Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 1 Study # 4
July 1, 2012
Dayton, Texas
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<185> Thesis: His judgments are unsearchable and His ways are past finding out. Introduction: In our last study we considered the differences between good "bondage" and bad "bondage". In that study I made the argument that "bad" bondage was "forced compliance, out of fear, to attitudes and actions that have built-in seeds of self-defeat". In that argument the issue of "defeat" centers around the question of whether, or not, the Joy of Life will be realized. The issue is not the "forcefulness" of what drives "compliance": Love is as great a "slave-driver" as Fear. The issue is not, technically, the present "feelings" of the slave: feelings are notorious for at least two deficiencies -- instability and ignorance. The bottom line issue is whether, or not, enduring Joy is the outcome. This evening we are going to explore Paul's explanation of God's activity in light of the fact that enduring Joy is the real bottom line.