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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
1 Peter 3:5-6
5 For [gar] after this manner [houto] in the old time [pote] the
holy [hagios] women [gune] also [kai], who [ho] trusted [elpizo] in [epi] God [theos], adorned [kosmeo] themselves [heautou], being
in subjection [hupotasso] unto their own [idios] husbands [aner]:
6 Even as [hos] Sara [Sarrha] obeyed [hupakouo] Abraham [Abraam], calling [kaleo] him [autos] lord [kurios]: whose [hos] daughters [teknon] ye are [ginomai], as long as ye do well [agathopoieo], and [kai] are [phobeo] not [me] afraid [phobeo] with any [medeis] amazement
[ptoesis]. KJV-Interlinear
5 For in this way in former times
the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being
submissive to their own husbands. 6 Thus
Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you
do what is right without being frightened by any fear. NASB
People from the history
books, may have had reputations of one sort or another, but those reputations
originated from activities of the sin nature, and they have long since departed
from their respective lives.
Anyone who has received
recognition from God, did so because they had doctrine resident in their soul,
because they learned it through consistent study, and they grew up in their
spiritual lives.But more than their
simply learning doctrine, they applied it to their daily lives.
We studied this
principle in James recently.Faith is of
no use unless it is applied.James called
it spiritual works.We simply call it
applying doctrine to ones daily life.
You can believe in something,
but if you do not subscribe to it, if you do not live by its principles, then
your belief is nothing more than a form of cheap hypocrisy.
And here Peter teaches
us through the examples of phenomenal women from the ancient world.And we are not speaking of women of less than
honorable reputations, or of women who engaged in historical crusades of one
sort or another.
We are talking about
women who had phenomenal capabilities and intellect, but of their own free
will, subordinated themselves to their husbands.Some men, of which were not as smart as their
wives.
Peter used Sarah as his
example, but remember that she was not always known as Sarah.Her name was changed as was Abrahams, and in
her former years, she was quite the vocal, opinionated, and obstinate (to use
kind terms) person.We could use Ruth,
Rahab, Noah s wife, Mary, Deborah, Esther, and others as examples, as well.Each possessing qualities and capabilities
that more than match any man.
But their priorities
were not to compete and make a place for themselves in this world, a place in
which the world would recognize them as great, successful, notable, accomplished
and so forth.
Their objective was to
pursue God, their Savior, learning Bible doctrine, and otherwise growing up in
their spiritual life.Why?Because their spiritual life was more
important than anything else in their life.
Jesus, when He came to
this world, possessed the power of God.He could have done anything, but He did not.He set aside all of His divine powers and
abilities, and subordinated himself as a servant to humanity, because there was
a greater purpose to be obtained through His servitude, than some elite status.
The greatest women of
history, set aside their places in life, and subordinate themselves to their
husbands.That can be an overwhelming
and difficult decision, given the fact that they most certainly could have
become famous, accomplished, or otherwise better in the eyes of the world.
Men must set aside
their ego and personal wants, and subordinate themselves to their obligation to
their family, career, etc.
We all should set aside
our sin natures, and subordinate ourselves to Bible doctrine, through
fellowship, and living our lives in fellowship, rather than through our sin
nature.All of these examples, especially
the last one, are extremely difficult.
Being interested in the
Bible, is commendable, but not enough to get you saved.You have to believe in Christ in order to be
saved. Many folks are interested in the Bible, but only as one of many
philosophies that they enjoy studying.They do not attach any real life consequences to past beliefs.
Many folks who have
believed in Christ, and thus are saved, are interested in doctrine, but their
interest is passive.They only think of
God during holidays, or after bad times have entered into their life.
Many folks have a
further interest level, as they attend church several times a year.But their attendance is nothing more than a
continuation of a habit started by their parents, and continued because they
feel an obligation or guilt of some sort, to attend church.
Then there are those
who attend church religiously, but they fail to learn even the fundamental
lessons of doctrine. Their spiritual life is dysfunctional as is the spiritual
life of the other examples.
Then you have the
example of those who learn doctrine, begin to know and understand the doctrines
taught, but their spiritual life does not quite take off, because of their inconsistency,
and failure in obeying all mandates.
They try to pick and
choose, and mix in the many habits of the sin nature, that they have become
comfortable with.They mix in their own
invented or learned beliefs, in order to have the balance of their life, along
with soe of Gods expectations.And this
too, is an error within their spiritual life. They find excuses as to why they
should or should not do something.
Marry?We can try it out for a while.Give?Someone else can do that.Study?I am to busy at the moment.
A wrong thing done in a
wrong way, is wrong.
A right thing done in a
wrong way, is wrong.
A wrong thing done in a
right way, is wrong.
Only a right thing done
in a right way, is right.
And these women of old,
were saved by their faith in the Savior.They learned doctrine as it was available to them in their day, they
believed in the principles taught by the scriptures, they subscribed to those
principles, and although they could very well have ignored them, they
subordinated their stubbornness and self-will, to that which is commanded by
God.
Some of these women had
very strong wills, and to subordinate themselves to anyone, would have been an
almost impossible task for them.Yet
they did it of their own free will.
In history, there are
many people who have made it into the history books.Some are honorable, many are less than
honorable.None of them received any
recognition or honor from God.
Only those who advanced
in their spiritual life and subordinated themselves to Gods will, were actually
used by God, to further their own spiritual life as well as play some part in
human history.There are most likely
many names in history, of great people, but known only to God.Their names never made it into the history
books of this world.But their eternal
futures will be infinitely better than all of the names of notoriety, that we
have become familiar with in history.
Sarah is the example
given here.She demonstrated her spiritual
growth through her willingness to subordinate herself to her husband.And in so doing she teaches us that we must
all subordinate ourselves to God, through doctrine.
But as learning is not
enough, you must apply your learning to practice in life.This is where most people fail.
This application of
doctrine then, builds up faith and spiritual muscle in your life, which is
recognized by God, and therefore qualifies for maximum blessing both in time,
and in eternity.
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End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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