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Bible Memory collection
Every list of gifts in the New Testament comes with the same purpose attached: the good of the church. Learn these and you have the rule for reading the rest. 1 Peter 4:10 As each has received a gift, serve one another with it as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. The word for…
Bible Memory collection
The gospel is news before it is advice. These passages give you the message in its apostolic shape, so you can tell it without drifting into moral improvement. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul hands on what he received as of first importance: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was…
Bible Memory collection
The Spirit is not an influence or an atmosphere. He is God with us, working holiness in ordinary people. These verses keep that clear. John 14:26 The Father will send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name, and he will teach the disciples all things and remind them of what Jesus said.…
Bible Memory verse
As the body is one and has many members, so also is Christ, for in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, bound or free. Paul is answering a church that ranked its members. It makes unity a fact to live up to rather than a goal to achieve. You did not join the body…
Bible Memory verse
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. It names the resource before the reach. Witness is the Spirit's work through ordinary people. Luke 24:47-49 Acts 4:31 Romans 1:16 Spirit of God, give me power to…
Chapter study
John 15 is spoken in motion. Jesus has just finished the Passover meal with His disciples, and John 14 ends with the words 'arise, let us go hence.' Many readers take that sentence as the close of a scene rather than…
Chapter study
Romans 8 is quoted more than it is studied. Most believers can recite verse 28 and verse 38 and have never traced the argument that makes either of them true. Paul is not writing a collection of encouraging lines. He…
Dig Deeper
Romans 8:32 He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? The argument runs from the greater to the lesser. If God has already given the…
Dig Deeper
John 15:7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. Two ifs stand in front of the promise. Read the sentence as a whole and the will in ask what you…
Dig Deeper
Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Work together, not are good. And the promise is addressed to a specific group,…
Bible study
The chapter that holds the Christian life from beginning to end Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.…
Dig Deeper
John 15:4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. The Greek verb meno means to remain, to stay, to continue in a…
Dig Deeper
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The verdict is attached to a location, not to a performance level.…
Dig Deeper
John 15:2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Two verbs. The first removes, the second cleans or prunes. Both involve a…
Verse study
μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί, κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν meinate en emoi, kago en hymin Greek Meno means to remain, dwell, or stay put; it is used throughout John's Gospel and epistles for continuous, settled relationship rather than a single…
Verse study
πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν panta sunergei eis agathon Greek Sunergei is where we get synergy. The verb does not say the ingredients are good. It says they are being worked together toward one end by someone with a…
Verse study
μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχει meizona tautes agapen oudeis echei Greek Agape here denotes love as costly commitment and action rather than mere emotion; the sentence structure sets an absolute superlative with no…
Verse study
ὅς γε τοῦ ἰδίου υἱοῦ οὐκ ἐφείσατο hos ge tou idiou huiou ouk epheisato Greek Ouk epheisato, did not spare, is the same phrasing the Greek Old Testament uses in Genesis 22:16 of Abraham not withholding Isaac. An…
Verse study
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή ego eimi he ampelos he alethine Greek Ego eimi echoes the divine self-naming of Exodus 3:14; ampelos is the ordinary word for grapevine; alethinos means genuine or real, as distinct from a…
Verse study
εἴρηκα ὑμᾶς φίλους eireka hymas philous Greek Philous comes from phileo, love marked by warm affection and companionship, distinguished from the more general agapao used elsewhere for love as command. The difference…
Verse study
οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα oute tis ktisis hetera Greek Ktisis means anything created. Since only God is uncreated, the phrase excludes everything that exists apart from God Himself. Why death and life come first Death…
Verse study
A sentence, not a feeling Katakrima is a courtroom word. Paul is not saying that believers stop feeling guilty. He is saying that the sentence which their guilt deserved has already been carried out. That distinction…
52 Week Journey
The Holy Spirit is easy to speak of vaguely, as an influence or a feeling, but Scripture describes Him as a person who teaches, convicts, intercedes, comforts and gives gifts. He is present from the opening lines of…
Verse study
χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν choris emou ou dynasthe poiein ouden Greek Choris means apart from or separated from; the double negative construction (ou... ouden) intensifies the statement to an absolute nothing.…
Verse study
οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ouch hymeis me exelexasthe, all' ego exelexamen hymas Greek Eklegomai means to select or choose out from among others; the same verb family used of God's election of…
Devotional
Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and…
Devotional
John 14:16-17 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know…
Devotional
2 Timothy 3:16 Every writing is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness WEB Paul writes this to Timothy about the Hebrew Scriptures Timothy…
Devotional
Ephesians 4:30 Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. WEB Paul places this command in the middle of a list of practical instructions: put away lying, do not let the sun…
Devotional
1 Corinthians 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. WEB Corinth's church was quarreling over which gifts mattered most, and Paul answers by relocating the whole…
Devotional
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. WEB Paul has just…
Devotional
Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. WEB Before there is light, before there is land, before there is any…
Devotional
Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and…
Devotional
Matthew 6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. WEB This sentence sits at the end of a passage about anxiety over food, drink and clothing. Jesus…
Devotional
1 John 4:1 Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. WEB John writes to a church already troubled by teachers claiming…
Devotional
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. WEB Firstfruits was a harvest term. The first portion of a crop, offered to God, proved by its very…
Devotional
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. WEB Paul calls this fruit, singular, not…
Devotional
Jeremiah 31:33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says Yahweh: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and…
Devotional
Acts 2:3-4 Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability…
Devotional
Acts 1:4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. WEB The risen Christ does not send the disciples out…
Topic study
Prayer is not primarily a way to get things from God. It is the way a creature answers back to the Creator who has invited the conversation. Most people, if pressed, would define prayer as asking God for something.…
Biblical concept
Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Birth is something done to a person, which is the force of the image: nobody arranges their own birth. John 3:8 compares it to wind.…
Biblical concept
The kingdom of God is God's rule, not a territory. Mark opens the ministry of Jesus with the announcement that the kingdom of God has come near, and calls for repentance and faith as the response. Scripture speaks of…
Biblical concept
In ordinary speech living water meant running water from a spring rather than still water in a cistern. Jesus takes the phrase and offers water that becomes a spring inside the person who drinks it. John 7:39 tells the…
Biblical concept
Messiah is Hebrew and Christ is Greek, and both mean anointed. In Israel priests, kings and occasionally prophets were anointed with oil to mark them as set apart for God's work. John 1:41 translates the word for the…
Biblical concept
To anoint someone was to pour oil on their head and so mark them out as chosen for a task God had given. Samuel anoints Saul and then David, and in David's case Scripture says the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him…
Word and phrase
Righteousness in Scripture is relational as well as moral. It means conformity to God's standard and standing accepted before him, and Romans 3 says all have fallen short of it. Romans 1:17 speaks of a righteousness of…
Biblical concept
The Spirit is spoken of as a person, not a force. He teaches, is grieved, distributes gifts as he wills, and speaks in Acts 13:2. Acts 5:3 and 5:4 call lying to the Spirit lying to God. Jesus promises another Helper…
Biblical concept
Jesus says he is the true vine and his followers are branches, and that a branch bears fruit only while it stays joined to the vine. Apart from me you can do nothing is the plainest sentence in the passage. The Old…
Christian Living
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. WEB john 14 Jesus does not describe the Spirit as an…
Bible question
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. WEB Let God answer this before anyone comforts you or frightens you about it. 1 John…
Bible question
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape,…
Bible question
Romans 6:12-14 Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as…
Bible question
Matthew 6:9 Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. WEB This is one of the few questions the disciples asked out loud, and Jesus answered it directly. Read his answer before any advice about…
Bible question
John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.” WEB Jesus explains this himself, so read his words before ours. John 3:3-8 Jesus answered him, “Most…
Bible question
Acts 16:30-31 and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." WEB The question in the title of this study…
Bible question
John 14:16-17 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, — the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know…
Bible question
2 Timothy 3:16 Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, WEB Before asking historians, ask what Scripture says about its own origin.…
Bible question
Romans 7:19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. WEB Paul described this struggle himself. Read his words before any explanation of them. Romans 7:18-25 For I…
Prayer
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. Paul does not treat…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.