3C's Bible Study

Timothy, a youthful pastor, had to direct and correct the young and the elderly, relate with younger women faithfully, and address crucial problems around caring for widows and keeping elders accountable. In this chapter, Paul hands Timothy and us practical tools for dealing with the major obstacle to godliness - relationships.

In these verses, Paul reveals that there is profit to godly living, and shows us how to develop a godly life and uncover the value in godliness.

In these verses, Paul highlights the two main streams of error that the church and believers will contend with in the last days as revealed by the Holy Spirit. We consider these the twin problems of license and legalism and the key that unlocks balanced and mature Christian living in the face of the temptation to be drawn to one or the other. We also look at the issue of "departing from the f...

Paul goes on in this chapter to outline the qualifications for Bishops, Elders, Pastors & Deacons in the church, and the heart of these qualifications is to live blamless life. Such a life is founded on the principle of reverence and submission to God, and grows out into soberness and self-control towards ourselves, others and the world. Blameless living is supposed to be part of the normal Ch...

Paul discusses the role of prayer and intercession in facilitating the ministry of the church to the world and the place of submission in ensuring the order that God desires in the home and the church, which eventually flows into society.

Paul's primary goal of writing to his son in the faith Timothy is to stir him up to "remain in Ephesus", which is an apt metaphor for his charge in this chapter to "fight the good warfare". We explore the central themes of this letter in this episode and the practical meaning and strategies for waging the good warfare.

Paul concludes this letter by highlighting the central role of prayer in fulfilling the work of redemption, along with godliness and good works. We explore these themes in some detail in this episode and connect them in the end to the God of peace, who is the author of the work of redemption, and is able to see us through it to the end.

In this chapter, Paul gets to the heart of his reason for writing this second letter by presenting and establishing the order and signs of the Lord's return and refuting the false claims and ideas that had proliferated the church. Looking forward and ahead to the Lord's return is an essential ingredient to a wholesome Christian experience, and God wants us to be equipped with the hope that...

At the start of this second letter, Paul reminds the Thessalonians of the meaning of their sufferings for Christ and how it leads to greater measure of glory. His exhortation in this chapter is a timely reminder for in the face life, to live with boldness as sons of God whose lives are earmarked for the glory of God.

Paul wraps up this first letter by providing practical guidelines to backup the earlier charge to live ready for the Lord's return. The normal Christian life is the sanctified life and we explore the practical outworking of this life in this episode.

In these verses, Paul turns to the ultimate hope of our salvation, particularly the hope of the resurrection. We dive into this theme to understand why hope is at the heart of knowing God and walking with Him, and to understand our part is realising the joy and expectation of our hope in Christ.

Writing to a church that has been established in the foundations of faith, hope and love, Paul urges them on to the next steps of maturity, which is to find and lay hold of the will of God. At the heart of the will of God is the reason He saved us and paid for our redemption after we sinned, and it is that we may be separated unto Him for His purpose and good pleasure. This episode concludes with...

In these two chapters, Paul highlights for us at least six marks of authentic, enduring and fruitful ministry as he had in Thessaloniki. They are: - Faithfulness to the Gospel - Fidelity and strength in character - The unmistakable presence of suffering or opposition - A continuous focus on eternity - Concern and care for the faith and love of God's elect - Praying exceedingly and always for God's...

Putting together the main lessons from the first chapter of this letter, we rediscover the meaning and heart of the Gospel of God and how we can be powerful witnesses of Jesus in our daily spaces. We also explore the practical outcomes that the Gospel had in the church in Thessaloniki and what it means to take up the same posture of turning from idols to serve the true and living God and waiting f...

The outstanding mark of the Gospel that was preached to the Thessalonians that made their faith stable and secure was the power that came with it. There are at least three main expressions of power in the Gospel: The power of godliness (human proof) The power of utterance (the bridge) The power of signs (divine proof) These three work together to produce the assurance and conviction of the Holy Sp...

Paul spent just about three weeks in Thessaloniki with the church there before he was forced out by religious zealots from the local Synagogues. Despite the relatively short time, the impact that this visit had on the church was a deep and enduring one that is attested to by the warmth and practicality in this letter. In this first episode we consider the foundational elements of faith, hope and l...

A church that will reveal the glory of God to the world must be rich in both grace and truth. Emphasizing grace at the expense of truth ultimately sets us up against the truth as we set about to define love and acceptance in a way that God, who is love, does not. On the contrary, broken humanity is unable to comprehend truth without the grace that enables us to receive it. Let's pray that our...

Inherent and explicit in our calling as Christians is the call to be an overcomer. In our efforts to live out a life of fellowship with the Father, we will face intense opposition from within (the flesh), around us (the world) and against us (the devil). Victory is only possible on one basis, and that is our faith in the work of Christ in history, and in us today through the Holy Spirit. The Spiri...

Perfect love is the love that takes its reference from God, the who is the definition of love. The Christian life is an expression of the sublime meeting of grace and truth which is a reflection of the essence of God's love. We learn in this episode the three distinct characteristics of the love of God, and end with a prayer that this love will be perfected in us and through us.

Building on the call to test every spirit, this episode focuses on how to test or discern things. We are called to discern things - whether they are natural or spiritual, true or false, right or wrong and to discern spirits - whether they are of God or not. Discerning things means seeing beyond what is apparent into what is really there. Discerning spirits requires that we go into the origin of th...

One of the outcomes of fellowshipping with the Father is that we are trained in discerning what is not of God or for us, giving us the much-needed discretion for life and godliness. The call to test every spirit reveals that behind every prophetic activity on earth is a spirit, and that every believer has the spiritual equipment to tell the false from the true. The test of spirit is so crucial in...

The enduring call of the Christian life is to walk in love, not only when we feel love, but as a decision we make to submit to and live out the life of God in us. When we fail to walk in love, we will ultimately express a nature that is of the devil. Our lack of love will produce hatred, bitterness and eventually murder. Choosing to love is the key to receiving the grace to love. It is how we main...

John makes the case in the opening verses of this chapter that our call to righteous living is possible because we have the seed of God in us. Beyond education or psychology or legislation, it is the life of God imparted to men that can produce the virtues of a holy life. In view of the life that we have received, and the nature we now have, John wants us to set our hope aright and to make a break...

John builds on the practicalities of maintaining fellowship with the Father by highlighting the potential entry points of the enemy, and the tools that we can use to shut those doors. He covers the problem of the world and the lusts that are within every person and counsels us to not love the world. We explore the practical implications of this charge. He closes off with a warning against the spir...

The main outcome of fellowship with the Father is that we get to know Him in an ever-increasing measure of intimacy. It is our knowledge of God that frees us from the shackles of sin and positions us to walk in practical love. What does it then mean to "know" God as John described? How can we walk in this world as He walked? Let's find out together in this episode.