Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your email inbox.
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.
5 Which is a manifest token [endeigma] of the righteous [dikaios] judgment [krisis] of God, [theos] that [eis] ye [humas] may be counted worthy [kataxioo] of the kingdom [basileia] of God, [theos] for [huper] which [hos] ye [pascho] also [kai] suffer: [pascho]KJV-Interlinear
5 This is a plain indication of
God's righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of
God, for which indeed you are suffering. NASB
The word for token, endeigma, means proof.
The suffering that
Christians must endure in life, come from all sorts of circumstances.Suffering is not limited to medical problems,
or handicap problems, or emotional problems, or economic, or prejudicial
problems.But suffering in this world
comes from the world s rejection of God, and of truth.
Whether you have practical
experience in suffering, whether your suffering is direct, whether your
suffering is indirect, is all irrelevant.You receive no merit from whatever brand of suffering that is real or
imagined in your life.
Gods policy is truth.Satans policy is
evil.The world is a symbolic term
referencing the environment in which Satans
policy is functioning.The world is
often referred to as the carnal or temporal or physical realm.Gods realm is the
spiritual realm.
Thus the world is
symbolism for an environment which operates outside of and with total disregard
to, Gods truth.
Gods truth is more than simply believing in Christ, it
includes the many sciences such as mathematics and physics and chemistry and so
forth.God invented the universe and all
of the laws or rules that run it.But
truth also includes the many principles which govern society, such as the laws
of divine establishment (volition, marriage, family, nationalism, free
enterprise, economic principles, law by due process, freedom through military
victory, and so forth).
For every principle of
truth, there is an equal and opposite principle or group of lies, opposing
truth.All of these opposing viewpoints,
present confusion and ambiguity in society.The only way to sort it all out is through a knowledge of truth.Thus discernment, or the ability to see the
difference between the lies of life and the truth of life, is through an
understanding of Bible doctrine.
When society adopts
truth, then blessings result.When
society adopts lies, then suffering results in the many forms of prejudice,
unfairness, crimes, sins, difficulties in life, etc., etc., etc.Suffering is a broad term which applies to
all of humanity, whether rich or poor, regardless of color or culture, talent
of lack of it.
And because the world
operates with an unfair script, then judgment by God is inevitable.Evil and the suffering that accompanies it,
will not go on forever, but will one day, be ended by God.
You, as a believer
living in this world are living proof, endeigma, that
judgment will come and all suffering will cease.
By understanding that
this is the devils world, that evil rules, that society has an inclination
toward evil and therefore is generally anti-God, then suffering is inevitable
for your life.God does not bring evil
and suffering upon you, but God sustains you through the circumstances that you
will meet, while He allows you to grow up in your spiritual life and develop
your faith to the maximum.
Now, in some things you
do not have to experience them in order to know how they will end, like falling
off the top of a ten story building.But
in the spiritual life, experiences in suffering are required in order for you
to gain an understanding of how the world works, without God in it.This helps you to build up an empathy for
others, an understanding of evil, and certainly helps you to grow up in your
spiritual life.
Those who blame God because
of their sufferings, fall prey to the trickery of the world.
Those who adhere to
their faith through doctrine, gain a status of worthy, spiritually esteemed,
good and faithful servant, and their afflictions, while not earning reward,
make one qualified for reward because of your faith.
You cannot work your
way into heaven.You cannot earn your
way into heaven.You cannot bring
suffering upon yourself in order to prove your worthiness.Human works, human efforts have no value
whatsoever.
Only Gods work has
value, intrinsic value.Mans efforts
stop at the cross and Gods grace rules from that point on.
Your suffering exists because
you live in the devils world.Your worth
exists because, and only because, of the doctrine resident in your soul.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
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.
If you enjoy these Bible Studies, please consider making a Donation
Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your inbox.