”, Genesis 6:18. Now after the flood has receded and the various occupants of the ark have made their way onto the draining land, God asserts His promise again, half a dozen times. Almost every covenant has a sign, and the sign of the rainbow is instituted as the reminder.

APPLICATION  This is  a very important principle which we will meet again with Abraham, and with Moses, and with David. Then, for us there is the New Covenant established in Jesus’ death and resurrection. It tells us a lot about how God works and how He relates to us. It represents a confident expectation of how God will act, and the shorthand Bible word for this is hope.

QUESTION  Why are covenants in the Bible such important signposts for us?

Mark 1:9-15 — The Father’s voice was heard in the Son’s baptism

Soon after Jesus began to proclaim the kingdom of God in Galilee

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan.

“Baptised by John in the Jordan” — Matthew explains in his gospel that Jesus, with no sins to renounce, did this “to fulfil all righteousness”. God required Him to identify with sinners, for whom baptism was a sign of repentance. Going down into the water and rising up out of it is a symbol of dying, then resurrection — which Jesus would do for all of us who are sinners.

10-11 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”

“The Spirit descending on Him” — in contemporary traditions, that commonly practise believer’s baptism, the congregation often hear the brief story of how they came to know Jesus, then after baptism they pray with the candidate in the water, to receive the fullness of the Spirit. 

“A voice … from heaven; ‘You are My Son'” — perhaps the best way to understand this is that Jesus, who was God’s Son but born as man, entered ministry as a man with an extraordinary anointing of the Holy Spirit.

• For further study, read Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 42:1-9

12-13 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

“The wilderness for forty days” — a place with an evil aura, inhabited by wolves, jackals and leopards. Forty days recalls Israel’s 40 years of testing and failure. Jesus was tested but did not sin.

• For further study, read and compare Hebrews 2:18, 4:15; and James 1:3, 12; 1 Peter 1:7; Revelation 2:10

14-15 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

“Repent and believe” — as in the first Exodus where God revealed Himself to the people, called them to Himself, and taught them His ways, so too Jesus calls people out of their confusion, to follow Him and His teaching.

• For further study read Exodus 3:12-15, 6:7, 33:19; Deut. 4:1,14, 8:3.

Reflection

SUMMARY  In this passage Jesus, who uniquely has no sin to turn from and renounce, lines up with those who do, and receives John’s baptism. As He goes into the water, the Father’s audible voice is heard, affirming His pleasure in Jesus, the Son He loves so much. Jesus receives an impartation of the Holy Spirit which equips Him for ministry, and first for His wilderness trial where he experiences, and overcomes,  the full extent of the devil’s deception. Then He has an anointing for ministry and His own proclamation that in Him, the kingdom of God has come near to people — their opportunity to turn and see what God was doing and believe it.

APPLICATION  Every born-again Christian has a call to ministry, although this doesn’t make everyone a church pastor. The Holy Spirit has many ways, through many gifts, to make us fruitful. The key fact is that it is a work of the Holy Spirit top discern and to extend the kingdom of God. Our own efforts, apart from the Spirit, will keep us busy building lesser, more institutional things. If Jesus needed an impartation of the Spirit, and to submit to baptism to receive it, how much more do we.

QUESTION  How do are we doing in proclaiming the Good News of God and His kingdom?

1 Peter 3:18-22 — Christ proclaims His victory to the demons

He who was put to death, was raised to life and appointed to rule over all powers

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

“The righteous for the unrighteous” — clear statement of what is called the substitutionary atonement of Christ. He who was righteous suffered and died in the place of the unrighteous (us), to bring us to God.

“Put to death in the body… made alive in the Spirit” — He was put to death conclusively in a physical sense, but raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit.

19-20 After being made alive, He went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water…

“Proclamation to the imprisoned spirits” — these are much debated verses but perhaps the way that fits best with the rest of Scripture is that Christ, risen from the dead, proclaimed His victory to the demonic spirits, who were under confinement and awaiting God’s final judgment since those early times of wickedness Noah experienced.

21 ... and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

“Baptism… the pledge of a clear conscience towards God” — Protestants have generally agreed that water baptism is an outward sign of the Holy Spirit’s work of inner regeneration, received by a person’s faith and God’s grace alone. In many traditions baptism is part of a declaration by believers that they have trusted Christ for salvation, and consider themselves putting the old life to death. Where the church custom is to dedicate infants in a naming ceremony, they can choose to be baptised later and tell the story of their own journey to faith in Jesus.

22 ...who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.

“Authorities and powers in submission to Him” — an encouraging reminder to Christians that Jesus has won His victory and ascended to take authority over all powers. We can rejoice in the face of suffering in the secure knowledge that Christ has triumphed.

Reflection

SUMMARY  What exactly happened between Jesus’ death and His revealing Himself having risen to life on the third day? This passage reflects back to the ancient times and the long lifetime of Noah. That was a era when such wickedness was over all the earth, that God resolved to make a new start, through a flood, choosing righteous Noah and his family to survive. This was a symbolic foreshadowing of what we know as baptism, which is not an instrument of salvation, but a proclamation to the world and spiritual world that we have embraced new life in  Christ and we are His.
The fourth proclamation in this story is the one made by Jesus to the demonic spirits behind that wickedness of Noah’s time, awaiting the final judgment of God. What did He proclaim? Nothing less than His victory on the Cross, as a uniquely sinless person taking on Himself the world’s injustice, in a totally unjust death. His sacrificial action broke the power of sin and evil for ever, and those evil demonic spirits, hoping for an appeal, needed to hear that.

APPLICATION  The good news here is that living for Jesus in the new life that He gives, joins us to His victory. This is how we overcome. It also may draw the unwelcome attention of those dark spiritual beings that loathe that victory, but as we find the confidence to remind them of what Jesus has done, He is with us, echoing that reminder, and referencing His speech to the dark world just before His Resurrection Day.

QUESTION  Why is it good for those who have come into a personal faith through trusting Jesus as Saviour and Lord, to be publicly baptised?

PRAYER  We thank You, Father God, that what You say and what Your Son Jesus says, are not arguable or negotiable or contestable. We can have complete confidence in Your undeviating faithfulness to those things You have decreed. We know where we are with You.
We thank You too for the reminder of Jesus’ baptism and anointing for ministry. The same Holy Spirit in Jesus who changed lives for many in extraordinary ways, is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love others, bring peace to the anxious and share about You. 
May we grow in Christ-like confidence and reliance on You as we seek to join You in your mission. Amen.

Psalm 25:1-10

1 In You, Lord my God, I put my trust.

2 I trust in You; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in You will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me Your ways, Lord, teach me Your paths.

5 Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God My Saviour, and My hope is in You all day long.

6 Remember, Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.

10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of His covenant.

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PRINT EDITION  Here you can download a PDF to print on A4 paper and create a four-page Bible-size booklet. Permission granted to copy for your own use, your house group or church bulletin.