Queen's Road Cell

Our last study in Book 4.3 of the Omega series. Galatians 5:16-26 give us descriptions of what it means to be filled with the Spirit: v. 16 says "walk" by the Spirit - indicating that our lives are to move in a certain direction, with a certain quality, under a certain empowering. There is a contrast here with the life that is lived that gratifies the desires of the flesh, implying that "walking" by the Spirit involves fulfilling the desires of the Spirit. v. 18 tells us to be "led" by the Spirit. This shows that we must follow the direction of the Spirit, guided and shaped by the Spirit, rather than to be guided and shaped by "the law" - in context here the Mosaic law. We live under the ethical imperatives of a higher law. v.25 says we are to "keep in step" with the Spirit. This amplifies the idea of a the Spirit's leading and asks us to imitate the Spirit. I think there is an implication of a common marching in step as a chur...

By way of introduction it’s worth noting some things about the Beatitudes: 1. Some translations use the term “happy” instead of “blessed”. The difference between blessedness and happiness is that the latter is a subjective state of emotion – how you see yourself and how you feel, whereas blessedness is how God sees you, and we know which one really counts! 2. The 8 Beatitudes are to be taken as a unity. The characteristics of the blessed as well as the nature of the blessings experienced refer to the same group of people. For instance, those who are poor in spirit are not a different group from those who mourn. Those who inherit the earth are the same as those who will receive mercy. So the Beatitudes are for Christians, not for non-Christians. Only believers can truly mourn in a way that is blessed. This rules out psychological or social interpretations of this verse. 3. The question may be asked: Are the Beatitudes a description of blessedness of Christians who already ...

Today (as promised) our QC question was on denominations. I mentioned that critics of denominations (like Roman Catholics) quote Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 “That all of them may be one” as evidence that denominations are wrong. But the context of the verse – “that they may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” tells us that the unity Jesus prays for (and surely His prayers are always answered) is not organizational unity, but spiritual unity. We believe, then, that true believers who make up the invisible church are always united in Christ, even if they belong to different denominations. In contrast, those members of the visible church who are not believers are not united in Christ. The chief reason why the Roman Catholic is able to maintain a structural unity is that they believe in an infallible, church-sanctioned interpretation of God’s infallible word. This means that they avoid the numerous theological disagreements Protestants have that separate diffe...