QC and small grouip accountability (28/10/16)
We finished up the questions for Study 54 and reviewed the material we covered last week.
I was asking how is it that nobody quoted Jn 14:28 at me when I asserted last week that all the three Persons of the Trinity were equally great, equally glorious and equally to be worshipped. Jesus clearly stated here that His Father was greater than He. One explanation of this is that Jesus emptied himself of glory (Phil 2:6) in the Incarnation, but this is insufficient to account that from all eternity Jesus is the Lamb slain for sinners (Rev 13:8, Eph 1:4-14), sent by the Father into the world. So 'greater' here is 'greater in authority', whereas it can be said that the Son is 'greater in submission'.
We explored the fact that Christian couples are to submit to the Lordship of Christ in their marriages even though there are many difficulties in practice that are likely to arise. This will be marked especially when a wife is unsubmissive, or a husband unloving, or the spouse is not a believer. Women are not asked to blindly obey. They should be able to express opinions and concerns, and yet, at the end, be willing to give in to the leadership of the husband because the latter must bear the main responsibility for the spiritual state of the marriage or family.
Fathers are not to 'provoke' children - i.e. to raise issues that should not be raised. This does not mean that children are not to be disciplined. Corporal punishment is Biblical (Prov 13:24), and failure to discipline means that we have not followed the pattern of our Heavenly Father, who disciplines to prove love. Lack of discipline speaks of lack of love (Heb 12:5-10).
We spent some time on Ac 16:31. This assertion by Paul is not a blanket promise that all members of a household will certainly become believers when one member is converted. In fact, Jesus tells us in Matt 10:34 that "a person's enemies will be those of his own household". However, there is a sanctifying influence that a believer has on his or her family (cf. 1 Cor 7:14), even though this may not be sufficient to save (1 Cor 7:16). Through prayer and faithful witness, then, other family members may then be brought to the faith. We must not set Ac 16:31 against 2 Co 6:14, which tells us clearly not to be deeply associated with unbelievers. There is no warrant for dating or marrying a non-Christian and expecting thereafter that the latter will be saved later.
I was asking how is it that nobody quoted Jn 14:28 at me when I asserted last week that all the three Persons of the Trinity were equally great, equally glorious and equally to be worshipped. Jesus clearly stated here that His Father was greater than He. One explanation of this is that Jesus emptied himself of glory (Phil 2:6) in the Incarnation, but this is insufficient to account that from all eternity Jesus is the Lamb slain for sinners (Rev 13:8, Eph 1:4-14), sent by the Father into the world. So 'greater' here is 'greater in authority', whereas it can be said that the Son is 'greater in submission'.
We explored the fact that Christian couples are to submit to the Lordship of Christ in their marriages even though there are many difficulties in practice that are likely to arise. This will be marked especially when a wife is unsubmissive, or a husband unloving, or the spouse is not a believer. Women are not asked to blindly obey. They should be able to express opinions and concerns, and yet, at the end, be willing to give in to the leadership of the husband because the latter must bear the main responsibility for the spiritual state of the marriage or family.
Fathers are not to 'provoke' children - i.e. to raise issues that should not be raised. This does not mean that children are not to be disciplined. Corporal punishment is Biblical (Prov 13:24), and failure to discipline means that we have not followed the pattern of our Heavenly Father, who disciplines to prove love. Lack of discipline speaks of lack of love (Heb 12:5-10).
We spent some time on Ac 16:31. This assertion by Paul is not a blanket promise that all members of a household will certainly become believers when one member is converted. In fact, Jesus tells us in Matt 10:34 that "a person's enemies will be those of his own household". However, there is a sanctifying influence that a believer has on his or her family (cf. 1 Cor 7:14), even though this may not be sufficient to save (1 Cor 7:16). Through prayer and faithful witness, then, other family members may then be brought to the faith. We must not set Ac 16:31 against 2 Co 6:14, which tells us clearly not to be deeply associated with unbelievers. There is no warrant for dating or marrying a non-Christian and expecting thereafter that the latter will be saved later.
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