Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for July 31, 2011
Guest speaker: Kevin Dodge
“Unity in the Church” – Acts 15:2-21
According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are about 34,000 Christian denominations in the United States.
Kevin suggests that the Jews who were insisting on circumcision of gentile Christians in Antioch weren’t quite the bad guys they seemed to be but were acting according to the only scriptures they had at the time – the Hebrew scriptures.
Genesis 17:9-14
Salvation in the Old Testament was the same as in the New Testament – by grace through faith.
But the Jews understood that the covenant relationship had to be maintained by certain actions in the flesh.
Peter makes an experiential argument in favor of not requiring the gentiles to be circumcised or keep the rest of the law.
Editor’s note:
Jesus laid the foundation for the decision at Jerusalem in Acts 15 when He said, “No man puts new cloth into an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment and the tear is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles; otherwise the bottles will break and the wine runs out and the bottles perish; but they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17) Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. (Matthew 5:17) Every jot and tittle of the law is fulfilled in Him. We keep the law by trusting in Jesus and adhering to His word. “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4)
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for July 24, 2011
Series in Mark
“How to recognize a Good Man” – Mark 3:13-30
Exodus 24:9-18
Moses was called up on a mountain to receive the law.
Mark 3:13-15 evokes the imagery in Exodus 24:9-18. Jesus is acting as God; He is the Lord God of Israel; He is the One Moses met on the mountain.
(Some translations have “hills” in verse 13, but the correct word is “the mountain.”)
Mark 3:20-21
Jesus’ family has failed to recognize His identity.
Mark 3:22-
The Pharisees say Jesus is possessed by the devil.
But Satan cannot cast himself out.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a very specific sin, that is, declaring that Jesus is casting out demons by means of Satan.
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is rejecting that Jesus performs His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 1:8-10
Here we see the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ life and ministry.
Isaiah 42:1
The Holy Spirit is promised to the Son of God.
To receive salvation through Jesus Christ, you must be Trinitarian.
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for July 17, 2011
Series in Mark
“Heresy begins with Bible-Toters” – Mark 3:1-12
Sacred texts are the most dangerous things in the world when in the wrong hands. You can make the Bible say anything you want it to say.
Mark 3:1-6 focuses on the compassion of Christ in contrast to the Pharisees who only have concern for the letter of the law.
Mark 3:7-12 shows Jesus backing away from the multitude of those with bodily disorders in order to indicate that now is not the time when all disorders will be healed but it remains for His future return. For now, we should not be focused on healing for our bodies but on how we can show compassion to others around us, as Jesus did.
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for July 10, 2011
Series in Mark
“What should set us apart” – Mark 2:23-28
“The best definition of holiness is that you are not the same flavor as everybody else.”
Exodus 31:13-15
To be recognized as belonging to the creator of the universe, the Israelites are to work for six days and rest on the seventh because this is what God did.
Isaiah 1:11-17
The Israelites’ observance of the law and the Sabbath became meaningless.
The Sabbath and the sacrifices were all about doing them the way God said to do them because this made them stand out distinctively as a follower of the Creator of heaven and earth. Start looking like God by acting like God.
Mark 2:23-28
The Pharisees are like the people of Isaiah’s day. They were not observing the Sabbath in the way it was intended. The Pharisees forgot the mercy behind the law.
Matthew 12:11-12
To stand out as a follower of Christ, exercise justice, compassion, and mercy; love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and your neighbor as yourself.
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for July 3, 2011
Guest speaker: Kevin Dodge
“How do we live in Freedom as Christians?” – Haggai 1:1-14
16 years after Cyrus issued an edict allowing the Jews to return to Judea, in the second year of Darius, some Jews return to rebuild the temple. The returnees were met by a remnant still living in the land. Zerubbabel was the governor of Judea.
Jeremiah 31:3-9; 33:10-13
Hope for Israel after captivity yet this passage has not yet been fulfilled.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Our bodies are the temple of God.
In our freedom, we should not neglect doing the work of God.
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for June 26, 2011
Series in Mark
“In Forgiving Sin, Jesus shows us that we are Sinners” – Mark 2:13-20
Mark 2:1-12
Jesus introduces Himself as the One who can forgive sins and the healer of the sick. So, who are we?
Mark 2:13-17
The “righteousness of God” to Martin Luther’s generation meant God’s wrath; but, when he read in Romans 1:17 that the righteousness of God was revealed in the Gospel, he knew that the consensus of his day was not correct. Luther remained puzzled by the phrase until a man by the name of Johann von Staupitz, Doctor of Divinity and Vicar-General of the Augustinian convents in Germany, sat down with him and told him that “the righteousness of God” is not the righteousness God does but the righteousness that God gives to those who have no righteousness of their own.
So Jesus shows us that we are sinners.
Mark 2:18-20
Some ask Jesus why His disciples don’t fast.
While Jesus was present with His disciples, it was a time of celebration, not of mourning, as signified by fasting.
Footnote on Staupitz:
Although Staupitz was responsible for Luther coming to an understanding of grace and faith, Staupitz remained staunchly Catholic and condemned in Luther’s preaching what he perceived to be encouragement to license and insisted that works nevertheless played a role in salvation.
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for June 19, 2011
Begin the Series on the Central Beliefs of Christianity
“The Trinity – God in Three Persons” – Matthew 28:19-20
The Jesus Only Movement, or Oneness Pentecostals,
believes that Jesus is all three persons of God.
Matthew 3:13-17
However, at Jesus’ baptism, there are two other persons of God present and acting separately.
Matthew 28:19-20
“Name” in these verses should be understood to mean the name of God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Praxeas was the author of a heresy known as Modalism, which states that God is one who manifests Himself at different times as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Romans 1:1-4
In this passage, Paul shows the interaction of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as separate persons.
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for June 12, 2011
Series in Mark
“Healing and Forgiveness mark the Coming of God” – Mark 2:1-12
Psalm 103:1-3; 25:18, 25:1-2; Isaiah 33:24, 22;
Jeremiah 33:6-8; 1 John 1:8-10
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for June 5, 2011
Series in Mark
“Jesus is the One you’ve been waiting for” – Mark 1:7-45
Zechariah 13:1-3
Dr. Bingham’s Lesson for May 29, 2011
Begin Series in Mark
“Prepare the way of the Lord” – Mark 1:1-8
Daniel 7:9-14; 2 Kings 1:8 – Elijah
