Bible Studies

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Copyright - Cherry Stoltz
PASSIONATE SPIRITUALITY
LESSON 1

COMMITMENT

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines ‘passion’ and ‘passionate’ as meaning:
· Strong, barely controlled emotion.
· Strong enthusiasm
· The object (or person) arousing these feelings
· Dominated by or easily moved to a strong feeling of love,
and ‘spirituality’ as meaning:
· Of or concerning the spirit as opposed to matter
· Concerned with sacred things
· Holy (set apart)
· Divinely inspired
· Concerned with the soul
Nelson’s Bible Dictionary defines ‘spirituality’ as meaning:
· Sensitivity or commitment to spiritual values and sacred matters,
Vine’s Expository Dictionary explains ‘spiritual’ (PNEUMATIKOS) as follows:
· Always connotes the ideas of invisibility and of power.
· Things that have their origin with God, and are therefore in harmony with His character.
· Those who are led by the Spirit.

When we are wholly concerned with the things of God - when our bodies, souls and spirits are offered to God for use according to His desires and not ours – this is passionate spirituality. According to the Scriptures, the spiritual state of soul is normal for the believer, but not all believers reach this state. When it is reached, it is not always maintained. God desires that all His children are passionately spiritual. When we first came to Christ, our emotions were involved but we primarily had to believe and respond by faith or our salvation would not have been guaranteed. Our response to the gospel of Good News included:
(1) Truly believing in faith that Christ is who He says He is.
(2) Sincerely repenting to Him in faith.
(3) Irrevocably committing our lives to Him in faith.
(4) Humbly accepting His free gift of love and salvation in faith.
(5) Decisively turning to Him in faith for salvation and transformation into His likeness by the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

We do not just stop there. We have to continue in this same faith, learning about our Saviour through the Word and putting our faith into practice:

· In Isaiah 7:9, God says “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all”.
· Both Hab. 2:4 and Rom. 1:17 contain a profound statement directly from God to all believers – “for the righteous shall live by faith”.
· A warning is issued in 1 Cor. 16:13 – “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong”.

In order to reach maturity, Christians must live by faith in Christ. Therefore, God tests our faith and lovingly refines and moulds us into strong Christians when we willingly obey him and allow Him to work out His individual plan for each of our lives. Each admonition in the Bible reveals to us our inherent sinfulness but is always followed by God’s gracious provision and loving solution. Make a point of looking for these each time you study the Bible.

God instituted the unity of marriage between a man and a woman for more than one reason. Besides the obvious, it is the wonderful illustration He uses to demonstrate the truth about a believer’s holy relationship with Christ. Illustrations from marriage are used throughout the Old and New Testaments:
· Isaiah 54:4,5 – Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
· Matt. 22:1-14 – Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fatted calf have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ But they paid no attention and went off – one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
· 2 Cor. 11:2 – I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
· Rev. 21:1-4 – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ”Now the dwelling place of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

A bride’s emotions are most certainly involved when she stands at the altar, but more importantly, her commitment is vital. She promises to turn from her old life of independence, singleness and selfishness to a new life of dependence, unity and selflessness. She believes that the man she is marrying is who he says he is and that he will honour his wedding vows. She commits her life to Him for as long as they both live. She offers her body exclusively to her husband so that, from then on, her body is no longer her own.

She recognizes that her husband is henceforward the head of this union. She humbly accepts his gift of love and promise of protection and, in return, promises to love him by honouring, respecting and submitting to him. This love that she offers is encompassed by her commitment. If not, the marriage is very likely to fail at the first signs of trouble. All of these biblical principles are the firm foundation for a loving home and family. She is, in effect, turning from her old life to the new!

She and her husband stand before God when making these promises. Divorce is the furthest thing from their minds but sadly, as so often happens these days, the couple who have made these holy and binding commitments often begin finding fault with each other, justifying their bitterness and looking for the world’s way out……… withdrawal, an affair or divorce.

OPENLY DISCUSS THE WAYS IN WHICH WE JUSTIFY FINDING FAULT WITH OTHERS AND WITH GOD (OR HIS WORD).

In a great many cases, the pre-marital agreement is sometimes drawn up in such a way that it is obvious no genuine commitment has been made. The contents of such prior agreements contain legal provisions in the event of the union being dissolved in the future. In other words – “If this marriage doesn’t work, I can always go back to being single again, or find another partner.” True marital commitment means deciding to do things God’s way, with no ‘escape clauses’. This type of commitment is far more likely to produce a long and happy marriage. A true commitment is made without provisions or limitations. The same applies to the commitment we make to Christ:

· Luke 9:57-62 – As they were walking along the road, a man said to (Jesus), “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

We once lived for ourselves as a single person, but the union of marriage to Christ is a true commitment that promises to live for Christ - To turn from selfishness to selflessness – from sinfulness to righteousness – from the world to Christ.

In the next lesson, we will learn something more about the relationship we have in Christ Jesus, his trustworthiness, and our function as the ‘bride’ in this precious union.

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