Question:

77.1—We talked a lot about yielding and presenting in the Bible Study Thursday morning. What is the difference between these and which one should we use? This is in Romans 6:13: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God,” KJV).

Answer:

77.1—The King James version translates the Greek word, paristemi, with the word “yield” in Romans 6:13 and the word “present” in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Either word is a correct translation. The Greek word paristemi means: “1) To place beside or near, 2) To stand beside, stand by or near, to be at hand, be present.” So the word “present” is closer to the meaning of the Greek word. When we “present” ourselves to God we do “yield” to Him. Romans chapter 6 emphasizes the fact that we “yield” ourselves, either to sin or to God. Romans 12 states our “service” as presenting our bodies to God for Him to use as He sees fit.

Question:
How can we get more outreach programs?

Answer:

If the Lord puts something on your heart, DO IT!  Start off small, and work up.  Ask people that normally do evangelism for some tips or opportunities to help them.  Take advantage of the meetings we already have by inviting your friends to those.  The assembly isn’t the boss, but Jesus Christ is our Boss.  In order to witness to the unsaved, you have to have a love for those people.  We need to see them as God loves them.  The question was then asked, “How do you develop a love for other people?”  We need to get over our own fears about witnessing.  We cannot rely on our own love, but only through Christ.  We love because He first loved us.  We must first love Christ.  Our fear makes us focus on ourselves and not on loving that person.  The more effort we put into sharing the gospel, the more we’ll care about it.   Another idea was to have a conviction of hell, and meditate on it.  That way you will realize the actuality of hell and that people are going there.  Mark 1:17: “And Jesus said to them, Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men.”  If you aren’t following Christ, you won’t be fishers of men.  Evangelism should be part of your everyday life.  Be praying for situations ahead of time.  Carry tracts with you.  We don’t need to go to far off lands to witness.  There are unsaved all around!  Go and preach the gospel!

Question:

People facing peer pressure must ask themselves some questions.  “Isn’t being accepted by the Beloved more desirous to me than being accepted by man?”  “Why would I have a need to change my testimony for someone else?”  “What do they offer me?” 

1 Corinthians 15:33: “Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.”  Also, Exodus 23:2: “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice.”  Most of the people in the group came to the conclusion that peer pressure wasn’t in the form of a greasy, tattooed man trying to get you to smoke, but much of it was taking place among Christians—pressuring you to not act a certain way that you feel led to.  Peer pressure may not always cause harm, but it is getting used to doing what people want.  It is important when choosing friends to choose friends who want to serve the Lord.  As you grow as a Christian, fear will be easier to leave behind.  The new man doesn’t need to be accepted by the world.  To fear is against his nature.  If you don’t give in to pressure the first time, but do so later, you will be a hypocrite.  When you stand up and do what is right, it makes positive peer pressure.  Let people know where you stand.  Start praying for the person’s salvation and you’ll change the way you think about them, and you won’t be afraid of them.  After resisting pressure, you have a responsibility thereafter; they will be looking for a fault.  You will win their respect by not giving in to their pressures.  There are some friendships that won’t work out; you’ll have to leave.  There was a quote brought up: “Let me see your friends, and I’ll tell you what you’ll turn out like.”

“How do you regain your reputation in someone’s eyes after giving in to ungodly pressures?”  Jesus restored Peter after he denied Him.  Luke 22:62 says, “And he went out and wept bitterly.”  Confess what you did wrong, and turn from it.  2 Corinthians 7:9,10:  “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.  For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”  In John 21:15 Simon tells the Lord that he loves Him, and the Lord tells him, “Tend My lambs.”  It’s encouraging because after we fail, He can still use us.

Question:
What is the difference between the Holy Spirit and the new nature?

Answer:

He gives us a whole new nature, not just fixing the old one, and He gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead whom Christ sent to indwell believers the moment they are saved.

Jesus said: “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16, 17).

“In whom [Christ] ye also have trusted, having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13, 14; JND translation).

Question:
How do we follow Christ, since we can’t walk directly in His footsteps?

Answer:

We receive instruction from Him through His Word.  We have love for fellow Christians, as Jesus did. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). We imitate how He acted in situations. Ephesians 5:1,2:  “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” We don’t have the power in ourselves to follow Christ. Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” He’ll give us the desire to love God, but we don’t have the power in ourselves.  The Spirit is the One who causes us to bear fruit as long as we abide in Christ. John 15:5: “I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”

Question:
What does it mean to ‘walk by the Spirit’?

Answer:

We have only two options of walking—either as the world walks, or by the Spirit.  So, when you have free time, you should be filling it with God’s things; otherwise it will be things of this world.

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. . . . If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16 & 25).

Question:
How do we know that Jesus forgives the sins of the future?

Answer:

1 Peter 1:3:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Colossians 1:20:  “And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”  And Colossians 2:13: “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.”

The book of Romans tells us that Christ “condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3) when He bore the wrath of God against our sins. God was satisfied with the work Christ did on the cross for He raised Him from the dead and received Him to His own right hand in the glory. So our sins will never be brought up by God against anyone who trusts in Christ!  How many of the sins that Jesus bore on the cross were future sins?  ALL OF THEM!