Look what some people in the Bible got addicted to: “you know the house of Stephanas…that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints” (1 Corinthians 16:15 KJV). Yes, the family of Stephanas was addicted; they were addicted to ministering to other people, they had “addicted themselves”, and this was a good and healthy addiction to have.
At Setting Captives Free, we have some mentors who are addicted to mentoring which is similar to the ministry of Stephanas and his family. You might want to consider becoming a mentor with us at the end of this course, it can be thrilling to watch people experience the gospel and the changes that come with it. Keep it in mind and pray about it as you continue in the course. Mentoring is one addiction that is good and healthy to have.
Another good addiction to have is Bible study. It is so thoroughly enjoyable to study the Scriptures and to feel God’s Word come into our lives powerfully. The enlightenment and transformation that happens when we interact with God through His Word can truly become addicting.
In the previous lesson, we saw something that would help us in our Bible study, which is to review the Old Testament passages that are being quoted in the New Testament.
In this lesson, I want to share with you something else about Bible study that can be thoroughly addicting, and then I’ll give you a chance to practice it. Whenever you read a passage it can be helpful to have the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge on hand because it provides cross references to any passage we are studying. These cross references are similar passages that can help explain the passage we are reading and can provide much insight and excitement.
In this lesson, I want to read a passage, Romans 8, with you and let’s use the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge to expand our study and give us the thrill of comparing Scripture with Scripture. By the way, if you download E-Sword at www.e-sword.net (versions for Windows, Mac, iPad, or iPhone), you can get the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge (TSK Cross References) for free. It’s a wonderful tool to help us in our study, and it also shows us how media can be used in purposeful and helpful ways. So let’s begin. The first thing we want to do when we study any passage is to stop and pray, asking God the Holy Spirit to teach us His Word and help us see Jesus in it. The Bible is not like any other book, it can’t be understood merely through much study; rather, God must open our hearts and our minds to understand His Word, and to help us apply it to our lives. So we always want to pray and ask Him for help.
You can pray with the Psalmist: "Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law." (Psalm 119:18 NKJV)
Then we begin reading, and we just read the entire passage, maybe a full chapter or however long you want to read. This helps us see the context of the passage and get the big picture.
After we read the passage we can begin looking at each verse, so let’s do that now:
Romans 8:1 NLT So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
This verse tells us that if we belong to Jesus, in other words, if we have heard the gospel message and believed it, turned from our sin and received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then there is no condemnation for us. The reason is that Jesus was condemned instead of us, therefore, there is no condemnation left for us. Jesus was condemned that we might be justified. Jesus died in our place that we can live forever. Jesus took our hell that we can have His heaven. So there is no condemnation for us.
Now if we look at the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge (TSK Cross References), we are given the following verses that contain similar thoughts, concepts or words:
Romans 4:7-8, Romans 5:1, Romans 7:17, Romans 7:20; Isaiah 54:17; John 3:18-19, John 5:24; Galatians 3:13
Question 2. If you hover your mouse over the above verses they will pop up and you can read them. Pick a couple of those verses and tell how they expand on the thought of there being “no condemnation” for us.
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