March 2, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Fickle or Faithful

Fickle or Faithful

Deuteronomy 23:21–24:5 – New International Version (NIV)

²¹ If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. ²³ Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.

²⁴ If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. ²⁵ If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain.

¹ If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, ² and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, ³ and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, ⁴ then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

⁵ If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

What should you not do if “you make a vow to the Lord your God” (verse 21)?

When will you “not be guilty” (verse 22)?

What must you “be sure to do” (verse 23)?

How many of your neighbor’s grapes can you eat (verse 24)?

How many of your neighbor’s grapes can you put “in your basket” (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between picking grain kernels by hand and using a sickle (verse 25)?

What is actually being forbidden in verses 1 through 4?

How long is a newly married man to be exempt from being “sent to war” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about selfish assumptions?

Matthew 5:31-37 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

What “has been said” (verse 31)?

Who makes the faithful wife “the victim of adultery” (verse 32)?

What “was said to the people long ago” (verse 33)?

What command does Jesus give about oaths (verse 34)?

Why should we not swear by our head (verse 36)?

What “comes from the evil one” (verse 37)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about selfish assumptions?

In your opinion, how are the guidelines that Moses gave in Deuteronomy 23:24-24:5 changed by Jesus in Matthew 5:31-37?

2 Corinthians 1:17-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

¹⁸ But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” ²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. ²¹ Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²² set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

²³ I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.

What manner would allow Paul in same breath to “say both “Yes,yes” and “No, no” (verse 17)?

In whom has it “always been “Yes”” (verse 19)?

Where are the promises God has made always “Yes” (verse 20)?

Who makes “both us and you stand firm in Christ” (verse 21)?

How does God provide us a guarantee (verse 22)?

Who does Paul call as his witness (verse 23)?

How do the Corinthian Christians “stand firm” (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about selfish assumptions?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion about fickleness in 2 Corinthians 1:1-24 relate to the reason for the commands of Deuteronomy 23:24-24:5?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s description of Jesus as the “Yes” in 2 Corinthians 1:17-24 help us begin to understand why Jesus is adamant in Matthew 5:31-37 that we should not “swear an oath”?

James 4:7-17- New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹¹ Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Who should we submit ourselves to (verse 7)?

What will happen when Christians “Resist the devil” (verse 7)?

Who is to “purify your hearts” (verse 8)?

When will the Lord “lift you up” (verse 10)?

Who “speaks against the law and judges it” (verse 11)?

Who is the “one Lawgiver and Judge” (verse 12)?

What are we (verse 14)?

What should we say (verse 15)?

When is boasting evil (verse 16)?

What is the knowing of a good that ought to be done and not doing it (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about selfish assumptions?

In your opinion, how is making a vow to the Lord that is discouraged in Deuteronomy 23:24-24:5 different from submitting to God that is encouraged in James 4:7-17?

In your opinion, how much is the fact that we who are human have the ability that James 4:7-17 points out to be double-minded a part of the reason for Jesus to discourage oath taking in Matthew 5:31-37?

In your opinion, how often does our inability to know the future as James points out in James 4:7-17 cause us to look “fickle” as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 1:17-24 when he made plans but was unable to honor them?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Deuteronomy, Matthew, 2 Corinthians, and James teach us about the importance of considering how our view of ourselves guides our making vows, dealing with neighbors and spouses, and our attitude before God?

In your opinion, how might making living in the Lord’s will shape our words and actions?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 23, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – A Continuing Debt

A Continuing Debt

Exodus 20:13-14 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

Who “shall not murder” (verse 13)?

Who “shall not commit adultery” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what we “shall” do?

Matthew 5:21-30 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

When was it said “you shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment” (verse 21)?

Who else does Jesus say “will be subject to judgment” (verse 22)?

What should the one offering their “gift on the altar” do when they remember a brother or sister has something against them (verses 23 and 24)?

How should you settle with the adversary taking you to court (verse 25)?

What has been said (verse 27)?

Who does Jesus say has committed adultery (verse 28)?

What is better “than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (verses 29 and 30)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what we “shall” do?

In your opinion, how does Jesus in Matthew 5:21-30 modify two of the ten commandments found in Exodus 20:13-20?

Ephesians 2:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

How were the readers of Ephesians, and us, “dead” (verse 1)?

Who is “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” at work in (verse 2)?

What were “all of us” by nature deserving of (verse 3)?

Why has God “made us alive” (verses 4 and 5)?

How have Christians been saved (verse 5)?

Where are Christians seated (verse 6)?

When is God going to express the incomparable riches of His grace (verse 7)?

Where does faith come from (verse 8)?

Who can boast (verse 9)?

What has God “prepared in advance for us to do” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what we “shall” do?

In your opinion, what does Ephesians 2:1-10 help us understand about our ability to successfully obey the two commandments in Exodus 20:13-14 as well as the other eight?

In your opinion, how is the command to remove the body part that leads to sinning in Matthew 5:21-30 addressed by Paul’s message in Ephesians 2:1-10?

Romans 13:8-14 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

What debt should remain outstanding (verse 8)?

How are the commandments ““You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be” summed up (verse 9)?

What “is the fulfillment of the law” (verse 10)?

Why has the hour already come “for you to wake up from your slumber” (verse 11)?

What should we put aside (verse 12)?

What should we put on (verse 12)?

How should we behave (verse 13)?

How should we clothe ourselves (verse 14)

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about what we “shall” do?

In your opinion, how does Romans 13:8-14 help us understand how to fulfill the law established in Exodus 20:13-14?

In your opinion, how is removing the body part that causes sin in Matthew 5:21-30 complemented by Romans 13:8-14 statement that “love is the fulfillment of the law”?

In your opinion, how does God’s love for us described in Ephesians 2:1-10 make it possible for us to love our neighbor as instructed in Romans 13:8-14?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Exodus, Matthew, Ephesians, and Romans teach us about how the God of love and mercy transforms the “you shall not” of the commandments to “a continuing debt to love”?

In your opinion, how do we repay the “continuing debt to love”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 16, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Choose Life

Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30:11-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What “is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach” (verse 11)?

Why is it not in heaven (verse 12)?

Where is it not beyond (verse 13)?

What is very near to you (verse 14)?

What is “set before you today” (verse 15)?

When will you “live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess” (verse 16)?

When will you “certainly be destroyed” (verses 17 and 18)?

What are “the heavens and the earth” witnesses of (verse 19)?

Who “is your life” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the law’s role in salvation?

Matthew 5:17-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

What did Jesus come “to fulfill” (verse 17)?

What must be accomplished before the smallest letter or least stroke of a pen “will by any means disappear from the Law” (verse 18)?

Who will “be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (verse 19)?

Who will be “great in the kingdom of heaven” (verse 19)?

What has to surpass “that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law” before someone can enter the kingdom of heaven (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the law’s role in salvation?

In your opinion, how does Moses’s instruction to “now choose life” in his discussion that includes obeying the laws in Deuteronomy 30:11-20 help us understand what Jesus means when He says He has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets “but to fulfill them”?

Romans 3:21-31 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, ³⁰ since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. ³¹ Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

What righteousness has “been made known” apart from the law (verse 21)?

How is this righteousness given (verse 22)?

Who is this righteousness given to (verse 22)?

Who has “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (verse 23)?

Who is “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (verses 23 and 24)?

How is Christ’s sacrifice “through the shedding of his blood” to be received (verse 25)?

“Where, then, is boasting?” (verse 27)?

What does Paul maintain (verse 28)?

“Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith” (verse 31)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the law’s role in salvation?

In your opinion, how does Moses beginning his instructions about obedience with the command to “love the Lord your God” in Deuteronomy 30:11-20 help prepare us for Paul’s discussion of a righteousness that is “given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” in Romans 3:21-31?

In your opinion, how does Romans 3:21-31 help us understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:17-20 when He said, “that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven”?

Galatians 3:19-27 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. ²⁰ A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

²¹ Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ²² But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

²³ Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. ²⁴ So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 

What was added “because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come” (verse 19)?

“Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God?” (verse 21)?

What “has locked up everything under the control of sin” (verse 22)?

Who is given “what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ” (verse 22)?

When were we held “in custody under the law” (verse 23)?

What “was our guardian until Christ came” (verse 24)?

Why are we “no longer under a guardian” (verse 25)?

What have all the children of God through faith who have been “baptized into Christ” clothed with (verses 26 and 27)

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the law’s role in salvation?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:19-27 that “the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith” help us understand what Moses meant in Deuteronomy 30:11-20 when he said “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess”?

In your opinion, how does Galatians 3:19-27 help us understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:17-20 when He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”?

In your opinion, how do Romans 3:21-31 and Galatians 3:19-27 show us how the law and faith work together to bring about salvation?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Deuteronomy, Matthew, Romans, and Galatians teach us about how Jesus fulfills the law?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “choose life” today?