Galatians 1: 10-24
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men?
Paul has said that he would become like whoever he was preaching to, to gain common ground with them so they would hear his message and be saved, in I Corinthians 9: 23. But he was not doing it to please them or make them like him, but to win them for Christ.
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
His focus was not on the people, but on Christ, to serve Him by serving those He loves.
Now he will set forth his own story, the path he was on before, and the path he is now walking.
For I would have you know, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
He's making a formal pronouncement here. He wants them to be aware of his Source, where his message came from, and that it was not made up by any man.
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
So nobody taught it to him, he received it by revelation directly from Christ Jesus Himself, so there can be no mistake that what he preaches is Truth.
For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
His life was always an open book, everyone knew his lifestyle before his encounter with the Lord; how he tried to wipe out this new little sect that he thought was dangerous.
and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
He was always a very determined and passionate person, and he was pushing himself to accomplish more and more in promoting what he had been taught in the Hebrew religion of obeying the Law of Moses, beyond many others of his peers.
But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb
Since he was a child he's always been a go-getter, and was given by God the natural inclination to passionately pursue whatever he was after.
and called me through His grace, was pleased
to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles,
So God graciously turned him around completely, to preach the faith he was destroying, going the opposite way from the path he had been on, even going to all the people who were outsiders to his previous religion.
I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
This total change in direction didn't have him talking about it with anyone.
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me;
He didn't even try to talk with the others who were the leaders in this new faith.
but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
Instead he went to a completely different place, to be alone with the Lord.
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.
He waited a whole three years before he decided to meet Peter, so he went and stayed with him for two weeks getting to know him.
But I did not see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
Paul wants to be specific about which James he was talking about here, and says he was "the Lord's brother." Jesus' brothers didn't believe in Him until after His Resurrection, I think when He had Mary Magdalen tell them they were also invited to the meeting He had scheduled with His Apostles in Galilee (see Matthew 28: 10). And having grown up with Jesus as a big brother, they finally realized why He had never gotten in trouble for disobedience, that He really is who He claimed to be, and followed Him faithfully after that.
The Lord's brothers are named in Matthew 13: 55-56 and Mark 6: 3, as James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude, and "all His sisters" are not named. So He grew up in a big family, and His brothers, James and Jude, both wrote Epistles that are in our Bible now as Scripture.
James was the leader, the pastor, of the church in Jerusalem. Being Peter's pastor, he probably stopped by sometime while Paul was there, so he got to meet him, too, but he didn't go out to seek him, only Peter.
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
He wants to make sure that these Galatians know that he's not exaggerating anything here, just the bare-bones truth of how everything happened.
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Then he still didn't converse with any other church people in Jerusalem, but he went far away from Judea altogether (Acts 9: 30; 11:25-26).
I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;
Wow, this "bigger-than-life" Apostle of Christ is content to be "unknown" to the central core of the whole "church movement"! Would that we all who seek to serve the Lord would be content to be "unknown" rather than self-promoting, wanting to be popular and well-liked!
but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy."
He never even met the rest of them, they only knew him by hearsay, the gossip that spread about this persecutor who became a promoter of what he had been trying to destroy!
And they were glorifying God because of me.
Only God could turn around a person to do that, it is not possible humanly to change that dramatically instantly!
This is what happened to me. God came to me, and turned my thinking around completely. I had been an idolater, an adulteress, a liar, a thief; and He Loved me so much that He had His own Son take my Death sentence upon Himself! This extreme Love that enveloped me that day, changed me completely.
That is the power of God's Grace! His Love! His authority over us to do with us as He wills, when we let Him.
He is not willing that any of humanity would be destroyed; He chose us to be His own children, in His own family. But He will not violate the free will He gave us to choose. If we don't want Him, He won't force His way onto us.
But I think that He will "jiggle our willer" to want to come to Him, even if we don't know it's Him we're seeking, when people pray!
O my Father, Your Love is so far beyond anything I can imagine! It's so deep, so high, so wide, so far, so thick, so all-encompassing! Even though You know we are only dust, with defective DNA, damaged goods!
You take us just as we are, but You don't leave us there. You do a supernatural work in us to re-mold us into the very image, the character, of Your Son. I don't understand this, either, but I see Your working in me and in others of Your children, in growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
O Father, continue to help all Your children; remind us to be in constant prayer, continual conversation with You, remembering all of our loved ones and friends and acquaintances and neighbors and others we may not even know personally.
Keep us always firmly in Your hand, constantly aware of Your closeness with us, and your power in us to do Your good and gracious will. Use us as Your hands and feet to promote and finance Your great Kingdom, Your Family Business, which we are learning how to manage for You when we graduate.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Saturday, November 30, 2019
So Easily Drawn Away!
Galatians 1: 6-9
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
Paul is astounded and dismayed that these precious believers are already succumbing to other beliefs so contrary to the simple trust in Jesus, that it has drawn these Galatians completely away from our Lord Christ!
which is really not another;
This is really not good news, because it isn't good. It takes away the confidence they had in the Lord.
only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ.
There were Jews from Jerusalem who had come in and insisted that believing in what Christ has done for us wasn't enough, that we also have to do something to save ourselves, by following the Law of Moses.
This is very serious, because it denies that Jesus' death and resurrection is sufficient. It's so serious that it has actually pulled them away from Christ.
But even if we, or an Angel from Heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
Paul is very strong here, declaring that even if he himself or even one of God's Angels is telling them anything different to dilute or pollute the original message he had originally preached to these people--the complete sufficiency of the Lamb of God's Sacrifice on our behalf, and his rising from the dead as proof that God the Father accepted His payment in full for our sins--then God's eternal curse is upon that person.
As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Paul is so strongly convinced of this, he repeats it, he calls down the curse of God on anyone who would contradict God's Truth in this basic, fundamental fact. Without this foundation, of Christ Himself having done all the work of our Salvation, we don't have the Christian faith at all, but something else. And anyone who says that anything else is needed is leading people away from God, and is therefore under God's curse!
Generally, Church history tells us that the Dark Ages came when the Christian church leaders had declared that they were the only ones God could teach His Truth to, and they brought in other ideas, like having to work for your own salvation, and led the people away from Christ.
That's why the Reformation happened, when people who were true Christians and educated to be able to read the Scriptures, realized what the official Church had done, and some of them wanted to bring it back to the simplicity of the Gospel. But the leaders refused to debate the issues, and simply threw them out of the church.
When these Christians taught others God's Truth from Scripture, then the Protestant denominations arose, and education spread from just the aristocratic and noble of the people to the common population, the Enlightenment happened.
(All this history is just a generalized overlook of the whole historical period.)
Paul is writing to the churches in the Galatia area, and was amazed at how soon they left the simplicity of the Truth. This shows us how easily the World and our enemy and our own sinful hearts can lead us astray, if we are not vigilant in maintaining our trust in Christ alone for our Salvation.
The history of the church all through the centuries since Pentecost has shown that the official Christian Church has undergone various iterations; but we can rest assured that God's true children have persisted throughout all of this Church Age, whether inside or outside the "official" (according to the World's history) church.
Even today, we must consider God's Word as He has given it to us in the Scriptures must take precedence over any "church doctrine." As far as I can see, it looks like all the "high churches" of the denominations have lost their way to some greater or lesser degree, so we must be very careful who we listen to, what church we need to attach ourselves to, and who we consider our counselors and teachers of God's Word.
I do not even trust myself, in sharing my musings here, to always be absolutely right in everything I say, as I am still living in my flesh and therefore susceptible to error. If any of my readers ever find that they can dispute any pronouncement I have made, I ask that you would be bold to comment and let me know where I have gone to the right or to the left of God's pure Truth, so I can investigate further.
My purpose in sharing here in every one of my blog entries is to help you, my reader, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we all, as God's children, would be strengthened and prepared to stand our ground on the Solid Rock when the storms of life and current history will rage against us.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim the Lordship and Kingship of Christ Jesus the Son, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
Paul is astounded and dismayed that these precious believers are already succumbing to other beliefs so contrary to the simple trust in Jesus, that it has drawn these Galatians completely away from our Lord Christ!
which is really not another;
This is really not good news, because it isn't good. It takes away the confidence they had in the Lord.
only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ.
There were Jews from Jerusalem who had come in and insisted that believing in what Christ has done for us wasn't enough, that we also have to do something to save ourselves, by following the Law of Moses.
This is very serious, because it denies that Jesus' death and resurrection is sufficient. It's so serious that it has actually pulled them away from Christ.
But even if we, or an Angel from Heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
Paul is very strong here, declaring that even if he himself or even one of God's Angels is telling them anything different to dilute or pollute the original message he had originally preached to these people--the complete sufficiency of the Lamb of God's Sacrifice on our behalf, and his rising from the dead as proof that God the Father accepted His payment in full for our sins--then God's eternal curse is upon that person.
As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Paul is so strongly convinced of this, he repeats it, he calls down the curse of God on anyone who would contradict God's Truth in this basic, fundamental fact. Without this foundation, of Christ Himself having done all the work of our Salvation, we don't have the Christian faith at all, but something else. And anyone who says that anything else is needed is leading people away from God, and is therefore under God's curse!
Generally, Church history tells us that the Dark Ages came when the Christian church leaders had declared that they were the only ones God could teach His Truth to, and they brought in other ideas, like having to work for your own salvation, and led the people away from Christ.
That's why the Reformation happened, when people who were true Christians and educated to be able to read the Scriptures, realized what the official Church had done, and some of them wanted to bring it back to the simplicity of the Gospel. But the leaders refused to debate the issues, and simply threw them out of the church.
When these Christians taught others God's Truth from Scripture, then the Protestant denominations arose, and education spread from just the aristocratic and noble of the people to the common population, the Enlightenment happened.
(All this history is just a generalized overlook of the whole historical period.)
Paul is writing to the churches in the Galatia area, and was amazed at how soon they left the simplicity of the Truth. This shows us how easily the World and our enemy and our own sinful hearts can lead us astray, if we are not vigilant in maintaining our trust in Christ alone for our Salvation.
The history of the church all through the centuries since Pentecost has shown that the official Christian Church has undergone various iterations; but we can rest assured that God's true children have persisted throughout all of this Church Age, whether inside or outside the "official" (according to the World's history) church.
Even today, we must consider God's Word as He has given it to us in the Scriptures must take precedence over any "church doctrine." As far as I can see, it looks like all the "high churches" of the denominations have lost their way to some greater or lesser degree, so we must be very careful who we listen to, what church we need to attach ourselves to, and who we consider our counselors and teachers of God's Word.
I do not even trust myself, in sharing my musings here, to always be absolutely right in everything I say, as I am still living in my flesh and therefore susceptible to error. If any of my readers ever find that they can dispute any pronouncement I have made, I ask that you would be bold to comment and let me know where I have gone to the right or to the left of God's pure Truth, so I can investigate further.
My purpose in sharing here in every one of my blog entries is to help you, my reader, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we all, as God's children, would be strengthened and prepared to stand our ground on the Solid Rock when the storms of life and current history will rage against us.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim the Lordship and Kingship of Christ Jesus the Son, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Friday, November 29, 2019
The Constitution For Christianity
Galatians 1: 1-5
This letter to the Galatians is like the Constitution for Christianity. Our Founding Fathers in America gathered to amend the Articles of Confederation, to fix all the issues it had that made it unfit to undergird the new government, and everyone had a different idea, not one agreed with anyone else on anything.
So they decided to pray about it and meet in the morning. They did, and came out with a whole new document.
The only comparison I wish to make here is that God led our American Founding Fathers to draft the Constitution that brought this Nation into the greatest prosperity any Nation of the World had ever enjoyed.
And God is the One who called Paul and taught him and led him to found all these churches.
Some Jews came from Jerusalem and brought in the idea of following the Mosaic Law in order to be a Christian, and Paul wrote this Epistle to set the record straight.
Paul, an Apostle
An Apostle was a "founding father" of the Christian faith, to lay the foundation of Christ for succeeding generations to build on. Now that the foundation is laid, no more "founding fathers" are needed.
(not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Paul was not sent from any human agency, but was called directly by Jesus Himself on the Damascus road, and taught directly by Him when he went to Arabia (see Vs. 11, 16-17).
and all the brethren who are with me,
He is saying that all the believers who are with him, in particular the teachers, agree with his stance on what constitutes true Christianity.
To the churches of Galatia:
There is more than one congregation here, Paul is writing to several churches he founded in this geographical area.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul is already laying the groundwork for the arguments he will set out. Grace is the opposite of works, and peace comes from God, not what we do.
God had Paul write to these believers so that all of us, all the way down to today, would have the proper foundation to our faith; so as he refutes these Jerusalem legalizers, he is also refuting all the other wrong ideas that have come into the church through the whole time of this church age.
who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Jesus gave His own life "for" us, and this word, hyper, denotes "substitution," as our Sacrificial Lamb of God He took our place individually in death, fulfilling the personal sacrifice of Leviticus 1, paying off our sin-debt for us.
This is to "rescue" or "deliver" us, exeletai, which denotes not a "deliverance from" but a "rescue out of" the power of evil and the values of this evil World-system around us through the power of the risen Christ in His Holy Spirit within each Christian. (We will one Day be delivered from the very presence of the evil, when He returns as King.)
This is all according to what God planned before He made anything.
to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Paul usually puts a doxology like this at the end of his letters, but he puts it here at the beginning to set the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ and his work above any human criticism or praise.
O my Father, I pray that You would show us what You want us to know, how to lay the basis for our faith in You, and to have Your Truth undergirding everything we think, say, and do.
Help me, Father, as I read Your letter to me, to draw out of Your words the meanings and understanding that I will share with those who come here to read them. I pray for them, as they read, to consent with Your Word; and if I have misconstrued any point, that they would have the boldness to call me on it, so that I will be able to study further to extract the fullness of the extent of Your Truth that we need to apply today to our attitudes and lifestyles, to promote Your Kingdom.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
This letter to the Galatians is like the Constitution for Christianity. Our Founding Fathers in America gathered to amend the Articles of Confederation, to fix all the issues it had that made it unfit to undergird the new government, and everyone had a different idea, not one agreed with anyone else on anything.
So they decided to pray about it and meet in the morning. They did, and came out with a whole new document.
The only comparison I wish to make here is that God led our American Founding Fathers to draft the Constitution that brought this Nation into the greatest prosperity any Nation of the World had ever enjoyed.
And God is the One who called Paul and taught him and led him to found all these churches.
Some Jews came from Jerusalem and brought in the idea of following the Mosaic Law in order to be a Christian, and Paul wrote this Epistle to set the record straight.
Paul, an Apostle
An Apostle was a "founding father" of the Christian faith, to lay the foundation of Christ for succeeding generations to build on. Now that the foundation is laid, no more "founding fathers" are needed.
(not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Paul was not sent from any human agency, but was called directly by Jesus Himself on the Damascus road, and taught directly by Him when he went to Arabia (see Vs. 11, 16-17).
and all the brethren who are with me,
He is saying that all the believers who are with him, in particular the teachers, agree with his stance on what constitutes true Christianity.
To the churches of Galatia:
There is more than one congregation here, Paul is writing to several churches he founded in this geographical area.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul is already laying the groundwork for the arguments he will set out. Grace is the opposite of works, and peace comes from God, not what we do.
God had Paul write to these believers so that all of us, all the way down to today, would have the proper foundation to our faith; so as he refutes these Jerusalem legalizers, he is also refuting all the other wrong ideas that have come into the church through the whole time of this church age.
who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Jesus gave His own life "for" us, and this word, hyper, denotes "substitution," as our Sacrificial Lamb of God He took our place individually in death, fulfilling the personal sacrifice of Leviticus 1, paying off our sin-debt for us.
This is to "rescue" or "deliver" us, exeletai, which denotes not a "deliverance from" but a "rescue out of" the power of evil and the values of this evil World-system around us through the power of the risen Christ in His Holy Spirit within each Christian. (We will one Day be delivered from the very presence of the evil, when He returns as King.)
This is all according to what God planned before He made anything.
to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Paul usually puts a doxology like this at the end of his letters, but he puts it here at the beginning to set the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ and his work above any human criticism or praise.
O my Father, I pray that You would show us what You want us to know, how to lay the basis for our faith in You, and to have Your Truth undergirding everything we think, say, and do.
Help me, Father, as I read Your letter to me, to draw out of Your words the meanings and understanding that I will share with those who come here to read them. I pray for them, as they read, to consent with Your Word; and if I have misconstrued any point, that they would have the boldness to call me on it, so that I will be able to study further to extract the fullness of the extent of Your Truth that we need to apply today to our attitudes and lifestyles, to promote Your Kingdom.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Happy Thanksgiving!
May You Each Have A Blessed Thanksgiving, and May God Be Healing Your Family Relationships This Holiday Season!
Psalm 9: 1
I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvellous works.
God blesses everyone every day, and in America we have a legal holiday today, Thanksgiving Day. Today is a day we have set aside specifically to praise and thank God for all the wonderful and bountiful blessings He bestows upon us every day.
But God blesses everyone all over the whole World every day. You don't need to be an American to celebrate Thanksgiving Day every day.
May all of God's children remember to thank Him every day for His bountiful grace and mercy, and to let Him make us channels of His blessings to others in each of our worlds every day.
And may the love for one another that we display before the world draw them also to inquire of us of this amazing and marvellous God we know.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Psalm 9: 1
I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvellous works.
God blesses everyone every day, and in America we have a legal holiday today, Thanksgiving Day. Today is a day we have set aside specifically to praise and thank God for all the wonderful and bountiful blessings He bestows upon us every day.
But God blesses everyone all over the whole World every day. You don't need to be an American to celebrate Thanksgiving Day every day.
May all of God's children remember to thank Him every day for His bountiful grace and mercy, and to let Him make us channels of His blessings to others in each of our worlds every day.
And may the love for one another that we display before the world draw them also to inquire of us of this amazing and marvellous God we know.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Final Encouragement
Romans 16: 17-27
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them.
Paul is telling them to keep an eye out for those who would come in and cause trouble. He's had to deal with these people in his travels, and he knows they are also headed toward Rome, too.
For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
He says they're addicted to their own fleshly gratification, and with "good words" and "fair speeches" they are able to influence those who are "simple."
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
Paul is commending them for their growth so far through their obedience, and he is wanting to strengthen them to continue to increase their spiritual growth to maturity; but to not waste any time on investigating or listening to anyone who would come in spouting any other gospel or diversion, to recognize it and avoid falling into it.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
If they keep on growing in the Truth, then God will use them to demolish Satan's doctrines and eliminate them from the Roman church. Did this happen?
They may have for a while. But History since that time has shown that the Roman church has given in to some of these "doctrines of demons" and left the pure Gospel, bringing in the "Dark Ages" and the resulting Reformation.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
This is Paul's usual final blessing in his letters. But he always had other workers around him, and some of them wanted to say. "Hello!" to those in Rome, also, so he added these.
Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
These are with Paul, sending greetings to Rome: Timothy we know pretty well, who is Paul's son in the faith, and the other three are Jewish believers.
I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Paul often used a secretary to take his dictation, and he wanted to say, "Hello!," too.
Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you.
Paul spent the winter at Gaius' house (see Acts 20: 3) when he spent three months there then changed his travel plan because of a plot against his life when he went to Cenchrea to board ship.
Gaius may have had a large house in Corinth, because the church also met there for their meetings.
Erastus, the city treasurer greets you,
Erastus is mentioned on a stone that was used as a paving block as the aedile, or "Commissioner of Public Works" in Corinth.
So he was one of the exceptions to the, "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called" (I Corinthians 1: 26).
and Quartus, the brother.
One of the Gentile believers at Corinth who knew some of the Roman believers.
[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]
This looks like another ending, and it doesn't appear in "the earliest manuscripts." Paul does like to bless his readers, doesn't he!
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
He calls it, "my Gospel," to maybe distinguish it from any other "gospel" they may hear. The preaching of Jesus Christ includes the Gospel Paul preaches, along with urging obedience to His commandment.
according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
This mystery is the Truth that wasn't known before, that the Gentiles and the Jews will be united into the same Body of Christ.
but now is manifested,
Now it is revealed so that we can know it, and live by it.
and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God,
Also, now reading the Prophets, we can understand what they were talking about by the revealing of the New Testament Truths and the Holy Spirit living in us to teach us. This is God's desire, His will, His commandment, that we obey Christ.
has been made known to all the Nations, leading to obedience of faith;
This has now been made known in the Holy Scriptures, available to everyone in the World, in all the Nations, to read and understand how much God loves us all, and has sent His Son for every person to believe and put their faith in Him.
So it's up to us, fellow believers, to see that the Scriptures will be translated into every language spoken, so that every person alive can hear and understand. This is our job, people. Let's do it!
to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Now, finally, we have Paul's blessing!
Yes, Father, we agree with Paul that You are the Wise One, our only God, and through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way to You, the Truth we are to put our faith in, and the Life in the Holy Spirit for us to live forever with You! And You will receive all the glory forever.
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, through whom the Almighty God the Father will receive all the credit, all the praise, all the glory for everything that has been done, past, present, and future, throughout all eternity, forever and ever. Amen and Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them.
Paul is telling them to keep an eye out for those who would come in and cause trouble. He's had to deal with these people in his travels, and he knows they are also headed toward Rome, too.
For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
He says they're addicted to their own fleshly gratification, and with "good words" and "fair speeches" they are able to influence those who are "simple."
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
Paul is commending them for their growth so far through their obedience, and he is wanting to strengthen them to continue to increase their spiritual growth to maturity; but to not waste any time on investigating or listening to anyone who would come in spouting any other gospel or diversion, to recognize it and avoid falling into it.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
If they keep on growing in the Truth, then God will use them to demolish Satan's doctrines and eliminate them from the Roman church. Did this happen?
They may have for a while. But History since that time has shown that the Roman church has given in to some of these "doctrines of demons" and left the pure Gospel, bringing in the "Dark Ages" and the resulting Reformation.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
This is Paul's usual final blessing in his letters. But he always had other workers around him, and some of them wanted to say. "Hello!" to those in Rome, also, so he added these.
Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
These are with Paul, sending greetings to Rome: Timothy we know pretty well, who is Paul's son in the faith, and the other three are Jewish believers.
I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Paul often used a secretary to take his dictation, and he wanted to say, "Hello!," too.
Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you.
Paul spent the winter at Gaius' house (see Acts 20: 3) when he spent three months there then changed his travel plan because of a plot against his life when he went to Cenchrea to board ship.
Gaius may have had a large house in Corinth, because the church also met there for their meetings.
Erastus, the city treasurer greets you,
Erastus is mentioned on a stone that was used as a paving block as the aedile, or "Commissioner of Public Works" in Corinth.
So he was one of the exceptions to the, "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called" (I Corinthians 1: 26).
and Quartus, the brother.
One of the Gentile believers at Corinth who knew some of the Roman believers.
[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]
This looks like another ending, and it doesn't appear in "the earliest manuscripts." Paul does like to bless his readers, doesn't he!
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
He calls it, "my Gospel," to maybe distinguish it from any other "gospel" they may hear. The preaching of Jesus Christ includes the Gospel Paul preaches, along with urging obedience to His commandment.
according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
This mystery is the Truth that wasn't known before, that the Gentiles and the Jews will be united into the same Body of Christ.
but now is manifested,
Now it is revealed so that we can know it, and live by it.
and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God,
Also, now reading the Prophets, we can understand what they were talking about by the revealing of the New Testament Truths and the Holy Spirit living in us to teach us. This is God's desire, His will, His commandment, that we obey Christ.
has been made known to all the Nations, leading to obedience of faith;
This has now been made known in the Holy Scriptures, available to everyone in the World, in all the Nations, to read and understand how much God loves us all, and has sent His Son for every person to believe and put their faith in Him.
So it's up to us, fellow believers, to see that the Scriptures will be translated into every language spoken, so that every person alive can hear and understand. This is our job, people. Let's do it!
to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Now, finally, we have Paul's blessing!
Yes, Father, we agree with Paul that You are the Wise One, our only God, and through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way to You, the Truth we are to put our faith in, and the Life in the Holy Spirit for us to live forever with You! And You will receive all the glory forever.
Every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, through whom the Almighty God the Father will receive all the credit, all the praise, all the glory for everything that has been done, past, present, and future, throughout all eternity, forever and ever. Amen and Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Monday, November 25, 2019
Greetings!
Romans 16: 1-16
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;
that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and myself as well.
Phoebe is on her way there to Rome, or has just arrived with the letter.
Greet Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles;
Paul met Priscilla and Aquilla in Corinth (Acts 15), after they had to leave Rome, and they traveled with him.
also greet the church that is in their house.
Wherever Priscilla and Aquilla went, they gathered a church in their house.
Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.
Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Andronicus and Junias were Jewish believers, who came to faith in Jesus before Paul had his crisis on the road to Damascus.
Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.
Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.
Aristobulus may or may not have been a Christian, but some members of his household were.
Greet Herodion, my kinsman.
Herodion was also a Jewish believer.
Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.
Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord.
Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.
This shows how close relationships Paul forged with those he preached to, to consider Rufus' mother also a mother to himself.
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them.
Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympas, and all the saints who with them.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
It was customary to greet a friend with a kiss on the cheek, or even on both cheeks, aka the way the French do today.
All the churches of Christ greet you.
Paul had founded all the Gentile churches in the whole area, so he could speak for all of them in greeting the Roman church.
Paul loved people. He loved all these people, and knew them by name. How many people do I love enough to remember their names, and their situations?
He loved the Lord Jesus Christ so much that he wanted everybody to know Him too. He knew how much Jesus loved the people, and he couldn't but keep going, spreading the Gospel to all the known World of his time, and where he didn't go, others went from him, even further.
And after he planted the churches, his concern for them sent him out on a second, and then a third missionary journey. He cared for these he considered his family now. Even when he couldn't travel because he was confined in jail or house arrest, sitting in chains with soldiers beside him, he used the time to write letters to them. He had a constant concern for their welfare.
And he was also in prayer for them all, each one, praying for them by name; and also for the groups of them, when he could see the enemy encroaching, as we learn in the next few verses, tomorrow.
O my Father, thank You for giving Paul to all Your churches down through the church age, by his writings in Your Scriptures. Thank You for his heart for those he knew, and he knew everyone! He named by name so many of the believers, different ones in the different letters to different recipients. He always kept in order where each one was and what their situation was.
Father, if Paul could keep everyone straight, then how much more do You keep track of all Your children, and You always know where I am and what I am doing. Father, help me to always do each day the things You place before me to do, and to recognize when it is not of you but just a distraction.
I want to serve You, Father, with everything I do, whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, may I do it all to promote Your Kingdom, to bring all the glory to You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;
that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and myself as well.
Phoebe is on her way there to Rome, or has just arrived with the letter.
Greet Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles;
Paul met Priscilla and Aquilla in Corinth (Acts 15), after they had to leave Rome, and they traveled with him.
also greet the church that is in their house.
Wherever Priscilla and Aquilla went, they gathered a church in their house.
Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.
Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Andronicus and Junias were Jewish believers, who came to faith in Jesus before Paul had his crisis on the road to Damascus.
Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.
Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.
Aristobulus may or may not have been a Christian, but some members of his household were.
Greet Herodion, my kinsman.
Herodion was also a Jewish believer.
Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.
Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord.
Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.
This shows how close relationships Paul forged with those he preached to, to consider Rufus' mother also a mother to himself.
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them.
Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister and Olympas, and all the saints who with them.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
It was customary to greet a friend with a kiss on the cheek, or even on both cheeks, aka the way the French do today.
All the churches of Christ greet you.
Paul had founded all the Gentile churches in the whole area, so he could speak for all of them in greeting the Roman church.
Paul loved people. He loved all these people, and knew them by name. How many people do I love enough to remember their names, and their situations?
He loved the Lord Jesus Christ so much that he wanted everybody to know Him too. He knew how much Jesus loved the people, and he couldn't but keep going, spreading the Gospel to all the known World of his time, and where he didn't go, others went from him, even further.
And after he planted the churches, his concern for them sent him out on a second, and then a third missionary journey. He cared for these he considered his family now. Even when he couldn't travel because he was confined in jail or house arrest, sitting in chains with soldiers beside him, he used the time to write letters to them. He had a constant concern for their welfare.
And he was also in prayer for them all, each one, praying for them by name; and also for the groups of them, when he could see the enemy encroaching, as we learn in the next few verses, tomorrow.
O my Father, thank You for giving Paul to all Your churches down through the church age, by his writings in Your Scriptures. Thank You for his heart for those he knew, and he knew everyone! He named by name so many of the believers, different ones in the different letters to different recipients. He always kept in order where each one was and what their situation was.
Father, if Paul could keep everyone straight, then how much more do You keep track of all Your children, and You always know where I am and what I am doing. Father, help me to always do each day the things You place before me to do, and to recognize when it is not of you but just a distraction.
I want to serve You, Father, with everything I do, whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, may I do it all to promote Your Kingdom, to bring all the glory to You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Unity In Diversity
Romans 15: 1-7
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just to please ourselves.
As big brothers and big sisters we need to uphold our little brothers and sisters, helping them for their benefit and growth. This will also benefit us, too, but we are to do it for their good, as members of our family.
Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
We need to be aware of our neighbors, to be able to help them in the way that will benefit them, even if they're not family members yet, so that they will be drawn to God as we were.
For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written,
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
God had all the Scriptures written down, not just an oral history, so that we could know that what we read there is accurate, and trustworthy, and true. We can confidently trust it to lead us aright. To show us how following His ways is so beneficial for us, to encourage us to keep on keeping on, especially when the going is tough. So we would know that His plans for us are for our good, to reward us with Himself and His glorious goodness.
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
He wants us all to be one family, to all think His thoughts for us, so we will all hold up one another in encouragement to persevere in the things He has planned for each of us to accomplish in His strength.
so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As one great choir, all singing the same symphony, in gorgeous harmony, in thanksgiving for all He has done for us and in us and through us, glorifying His great Name!
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
This will only happen when we take one another just as we are, even when we rub against each other's rough spots, when we are aggravated and irritated with one another's faults. Christ accepted every one of us in our sinfulness, which made us His enemies; so we are to accept one another, and let the irritations slide off our backs as water off a duck's back.
We are to forgive one another, as God forgives us through Christ, and get along with one another, helping their weaknesses in our strengths, and letting them help our weaknesses in their strengths. We are so much better together, as our Father in His compassionate wisdom has put us together to help one another, to His great glory!
O my Father, You are so compassionate in Your Love for us, to put us together into families and communities and congregations and Nations. You made us to be social beings, because You enjoy being Father and Son and Spirit.
You are One and You want us to be united as one in You also. In unity, not uniformity, because You love diversity. You made us all different from one another, and You want us to learn to get along with one another, even in our differences. To be united in Your Love.
Father, continue to teach us how to do this. You know that we are only dust, and we have the World, the devil, and our own flesh all working against us. But Your Spirit in us is so much stronger than all of these combined, to give us the victory over every deception and every battle and every temptation, because Christ Jesus has already won the war!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will sing Your praises, that Jesus is our Christ and Redeemer, our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just to please ourselves.
As big brothers and big sisters we need to uphold our little brothers and sisters, helping them for their benefit and growth. This will also benefit us, too, but we are to do it for their good, as members of our family.
Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
We need to be aware of our neighbors, to be able to help them in the way that will benefit them, even if they're not family members yet, so that they will be drawn to God as we were.
For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written,
"The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on Me" (Psalm 69: 9).Jesus took our sins upon Himself, when we were still His enemies, and He drew us to Himself thereby; so our doing good to our neighbors will show them God's love for them.
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
God had all the Scriptures written down, not just an oral history, so that we could know that what we read there is accurate, and trustworthy, and true. We can confidently trust it to lead us aright. To show us how following His ways is so beneficial for us, to encourage us to keep on keeping on, especially when the going is tough. So we would know that His plans for us are for our good, to reward us with Himself and His glorious goodness.
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
He wants us all to be one family, to all think His thoughts for us, so we will all hold up one another in encouragement to persevere in the things He has planned for each of us to accomplish in His strength.
so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As one great choir, all singing the same symphony, in gorgeous harmony, in thanksgiving for all He has done for us and in us and through us, glorifying His great Name!
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
This will only happen when we take one another just as we are, even when we rub against each other's rough spots, when we are aggravated and irritated with one another's faults. Christ accepted every one of us in our sinfulness, which made us His enemies; so we are to accept one another, and let the irritations slide off our backs as water off a duck's back.
We are to forgive one another, as God forgives us through Christ, and get along with one another, helping their weaknesses in our strengths, and letting them help our weaknesses in their strengths. We are so much better together, as our Father in His compassionate wisdom has put us together to help one another, to His great glory!
O my Father, You are so compassionate in Your Love for us, to put us together into families and communities and congregations and Nations. You made us to be social beings, because You enjoy being Father and Son and Spirit.
You are One and You want us to be united as one in You also. In unity, not uniformity, because You love diversity. You made us all different from one another, and You want us to learn to get along with one another, even in our differences. To be united in Your Love.
Father, continue to teach us how to do this. You know that we are only dust, and we have the World, the devil, and our own flesh all working against us. But Your Spirit in us is so much stronger than all of these combined, to give us the victory over every deception and every battle and every temptation, because Christ Jesus has already won the war!
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will sing Your praises, that Jesus is our Christ and Redeemer, our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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