In Cotext Bible Studies

The Bible is so much more than a book of rules.

To operate any vehicles or machines like cars, trucks, motorcycles or even an airplane you must study the operations manuals and pass rigorous tests before you get a license to operate, and that is just for the luxury of operating it! If you want it properly maintained, then the manufacturers maintenance instructions must be followed for best results.

The Bible can be compared to these manuals, but it is so much more than that. It not only gives instructions on how to live well, it invites you to know your maker. The Bible gives many examples of how people did life in the past, with and without God, the good and the bad, and how it is supposed to work today. The Bible is full of

Read more: Why study the Bible?

Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

I’m sharing my Bible study journey to invite you to learn along side of me, to encourage you to read it for yourself, to have a place where important topics are discussed, and to have resource for Biblical text interconnections. Sometimes it will be easy, sometime it will be challenging to read the Bible, but I am convinced it will be life building. There is nothing like making or reading a hyper-connected Bible study to help your own mind make those connections. Take a look at this hyperlinked Bible page to get a glimpse into what I mean by hyper connected. My effort is to at least start scratching the surface of the Biblical hyperlinks and their meanings. The grand project like the Bible was written by many authors from many different cultures and different generations, yet it is woven together in amazing unity to tell one grand story of humanity and how God relates. I believe only God has the power to create such a book, and it is wise to choose to read it, learn from it and live by it.

I am not a Bible scholar and if you’re interested in complete Biblical commentaries, then you’ll need to find those elsewhere. I will do my best to do my research in what I am learning and writing. I am open to correction. I do not claim to know it all, but I do believe that I have the truth. Yes, absolute truth. If you have the truth then any accusations or criticism will not prevail. Why do you think Christ as well as Christians in the past and present allowed themselves to be ridiculed and even killed for what they knew and know to be true? If you’re telling the truth, then you do not have to be scared to be found out a liar. Would you trust the one who shuts you down if you have a doubt or question, or the one who allows open discussion? Be careful of those who do not let themselves be questioned. Mostly I think it is their fear of being discovered and them saving their pride who silence opposition.

Many false prophets and teachers are popping up these days. The best way to NOT be deceived into believing lies, is by getting to know the truth. So if someone comes along telling you lies, you can easily refute them if you know the truth, but if you don’t know much about the truth then you can easily be tricked into believing anything. Jesus said “... If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31b-32

To find out more about me, check out my About page. If you're no convinced the Bible is worth reading, then see what Psychologist Jordan Peterson has to say about the psychological, historical and literary value the Bible brings to humanity.

2nd Corinthians - Key Verses

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

2 Corinthians 2:10-11

10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

2 Corinthians 3:3-4

3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God.

2 Corinthians 4:6

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 5:4-5

4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 6:1

6 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

2 Corinthians 6:16

16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them
    and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.”

2 Corinthians 7:1

7 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Read more: 2nd Corinthians - Key Verses

2nd Corinthians 8-9 - Christian Sharing & Equality

"From time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

Notice it says "from time to time". It is not a command that this is how we should behave always. Just because some people sold their possession and gave the money to the apostles, it does not mean we ought to do the same right now.

If we dig deeper in the Bible we could find God's people doing all sorts of things good and even bad. Often, good behaviour is a good example for us to follow, and bad behaviour, even committed by God's people, is definitely something for us to learn from and not follow. Like King David's adultery with Bathsheba, or the murder Moses committed. We need to be tuned into God to give us wisdom in discerning what is a Biblical description, and what is a prescription for us to follow today.

So what does the Bible say about sharing?

Read more: 2nd Corinthians 8-9 - Christian Sharing & Equality

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Guided Bible Studies

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Getting Started

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