Romans Class Session Three

We're going to discuss Romans 6 and 7 today.
Some terms and concepts that help to understand this section:
Grace = Life
Chapters 3-5 talk about that well
Chapter 7 talks about how grace = life because of law
Grace does not = increase of sin
Chapter 6 is about death to sin and chapter 7 is death to law
People argued that his teaching on grace was giving people a license to sin. A lot of people have gone to that extent today.
On the basis of what principle? We've died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?
We have to understand faith and grace in the context of death and life
Jesus introduced the principles of death and life
John 12 is recorded talking about a kernel of wheat and the principle of death and life, where His death is going to bring life to many.
There is a death to us so that we can have His life in us, so we grow spiritually, and so other people can come to God through us (Luke 9:23-26) – core to following Christ.
Denying self is not denying candy during lint but renouncing self
John 3 born again = death to life
John 10:10 have life and have it to the full
Two realities are physical and spiritual
Jesus' death on the cross is both physical and spiritual, being a very real event and yet having so much spiritual implication, where Jesus' death becomes are death as well
Baptism has a spiritual reality and a physical reality because it is physically realized in immersion (in water) and what God is doing spiritually is just as real
Our death is not physically real in the sense that we also die physically but the spiritual reality is just as real
Jesus actually physically died and then the lifeless body physically rose from death, and the same thing transpires with us spiritually—our life in Jesus is just as real has His life after resurrection is real.
Some Scripture that depicts this physical and spiritual reality connection:
Galatians 2:20
Has Paul literally been physically crucified? He is talking about a spiritual reality
2Corinthians 5:14-15
The physical reality has spiritual implications for all of us, where all died.
The practical implications of this death is that we stop living for self and start living for Jesus
Galatians 3:26-27
You continually “put on Christ”
Romans 6:1-13
Baptism is a symbol but not just a symbol.
Dying with Jesus frees us from sin. What are the consequences of sin? We are freed from the power of sin in our lives and freed from the ultimate power of sin. Therefore there is a decrease and end of the choice on our part to sin.
Verse 11 here is how we are to view ourselves, which is another way of saying Galatians 2:20:
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Therefore we offer the parts of our body to not sin. For example, in some parts of the world a thief gets his hand cut off. You can still sin without your hand. Where you offered the parts of your body to do God's work. When is a thief not a thief? A thief took from others before, whereas the transformation happens when he becomes someone who produces and gives.
Thief: what's yours is mine.
Selfish person: what's mine is mine.
Christlike: what is mine is God's, therefore given freely.
Two principles here. One is how you view yourself. In Christ I view my life is the life of Jesus. Secondly more physically practical in how the parts of my body are offered: no longer for sin but for doing the will of God.
A lot of people think you earn your salvation by obeying law. Although that is not the way, that does not mean you do not obey God. It is hard to understand right away. It is something you understand relationally. If your mindset is just some adherence to a set of right things, a law, then you'll never attain the kind of relationship it is all about. These principles need to be seen within the context of that relationship.
Jesus never said, nor does it appear, where you pray and Jesus comes into your life. The word says Jesus comes into your life at baptism. That is where He tells us He comes into our life. At that point we don't have an attitude of “I'm now good, and I now get into heaven,” but that is the time when Jesus comes into your life. Both baptism and inviting Jesus into your heart can be falsly perceived as a ticket to get to heaven. Salvation is a relationship with Jesus. It is not about just going to heaven!
Romans 6:14-
It makes sense the Jews had such a hard time breaking free of a legalistic view on righteousness. They had it for hundreds of years.
The only way to escape the authority of law is death.
You have died to the law...so that you can do whatever you want???...no, the purpose of dying to the law is to make a legal contract to belong to God. Romans 7:4 we died to law to be married to Jesus!
Paul never uses the term disciple and discipleship. How does Jesus mention the concept and term so much and Paul never does? Paul talks about discipleship without even using the word by talking about it within the context of the marriage relationship.
Both men and women need to embrace this concept.
Bearing fruit for God sounds a lot like having a baby. How did God view Israel? (Ref many of the prophets) God views Israel as His wife. Hosea is a prime example of God in this relationship.
What components go into a healthy marriage? Not a bunch of legal terms! Love, Respect, Faithfulness, Communication, Joy, Pleasure, Sharing, Compassion, Comfort, Growth, etc. (and all the components that make a healthy friendship)
Jesus does not want to give us a bunch of rules but a loving relationship. You need to understand what is taking place in order to have that level of relationship. No one really understands fully until you get into. You count the cost but the relational dynamics work themselves out when you start.
How do you become a member of God's eternal household—go to heaven?
Cheap grace view and legalistic view on two wrong sides of the pendulum. Rather the right view in the word of God is walking with God.
So many older people married for a long time experience facing the challenge of one dying before the other. It is a very difficult thing to face when you are in a very close relationship. Yet with Jesus, you and Him walk through life and just go on home.
The fault of the law being able to save is not the law. The fault is that we're not perfect. Romans 7:13-25 is Paul expressing this struggle to come to realize our imperfection. We get to that point of crying out for mercy.
There is a link between justification by faith and the things we've been talking about is understanding it relationally not doctrinally with a bunch of doctrinal terms.
Colossians 1:9-14
Jesus' blood (the cross) takes down the wall of separation (Isaiah 59). What qualifies us is not our faith but Jesus' sacrifice? Jesus' blood makes us worthy or holy for the relationship.
At a point it hits the apostle Peter, when Jesus makes the big catch when he lacked faith, that he was not worthy. When you have a conviction of sin you will eventually feel that way. Similar to Isaiah. Anyone who think they can just walk in and think they can have a relationship with the Holy God is an arrogant fool. There will come a sense of “I'm not worthy.”
Father says to the perspective son in law, “sorry, you're not worthy of my daughter.” That would be a hard reality when you must have the father's permission. We're not qualified for the relationship with Jesus. Only Jesus' blood qualifies us for the relationship.
Baptism is the wedding and consummation of the relationship. The initial stages of discipleship are like courtship. You are not saved until you are united with Jesus and come in contact with His blood.
Assignment: In 100-200 words. What is your understanding of the integration of between Paul and Jesus in discipleship? We can see a difference that clashes yet they do not clash. That is a confusion in the religious world.

Reflective Glory

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. – Colossians 1:27

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. – Hebrews 1:3-4

One of the most amazing thoughts is how God is after glory in us! His purpose for us is beholding His glorious image. The sun and moon illustrates this mystery. We understand that the moon is simply a reflector. The glory of the moon is the radiance of the sun. The moon's shine is a reflective glory. Similarly, Jesus is the radiance of God's glory, and the image of God is perfectly clear in Him. Further still, Jesus coming into us not only means purification of sin, a cleaning up, but being that reflector of glory in us. The good news message is where God is communicating, “I want my glory to shine in you.”

Through the covenant of Christ we are being brought from one stage of glory to another (2Cor. 3:18). Like it says, it is a transformation process that is ever increasing. We have the ideal man, Jesus ever before us. In Him we're not simply followers; we're reflectors—image bearers. A real man will keep himself pure in the holiest sense. Getting specific and practical has value beyond being effective because it all comes in terms of being reflective.

Peter Heins

(an article from my site on the study of manhood: www.idealman.wordpress.com)

The Holy Spirit

2Timothy 3:16-17
We want to be a “man of God who is thoroughly equipped”
In order to do that we need to get into the meat and potatoes of the Word
The Unlimited Measure of the Holy Spirit
Jesus was the only One given the Spirit without limit (John 3:31)
We will see different manifestations of the Spirit and it can be difficult to understand what that all means—we will deal with some of these questions
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Occurred two times (Poured out to Jews and Gentiles—Acts 2 and Acts 10)
Characteristics of the Holy Spirit:
Joel 2:16-21 is a prediction by the prophet—Baptism of the Holy predicted
Luke 24:45-49 we see Jesus confirming that God will send what He promised—A distinction between the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised, not commanded for all.
It came without warning. People were not praying and asking for it when it happened (Acts 2:1-6). People were blown away when it happened.
They were speaking in other languages (Acts 2:4), which was a sign of the outpouring.
We see in Acts 10:1-23 that Peter came to the realization through God that the Gentiles were also able to receive salvation, and verse 44-48 shows the Baptism of the HS, like Acts 2, making that reality apparent to all.
Baptism of Repentance
Mark 1:4-5 we see a baptism (with repentance) for forgiveness of sins, under the Old Covenant, as a buffer to usher in the New Covenant.
Acts 19:1- makes it obvious that John's Baptism was obsolete at that time because there was another covenant at that point.
We see a before and after revealed in the Scriptures, where there was a time when the Holy Spirit was not with everyone under the OT, then He was present under the NT.
Indwelling Distinction
Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus mentions baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit
1Peter 3:18-21 baptism is not just getting a bath, but you are getting connected with the very resurrection of Christ through baptism
Reference written about 62AD, similar time as Ephesians 4:1-6, which states that at that time there is only one baptism—which one was the one at that point?
It is pretty easy in context to see the one that is left
Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Acts 8:14-23 gifts were received through the laying on of hands by the apostles
Philip was an amazing evangelist, spiritual leader, yet he could not impart those gifts
Acts 19:-7 Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, so he had the ability also to pass on the gifts
What is the purpose of the miraculous gifts?
Mark 16:15-20 to confirm the message of the gospel and get the word out!
Hebrews 2:1-4 purpose stated again, yet here stated in the past tense. What does that mean? Does it mean that it doesn't happen anymore (approximately 68AD)? That is what we have to assume.
1Corinthians 13:8-13 evidence that the gifts pass and we have faith, hope, and love—the more important things remain!
New Covenant Role of Holy Spirit
Acts 2:38 receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
2Corinthians 1:21- God's seal of ownership
2Corinthians 5:5
Ephesians 1:13-14
John 14:15-17 promised by Jesus
It is awesome how Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a person
It is important not to neglect understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives
How much do we really know about Him, think about Him, experience Him?
What if someone randomly asked you about the Holy Spirit, could you describe who He is and what role He plays in your life?
John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit before he was born (verse). Yet he never spoke in tongues or did a miraculous sign. He was simply a godly man who lifted up Jesus.
Genesis 1:2 beginning
Revelation 22:17 end
He can be grieved, fanned into flame, and quenched.
It is kind of a matter of what are you feeding. How much you feed the Spirit, fanning into flame, is how much you're filled.
Romans 8:15-17 the Holy Spirit makes us God's sons. Any man who is a man at all is a man of God. We are sons of God because we have a Spirit of son-ship. It should give us a godly confidence where we don't fear anything because of this reality.
There are many great resources to take it further. Douglas Jacoby's The Spirit. Andy Fleming's series called The Old Testament Holy Spirit.

Romans Session Two

Romans Class—Session Two—Romans 3:20-5:21
If you are facing judgment and if God were to say, “why should I let you into heaven?”
In this section Paul will tell us what are the main
The first (maybe the whole) issue is dealing with the sin issue.
Isaiah 59 your sins have caused separation between you and God. A holy God cannot have fellowship with sin.
3:20 Once you are a lawbreaker, the law is not your friend. If you do the crime you got to do the time. That is justice—condemning the guilty.
We are in this situation of how do we get right with God when we stand before Him guilty. Most religions say you got to do the time. Even in “christian history” there are doctrines of penance. The Bible does not teach penance.
The main thing to understand, where the Jews misunderstood, is that once you break the law it will not help you. It stands to condemn you.
There is a qualifier to the kind of sin the Jews would say falls within the justification of the law. Those are “unwitting sins,” whereas deliberate sins have not atonement under the law. Romans teaches that all sin is punishable by death (Romans 6:23). Consequently, the solution has to come from God. That is the good news!
Romans 3:21...righteousness comes from God, not supposed by man but given over by God Himself.
What does he mean by “faith in Jesus Christ”? That is very important because that is how this righteousness is acquired.
The gospel of John emphasizes “faith in Jesus” really well. Faith in Jesus is about relationship. Jesus and God are One, and faith in Jesus is being one with Him who is One with God.
We are not talking about a doctrinal quiz when we're standing before God. Nor are we talking about a mystical thing, “I believe in Jesus” (intellectually/emotionally speaking), but we're talking about a relational mix.
We cannot get caught practicing “one verse theology” because it is such an insecure foundation to base our faith. A lot of people do not grab hold of a collection of Scripture but a very small portion and miss the faith God wants us to have.
3:24 Justified—Galatians 2:15-16
Redemption—literally means to buy back or purchase out of bondage. Like a house going into foreclosure and you get a right of redemption. You can go in and buy back your property. It is kind of like us because we've sinned and we have nothing to buy back.
Hebrews says without the shedding of blood there is not forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22)
Colossians 1:13 redemption
Galatians 3:13 why was the law there in the first place. The law is a custodian/guardian that looks after us before we reached an age where we could inherit the trust. Under the Old Testament there is a right to the redemption without the ability to inherit it.
Expiation—sacrifice of atonement. This brings to view the mercy seat—reminds of an old song about the mercy seat.
Atonement can be seen as at-one-ment.
Romans 5:6-11 reconciliation means restoring relationship. This shows up a lot in the marriage relationship. It is a very hard thing in the legal context when a couple is headed for divorce. Most end up in divorce not reconciled. Reconciliation is about restoring relationship with God. You are forgiven, not so you can simply go to heaven but relationship. You will not stand before God with proper doctrinal responses and getting the blessings but “Dad!” The joy of it all is that you are being reconciled now not later.
Why did Jesus have to die...why is it set-up this way?
God had to find a way to solve an inherent dilemma in His nature. Like in Isiah where God is depicted as Awesomely Holy. God is Holy and Just, therefore man in his sin is in trouble. God is also loving and wants reconciliation. God is always true to His nature. David depicts the dilemma in Psalm 51. David was in a tough situation with his sin. The penalty with not sacrifice but death. There was no hope in redemption at that point. God was in a dilemma. It can make it look like, even with God the rich and powerful get off. Instead God said, “I will be your sacrifice.” Why can't you be saved by being a good, devoted...(budest, Muslim, Jew, christian)? Because we all sin and redemption does not come through good works.
4:1 Abraham came before the law, so what happens with him? He didn't have the law to justify him.
4:6-8 David
4:9-12 Here is where a lot of Protestants get misunderstandings. Circumcision was a sign of the faith, which was the basis of righteousness. Baptism is not the sign. The Holy Spirit is the sign of our relationship.
God established a relationship with people before the law. Abraham, Enoch, Noah, Job, etc. We see many examples and can assume there were many more not recorded. The basis of the relationship was trust.
Abraham believed God had the ability to do what He promised. Do you believe God will do what He promised?
Galatians 5:6
Ephesians 2 saved by grace not works the Calvinist will use to argue against baptism, which is something the authors would not do. Distinguishing between works of faith and works of law is making the understanding of Romans 4 and James 2. A saving faith is about having a relationship with Jesus that has an expression of that faith through loving works. If nothing comes out, as James says, you really have no faith. Faith expresses itself through love!
5:1 In relationships you want peace. We will have conflicts but we really want peace.
We all die physically because of Adam's sin.
Jesus died on the cross so that everyone would be made righteous but you still have to respond in faith. This means it is not universal whether excepted or not.
The law was added so that sin may increase. We see how utterly sinful we are and how much we need God's grace. God's grace shows great enough though!
Practical Problems—
We still face legalism—there is an inherit lean toward legalism. “Just tell me what I got to do!”
Catholic—system that went from bad to worse
Protestants—a reaction to a corrupt system that didn't clear up all the dilemmas and created some of its own
Mormons—gone back to the point of blending so much of the OT in “another testament of Jesus Christ”
We have lazy, one verse theology today
Any of us can do that, total subjective, and we get a big mess
Easy Believism
Type it into the word search “pray Jesus into your heart” and you get a whole mess of stuff
Bonhoffer wrote in the 30s about cheap grace. He saw the country fall apart spiritually, where cheap grace runs amoke. “When Jesus bids a man 'come follow,' he bids him to come and die” (find quote). Jesus' death has already taken place, so guess whose death comes next.
You don't show up with your ticket and get in because it is a relationship. We become a son/daughter of God, becoming collectively the bride of Jesus.

The Gospel: Jesus Making God Known

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? John 14:9

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.

I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." John 17:25-26

Another way of saying the gospel is Jesus Making God Known

Bryan Baylon

1. Jesus Reveals God's Perfection

Jesus lived a perfect life, and He shows it through the challenges He faced

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus portrayed perfection in tough times

God did some great things to get the Israelites' attention, yet they sinned

Jesus was tested in ways like we are but so much more intense, yet never sinned

We see the only one qualified to make us perfect and consequently Jesus wins our whole-hearted allegiance too.

Steven Gomez

2. Jesus Reveals the Strength of God

Matthew 26:36-46

This can seem like one of Jesus' low points yet it is one of the times He shines the most

Strength is not dominating someone. Strength is doing what is right at the most challenging times.

Evan Grimes

3. Jesus Reveals that God Shares His Love with us

John 10:1-18

Jesus intimately knows His sheep (Luke 15 shepherd picking out the one), while His sheep know Him

Sheep are dumb in a way and need protection. We also need leadership, primarily of the Shepherd. Yet sometimes we think we have it all figured out, like we are just fine leading ourselves. He promises life to the full—completeness--when we choose to be led by Him.

He is willing to go to a great extent to show His love. Contrasting the hired hand we see how much Jesus cares personally. Jesus' love it deliberate, where He lays down His life for each one of His sheep. Jesus not only saved us once but for all, where He fights off the one trying to harm His sheep.

Jeremy Melcher-Post

4. Jesus Reveals God's Power

God is powerful. Mark 4:35-41 is a great demonstration of this power. It is similar to the movie "The Perfect Storm," where the waves are huge and overwhelming the ship. The disciples were in shock by how Jesus powerfully rebuked the wind and waves! It is a lesson in trusting fully in God.

Philippians 2:10 all will bow down to Jesus! God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36)

Are you personally connecting with how much God is in control, where you're trusting fully in Him? Are you trusting that God will get you through your storms?

Romans Class Session One

(Notes from Peter Heins on a 5 session class taught by Ken Burford)

Background--
Paul wrote Romans when he had never been to Rome, which was unlike his other writings, although he talks about his plans to go there
Paul had nothing to do with starting the church in Rome—Acts 2:10 some were there from Rome, so it is conceivable that they found their way back there at some point
Romans is a treatise on the gospel of Christ with Galatians in the background. Romans is an extension of Galatians, so we need to read Galatians to understand Romans better.
Romans can be viewed as “deep stuff” and it can be virtually ignored to our detriment

Hebrews 5:11—6:3
Typically people view Romans as for the mature, yet Romans is foundational, and if you don't get it you will not ever get mature—it is the milk!
Romans deals with these foundational things mentioned here: repentance from dead works and faith in God

Casey Moser (scholar who died in mid 70s) had a saying, “if you get Romans, God gets you.” You got to get these things to get the gospel.

(It is good to read Romans in a more literal version, like ESV or NASB)

Romans 1:1-17
Here is Paul's thesis statement
The basis of the gospel
◦ Revealed from God—Scripture
◦ Rooted in history, in a man: Jesus (vs.3), and His resurrection (Morrison's book Who Moved the Stone)
◦ What is the faith?
▪ The obedience that comes from faith
▪ Faith is focused on the believer, and “the faith” is referring to the content of the gospel
▪ Does it matter what you believe or is it good to just believe in something? According to the gospel it does.
▪ What you trust matters, and whether you trust, matters more than the degree—Jesus mentioning the example of the mustard seed
· Example: weak faith in a strong bridge or strong faith in a weak bridge
· You don't need to have great faith as much as needed to trust in the right thing—like the example, enough faith to put one foot in front of the other.
· Faith grows with experience, where we trust God and continue to believe with the next step—if you are not willing to take the step you have no faith!
▪ Verse 6 faith is belonging to Jesus
· “I got saved...” really?! From what?
· From what and for what purpose have you been saved?
◦ Romans answers those questions
▪ Vs.17 righteousness of God—Romans is about understanding righteousness, and it is not something you should understand after many years of becoming a Christian but very early on.
· Righteousness of God
◦ “Self-Righteousness” – a negative connotation because we use it of people who are arrogant
◦ Yet most people can have a self-righteous concept of righteousness because we don't understand that righteousness comes from God
· Habakkuk 2:4 quote
· Habakkuk 3:17-19 is the faith Paul is talking about
◦ It is easy to have faith when everything is fine and dandy, but what happens when it is all taken away.
◦ Like our three heroes thrown into the fire: it takes faith to go into the fire, but even more to trust God even if He does not save you from the fire.
Vs.18-32
“wrath of God” – right away we see what we're saved from
Paul will talk about three groups of people
◦ Here talking about people without the revealed, inspired word of God—relating to God through nature, much like any native religion. We can relate this back to Paul's speech in Athens (Acts 17).
▪ What does God expect us to figure out about Him, even without the Bible?
· That there is a God, that He exists
· That God is powerful, merciful, loving, creative, generous
· You learn about the unpredictable calamities
· God expects us to seek Him, to acknowledge Him, and give thanks to Him
▪ What are the fundamental issues here?
· 1. Honor/Respect (fear—Proverbs 1:7) and 2. Be thankful
· You find someone without those two things you find a lot of other things messed up
· God expects us to get those two things, and people can figure out that without the Bible
▪ God only gave Adam and Eve one command and they blew it.
▪ If you acknowledge the creator of the universe, and you realize what He has given you, you become grateful and want to say thank you however you can
▪ So God holds us responsible

Romans 2:1-12
Here we have God, man, and their own sense of a moral code
We make moral judgments all the time, and even if you don't keep the Bible, you have that code
Will anyone match up with their own moral code?
We can forget the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and we will be condemned by our own moral code
If God were to send us to hell, would He be fair? Yes, because we have not kept even our own moral code.
Vs,13--20
Vs.24 just like the name of Jesus is blasphemed among those who do not believe in him because of those who say they do
God, man, revealed law God expects us to obey—man has not been able to keep that either
In all cases man falls short
Today innocent people even go to jail, even guilty people can get off, yet with God you will be brought to judgment, and you will not get off if He finds you responsible!

Dating Devotional 1/27/2010

Gary and Gail Sciascia
1. No Rules Just Righteousness
a. Why do you think the Bible does not talk about dating?
i. Because they did not do it like we do it
b. We can either say one of the two things
i. The Bible does not say anything on it, therefore we should not do it
ii. The Bible does not say anything on it, therefore we need to have guidelines
c. Appreciate the people in your life that ask you about your purity and help you establish and follow guidelines in your dating
2. Whining or Shinning
a. Philippians 2:14-16
i. Dating is an area that we need to stand out from the world—the world is very corrupt in how they do dating
ii. When you see a couple that does well, a lot of advice is sought and taken—it takes a lot of conscious effort and humility
b. Absolute Purity Principle—if you are going to have a rule, here is the one to have
i. Matthew 5:8
ii. Mark 9:42-50
1. Most people live in such a way asking, “Where is the line of sin?”
2. Whereas Jesus calls us to get way away from that line!
3. Another reason why we practice in this church, disciples dating other disciples (1Cor. 7:39)
iii. Ephesians 5:3
1. Not only not sinning but don’t even get close to giving off a bad example
iv. Gail shared how women are emotional creatures and how technology can get someone’s heart out of control—Song of Songs 2:7; 3:5; 8:4
v. 2Corinthians 5:16-17
1. We need to do a reboot and get a totally new perspective on dating because we come in with such a worldly view
2. We need to change our view of how we view the opposite sex
a. Not there for your pleasure, but they are God’s daughter
vi. 1Corinthians 13:4-8
1. A big one here to get on straight when we talk about dating is “love always protects”
2. We need to protect one another’s purity
a. Women dressing immodestly
b. Talking in flirty ways
3. Do I give off a sexual vibe?
vii. Analogy about a train getting going, we do not protect the purity if we do not think maturity about not even allowing it to get going
1. Right and wrong ways to show affection
viii. The world will say we’re crazy but look at what the world is producing. When people get in trouble is when they leave guidelines
3. Practical Dos and Don’ts of Dating
a. Seek to build a great friendship because it serves as the best foundation anyhow
i. Worldly dating says, “I am attracted to you therefore I want to be with you,” whereas disciple dating says, “Let me get to know you as a friend and maybe we find out from God there is something more.”
b. Don’t waste your single years
i. Your ability for free time is unprecedented…and you can glorify God so much with it.
ii. Don’t bemoaned about being single
c. Do plan out your dates
i. If you plan it out verses not planning it out will make the difference in a date being special or not
ii. Find out what they like to do, get creative ideas
d. Don’t get overly intense or heavy
i. A date is not a time to go into discipling mode
ii. Keep the spirit light not heavy
e. Do be chivalrous
i. Get the door, don’t be sarcastic and make stupid jokes
ii. Have them in at a decent time because few good things go on well after midnight
f. Don’t rely on hormones
i. That infatuation feeling has a tendency to wyen, and it takes work to recreate it
ii. A lot of people are not willing to put in that work
iii. That is the time you see whether true love comes out or not
g. Do be a good date—encouraging
i. Does the sister say AMEN when you pick her up or when you drop her off
h. Encourage all the brothers /sisters not selective about it
i. We are brothers and sisters in a body, and we don’t want anyone to feel like an outsiders, like not on the in with people
ii. Everyone needs encouragement and so we need to have a giving ministry
i. Don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a date special
i. Would a brother feel secure taking you out on a low budget date?
j. Do show appreciation for the date
k. Getting Serious—
i. Proceed with a lot more advice than even when you are friendship dating
ii. Emotional progression before it’s time is dangerous
iii. Philippians 1:9 Message Interpretation
iv. Women get secure when the guy takes the lead, leading it in a godly way
v. Avoid weasel dates—just randomly meeting up
vi. Avoid black holes in the fellowship—gravitating toward one another too much
l. Who has the gift?
i. Based off 1Corinthians 7
ii. Not all gifts are permanent—so right now everyone in the ministry has the gift of singleness—take advantage of it right now
iii. The purposes of friendship dating are far reaching and have so much benefit
1. Thinking of friendship dates from a spiritual point of view calls you to even ask, “who am I least attracted to?”
a. We need to have the attitude to meet one another’s emotional needs even when it is not “natural”
b. If you remain selfish you will look back and wish you would have done it different.
4. Q/A Time Split Between Men and Women
a. What do you think about dating in other ministries—Campus dating people in the singles?
b. What about going to Singles Conferences?
c. What do you think about dating websites like DT Space?
d. Is it better to the idea of “building friendship” to interact with people in a group?
e. What about the issue of struggling with the fear of being single for the rest of my life?
i. It is not a dating issue but a trusting God issue
ii. The worst thing in the world is not being single but marrying the wrong person
f. What is a healthy attitude of finding the one at a young age?
g. How do you get back into dating after breaking up?
h. At what point should you get advice to start dating steady?It is a good thing to run it by someone mature as soon as feelin