Bible Study Notes 11/30/21

Word Alive!

© 2021Fall Series

You Can Change!

Concord Baptist Church of Boston in Milton

Conley Hughes, Jr., Senior Pastor

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Lesson 8, Part 2

Chip Ingram, Yes! You Really CAN Change

Devotional Time: “Change” Chapter 7 (pp. 153-162)

Defeating Controlling Systems – The New Testament describes the world as a place controlled by human desires and affairs. Some variation of the Greek word, kosmos is used. It is used to distinguish the thoughts and plans of humankind from the will, and the thoughts, of God. In His most passionate prayer before going to the cross, Jesus asked the heavenly Father “to keep the disciples safe from the evil one,” for they had to remain in the world (cf. John 17:15-17, NLT). The disciples, and all believers would be a part of Christ’s kingdom, but none is exempt from living in, and contending with, the world-system. Late in the first century, the Apostle John warned Christians to avoid “craving” for pleasure and material things. He admonished them to turn their passions away from entanglements, which could harm them. Many of the world’s obsessions are “not from the Father,” but from us (cf. I John 2:15-17, NLT). Everything that is opposed to God, seeks to coerce the human will and to manipulate human passions. In the creation account, the serpent deceived the humans at the core of their weakness: desire, pleasure, and ambition. The scripture explained, “the tree was beautiful, the fruit delicious, and [there was a desire] for the wisdom, eating the fruit would give (cf. Genesis 3:6, NLT). In contrast to the desires of the old human nature, the scriptures encourage us to defeat these desires by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our desires and thoughts. As Christians, it is through our faith in God through Jesus Christ, that we have inherited a new nature (cf. Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT). In commenting on the Ephesians passage, author and pastor Chip Ingram says: “Paul reminds them that they were taught to put away the old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires, and put on the new self, which comes with a new mental attitude…” He says further, it is like coming into “a new culture.” Transformation and change come by defeating the world-systems that try to control us. The Apostle Paul warned Christians “not to copy the behavior and customs of this world.” (Cf. Romans 12:2, NLT). Paul said when we are transformed into a “new [changed] person,” we will think differently. We will think and act in a manner that pleases God! The ultimate goal of world order is to control. The era in which we live today creates systems, designed to manipulate us, and to bend our will toward human vulnerability.

Defeating Controlling Systems – The New Testament describes the world as a place controlled by human desires and affairs. Some variation of the Greek word, kosmos is used. It is used to distinguish the thoughts and plans of humankind from the will, and the thoughts, of God. In His most passionate prayer before going to the cross, Jesus asked the heavenly Father “to keep the disciples safe from the evil one,” for they had to remain in the world (cf. John 17:15-17, NLT). The disciples, and all believers would be a part of Christ’s kingdom, but none is exempt from living in, and contending with, the world-system. Late in the first century, the Apostle John warned Christians to avoid “craving” for pleasure and material things. He admonished them to turn their passions away from entanglements, which could harm them. Many of the world’s obsessions are “not from the Father,” but from us (cf. I John 2:15-17, NLT). Everything that is opposed to God, seeks to coerce the human will and to manipulate human passions. In the creation account, the serpent deceived the humans at the core of their weakness: desire, pleasure, and ambition. The scripture explained, “the tree was beautiful, the fruit delicious, and [there was a desire] for the wisdom, eating the fruit would give (cf. Genesis 3:6, NLT). In contrast to the desires of the old human nature, the scriptures encourage us to defeat these desires by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our desires and thoughts. As Christians, it is through our faith in God through Jesus Christ, that we have inherited a new nature (cf. Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT). In commenting on the Ephesians passage, author and pastor Chip Ingram says: “Paul reminds them that they were taught to put away the old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires, and put on the new self, which comes with a new mental attitude…” He says further, it is like coming into “a new culture.” Transformation and change come by defeating the world-systems that try to control us. The Apostle Paul warned Christians “not to copy the behavior and customs of this world.” (Cf. Romans 12:2, NLT). Paul said when we are transformed into a “new [changed] person,” we will think differently. We will think and act in a manner that pleases God! The ultimate goal of world order is to control. The era in which we live today creates systems, designed to manipulate us, and to bend our will toward human vulnerability.

________________________________KEY IDEA________________________________

What We Believe!

Change can defeat worldly systems and entanglements.

1. Obsessions and dependencies can be overcome.

2. The spiritual life frees us from worldly constraints.

3. We can be freed from our own biases.

KEY VERSES

John 17:15-17, NLT

“I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world anymore than I do. Make them holy by your truth, teach them your word, which is truth.”

I John 2:15-17, NLT

“Do not love this world[system; order] nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for every-thing we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father,but are from this world. And this world is fading away,along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT

“Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy.”

Romans 12:2, NLT

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Galatians 1:3-5, NLT

“May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Jesus gave His life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God for ever and ever! Amen.

Isaiah 59:21, NLT

“And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the Lord have spoken!”

Acts 11:12-14, NLT

“The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man [Cornelius]who sent for us. He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him,“Send messengers to Joppa,and summon a man named Simon Peter. He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved.”

Acts 11:15-17, NLT

“As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as He fell onus at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord’s words when He said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”