10: Paul and the Rebellion – Discussion starters
- Who’s winning? Do we know the answer to that question when it is asked about the greatest conflict of all time? Do we ever feel ourselves trembling in fear when we think of the powers of evil unleashed and aimed at the everlasting destruction of Jesus and his people? Is it important to study Satan’s strategies and learn his approach to bringing us all down with him? Why? or Why not?
- Why us? Why should you and I suffer pain and death because of the sin of Adam? Is that fair? Why couldn’t God just eliminate Adam and Eve and recreate the earth’s inhabitants without regard for their sin? Is God fair? Or, if sin is the transgression of the law, why couldn’t God eliminate sin by simply doing away with the law? Did leaving sin to grow to its full strength and power make it easier or harder for us to live a life without sin than if sin and all of its reflections were immediately wiped away?
- The structure of the church “building.” Have you ever heard church members speculate about what sins or harmful beliefs led a certain person among us to die? Do you believe that God has a special church that is wholly His? Can you tell if you are or are not a member of God’s special church? What should be your attitude toward those who are not at this time identifying with Jesus and His teachings?
- Metaphors for “church.” In what ways does Paul tell us that God’s church is like a building? like a human body? Think of God’s church as a system consisting of (a) what its members know about Scripture, (b) people with marvelous faith; (c) those who are gifted with a healing touch and (d) other roles. According to Paul speaking to early church members, does the Holy Spirit make decisions about which role we each? Or does He want to train us according to the decisions we have made? How can our church tear down our structure and our strength? What is the only cure for destructive thoughts among us?
- It’s a war, folks. A real war. Do you like to hear the latest reports about war
between people and nations? Does God expect each of us to choose a specific piece of armor in the final battle or does He ask us to accept all of God’s armor as our own? How would you prove this from the writings of Paul? Why isn’t focusing on just one piece of armor enough to keep Satan’s forces at bay? What is a better strategy? - The Resurrection. Why is a general resurrection presenting all who have accepted Jesus as their Savior more important than a selective resurrection of a few at a time? As long as all who have repented and decided to follow Jesus are securely saved, does the size and timing of the final resurrection really matter? Why? or Why not?
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In a marriage,if one of the members incure a sin.will the other member suffer from it.saying if by the last day Satan somehow decieves a member of a household what happens to the rest of that household?
Hope this explains clearly:
Eze 18: 18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.
19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
We are ultimately responsible for our own decisions. My wife was a primary teacher and she often had students who would offer the excuse that someone else "made me do it." Her response was that someone may have put pressure on them to do it but that the student had made their own decision to do wrong and they had to bear the consequences.
Life is like that. We need to understand that even when there is familial or peer pressure to do wrong, ultimately it is our decision to do wrong.
That does not absolve the tempter from responsibility either. Leading others to do wrong is just as bad as doing the wrong deed itself.
Every one has a choice and resposibility for their actions.There is no one who is compelled to do something without making a decision.l agree with Ashton that ultimately we make a decision to do wrong ourselves.