Jean's Bible Study Topics of the New Testament

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Mk 7,1-13

· (173k) Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft Ø Man’s Religion Ø Deeds that are not initiated by God Ø Traditions of men -- A good definition of the term "religion" (which has a negative connotation) is: Deeds that are not initiated by God. Therefore, according to this definition, anything we do in the name of God that is not initiated by the Holy Spirit is considered by God to be dead religion. Since God has given us the Holy Spirit to communicate with us about His will, we should know what His will is and be doing it, instead of the mindless activities that are handed down to us from generation to generation by uninspired men. 

· (177d) Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft Ø False doctrine Ø Doctrines of the precepts of men -- How can someone make their own religion? Most false religions slowly evolve, so that there is no one particular time or person responsible for their contrivances. That however does not excuse those who believe in them; they should know better. False doctrines within cults often financially benefit those who are in charge of them. This is not a coincidence, but a hint that helps to answer how and why these doctrines form, and who is in control of them. In other words, false teachings are not innocent misinterpretations of Scripture, but well thought out schemes to coerce people to give them their money. If that seems hard to believe, look at verses 9-13 a little closer. 

· (178k) Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft Ø Hypocrisy Ø Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for accusing Him of Sin

Mk 7-1

· (65g) Paradox Ø Anomalies Ø Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution

Mk 7-4

· (159d) Works of the devil Ø Essential characteristics Ø Counterfeit godliness Ø Counterfeit righteousness -- It is a good idea to wash your hands frequently; they say it is the best thing you can do to keep from catching a cold, but it is obviously no way to find favor with God. The Pharisees were externally minded, paying little attention if any to the contents of their hearts. They were very self-righteous, and highly judgmental, until it came to themselves, then they were quick to forgive. Jesus saw grime on the Pharisees' hands, not from dirt, but from sin. He never confronted them until they confronted Him first, and then He gave them both barrels. He did not spare them; they were embezzling God's people in the name of God. There are a few people in our generation whose hands are free from dirt but are no less grimy, who make the Pharisees look like little girl scouts in all their wealth they exact from the naive of faith. They have their day now, but when it comes time to give an account of their works, I would not want to be standing next to them. 

Mk 7,6-13

· (79l) Thy kingdom come Ø Know the word as a sword in spiritual warfare Ø To defend yourself from religion

Mk 7,6-9

· (159m) Works of the devil Ø Essential characteristics Ø Counterfeit God Ø Counterfeit truth

Mk 7,6-8

· (171a) Works of the devil Ø Manifestations of the devil Ø Outward appearance Ø Vanity Ø Vain religion

· (199h) Denying Christ Ø Man chooses his own destiny apart from God Ø Rejecting Christ Ø The world rejects God Ø Rejecting Christ to keep the world

Mk 7-6,7

· (74d) Thy kingdom come Ø The heart Ø The heart is the location of all truth

· (141j) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Old Testament bears witness to the new Ø Old Testament is for our instruction Ø It reflects the nature of man in the law -- The fact that Jesus connected Himself with the Old Testament by quoting the law was His way of endorsing, hence validating it. The fact that God had to write a law in the first place to teach us how to act suggests that the law is a mirror image of our sinful nature. If God had to tell us to love Him and our neighbor, it means by nature we don't. When it says, "Do not...," it means by nature we do. It teaches us that by nature man hates his fellow man almost as much as he hates his own creator, that man curses God, abandons his own parents, makes war continuously, spreads his seed to the four corners of the earth, takes what is not nailed to the floor, lies about nothing and wants everything. Did I just describe the nature of man through the law or did I just describe this evil and perverse generation in which we live. The day we pay no attention to God is the day we exhibit the mirror image of the law through the members of our bodies. 

· (170j) Vanity (Key verse)

Mk 7-8,9

· (195c) Denying Christ Ø Man exercises his will against God Ø Idolatry Ø Serving two masters Ø You can only believe in one at a time -- You can only serve one master at a time. In this case the Pharisees had the choice of believing in the commandment of God or in the traditions of men. Keeping the traditions of men is idolatry in that it involves setting aside of God's commandments. Jesus said they nicely set aside the truth to continue with their traditions. In doing so they are not passively ignoring Him but actively rejecting Him. If people traditionally loved one another that would be a good thing, but most traditions are not about love or truth, but are about dead religion. They are generally instituted as a way to avoid a relationship with God, while at the same time holding to a form of godliness to appear righteous before men. 

Mk 7-8

· (232j) Kingdom of God Ø Seeking the kingdom Ø Embrace (Jesus during the storm) Ø Things not to embrace

Mk 7,9-13

· (76c) Thy kingdom come Ø Motives Ø Seeking authority for security Ø Motives based on greed -- Jesus is pointing out the most common motive for establishing new doctrines, which ultimately has the effect of establishing new religions. He was comparing what the word of God says to the doctrines of the Pharisees, and concluded that the difference between them is the instruction about how people should spend their money. That should not surprise you. Essentially, the Pharisees turned Corban (A sacrifice made to God) into contraband. In other words the religious leaders of Israel

· (90h) Thy kingdom come Ø Keeping the law Ø Righteousness of the law Ø We must keep the law because it is righteous

Mk 7,10-13

· (73i) Authority Ø Respect authority in the family Ø Respect your mother and Father

Mk 7-13

· (223f) Kingdom of God Ø The elusive kingdom of heaven Ø Miss God Ø Missing the point Ø Miss the meaning of the truth -- What do you think would be the result of manipulating the Scriptures to make it say what you want in order to become wealthy? Do you think there would be no consequences? If there were ever a time when these people knew the truth, before they finished slashing the Scriptures they would not be able to identify the truth if He stood in front of them and heard Him speak. The reason Israel missed their Messiah was the fault of their leaders, and the reason the leaders of Israel miss Him was because they had hacked up the word of God and in the process hacked up their own consciences, so tortuously that their hearts could no longer discern the truth. Like buying tickets before entering the fairgrounds, these men bought the right from their conscience to alter the holy commandments of God for sordid gain at the cost of their own souls (Rev 22-18,19). 

Mk 7,14-23

· (74j) Thy kingdom come Ø Heart of man is sinful Ø Sin is conceived in the heart

Mk 7-14

· (79j) Thy kingdom come Ø Know the word Ø Listen to the word Ø Listen to Jesus

Mk 7-15

· (26l) Consequences of sin Ø Curse Ø Deeds that return to the doer Ø Words of your mouth -- This verse goes with verses 21-23

· (85c) Thy kingdom come Ø Your words can lead to your own demise Ø Your mouth defiles the rest of your body

Mk 7-16

· (106e) Thy kingdom come Ø Hearing from God Ø Attaining the hearing ear Ø Having the ability to hear

Mk 7-17,18

· (138b) Temple Ø Building the temple (with hands) Ø Reproof Ø Jesus reproves His disciples for their unbelief

Mk 7-19

· (118k) Thy kingdom come Ø Manifestations of faith Ø Freedom Ø Law of the spirit Ø Law of liberty

Mk 7,20-23

· (78o) Thy kingdom come Ø Renewing your mind Ø Putting your heart on display Ø Consequence of not renewing your mind

· (16e) Sin Ø Man’s willingness to be evil Ø Afraid to deal with sin

· (22e) Sin Ø Greed takes without consideration for others Ø Covetousness

· (24l) Sin Ø Poverty (Forms of fear) Ø Unrighteous anger

· (25h) Sin Ø Poverty (Forms of fear) Ø Thief Ø Stealing from some one

· (26l) Consequences of sin Ø Curse Ø Deeds that return to the doer Ø Words of your mouth -- These verses go with verse 15

· (74a) The Heart (Meaning of your thoughts) (Key verse)

· (134j) Temple Ø Your body is the temple of God Ø Sins of the body Ø Immorality Ø Adultery Ø Physical adultery

· (182h) Works of the devil Ø The origin of lawlessness Ø Deception Ø Being deceptive with people Ø Lying to others

· (186f) Works of the devil Ø The result of lawlessness Ø The reprobate Ø Man’s role in becoming a reprobate Ø The fool Ø The heart of a fool

Mk 7-24

· (143l) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Witnesses of Jesus Ø It is popular to follow Jesus

Mk 7,25-30

· (146f) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself Ø Deliverance from demon possession Ø Casting out violent demons

Mk 7,25-29

· (62d) Paradox Ø Anomalies Ø Being clever Ø Answer with wisdom 

Mk 7,26-30

· (210h) Salvation Ø Jews and gentiles are being saved Ø Salvation is from the Jews Ø The Jew first -- This woman got what she needed from God based on her understanding of Israel's Jewish messiah, that Christ came for the Jew first, then also for the Greek in that order. 

Mk 7,27-29

· (77k) Thy kingdom come Ø Being Humble Before God Ø Having an attitude of humility

Mk 7-31 -- No Entries

Mk 7,32-37

· (145b) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself Ø Unique methods of healing -- Jesus used all sorts of ways to heal people, demonstrating that His healing power was not in the method that He used, but in His Father who enabled Him to perform miracles. 

Mk 7-36

· (20l) Sin Ø Disobedience Ø Paying no attention to the word

· (70g) Authority Ø Familiar with the truth (enemy of discernment) Ø Familiar with Jesus in the flesh -- The people who disobeyed Jesus' orders not to tell anyone about His miraculous healings feared greatly the authorities of their day, knowing that if they didn't do exactly as they said, they could be thrown into prison, tortured, or even killed. However, they were not afraid of Jesus, and rightly so, since He never gave anyone a reason to be afraid of Him, though Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. They knew He would do them no harm if they did not do what He said. They could have respected Him a little more and obeyed His wishes, especially since He just did them a great favor by healing the deaf man. It caused Jesus a lot of grief spreading it around that He had miraculous powers, because then the people came to see Him for all the wrong reasons, to watch the healing show. The crowds got bigger and attracted more attention to Himself and made Him work harder to stay alive and on God's timeline, "For it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem," (Lk 13-33). He was the lamb of God; He was scheduled to be sacrificed on Passover and not before the time. 

· (185l) Works of the devil Ø The result of lawlessness Ø Blasphemy Ø Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven Ø Unwilling to walk in God’s freedom

Mk 8,1-9

· (12l) Servant Ø Jesus is the servant of man – This portion of Scripture reminds me of the time Jesus healed the leper. Just before He healed him, the leper said, "If you are willing, you can make me clean" (his declaration of faith). He was willing and able, but which one is most crucial, His willingness or His ability? If He wasn't willing, He wouldn't have healed the leper, though He was able. Jesus fed the four thousand with what few resources there were around Him at the time. The ability to keep pulling bread from a small basket enough to feed a multitude is the work of God, but His willingness to do so is the work of compassion and character. Doing the works of compassion is greater than doing the works of God. His willingness was greater than His ability. God can enable us to do whatever must be done, but we must be willing to implement His ability to accomplish the work that He calls us to do. Just like Jesus, our willingness to obey God is more important than the works themselves.

· (147c) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself Ø Miracles signs and wonders Ø God exercises authority over His creation

· (229k) Kingdom of God Ø God’s kingdom is a living organism Ø Partaking of Jesus’ ministry -- There is no difference between this multitude who ate and was filled with bread and fish, and Israel in ancient times who gathered and ate the manna that fell from heaven. Both groups partook from the ministry of God. There is also no difference between the response of both groups, Israel in ancient times who forgot God while the manna was still in their mouths, and Israel in Jesus day whose stomachs were satisfied and later on condemned the one who fed them. Israel is not any worse than anyone else, however; we all would have acted just like them throughout the ages. Israel is therefore a microcosm of the rest of the world; others have condemned them, but they only prove they are no better than Israel, and that Israel is truly exemplary of them. 

· (234l) Kingdom of God Ø Pursuing the kingdom Ø Invest in the kingdom Ø Be a blessing Ø Freely give what you received from God

Mk 8-2,3

· (29l) Gift of God Ø God knows our needs; therefore we don’t have to care -- Note that the people didn't raise a revolt and chant in Jesus' ear in one voice that they were hungry and needed food in order to make it back to their homes (some of whom came from a distance), until He finally succumbed to their cries and gave them something to eat. Instead, it was Jesus' idea to feed the people; He knew their needs and fed them before they realized they were hungry. James says that if anyone lacks wisdom (or anything), we should ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, but how many times are our needs met and we don't even have to ask God. He sees our need and meets it before we even have the occasion to send a formal prayer. If Jesus cares so we don't have to, how willing is He to meet our needs when we do care?

· (123c) Thy kingdom come Ø Manifestations of faith Ø Love Ø Spiritual affection Ø Compassion is the emotion of the Spirit

Mk 8,5-8

· (117d) Thy kingdom come Ø Rest in Jesus Ø Let Jesus do the work Ø Let Him work on your circumstances -- Sometimes we run into real problems that require real answers. The thing that seems most real to us is to get right on it and try to solve the problem ourselves. We have a propensity for this method because it has a relatively good success rate, but there are times when no matter how hard we try it is never enough. We simply are not big enough physically or otherwise to solve the problem. These are the times when we sit back and let God do His stuff; after all, what choice do we have? Here lies the question: is sitting around waiting for a miracle a real answer? It will seem like a pretty good idea after you have exhausted every avenue and resource at your disposal, and you are exhausted and at your wits end. Next question: Do we have to wait until we get to that point before we can realistically expect a miracle? No! God wants us to live a miraculous life; we ask God for help when there is nothing else we can do because we think it cultivates faith. We say to ourselves, 'Now I can believe because I don't have any other choice.' That does not actually help our faith, it only helps us realize it is all we have. We need to realize before we get to that point that faith is all we've ever had. This does not bring as much honor to God as going to Him first, or perhaps second, anything but last. Don't feel bad, I do it too. 

Mk 8,6-9

· (54d) Paradox Ø More left over scraps than the initial amount

Mk 8-6

· (13d) Serve the body Ø Promoting its health Ø Building up the body of Christ – When Jesus fed the four thousand, He existed in physical form to hand the bread to His disciples, and they in turn divided the bread among the people, but in these times Jesus is invisible as He continues to divide the blessing of God among the people though His disciples.

Mk 8,9-12

· (20f) Sin Ø Nature of sin Ø Seeking a sign -- Where were you when dinner was served?

Mk 8-13 -- No Entries

Mk 8,14-21

· (54d) Paradox Ø Opposites Ø Concerned about their needs when the provider of sparrows is aboard their ship

· (167g) Works of the devil Ø Manifestations of the devil Ø The carnal mind does not receive the things of God Ø It does not understand the word of God -- Jesus was rough on His disciples at this point and rebuked them pretty hard for a lack of understanding. What do you suppose He expected them to understand? Going back to the context, He fed over five thousand people with five loaves of bread and four thousand with seven loaves, so the fact that they were low on bread seemed irrelevant. Jesus was making an analogy between the leaven of the Pharisees (and Herod) and their bread quandary, and His disciples were not on the same page with Him because they were worried about food. Worry and fear are common problems that keep many of us from reaching our full spiritual potential, because our minds are too preoccupied with our concerns to think about God. Remember His analogy of the sower of the seed, "and some seed fell among the thorns, and the worries of the world choked the word and it became unfruitful," (Mat 13-22). The disciples were somewhere between the thorns and the road where the seed fell and the devil came and snatched the seed from their hearts because they didn't understand it. Jesus came down hard on His disciples because they had already seen many things that should have convinced them about His willingness and ability to solve any problem they would ever encounter, and they still were not getting it. 

· (198j) Denying Christ Ø Man exercises his will against God Ø Frustrating the grace of God Ø Frustrating Jesus through unbelief

Mk 8,15-21

· (147a) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself Ø Remember Jesus’ miracles

· (168i) Works of the devil Ø Manifestations of the devil Ø The world has deaf ears to God Ø Deaf to the word of God from a lack of understanding

· (178j) Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft Ø Hypocrisy of the church is rebuked Ø Jesus rebukes His disciples

Mk 8-15

· (177f) Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft Ø Beware of false doctrine -- Jesus became frustrated with His disciples because He couldn't teach them anything; their minds were always elsewhere. He was constantly gathering their thoughts to focus on what He was saying. Like little children they were never simply ready to listen without adult supervision, yet they were no different from us. With this kind of wishy-washy mental discipline, they were susceptible to false doctrine, which Jesus considered a real threat. Isn't it interesting that false doctrine can creep into an untrained mind easier than the truth, because false doctrine works better in an environment of confusion and chaos, which is already present among those who would accept it. Jesus wanted to tighten up His disciples' thought processes to spend more time musing on the things of God than on the temporal issues of this life, so false doctrine would become less of an issue after He left.  

Mk 8,17-21

· (138b) Temple Ø Building the temple (with hands) Ø Reproof Ø Jesus reproves His disciples for their unbelief

Mk 8-17

· (74l) Thy kingdom come Ø Let not your heart be hardened Ø Insensitive to the things of God -- If Jesus has to ask you whether you have a hardened heart, the answer is yes. This was the cause of their lack of understanding. They witnessed miracles the world has never seen, yet they gained no insight from them, but saw them merely as His many amazing works. This is a dangerous disposition! Remember Israel who saw the works of God for forty years and their bodies fell in the wilderness with God swearing in His wrath, "They shall not enter My rest," (Ps 95-11). Jesus didn't want His disciple to go in that direction, so He continually pounded the truth into them, awakening them from their spiritually slumbering minds. We look for "Gentle Jesus" in the Scriptures, and He's not on every page. Much of the gospels are devoted to Jesus loving the people, rebuking His disciples (hence the name disciple), and condemning the Pharisees. Christianity is a delicate balance between love and war, war with spiritual principalities and powers in high places that want to capture our minds and fill it with the thoughts of the world, which is controlled by the devil. Jesus was right to be concerned about His disciples; He was on the other end of the boat all alone, because they couldn't comprehend His identity, though He tried to explain Himself many times to His disciples. 

Mk 8-18

· (106e) Thy kingdom come Ø Hearing from God Ø Attaining the hearing ear Ø Having the ability to hear

Mk 8,22-26

· (145b) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself Ø Unique methods of healing

Mk 8,27-30 -- No Entries

Mk 8-31

· (37b) Judgment Ø The cross Ø Father slays His son

· (103i) Thy kingdom come Ø God purifies His church Ø Jesus goes through God’s purifying process -- Suffering seems to have purifying qualities, like gold that has been liquefied in a hot furnace, releasing its impurities that float to the top. Although Jesus was without sin and did not personally need to go through any kind of purifying process, He still went to the cross in order that He might taste death for us all. Now that God has experienced death, which is the essence of Satan's spirit and is the root of man's problem, God can now impart His life into us, which is the essence of God's Spirit and man's ultimate solution to sin and death. Before this take place, however, Jesus first had to be purified by sin and death from His lack of experience, for how could He solve our problem of sin and death if He never personally experienced it?  

· (210c) Salvation Ø The salvation of God Ø Jesus is our sacrifice Ø God uses sinners to sacrifice His son

Mk 8,32-38

· (203c) Denying Christ Ø Dishonor God by not receiving Him

· (223h) Kingdom of God Ø The elusive kingdom of heaven Ø Miss God Ø Missing the mark Ø Miss the will of God for your life -- Jesus sad to Peter, "You are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." How many of us have truly set on minds on God's interests throughout our lives and sought to fulfill His purpose? Peter had no idea about the will of God for Christ, let alone the will of God for his own life. What if we knew the perfect will of God; would that help us fulfill it? If we knew what God really wanted us to do right now, the vast majority of us would run with our tails between our legs in the opposite direction. Mary, the mother of Jesus, said to the waiter, "Whatever He says to you, do it," and then the waiter filled the waterpots as He was instructed by the Lord, and the water turned into wine based on the waiter's obedience. Most people in the church today do not have the faith of the waiter in Jn 2,1-10. Somewhere along the line, Peter and the rest of Jesus' disciples realized that Jesus was priceless and that whatever He wanted them to do, they were going to give it top priority and die trying to fulfill the will of God. This is the kind of faith and confidence we need to find in Christ, for without it we won't fulfill the smallest thing that God would ask us to do. 

Mk 8-32,33

· (176e) Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft Ø Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) Ø Devotion without direction

· (183e) Works of the devil Ø The origin of lawlessness Ø Incubators of the spirit of error Ø Selfish ambition -- The multitudes who followed Jesus, who were the least bit convinced that He was the Christ, including His own twelve closest disciples, expected the kingdom of God to appear immediately (Lk 19-11). Peter, being one of them, heard Him speak about suffering at the hands of the chief priests and the elders and being crucified, rebuked the Lord for using language that contradicted their theology. Peter was looking south with his back to the truth, thinking it was north, while Jesus was trying to turn his face toward the will of His Father. It seems unfathomable, but after spending so many months and years with Christ, his disciples still completely misunderstood the purpose and goal of their Messiah. Their preconceived notions got in the way and painted the words of Christ their favorite color, so they had to look through their own ideas of Him to interpret what He said, distorting His message. If the disciples fell into the trap of preconceived notions who had the advantage of walking with the king for three and a half years, what would it take for us to be swept away by our own thoughts into the darkness of vain religion, calling it our way of serving the Lord, all along having our back to the truth. 

Mk 8-33

· (18g) Sin Ø False Judgment lacks evidence Ø Temporal mindset

· (46g) Judgment Ø Spiritual warfare Ø Fall of Satan Ø Removing Satan’s obstructions -- Removing Satan’s obstructions was one of Jesus' full time jobs. He refused to allow demons to manifest in His presence, and equally refused to allow lies, false doctrine and deception to flourish around Him, but always put it in its place. Obviously, Peter was not the devil, and he wasn't doing anything dumber than usual by standing between Jesus and His cross. Jesus rebuked Peter because he was acting like the devil by placing his interests on man and not on God. He had the temporal mindset of the world and interpreted everything as it were through the flesh. 

Mk 8,34-38

· (6d) Responsible to advocate God’s cause Ø Jesus’ yoke of death

· (56g) Paradox Ø Opposites Ø Seek God’s life by subduing your flesh

· (164g) Works of the devil Ø Manifestations of the devil Ø The world system Ø Satan’s system of authority Ø His elementary principles of the world

· (192a) Die to self (Process of substitution) Ø Result of putting off the old man Ø Gain by losing Ø Life for life Ø Losing your life to gain God’s life -- Why do we have to give up our old way of life to follow Jesus? For one thing, our old way of life which is shrouded in unbelief did not make the decision to follow Jesus; we made a pact with the Holy Spirit to walk in faith. Since our flesh was not consulted in the decision it won't be willing to cooperate with us. Peter got in the way of Jesus' cross in the same way that our own flesh gets in our way of walking with Christ (Mk 8,31-33). He taught us through the example of how He dealt with Peter just how strict we should be with our flesh, restricting it from making decisions that will affect our relationship with Christ, because it will lead us astray. Jesus was determined not to be led away from the cross, because the temptation was there to deviate from it, since it did not appeal to His flesh. God wants us to be just as devoted to fulfilling the purpose that He has given us. 

· (208a) Salvation Ø Salvation verses Ø The kindness of God Ø The cross

· (232c) Kingdom of God Ø Seeking the kingdom Ø If you must count the cost, the price is always too high

Mk 8,34-36

· (42k) Judgment Ø Satan destroyed Ø Conform to the glory of Christ’s death

Mk 8-34

· (103j) Thy kingdom come Ø Purifying process Ø God purifies His church Ø We go through Jesus’ purifying process

Mk 8,35-38

· (55k) Paradox Ø Gain the world to lose your soul Ø He who saves his life shall lose it -- This is one of Jesus' notoriously baleful descriptions of the nature and condition of the world in which we live. We see it as a hostile environment but also as home, and so often give it more credence than it deserves. These verses resemble His statement about money in Mat 6-24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." These verses, however, use stronger language, warning us that not only can we lose our soul by seeking the riches of the world, but we can lose it simply by believing in the world, and reveling in its wholesale rejection of God. In the process of seeking the favor of this world that is antipodal to everything God represents it is hopeless to juggle that with a genuine relationship with Christ. God considers it idolatry, calling us adulteresses in Jm 4-4. There is something inherently evil about wanting to integrate and identify with a system that hates its own creator. 

· (199g) Denying Christ Ø Man chooses his own destiny apart from God Ø Rejecting Christ Ø Throwing God away Ø Denying Christ

Mk 8-36,37

· (249m) Priorities Ø God’ s preeminence Ø World’s perception of wealth Ø The world’s wealth has no value Ø The world’s wealth cannot afford a single soul

Mk 8-38

· (40b) Judgment Ø Jesus is the judge Ø Jesus judges the world’s disobedience

· (64j) Paradox Ø Anomalies Ø Weaknesses of God Ø Foolishness of God

· (150c) Witness Ø Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Works of the church bear witness to Jesus Ø Confessing the salvation of Christ Ø Confessing Jesus in order to be saved

· (157b) Witness Ø Validity of the believer Ø Evidence of being hell-bound Ø Rejecting Christ

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