Philippians (Program #48) -The Sacrifice of Your Faith

What is faith?  Is it just to believe?  Why do some have it and some do not? Does the Bible gives us any direction of how to obtain more faith?   Well the question concerning faith are virtually endless. Of course the Bible does have much to say about faith, yet in many ways it remains mysterious. One of the most mysterious references to faith is found in Philippians 2 where Paul talks about the sacrifice and service of your faith. We want to get into the extraordinary expression today concerning the faith of the believers on this life study from the book of Philippians.

In the book of Philippians the apostle Paul used several remarkable or extraordinary expressions really and they are not found any where else in the New Testament not even in his other writing in his Epistles. We spent quite a bit of time on at least two of them in previous programs and those are the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The second one would be the holding forth of Word of life.  By now every one who’s been listening to these programs has to be fully impressed with these two expressions.

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Philippians (Program #45) -The Word of Life Being Identical to Living Christ

What is the secret of strong faith in Christ?  Well, today we will look back at the experience of some fathers in the faith to learn helpful lessons from them that would hopefully save us a lot of time and trouble.

It’s good to look back at some of our predecessors in the faith and to see how they learn to receive God’s word through prayer.

We’ve been talking a lot about the relationship between the Word and the Spirit and how these two should never be separated.  When we come to the Bible we need prayer and we also need to add the words of the Bible itself to our prayer.

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Ephesians (Program #73) – Faith But Not Doctrine

The book of Ephesians which stresses the Church places tremendous importance on the matter of Oneness. The oneness of the Spirit and the oneness of the faith are both highlighted in this book. But notably it does not speak about the oneness of teaching or of doctrine, in fact both teaching and doctrine are the subject of Paul’s warning in Chapter 4:13-14, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, …That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error.”  Obviously the oneness of the faith is something other than that of doctrine or teaching.

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Ephesians (Program #39) – Arriving at Three Things

Oneness is a critical matter in the book of Ephesians. This book which has the Church as the Body of Christ as its’ subject stressed oneness in a number of places. In Chapter 4 we’re told in verse 3, to be diligently to keep the oneness of the Spirit then in verse 13, we have a marvelous expression concerning oneness. “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of  the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Yes, our oneness surely is the oneness of the Spirit but we must not overlook the destination of our oneness, a three fold destination.

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Galatians (Program #44) – Walking by the Spirit as Sons of God (1)

Galatians, much like the book of Romans, reveals God’s salvation to us in a most dynamic and marvelous way. We are saved by faith, through grace and fully according to the operation of the Spirit and not by the works of law. But the revelation of the New Testament and of these books especially does not stop here. There is a goal to this salvation, a wonderful goal, that should become our goal as well. This was the deep burden of the apostle Paul in Galatians.

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Galatians (Program #42) – Walk by the Spirit in the Enjoyment of Christ in our Spirit

To many people, the main item of the book of Romans is justification by faith and the main item in Galatians is to be free from the bondage of the law. Although both of these truths are present in these two books, the real goal and focus of both books is something else. For both Romans and Galatians reveal that God’s purpose or economy in justifying us and freeing us is for one thing – to make forgiven sinners into genuine sons of God in life.

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Galatians (Program #42) – Walking by the Spirit According to to the Elementary Rule to Live

Galatians 3:26 identifies us as the very sons of God through faith in Christ. That means that we have become members of God’s household or His folks we could say. We could also say this is tremendous. But by chapter 6, these sons have now become God’s prince, the Israel of God. This goes beyond tremendous, and this is also the focus of today’s life study of the Bible.

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Galatians (Program #32) – Born of the Spirit to Receive the Spirit (1)

He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith? Have you ever considered this word from the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3 in light of your own Christian experience?  What is it to receive the bountiful supply of the Spirit?  Many Christians today are even reluctant to talk about the Spirit, yet it’s clear from God’s Word that He desires to supply us with the Spirit, even bountifully. Receiving the supply of the Spirit is the focus of today’s life study of the Bible.

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Galatians (Program #31) – The Brands of Jesus and the Grace of Christ

The marvelous book of Galatians contains some of the most encouraging and positive utterances in the New Testament. “When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me. “And, if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Yet, there’s an unmistakable imprint of the cross of Christ running through Galatians as well. It’s a book of grace and faith, and the Spirit of life, all the while not to be missed is the putting to death of the flesh and bearing the brands of Christ. Does this reveal a contradiction or a secret to experiencing Christ in the Christian life? Stay with us for today’s life study of the Bible.

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Galatians (Program #19) – Faith Replacing Law

The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ brought in a complete change in the way God dealt with men. His desire today is to bring a rich and bountiful supply of His Spirit to all His children. But, how do we receive this supply? Galatians 3:5 says, “He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?” Are we still struggling under the law or are we receiving the Spirit through faith? Stay tuned for today’s life study of the Bible.

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