Category: Bible Study

“You are well acquainted with the favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ: how for your sake He made Himself poor though He was rich, so that you might become rich by His poverty.” —2 Corinthians 8:9 What if a person was rich but didn’t know it? He may unnecessarily deprive himself, his family, or others of basic necessities. It is even possible for a rich man to starve to death, if he didn’t know he was rich. Do you know that “for your sake [Jesus] made Himself poor though He was rich, so that you might become rich by...

“In all that we do we strive to present ourselves as ministers of God.” —2 Corinthians 6:4 I hope you have made the decision of a lifetime and have decided to live for Jesus and work for Him full-time. If you are a housewife, plumber, garbageman, teacher, elected official, etc., and are serving Jesus full-time, your life is truly worthwhile, challenging, and indescribably joyous. You live “with patient endurance amid trials, difficulties, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, and riots; as men familiar with hard work, sleepless nights, and fastings” (2 Cor 6:4-5). By the power of the Holy Spirit, you have “innocence,...

“We are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —Romans 5:1 Most people know there is a God. Some people even experience that God is present, loving, and/or personal. Others only sense God as a force. Those people who are aware of God as a person know they can reject God by sinning. They sometimes know when they’re not at peace with God. Then they feel a need to get right with God, to be justified (Rm 5:1). Few people experience much more of God than this, but there is much, much more of God. Jesus said to...

“The love of Christ impels us.” —2 Corinthians 5:14 The Lord tells us that the Christian life is like a race (see 2 Tm 4:7), indeed, like a marathon. There are many who do not cross the finish line. They are called “fallen away” or “backsliding” Christians. In fact, at the end of the world, unprecedented numbers of Christians will not cross the finish line. This is the great apostasy (2 Thes 2:3). Will you cross the finish line and live with the Lord forever? (see Phil 3:14) We cross the finish line not because we are strong or better...

“You have heard the commandment, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ What I say to you is: anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his thoughts.” —Matthew 5:27-28 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands us to have the highest standard in resisting sexual temptations. We are to be pure and free, even if we have to gouge out our eyes or cut off our hands (Mt 5:29-30). The Lord does not intend for us to literally maim ourselves, but we must do whatever it takes to avoid the occasions of sin and...