Revelation 2:8-11
English Standard Version

To the Church in Smyrna
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

This is the message of Jesus Christ to the pastor of the congregation at Smyrna.  He is the First and the Last (the Alpha and Omega) who was dead, but has lives again (to give new, eternal, abundant life to all who believe in Him).

This church also faced great persecution and poverty on top of that.  However, they were storing up riches for themselves in heaven. .  They have had to withstand the slander of people who say they are Jews and children of Abraham, but they are not, because if they truly loved God, they would love His Son and believe in Him.  The ethnically Jewish people were some of the strongest opponents to the gospel in the days of the early Church, yet we cannot miss that God used a group of Jewish men to write not just the Old Testament, but the New Testament and to lead the Church as Apostles (even the Gentile believers).  Yet, in the gospel Jew and Gentile are on equal footing there is no benefit to being a Jew or a Gentile (see the book of Romans).  The one and only Way to God is through our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  These Jews (and all who oppose and persecute Christians now) were doing the work of Satan and God says that these Jews in particular from Smyrna belonged to "The Synagogue of Satan."  I don't think this means that they were knowingly Satanists who were openly worshiping Satan (those people did exist at that time too), but that they were deceived to believe that they were obeying God and doing what He wanted, when they were obeying Satan and doing what he wanted.

For this reason, Jesus says that Satan would be throwing many of these Christians in Smyrna in prison (but I think the point is being made that it will be done through the hands of these Jews and the Gentiles that are under Satan's deceptive influence).  They are about to suffer many things for the sake Christ, His Name, and because of His gospel.  They are not to loose heart or recant, for this will be a test of their faith to see who truly believed and who will fall away because they never truly believed.

It is unclear whether the "ten days" are to be interpreted as ten 24-hour days, but it is probably a call-back to other periods of testing that lasted ten days in the Old Testament, most notably when Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah asked to not be served the meat and wine from the king's table but only vegetables and water for ten days and then to be tested to see if they were not more healthy and stronger and better than all those who ate from the king's table.  (Daniel 1:12-14). There are various interpretations as to whether the "ten days" were in past history, continue to happen now, or will happen at some point in the future.  These all stem from different frameworks of interpretation for the book of Revelation and I won't get into all the different views now, because I don't want to major on the minors--persecution is coming, Jesus knows about it, He warns the Church of it, He says that Satan is behind it, and though Satan intends to use it to destroy the Church, Jesus is going to use it to weed out the people who claim to believe something they do not and to strengthen those who hold fast to Him.

The Christians in Smyrna (and all of us too) are called to be faithful unto death.  Then we will receive the crown of life from Jesus (a victor's crown, but it will not be a perishable wreath like the ones for the people who won the Olympic Games).  The Spirit says to the Seven Churches (that's all of us) that the one who conquers (overcomes) will not be touched by the Second Death (That is the Lake of Fire that was prepared for the Devil and his angels where all the wicked will spend eternity in judgment).

Revelation 2:1-7
English Standard Version

To the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

This begins the letters from Christ to the Seven Churches.  You will notice that each is addressed "to the angel of the church in...."  This has been the source of much discussion in the past, but there is a simple answer as to who the "angel" is for each church.  The word "angel" literally means "messenger."  While we see angels do other things in Bible, their primary function is to declare God's message to His people, and that is the job of the person that we would call the Senior Pastor of the church--the same people that were as a group referred to as the seven stars that Jesus held in His right hand are now individually addressed and told to convey this message to the congregation they lead (each of which is one of the lamps in the Golden Lampstand that Jesus, our Great High Priest tends to).

Writings of Early Church fathers like Irineus, Eusebius, and Jerome all say that John lived in Ephesus and ministered to these seven churches that these letters were written to, however we do not have any texts from inside the Bible that declare this.  While this is an interesting tidbit, Jesus , not John, is the one who chose these Seven Churches and it is His message that is being conveyed here.

The first of the Seven Churches to be addressed is the Church at Ephesus.  To the pastor of this church and to the congregation of this church, Jesus reveals Himself as the One who holds the seven stars (the seven senior pastors of these seven churches which represents all the pastors of all the churches) in His right hand--that's a special place of care and protection, and He is also the One that walks among (ministers among) the Golden Lampstand--reminding them that He is their Great High Priest who watches over and cares for these Seven Churches and the Church universal.

​His message for them is that He knows their works, their toil and their patient endurance.  He sees how they cannot bear with those who are evil and how they have been careful to test all those who called themselves apostles and found many to be false.  He knows that they are enduring patiently (enduring much persecution) for the sake of His Name, yet they do not grow weary (they have not lost their courage).  This is "good news" and the encouragement that Jesus delivers to them first.

Next comes that call for correction.  Jesus says that even in all these good things that He has seen and taken note of, their relationship with Him has grown cold.  It is largely performative and out of duty, but not from a place of the zeal and love that they once had for Him.  He calls them to remember who they once were--how far they were fallen before Jesus saved them and that they could do absolutely nothing to save themselves.  As they remember this and remind each other of this, it will add fuel to the fire in their hearts so as to serve Him with the passion they once served Him with and doing all the things that they once did out of love but now they are just doing out of obligation or to go through the motions.

If they do not repent (change course and return to the right path they were once on), Jesus says that He can and will remove their lamp from its place in the Golden Lampstand (He allows local churches to be born, He tends to them to keep them alive, but He can allow them to die out too).

Jesus then return to praise for the Church in Ephesus.  He says that they hate the Nicolaitans (most plainly read as the followers of Nicolas.  The only Nicolas in the Bible that this might be referring to is the Deacon in Acts 6:5, though there is no solid evidence that this passage is referring to him or his followers.  This is one of the problems with reading someone else's mail--they understood exactly what Jesus was talking about here, even if we do not.  Jesus says he also hates them, which must mean that they were wicked people and were likely trying to encourage others to be wicked, discourage people from believing the true gospel and maybe even trying to get people to deny their faith.  (Nicolas will be compared in verse 15 to Balaam and Balak who got Israel mixed up in sexual immorality so that they would be judged, so there is probably some connection here of teaching people to give into their lusts and passions, which was a common view of the Greek and Roman philosophers).

Then, Jesus delivers a message to all the churches everywhere at all times.  He says that it is the one who conquers and overcomes that He will grant to eat of the Tree of Life (remember that I told you that the Tree of Life is going to have a prominent place in the Book of Revelation--this is just one of several reference to come).  The Tree of Life is no longer in the Garden of Eden somewhere on Earth, but is in Paradise with God Himself, so this is a promise that those who persevere (which we will see later has nothing to do with our own strength, but the faithfulness of Christ), will dwell with God once again as we did in the Garden of Eden, only there will be no more Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil--only the Tree of Life.

Revelation 1:9-20
English Standard Version

Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

John calls himself a brother and partner in the tribulations that the Church (here identified as the Seven Churches--remember that seven is a number of holiness, completeness, and fullness--like the seven days of a week, and the seventh day being the Sabbath Day that is holy to the LORD).  He is also identified as a partner in the kingdom (of God) and that He too is patiently awaiting all of God's promises to come to pass.  Though John is an apostle with leadership over the Church, in this situation his message for them is, "I'm right there with you."  For those that didn't know (and this is great context for us as readers), John has been exiled to the island of Patmos to live out the rest of his natural life.  Rome hopes that by putting him in exile that they will discredit him and make it harder for him to minister to the Church, yet it is in this time and place that the Lord Jesus Christ appears to John to give him words of comfort and to show him the answer to some of the questions he has been asking since he walked beside Jesus during his earthly ministry.  John always wanted to know about the future things, and Jesus is going to start by showing John a glimpse of Himself because He is the Past, Present, and Future of His people--it's all about Him.

Jesus gives John instructions to write down everything he sees in a book (this book of the Revelation).  He is to send this book to the Seven Churches named here--Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.  We'll see individual messages to each of these seven in the upcoming, opening chapters.

So far, John has not seen the One who is speaking to him.  As he turns to look at where the voice is coming from, he sees the One who is our Great High Priest dressed in his priestly robes and ministering in the Holy Place, tending to the Golden Lampstand with the seven lamps that represent the Church that Jesus leads.  There is imagery of Him here that clearly points to images of God in the Old Testament as well.  If there was any doubt that Jesus was God, this passage should help us see that t what Jesus says is true, "I and the Father are One."  His heir is white as wool--not just a sign of Him being the Ancient of Days, but a sign of His wisdom and purity.  His feet were like burnished bronze (radiant and also strong and unshakable).  His eyes were like a flaming fire that showed that He is the one that comes to make war with His enemies and judge all sin and wickedness and rebellion.  His voice is like the sound of many running waters--no natural man can hear or understand it, but it is powerful and able to accomplish the impossible like making everything out of nothing.

In his right hand are seven starts (these will be explained to John later, but these are the pastors of the Seven Churches--which means he holds onto all pastors of all the local congregations since we are talking about a number of completeness).  In his mouth is a sword (the Word of God) that is ready to destroy His enemies.  All He will need to do is speak the Word and what was spoken into existence will be spoken out of existence.  More about this comping Day of the Lord later.  His face shows the full glory of God, brighter than the sun itself, yet John is able to look fully in His face and live (unlike what happened with Moses on the Mountain of God where the smoke had to veil Him from Moses' sight or with Peter, James, and John (this same John) on the Mount of Transfiguration where a cloud veiled the full glory of Jesus in that moment).  There is great hope to the Jewish readers who would read this and understand that one day they will able to look God in the face without dying--this was the desire of Moses and every Jew since then (now it is also the sure hope of every Christian).

John falls at Jesus' feet.  If we had any question as to if this was Jesus or an angel, we are told here by the fact that the person speaking accepts John's worship that it is God and no mere angel as angels do not accept worship and always redirect worship to God (we'll see that several times in the book of Revelation)--the same goes for the saints in heaven.  They too do not accept worship and are always redirecting worship to the only One who is worthy.  John falls down like a dead man (unable to move), much like Daniel did.  Jesus gives the message to John again, "Fear not," and "I AM the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (or the Beginning and the End)."  He identifies Himself as "The Living One," not just to draw our attention to the fact that He is the Resurrection and the Life, but that everyone and everything that has life finds that life in Him and Him alone--those who are separated from Him are spiritually dead.

It seems clear that he intends for us to think of eternal life and eternal death (eternal separation from God) because He next identifies Himself as the one who holds the keys to Death and Hades (Hell).  We don't often think of Jesus being the one who is the Jailkeeper of the wicked souls who are awaiting eternal judgment, but that is exactly what He says here--he has total ownership over Death and Hades because He was crucified, but Death could not keep Him and the Grave could not contain Him.  He has risen to be victorious over Sin, Death, Hades, and all of His enemies.  He now has every right to judge them and one day throw them into the Lake of Fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.

Jesus tells John that some things that He will show John are happening now and things that have not yet happened, but are coming in future (and soon in the future).  I could spend a lot of time here talking about how this one verse leads to so many different interpretations of this book and forms a basis for how people outline the book, but I want to stay focused on the message.  Jesus is the one who knows and holds the future and nothing is going to stop His plan from going forward and He is sharing the plan with John and with us so that we have comfort in the uncertain times that we are living in now and as we look to greater uncertainty in the future that we can be sure that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord over things on earth and things in heaven both now and forevermore. 

Jesus then explains the mystery of the seven stars and the Golden Lampstand with seven lamps, which we've already spoken of.  Jesus knew John had this lingering question and that it was going to interfere with his ability to hear the message He wanted him to hear, so Jesus answered the question that John really wanted to ask but had not even spoken.  This is something we see more than once in the Gospels that shows us Jesus' deity--He knew the thoughts of men and answered their unspoken questions and their conversations that they were having with themselves in their hearts and minds.  

I want to emphasize that Jesus' message to John before He gave John this revelation is important.  He told John to "Fear not," and this is also something that we must take to heart as we study this book.  God has not given a spirit of fear to His people because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  John is to hold on to the hope that no matter how bad things look, Jesus is always there in charge and watching over His Church and those who lead His people.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Revelation 1:4-8
English Standard Version

Greeting to the Seven Churches
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

We have more introductory remarks in this passage as Jesus and John greet the Seven Churches.  These are actual churches that actually needed to receive these messages, but I think the number seven here has some significance as it represents the entirety of something holy (the image is used of the Golden Lampstand from the Tabernacle and Temple that had "seven lamps"--this is mistranslated in many versions as "seven lampstands," but it is a clear references to the Golden Lampstand from the Tabernacle.  Jesus is our High Priest who walks among the Golden Lampstand and tends to its lamps (keeps the oil--the Holy Spirit--filled and keeps the wicks trimmed so that the Lampstand always provides light both day and night).

I mentioned that the number seven has to do with holiness, so the sevenfold Spirt (not seven different spirits) is the Holy Spirit.  You'll see the Holy Spirit described in seven different ways in the book of Revelation, but they are all the same Holy Spirit.  It is the Spirit that is at work within the Seven Churches (which represent the entirety of the Church past, present and future as you'll see when we get to Jesus' messages to the Seven Churches).

These passages tells us that this message comes from all three persons of the Trinity.  The one who was and is and is to come (the I AM) is the Father, and Jesus, the Son, and the sevenfold Spirt, the Holy Spirit.  We focus in on Jesus who is the faithful witness (Jesus being Faithful and True is something that will be repeated in the book of Revelation, so this theme is being introduced here).  He is Firstborn of many brethren from among the dead--this is not to say that He was the first to ever be resurrected, but that He is preeminent and best among these and it is true that all others who will conquer death do so through the power of His Resurrection, even if they are Old Testament saints who are awaiting His return who only hoped for the Resurrection that is coming.

By His blood we have been freed from our sins (we'll see Jesus not only as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world).  We cannot understand the book of Revelation without understand that it is the conclusion of the story of redemption that started back in the Garden--as soon as Man fell, God promised to send a particular Descendant that was called "the seed of the woman" to crush the head of the serpent (Satan) and his kingdom.  The promise to make us a kingdom of priests comes as a direct fulfillment of God's purpose for the nation of Israel in Exodus 19 which they were unwilling and unable to fulfill because they knew their sin separated them from Him and would cause His holiness to lash out against them--they knew they could not draw near to Him as He desired.  So, Jesus came to deal with the issue of sin that separated us from God and the barrier between His priests and His presence has been removed.

Then there is an allusion to Daniel 7 (which Jesus referred to during His trial in front of the High Priest).  He is the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and authority to establish His Kingdom, and He will reign forever and ever.  However, John continues to see Him as the one who was sacrificed for our sins.  We'll see that when we come with Him in the end, we will be clothed in pure white, but His robes will be dipped in blood--yes, this is something warriors back then did, but I think this also shows us that He will always be seen by the Father and by us, the Church, for the sacrifice that He made.  Because of His blood we are white and pure, spotless and without blemish, but we will look at Him and see that He was the one beaten and pierced for us.  It will be a sight that will cause all the peoples of the earth past, present, and future to wail when they see what He went through for them (and the punishment that they deserved which He took upon Himself).

Then Jesus speaks to John saying, "I AM the Alpha and Omega," the Beginning and the End.  The one who was and is and is to come (that is why I capitalized I AM because He is pointing back to God's covenant name when He spoke to Moses from the burning bush).  Jesus is the Creator who spoke everything into existence, He is the Sustainer, and He is the Righteous Judge and Conquering King that will bring an end to all wickedness and will destroy all His enemies and will make all things perfect once more, never to be corrupted by sin or death ever again.

Revelation 1:1-3
English Standard Version

Prologue
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

This prologue serves to give us the information of the Author, the recipient, and the message for this book (it's a combination epistle and book of prophecy that is written in an apocalyptic style).   First, let's discuss the Author--ultimately it is God the Father who gives this message to God the Son who gives it to His servant, the Apostle John--sometimes directly speaking to him and other times through angelic messengers.  Then, John bears witness to what he has seen or heard as he writes this letter to the Church (both at his time and in the future) so that they might understand the words of the prophecy that he was given, and that they might understand that the end is near.

I skipped one little part that is important because I wanted to give it its own little paragraph here.  The book of Revelation promises blessing for those who read the words of this book aloud, and for those who hear the words of the prophecy and for those who not only hear, but also obey.  This should be our pattern for all Scripture, but Jesus seems to have a special interest in us reading the words of this book aloud (definitely in our congregations, but I think the implication here is that we should not be ashamed to read these words publicly).

Titus 3:12-15
English Standard Version

Final Instructions and Greetings
12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

Paul says he is going to be sending Artemas or Tychicus to Titus and the congregation he is leading in Crete.  This could be the ones carrying the letter or they could be coming later and this could be advance warning.  In either case, Paul wants Titus to let Artemas or Tychicus take care of the church so that Titus can come visit Paul in Nicopolis (he is going to be wintering there).

​Paul is waiting for Zenas the lawyer and Apollos and asks Titus to speed them along.  In the midst of all of this, Titus is supposed to focus on teaching the Elect of Crete to live in a way where people will see their good works and glorify their Father who is in heaven.  Titus is also supposed to help people learn to take care of each other's urgent needs (it should not be the responsibility of Titus or Paul's team to take care of all of them when they have either other to lean on for help and support).  They are to bear fruit (show evidence on the outside of what has changed on the inside).  For many years "fruitfulness" or "bearing fruit" was made to be synonymous with "soul winning," but that is not that totality of what Paul is talking about here--he's talking about them bearing the Fruit of the Spirit in all areas of their lives in all places at all times under all circumstances.  This speaks of their conduct towards each other in the church and outside the church in all those various relationships we talked about in this book.  We are ambassadors who are to represent our King and His Kingdom well until one day when we will no longer by ambassadors living among foreigners, but we will be citizens of the Kingdom that we will live in forever and ever.

Paul closes with his final greeting of "Grace be with you all."

We have now studied all the books of the Bible other than the book of Revelation (which I intentionally saved for last because it has so many references to so many other books that it's helpful to have exposure to the Old Testament Prophets before reading it--especially the book of Daniel).  I'm looking forward to studying it with you.

Titus 3:1-11
English Standard Version

Be Ready for Every Good Work
3 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

The "them" here refers back to the people we were just talking about in chapter 2 (remember that there were no chapter and verse numbers in the original letter).  Paul finished chapter 2 telling Titus to exhort the congregation as a whole to be obedient to all these things that were being given to them by Paul through Titus.  Now Paul is telling Titus to instruct the congregation to be submissive to the governing authorities that have been put over them--even though those governing authorities are often working in opposition to the gospel and are acting without honor.  However, this also refers to any kind of authority we are put under and is not as specific an instruction as what we may see in maybe Romans 13 where Paul talks about being subject to governors who have the authority to punish crime and execute the death penalty.  This could be a child-parent relationship or an employee-employer relationship, or a citizen-government relationship.  The way in which we respond to those who have been put in authority over us has much to do with how responsive people will be to our message when we share the gospel with them.  In fact, we are instructed here to seek the welfare of those around us, even those outside the Church and even those who are in authority over us.  We should seek to make our cultures and communities better to make the lives of our governing authorities easier, not harder.  Even if they do not submit to the gospel themselves, they should realize through observation that things are better for them when they Christians who they trust in their government who are seeking for people to be changed from the inside out so they no longer desire to be rebellious and evil.

That leads to the next point Paul makes to remind us of all the kinds of things that are part of our old nature that we need to do away with--speaking evil of others, quarrelling, speaking harshly and in a way that is rude and self-seeking (instead we are to be gentle, courteous and humble--thinking of other more highly than we think of ourselves, for this is what 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love looks like).  We were once foolish, disobedient, and slaves to our sinful lusts and passions.  We spent our time and energy fanaticizing about how to get even or do harm to others, we were ruled by vengeance, jealousy, envy, and strife.  We did not know how to love each other.  But now, because of the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit, we have been transformed.  He saved us, washed us, gave us new life, and renewed us to right standing with both God and men.  We have been justified so that we are declared "not guilty" and "righteous" in His sight, and we have been given the gift of eternal life that only comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.  This is not the end of the story though.

God wants us to devote ourselves to good works, not to earn brownie points or do things to prove that we merited salvation or do anything in order to keep our salvation, but because we are His humble servants who desire to please Him in all things.  We love His Law and desire to obey it.  This is not just good for us, but it is good for all the people around us too as the blessings that come to us spill over onto those in our families and communities.  However, we should avoid "foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless."  They get in the way of the gospel and do not lead to our benefit, the benefit of the Church or the benefit of our communities.  These are the kinds of things the natural man (our flesh) would focus on, but we will not focus on these things when we are controlled by the Spirit.

The kind of person who is in the congregation who still engages in this disruptive, divisive behavior should be warned, and if they do not repent, they are to be put out (excommunicated).  They will only harm the world's perception of the Church and Christians everywhere and Christians would do well to not associate with anyone who claims the name of Christ and claims to be controlled by the Spirit, but is still behaving in this way that brings dishonor to Christ and His Church--stay far away from such people to make it clear to the world that they are not of us.  Do not let that person's sin corrupt the Church and let God judge them and deal with Him on His terms and in His time with the hopes that they might be driven to repentance and might eventually come under his submission to His authority and become obedient to all He has commanded them to be and do.  Then, and only then, should such a man be welcomed back into the Church (see 2 Corinthians where Paul corrects that congregation for not welcoming back the one he told them to excommunicate in 1 Corinthians once he had repented).