Campus Bible Study: Bible Talks

2025 Easter Talk

How do you address non-Christians who express the fruit of the spirit (Eg they are patient)? Has God given these fruit even to those who belong to the flesh? Assuming the quality of our relationship with God is independent of our actions, can we not grow in the depth of our relationship with him? Why talk to him? Why learn about him/get to know him? Doesn't God love us when we obey him/live like Jesus? Does this have no effect on our relationship with him? What actually is "goodness"? How is it distinct from the other fruit of the Spirit listed in v22-23? Are those who commit the works of the flesh in v19-23, who will not inherit the kingdom, unsaved because these unrepentant works nullify faith, or is it that they still have faith but these works somehow disqualify them from eternal life? Is Galatians only referring to adding the Law onto salvation or can we apply it to other nuances the apostolic denominations (Catholic/Orthodox) add onto "Faith alone"? How do we know we can use Galatians to discern the truth of these practices if Galatians only uses examples from OT Law? In terms of guidance, how do we view Acts and how God directly instructs Paul etc?

What is the bodily ailment of Paul and why was that the cause of Paul preaching the gospel to the Galatians first? I'm still confused about how we define 'elementary principles'. Are they the 'bits' that make up the things around us or 'rules'? or both? Or are rules an example of an 'elementary principle'? In regards to the elementary principles (4:3), other bible translations say "elemental spirits." Is the same idea of rules still valid, and what does it mean by "spirits"? Should new Christians post-Jesus, try to stick to the rules to receive that "training" of the law to know how to use freedom well? If God gave the OT law/rules to train his people to know how to do what is right, are we exempt from needing the same training? Is the value in setting rules for ourselves, not hard rules, but "defaults", such that we may have triggers when in we are beginning to act in sinfulness? How does Paul's allegorical interpretation of the story of Sarah and Hagar impact our understanding of Old Testament interpretation in general? Should we interpret more Old Testament passages allegorically, or is this a one-off from Paul?  Who does the quote in v27 refer to? Is it Sarah, or the 'Jerusalem above'? How does it support Paul's argument?

Can something be 'good' and not 'pleasing to God'? For example, if an unbeliever cares for the poor, would it be correct to say that their action was 'good' but not 'pleasing to God', because of their unbelief? Or does their unbelief make it 'evil'? Are there 'good' actions and 'evil' actions, or 'obedient' and 'disobedient' actions or is it just 'obedience' vs 'disobedience'? You mentioned the idea of 'imperfect fruit' for those who have genuine faith - does that mean our faith in Jesus who makes us right with God enables us to have the ability to do good? But we still don't always do good? If freedom is achieved by living through faith in Jesus, what does this look like in actions, day to day life etc. If it is not by laws/rules and restraint? How would I present this to a non-Christian friend?

What do you mean that the law "limits the damage of our sin"? Don't all sins do the same damage? If the law is a temporary thing for limiting damage of sin, why wasn't Jesus sent earlier? What evidence is there in the OT that the law is time bound? e.g Exodus 12:17 says the Passover should be "observed... as a statue FOREVER". Are there any old testament laws we are called to obey? Where do animal sacrifices sit in with this? If we are not bound by OT law, and saved by faith not works, how should we approach commands/instructions given in the NT that we might consider specific to 1st century context (e.g. head coverings)? If some commands are context-bound, how do we tell which ones are/aren't? How does what we have learnt about the Law (not under the Law) work, given a passage like Mathew 5:17-18. How do we reconcile these passages? How do we understand Jesus' teaching on the law in the sermon on the mount in light of our identity as Christians who done live under the law? How does the guardian (school/discipline master) lead us to Christ if it's there to reduce the damage of sin?

How does a potentially missing word in the OT effect our ability to trust the Bible, if the Bible may have been tampered with? If the Gospel does not need any works to be completed, and Abraham was declared righteous by faith, why does James 2:21 say that Abraham was "justified by works"? How can someone be saved if they've never heard of Jesus? With Carl's point on Gal 3:14, did Paul not also say in Romans that salvation was first for the Jews, then for the Gentiles? If the Jews could not receive the Spirit until the Gentiles received the blessing, how did those in the OT respond in faith without the spirit? (eg Abraham etc.) Does the plan that all people would be justified by faith mean the idea of an "old and new" covenant is unhelpful/not a thing?  

How do we know we are saved even when we believe Jesus died for us as a gift from God? How can we ensure a life where we don't become passive or deferring away from God? Hebrews 10:16-18: what does it mean "I will put my laws on their hearts...?" Is it not the OT law? Is it that we should want to do God's will and not obey God's law?" Why does Paul refer to Peter as "Cephas"? Is there any significance to this? In Matthew 18:15-17 Jesus tells us to rebuke fellow Christians in private first before public, was this the case for Paul rebuking Peter? In the passage if seems very public "I opposed him to his face" (v11).  If I'm trying to live with Jesus and in doing so fulfil the law, how can I make it clear to people that Christianity isn't about law keeping but trusting in Jesus?

Due to technical difficulties, we do not the recording this week for Carl's talk on Revelation 6-7.

This was delivered as a series of 3 talks entitled “Gospel Sweat” on Philippians, for LIFT Conference 2024. The first talk, “Mindset of Sweat”, was not recorded due to technical difficulties.

This was delivered as a series of 3 talks entitled "Gospel Sweat" on Philippians, for LIFT Conference 2024. The first talk, "Mindset of Sweat", was not recorded due to technical difficulties.