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Daily Bible Studywith SEEDS OF THE KINGDOM

Updated: Monday, 23 November 2009, 14:40 (GMT)

11 June 2009 | Know the Truth

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32, NIV

Notes

Congratulations to all of you who’ve had a western-style upbringing and education. Why? You’re all experts in Ancient Greek Philosophy, even though you’ve never studied it.

Greek philosophy teaches that we’re material beings, living in a material world. If we want to, we can spend all our life purely in this material world. However, somewhere ‘out there’ or ‘up there’ is a spiritual world, inhabited by spiritual beings. Sometimes these spiritual beings come and interfere with our material world. If we want to, we can somehow get in touch with the spiritual world and learn how to make it affect our material world. We call this ‘religion’, but it’s a purely optional occupation. We can live all our life without it, if we choose. However, ‘religious’ people are somehow morally superior to simple materialists.

It's ‘good’ to be religious.

This Greek philosophy is part of our inheritance as westerners. How prevalent is it in your church? How much does it affect your own thinking? Be honest. Do you think that Earth and Heaven (the material and spiritual realms) are separate? Or that Christians are morally superior to other people?

It's the total opposite of what we read in the Bible, where the material and spiritual worlds are together. In the Old Testament, God deals with His people through close personal involvement. God's presence is in the Temple. In the New Testament God sends his Son Jesus to be Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us’, and to show what happens when the Kingdom of God is ‘at hand’. Read about it in Matthew 10:7-8.

The Bible also shows us that we’re all sinners, saved by grace and living under grace. Did you stop sinning when you became a Christian? Are you morally superior to those who don't even know what sin is? So next time you read the Bible, remember that it's not about ‘Heaven versus Earth’ or ‘how to get from Earth to Heaven’, it's about ‘Heaven and Earth together’.

They are together. It’s dangerous to ignore this fact.

Prayer

Please Lord, open our eyes and replace false Philosophy with the Truth that sets us free. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Today's Writer

Roger Pook joined the full-time staff of Ellel East in Hungary in January 1996 after a career in language teaching and financial services. He and his wife Christine are Directors of the Ellel East Regional Nations Centre, and they teach and minister throughout the former communist world.

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