Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 8

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - BRIBERY

BRIBERY

Bribery is considered to be that act of giving to or doing something for someone in an effort to persuade them to act or do something in your favour. Now, the Bible clearly states that:

Jesus said to him, 

“I’m the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

(John 14:6)

The Bible also states that:

By grace you have been saved through faith, 

and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of god. 

(Ephesians 2:8)

Now, if we are saved by grace alone, not by our own efforts, and if the only way to God is by means of Christ, then what do we make of all those people who are good, by our standards at least, and who do so much for others but have not accepted God’s Son? They often are on the boards of charitable institutions and give greater or lessor amounts to philanthropic causes. Such people may be good family members, law-abiding citizens, and good community members; people we think would certainly be heaven bound because of their deeds and good works.

But will that be the case? If God states that the only way to the Father is through Jesus, does He take into account any of what we do on earth as being of any meaning without Jesus? After all, it does state that:

  

There is none who does good, 

No, not one. 

(Psalm 14:3, 53:3, Romans 3:10, 3:12)

And if there are none who do good in His eyes, then what does it benefit us to do what we consider good if…

 

We are all like an unclean thing,

And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…

(Isaiah 64:6)

After all, God may say He loves the whole world as an entity, but nowhere does He say that He loves an individual except in Christ. So, if one has not accepted Christ, does He consider the doing of good deeds and works merely an attempt to bribe one’s way into heaven by circumventing the manner God intended?

It’s not up to me to say, but if no one can obey fully the Law as laid down by God through Moses, it’s hard to see how anything else we do by ourselves would win His favour and admit us through those gates of pearl.

It’s better to take the path that has been laid out for us and be sure than to take any chances.

At least it is certainly something to think about. 

Pastor Terry Dorian Aug. 3, 2025

Dr Spencer Barclay Aug 3, 2025

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 7

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - GOD & LOVE

 

GOD & LOVE

One of the most profound statements in the Bible is the one that states:

He who does not love does not know God, 

for God is love. 

(1 John 4:8)

Now we often read the Bible without considering the change in meaning and context that occurs when one word can be exchanged for another. When we read about love in Scripture, it is often as it may be between persons and not as it may be with God. So, let us take a portion of Scripture and substitute God for where love appears in the script. It does make a difference in meaning.

Let’s take 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and see what difference the change makes.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not [God],

I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understanding all mysteries 

and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, 

but have not [God], I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, 

and though I give my body to be burned, 

but have not [God], it profits me nothing.

[God] suffers long and is kind; [God] does not envy; 

[God] does not parade Himself, is not puffed up;

does not behave rudely, does not seek [His] own, 

is not provoked, thinks no evil; 

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

[God] never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; 

whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, 

it will vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophecy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, 

then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, 

I understood as a child, I thought as a child; 

but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. 

Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, [God], these three; but the greatest of these is [God].

Substituting God for where love normally is in the chapter gives a similar meaning as the original but in an entirely different context. It does give much more of the impression that truly… 

…God is love.

(1 John 4:8)

And that is something we all should continually be thinking about. 

 

Pastor Matthew Trott July 27, 2025