Queen's Road Cell

For Thought and Discussion:  Why can a person be acquitted only by merciful forgiveness, never by justice according to the Law (see 13:38-39)? See Romans 1:18–3:20; 7:7-12.   This idea is expressed in   Gal 3:24: "yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." Rom 3:20-21: "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22  the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe." "Frred" (dikaioo) is often translated 'justified' - to be declared innocent.  The Law, though good an perfect (e.g. Psalm 119) in ...

The King’s Authority In His Kingdom: Forgiveness   And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.  9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” A...

Divorce and remarriage God “hates divorce” (Mal 2:16, KJV).  The Law allowed men to divorce their wives (Deut. 24:1ff.), though women could not divorce their husbands Divorce misrepresents and breaks the meaning of marriage. To divorce for remarriage is wrong. Jesus rejected the Pharisees’ justification of divorce and pointed out God’s original ethical ideal of marriage. Divorce does not dissolve the marriage bond. Remarriage is adultery.   The marriage bond is life-long, dissolved only by death (1 Co 7:39, Ro 7:1-3) 2 exceptions : 1.The “Matthean exception”(Mt 5:31-32, 19:3-9) • What is meant by ‘sexual immorality’ (Gk. ‘porneia’)? • Does the exception of sexual immorality apply to divorce, or to both divorce and remarriage? 2.  The “Pauline exception” (1 Cor 7:10-16) • What does “I, not the Lord” mean? (c.f. 7:40, 14:37-28) • What does “not enslaved/bound” mean?  Different views: No divorce to be initiated, no remarriage until death. Divorce only with adultery or r...

10. Simon knew that Jesus was no fisherman, but he had enough respect for the teacher not to scoff when Jesus suggested fishing at an absurd time (see 5:4-5). How did Jesus prove to Simon that He had authority over more than religious things? (see 5:6-10)   What might Simon have felt? There was respect "Master" and a willingness to obey ("at your word I will"). There was some doubt (" we toiled all night and took nothing")   Jesus through the miracle of the catch showed His right to call others to follow. "The catch is the reward of obedience, not of competence".   This is likely not the first time Jesus has met Simon Peter (Jn 1:42) and may be the same event described in Mark 1:16-20.   Only Luke calls Gennesaret a 'lake'. The rest of the gospel writers call it the 'sea'. To be a ' fisher of men ' is to bring people into the kingdom of God and into relationship with Jesus.   For thought and discussion: a. Why do you t...

With the story of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18 as the background we covered the topic of forgiveness at the meeting. I thought it would be easiest to summarise the evening's discussions in the form of questions about forgiveness. 1. What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is letting go, not holding grudges, being free from feeling negative emotions about a person or a situation. It is not feeling that someone who has wronged us still owes us anything, whether an apology or restitution. 2. What is the basis of our ability to forgive? When we are wronged, it is hard to forgive because we feel that our sense of justice has been violated. So the one who has wronged us must be made to pay for the offense to restore balance to the Force (OK, I'm kidding here). The parable of the unmerciful servant teaches us that we who are forgiven sinners by God have a different formula for calculating when the scales balance. We did not receive justice from God, we received grace to cover a...