May 26, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Righteousness Credited by God

Righteousness Credited by God

Isaiah 53:10-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

What does the Lord make, “his life” (verse 10)?

 

Where will “the will of the Lord” prosper (verse 10)?

When will He “see the light of life and be satisfied” (verse 11)?

What will He “bear” ( verse 11)?

Where will He have “a portion” (verse 12)?

Who will He be “numbered with” (verse 12)?

Who did He make “intercession for” (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

Luke 22:35-38 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

³⁶ He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷ It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

³⁸ The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied.

What did the disciples at the Last Supper say they lacked when Jesus sent them out “without purse, bag or sandals” (verse 35)?

How are they to get a sword if they don’t have one (verse 36)?

Who did Jesus say He had to be numbered (logizomni) with (verse 37)?

What did Jesus say “is reaching its fulfillment” (verse 37)?

How many swords did the disciples say they had (verse 38)?

How did Jesus respond to the number of swords (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

In your opinion, what does Jesus in Luke 22:35-38 referring to Isaiah 53:10-12 “must be fulfilled in me” tell you about his understanding of what was going to happen?

Romans 4:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

How does Paul describe Abraham (verse 1)?

When would Abraham have “something to boast about” (verse 2)?

Where would Abraham not be able to boast (verse 2)?

When was it “credited (logizomai) to him as righteousness” (verse 3)?

What are wages “to the one who works” (verse 4)?

To whom is faith “credited as righteousness” (verse 5)?

Who does David say “the same thing” about (verse 6)?

How does David describe those “whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered up” (verse 7)?

Who else does David say is blessed (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

In your opinion, how does numbering the servant among the transgressors in order to “make intercession for the transgressors” in Isaiah 53:10-12 allow God to credit righteousness to those who trust him in Romans 4:1-7?

In your opinion, how does Jesus proclaiming He must be “numbered” (logizomai) “with the transgressors” in Luke 22:35-38 help us understand why Paul teaches in Romans 4:1-7 righteousness cannot be earned like wages but is “credited” (logizomai) to the ungodly who have faith? 

James 2:20-26 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

How does James describe the person who wants “evidence that faith without deeds is useless” (verse 20)?

When was “our father Abraham considered righteous” (verse 21)?

What two things “were working together” (verse 22)?

How was Abraham’s faith changed (verse 22)?

What was “credited” (logizomai) to Abraham when he “believed God” (verse 23)?

When is a person considered righteous (verse 24)?

What “alone” is not enough for a person to be considered righteous (verse 24)?

When was “Rahab the prostitute” considered righteous (verse 25)?

What is “the body without the spirit” (verse 26)?

What is “faith without deeds” (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s ability to number someone as a transgressor or credit them as righteous?

In your opinion, do both Abraham, who we might consider a good person, and also Rahab, who we would not consider a good person, both declared by James 2:20-26 to be righteous in need of the transforming act of the servant (Jesus) in Isaiah 53:10-12 being “numbered with the transgressors”?

In your opinion, how might Jesus letting the disciples know in Luke 22:35-38 that after He is “numbered with the transgressors” their circumstances will be different than before be a way for Him to prepare them for adding actions to their faith, as James 2:20-26 indicates is necessary?

In your opinion, how do you reconcile Romans 4:1-7 saying that God “credits righteousness apart from works” with James 2:20-26 that says that “faith without deeds is dead”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, Romans and James help us understand about the link between the suffering servant being “numbered with the transgressors” and those who believe being “credited as righteous”?

In your opinion, how can we make sure our faith is alive?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 19, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Believing Among those who Don’t

Believing Among those who Don’t

Isaiah 53:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

 

In your opinion, “to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed” (verse 1)?

 

How did He grow up (verse 2)?

What did He not have to “attract us to him” (verse 2)?

How did “mankind” react to Him ( verse 3)?

What did He bear (verse 4)?

Who was He pierced for (verse 5)?

How are we healed (verse 5)?

What has “each of us” done (verse 6)?

What has “the Lord” laid on Him (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage provide a reason to hope, even in the midst of unbelief?

John 12:37-50 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

What did the crowd in Jerusalem not do, in spite of the signs that Jesus had performed (verse 37)?

Whose word was this to fulfill (verse 38)?

What had He hardened (verse 40)?

What had Isaiah seen (verse 41)?

Why would the leaders who believed in Jesus not openly acknowledge their faith” (verse 42)?

What did they love more than “praise from God” (verse 43)?

Who else does the one who believes in Jesus believe in (verse 44)?

Who does the one who looks at Jesus see (verse 45)?

How did Jesus “come into the world” (verse 46)?

Who does Jesus not judge (verse 47)?

What will condemn the “one who rejects” Jesus and does not accept His words (verse 48)?

Who “commanded” Jesus to say all that He spoke (verse 49)?

Whose command “leads to eternal life” (verse 50)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage provide a reason to hope, even in the midst of unbelief?

In your opinion, what does Isaiah 53:1-6 help us understand about what Jesus would have to do to “save the world” as He indicates is His purpose in John 12:37-50?

Romans 10:14-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

¹⁶ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. ¹⁸ But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹ Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

²⁰ And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

²¹ But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

In your opinion, “how can they hear without someone preaching to them” (verse 14)?

Whose feet are beautiful (verse 15)?

What did not all the Israelites accept (verse 16)?

How is the message heard (verse 17)?

What is the answer to the question “did they not hear” (verse 18)?

Who will God use to make Israel envious (verse 19)?

Who does Isaiah say will find God (verse 20)?

How is Israel described (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage provide a reason to hope, even in the midst of unbelief?

In your opinion, how does Isaiah 31:1-6 support the message of good news that Paul in Romans 10:14-21 says “of course” the Israelites heard?

In your opinion, how does Paul indicating that all the Israelites heard the message but not all “accepted the good news” in Romans 10:14-21 help us understand what Jesus meant when He said that He would not be the judge, but “very words” He spoke would “condemn them at the last day” in John 12:37-50? 

Jude 1:17-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

What does Jude want his “dear friends” to remember (verse 17)?

When will scoffers “follow their own ungodly desires” (verse 18)?

What do these people do (verse 19)?

What do these people follow (verse 19)?

How does Jude want his friends to build themselves up (verse 20)?

How does Jude want his friends to pray (verse 20)?

What are Jude’s friends to wait for (verse 21)?

Who should Jude’s friends “be merciful to” (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh” (verse 23)?

How is God able to present Christians “before his glorious presence” (verse 24)?

What does Jude pray for God to have “through Jesus Christ our Lord” (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage provide a reason to hope, even in the midst of unbelief?

In your opinion, how does Jude 1:17-25 help us understand why those in Isaiah 53:1-6 who did not believe made the choice they did?

In your opinion, what does Jude 1:17-25 help us understand about how to respond to those who John 12:37-50 indicates were blinded and did not believe, or believed but were unwilling to openly acknowledge their beliefs?

In your opinion, what does Jude 1:17-25 instruct Christians do for themselves when the scoffers of Romans 10:14-21 are obstinate and do not believe?

In your opinion, what does Jude 1:17-25 instruct Christians do for those scoffers of Romans 10:14-21 who are obstinate and do not believe?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, John, Romans and Jude help us understand about how the message of salvation is received by the world?

In your opinion, how can we grow in God’s love despite the persistent battering of unbelief around us?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 12, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Witnesses Who Understand

Witnesses Who Understand

Isaiah 52:13-15 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ See, my servant will act wisely;
    he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
    his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
    and his form marred beyond human likeness—
¹⁵ so he will sprinkle many nations,
    and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
    and what they have not heard, they will understand.

 

How will God’s servant act (verse 13)?

What will His servant be (verse 13)?

How will “many” feel about him (verse 14)?

What will “his appearance” be like (verse 14)?

What will “he” sprinkle (verse 15)?

What will “they see” (verse 16)?

What will “they understand” (verse 16)?

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

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

Luke 24:36-49 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

When did Jesus stand “among them” (verse 36)?

What did Jesus say to them (verse 36)?

How did they react (verse 37)?

Where did Jesus want them to look (verse 39)?

What did Jesus show them (verse 40)?

Why did they still “not believe” (verse 41)?

What did Jesus do “in their presence” (verses 42 and 43)?

How much of what was written about Jesus “in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” must be fulfilled (verse 44)?

How were the disciples changed when Jesus “opened their minds” (verse 45)?

“What is written” (verse 46)?

What “will be preached in his name to all nations” (verse 47)?

Who “are witnesses” of these things (verse 48)?

When could they leave the city (verse 49)?

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

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus opening the minds of those in Luke 24:36-49 help us understand what will happen to kings in Isaiah 52:13-15?

Romans 15:14-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵ Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷ Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸ I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. ²¹ Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
    and those who have not heard will understand.”

Who is convinced that the Christians in Rome “are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another” (verse 14)?

Why has Paul written “quite boldly on some points” (verse 15)?

What “priestly duty” has God given Paul (verse 16)?

What were “the Gentiles” to become (verse 16)?

Where does Paul “glory in Christ Jesus” (verse 17)?

What is the only thing that Paul will “venture to speak of” (verse 18)?

What has Paul “fully proclaimed” (verse 19)?

Why was it Paul’s “ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” (verse 20)?

Who “will understand” (verse 21)?

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

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

In your opinion, how are the kings in Isaiah 52:13-15 like the Christians in Romans 15:14-21?

In your opinion, what does Luke 24:36-49 reveal about the gospel of Christ that Paul says in Romans 15:14-21 it is his ambition to preach? 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

What does Paul want to remind the Corinthians Christians of (verse 1)?

How are they saved (verse 2)?

What happens if they don’t “hold firmly to the word” Paul preached to them (verse 2)?

Who did “Christ” die for (verse 3)?

When was Christ “raised” (verse 4)?

Who did Christ appear to (verse 5)?

Who else did Christ appear to (verses 6 and 7)?

Who was the last person that Christ appeared to (verse 8)?

Why does Paul say he does “not even deserve to be called an apostle” (verse 9)?

How is Paul what he is (verse 10)?

What had the Corinthian Christians believed (verse 11)?

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

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

In your opinion, how does the prophesy of Isaiah 52:13-15 where the servant is exalted, disfigured and will “sprinkle many nations” lay the groundwork of Paul’s message to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11?

In your opinion, how does comparing the message Jesus gave to those with Him in Luke 24:36-49 to the message Paul shared with the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 show that Jesus opened Paul’s mind to understand the Scriptures?

In your opinion, how do both Romans 15:14-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 show that Jesus is at the foundation of who Paul is and what he does?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, Romans and 1 Corinthians help us understand about what we should hold firmly to today?

In your opinion, how can we be witnesses to Jesus today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)