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bible reading weekend sept 26



Bible reading for weekend September 26-27. 

2 Samuel 22-23.

"Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: 'The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.'" (2 Samuel 23:1-4) 

SIGNATURE PSALM (ch 22). "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies" (vv 22:2-4). This is a nearly-verbatim parallel version of Psalm 18. For all his faults and failures David was unashamedly God-centered. When he sinned it was serious. But he repented whole-heartedly and returned with zeal to serve the Lord. 

LAST WORDS AND HONORABLE MENTIONS (ch 23). David was the anointed king over Israel who sought to rule justly in the sight of God (vv 1-7). He was also a prophet (23:1-2). In Psalm 110 he speaks of his royal descendant who would be a priest also. This One whom he calls "Lord" would be prophet, priest, and king -- the Anointed One (Heb., Messiah; Gr., Christ). The chapter in 2 Samuel concludes with a list of David's "mighty men" (vv 8-39). These were the valiant fighters who faithfully supported David through the years. One lesson: King David attracted and produced courageous people, as would David's greater Son: "Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours" (Psalm 110:3). Notice, for example, the courage of the apostles and early Christians as they spoke "the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:13, 31).  

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Galatians 2-3.

"...yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:16) 

DIED TO LAW, ALIVE TO CHRIST (ch 2). Paul relates more of his experiences with the apostles and, specifically, with Peter. The main point is "a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ" (v 16). Paul says that he has died with Christ to the law and now lives a new life with Christ indwelling him (v 20). Francis Schaeffer wrote, "Just as the only basis for the removal of our guilt is the finished work of Christ upon the cross in history, plus nothing, so the only instrument for accepting that finished work of Christ upon the cross is faith" (True Spirituality). Read more of this quote at readinggalatians.blogspot.com/2012/02/plus-nothing.html 

THE LAW LEADS TO CHRIST (ch 3). The purpose of the law was to reveal and restrain human wickedness. The law was not intended to be a way of salvation but rather, a tutor (or guardian) to lead us to the grace of our Lord Jesus. One of the hardest things for Christians to get a right grasp upon is the relationship between law and grace.  Here's a brief introduction to this topic by Don Carson: thegospelcoalition.org/article/whats-relationship-law-gospel/ For a scholarly treatment of Paul's view of justification in Galatians I recommend this article by Douglas Moo: http://static.crossway.org/excerpt/understanding-the-times/understanding-the-times-download.pdf 


We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson. Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. One recommended resource is NETBible.org, a ministry of bible.org.


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