Jay Carper
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Romans 16:17-18 ESV
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Religious people of all denominations are too quick to either label every different opinion as heresy or to quit one church for another as soon as the pastor says something they don't like. We really need better coping skills.
I have been thinking of common disagreements in three categories: Discordant, Divergent, and Academic. I've also been thinking of people who unintentionally create division in three categories: Sensationalists, Closed-minded, and Obsessive.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
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Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
What are the "secret things" in this verse? I'd like to offer two possibilities, one focusing on love for God, and the other on love for your neighbor.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
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At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
Romans 15:25-26 ESV
Paul explains that the Jewish believers in Jerusalem deserved the help of the new Gentile believers, but he doesn't explain why they needed help. In this video, I offer some possible reasons.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
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For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
Romans 15:18-21 ESV
Why was Paul so intent on preaching the Gospel where nobody else had been? To avoid building "on someone else's foundation"? This sounds like he's treating his ministry as a competition, but when you realize that he saw himself as fulfilling the prophecy he quotes in this passage, his statement takes on another character. It wasn't a competition, but a great blessing from God, and he wanted to honor that blessing with his whole being!
Thumbnail background image adapted from an original work by Cristiano64 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/....wiki/File:Claudio_41 under CC 3.0 license.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Wild Branch Community read and discussed Exodus 7:19-8:19 and the first three plagues of Egypt.
God doesn't send plagues just to make people suffer. His discipline is always instructive and for our ultimate good. He sent plagues on Egypt to show Egypt, Israel, and the whole world just who he is, who they are in relation to him, and who their false gods really are.
Pharaoh could have saved Egypt at any point, but he valued his own pride and position more than his people. God disciplines those whom he loves, and that discipline almost always spills over onto the people around you, especially those for whom you are responsible. God's love language is obedience, but submission to God doesn't just show love for him. It shows love for your people.
Wild Branch Community is a home fellowship of Torah-observant believers in Texas between Houston and Austin. Find out more about us at https://WildBranchTX.org.
I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:14-16 ESV
Paul says “able to instruct one another” for two reasons. First, the prophecies that he quoted just prior describe a priestly role of discipleship in which Israel instructs adoptees from the nations in the ways of YHWH. Second, the primary responsibility of a disciple is to become like his master, but the next is to make more disciples. As he has described elsewhere, this is one of the primary reasons we are instructed to gather together regularly as believers: to encourage and instruct each other.
Christianity has developed a "church culture" in which everyone expects one person to stand before the congregation and teach them everything. The rest of us are just supposed to sit in the pews and be "fed". This passage from Romans shows that this isn't what God intended. Certainly God has specially commissioned some people to be Teachers, but we are all supposed to be learning and becoming teachers of one another. Nobody has a monopoly on all knowledge. We all know some things better than the people around us, and we should be willing to teach when the need and opportunity arises.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
Romans 15:1-3 ESV
Who are the strong and the weak? What does it mean for the strong to "bear with the failings" of the weak? It most definitely does not mean that those who have rejected the Law of Moses should be patient with those who are still trying to keep the commandments. That's exactly the opposite of Paul's meaning. Paul was not an antinomian nor even a metanomian.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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It's amazing and beautiful to see so many people returning to God's commandments, but there is also a lot of ugliness along the way. We are still human, after all. Whether you call this movement Messianic Judaism, Hebrew Roots, Pronomianism, or something else, everyone has their own idea of what it means and how to live it out. Sometimes those differences can turn into arguments and division.
This is not how YHWH wants his people to be!
On Thursday, January 16th, Ed Doss joined the Common Sense Bible Study crew for a live conversation about Unity in the Kingdom.
Ed Doss is a former evangelist with more than 30 years of outreach and evangelistic experience. As a missionary, Ed has planted two churches in Los Angeles and Victorville, California, alongside two campus ministries in Phoenix, Arizona, and in Los Angeles. Ed served as an evangelist in the Phoenix Church of Christ for five years and founded Digging Deeper, a Biblical teaching group in Dallas that explores the often overlooked and untaught parts of Scripture.
Ed has authored papers on topics such as the six-day creation week, the two houses of Israel, and understanding the book of Job. He is the author of the book Finding the Ancient Paths: the Harmony of Law & Grace (affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4fCYEFb) and host of "Finding the Ancient Paths" on YouTube with many great videos on Biblical topics.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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In Genesis 49, Jacob blesses his sons, but many of these blessings sound more like curses. What's really going on? By recognizing who each of his sons were and prophesying over them accordingly, Jacob set them on a course to reinforce each other's strengths and minimize each other's weaknesses.
This is how the body of Christ should be. A blessing for one of us should be a blessing to all of us, and a curse to one of us should be an opportunity to defend and encourage a brother, not to tear him down.
Wild Branch Community is a home fellowship of Torah-observant believers in Texas between Houston and Austin. Find out more about us at https://WildBranchTX.org.
Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Romans 14:18-19 ESV
The one who is accepted by God isn't the one who serves himself, but who serves Christ and the body of Christ. Pursue peace with your fellow believers, not conflict. Build each other up; don't tear each other down.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.
Romans 14:13-14 ESV
Errant translations of this passage have created a lot of confusion and bad doctrine. Paul was not saying that God's rules about what is clean and unclean had changed or didn't matter. He was talking about man-made rules for what is "common", not God's rules. Akathartos vs Koinos.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead and God's plan for his descendants in jeopardy. So when his other sons returned from Egypt and told him that Joseph was alive, it was almost like he was resurrected himself. Unfortunately, he also realized that God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land was about to come true.
Wild Branch Community is a home fellowship of Torah-observant believers in Texas between Houston and Austin. Find out more about us at https://WildBranchTX.org.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Romans 14:5-6 ESV
These verses don't mean that we can choose what day we observe as a Sabbath or no day at all. It's possible that Paul was talking about arguments over ambiguous aspects of the calendar, such as when exactly a day begins and ends. He could also have been talking about days on which one might encounter meat that had been sacrificed to idols offered for sale in the market. However, the most likely explanation is that he was talking about controversies over which days of the week should be set aside for fasting. There are no commanded weekly fast days, so this would be entirely a matter of personal opinion, not obedience to God.
If Paul wasn't saying that God's commandments concerning the weekly Sabbath no longer apply, then how can we know exactly which day is the seventh day of the week? It's been thousands of years since Creation! This video addresses that question too.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
Romans 14:1 ESV
Are the "weak in faith" those people who believe trying to obey the Law or in keeping those commandments that are distinctively "Jewish"? Or are they people who are so afraid of breaking an actual commandment that they add all kinds of new rules just to be safe?
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
Genesis 42:37 ESV
Reuben's actions and words in Genesis seem random and a bit crazy until you put them all together, and then they start to form a consistent pattern. Reuben was a firstborn son who saw himself being bypassed by his younger brothers. Most of his seemingly bizarre interactions with Jacob, Bilhah, Joseph, and Benjamin can be explained as a series of attempts to regain his position at the head of the family.
Wild Branch Community is a home fellowship of Torah-observant believers in Texas between Houston and Austin. Find out more about us at https://WildBranchTX.org.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Romans 13:11-12 ESV
Paul often wrote as if he expected Yeshua to return at any moment. Was he making a false prediction in this passage? Or was he just longing for that day whether it comes tomorrow or in ten thousand years? What did he mean by salvation? What is the night and the day?
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:9 ESV
Was Paul saying that "Love your neighbor as yourself" sums up only the Ten Commandments and not all the rest of God's instructions? No! Because all of the rest of God's commandments are summed up in the Ten. To love your neighbor is to keep all of God's commandments, not just the Ten.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19 ESV
"Vengeance is mine, says the Lord" does not mean we shouldn't pursue justice or restitution, but it does mean that we shouldn't be trying to get even, to make other people hurt just because they made us hurt. Our goal should always be to make the world a better place, not to make everyone equally miserable.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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How can you bless someone who curses you? Is it just saying nice things about them? Or is it taking an active role in repairing the broken relationship?
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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Paul said we are to abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good, but what is evil and what is good? The Bible is the only reliable source we have to identify these things. Whatever God says is evil, we should abhor. Whatever God says is good, we should hold fast to.
Food is nothing. Circumcision is nothing. Holy days are nothing. Obedience to God and relationship with him is everything, and so we abhor what he abhors and hold fast to what he holds fast.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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