Romans series 1-4 by Maori Postal Aotearoa

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M AO R I P O S TA L A O T E A R O A

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BIBLE LESSONS

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He rama tau kupu ki oku waewae, he marama ki toku ara. Waiata 119:105

#PPL is a general overview including some basic subjects and a summary of all the books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It will be useful to those who are new to the Bible. #PPL contains 10 lessons which cover topics: Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan of Salvation; How Can I be Sure that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Saved; Reading and Studying Your Bible; The Importance of Prayer; What is the Church? What is a Local Church? Why Should a Christian be Baptized? The Christianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Nature; Temptation and Victory; Jesus Christ is Lord. This book is particularly useful for those new to the Christian faith.

Te Kupu Wha kaora (The Livi ng Word) is a series of study books to give a solid designed grounding in the Christian faith. Book 3 contain s nine lessons on the Holy a subject con Spirit, cerning which ther good deal of confusion thes e is a e days. These studies will be helpful for those new to the Christia n faith as well as the more experie nced. Can be used for individual or group stud y. Cover photo: Graham Bats on

Book 3

#PPL contains nine lessons on the Holy Spirit, a subject concerning which there is a good deal of confusion these days. It clearly outlines the Bibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teaching on this subject and also includes thought-provoking questions to be answered. Published by

Maori Postal Aotearoa #PY t 8BO HBOVJ Phone: (06) 343 7957 mpss@acp.o rg.nz www.maorip ostal.co.nz

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Te Wairua

Tapu

The Holy S

pirit

Maori Postal Aotearoa has a large range of different products available. You can view and order them online at our website:

www.maoripostal.co.nz

or you can contact us and we can send a catalogue out to you!

1IPOF t #PY t 8BOHBOVJ email: info@maoripostal.co.nz Name:____________________________ Address:__________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

Leader:

AKO TAHI Piki Tahi The Romans Series 1

1-4

Kia Ora! We hope you enjoy doing these lessons When you have completed the questions please only return your answer sheet to your leader for marking You will then automatically recieve your next lessons!

This certificate is awarded for completing the Romans 1 Series!

Lesson No. 4

CLIMBING TOGETHER

PIKI TAHI

ROMANS SERIES 1

RELIGION IS NOT ENOUGH READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 2, verses 1 to 16.

A series of lessons based on the first 8 chapters of Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

A VERSE TO LEARN: “All who sin apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who sin under the Law will be judged by the Law” – (Romans 2:12).

Lesson No. 1

AND IN MAORI: “Ko te hunga hoki i hara turekore, ka ngaro turekore ano- hoki; me te hunga i hara i runga i te ture, kei te ture ano- he whakahe- mo- ratou” – (Roma 2:12).

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 1, verses 1 to 7.

Just knowing what is right and what God’s Law says is not enough to have a right relationship with God or to get us on the way to Heaven. This is the big mistake that many religious people make and it was the mistake many Jewish people were making in Paul’s day. Many people think that as long as they have a Bible and regularly go to church God will be pleased with them. It is right that people should have a Bible and go to church, but this by itself is not enough to make us right with God. Many religious people tend to look down on others and think they are better because of the knowledge they have. But they forget about the sinful things that are in their hearts which they often manage to hide from others – things like greed, jealousy, hate, and lust. God says that they have no excuse when they look down on others since they are just as bad because of the sinful things in their hearts that others do not see. For this reason they will not escape His judgment (see verse 3). Religion by itself can never cover up or deal with our sin. People forget that God sees and knows every wrong thought that passes through our minds. In the Psalms David said, “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4). SIN IS MORE THAN JUST WHAT WE DO Jesus said, “You have heard it said ‘Do not murder’ and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother (or who hates his brother – his fellow human being) will be subject to judgment”. He also said, “You have heard that it was said ‘Do not commit adultery’. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew, chapter 5, verses 21-22 and 27-28). Here we learn that sin is not just things that we do, it is also things that we think. God is concerned not just with our outward actions, but also with our inward thoughts and attitudes. All sin begins in our minds with evil thinking and many people who are depending on their religion to save them fail to realize this. (Read carefully James chapter 1, verses 13 to 15). God says that people who stubbornly cling to their religion while ignoring or excusing their wrong thoughts and attitudes are storing up judgment for themselves. There is a

time coming when God is going to judge everyone according to whether they have received or rejected His truth as it is in the Gospel. This is the only standard by which God will judge everyone. By turning from our sinful ways and accepting the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour God cleanses us from all sin and gives us the ability to do good and please Him. But if we reject the Saviour God has provided we will continue to live in our sinful condition and will finally face God’s judgment. CONSCIENCE -- SHOWING US RIGHT FROM WRONG Whether we are a religious person or not, or whether we are a Jew or a Gentile (everyone who is not a Jew) will make no difference in the way God finally judges us. It will all be according to what we have done with the truth of the Gospel. All who sin apart from the law will be judged apart from the Law. If they have not had the opportunity to read or hear God’s Law, God will judge them according to their conscience, because it is through our conscience, given us by God, that He shows us what is right and wrong. Acting as an internal witness bearer, or judge, God uses our conscience to examine our actions, our attitudes, and our choices. It guides us toward a good decision or warns us against a bad one. It may comfort us for choosing well or punish us with sharp pangs for choosing poorly. When people come to stand before God in final judgment they will not be able to plead ignorance concerning what is right or wrong because God has placed such knowledge within their conscience. Those who know God’s Law and have rejected the truth of the Gospel will be judged by the Law and it will be more serious for them seeing they have greater knowledge of what God requires of them. But by believing the Gospel and receiving the Saviour God has provided we do not need to come into judgment because Jesus has paid the penalty for us. (Now turn over to chapter 8 and read verse 1).

THE IMPORTANCE OF ROMANS

A VERSE TO LEARN: “Jesus Christ – who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead” – (Romans 1:4). AND IN MAORI: “Ihu Karaiti – i whakapuakina mai nei ko te Tama a te Atua i runga i te kaha i ta- te wairua o te tapu, i te mea ka whakaarahia i te hunga mate” – (Roma 1:4). THIS SERIES of 24 lessons deals with the first part of Paul’s letter to the Romans, consisting of the first 8 chapters and shows us how we can be right with God. You will need a Bible in a version you can easily understand and you will need to read carefully the passages as we go along. These lessons are based on the New International Version. (If you do not have a Bible, contact your leader or we can supply you with one from MPA Headquarters at a very reasonable cost). We should understand at the outset that, while Paul wrote this letter, God inspired him and revealed to him what should be written (see 2 Timothy 3:16). Paul’s Letter to the Romans is the clearest presentation of the Gospel of Christ in the whole of the Bible. It shows us plainly what God’s salvation is all about and why we need it. It sets before us the way to enter into a right relationship with God and how we can become true Christians in the Bible sense of the word. Romans opens up for us the richness of the Christian life, how to live it and to enjoy the full blessing of knowing our sins forgiven with the assurance of a wonderful future with Christ after our life on earth is ended. So, let’s get started: — INTRODUCTION The Apostle Paul begins the letter by introducing himself according to the custom in those days. Instead of putting your name at the end of a letter as we do today, back then you would put your name at the start. Paul had once been a violent man. He hated the Gospel of Christ and Christians and had spent his earlier life as one of their enemies trying to get rid of as many of them as he could. He

broke up families, had many thrown into prison and even committed murder in the process. But instead of wiping him out, God saved him and radically changed his life. Paul himself became a Christian and a preacher of the Gospel – the very message he once hated and had tried to destroy. (Read Acts chapter 9, verses 1 to 19 to see how it all happened). How amazing that he was the man God chose to write this important letter explaining the Gospel! Next Paul introduces the message he is about to explain. He calls it the Gospel of God because Paul did not make it up, neither did any other human being. It came from God Himself and is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He came into the human race as a perfect man as part of the whakapapa of King David and was proved to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. Christ’s resurrection is central to the Christian faith. It is that which makes the Christian faith different from every other religion. The Christian has a Master who has overcome death, has paid the penalty for sin and who lives forever with all power and authority belonging to Him. The graves of all other religious leaders are occupied, but the tomb of Jesus is empty because He is alive. Paul tells us that it was through Christ’s power that he had been saved, completely changed and made an apostle (a special messenger of Christ) to go to the nations of the world with the Gospel. The Gospel calls people out of their sinful ways to receive Christ as Saviour and gives them God’s power so that they can live in obedience to Him. The Bible teaches that this is what makes a person a saint (see verse 7) – a person who is set apart from sinful ways to belong to God. The Christians in Rome to whom Paul was writing are called saints because they had responded to the Gospel and had turned from their sinful ways to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Have you responded to the Gospel in this way?

Lesson No. 2

AN EFFECTIVE WITNESS

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 1, verses 8 to 17. A VERSE TO LEARN: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” – (Romans 1:16). - ki te rongopai: ko te kaha hoki ia o te Atua hei whakaora moAND IN MAORI: “Kahore hoki -oku whakama nga- tangata katoa e whakapono ana” – (Roma 1:16). It is good to be thankful and there are many things that we can thank God for. Paul was thankful to God for Christians who loved God and whose lives honoured Him. Such was the group of Christians who made up the church in the great city of Rome. Paul had not had a chance to visit them yet, but he had heard of them because their faith was being reported all over the world of those days. He constantly prayed for them that they would stay strong in their faith amidst all the moral corruption and idolatry in Rome. He knew it was not easy for them because they were being mistreated and victimized by the authorities for belonging to Christ just like Christians in some countries are today. A REAL ENCOURAGEMENT His letter to them would have been a real encouragement because they did not know what a great effect their faithfulness was having in many other places. Perhaps you too are a Christian finding it tough going living for the Lord. Don’t give in to evil temptation or let your faith get weak because God is able to use you in ways you may never know about. Paul longed to be with these Christians in Rome so that he could encourage them in person and so that they could encourage him. He knew the importance of Christian fellowship. It is important for Christians to meet together regularly for encouragement, fellowship and instruction from God’s Word. For this reason a Christian needs to belong to a sound, Bible-based church. Because of the marvelous change the Gospel had brought about in his own life Paul felt indebted to others to share the Gospel with them. He felt obligated to both the Jews and the Gentiles (everyone who is not a Jew), to those who were educated and those who were not so well educated – whoever they were he knew the Gospel was the real answer for what they needed, whether they realized it or not. This was another reason he wanted to travel to Rome so that he could help further the spread of the Gospel witness there. He knew that in that place of crime, cruelty

and corruption were many people enslaved by sinful, destructive lifestyles who could be set free and changed as he had been. THE GOSPEL IS POWERFUL This is why he could say that he was not ashamed of the Gospel. He knew it was the power of God because of the great change that had taken place in his own life and what he had seen happen in the lives of many others. Paul said on another occasion, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service. Even though I was once a blasphemer, and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy” (1 Timothy 1:12-13). The Gospel is still just as much the power of God today. It is still setting people free from bondage to destructive lifestyles such as violence, drugs, alcohol, immorality, gambling. It changes what a person is like on the inside. It turns hatred into love, jealousy into contentment, sadness into joy, restlessness into peace and aimlessness into purposeful living. Have you experienced the power of the Gospel in your life? And it is only through the Gospel of Christ that God is able to make people right with Himself. By His death at Calvary Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin and when we receive Him as our personal Saviour by faith, God cleanses us from sin and breaks its power in our lives. He then exchanges our sin for His righteousness. The Bible tells us that “God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Lesson No. 3

WHY WE NEED THE GOSPEL

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 1, verses 18 to 32. A VERSE TO LEARN: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” – (Romans 1:20). - mea -ona, kahore AND IN MAORI: “E kitea nuitia ana hoki nga nei i kitea, no- te hanganga iho ra- o te ao, e - ara- tonu - kaha mau tonu, mohiotia ana ki nga- mea i hanga, me tona atuatanga; kia kore ai he kupu whakahoki ma ratou” – (Roma 1:20). We often talk about God’s love, mercy and grace and this is good because God does love us and He is only too willing to show His grace and mercy. But what we don’t talk about very often is God’s wrath or anger. In verse 18 of our Bible reading we are told that God is angry about all the godlessness and wickedness of people who ignore Him, reject His truth and go their own sinful ways. NO EXCUSE God tells us that we have no excuse for ignoring Him because evidence of Himself, His greatness, power and majesty is all around us in creation (verses 19 and 20). Evolution says that everything came from nothing for no reason – it just all happened by chance. But the Bible tells us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The more we study creation the more we see design and purpose behind it all. Creation points to a Mastermind who brought it all into existence and the Bible tells us that this Mastermind is God. GOD REJECTED If we go back far enough in human history we find there was a time when people had a true knowledge of God. There is evidence in almost every culture of the world, including the Maori culture, that they once had knowledge of the one Supreme Being (Io to the ancient Maori). But because people did not acknowledge and appreciate Him they lost the true knowledge of God and their thinking became futile or useless. They rejected God and the darkness of their sinful ways crowded out the light and life-giving knowledge they had of Him and they became corrupted in all they did and thought. They made up their own ideas of

God to suit themselves and gradually began to worship false gods representing human beings, birds, animals and reptiles. They began to worship and serve these things that God had created instead of worshipping Him, the One who had created all things. For this reason God gave them over to their own foolish ways and the further people got away from God the more corrupt they became in every way. They degraded themselves and became controlled by evil things such as selfishness, hate, racism and sexual lust and impurity. They exchanged the truth and purity they once had for falsehood and became deceived and enslaved to their own evil ways. Sexual lust became more and more depraved until the natural roles of male and female as God had created them were perverted and homosexuality became common practice. Horrible diseases not known before began to inflict people as a result. THE CONSEQUENCES From all of this we learn that when people are determined to ignore God and go their own way, finally God just lets them go to the full extent of their rebellion to reap the sad consequences. This is why we read, “God gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done” (verse 28, also Psalm 81:11-12). Then from verse 29 to verse 32 we have a list of all the evil things that come from people who reject God and whose minds have become depraved. They are the things that continually blight and ruin mankind. It all shows the sad and hopeless situation we have got ourselves into because we have rejected God! Is there an answer to all this and what can bring us back into a right relationship with God? As we continue with our studies in Romans we will find out how Jesus Christ is the only answer.

M AO R I P O S TA L A O T E A R O A

5& ,616 8)","03" #*#-& 456%: #00,4

BIBLE LESSONS

He rama tau kupu ki oku waewae, he marama ki toku ara. Waiata 119:105

Book 3

Maori Postal Aotearoa #PY t 8BO HBOVJ Phone: (06) 343 7957 mpss@acp.o rg.nz www.maorip ostal.co.nz

"MM UIFTF CPPLT BSF TVJUBCMF GPS JOEJWJEVBM PS HSPVQ TUVEJFT

Te Wairua

Tapu

The Holy S

pirit

Maori Postal Aotearoa has a large range of different products available. You can view and order them online at our website:

www.maoripostal.co.nz

or you can contact us and we can send a catalogue out to you!

Leader:

AKO TAHI Piki Tahi The Romans Series 1

5-8

This certificate is awarded for completing the Romans 1 Series!

Lesson No. 8 THE ARK OF THE COVENANT READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Exodus, chapter 25, verses 10 to 22. A VERSE TO LEARN: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men” – (1 Timothy, chapter 2, verses 5-6). AND IN MAORI: “Kotahi tonu te Atua, kotahi te takawaenga o te Atua, o nga- tangata, ko ia ano- he tangata, ara- ko Karaiti Ihu, i hoatu nei i a ia hei utu mo- te katoa” — (1 Timoti 2:5-6). T HE A RK OF THE C OVENANT was a special object that God used to teach some important lessons about His great plan of salvation. It was a large chest made of acacia wood and covered with gold. It measured about 1.1 meters long, and about 700mm both wide and high. It had four feet and two gold rings fastened on each side through which poles were inserted to carry it. The poles were to remain in the rings at all times. The lid on the top was called the Atonement Cover, or “Mercy Seat.” On top of it were two carved cherubim of pure gold, facing each other with their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover. It was kept in the room called the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle God told Moses to build for Himself and the nation of Israel during their wilderness journeys. God told Moses, “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Testimony (or Covenant), I will meet with you . . .”. This was a picture of the one place where God and mankind could meet. The only other person allowed into this part of the tabernacle was the high priest and this was only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) when special sacrifices were made for his own sins and the sins of the people. He was to enter with the blood of a bull and of a goat which was to be sprinkled on and before the mercy seat as God had prescribed. If he did not do everything as God said he would be struck dead. This was to show how seriously God, who is absolutely holy (tapu), regards our sin. There were three things in the ark but we only want to mention the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17).

We see, then, that inside the ark under the mercy seat was the Law or the Ten Commandments which the people had disobeyed or broken. The only way an approach could be made to God was with the blood of the sacrifices God had prescribed and the blood was to be sprinkled on the mercy seat. These sacrifices were to be made every year on this Day of Atonement. By following these instructions given by God for this special day, the sins of the people would be forgiven for another year. In this way God gave an Old Testament picture of His great plan of salvation to be accomplished by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ which, at the time, was still in the future. But those Old Testament sacrifices could never permanently take away sin. They only had value by the fact that they looked forward to the great and complete sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. By virtue of His sacrifice Jesus is now the one meeting place or the one Mediator between us who are sinful and God who is holy. He has done this by shedding His precious blood in His death on the cross and rising again from death to be our Saviour. When we come to Him by faith He permanently cleanses us from all sin. God’s Word says, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7b). To help you understand more what Jesus has done here is some extra reading for you to do: Hebrews, chapter 9, verses 24 to 28 and chapter 10, verses 1 to 18. Jesus said plainly, “I am the way, the truth and the life: No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Ka mea a Ihu, “Ko Ahau te huarahi, te pono, me te ora: e kore rawa tetahi tangata e haere ake ki te Matua, ki te kahore Ahau” (Hoani 14:6).

PIKI TAHI Lesson No. 5

ROMANS SERIES

CLIMBING TOGETHER

WHAT ABOUT THE JEWS?

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 2, verses 17 to 29 and chapter 3, verses 1 to 8. A VERSE TO LEARN: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? . . . Much in every way. First of all they have been entrusted with the very words of God” — (Romans 3:1-2). - te painga i hua ki te Hurai? - mea katoa: Ko te tuatahi, kua AND IN MAORI: “Ha, he aha ra . . . He nui ra- i nga - kupu a te Atua” — (Roma 3:1-2). akona ratou ki nga There are three groups of people that God recognizes in the world – The Jews, the Gentiles (everyone who is not a Jew) and the Church of God (see 1 Corinthians 10:32). In this lesson we want to think about the Jews and where they fit into God’s purpose. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob God brought forth a nation to be a witness of Himself to the rest of the world. He made a covenant with them that they would always be His chosen people. Through this nation God delivered His Holy Word which is now our Bible, and through the nation of Israel the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world. They were not always faithful to God and let Him down many times through their disobedience. On occasions they even turned to false gods. But God still loved them even though He had to punish them for their rebellion. Even today the nation of Israel is an important sign to the world of the truth of His Word as we watch events unfolding in the Middle East surrounding this nation. But the big mistake the Jewish people made was that they thought they were better than everyone else and that their place of privilege and their national mark of identification – circumcision — would guarantee their salvation. Therefore they became careless in the way that they lived and accused other people of doing wrong things while they were doing almost the same things themselves. In fact, some of their behaviour was so bad that they were turning Gentile people away from God. In our reading for this lesson Paul shows them that they are just as much in need of the Gospel of Christ as anyone else. He shows them that their national mark of identification, circumcision, meant nothing if they failed to honour God and His holy requirements as seen in God’s

Law. If people who did not have the Jewish national mark of circumcision obeyed God, then they would be accepted by God, whereas Jewish people with their mark of circumcision who did not obey God would not be accepted. This tells us plainly that God is concerned with what people are like inside, rather than outward physical marks or symbols. Such things are worthless if they do not correspond with an inward reality and a life that honours God. This is why Paul said “circumcision is that of the heart” (verse 2:29). He meant that the true mark of those who are acceptable to God is seen in a person’s life by their love for God and their obedience to Him. This is what really counts and the Jews of Paul’s day had forgotten this. If the Jews are in just as much need of the Gospel as the Gentiles, in chapter 3, verse 1, Paul asks the question, “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew?” Paul says they have great advantage because the very words of God were given first to them and also the Messiah, Jesus Christ, came into the world through them. However, advantage does not automatically bring God’s blessing: It does, however, bring responsibility. It is only obedience to the Word of God that brings blessing and this is where the Jewish nation failed. But despite their failure God remains faithful to them and to the promises he made to their ancestors (see chapter 11, verses 1-2). The nation of Israel is still God’s chosen nation and still has a large part to play in His programme. Today their very existence as a nation is a witness to the truth of God’s Word. After their dispersal throughout the world for over 2000 years and being gathered and made a nation once again in 1948 is in fulfillment of His Word. But individual Jews need the Gospel just as much as individual Gentiles.

Lesson No. 6

Lesson No. 7 THE VERDICT

THE ANSWER

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 3, verses 9 to 20.

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 3, verses 21 to 31.

A VERSE TO LEARN: “No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the Law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” — (Romans 3:20). - aroaro: ma- roto mai i - te mea kahore AND IN MAORI: “No he mahi o te ture e tika ai tetahi kikokiko i tona te ture te matauranga ki te hara” — (Roma 3:20).

A VERSE TO LEARN: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify” — (Romans 3:21). AND IN MAORI: “Otiia, kua whakakitea inaianei he tika a te Atua, motu ke- i te ture, he mea whakaatu na- te ture, na- nga- poropiti” — (Roma 3:21).

So far in our lessons in Romans we have discovered in chapter one that all the Gentile people are under sin and away from God. We have seen that they have no excuse for ignoring God because Creation is a strong witness to God. In chapter two we have seen that the religious people and the Jews are also under sin and away from God. Now here, in chapter three, the conclusion is made and the verdict declared that all alike are under sin and that as such no one is acceptable to God and all deserve His judgment. (See also verse 23).

Having shown us our sinfulness and our complete failure to measure up to His holy requirements, God can act in one of two ways: He can either reject us entirely and cast the whole human race into Hell, or He can have mercy on us and make a way for us to be saved and acceptable to Him. In this lesson we see how God has shown us His love and has had mercy on us by making a way to deal with our sin and bring us into a right relationship with Himself.

Verses 11 to 18 are a general description of how God sees the human race and we are presented with a rather sad picture. We see that by nature we are unrighteous or sinful. By ourselves we have a wrong understanding of God and have no desire to seek Him or honour Him. We have turned aside from the way God wants us to go and we have become worthless to Him as a result. TOTAL CORRUPTION Because people have turned away from God every part of their being has become corrupted. This includes their speech which is why their throats are described as “open graves” (verse 13) pouring forth corruption. (We only have to listen to the average Tv programme these days to realize the truth of this). Human speech is frequently characterized by deceit, harmful gossip, immoral talk, and cursing and bitterness. Feet being “swift to shed blood” (verse 15) implies violence and murder and almost every news broadcast and newspaper verifies the truth of this. Without God we are doomed to “ruin and misery” not only in this life but especially

in that which is to come. “The way of peace” (verse 17) is a blessing that is unknown to all who have turned away from God. Peace is something the world craves for but cannot find because it does not know peace with God. It is an unknown quantity to many people and we see the lack of it in our homes, in society and so often between the nations of our world. The basic reason for all of this is seen in verse 18, “There is no fear of God before their eyes”. People have no time for God. They do not respect Him or obey Him. Their Creator is no longer relevant in their thinking, and we wonder why our world is in the mess it is in! GOD’S MIRROR The mirror in which we see ourselves as God sees us is His Law which is summed up in the 10 commandments of Exodus, chapter 20, verses 1-17. (It would be a good idea to read this passage through). As we understand what the Law is saying to us we see our sinfulness and how far short we have come of God’s holy requirements. It leaves us with nothing that we can say for ourselves before God except to accept the verdict and admit that we are guilty. There is no use us trying to keep the Law in order to get ourselves right with God because it is not possible for us to do so. In James, chapter 2, verse 10, we read, “For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it”. So we cannot be saved from the penalty or the power of sin by trying to keep the Law because all it does is make us aware of our sin. What then can we do? What is the answer? The answer is found in the next lesson.

Up to this point the news concerning the human race has been bad. But now we have some good news. Although we have broken God’s holy Law and our sin has separated us from God and condemned us, verse 21 tells us He has put in place a tremendous plan (often referred to as God’s plan of salvation) whereby people can be made righteous despite the fact that they have broken His Law. This plan was actually referred to in various ways in the Old Testament right from the time that our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin (Genesis 3:15). It has now been made clear in the New Testament and especially here in our Bible reading for this lesson. Through this plan we can be redeemed or made acceptable to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God: that is, by committing ourselves entirely to Him and trusting Him as our personal Saviour (verse 22). Every person who does this is forgiven by God, cleansed of all sin and made acceptable to Him. God has put this plan in place because, while He hates our sin, He loves us in a way that is far greater than we can ever imagine. God’s great plan of salvation is the only way we can ever be saved. It is the only way we can be made acceptable to God and be in Heaven. This is so because, as verse 23 says, “we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Therefore, because

we have all sinned, all of us (whether Jews or Gentiles) can only be saved in the same way – through God’s mercy and His plan of salvation. There is no way we can save ourselves or make ourselves acceptable to God, no matter how hard we may try. God’s plan of salvation involves someone else taking the penalty for our sin in our stead. There was only one Person in all of Heaven and earth who could do this and this was God’s one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (In February’s lessons for Year 1, Piki Tahi, we learned about God and the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ). Verse 25 tells us that “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement”. Some versions of the Bible more accurately use the word “propitiation” instead of “atonement”. “Atonement” means that the sin has been passed over or covered whereas “propitiation” means that the sacrifice of Jesus completely satisfied the just demands of a holy God for judgment of sin, allowing Him to righteously show mercy and forgive the sinner. The Hebrew word for “propitiation” was also used to describe “the mercy seat” which formed the lid of the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle in the Old Testament. (In our next lesson we will learn about the Ark of the Covenant and what the mercy seat was actually a picture of). Now by us placing our trust in what Jesus has done for us at Calvary our sin is cancelled and we are brought into a right relationship with God. We cannot take credit for any part of our salvation. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, God has done everything necessary for our sin to be dealt with and for us to be saved. We are made right with God without trying to keep the Law for it is not possible for us to do so. Paul asks the question in verse 31, “Does God’s plan of salvation cancel out the Law?” The answer is “Not at all!” Rather it reveals the real purpose of the Law – to show us our sinfulness and our need to receive God’s mercy and salvation.

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BIBLE LESSONS

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Book 3

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AKO TAHI Piki Tahi The Romans Series 1

9 - 12

This certificate is awarded for completing the Romans 1 Series!

Lesson No. 12 PEACE WITH GOD READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 5, verses 1 to 11. A VERSE TO LEARN: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” – (Romans, chapter 5, verse 1). - i te mea ka tika nei i te whakapono, kia mau ta - tatou AND IN MAORI: “Na, maunga rongo ki te Atua, he mea na to tatou Ariki, na Ihu Karaiti” — (Roma 5:1). There are many blessings we receive as the result of being made right with God through personal faith and we will look at some during this series of lessons. But the one we want to look at now is that of “peace with God” as mentioned in our Memory Verse.

and side – the wounds He had received in winning the great battle against sin and Satan for us. The fact that He had appeared to His disciples and shown them His wounds proved that the war had been won and there is now peace with God for all who trust Him.

In our natural condition as sinners, having broken God’s holy Law and having fallen short of His holy standard (Romans 3:23), we are enemies of God. As such we belong to Satan and therefore a state of war exists between us and God. But now, if we through faith have received the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour, we have changed sides and a state of peace exists between us and God. As our verse says, “We have peace with God” and are no longer at war with Him. This is so because Jesus has dealt with the cause of the war through taking our sins upon Himself and paying the price. (Look again at verses 6 to 8 of our Bible reading).

Having peace with God means we are really on the side of victory. Because those disciples had seen Jesus after He had risen from the dead they were no longer afraid. They became very courageous men who went all over the world of those days preaching the Gospel even though they suffered much persecution. They were even prepared to die for Jesus as most of them did. They would not have done so unless they were completely sure Jesus was alive.

In any situation of war there can never be peace until the battle is won. Jesus has fought and won the great battle against sin, death and Satan for all those who put their trust in Him and for them the war is over. And so the question arises, are you still at war with God or do you have peace with God? In John chapter 20, verse 19 and 20, we see that very soon after Jesus rose from the dead He appeared to His frightened disciples. They were grieving and scared out of their wits because they thought Jesus had been killed and defeated by His enemies and soon those same enemies would be coming for them also. Suddenly Jesus appeared among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He showed them the terrible marks of crucifixion in His hands

Because Jesus is alive and will never die again He is able to keep safe from the power of Satan those who trust in Him. (See again verse 10 of our Bible reading). Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25 says, “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them”. If we are true Christians Satan may remind us of our sin from time to time and we may become discouraged. But Jesus would remind us that He has paid the price of our sins by His own precious blood. In effect, He commands Satan, “Leave this person alone. She/he belongs to Me!” Not only is Jesus alive for ever more (Revelation 1:17-18), but He has all power in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). When we consider all that God has done for us through Christ we have much to “rejoice in God” for. Because He is alive with all authority vested in Him He certainly has the power to keep every promise He has made. For example, He said when He was here on earth, “Since I am going away to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). This is another tremendous reason for Christians to “rejoice in God” and be glad.

PIKI TAHI Lesson No. 9

ROMANS SERIES

CLIMBING TOGETHER

JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 4, verses 1 to 16. A VERSE TO LEARN: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” – (Romans, chapter 4, verse 7). AND IN MAORI: “Ka hari te hunga kua oti a- ratou mahi tutu- te muru, o- ratou hara te hipoki” — (Roma 4:7). Having shown that we are made right with God (which is what the word “justified” means) by faith in what God has done through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul now answers those Jewish and religious people who did not agree with him. They said that his teaching was new and therefore it was wrong.

ABRAHAM Paul refers to two Old Testament examples to show that people have only ever been made right with God through faith rather than their own efforts in keeping the Law. The first one he refers to is that of Abraham. (His name was Abram at first but God changed it to Abraham, meaning “father of many”). He was referred to as “the friend of God” and, being the tupuna (ancestor) of the Jewish nation, he was revered by them. Paul shows that the way in which he was saved and made right with God must apply at least to the whole Israelite nation. And so how did he enter into a right relationship with God? Was it through his own efforts? If so he would have reason to boast about his achievements rather than God’s grace. But we find this was not the case because Abraham was a sinner like everyone else. We are told in Genesis 15:6 that “Abraham believed God and He (God) credited it to him as righteousness”. In other words, Abraham’s faith in God’s promise to him, apart from his own efforts, brought him into a right relationship with God. We could put it this way, Abraham trusted God and God saved him.

DAVID The second example that Paul uses is that of David, one of Israel’s best known kings who occupied a place in the whakapapa of the Lord Jesus Christ. David was referred to as a man “after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22) and yet he too was a sinner. In fact on one occasion he not only committed adultery, he also committed murder in trying to cover it up. (You can read the account of this in 2 Samuel, chapter 11). But David found that when he confessed his sin to God and repented that God forgave and cleansed him from all his sin. This is why he said, “Blessed are they whose

transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord will never count against him” (Psalm 32:1-2). Although David committed such grievous sin he was forgiven and cleansed because, like Abraham, he trusted God. (His prayer of repentance is found in Psalm 51). Because the Lord Jesus has taken the penalty for our sin, God will do the same for us if we sincerely call on Him for mercy. There may well have been Jewish people in Paul’s day who said there was no blessing or salvation for those outside the Jewish nation. Paul has already pointed out that God is not only the God of the Jews (the circumcised) but also of the Gentiles (the uncircumcised) as well (Romans 3:29-30). Once more, using Abraham as the example, he shows clearly that salvation is for Jews and Gentiles alike (verses 9-12). He does so by showing that Abraham believed God and received God’s blessing of salvation before he was circumcised, or before he became a Jew, while he was still a Gentile. Thereby he became the tupuna of both believing Jews and believing Gentiles. A wonderful promise is referred to in verse 13. It concerns Abraham being made “heir of the world”. This is the case by virtue of the fact that through faith he is the tupuna of believing people of all nationalities and that one day, under the reign of Christ, these people of faith, will be given world dominion with Christ. They are now co-heirs with Christ and then they will enter into the fullness of their inheritance (Romans 8:17). To summarize briefly what we have learned so far in our lessons in Romans we have seen that, whether Jew or Gentile, we are all sinners having broken God’s holy Law. As such we deserve His eternal punishment, but because of God’s love and mercy He has made a way for us to be forgiven and cleansed of our sin. He has done this through the complete sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. There is no other way that we can be saved and made right with God. Jesus is the only Mediator between God and us. When we repent of our sin and by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we are forgiven and cleansed of all sin, brought into a right relationship with God, and set on our way to Heaven.

Lesson No. 10

Lesson No. 11 WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT FAITH AND GRACE

LIFE OUT OF DEATH

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 to 10 and Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1 to 6. A VERSE TO LEARN: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” – (Hebrews 11:6). AND IN MAORI: “Ki te kahore hoki he whakapono, e kore e taea he mea e ahuareka mai ai ia”

— (Hiperu 11:6).

We have seen that both Abraham and David had their sins forgiven and were made right with God through faith in God. We also learned that they are the examples of how everyone is made right with God. Now we need to take some time to think about what the Bible says about FAITH and GRACE. Perhaps a good place to start is with a verse where both of these words are mentioned. In Ephesians 2:8 we are told that “It is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”.

there that “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). After having paid the penalty for our sins Jesus rose from the dead to be our living and loving Saviour and Master. (Read carefully 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 3 and 4, and Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 to 11). This is what God has done so that we could be forgiven and cleansed of sin and be made right with Him. And in this we see the wonder of His grace.

“God now commands all people everywhere to repent”

But just because God has done all this does not mean that we are In this verse grace includes all automatically forgiven and cleansed of that God has done so that our sins can our sin. We need to accept God’s grace be forgiven, we can be made right with by personally accepting the Saviour Him and be brought into all the (Acts 17:30). God has provided. This is where blessings of becoming members of His personal FAITH is necessary. It is the family. Grace has been referred to as link between us and all the blessings of “God’s unmerited favour”. In other words, Grace is something that we do not deserve, but God’s grace. Faith is made up of two things – trust and because of God’s love and mercy He gives it because we obedience. We need to trust the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour and give our lives to Him. We also need to repent need it. of our sin because the Bible says “God now commands Another verse that helps us to understand God’s all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Notice Grace is 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the GRACE this is not a suggestion, but a command requiring our of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet obedience. for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His To repent means to be willing to turn away from poverty might become rich”. our sin and sinful ways and habits. It means to stop making Jesus, the holy Son of God, was willing to leave all excuses for our sin and own up to our sinfulness before the riches, glories and majesty of Heaven that were so rightly God. By ourselves we will not have the strength to give up His and come to our world that had rebelled against God our sinful ways and this is why we need to commit ourselves and been ruined by sin. While here in this world He had to Him because God will give us the strength to overcome very little possessions and could say “Foxes have holes and sinful things. But we need to be willing for this to happen. birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place When we exercise faith in this way, God brings us out of the to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). darkness of sin and gives us spiritual life and light. We become This is truly amazing but His real poverty was not right with Him with new life and sins forgiven, a new desire seen in His lack of worldly possessions, but in His death at to please God, a new power to obey Him and a new destiny Calvary where He became answerable for our sin. It was to look forward to.

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 4, verses 18 to 25 and Genesis, chapter 17. A VERSE TO LEARN: “He (Christ) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised again to life for our justification” – (Romans, chapter 4, verse 25). - -o tatou - i whakaarahia mo- tatou AND IN MAORI: “I tukua nei mo he, kia whakatikaia” — (Roma 4:25). Now let’s return to our studies in Romans. When all seemed to be humanly impossible, Abraham believed God. God had confirmed His promise to Abraham when he was almost 100 years old that he would be the father of many nations. What is more, God would make a special covenant with one of Abraham’s sons who was yet to be born. Under normal circumstances this was impossible because Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were well past the age of child-bearing. As far as child-bearing was concerned their bodies were dead. But Abraham believed that God could do that which seems impossible to us (see Hebrews 11:11-12). Almost 25 years before, Abraham had learned to trust God when God called him from his own country, people and his father’s household to go to a new land God would show him (Genesis 12:1-5). Abraham had responded in obedience even though he wasn’t sure where he was going, but he believed that if God had called him it would be worthwhile obeying. Here we have a good example of faith (see Hebrews 11:8). At that time God had promised Abraham he would make him into a great nation and would bless him. Abraham did not know how this would happen, but again he believed God would do it. Now, when both Abraham and Sarah were old, God renewed His promise and within a year, the promised son, Isaac, was born and from him came the nation of Israel. Isaac’s birth was truly a miracle because it was physically impossible. But Abraham believed God and God brought life out of death. More than this, Abraham’s faith in God — his trust and obedience – brought him into a right relationship

with God. In other words, his faith was counted for righteousness. But God’s way of people being made right with Himself or “justified” through faith was not just forAbraham. The example of Abraham is used here so that we too may know how we can be made right with God through faith. This can only happen because the Lord Jesus went into death for us to take the penalty for our sin, and was raised again to life to be our Saviour. Our Memory Verse shows that, out of death Jesus, in mighty power, came forth into life to save us from sin, give us new life and make us acceptable to God. His resurrection (His coming back to life) is proof that His sacrifice is sufficient to deal with our sin and make us right with God. God tells us in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1 that, without Christ, we are “dead in transgressions and sins”. By nature we are spiritually dead because of our sin. When we repent of our sin and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour God brings us out of spiritual death into spiritual life. We are “made alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5) and because He has dealt with our sin we share in the victory that He has gained over death. (We will study this truth further in Lessons 14 and 15). Jesus said, “Because I live you shall live also” (John 14:19). This means that for the person who knows Jesus as Saviour, physical death is simply the doorway into His immediate presence for ever. If we are alive when He returns we will be transported into His presence without seeing physical death. But if we remain in our sin by rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, when we die or at the final judgment we will pass into eternal death and Hell. Thus the most important decision in life is the decision to either receive or reject Christ as our personal Saviour for on this decision rests our eternal destiny. For the person who trusts Jesus as Saviour, physical death is simply the doorway His immediate presence for ever.

M AO R I P O S TA L A O T E A R O A

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BIBLE LESSONS

He rama tau kupu ki oku waewae, he marama ki toku ara. Waiata 119:105

Book 3

Maori Postal Aotearoa #PY t 8BO HBOVJ Phone: (06) 343 7957 mpss@acp.o rg.nz www.maorip ostal.co.nz

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AKO TAHI Piki Tahi The Romans Series 1

13 - 16

This certificate is awarded for completing the Romans 1 Series!

Lesson No. 16

PIKI TAHI NOT UNDER LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE

Lesson No. 13

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 6, verses 15 to 23. A VERSE TO LEARN: “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” — (Romans, chapter 6, verse 18). - ka -atea nei koutou i te hara, ka meinga koutou he pononga ne a- te tika” AND IN MAORI: “Na, — (Roma 6:18).

In verse 1, Paul had asked the question, “Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?” To answer this he has shown what God’s grace has done through Christ in the life of every Christian. He has shown that continuing in sin is not possible, because a Christian has died to sin and is alive in Christ. Now he asks another question in verse 15, arising out of verse 14: “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” Is there not the danger of coming out from under Law with all its regulations against evil, and falling into a worse sinful condition because the restraint of the Law is removed? Paul’s immediate response to this question is just as definite as was his response to verse 1: “By no means!” As we have pointed out before, God’s grace is designed to deal with our sin, not to provide a way for us to continue in it. Paul now uses the illustration of the slave and his master to help us understand. He presents us with two masters – Sin and Obedience. Before a person becomes a Christian he/she is a slave to sin and it leads to bondage, ruin and finally death. (Death in this passage is eternal separation from God in Hell. Also in verse 23). But when a person receives the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and is converted, he or she receives a new desire and a new power to obey God. When we are truly converted we really do want to please God. We may not always do it very well, but the desire to do so is there in our hearts. This results in practical righteousness (or right living) and eternal life. This desire which is born out of love and thankfulness to God gives us a stronger motivation to please Him than the restrictions and commands of the Law. God wants us to live for Him not just because we have to, but because we love Him. Paul is thankful to God that the Christians to whom he is writing had made the all-important decision to receive Christ as Saviour. They had wholeheartedly obeyed the Gospel by repenting of their sin and opening their hearts to Christ. Now they had been set free from the slavery of sin and had become servants of righteousness. Such is true of

all genuine Christians who need to grow and develop in their new life in Christ. Here instructions are given on how to do this. Paul reminds his readers that before they became Christians they offered their bodies in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness. When we are slaves to sin it starts off in a small way but it always increases. For instance, when we are young we may start off telling the odd lie, but as we get older we find that we become more and more bound by dishonesty. We lose our trustworthiness and integrity and finally we get to the stage where we find it difficult to tell what is true and what is false. The same applies to every evil thing we do. Whether it be theft, violent behaviour, sexual immorality – it all starts in a small way but always gets bigger until we are bound and can no longer control it. But now that they were Christians they needed to offer their bodies as servants to righteousness or right living. As Christians we are to give ourselves to those things that are pleasing to God and of benefit to our fellow human beings. The more we do this the more these wholesome things will grow and become part of our character. We will become known for our honesty, kindness, willingness to help, and generosity – all the things that honour God and help others. God’s grace through Christ has given us the power to say “No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus chapter 2, verse and 12). Before we become Christians serving sin we reap the results of shameful things that cause bitterness, misery and death. But by receiving Christ and serving righteousness we reap holiness, true happiness and eternal life. This is because “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” as verse 23 says. Sin pays wages and those wages are death. But what God has for us is a gift -- it is eternal life. It is the greatest gift of all and being a gift it cannot be earned. It can only be received, and we receive it when we open our hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.

ROMANS SERIES

CLIMBING TOGETHER

GOD’S GRACE — GREATER THAN OUR SIN

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 5, verses 12 to 21. A VERSE TO LEARN: “The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” – (Romans, chapter 5, verse 20). AND IN MAORI: “I puta mai te ture kia nui ai te hara; heoi i te hara e nui noa ana, kua hua noa ake te aroha noa” — (Roma 5:20). Have you ever stopped to think what a farreaching effect our decisions can have? The decisions we make now not only affect us but can also affect our children for generations to come. How important, then, that we make good decisions! Our first parents, Adam and Eve, made a bad decision when they decided to go their own way and disobey God. Their decision brought sin into the human race, and that terrible spiritual disease with its result of death has affected every human being born since that time. When Adam sinned he took himself out of the purpose God had for him and started humankind on a path to ruin and destruction. Our lesson shows that whether or not we understand what God’s requirements are as seen in the Law (the Ten Commandments), sin still has its disastrous results. When Adam sinned God had not yet given the Ten Commandments. But the effects of sin were just as real in the lives of people then as they are today. There was misery and hatred, lying and thieving, violence, murder and moral corruption – and death. So whether or not we are aware of what God’s Law says makes no difference concerning the effects of sin in our lives. What Adam did affected all his progeny – the whole human race. The Bible says that when we are born we are born “in Adam” belonging to his descendants and having the spiritual disease of sin with its consequences. But when we are willing to turn from our sin and we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour God says that we are no longer “in Adam” but we are then “in Christ”. What Adam did in disobeying God brought in terrible results, but what Christ has done more than makes up for what Adam has done for those who trust Him. God tells us in His Word, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Adam may

have plunged the human race into sin and death, but through Christ’s death for us and His resurrection He has made available cleansing from sin, eternal life, peace with God, and ultimately Heaven itself in His presence for ever. Verse 20 is important because it gives us the real reason for God’s Law. “The Law was added so that the trespass might increase”. We could put it this way, “God gave us the Ten Commandments so that our sin would become obvious”. The Law is like God’s measuring rule so that we can see how far short we have come of His holy standard. It also shows us that we cannot save ourselves and that we need God’s grace. And so the verse then says, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more”. In other words, where our sin has been made so obvious, God’s grace is even more obvious. What God has done in His grace is more than adequate to deal with our sin and to bring us into a right relationship with Himself. His grace not only removes our sin, but it justifies us or makes us righteous so that we are acceptable to Him. For the person who knows Christ as Saviour sin no longer reigns in his or her life. It is no longer the dominant factor holding us in its grip. Rather righteousness reigns or is dominant instead. This is because Christ has taken our sin and exchanged it for God’s righteousness. “God made Him (Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Ultimately all sin will be fully dealt with and completely destroyed along with death, and righteousness and eternal life will reign supreme through our Lord Jesus Christ for all who trust Him as Saviour.

Lesson No. 14

Lesson No. 15

DEAD TO SIN — ALIVE IN CHRIST (Part 1) READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 6, verses 1 to 7. A VERSE TO LEARN: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). - ki te mea kei roto i a te Karaiti tetahi, AND IN MAORI: “Na, he mahinga hou ia; kua pahemo nga- mea tawhito, na, kua hou nga mea katoa” (2 Koriniti 5:17). “Now that I’m saved I can live how I like and it won’t matter because I can never be lost!” This is a wrong idea that some people have and we deal with it in this lesson. Paul begins chapter six by asking a question he knew would occur in the minds of some of his readers, “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” This question arises out of what has just been said at the end of chapter five, verse 20. The thought may well be expressed in these words, “Seeing that God’s grace is great enough to deal with our sin, why don’t we just keep on sinning and fulfilling our lustful desires because the more sin we can heap up, the more grace there will be to cover it?” Some of Paul’s enemies were actually accusing him of teaching this (3:8). Paul is quick to answer the question with a definite “By no means!” If you think that as a Christian you can continue with a sinful lifestyle then you have missed the whole point of God’s grace and salvation. God’s grace is designed to deal with sin, not to make a way for it to increase. Verses 2 to 4 explain why a Christian cannot continue to be dominated by sin. All true Christians “have died to sin”. How, then, can they continue to be enslaved by it? Because Christ has died in our place, God sees the person who trusts Him as Saviour as having died with Christ. In Galatians 2:20 Paul puts it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”. When we trust Christ as Saviour we are “baptized” or “immersed” in Christ. (The Greek word from which “baptized” is translated means to dip or immerse). This means that we are identified with Him in His death, His burial and His resurrection. (Water baptism is a picture of our identification with Him when we accept Christ as Saviour and is a step of obedience that all Christians should take. It does not make us a Christian, but it does mark us as a Christian). When we trust Christ as Saviour we are immersed

in Him and we are no longer “in Adam”, but are “in Christ”. (Look again at 1 Corinthians 15:22). This means that first of all we are immersed into His death because, as sinners, His death was really our death. We were the guilty ones who deserved death but Jesus took our place (verse 3). We are represented in the death of Christ and in that death our sin is completely dealt with and we are cleansed by His precious blood. God tells us in His Word, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). But not only are we immersed into His death, but also into His burial (proof that He actually died) and resurrection (verses 5 to 7). Just as Jesus came out of death into new life, so do we with Him. Our old life dominated by sin has died and we now have a new life dominated by righteousness. With this new life comes a new desire to please God, a new power to live for Him, a new purpose for living and a new destiny – Heaven instead of Hell. We also develop a hatred for sinful things and it grieves us when we do something we know displeases God. (When we do we need to confess it to God as soon as possible). Our Memory Verse helps us to understand this truth. This is what it means to be converted and now we can see clearly why the Christian cannot “go on sinning so that grace may increase” (verse 1). God’s grace is designed to free us from a sinful lifestyle and bring us into new life in Christ. There is a simple test you can give yourself to know whether or not you have been truly converted. It consists of two basic questions: 1. Do you have a desire to want to please God by the way you live? 2. Do you have a hatred of sin? Does it grieve you when you know you have done something displeasing to God?

DEAD TO SIN — ALIVE IN CHRIST (Part 2) READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 6, verses 8 to 14. A VERSE TO LEARN: “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” —(Romans, chapter 6, verse 11). - AND IN MAORI: “Waihoki mahara iho ki a koutou, kua whakatupapakutia koutou ki te hara, e ora ana ia ki te Atua, i roto i a Ihu Karaiti” — (Roma 6:11). In part 1 we learned why the Christian cannot continue in a sinful lifestyle. It is because he or she has been immersed in Christ into His death and this means that the Christian has therefore died to sin and is no longer dominated by it. But not only are we, as Christians, united to Christ in His death, we are also united to Him in His resurrection. This means that we are eternally joined to Him to share His resurrected life both while we are in this world and ultimately with Him in Heaven itself.

JESUS IS ALIVE! Our eternal life with Christ is guaranteed because Jesus has gained the victory over death for us and is alive for ever more to keep us (see chapter 5, verse 10). Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25 says, “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them”. In the death that He died He has completely dealt with our sin and now, having dealt with our sin and having been raised from the dead, the life that He lives He lives by God’s power. Now Paul says in verse 11, having been made aware of what Jesus has done for us in His death, burial and resurrection, we are to “count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God” (verse 11). In other words, as Christians, we are to believe God’s Word concerning our death and resurrection with Christ, and realize we have a new power to overcome sin and to live for God. Sin used to be our master but not any more and we must understand that, in Christ, we have died to it and have the power to overcome it. In verses 12 to 13 we are told how this is to work out in a practical sense in our daily lives.

We are not to “offer the parts of our body to sin, as instruments of wickedness”, but rather we are to offer ourselves to God. For example, whereas we once may have used our mouths for corrupt speech, abusing others, swearing or telling lies, we are now to offer them to God so that what we say is truthful, clean and honourable to Him and thereby we will be a help to others. Perhaps we once used our hands to steal and to do destructive things. We must do so no longer but rather offer them to God “and work, doing something useful so that we may have something to share with others in need”. (Read Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 25 to 29). These are just two examples, but each member of our body should be offered to God for His purposes, for the Lord Jesus Christ is now our new Master. There is another important verse in Romans, chapter 12 verse 1. It says, “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship (or your reasonable service).” In the Old Testament God required dead animal sacrifices that pointed forward to the great sacrifice of Christ who was to be the Lamb o God. In the New Testament He requires “living sacrifices” and Christians are to be those sacrifices as they offer themselves to God for His holy purposes. This is the best way we can show our worship and thankfulness to God for all that He has done for us in His mercy.

M AO R I P O S TA L A O T E A R O A

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BIBLE LESSONS

He rama tau kupu ki oku waewae, he marama ki toku ara. Waiata 119:105

Book 3

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Leader:

AKO TAHI Piki Tahi The Romans Series 1

17 - 20

This certificate is awarded for completing the Romans 1 Series!

Lesson No. 20 NO LONGER GUILTY READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 8, verses 1 to 8. A VERSE TO LEARN: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” — (Romans chapter 8, verse 1). AND IN MAORI: “Na- kahore e tau te he- inaianei ki te hunga i roto i a Karaiti Ihu” — (Roma 8:1). Three different laws are mentioned in verses 2 and 3 of our reading and it is important that we realize the difference between them: First, in verse 2, there is the law of the Spirit of life, referring to the new life and power God gives to the Christian. Then there is the law of sin and death by which we are controlled before we receive the Lord Jesus as Saviour. Thirdly there is God’s holy Law (verse 3) which is His standard or requirements for mankind and which we have all broken. But what an amazing truth we find at the beginning of our reading today! God, who is the Judge of Heaven and earth, declares of the person who has received Jesus as Saviour, “There is no punishment for you because you are no longer guilty!” This is what our Memory Verse for this lesson means. God is able to do this because of a new law or a new power based on what Jesus has done by taking the punishment for us. This new law is called in verse 2, the law of the Spirit of Life. When a person receives Jesus as Saviour, God places His Holy Spirit in that person to give them new life and new power. This new power overrides the old power called the law of sin and death and the Christian is no longer controlled by it. To understand the difference between the law of sin and death and the law of the Spirit of life let’s think about the difference between the law of gravity and another law called the law of aerodynamics (by which an aeroplane flies). The first causes us to fall to the earth and crash while the other, with the use of an aeroplane,

allows us to overcome it. By the law of sin and death I fail and fall and crash (see again chapter 7, verses 22-23) but by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus I am able to overcome the law of sin and death and live a life of victory that pleases God. As we saw in Lesson 19 God’s holy Law could not deliver us or enable us to overcome the law of sin and death. But what the Law could not do because of our sin, God has done by sending His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to deal with our sin. Jesus came as a perfect, sinless Man, and as such offered Himself for our sin in our place. When we receive the Lord Jesus as our Saviour God takes away our sin and as a result we become acceptable to Him with new life and new power because of His Holy Spirit living in us. No longer are our minds set on the sinful, destructive things that used to control us and that were making us miserable and destroying us. But along with our new life in Christ we have also been given a new way of thinking and a new attitude of love towards God and other people. Now our minds begin to get taken up with building a relationship with God and our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s Word, the Bible now begins to make sense to us and we find that we want to do the things that please Him and are of a help to others. The big difference between our old way of thinking and our new way of thinking is shown in verses 5 to 8. Here we see that our old way of thinking was selfish because all we really wanted to do was please ourselves. But with our new way of thinking with Jesus as Saviour our main aim is to please God. He becomes the centre of our life rather than self. The old way of thinking was destructive, with no power over sin and could never please God. It resulted in death and separation from God in Hell. The new way of thinking is eternal life and peace with God, with power over sin and a lasting inner peace and joy. It results in our going to Heaven after our life on earth is ended.

PIKI TAHI

ROMANS SERIES

CLIMBING TOGETHER

Lesson No. 17 BELONGING TO CHRIST READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 7, verses 1 to 6. A VERSE TO LEARN: “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body” — (1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19-20). - koutou ake koutou; kua oti hoki koutou te hoko ki te utu: AND IN MAORI: “A, ehara i te mea no whakakororiatia te Atua ki -o koutou tinana” — (1 Koriniti 6:19-20). In our last lesson we learned how that before we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour we are servants of sin because we have broken God’s holy Law as revealed in the Ten Commandments of Exodus chapter 20. The Law is God’s holy standard or His requirements for humanity and we are answerable to Him for breaking it. In this lesson, however, we are going to learn how its power over us is broken and how a greater law takes its place. To help us understand this Paul uses another illustration from life. This time he uses that of marriage. He shows how, according to this law, a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If she marries another man while her husband is alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, then she is released from the law of marriage and is therefore free to marry another man. Here we see that it is death that breaks the marriage bond and this is the main point of the illustration. In Lesson 14 we learned that if we are Christians we have died with Christ because His death was really our death. We were the guilty sinners who deserved death because we had broken God’s Law, but Jesus took our place in death so that we could have eternal life. It is our death with Christ that has broken the power or bond of the Law over us. This does not mean that we are now free to live how we like. The bond between the Law and us, as Christians, was broken so that we could be married to Christ and “bear fruit for God” (verse 4). In our marriage to Christ a higher law takes the place of the original bond – it is “the

new way of the Spirit” or the law of love (see verse 6). The Bible says it like this, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It is this “new way of the Spirit” or this law of love that gives us the desire to please Him in all we do and say, and seek to win others for Him. This is the way in which we “bear fruit for God”. Jesus said to His disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last” (John 15:16). If we are Christians we need to understand that God has not saved us just so that we can escape the penalty of our sin, or live how we like, but so that we can live a life that honours Him and that bears fruit for Him. The fruit that He wants to see in our lives is mentioned in Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 and 23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. These good things are what God will develop in us by His Holy Spirit as we give ourselves to Him. (If you would like to learn more about this subject “Te Kupu Whakaora” Book 3 on the Holy Spirit is available from your leader or from MPA Headquarters). As we spend time with God each day by prayer, studying His Word, the Bible, and doing what it says with His strength, God will make these things a part of us. He will build them into our character so that we become bright witnesses for Him by what we say, by what we do and by what we are. This is what the Christian life is all about and it’s what makes it so worthwhile.

Lesson No. 18

Lesson No. 19 WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE LAW?

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 7, verses 7 to 13.

VICTORY OVER SIN READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 7, verses 14 to 25.

A VERSE TO LEARN: “The Law is Holy and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” — (Romans chapter 7, verse 12). - he tapu te ture, me te kupu whakahau ano - he tapu, he tika, he pai” — (Roma 7:12). AND IN MAORI: “Ae ra,

A VERSE TO LEARN: “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord” — (Romans chapter 7, verses 24-25). AND IN MAORI: “Ma- wai ahau e whakaora i te tinana o tenei mate? Ma- te Atua! E whakawhetai tonu ana ahau ki a ia i runga i a Ihu Karaiti, i to- tatou Ariki” — (Roma 7:24-25).

At the start of our reading for this lesson Paul asks and answers another question that may have arisen in the minds of some of his readers. We could put it like this, “Seeing that the Law makes sin obvious (5:20) and seeing we need to be freed from it, is there something wrong with the Law? Is it sinful?” Again the answer is “Certainly not!” Then, what is the problem?

receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour we are brought out of spiritual death and made spiritually alive. When a person who has spiritual life by receiving Jesus as Saviour dies physically, that person passes into the presence of Christ forever. But when a person who does not have Jesus as Saviour dies physically, that person passes into eternal death.

Paul continues to put himself in the picture to help us understand what he is about to say. Because he has shown that sin is the problem and because he is sinful he realizes that, even though he has received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour and his sin has been forgiven, the power of sin is still in his life. Therefore because there is sin in his life, he is the actual problem.

Putting himself into the picture, Paul explains, “I would not have known what sin was except through the Law”. He then uses the example of coveting (that is, wanting anything that is outside of God’s will) to show how the Law makes it clear that coveting is sin. It is God’s Law (as we have it in the Ten Commandments) that shows us clearly those wrong things that are sin. Therefore since it is the purpose of the Law to reveal sin, how can it possibly be sin? It is simply like a mirror showing us our sinfulness. When you look in a mirror and see that you have a dirty face, it is not the mirror that is dirty; it is your face. The mirror shows you the dirt so that you can do something about it. And so it is with God’s Law. It shows us our sinfulness so that we can seek the cure that God has provided in Christ.

So the Law not only shows us our sin, it also shows us we are spiritually dead and need Jesus as our Saviour. But it is not the Law that makes us spiritually dead; rather, it is our sin. A person who could keep the Law at every point all the time would not be spiritually dead. But this is not possible for any of us as we have already seen. (James chapter 2, verse 10 is a verse we learned in Lesson 6. Read it again here). Only Jesus Himself has fully kept God’s Law and because He had no sin of His own He could die in our place and take the punishment for our sin.

us from the power of our sin. As Paul had trusted Christ to save him from the penalty of sin, so he also needed to trust Him to save him from the power of sin. “Thank You God!” says Paul, “I believe that I am no longer sin’s slave. Thank You! I believe that I’m no longer a prisoner of sin but I’m a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Thank You! My help comes not from MYSELF but from MY SAVIOUR! Thank You!”

But now that he has become a Christian he finds there is a real change in his life. He has a hatred of sin that he did not have before. In spite of this, he does not seem to have the strength to overcome his sin and he keeps on doing the sinful things that he really hates. He finds there is an evil law at work in his life that pops up every time he wants to do something good to please God. He knows that God’s Law is good and that he really wants to be living in a way that pleases God, but by himself he just cannot do it. While he agrees that God’s Law is good, it is of no help to him in his struggle to overcome sin, because all it does is show him his sin without giving him any power to overcome it.

Victory over sin does not come through our own efforts to please God and improve ourselves. Victory comes only through and in the living God. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 14, “Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ”. Therefore, if you are a Christian you need to get your strength to overcome sin from Jesus.

So it is sin that is the problem. Before he knew God’s Law Paul thought he was really living. But once he understood what the Law was saying to him he realized he was in a serious state because he was actually spiritually dead. THREE TYPES OF DEATH The Bible talks about three different types of death. First of all there is spiritual death. Because of sin we are all born spiritually dead without any natural response to God. Secondly there is physical death when our bodies die and are put in the grave. Thirdly there is eternal death and this is when a person is separated from God for ever in Hell. By

Therefore Paul concludes that there is nothing wrong with the Law: It is holy, righteous and good. It is our sin that is the problem and God’s holy Law shows us how serious sin really is. It has separated us from God and made us spiritually dead. If we pass from this life through physical death, we will go out into never-ending eternal death. How important it is, then, that we make sure our sin has been forgiven and cleansed away by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. The Bible tells us, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from ALL sin” -- (1 John 1:7).

No matter how hard he tries, he continually fails and is miserable and frustrated. There are times, for instance, when he becomes angry and bad tempered and he knows he shouldn’t. Other times he feels bitterness towards someone when he should have forgiveness and love. He sometimes finds himself thinking things he knows are evil, but he has difficulty getting them out of his mind. Again and again he is defeated and he realizes that in himself without God there is “nothing good in him” (verse 18). Finally he cries out in despair, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (verse 24). He longs to be delivered from the evil law that is dwelling in his body. But who will rescue him? With a great sense of relief Paul exclaims, “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Victory over sin comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us to free us from the punishment of our sin; now He lives to free

Jesus said in John chapter 15 that Christians are like the branches of a vine with Him being the main vine stem. He said, “Live (abide) in Me and I will live in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding (remaining) in the vine stem, neither can you bear fruit unless you live (abide) in Me (verse 4).” As we spend time each day in prayer and studying His Word, so we abide in Him and He gives us the strength to live for Him.

M AO R I P O S TA L A O T E A R O A

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BIBLE LESSONS

He rama tau kupu ki oku waewae, he marama ki toku ara. Waiata 119:105

Book 3

Maori Postal Aotearoa #PY t 8BO HBOVJ Phone: (06) 343 7957 mpss@acp.o rg.nz www.maorip ostal.co.nz

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Te Wairua

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The Holy S

pirit

Maori Postal Aotearoa has a large range of different products available. You can view and order them online at our website:

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or you can contact us and we can send a catalogue out to you!

Leader:

AKO TAHI Piki Tahi The Romans Series 1

21 - 24

This certificate is awarded for completing the Romans 1 Series!

Lesson No. 24

PIKI TAHI MORE THAN CONQUERORS

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 8, verses 30 to 39. A VERSE TO LEARN: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” — (Romans chapter 8, verse 37). - mea katoa hira ake te wikitoria - i aroha nei ki a tatou” AND IN MAORI: “Engari i enei i a tatou, he mea nana — (Roma 8:37).

When we consider all that God has done for us as revealed in these eight chapters of Romans, Paul asks the question, “What shall we say to these things?” What is the conclusion we come to? Surely it is this: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” When we consider that God has given the very best that He can possibly give for us – His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ – will He not also give us everything else we need for His purpose to be fulfilled in our lives? The answer is, “Yes, of course He will!” Will He not keep every promise He has made to us? Again, “yes, of course He will!” Who can bring any charge of sin against those who belong to God? The only Person who can rightly do so is God Himself, but He has justified us or made us acceptable to Himself through Christ and so there is no charge. Who can rightly say we are still guilty of our sin? Only the Lord Jesus Christ can rightly say this. But He will not do so because He has died for us to take the punishment for our sins and He has risen from the dead to be our Saviour forever. And so if you are a true Christian there is no charge or condemnation of sin against you any more! The penalty has been fully paid for you and God has given to you the gift of eternal life. You have been tried in the highest court in the universe and because of Christ’s sacrifice for you and your acceptance of Him you have been declared NOT GUILTY.

CLIMBING TOGETHER

Lesson No. 21 THE BIG DIFFERENCE READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 8, verses 9 to 17. A VERSE TO LEARN: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if (because) the Spirit of God lives in you” — (Romans chapter 8, verse 9). AND IN MAORI: “Otiia kahore koutou i te kikokiko, engari, i te Wairua, ki te mea e noho ana te Wairua o te Atua i roto i a koutou” — (Roma 8:9).

In the final lesson in this series we want to continue to think about God’s purpose for the Christian. In order for us to be “conformed to the likeness of His Son” or to be made like Jesus, it is also God’s purpose for us to be “justified” and “glorified”. To be “justified”, is to be made right with God, as we learned in lessons 11and 12. And we are made right with God when we receive Jesus as our personal Saviour. He has paid in full our sin debt. It is also part of God’s purpose for true Christians to be “glorified”. This refers to the tremendous change that will take place in us when we are finally with the Lord Jesus in Heaven. In God’s plan He already sees us there with Him now and this shows us how certain our future as Christians really is.

ROMANS SERIES

These first eight chapters of Romans deal with three basic issues: 1. We are all sinners before God. 2. We all need to repent – that is to be willing to turn from our sin and turn to God. 3. We all need to receive Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (verse 35). Paul looked at all the hardship, persecution, danger, difficulties and even death he faced day by day in his service for Christ, and concluded that no matter how hard things became, none of those things could ever separate him from the love of Christ. In fact Paul knew that in all these things believers in the Lord Jesus Christ “are more than conquerors” because they gain far more than they may suffer or lose through serving Christ. And none of these things can ever separate them from God’s purpose or His love. Paul concludes by searching the whole of the universe and finding that nothing, including life and death, angels or demons, present or future circumstances, powers or governments, height or depth or anything else in all creation will ever be able to separate the true Christian from the love of God. That love has been revealed in its fullness in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, have you genuinely responded to God’s great love for you? Have you repented of your sin and opened your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He truly your own personal Lord and Saviour? If you have, are you allowing God to fulfill His purpose in your life? Unless you indicate otherwise you will be sent the first lessons in a new series.

When we do this we become true Christians and some enormous changes take place in our lives. These changes are outlined in our Bible reading for this lesson. They are: New control: True Christians are no longer controlled by the old sinful nature, but by the Holy Spirit of God because through trusting Christ they have moved into the realm of the Spirit. This is why, when you become a Christian, you have a much greater awareness of things that are not pleasing to God on the one hand and on the other a desire to obey His Word. New life: True Christians are no longer spiritually dead; rather they are made spiritually alive with the very life of God dwelling in them through the Holy Spirit. (Turn in your Bible to Ephesians, chapter 2 and read verses 1 to 10). This new life makes them responsive to God and able to obey Him and enjoy His presence in their lives. Their physical bodies are still subject to disease and physical death, but these too are going to be changed. Future new body: Jesus has promised to come back again and when he does true Christians will be given new resurrection bodies that are able to live eternally in Heaven with God. Our present bodies are subject to disease and physical death, but our new bodies will be like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus. John tells us in his first letter, “We know that when He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

You can read more about this truth in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 50 to 58. New obligation or responsibility: True Christians no longer have an obligation to live according to their old way of life when they were controlled by their sinful nature. (The way of the sinful nature leads to eternal death, but the way of the Spirit means eternal life). In view of all that God has done for them their obligation or responsibility is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in all they do and say. This means “putting to death” the sinful things they used to be involved with or saying “No” to everything that is sinful and displeasing to God. God has given to true Christians the power to do this. Titus chapter 2, verse 12 says that the grace of God “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age”. New Heavenly Father and new Family: True Christians enter into a new relationship with God. God is not only their Creator, He now becomes their Heavenly Father and they become part of His family. What a privilege to be a son or a daughter of the one true living God! It is not true that God is the Father of everyone. He is the Creator of everyone but only the Father of those who have repented of their sin and have received the Lord Jesus as Saviour. Jesus once said to some false religious leaders, “You belong to your father, the devil” (John 8:44). New inheritance: Perhaps one of the most amazing blessings that God promises to true Christians is that, having become members of His family, they have an inheritance with the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One by whom the whole universe was made (see John chapter 1, verses 1 to 3) and so He is the rightful owner of all creation, and He wants to share the splendor of all that He is and has with His people. This is what it means to be a co-heir or joint-heir with Christ.

Lesson No. 22

Lesson No. 23 SUFFERING NOW — GLORY LATER

SAVED FOR GOD’S PURPOSE

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 8, verses 18 to 27.

READ IN YOUR BIBLE: Romans, chapter 8, verses 28 and 29.

A VERSE TO LEARN: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” — (Romans chapter 8, verse 18). - whakaaro iho hoki, he kore noa iho nga- mamae o tenei - ki te whakaritea ki te - wa, AND IN MAORI: “Ki toku kororia e whakakitea mai ki a tatou a- mua” — (Roma 8:18).

A VERSE TO LEARN: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” — (Romans chapter 8, verse 28). AND IN MAORI: “Na e matou ana tatou, kei te mahi tahi nga- mea katoa i te pai mo- te hunga e aroha ana ki - i whakatakoto ai” — (Roma 8:28). te Atua, ara- mo- te hunga i karangatia i runga i tana We only have a short reading for this lesson but there is much to be learned from these two short verses and we don’t have space to look at all of it in this lesson. If you are a true Christian, having repented of your sin and received Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then you need to know that the truths revealed here apply to you.

In our last lesson we learned that all who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ will one day share in His inheritance. This is because, when we receive Christ, God adopts us as His “sons” (a term that here applies to both male and female). What a wonderful future awaits those who have trusted Christ as Saviour! Now Paul compares all the suffering he was enduring as a follower and servant of Christ with what God promises for those who love Him in the future when they enter into the fullness of their “sonship”. For Paul that suffering was very severe and he gives a brief account of it in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 22 to 29. Many thousands of faithful Christians have suffered terrible persecution including death down through the years and many thousands still do today. Although we may not suffer death for our faith, we may well be scorned, rejected and ridiculed by friends, workmates and even family. But whatever suffering or difficulties we may have to undergo in this life for Christ’s sake, God tells us through Paul that it is nothing compared to the glory He has in store for those who love and faithfully serve Him. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 9 reads, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him”. When mankind rebelled against God it not only affected the human race, but the whole of this earthly creation because God gave mankind authority over His creation. Paul pictures creation as being in labour pains and eagerly awaiting the time when true Christians (the “sons” of God) will be revealed with Christ in glory because that will be the time when everything will be restored and put in order as God intended it to be. Just as labour pains are not permanent and result in new life, so in God’s time creation will have a new beginning. For instance, the Bible talks about a time in the future when even the wild animals will be tame and at peace with each other. “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and a little child will lead

them.” (You can read the whole of this passage for yourself in Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 6 to 9). Even as true Christians we “groan inwardly” because our earthly bodies still suffer from physical weaknesses that only seem to increase as we get older. We look forward to the time when God will give us new bodies that are not subject to physical weakness, disease and death which are the result of sin. This will happen when we enter into our inheritance with Christ. Paul speaks of this time in Philippians 3:20-21, “Our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body”. (Read also 1 John, chapter 3, verses 1 to 3). In the meantime true Christians have the Holy Spirit to assist them in their weaknesses. He guides, encourages and helps particularly in the area of prayer. He knows our real needs and the deep desires and longings of our hearts that we find difficult to express in human language and as we yield to Him He provides the strength we need to live a life “in accordance with God’s will”.

First of all, God works for the good of those who love Him. Please notice this is not saying that everything that happens in your life is going to be good, but rather that God works in every situation in your life to bring about that which is best and according to His purpose. To help us understand let’s think about making a cake: There are many ingredients that go in to making a cake, and most of these if taken by themselves do not taste good. Not everyone enjoys eating raw eggs, or flour or baking powder, etc. But if you combine all the ingredients in the right quantities and put them in the oven at the right heat for the right amount of time, they all work together to make a great tasting cake — the end product. So God takes the bitter and sweet, the hard and easy, the sad and the joyful – all the components of your life — and works them all together for good. Then we need to realize that this truth only applies to those “who love God, who have been called according to His purpose”. The Christian life is a love relationship between God and the Christian. If you do not love God it is because you are not a Christian. All Christians love God, some more than others. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It is our love for God that determines the way we live. Jesus said, “If you love Me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). When we become Christians it usually doesn’t take too long to realize that it is because God has called us. It is

He who has worked in our lives to convict us of our sin and to bring us to the point of receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. Now we need to realize that God has called us “according to His purpose” – not our purpose. Writing to the Christians in Corinth Paul said, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20). Many of the Corinthians thought that if they were saved they could live how they liked. This is not true. If God has saved you He has done so in order that you would fulfill His purpose for your life in this world and in that which is to come. This is why you need to know what He is saying to you through His Holy Word, the Bible, and then with His strength, apply it to your life. This brings us to the question: What is God’s main purpose for my life as a Christian? It is set out for us in the statement, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”. In other words, God’s main purpose is to make you more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever else He may have for you to do, this is His main purpose. He wants you to reflect the nature of Christ in your daily life in all you do and say and in so doing bring honour to God and blessing into the lives of others. This is why at times God allows us to go through difficult times to make us stronger. Sometimes we make things harder for ourselves by making unwise decisions and God allows us to reap the consequences so that we will learn to obey Him and make wise decisions in future. But if we are true Christians we can be God has sure that God is called us working in whatever according to the circumstances to His purpose bring about His -- not ours! purpose in our lives and that it will always be for the best.