Download Rebuilding Week Three - Fishers of the Lamb Ministries

Fishers of the Lamb Ministries
Course: Rebuilding
Week Three: A Biblical Philosophy of Life
A great theologian Dr. B.B. Warfield once said, "Any doctrine in scripture is established, if only one verse
teaches it". II Timothy 1:7 states, "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind". This summarizes God's philosophy to fit mankind's needs. It provides balance in
life for all God's children. This Biblical principle is explained and amplified in many places in scripture,
through teaching by the Prophets, and illustrations in the lives of Biblical characters.
I.
The Analysis: In order to achieve a balanced view or philosophy of life, God has given us
both a mind to think with, and emotions with which to feel and love. The problem is that
human beings tend to gravitate to one extreme or the other.
Mind
A balanced
view or
philosophy
of life
Emotions
To be overtly "minded" tends toward a cold, analytical, experiential thinking that may adversely affect
those who are more emotional in their makeup. The result is to become acutely logical and critical without
much compassion emotionally.
analytical
cold
experiential
Overlyminded
Explain how overly-minded people have hurt you in the past.
How have you hurt others/ yourself by being overly-minded?
Discuss the picture above. How does it describe being overly-minded?
To be overtly "emotional" tends toward acting and reacting with one's feelings, and lacking logical
thinking, may result in one emotionally indecisive to "highs" and "lows" in their feelings. This tends to
hinder one from thinking rationally in a balanced manner, and constantly keeps the logical thinking person
off balance in trying to relate to the emotionally minded person.
lack logical
indecisive/
acting/reacting
on feelings
wavering
Overtly
emotional
How have you been hurt by overtly emotional people?
How has your being overtly emotional hurt others/yourself in the past?
Explain what the pictures above express & how they apply to overtly emotional.
God desires His children to be balanced in life and understanding, so that He has given us both thinking
and feeling for this purpose. The Bible speaks of Jesus Christ as being a "meek and lowly" person.
Meekness is not a sense of timidity, but refers to showing mildness or quietness of nature… in other
words, a balanced and centered life. Christ was perfectly balanced in His life - combining a servant
attitude (Matthew 11:29; Mark 10:45) with His…
“…knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He
had come from God and was going to God.” (John 13:3) …
Since Christ is the Christian's model, we should be desirous of imitating Him.
Explain John 13:3 in the context of balance.
II.
The Teaching: 2Tim. 1:7 ("For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind") uses four key words that need to be understood, in order to grasp
the meaning and intent of God's purpose in life for the Christian - to show us how we should
live.

Fear: There are two words used in scripture for fear. The one means to have awe or respect for
God as to who He is. This is seen in Philippians 2:12. The other word used here refers to being
afraid (see also Hebrews 13:6). The Christian has no cause for fear, as coming from God to us
His children. See Hebrews 4:14-16:
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are,
yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Meditate on the deeper meaning of these verses in your quiet time.

Power: God has given the Christian power in order to live CONSTRUCTIVELY. This comes from
Jesus Christ Himself and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:18; John 1:12; Ephesians 3:7). This power
provides for progressive maturity in life through the Holy Spirit, and His application of the truth of
the Bible to our lives. It’s a power to move us forward in God’s grace, not to push others back in
fleshly pride.

Love: Since we are all creatures of emotion, we desire to love and be loved. This also comes
from God Himself, who is the very essence of love (I John 4:8-10), and He desires that we love
SACRIFICALLY. To love in this fashion, is to give of one's self unselfishly for the good of another.
This too is exemplified in Christ, who gave Himself for us (John 3:16). Therefore, we ought to love
one another (I John 4:11-21).

Sound Mind: The logical, analytical, experiential thinking that we do is also from God, in order
that we might live REASONABLY. This is rational thinking, to counter balance an irrational world
in which we live, that is contrary to God Himself, and His program for us (I Corinthians 2:9-14;
Colossians 2:8-10).
III.
The Application: This balance that we have from God provides to the Christian a sense of
self esteem, worth, dignity, and security. It helps to reject fear as well as a feeling of
inadequacy and inability to act properly. This balance in life is obtained through seeking &
applying God's grace, in God’s way, to help in daily living. It comes through a daily
commitment of one's life to the control of the Holy Spirit in obedience to God’s Word.
God has promised to supply our needs (Philippians 4:19), and our resources are the riches of God's
grace (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 11:33). From these assured "bank accounts" the child of God can draw on
an inexhaustible supply to meet every need. Our Heavenly Father is desirous that we trust Him
completely and implicitly (I Peter 5:7; Hebrews 4:16), follow the principles of His word reasonably (Psalms
119:11), and love one another fervently (John 13:35; I John 4:18-21).
IV.
The Conclusion: This is the formula for a full life (see John 10:10) that eliminates fear, and
produces a balanced wholeness that brings fulfillment to the child of God.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that
they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)