Friday, November 30, 2012

The New Testament Letters Made Simple

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Patricia’s

Bible Journal

Containing commentaries on:

The Letter to the Romans- The Revelation of John




My Introduction:

I have taken it upon myself, the task of writing a journal based on what I have

read from the bible. Hopefully, by reading the bible I may find the encouragement and

motivation to live up to my worldly responsibilities as well. The bible itself is the best

counselor and self help book rolled into one. Therefore it certainly is not a waste of time

to be reading the bible- which are the very words of God, our creator. In fact what could

be more important?) I currently keep a small journal and index cards of my favorite

verses for quick reference. But, reading the bible in a random and haphazard way will

most likely result in missing important things that could certainly be of benefit. I enjoy

reading the bible, as I find it filled with the most important advice and instruction that can

be found. It represents the words of my best friend, embodying the perfect qualities that

can be found in no one else. God is the God of perfect justice, mercy and love. Reading

the bible has been a help to me whenever I have felt depressed, angry, revengeful,

remorseful or lonely. It is far better than any worldly advice that may come from anyone

else.

I will begin the task in this way: I will start with the letters of the New Testament

first, starting with the book of Romans. After completing the letters, I will then proceed

to the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke & John & Acts and then psalms and proverbs.

Hopefully I will read each day and record my commentary in this journal.

I am beginning this journal with the letters written by the Apostle Paul. My

journal/ commentary will be in the same order as the bible. Keep in mind, the beginning

will start at Romans. I have not included the four gospels of Jesus’ life: Matthew, Mark,

Luke, John or the book of Acts.

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THE LETTERS BY PAUL THE APOSTLE

ROMANS

An Introduction to Paul’s letters and to Romans:

I have decided that the Book of Romans is a perfect place to start this journal. I

have read it many times, and in fact most of my systematic reading of the New Testament

books will actually be considered a re- reading. Yet, Romans in particular is a very good

background providing some important basic essential information about God and God’s

will for mankind. I would recommend anyone reading the bible for the first time to start

with one of the gospels first, then proceed directly to the book of Romans. It addresses

some very basic and universal questions. Even though the bible is written for everyone in

general, the words are personally directed to each and every individual. The words of

the bible will speak out to me, communicating the truth and thereby convicting me of

anything false that I need to change. Hopefully, continued reading of the bible will create

in me a desire and a motivation to do what is right and to have the peace of mind that

can only come when one is following God’s will.

Chapter 1 No Excuses! The Spiral Towards Depravity.

Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power

for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from

faith to faith. The righteous will live by faith.” This passage essentially sums up the

purpose of reading the bible, otherwise known as the “gospel”. Firstly we should NOT

be embarrassed by the bible as so many in today’s modern society are - because through

reading the message of God, which is passed down to us in the form of the written word:

the bible- we may be saved. Salvation means this- eternal life in heaven with God.

God’s goodness is made evident, or clear to us, through his words in the bible. And we

must accept these words of God by faith. Yet faith is not an abandonment of reason and

common sense, because there are sufficient proofs of God’s existence evident within the

created physical world which is obvious and may be perceived by all of mankind. No

one has an excuse for denying God.

There is sufficient proof of God’s existence! It cannot be denied. Don’t believe

event the most hardened of atheists or evolutionists. They are simply wrong and here is

why: Romans 1:19, “since what can be known about God is evident among them,

because God has shown it to them. From the creation of the world His invisible

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attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being

understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”

Sometimes there may be that doubt in the back of our minds:”what if there is no God?”,

but these passages should quell all doubts- because God’s existence is plain and clear to

us. And, by denying the common sense reality, the truth of God, we in essence exchange

truth for a lie. In doing so, our common sense and our minds become foggy and dulled to

the point that we exchange the truth of the immortal and powerful true God for anything

else that will satisfy that spiritual vacuum that is created. We lose our power for

objectivity and reason, and when we neglect to consider God. Next what follows is that

we degenerate into a humanity which lacks morals and truths and objectivity.

In plain and simple English, the process towards sin and depravity are described

in this first chapter of Romans! First, it consists of denial of an all powerful, good

creator. Then without a moral standard- higher than ourselves, we fall into disarraygrasping

at anything to fill that spiritual void. Deny it all you want, since the dawn of

mankind, there can be no doubt that people have sought to believe in something greater

than themselves. We are “religious” beings by nature, like it or not. Once God is

removed from the picture a spiritual void is created- a spiritual Black Hole that seeks to

be fulfilled. In its powerful vortex, anything and everything will be sucked up- and

common sense, morals and goodness go out the window! Without God, people turn to

depravity and debauchery of all sorts. Just look at television and movies if you don’t

believe this. Though claiming to be wise, they are not, as their thinking became nonsense

and their minds darkened. “Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their

hearts to sexual impurity. Romans 1:24 And because they did not think it worthwhile to

have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is

morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed and wickedness.

They are full of envy, murder, disputes deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers,

God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, undiscerning, untrustworthy,

unloving and unmerciful…and they not only practice such things…but even applaud

others who practice them. “Romans 1:28-32 What loathsome qualities, but think about it

a second- are they rare or are they common? And which one of us can say we have never

been guilty of any of these things. These traits describe us, they describe humanity!

Chapter 2: Say no to hypocrisy!

“When you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you the judge do the same

things”. Romans 2:1 You may think you are a good example, telling others what to do,

but what good is that when you do not even follow through? If you consider yourself to

be an authority figure, a leader or a teacher then you must also act as one as well. Telling

others what is right or wrong isn’t sufficient. You yourself must also practice what you

preach. God’s mercy and love is for the purpose of leading us to remorse and repentance.

Therefore we should not scoff when we perceives others to be less worthy as a result of

their sins. If we choose to remain stubborn, unmerciful, judgmental and hard hearted we

will bear the consequences of God’s just judgment. Regardless of how “religious” you

perceive yourself to be- we our judged by God according to our hearts. Our conscious

serves as a guideline as it convicts us as to whether we are right our wrong. But if we

continue to ignore our conscious, our hearts will become hardened to the point where we

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really do not know right from wrong. It is because of so called religious and Christian

hypocrites that, “The name of God is blasphemed”. Romans 2:24 The so called safety net

of religion is worthless if you do not practice what you preach.

Chapter 3: God’s solution for sin & our salvation

Many deny the existence of God and mock those who place their faith in God.

Sometimes, even we who have placed our faith in God have some moments of doubt. In

fact even John the Baptist had a moment of doubt. But does this doubt nullify the

objective truth about God? Certainly not! Just because we do not believe something is

true, doesn’t make it false, does it? What we believe does not change the truth. In fact,

“God must be true,” even if “everyone is a liar”. Romans 3:4 Furthermore, none of us

can say we have never sinned. We all fall short of God’s perfect and just standards. We

are all guilty before God’s eyes. No one truly understands God. We all at times have lied

or have spoken careless words. At times we have all pursued our own selfish desires and

interests at the expense of others. We can never, no matter how hard we try, meet God’s

standards. Does that make God’s standards unreasonable because we cannot attain them?

No, that doesn’t. It simply shows that through our own efforts it is impossible to be

perfect and meet God’s standards. But, while we were still living in sin, God sent his

only son, Jesus to die for our sins so that by believing in Jesus, we may be justified.

What do we need to do? We need to simply admit we have sinned- in other words, admit

that we have fallen short of God’s standards and accept the sacrifice of Jesus through

faith. And as a result of our faith, righteousness shall be credited to us- not earned- but

freely given to as a gift from God. Our faith in Jesus will result in the forgiveness of our

sins and eternal life- which is salvation. We cannot be saved based on merit or good

works! Therefore no one can boast. It is a gift from God that we receive from faith!

Chapter 4: Justified as righteous through faith

We are justified as righteous by God through our faith in Jesus. We can not merit or earn

justification through our works. In fact in the Old Testament, King David and Abraham

were justified by their faith in God, not by works or anything they did. God “credits” or

gives the gift of righteousness by faith and not by works. In essence, what righteousness

means can be summed up in this verse: “How happy those whose lawless acts are

forgiven and whose sins are covered! How happy the man whom the Lord will never

charge with sin.” Romans 4:8 Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for

our justification”. Romans 4:25

Chapter 5: Faith results in justification which results in our hope and salvation

Remember it is through our faith in Jesus alone that we may be justified. While we were

sinners, Jesus died for us so that we may be saved by believing in home. What a great act

of love this is! Rarely will someone die even for a so-called good or deserving man, but

to die for undeserving sinners, that is true love! To place our faith in anything else is

meaningless because it is Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. Being declared

righteous should give up peace, even in life’s tough times. This is because we can now

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receive God’s grace and hope for the future. The Holy Spirit within us, assures of and

reminds us not only of God’s love but our future hope. Just as condemnation and death

for all resulted from the sin of one man- Adam; the gift of justification and eternal life are

available for all through Jesus. Justification means this- salvation, which is eternal life.

Chapter 6: Real life application of our faith

It is true that we can not merit our salvation by works, because it is a gift that we receive

through our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. But that does not mean we should go right on

sinning- behaving as if our actions do not matter! When we place our faith in Jesus, and

in Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins- we share not only in glory and salvation but in his death as

well. Just as Jesus died for our sins, we too should symbolically put to death our former

selves- our former ways of behavior. Baptism is used as an analogy for death and rebirth.

Therefore when we place our faith in Jesus we are baptized into his death as well as our

rebirth into eternal life. We put to death our sinful natures, and take on a new life.

Therefore, even if we are not bound by the Laws of the old testament- otherwise known

as the old covenant, we should still seek to please God in the spirit of love and

willingness rather than as in an obligation or duty.

Chapter 7: Freedom From the Law

In order to explain the sovereignty or power of the law over the believer in Jesus, Paul

uses an analogy of marriage. Prior to believing in Jesus, we were still subject to

judgment in accordance with the law. (The law is the standard of perfection given by God

which is written in the Old Testament.) Without a savior, we were required to pay the

penalty for our own sins and that penalty was eternal separation from God- in other

words death. Yet when we accepted God’s gift of redemption or salvation through our

faith and acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice, we were not longer bound to the judgment of the

law. Likewise when we are married, we are obligated or bound to our spouse. If our

spouse is dead, we are freed from that obligation. In a sense when we accepted Jesus in

our life, we put to death our former way of thinking. When we humbled ourselves and

admitted to our sin and our need for a savior, we put to death our old sinful selves. Now

we are not bound legally to the law, and instead we have the spirit. We are not required

to fulfill the law for our salvation- which is impossible to do anyway. Instead, our spirit

and faith is what gives us life.

Chapter 7 Continued: The struggle between goodness & sin

Our conscious recognizes the goodness of the law through the Holy Spirit or natural

inclinations of our conscious. When we recognize we have done wrong, and when our

conscious convicts us of our wrongdoing- that is the recognition of the goodness of

God’s law. Yet, our bodies- our fleshly natures, struggle and fight against what is right.

It as if there is an inner struggle between goodness and sin; between the Holy Spirit that

lives in us, and the sin which reigns in our bodies.

Chapter 8:

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It is obvious our flawed human natures cannot possibly overcome our inclination towards

sin. No matter how hard we try and no matter how disciplined we think we are- can never

meet God’s standards of perfection. What the law could not achieve for us, God

achieved- through Jesus who was the “sin offering”. Therefore we no longer live

according our natural human natures- the sinful flesh. Instead we live by the spirit which

is this: we are justified as righteous through our faith. We are no longer condemned and

under the reign of death. As a result, though our faith which gives us the spirit, we will

receive life. But remember as living in the spirit and not under our former natural ways,

we put to death our former ways. If we suffer from temptation, hardship, suffering or

criticism as a result of our new lives, we need to remember it is only temporary because

we have hope in eternal life. We are considered to be God’s children as a believer.

Because of this we may eagerly await our eternal happiness. Where we may lack in

willpower or in strength, the Holy Spirit will intercede to help us.

God loved us so much, he did not even spare his very own son- Jesus. It should

be obvious therefore that God loves us very much. So why should it bother us when

others do not like us, or if others who are simply human beings try to hurt us? If God is

on our side, does it really matter what other people may say or do to us? Furthermore,

there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Any suffering we

must endure is nothing compared to the happiness and glory and satisfaction we will

receive when we have eternal life with God.

Chapters 9,10 and 11: Faith is the greatest factor

Just because you come from a religious family, or you have a religious heritage, does not

mean you have any advantage in entering God’s kingdom. It does not matter if you come

from an entire line of rabbis, preachers or priests, that will not get you into heaven any

quicker. You become a child of God by faith and not by your physical heritage descent or

ancestry. Human efforts will get us no where- it depends on God’s mercy and

compassion. God makes no distinction between race, religious or cultural background.

That gives no advantage or disadvantage. What you believe and profess is what matters.

Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe with your

heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. As you can read in the Old

Testament, the Jews were entrusted with the prophets and the law and God’s covenant.

Now, a relationship with God is available to all who accept and believe.

Chapter 12: The Qualities and Personality of a Believer

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of

your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.

Be careful to not be so full of pride- to think more highly of yourself than you should.

All of us our important to God and we all have our purpose. God has endowed us with

gifts- different from each other but essential nonetheless. Some of us teach, preach,

encourage, serve, lead, donate etc. As believers in Christ, when we are together with

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other believers there is an expectation that we should act in accordance with God’s will.

As God has shown love, we need to as well. Above all else, we must show love to one

another and “outdo one another in showing honor”, love, mercy, patience and goodness.

“Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud…. Do not be wise in your own

estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil… do not avenge yourselves….do not be

conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” Additionally, we need to submit to

authority, whether it is Godly or worldly. For example, we must obey the laws of the

state and government. We must pay taxes and whatever legal or financial obligations

required of us when living in this world. Yet we should never forget that love is our

biggest obligation. All the commandments are easily summed up by this: Love your

neighbor as yourself.

Chapter 14 and 15: Don’t argue about doubtful issues. Romans 14:1

Perhaps you feel that you can eat whatever you want with a clear conscious, such as pork.

Yet maybe there is a new believer in your church, perhaps a convert from Judaism or

Islam that says he can not eat pork. Perhaps he may even go so far as condemning you

when he sees you eating a piece of bacon. Don’t argue about it with him. Go ahead and

eat bacon with a clear conscious. If he tells you it is wrong, simply explain that it isn’t but

don’t get into a heated debate. Let the new convert who is weaker in his faith avoid

bacon; don’t force him to eat it. But if you notice he becomes extremely disturbed by

watching you eat bacon, then don’t eat it in front of him for the sake of his conscious.

The same thing applies to anything else such as the observance of special days. As long

as we act in a clear conscious convinced that what we do is the right thing and to the

glory of God. Romans 14:5 Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. At the

same time, we should still be considerate of each others feelings.

Everything is declared clean by God. But even if your conscious is clear and you know

you are right, that is not an excuse to make a weaker believer in the faith feel bad. “Do

you have faith? Keep it to yourself before God. Blessed is the man who does not

condemn himself by what he approves. But who ever doubts stands condemned if he

eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.”

Romans 14: 22 This means that if you have a clear conscious, then go ahead- eat it, drink

it or do it. But if your conscious bothers you, when you do something you believe is

wrong, then you have sinned. Another thing to keep in mind is there are many cult like

groups such as Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses who have many man made rules adding

to the word of the bible. They say it is wrong to do things that God has not declared

wrong. Do not listen to these people. They should keep their so called man made rules

to themselves.

Thos of us who are stronger in our faith have a greater obligation that we avoid fruitless

disputes and debates. Rather we should try to lovingly address and bear the weakness of

those weaker in their faith. We should accept one another as God has accepted us. We

should act to the glory of God rather than stirring up dissention and arguments amongst

each other.

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Chapter 16: Paul’s closing remark- avoid arguments!

As in the tradition and format of Paul’s other letters, this letter closes with some

encouraging remarks to some specific believers and members of the early church. Paul

ends this letter with a stern warning against trouble makers who seek only to stir up

arguments. This verse sums it up: “Now I implore you…watch out for those who cause

dissentions and pitfalls contrary to the doctrine you have learned. Avoid them for such

people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and

flattering words they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” Romans 16:17

1CORINTHIANS

Introduction:

Although the names of Paul’s letters are named after the specific early Christian

churches they represent, they are written to all Christian believers “called as saints… in

every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ”. 1Cor1:2 Therefore every one who

reads the bible, including these letters should read the words as if they are individually

written to him or her .

Chapters 1 and 2: Friends of God and the Problem of Worldly Wisdom

Through faith in Jesus we are called to fellowship with God. In other words, through

Jesus Christ, we become friends with God. As friends, there is nothing we will lack for.

Knowing this, there is no reason for believers to argue with one another. There is no

reason that the body of believers should be divided. We all believe in the same Lord, so

why should we be divided? It doesn’t matter specifically who does the preaching,

teaching or baptism, it is the message, not the messenger that we should be concerned

about- that is what brings unity. Don’t get overly pre-occupied with the messenger

whether it be Paul, Cephas (Peter), Apollos or whoever! It doesn’t matter.

For those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are

being saved it is God’s power. 1Cor1:18 Sums up the reason why non believers

disregard the message of the Lord. The world’s wisdom and the world’s people:

teachers. Philosophers, scientists, politicians, writers, atheists, secularism, the media,

communists…all of this means nothing to God. Such respected worldly individuals

dismiss the wisdom and truths of God as foolishness. In turn, all of this worldly wisdom

is simply worthless in God’s eyes. So therefore, when you hear the message of God’s

good news, though it may not be delivered in the elegant words of an orator, the message

itself through the Holy Spirit conveys the power and wisdom of God. The truths of God

cannot be discerned through worldly wisdom but only through the Holy Spirit. How can

anyone hope to understand the mysteries and the ways of the lord except through the

Holy Spirit which is freely given to all believers. Just as a man’s own min and conscious

knows the mind of the man, the Holy Spirit of God is the only one that can comprehend

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the concerns of God. Natural man, otherwise known as worldly man, does not welcome

the Holy Spirit of God, and rejects anything that is spiritual. He sees the ways of the

Holy Spirit and God as foolishness. Therefore how can he hope to even understand the

ways of God? On the other hand the spiritual person can understand the ways of God and

evaluate God’s message through faith and the Holy Spirit which he receives as a believer

by faith.

Chapters 3 and 4: The Importance of the Message and God’s Messengers

In his letter, Paul refers to the non believer as a natural, worldly, ordinary, typical or

fleshly man. Whatever expression is used to describe the non believer, the meaning is the

same. The non believer acts based on human nature: envy, revenge, greed, selfishness,

immorality, pride and other fleshly desires rather than with faith and love. As discussed

earlier, the message of God, and not the messenger is what is most important. When you

concentrate on the messenger to the exclusion of God’s message, then you are acting

based on the worldly, human nature. The messengers, also known as the servants of God

simply deliver the message. The delivery of the message of God is considered to be an

important task- an important work! This work of delivering the message of God is

comparable to a builder who lays a foundation and then builds a building. The degree to

which the messengers or servants of God obey and spread the word of God may vary:

some put in their full efforts to evangelize and win souls for Christ, while others put

minimal work into sharing the saving message of God. Eventually, each person’s work

will come to light, there are no secrets before God. Such a believer who spends little to

no effort in sharing the message of the good news may be summed up by the following

verse: “If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he himself will be saved; yet it

will be like an escape through fire.” 1Cor3:15 In sum, the wisdom of this world is

nothing but foolishness to God. No one, no matter how clever or crafty he may be, can

get away with any sort of scheme or dishonesty. The Lord evaluates everyone! Put aside

pride. “Nothing beyond what is written” matters. 1Cor4:6 What this means is this: the

only important thing is the saving message of God. In fact those who are teachers and

messengers of God should be even more humble than those who are the hearers of the

message. They need to be extra prepared in this way, because frequently they are

rejected by the world. Oftentimes the messengers are persecuted, and slandered. The

messengers endure hardships as well, “like the world’s garbage”. In writing this letter,

Paul includes himself as a messenger- in fact, succumbing to some of the worst of all

hardships. Nevertheless Paul calls all believers in Christ to imitate his ways.

Chapters 5, 6 and 7: Expectations of Believers and Church Members

Immorality:

Deplorable and filthy behavior is not a problem that is exclusive to nonbelievers alone.

Apparently at the church in Corinth, (as well as in other churches both ancient and

modern), sexually immoral behavior was an ongoing problem which Paul felt the need to

address and condemn. Furthermore, instead of being remorseful of such behaviors, the

perpetrators were actually proud of it and flaunting it! In response, using the analogy that

a little yeast can cause an entire loaf of bread to rise, Paul explains, that even a little bit of

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sin or wrong doing can permeate a Christian congregation and negatively affect the other

believers. As a result, Paul tells the congregation of believers to “turn that one over to

Satan for the destruction of the flesh” in order to save his spirit. In other words, the

hypocrite should be reprimanded and if he doesn’t change his ways, then he should be

excluded from the congregation. The reason for this is that the other believers may also

get caught up in the same actions if it is not properly rejected. A church and believers

should not condone or put up with that sort of behavior.

Disputes:

If you have a problem with a fellow believer in your church, do not take it to court! In

court, you are dragging out your problems to be settled by a non believer. It is better to

approach the church, and perhaps there are some wise arbitrators within the congregation

that may settle the matter in a more peaceful and just way. If all else fails, “why not

rather put up with injustice? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you act unjustly and

cheat- and this to brothers1” which are your fellow believers within your church. 1Cor6:8

Respect for our Bodies:

Remember the behaviors that exclude people from the kingdom of God! We are no

longer slaves to our sinful desires anymore because we have been justified in the name of

Jesus. A common slogan that many people live by: “Everything is permissible for me”, is

very dangerous to put into practice. In fact, Paul points out the folly of following such

worldly advice. Not everything is helpful, and is it worth it to do anything you want and

to be brought under the control of sinful and selfish desires? You should not believe it is

permissible to act in any way you wish without concern or care. The body is not to be

used for sexual immorality and other out of control, sinful, fleshly pursuits. Your body is

part of the members of Christ, a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, therefore take care with

what you use your body for. “The person who is sexually immoral sins against his own

body” 1Cor6:18 Therefore we must run away and take guard from sexual sin.

Marriage:

Sometimes the married life is more trouble than its worth. The married believer must be

concerned about pleasing his or her spouse and other worldly concerns but the single

believer can dedicate his or her life to the Lord. Its okay to get married, if you feel the

calling of single-hood (as noble as it is), to be too difficult to follow. If you are so

preoccupied with getting married then do it! Its better to marry than to be involved in

sexual sin as a single person. If you are married, don’t get a divorce no matter what!

Even if your spouse is not a believer, you should stay married. Consider this, even if

your spouse is not a believer, your actions may sometimes be enough to win over your

husband or wife to God. Therefore if you are married to a non believer don’t give up,

and don’t despair. However, if your spouse divorces you, and it is beyond your control,

you obviously have no choice. But no matter what, if you divorce, do not remarry.

Reconcile with your estranged spouse if it is possible- if not, stay single.

No Need To Change:

If you became saved as a slave, then do not pre-occupy yourself in seeking freedom. If

you were an uncircumcised gentile, there is no need for you to perform a ritual or a

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medical procedure to become circumcised. If you were a teacher, a lawyer, a doctor,

salesperson, construction worker, ditch digger or a pauper, no need to change your

profession or lifestyle if it has nothing to do with sin. If you wear glasses, have long hair,

have warts etc… why change? If some one tries to get you to change something- why

should you listen? God accepts you as you are.

Chapter 8: The Responsibility of Knowledge

Knowledge Vs. Love: While worldly knowledge often leads to worldly pride, the quality

of love leads to more love and encouragement. If you think you know it all, then that in

of itself shows you are ignorant of God’s will. If your knowledge of the word of God is

great, that is in fact noble and pleasing- it’s a good start. But knowledge without love is

just not good enough. What good is that knowledge if you use it in such a way as to

offend one another? Knowledge is a powerful tool but without love to guide it, it can be

harmful as well. Be careful not to take advantage of your stronger faith and cause your

brother who may be weaker in faith to become hurt or offended.

There is only one true God, the creator of this world. Yet the people of this world do not

acknowledge and honor God. Instead they pay honor to worldly “gods” or idols. In fact

anything that comes before God, becomes an idol. But no matter what that idol or “god”

is: fame, money, career, a relationship or whatever else- it is not as important as worship

of the true God. In the ancient times whether men worshiped false Greek, Roman and

Egyptian Gods, or whether it is in modern times when men worship movie stars,

musicians, sports figures, wealth, health or materialism- its all the same- worthless. “For

us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ

through whom are all things.” 1Cor8:6

Now in ancient times when Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Corinth, the worship

of false Greek and Roman gods was a common practice condoned and encouraged by the

government. On a trip to ancient Rome you would see so many temples, and statues

dedicated to gods and ancestors. Idol and ancestor worship was as common as

patriotism- and was often linked to patriotism. In fact the Roman Caesers were often

deified upon death. The worship of these gods and ancestors was called idolatry. It was

common practice to offer food to idols and then to consume the meat after words in a

ritual. Oftentimes the excess meat would be sold in shops. But God has declared all food

as acceptable to eat. Food is not unclean. What goes into your mouth cannot make a

person unclean before God. We as believers and hearers of God’s word have this

knowledge. But many new believers, who had converted from idolatry felt it was wrong

to eat meat that they knew had been dedicated to idols. It would bother their conscious to

eat such meat. Paul wanted to clarify that it was okay for a believer to eat any meat even

if it had been part of a ritual. But he also told the believers stronger in their faith to not

make a point of eating such meat in front of a weaker believer if it meant offending the

conscious of that new believer. Above all else, even when we have knowledge of the

truth, love and consideration for one another, especially other believers is of the most

importance. If your faith causes trouble for the conscious of another weaker in faith then

you have done a great disservice both for the Lord and the other believer.

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Chapter 9: Paul’s Purpose as an Apostle

An apostle was a messenger of God’s word. His purpose was to deliver God’s message

so as to create new believers and disciples. Paul was an apostle to preach the gospel. As

an apostle, a believer in Christ with the added responsibility to deliver and spread the

message, he was also entitled to the liberties of other believers and even more: food,

clothing, material support, family. Yet Paul willingly chose not take advantage of this.

He chose not to accept material and financial support from other believers- even though it

would not have been wrong to do so. His first and foremost goal was to spread the

gospel to the exclusion of seeking his own comfort. His purpose was to communicate

and interact with each at his own level to win over believers for Christ.

Chapter 10: The Choice Between Good & Evil

Let us not temp Christ. 1Cor10:9 As believers we should avoid evil or sinful desires.

Consider the Old Testament examples of God’s just punishments upon those who ignored

the will of God and Godly morals. We are not immune from God’s judgment either. We

should avoid idolatry which means putting other things or people before worship of God.

We need to also avoid sexual immorality. Another thing, we must be careful even when

we think we are strong in spirit and conviction. We are not immune to temptation and we

must be on guard. “Whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall! No temptation

has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not

allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation He will also

provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.” 1Cor10: 12-13 If we are

believers , why should we participate in immorality. We cannot have divided loyalties.

We cannot serve goodness and evil at the same time. “Are we provoking the Lord to

Jealousy?” 1Cor10:22

Again Paul addresses the common slogan that many erroneously believe and live by:

“Everything is permissible.” While you may believe everything is okay to do, it really is

not always okay. Sometimes what we do can cause harm to us and others as well.

Furthermore we should put the well being of others above ourselves. As he discussed

two chapters earlier, Paul uses the example of meat offered to idols. It is okay to eat

anything sold in the meat market, but if your knowledge and liberties bothers the

conscious of another then don’t do it in front of that person. You are also to set an

example as well, not simply show off without care or concern. Whatever you do, make

sure you do it for the glory of God and that you do not cause the offense of another who

is weaker in the faith.

Chapter 11: Respect in Worship

The ancient cultural context of Paul’s passage on head covering must be considered. The

general message is for today is this: we must act and dress in respect to God, especially in

a worship service. Women are not demeaned or degraded as being inferior. This could

not be further from the truth. In fact, Paul encourages the respect of women, and both

men and women come from God. It is interesting to note how Paul also mentions that

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our physical signs of respect are observed not only by God but by the angels as well- to

whom we are also examples.

The Lord’s Supper:

Think about how you celebrate communion or the Lord’s Supper at your church today.

Have you ever wondered why the pastor or (master of ceremonies- whoever that may be)-

passes around a bit of bread and wine/ juice to each individual. It is done in an orderly

manner isn’t it? It is not exactly a re-enactment of the dinner served at the Last Supper

celebrated by Jesus and his apostles as told in the New Testament gospels. It is not a full

course meal as it was with Jesus and his apostles in the upper room. There is a reason for

this, and Paul had to address this with the early Christian Church in Corinth. When we

participate in the memorial of the Lord’s Supper together in Church, we must not

consider it to be a party or a buffet to which we satiate our uncontrolled desires for food

and drink. No! That is not the purpose. Eat and drink at home if you are that hungrydon’t

expect to eat your dinner at the memorial service of the Lord’s Supper! Don’t eat

the whole loaf of bread! Don’t you have homes where you can eat? Eat your dinner at

home before you come to church. In the church at Corinth, apparently they used to pass

out the bread and wine, and some members of the church would take more according to

their appetites so that there would not be enough to go around. Instead of respectfully

sharing in the memory of the Last Supper, they were simply fulfilling their hearty

appetites. Paul had to condemn this, telling them as well as us to wait for one another

and eat at home if you are hungry. Hence this is why in most modern churches the Last

Supper is formally and orderly conducted that way it is so as to avoid the free for all, all

you can eat- buffet effect. Jesus himself told us to remember Him in the practice of the

Lord’s supper together- and as often as we do this, we are remembering his death and

sacrifice.

Chapters 12, 13 and 14: Spiritual Gifts

There are different spiritual gifts. Each of these is important! They are simply different

manifestations of the Holy Spirit working through the believer for the good of all. These

include faith, helping, managing and knowledge. Individual members may be apostles or

teachers. The thing to remember is that “one and the same spirit is active in all these,

distributing to each as He wills”. 1Cor12:11. It is analogous to one human body having

many different body parts: all are different but even the smallest is still important. Each

body part has a specific purpose. Those parts of the body we see as less honorable, we

must clothe with more honor- we must devote more attention to distribute honor. There

should be unity therefore and not division among the members of the church. But,

remember this- without love, our gifts are meaningless. It does not matter if we can

prophesy or heal, if it is done without love then it does not matter! Without love, you

have nothing because love is the only lasting spiritual gift- the others: prophesy,

languages (speaking in foreign tongues: angelic and human), and knowledge will all

eventually come to an end! The only enduring spiritual gifts are these: faith, hope and

love with love being the greatest of the three.

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An important thing to remember is that in the early apostolic times of the Church to

whom Paul was speaking, some believers had supernatural gifts: healing, prophesy,

languages (the ability to speak in angelic tongues and different human languages). But

these gifts were considered inferior and transient in nature- meaning that eventually they

would no longer be available- as in they would eventually pass away with the passage of

time, when the more fulfilling spiritual gifts of faith, hope and love would come into

play. For this reason, we do not see the supernatural gifts of healing, prophecy and

languages.

Languages (a. k. a. tongues):

Paul discusses the proper use of the gift of languages within the context of the ancient

Christian churches- which he sees as the lesser of the spiritual gifts. He explains that if

someone has the so called gift of speaking in another language or tongues, but that there

is no interpreter available, it is essentially useless. There is no point in it whatsoever- and

not to bother! That is because no one else will understand what is being said. If no one

can understand what is said, there is no point in saying it. There is no purpose at all

unless there is an interpreter to explain what is being said to those who are listening.

Regardless of your spiritual gifts, above all there must be order. If everything is in

disorder and disarray when you assemble together, what good will that do? How will

anyone learn and be encouraged? As in the created world there is order and there should

be order in the church as well. “As in all the churches of the saints the women should be

silent in the churches”. 1Cor14:34 This is why you see men as pastors and not women.

Chapter 15: The Gospel Message and the Importance of Jesus’ Resurrection for all of us

Paul sums up the message of the gospel and its significance. “I want to clarify for you

the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and…are also saved by it, if you hold to

the message I proclaimed to you- unless you believed to no purpose.” 1Cor15:2-3 Jesus

died for our sins and rose from the dead. After he rose from the dead he appeared to over

500 people at one time as well as to the apostles and others. Jesus’ resurrection cannot be

denied. It really happened! In fact if he did not rise, then the apostles would be false

witnesses- and how would they get away with falsifying that information without

someone noticing? And if Jesus did not rise from the dead, our faith would be

meaningless- not to mention we would still be in our sins because that would mean that

our sins were not paid for.

But just as sin and death came from one man’s actions- Adam; forgiveness and eternal

life come from Jesus. In fact, Jesus conquered death through his resurrection. If you do

not believe in the resurrection, then we are simply no different from the nonbelievers who

have no hope and therefore do whatever they wish regardless of whether it is right and

wrong. Watch out for those people because their company can corrupt your good morals.

And think about why there are people out there who are ignorant about God- it is because

you are not doing your job and sharing the gospel message with them. You should be

ashamed!

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Remember, before we are resurrected, our physical body must die- just as a seed dies

before it becomes a tree. Our physical body represents corruption, but our spiritual body

represents incorruption. Our physical bodies cannot go to heaven, therefore we must be

changed to an incorruptible body. Our mortal lives will become immortal as death and

sin are swallowed up in the victory given to us through Jesus.

Chapter 16: Concluding Remarks

Paul encourages believers to put into the collection for the believers according to their

ability. He follows up with a description of his travel plans and some encouraging words.

2CORINTHIANS

Paul felt the continued need to address some specific issues that threatened the early

church in Corinth. Yet, the issues that threatened this early church are general enough

to be applied to modern day churches and to individuals as well! The problem of false

teachers and corrupt doctrine is evident even in today’s modern society as many

believers and non believers alike are lured by the deceptions of false teachers who distort

and disguise their messages. We must hold fast to the word of God or we will be

susceptible to being swayed by false teachers. God’s word is like are yardstick to which

we must measure whatever we hear. What we learn must be measured against God’s

word and if it contradicts it must be discarded, regardless of the messenger. As believers

we must continue to examine ourselves to make sure our doctrines are in accordance

with the gospel and that our actions are in accordance with the Holy Spirit.

Chapters 1- 3: Comfort and Receive Comfort

Just as we receive comfort from God during the troubling moments in our lives, we

should comfort one another. When we are rejected by the world as a result of our faith in

God, we must remember that just as we share in the sufferings of Jesus, we shall also

share the comfort and blessings. Think about it in this way: who can offer more comfort

to us than our God who has the power to raise the dead? God, through his power can

certainly use it to offer comfort. This message that is being written, the gospel message

can be easily understood. Furthermore, God himself has given us the Holy Spirit “as a

down payment in our hearts”. If others hurt you and cause you pain, do not let Satan use

that to his advantage; Satan can use it to his advantage over you if you are not carefulinstead

offer comfort, forgive and show love.

Messengers Of The Gospel

As believers we are compared to an aroma or scent that permeates the air. For those who

believe- the message is recognized as a message that leads to eternal life, but for those

who reject God’s message, then the consequence is death. The abilities of the apostles

(those who share the message of the gospel) receive their competence through God. The

first covenant, which was the law given to the Israel through Moses in the Old Testament

represented the Old Covenant. Since we could not even hope to meet God’s standards by

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following the law, that covenant led to death. We have a New Covenant now, based not

on the letter of the law, but of the spirit, which based on mercy and grace leads to

eternal life. The differences between the old and new covenants are clear when they are

compared side by side:

Old Covenant Vs. New Covenant

Old Testament Vs. New Testament

The Letter of the law written on stone tablets Vs. The Spirit

The law given to Moses Vs. The redemption we receive through Jesus

Death Vs. Life

Works Vs. Faith & Grace

Fading Glory Vs. Eternal Glory

a veiled heart Vs. the veil is removed

Chapter 4: Stand Firm With Gods Message

Because of the mercy we have received, we should be more than willing to abandon

anything shameful or deceitful. As a messenger we must never distort the message of

God. Regardless of the reception we receive by our hearers- even if it is negative, we

must never alter the gospel of God. So if our message is rejected, or criticized as being

too hard to follow or too difficult to understand, we still must never concede to the

pressures and change the gospel message to suit the tastes of those who listen. We must

never compromise the truth of God! In fact, if the message of God is not easily

understood by the hearers then it is for a reason. It is because the unbelieving people

have been made blind by the corruption of this world. Their love of this world have

calloused their hearts and veiled their minds so that they cannot begin to understand.

They are as if they are blind and therefore they can not see or understand the message of

the gospel or Jesus, the light of this world. The message of God, is compared to a

treasure- which is contained in a worthless clay jar, so that the true value of the message

may not be overshadowed by the either the container or messenger which is insignificant

in comparison to the message. The believer of the message and the messenger of the

gospel must never give up hope no matter what trials or opposition are faced. Even if

our physical bodies are being worn, our spirits are being renewed. Any suffering is

nothing at all compared to the eternal glory we will have. “For our momentary light

affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of Glory. So we

do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but

what is unseen is eternal.” 2Cor4:18

Chapters 5- 8

Mortal Life Vs. Eternal Life

Our physical bodies are comparable to a flimsy nylon tent. If that tent is frayed and

destroyed- which it will certainly and eventually be- then we need not worry. We will

have an eternal, permanent structure- a strong house from God in heaven! And while we

exist- burdened and suffering- in our transient, earthly, imperfect, mortal bodies, we long

for our new, eternal homes with God in heaven. Eventually, death will be swallowed up

by life. And God has prepared us for this change by giving us the Holy Spirit “as a down

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payment”. Now that is God’s guarantee! So we consider our mortal lives, in our human

bodies, to be a temporary parting from the Lord. And we recognize that when the time

comes to part with our bodies- in other words, when our physical bodies experience

death, we understand that will be when we finally go to our true home with the Lord.

But no matter what- whether we still inhabit our fleshly bodies, or whether we have shed

our fleshly bodies; whether we live or we die- we still strive to please God. Above all,

don not forget this: we will all have to appear before the Lord, with an accounting of our

lives.

Apostles and the Gospel Message:

With this knowledge, we recognize the importance and urgency in sharing the gospel

message. The love of Jesus is a driving force in our lives and as a result we are a new

creature, a new creation! God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus who without sin

became sin in order that through faith we may be considered righteous. In sum, “God

was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting the trespasses against us” 2Cor5:19.

This is the message that believers/ apostles need to share. We are considered to be

ambassadors for Christ when we spread the gospel message. There is no need to delay in

spreading the message or in accepting the message of the gospel because “now is the day

of salvation”. 2Cor6:2 Regardless of what hardships and suffering that messengers of

God endure, the messenger of God shall remain true and pure to the end. In fact, the

greater of degree of suffering and hardship received in this world, will be an

exponentially higher degree of blessedness and glory received in the next world to come.

The only limitations faced will simply be self imposed limitations. Don’t limit yourself

by partnering up with an unbeliever. It is one thing to share the gospel message with an

unbeliever as we are called to do- but to have close fellowship or to marry a non-believer

is to mismatch goodness with darkness, or God’s sanctuary with idol worship. It is to

defile the pure spirit of God with impurity. Furthermore, don’t confuse anything having

to do with the world with God. There can be no union or airing of goodness with evil.

“For Godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but

worldly grief produces death.” 2Cor7:9

Chapters 8 and 9: Generosity

Remember to be generous, even when you endure suffering and hardship, just as God

poured out his grace on you. Jesus endured poverty and suffering so that you may

become rich in grace and blessings. If you have more than others, then share with those

who have less. Those who sow little will reap little in return, but those who sow

generously will reap generously in return. Generosity may be applied in any aspect in

life, not just with resources of money, but of time, service and love as well.

Chapters 10- 13: Distortion of the Gospel and the Danger of False Teachers

Those who oppose the message of the gospel and its messengers, as well as the false

message which they seek to deliver, must be challenged against and held to the truth of

God’s message. It doesn’t matter if as messengers, we are not as eloquent in the use of

language as worldly philosophers or scholars. It is the saving message of the gospel that

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is of most importance. The true messenger of the Lord will not be boastful or prideful. If

he is to boast, it shall be in the Lord alone and not himself. This is what Paul was trying

to communicate to the early Christian church in Corinth. That is why the message of the

gospel may be compared to valuable gold contained in clay jars. So that the message

may be glorified, the vessel must be humbled.

Paul felt the need to respond to those false leaders and teachers who were critics of the

way God’s true apostles delivered the true message. False teachers otherwise known as

false apostles, were prevalent in the early church just as they are today. In fact Paul

compared the message of the false teachers as a competing message to the true message

of the gospel. To turn from the true message of the Lord to a false or distorted message

would essentially a betrayal of Jesus- comparable to marital infidelity. The false message

of the false teachers threatened to corrupt the worship of the church members in Corinth

who were apparently naïve enough and weak in the faith, making them more likely to

being swayed by false teachings and false teachers. Likewise in modern times among

believers and nonbelievers alike- as well as in modern churches- many people are easily

deceived by false teachings. False appearances will frequently sway people. Consider the

attention people in today’s society devote to the media and the entertainment industry and

to so- called “famous” entertainers. Also consider the attention and credibility that socalled

authorities such as politicians and other “authority” figures receive. Physical

appearances frequently play a large role when false teachers try to get attention. “For if a

person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a

different spirit, which you have not received, or a different gospel, which you have not

accepted, you put up with it splendidly” 2Cor10:4 What this means is that people show

no discretion to what garbage they will swallow when it comes to beliefs and ideas, as

long as it is wrapped up in a pretty package.

Satan: The Mastermind Behind False Teachers and the Distorted Gospel

Paul’s message may also be applied to any believer in Christ, as well as the church in

Corinth- and anyone who chooses to share the gospel of Christ. Even though Paul had no

formal training in public speaking, and he did not wear fancy or expensive clothes, that

would not, or should not lessen the credibility of his message. In fact, his humility and

humbleness all the more gave credit to the saving message of God. It should be the

saving power of the message that draws people and not the distraction of the physical

appearance of the messenger itself. Those false teachers, twist the message of the gospel

for their own purpose and to boost their own pride, are false and deceitful, even though

they disguise themselves as apostles of God’s message. This serves as Paul’s warning to

all of us: Do not be fooled by their outward appearances! “For Satan himself is disguised

as an angel of light!” 2Cor11:14 And if that is the case, if it is true that Satan can

deceptively appear and disguise his evil, tainted message, then of course Satan’s

messengers can disguise their evil ways as well in order to deceive unsuspecting and

unwitting hearers. Consider how many people are lured by the message of cult groups

such as the Jehovah’s witnesses, Mormons, new age movements, and witchcraft. These

are all various distortions of the message of the bible. But don’t worry or despair,

because these false teachers will eventually get what is coming to them. The sad thing is

that so many people will put up not only with these false teachers, but with fools in

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general. So many willingly and needlessly discard the truth of God to put up with so

much immorality, and nonsense! How many prefer to hear and follow foolish worldly

“wisdom” instead of God’s wisdom? Well if you can do that, then why not put up with

the wisdom of God, even if it is delivered through a so- called humbled fool.

The Purpose Behind the Humility and the Trials of God’s Messengers:

And furthermore, how dare anyone criticize messengers of the Lord with all they put up

with- those false teachers have no ground to stand on when they criticize God’s apostles.

Paul uses the hardships that he endured during his own ministry to illustrate what he

endured in contrast to false teachers. In his humility, which should serve as an example

for all of us, Paul refused to boast about himself- except with one exception- his

weakness. Rather, Paul was more than willing to boast about others in order to boost

others above himself. Likewise, we too should strive to consider others above ourselves.

In fact, Paul had a chronic physical affliction or condition that caused him physical pain.

Yet, Paul endured his physical illness so that he could boast in God who provided him

strength and grace to promote the gospel message. Paul happily endured physical and

emotional hardships because it actually made him and his faith stronger! Furthermore, he

personally did not create any expectations or burdens on the hearers of his message

whatsoever in order to build them up.

Christian and Apostolic Humility:

Concerning his own private revelations, if he indeed had any which is not the concern in

this passage, Paul avoided sharing anything beyond what could be readily observed or

proven so that what Paul shared would seen as God’s truth- and Paul’s testimony could

not be questioned. About other “visions” by private individuals, that may have occurred

in the early church, only God for sure could know its authenticity- therefore such

revelations are of no concern to us. In fact people should never boast of their own

revelations. Paul’s simple explanation, which he repeated twice is simply this: “I do not

know, God knows” 2Cor12:2-3 Our responsibility is this: to walk in the spirit of God and

to avoid the spirit of this world which is represented by these things: quarreling, jealousy,

anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, disorder, sexual immorality and

promiscuity. Paul challenges all believers to avoid these sins! In fact we are told, “test

yourselves to see if you are in faith” 2 Cor13:5 In fact when we examine ourselves and

our hearts continuously we are likened as mature Christians. Paul’s final exhortation to

all believers is this: “Be restored, be encouraged, be of the same mind (concerning the

true gospel message), be at peace” 2Cor13:11 and God will be with us as well.

GALATIANS

As with his other letters, Paul’s introduction is a shortened summary of the gospel: Paul,

an apostle was sent by God to deliver this message: through Jesus we have been rescued

from our sin. This letter in particular was written to the believers in Galatia in order to

address some issues concerning false religious doctrines. Yet, as with the other letters,

the lessons and instructions may be applied to all believers throughout all the

generations of time.

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Chapter 1: False Gospels

“I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the

grace of Christ to a different gospel- not that there is another gospel, but there are some

who are troubling you and want to change the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an

angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to

you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone preaches to

you a gospel contrary to what you have received, a curse be on him!” Galations1:6-9

These stern words of Paul should not be taken lightly. Consider how many people of all

ages, nations and generations have come to accept false visions and false gospels- despite

the warning. Consider how many religions are started as a result of false visions

proclaiming a new gospel. Mormonism is based on an “angelic” vision given to Joseph

Smith who thereby proceeded to distort the gospel message. Islam was based on

Muhamed’s false vision of the angel Gabriel who supposedly was delivering a message

from God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses base their doctrines on the visions and private

revelations received by their so called modern day prophets. Many Roman Catholics

have been deceived by visions of Mary that have appeared to lay persons and clergy,

deceiving many. The one common thing we see is that all these so called visitation,

which are actually Satan and the evil demons or spirits, actually take away from the

gospel message. These deceptive spirits disguise themselves as “angels of light”

delivering a different message that isn’t from God. Often times these messages teach a

different Jesus than the Jesus we learn about in the bible. For example, some religions

teach that Jesus was simply a prophet or a teacher. The false religions, false prophets and

false teachers attempt to undermine the credibility of the message of the gospel.

Chapters 2-6

Paul’s Authority

Most of the earliest believers were originally Jewish. But as the gospel message spread

as a result of the mission work of the apostles, others came to also believe in the message.

Even during Paul’s own lifetime, false teachers and false prophets sought to undermine

Paul’s authority. More specifically, some Jewish converts to Christianity, referred to by

Paul as the “circumcision party”, tried to make the claim that new believers in Christ

were first required to convert to Judaism. In other words, these false teachers erroneously

were teaching new believers that Christianity was a sect of Judaism and that it was

required that they submit to all the Jewish laws and regulations such as circumcision and

dietary restrictions. The error of this teaching caused confusion and dissention among the

early Christian churches. In fact some of these false teachers of the circumcision party

went so far as to send spies who would then later spread rumors against Paul and the non

Jewish converts in an effort to discredit them among the other members of the early

churches. In response, Paul addressed the issue, by using the example of Titus, a

respected leader of the ancient Christian church. Titus was a Greek not a Jew, yet when

he accepted the message, he felt no need to be circumcised or follow any Jewish

traditions.

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Hypocrisy Condemned:

Even the apostle Peter, a.k.a. Cephas, was unduly influenced by these false teachers and

subsequently began to disassociate himself from non Jewish converts. In fact other

apostles fell prey to the beliefs of the influential circumcision party including Barnabas.

Whereas Peter and Barnabas used to associate with any believer, and no longer

themselves practiced Jewish traditions in a hypocritical fashion they suddenly turned

around and said that all converts must become Jews first and practice Jewish tradition and

laws. According to Paul, “When I saw they were deviating from the truth of the gospel I

told Cephas in front of everyone, ‘If you, a Jew live like a Gentile and not a Jew, how can

you compel Gentiles to live like Jews’.” Gal2:14

Justification by Faith Not the Works of the Law

Paul strongly condemned anyone who tried to make the claim that a believer must follow

the works of the law. “We know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by

faith in Jesus Christ and we have believed in Jesus Christ so that we might be justified by

faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by the works of the law no human

being will be justified.”. Gal2:16-17 As believers, we have died to the law and are reborn

in Christ. “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness came through the law

then Christ died for nothing.” Gal2:21 If in fact we could be justified by our works, then

what was the point in Jesus dying for our sins? “You foolish Galatians! Who has

hypnotized you? .... Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with

faith? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit are you going to be made

complete by the flesh?” Gal3: 2-3 In fact, if you rely on the law for your salvation you

might as well consider yourself cursed because you never will be saved! It is Jesus alone

who can redeem us from the curse of the law. Only through faith in Jesus can we be

justified before God. Before Jesus we were subject and even imprisoned as slaves under

the law, but through Jesus we have freedom from the law. The scriptures of the old

testament for shadow the fact that God would justify people through faith. This is

obvious when we consider the old testament heroes such as Abraham and Noah who had

friendship with God as a result of their faith. Through our faith we are considered

children and heirs of God.

Do Not Forfeit Your Freedom in Jesus

Once we have become reconciled through our faith, and are children of God, why should

we turn towards our former sinful ways of life? Why should we reject our freedom we

receive in Christ in favor of becoming once again slaves to sin under the law? In fact

many believers, just as many of the Galatians, turned away from the message they

received and turned back to their former ways. Why should we wish to return to the yoke

of the law once we have been liberated it from Christ. If you decide that Christ’s

sacrifice is not sufficient, and decide you must merit your way to justification by the

works of the law, then you have subjected yourselves under the yoke of the law as slaves.

If you try to merit your way to justification under the law, then you are obligated under

the law apart from the saving redemption that can be found only through faith in Jesus’

sacrifice. Remember that one corrupt teacher and one corrupt teaching can permeate and

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spread corruption throughout. If anyone teaches that works lead to salvation then “the

offense of the cross has been abolished.” Gal5:11 In fact, the dissemination of this false

teaching of salvation through works is so repugnant to Paul that he goes so far as to say,

“I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!” Gal5:12

Continue Life in the Spirit Not by the Works of the Flesh

But remember, do not take advantage of your freedom in Jesus as an opportunity to do

whatever you want! It does not give you an excuse to sin. If we are truly believers in the

message we have received through face, we will abandon the “works of the flesh” which

is sin in favor of the works of the Spirit. “The works of the flesh are obvious: sexual

immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy,

outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing,

and anything similar.” Gal5:19-20 “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self control.” Gal5:22 Remember to carry each

other’s burdens but be very careful that you yourself do not become tempted another

one’s sins. Never tire of doing what is good. Never boast of anything except of God.

Before I move on to the next letter written by Paul, I have become more aware that I

could go on writing about every chapter and even every verse I read. There is so much

wisdom contained in each and every passage of the bible. All of it is essential to life! I

notice more than ever as I read, how important reading the bible is. There is no other

book that can compare as this is the very word of God written to us, individually as well

as to congregations of believers as well. The words of the bible, though they were written

2000 (or more) years ago, are as relevant today in the year 2009 as they were in the year

09. These words are directed to each and every believer- called by God to be apostlesambassadors

of the gospel message which is the good news for humankind. We are

called to be apostles, and teachers through Jesus.

In writing this bible journal, simply for the sake of completion and efficiency I find I

must limit some of my commentary. Most of the passages simply speak for themselves

with no additional explanation being needed!

EPHESIANS:

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians focuses on the life of a believer. Paul compares and

contrasts the life of a believer to that of a nonbeliever and urges all of us to abandon our

former way of life in favor of our new life in the Spirit.

Chapter 1: Many Blessings Through Faith in Jesus: Wisdom is Revealed!

As believers we are favored by God and deeply blessed. We are blessed with salvation,

grace, forgiveness, wisdom and understanding. And to us, God has made known the

“mystery of His will”. What this means is this: in contrast to the unbelievers as

described by Paul in his letter to the Romans (as well as other letters too), where as the

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unbelievers have difficulty understanding due to their hardened hearts and conscious, we

have the aid of the Holy Spirit which aids in our understanding of God’s will and

message of salvation. To those who do not have faith, who do not believe and who are

not saved- those who do not have the Holy Spirit, God’s wisdom is simply foolishness or

nonsense. In other words to those who are perishing, it is a mystery or a puzzlesomething

that they cannot possibly understand. Keep in mind, this is a choice. Those

who do not believe have consciously rejected God’s message of salvation. Those who

refuse to believe have willfully rejected God as explained in the letter to the Romans.

But to us, as believers, God’s mystery is unraveled or solved! We are enlightened. We

can understand it- it is not concealed from our understanding! “In Him you also, when

you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation- in Him when you believedwere

sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance,

for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory” Ephesians 1: 13-14 This

is a short sum up of the purpose of the gospel message: the delivery of the message,

which is God’s word, leads to belief and salvation. But not only this! We receive the

Holy Spirit as well. The Holy Spirit acts as a guarantee or a deposit as proof of our future

inheritance or salvation. In the future we will redeem what is coming to us- that is- we

will redeem our salvation and the “glorious” spiritual riches and blessings that await.

Once again, we must never forget Jesus is the reason for all of this! Jesus is our Saviorour

Messiah! God has given complete power and authority to Jesus, through whom we

are saved.

Chapters 2 and 3:

Life Through Jesus- Rejection of the Works of the Flesh; the Spirit of Disobedience

Before we placed our faith in Jesus, we were spiritually dead. In other words, we were

essentially dead. We were dead in our sins, Prior to hearing and accepting the gospel

message we were part of this world, living in our sins. The ruler of this sinful world,

referred by Paul as the “atmospheric domain” is Satan. In contrast, as believers, we live

according to the Heavenly domain where our hope and our sight is focused. Satan is the

spirit which works and lives in those who do not believe. Those who are not believers

live and walk in the spirit of disobedience in contrast to believers who walk in the Holy

Spirit. Those who live and submit to the spirit of disobedience, live according to sinful

fleshly desires and actions just like we used to before we accepted the gospel message.

Those who walk in the spirit of this world, Satan’s world, with the spirit of disobedience

are subject to God’s wrath. But for us, who believe in the gospel message, and have

accepted the gift of redemption through Jesus, are saved from the wrath of God. We are

no longer children under wrath, but children under God. “God, who is abundant in mercy,

because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though

we were dead in our trespasses. By grace you are saved!” Ephesians 2:4-5 And

furthermore, in the future, God has in store for us, immeasurable blessings and spiritual

riches. We cannot even comprehend what is in store for us in heaven! “For by grace you

are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift- not from works,

so that no one can boast.” Ephesians2: 8-9 The salvation we receive is not dependent on

what we do. It is not earned based on our works or accomplishments but based on God’s

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grace alone. In other words it is a gift from God, not something we have earned. But

even though we can not work for our salvation, nor can earn it or pay for it, we still are

saved for a purpose. We are to use this gift from God for good works. As a result of

being saved we should desire to walk in the Holy Spirit and reject the worldly spirit of

disobedience. We should exchange our fleshly desires and fleshly works for good desires

and good works.

In sum, through Jesus, we who used to be spiritually, dead, who used to walk in the spirit

of disobedience (regardless of whether we claimed to be a Jew or Gentile), we are saved.

It does not matter what we used to be- without Jesus we were dead in our sins and

through Jesus we have life. In contrast to the Old Testament, in which the Jews were

distinct from the rest of the world (known as the Gentile world), through faith in Jesus, all

are made the same- it does not matter what your heritage was. God reconciles us to Him

through Jesus Christ.

Paul explains that in the time of the Old Testament, in other words, before the time of

Jesus, the previous generations could not have known the good news of the gospel- the

salvation, which was revealed and freely given through Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit,

the apostles of the gospel message have revealed the mysteries of God. And furthermore,

this saving message is intended for everyone, not just a select nation or a select group of

people. Jesus is essentially God’s purpose for mankind. It is the means by which we can

be saved.

Chapters 4,5 & 6: Our New Life

As believers in Jesus, Paul once again urges us to walk or live in a way that is worthy of

our calling. In other words as he explained earlier, we must not walk or live as we used

to when we were spiritually dead- when we used to live according to our fleshly desires

under the yoke of the worldly spirit of disobedience. We are called for a better purpose

and that is to walk in the Holy Spirit. The expression “walk” refers to a way of life. Our

new way of life should be to seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as love, humility,

gentleness, mercy and patience. And through the Holy Spirit, we may be called to serve

through different gifts or different areas of service in accordance with God’s will. For

example, some believers may be apostles, teachers or pastors. There are different tasks

or ways that believers may be used to spread the message of the gospel and also in

continuing the education of believers as well. But all belong to the body of Christ, which

is the church of believers. We need these various specialties here in this world, which

serves as a time of growth and maturity in the wisdom of the word of God, until the time

comes when we all reach full wisdom and maturity. We still must be aware that false

teaching and false teachers threaten to confuse us and distort the message, and to combat

this, we must persist in the knowledge of the word of God. We must be continually

educated in the word of God. And this is the reason we need believers to specialize in

different services. As a whole, each specialty works toward a unified church.

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Again, Paul repeats himself: we must abandon our previous fleshly way of life as we used

to live. In other words, the life of the unbeliever is futile. The understanding of the

unbeliever is limited and darkened. They are ignorant of God and their hearts are

hardened. Remember the first chapters in the book of Romans! This is important and it

is repeated again here: the unbelievers of this world willingly rejected God. Their hearts

are hardened and calloused! They would not know what goodness was even if it hit them

over their heads. And because of their hardened hearts and their willing rejection of God,

they have willingly succumbed to the spirit of disobedience, the works of the flesh:

impurity, promiscuity and all types of filth and sin. When we accepted the gospel

message we were saved: we replaced our former corrupt lives for a new life in Christ. We

became a new person, a new creation! We rejected the lie, and everything that is false in

favor of Truth! And once again we are reminded to walk in the spirit. It means this: we

must no longer live in the fleshly desires which is sin. We must no longer lie or become

angry. And if we do become angry, we must not submit to the temptation to sin in our

anger. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, do not give the Devil an opportunity”

Ephesians 4:26. If we had bad habits or sinful ways we must try to overcome them. We

shouldn’t steal, lie, use bad language, insult or slander each other. We should not get

drunk which leads to recklessness. “Sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should

not even be heard of among you… And coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not

suitable, but rather giving thanks. For know and recognize this: no sexually immoral or

impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of the

Messiah and of God.” Ephesians 5:3-5 These are bad things. We need to show love,

kindness and compassion for one another in imitation of that which God has shown for

us. We must give thanks to God and submit to each other. We must read the scriptures:

psalms and hymns and discuss the bible with one another.

This is so important, that Paul cannot emphasis it enough “Pay careful attention, then, to

how you walk” Ephesians 5:15 - as believers we must walk in the Holy Spirit or in the

Light. We must reject the spirit of darkness which is the spirit of disobedience.

Remember the qualities of the Holy Spirit and compare them with the qualities of

darkness! Commit it to memory and reject the works of the flesh. Paul has described the

fruits of the spirit as well as the works of darkness enough times. We know what they are

and we know the difference. “Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but

instead expose them.” Ephesians 5:10 To all nonbelievers, the message is this: “Get up

sleeper and rise from the dead” Ephesians 5:14. To those who are spiritually dead, it is as

they live in the darkness, it is as if they are asleep. They need to be woken up, and

brought to life. Their dark and evil deeds will be brought to the light and exposed.

Believers need to expose it here in this lifetime, and in the next lifetime, nothing

whatsoever will remain secret or hidden as everything concealed will be revealed to the

shame of those who rejected the message of the gospel.

Paul addresses different types of relationships that involve the potential for the abuses of

power with suggestions of how to ensure these relationships are pleasing to God. He

warns those who have the upper hand in a relationship to not abuse their authority or

power. A man should love and respect his wife, parents and children must respect one

another as well as slaves and masters. Essentially the message is this: in God’s eyes we

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are all equal and regardless of our position- whether we have authority over another or

we submit to another in this world, neither have an advantage in God’s eyes and all have

a responsibility to obey God’s will.

The Armor of God:

As believers we are in a constant battle with Satan a.k.a “the evil one” - the master of this

world. Just as armor protects a soldier in battle, the armor of God will protect the believer

against Satan (which is the Devil) “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand

against the tactics of the Devil” Ephesians 6:11 These qualities are analogous to armor

which serve to protect us from false doctrines, false teachers and fleshly desires: truth,

righteousness, readiness for evangelism, faith, the word of God (the bible), and the

awareness of our salvation. These qualities protect us. The word of God is as effective

and powerful as a sword, against the false teaching or “flaming arrows” of Satan. We

should remain alert and pray at all times. We need to be always ready and always on

guard.

PHILIPPIANS:

Chapter 1: Paul’s purpose- the promotion, establishment and defense of the gospel.

“He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ

Jesus” Philippians 1:6 Believers will continue to grow in knowledge and discernment,

knowing what really matters in contrast to what is really unimportant. Believers will bear

fruit and in the end through God’s grace, be considered pure and blameless. Regardless of

intent, the most important thing is that the gospel message is proclaimed and spread to

everyone. Sure, it is possible that some spread the message who are not sincere, but do it

out of rivalry or pride to get attention- but if the message they spread results in more

believers, then that is what matters! Faced with two choices: life or death- each has its

own purpose or benefits. “I have the desire to depart and be with Christ- which is far

better- but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.” Philippians 1:23 Even

though Paul would prefer the option of death, to fulfill his desire to be with the Lord, for

the sake of the gospel, and of those who need to hear the message he has an important

reason to remain alive.

Chapter 2: The Importance of Being Humble

Just as Jesus (in the form of God) was humbled when he came as a man submitting to

death on the cross for our sake, we must also be humble; making sure to act as if we

consider others more important than ourselves. Just as Jesus was glorified- we too will

be blessed by our humility as well. ‘Hold firmly to the message of life”. Philippians 2:16,

and remember that we are like bright starts in a dark, starless world. Therefore we must

strive to live our lives according to God’s purpose. Seek the interests of Jesus Christ- not

your own!

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Chapter 3 and 4: Life in Faith and our Future Hope

Be on the look out for “evil workers” which are false teachers and hypocrites. In his

earlier letters, Paul spoke about false teachers who twisted the gospel message and he

also wrote about the “Circumcision party”, who required new believers to first convert to

the Jewish religion and subsequently submit to the Jewish laws - including circumcision.

Paul considers this simply to be a mutilation of the flesh- since it has no value in the

purpose of salvation. We can not be saved by our works or by following the law, but by

faith. The new circumcision is this: faith- it is a spiritual circumcision of the heart and

spirit not of the flesh. So there is no point in boasting in your heritage or your works.

Even though you may be disappointed that these do not count as an advantage- be sure of

this- by placing your faith in God you gain so more which should more than compensate

for your disappointment. Do not live as enemies of Christ as many do, who reject the

gospel. They focus on worldly and earthly things. Their selfish desires and pursuits of the

flesh control their lives. In this world there are many enemies of the gospel and just as

we share in the glories of Christ, we will share in the sufferings too. “But our citizenship

is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Philippians 3:20. We must remember to persevere and not be discouraged, keeping our

eyes on our future glory. We should always be encouraged by this and we have a reason

to rejoice as well. “Don’t worry about anything, through prayer and petition with

thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. “ Philippians4: 6 And finally, all

believers must meditate on what is important to the Lord. We need to dwell on things

that are just, pure, commendable and moral. Do not dwell or imitate the evils of the non

believers - in this dark, faithless world- which are really the enemies of Christ because

they rejected the message of the gospel. We need to concentrate on the fruits or

manifestations of the Holy Spirit within us.

COLOSSIANS:

Chapter 1

Our Hope in Heaven:

Believers in the gospel message look to heaven for their reservation of hope and

happiness. The message of the gospel offers to all believers the hope of heaven. Heaven

is our inheritance. Knowledge of God’s will through the Holy Spirit gives us the

spiritual understanding and wisdom we need to live in a way worthy and pleasing to God.

We were rescued from darkness into the kingdom of heaven. We must remember to

“remain grounded and steadfast in the faith” and not shift “away from the hope of the

gospel that you have heard”. Colossians 1:23

The Importance of Jesus:

As the image of the invisible God, creator of everything in heaven and earth, head of the

church of all believers, Jesus is the means by which we are reconciled to God. Paul, the

messenger of the gospel has done his part in making known to all, the gospel, its lessons

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so that believers may mature in their knowledge. Jesus Christ, often referred to the

mystery of God, is where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge may be discovered.

Chapter 2: Be Wary of False Teachings

We must be on guard against false teachings no matter how persuasive they appear to be.

We must not be swayed by philosophies, theories and arguments which are based on

human tradition and human reasoning. Through Jesus we are saved and it is not through

worldly wisdom or works. While we were spiritually dead in our sins, Jesus’ death

erased the debt that we would have been required to pay ourselves. The price that should

have been ours to pay, was borne by Jesus when he died on the cross. Because of this,

we should not be concerned about worldly teachings and traditions which are useless in

attaining salvation. Therefore, when such worldly teachers and followers of manmade

traditions criticize us and tell us what we as believers should do, we should ignore them.

Those who believe in works and human traditions as they way, rely on ascetic practicesin

order to give the outward appearance of authority and religion- when in actuality- they

could not be farther from the truth. If anyone insists that you follow anything contrary to

the message of the gospel- don’t believe it and don’t follow it. This includes when

people try to tell you that you must worship angels or follow special rules. Also if

anyone claims to have supernatural access to the spirit world or so called visions- don’t

believe that either! We don’t have to follow special rules about food or any other

tradition that is not found in the gospel message. These special rules to not compensate

for your sins or fleshly indulgences. Don’t let false manmade practices and traditions

and superstitions disqualify you from knowing the truth of the gospel message! Salvation

can only be found in the gospel message alone- through God’s grace and not by what we

do.

Chapter 3 and 4: Life as a Believer

When living your life as a believer, seek what is above: holiness, love, compassion,

kindness, humility, gentleness, thankfulness, gracious speech and patience and disregard

your past sins which included the following: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil

desire, greed, anger, slander, filthy language, lying and malice. We are a new creation in

Christ so we should act like it! Remember whatever good we do or say, it should be in

the name of Jesus. In your personal and professional relationships, remember humility,

compassion and honesty. And last, but not least, remember to pray that more may hear

the message of Christ so they too may be saved. We should all pay attention to the

ministry.

1THESSALONIANS:

Chapters 1, 2 and 3: The Power of the Message

The gospel message is not simply words, but it represents the power of the Holy Spirit as

well. This power gives of stronger faith, boldness and assurance- even in the face of

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persecution and hardship! It has the power to turn the spiritually dead from worship of

false gods and idols, to the service of God: it is the power of salvation from death to

eternal life, through Jesus. Paul, as an example, did not need special words to deliver the

gospel- all that was needed came from the Holy Spirit. With humility, he shared the

gospel, forsaking his personal needs. In imitation, we should forsake our own personal

gain, seeking to comfort and encourage each other as well as those to whom we share the

gospel message. Sure there will be those who persecute those who seek to share the

message of the gospel, just as the ancient prophets and Jesus were also persecuted. But, to

those who hinder the message of the gospel, the message of salvation, they had better

watch out, because they will suffer the consequences! So remember, stand firm in your

faith! When you are persecuted for the sake of the Gospel, remember you are in good

company.

Chapter 4: Worthy Behavior

Remember to strive to please God, and do not be involved in sexual immorality or other

offenses. Don’t you know you are called to live in a life worthy of the Holy Spirit that

dwells within you! Heed these warnings and flee from transgressions and impurity. Other

words of advice: mind your own business- don’t be a gossip or busy-body! That isn’t

godly behavior either. Also it is good to be self sufficient and hold a job so as not to be a

burden on others. In other words- don’t leech off of someone else’s hard work, get up

and work- don’t be lazy!

Chapters 4 and 5: Death, resurrection & Jesus’ coming

Paul refers to death as “sleep”. Unlike those who don’t believe in God, and who don’t

believe in the gospel message- death represents fear and the unknown. They are ignorant

of death. To an atheist, death represent the end- the ceasing of life. To nonbelievers,

death is met with grief and sorrow, because they have no hope whatsoever in eternal life

and heaven. But we have hope. For us believers, death does not represent the end, but

the beginning of eternal life! Just as we believe that Jesus rose from death, we too will

rise from death. Even if we die, we will rise from the dead. And for those who are still

alive, when Jesus returns, we will be caught up to meet with Jesus in the air as he descend

to earth from heaven. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with

the archangel’s voice and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first”.

1Thesalonians:4:16. So why should we fear death? There is no reason for us to worry

about dying- even if we know that death will come soon due to terminal illness or age.

Paul says himself- in fact he commands us to “encourage one another with these words”.

If this was not trustworthy and true, why would we be told to encourage each other with

these very words. So remember, if you are feeling the weight of your mortality, if you

are worried or depressed or fearful of your own death, read these words over and be

encouraged!

Remember this: the day of the Lord- in other words, the day Jesus returns a.k.a the

Second Coming of Christ, will come when we least expect it. We will not know in

advance! It will come just as a thief in the night! So we must be alert of this and aware

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that it may happen when we least expect it. Keep this thought in the back of your mind.

Remember the armor of God that was discussed in a previous letter of Paul? We must

remember to wear the armor of our Lord. We must remember to live a life worthy of our

faith. Weather we live or die it does not matter! Regardless we will be with the Jesus.

Those who die are at no disadvantage. Remember that! Those who live have no

advantage. Whether we live or die, we will live with the Lord. We should be encouraged

by these words and we should encourage each other with these words as well.

In conclusion, live a life worthy of your calling and remain strong in your faith and hope.

Pray and be thankful. Test anything you hear so as to make sure it is consistent with the

word of the gospel. There is no need to fear death. When you feel discouraged or

fearful, remind yourself of the gospel message.

2THESSALONIANS:

Paul felt the need to write a second letter to the congregation in Thessalonica as a follow

up. Apparently after writing the first letter, Paul got word that some members of the

congregation were taking the message of the second coming of Christ to the extreme.

Furthermore, many opportunistic false teachers were going about, scaring or troubling

naive believers with stories of an imminent return.

Chapters 1,2 and 3: The End times

Remember this: those who reject the gospel will “pay the penalty of everlasting

destruction away from the Lords presence” 2Thessalonians 1:9 But for those of us who

place our faith in the message of the gospel, we will be considered worthy of God’s

kingdom. Remember it was said that the return of Jesus will be unexpected, and we will

not know when it will happen. Therefore we must be aware of this. But do not be

paranoid or naïve either. This does not mean it is happening today or tomorrow either. If

someone says with certainty that it is imminent- don’t believe it! On what basis should

you believe someone who makes a claim that Jesus will return on a specific date?

Furthermore, on what basis should you believe anyone’s claim that Jesus has already

returned? Don’t let yourselves be troubled by such stories! (For example the Jehovah’s

Witnesses not only claim that Jesus already returned- albeit invisibly and without the

knowledge of believers- but they claim that the end of the world is imminent and have

made many false prophecies to boot!) Therefore don’t quit your job! Don’t pack up and

abandon your homes and families and responsibilities! “Do not grow weary in doing

good” 2Thessalonians 3:13 There is no excuse to suddenly become irresponsible!

Therefore if you see a fellow believer in faith acting this way, remind him of his

priorities. Don’t follow in his footsteps!

Keep in mind, certain things will happen before Jesus returns. Before Jesus returns

“the apostasy” and the “man of lawlessness” which is Satan will be revealed. More

specifically, there will be a public figure- the antithesis of Jesus, the embodiment of evil

and of Satan- who will falsely declare himself to be God. This evil figure will deceive

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many with miracles and “magical” tricks. He will use every “unrighteous deception” he

can, to fool those who are already perishing. Remember the first chapter in Romans,

where Paul explained that those who are perishing refused to believe in God, despite the

proofs of God that are all around! Remember that the unbelievers willingly exchanged

the truths of God, denying them, in favor of lies! As a consequence their conscious was

dulled and they succumbed to every base and filthy desire. Well these same nonbelievers,

the spiritually dead- will be the ones who are deceived by Satan. They will fall

prey to Satan’s deception and believe his lies! But those of us who are believers, strong

in our faith will not be deceived! We need to remember to hold faith to our faith and the

gospel message.

1TIMOTHY:

Even though Paul’s letter was originally intended for Timothy, an early leader of the

ancient Christian church, his words and message are directed to all believers in the gospel

message, “according to the command of God our savior and of Jesus Christ, our hope”.

1Tim1:2 This letter is considered to be instructions for us, If we reject the message of

the gospel and the instructions of Paul, we might “suffer the shipwreck” of our faith as

others who reject instruction. 1Tim1:19

Chapter 1: Warnings against False Teachings

Paul warns believers concerning false doctrines, myths and genealogies, which “promote

empty speculations rather than God’s plan”. 1Tim1:4 In other words, as believers we

should know better than to believe in myths, superstition, old wife’s tales, racist

ideologies or any other type of story or doctrine contrary to the gospel message. Even if

there is a claim that it is God’s message- don’t believe it. For example, there are some

false religious cults that promote certain races as others- considering some races to be

God’s chosen people. For example, Hitler and the Nazis, as well as other subtle cults

such as Armstrongism and Mormonism, claim that Anglo Saxon white races have an

advantage in God’s favor over others. They will go to great lengths to trace their

ancestry as if it gives them an advantage. But as Jesus himself said, God can turn a stone

and make it an ancestor of Abraham if he wished to. An unhealthy focus on geneology or

ancestry is contrary to God’s will. Furthermore, do not believe anyone who places an

unhealthy emphasis on the observance of the law either. Many modern cult groups do

this as well. But, we know we can only be saved by faith in God’s grace- not our own

merits- lest we rob the cross of its power. And to further expand upon the erroneous idea

that one may be saved by the law- Paul goes on to explain that those under the curse of

the law are the nonbelievers! Not the believers! The law is not meant for the believer but

the nonbeliever: the unholy, irreverent, murderers, sexual immoral, homosexuals,

fornicators, liars, and perjurers to name a few. Yet there is hope for such filthy people- as

there was hope for Paul, all of us who used to be apart from God because Jesus came to

this world to save sinners. He saved Paul and he saved us who believe as well.

Chapters 2 and 3: The Source of Church Teaching and Traditions

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If you ever wonder why in church prayers are offered on the behalf of presidents and

world leaders, its because Paul suggests that we pray for anyone in authority and power.

This is because God wants everyone to come to come to the truth and be saved. Women

should dress modestly, so as to not call attention to either their wealth of physical

attributes. “Good works” serve much better as a cloak, than do expensive materials and

jewelry. Women should not preach over a mixed congregation that includes men- this is

not to demean women, but a recognition of God’s natural order. An overseer or leader of

the church must have certain qualifications. For example he must have only one wifewhich

is obvious. Also how he manages his household must be considered as well- if he

can’t even manage his household in a moral and competent matter, how can he be trusted

in managing am entire church? Common sense tells us he shouldn’t be a new convert

either, and have a good reputation as well. Deacons, another position of authority in the

church, must meet the same qualifications as well. In general, leaders must have

qualities consistent with biblical principles: self control, faithfulness, respectful, and

honest… to name a few.

God was manifest in the flesh as Jesus, this is considered to be God’s great mystery

which has been made known to us as believers and preached everywhere.

Chapter 4: Hold Fast to the Gospel Message

A few more points to remember about false teachings: if anyone tells you it is against

God’s wishes to marry and to avoid certain foods- don’t believe this. “Everything God

created is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving”.

1Tim4: 4 We must train ourselves in increasing our faith rather than doing works of

pointless “sacrifice”. Regardless of your age, continue in your faith and the teaching of

the gospel message. “Be conscientious of your teaching… for by doing this you will save

both yourself and your hearers.” 1Tim4:16

Chapter 5: Interpersonal Relationship Advice

Paul offers practical advice in interpersonal relationships and church responsibilities:

discipline, widows and elders are discussed. A warning is issued against the problem of

favoritism and of the importance of avoiding the sins of others as well.

Chapter 6: Warnings Against False Teaching and Wealth

Once again, Paul places more emphasis concerning his disgust for false doctrine and

pointless disputes from the first chapter. Concerning false teaching, Paul considers such

individuals as “having a sick interest in disputes and arguments over words”. 1Tim6:4

And, furthermore, the consequences of these meaningless disputes which are encouraged

by false doctrines and false teachers are quarreling, envy and evil suspicions, to name just

a few! Furthermore Paul goes in to say that the individuals behind such arguments are

“men whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth” 1Tim6:5

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We should remember to be content with the necessities of life: food and clothing. After

all when we die, we can not take our wealth and material possessions with us! “But those

who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires,

which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all

kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered from the faith and pierced

themselves with many pains”. 1Tim6:9-10 And furthermore, to those who are wealthy,

Paul warns such people not to set their hope on wealth. Rather, he admonishes them to be

generous with their wealth.

In closing, Paul emphasizes for the third time, to avoid “irreverent, empty speech” and

false doctrines which are cleverly disguised as knowledge. Timothy, as well as every

believer, is expected to seek righteousness and godliness. We are to “fight the good fight

for the faith….to which you are called”. 1Tim6:12

2TIMOTHY:

Chapters 1and 2

Perseverance is Worth the Eternal Reward:

As in his first letter to Timothy, Paul emphasizes the same themes: enthusiasm for the

gospel and warnings against false doctrines. “For God has not given us a spirit of

fearfulness but one of power, love and sound judgment.” 2Tim1:7. Therefore just as he

said in his letter to the Romans, we should not be ashamed of the gospel message.

Despite our fears, we need not worry even when faced with persecution, because the

Holy Spirit will give us the strength we need to share the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Just as Paul declares he was appointed as an apostle/ teacher, we are called to spread the

good news of the gospel with the same fearlessness as well! With the Holy Spirit we can

get the strength we need to remain loyal and strong. Paul’s purpose is that he may share

the message of God so that all those who believe may obtain salvation. Our suffering

will pale in comparison to our eternal reward in heaven. Any suffering we endure for the

sake of the Lord’s message will be more than worth it, in the end!

Avoid False Teachings and Disputes:

One of the favored pastimes is debating and disputing. This can happen with family,

friends, church members and even strangers in an internet chat room! Most of these

debates are driven out of selfish pride. Paul cannot emphasis this enough- concerning the

dangers of false teachings and the disputes that follow, In fact, empty speech, false

teaching and arguments do much to encourage godlessness. Concerning false teachers

and their false words, Paul explains “their word will spread like gangrene” 2Tim2:17.

What this means is that false teachings and the evil fruits of false teaching have the

potential for much damage! Not only are false teachings something to avoid- it is

important to flee from “foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing they breed quarrels”.

Many think it is good to engage in debates, they take pride in their so called abilities to

exchange words, and to prove themselves right. But Christians should never ever do this!

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“The lord’s slave (Christians) must not quarrel, but must be gentle with everyone, able to

teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness” 2Tim2:24-25. It is up to

God to act on a person’s spirit- an argument will not do it, only God. So even if you feel

you are justified in arguing or debating with others concerning the bible, or whatever the

case may be- remember that is not the way to win souls for Christ!

Chapter 3: Bad Behavior and Phony Religion

In the last days, “people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud,

blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,

slanderers, without self control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless,

conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but

denying its power. Avoid these people!” 2Tim3:1-5

False Christians Condemned!

In addition to a long list of negative, yet common deplorable qualities we see in the world

today, listed by Paul in this passage, the final one “holding to the form of religion, but

denying its power” is among the most deceptive and prevalent danger of modern day

society. Many people today claim to be religious- and in fact they may claim to be

Christian, to boot! But, how many of these same so called “Christians” actually believe

the words of the bible- very few! They are just phony “Christians”. How many of these

self proclaimed, counterfeit “Christians” believe the gospel message? In fact many deny

the bible to be true- saying it is no more real than a book of fairy tales, or Greek myths.

Many household have bibles in their homes but do not even read them. Their bibles

collect dust on the book shelf, or in dresser draws, held in the same esteem as Grimm’s

Fairy Tales. Many individuals and families attend church services, yet they place more

regard for man made tradition and philosophies than the very word of God! They will

even show shame when confronted with the true message of God. Yet, they will attend

religious ceremonies and religious rituals, not advocated by God. And by attending such

blasphemous, idolatrous rituals they will feel they have satisfied their religious quota,

feeling smug and righteous just like a Pharisee! Their false pius rituals will not save

them, their phony righteous sacrifices and good works will not save them, their tithes and

their money will not save them either! Their religion is false and empty, and it is these

individuals and churches that will say “Lord, Lord” and in return, Jesus will say to them

“depart from me for I never knew you”.

False Teachers and Imposters on the Loose in the Last Days

With the passage of time, we draw closer to the “Last Days”. This is not to be considered

the same as a superstitious urgency that the end of the world is going to happen

tomorrow. In fact, Paul warned the Thessalonians about this problem. Instead, Paul’s

message is just to serve as a warning of what will come at the end times. Remember

since the time of Jesus and Paul and the early Christian church, over 2000 years have

passed. That is quite a bit have time. And it is obvious that even within the past

generation and furthermore - even within the past twenty years, societal moral standards

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have relaxed and indecency has become more celebrated and prevalent in modern society

than ever before in history! There are so many people who are spiritually dead- they are

spiritual vacuums just waiting to engulf anything that meets their fancy. Those who are

dissatisfied, idle, bored or angry are prime targets. The ignorant and naïve, and those

with hardened hearts and “burdened down with sins, led by a variety of passions” are

empty receptacles waiting to be filled with false teachings and doctrines. Beware of what

you fill your mind with. If you don’t fill yourself on the truth of God, watch out, and be

warned. Be on the watch because so many are caught off guard and fall prey to false

teachings. “Evil people and imposters will become worse, deceiving and being

deceived”. 2Tim3:13. But what is the solution for this? The answer is this: “Continue in

what you have learned and firmly believed…that you have known the sacred scriptures,

which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Jesus”. 2Tim3: 14-15

Chapter 4:

In conclusion, Paul tells us:”proclaim the message: persist in it whether convenient or

not”. He tells us that there will come a time, and that time is now, when people will not

listen to the message of God, they will ignore sound doctrine in favor for whatever

ridiculous teachings and popular ideas that suit their own selfish desires and needs.

TITUS:

Paul addressed this letter to Titus, another leader and teacher of the ancient Christian

church. As with his other letters, this one too applies to all believers of the gospel

message: paste and present who place their faith in the “hope of eternal life that God,

who cannot lie, promised before time began and has in his own name revealed His

message”. 1Titus:2 Just as Titus is a child of God, we too are children of God.

Chapter 1: False Teachings

As in his letter to Timothy, Paul describes the essential traits of an elder or any leader in

the church. In contrast, those who do not teach true doctrine, but teach false doctrines

opposing the gospel message are by no means legitimate teachers or leaders! In fact,

such false teachers must be rebuked and stopped. Don’t pay any attention to man made

teachings and philosophies. Ignore myths and man made rules! As he warned in the book

of Romans (the first chapter), there will be non believers who reject the message of the

Lord. They are dead in spirit- with a conscious that is defiled and corrupt. And a more

subtle danger is this: those who claim to be religious, yet are spiritually dead. In other

words, be on the watch for those who claim to be Christians or who claim to be religious,

yet at the same time deny the words of the gospel message. Such people are nothing

more than hypocrites or Pharisees, believing their man made rituals and traditions will

save them, while denying God’s grace thereby robbing the cross of its power to save.

Chapter 2: Interpersonal relationships

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Having had been forewarned about the dangers of straying from the gospel message, you

should be all the more aware of sticking with the sound teaching of the gospel message.

Do not stray from it! As a leader of the church and as a teacher you have that greater

responsibility to stick with the truth. Furthermore, appropriate behavior must be

encouraged within the members of the Christian community: women, wives, husbands,

men, children and seniors as well must strive in maintaining dignity and integrity in their

own lives and their relationships with others. We are all called to be submissive and

loving with each other as we are to the Lord. Despite socio-economic background,

despite one’s position or station in life; man, woman, freedman, slave, servant or masterin

God’s eyes no one has any advantage over the other! “For the grace of God has

appeared, with salvation for all people”. Titus2:11

Chapter 3: Life in Christ

As Christians we should strive to be pleasing to God. Make no mistake- this does not

mean we can merit salvation by our works! This could not be farther from the truth. By

grace alone we are save- lest anyone should boast and rob the cross of its power to save.

But, as believers we should act in accordance with the Holy Spirit that dwells within us,

seeking to abandon our former filthy ways and acting in humility and love towards one

another. Furthermore, we need to respect the laws and authorities in power, because in

doing so, we will be all the more ready to promote our gospel message. In this way,

when we live as the Holy Spirit leads us- this is how we do “good works”. It is not based

on our own desires or merits, but based on our faith in the Holy Spirit. So, remember

this: avoid worthless debates, disputes and people who seek to cause fights and

dissention.

In closing, we must remember this: God saved us- God is our Savior! It is His mercy that

saved us, not our own works! Through Jesus we have been made justified. Through the

Holy Sprit, which God gives to his believers, we can live for Christ here in this lifetime,

as well as the eternal life to come. Paul tells us that we can trust this message. It is true!

PHILEMON:

This is a unique letter written by Paul to a fellow believer named Philemon concerning a

slave owned by Philemon. Apparently, Philemon’s slave, named Onesimus, escaped

from his master and made his way to Paul, in Rome. While in Rome, Onesimus became a

believer in Christ. Not only that, he spent much time with Paul- essentially becoming like

a companion to Paul while he himself was imprisoned in Rome. But doing the right

thing, Onesimus goes back to his former master to face the consequences. In his letter,

Paul asks Philemon to be lenient towards his slave, because Paul considers him to be a

child of God, a brother in the faith. In fact, Paul makes a comparison: that we too are

servants of Christ- Paul is a slave to Christ. Just as Christ showed us mercy, and more

specifically, in imitation to the mercy that Philemon received from God when he was

saved, Philemon himself should imitate this and give mercy to his slave Onesimus. Paul

reminds him that if his slave owes him any debt, Paul himself will pay it off.

Furthermore, Paul reminds him that Philemon owes his very life- his spiritual life to Paul,

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because without having heard the gospel message from Paul, he would not have been

saved either. And eternal life is far more valuable then any monetary debt that Onesimus

may have incurred. In subtle words, Paul hints that Philemon should take the extra step

in freeing Onesimus from the bonds of physical slavery and treating him like the equal

man that he actually is considered to be, under God.

With this final letter, is the conclusion of Paul’s letters in the New Testament.

HEBREWS

This letter, by an unknown apostle of the ancient Christian church, was written to the

Jewish people, otherwise known as the Hebrews. The intent of this letter was to illustrate

how Jesus, who is greater than all the angels, prophets and priests, represents the new

covenant thereby replacing the imperfect old covenant which simply consisted of the law

and imperfect sacrifices. The old covenant could not save anyone, but through faith in

Jesus, salvation finally becomes available.

Chapter 1: The True Identity of Jesus

No prophets after Jesus:

A long time ago, in the times of the Old Testament, over two thousand years ago, God

used various prophets as messengers of his word. His message was delivered to the

masses by means of a messenger, known as a prophet. Some of these prophets included

the well known prophets such as Noah, Abraham and Moses. Also included are Isaiah,

Solomon, and Daniel. In these days, God speaks to us through his Son, Jesus. And Jesus

is considered to be the Word, and this message of salvation is the gospel message. There

are no more prophets- we do not need any because we have the gospel message of Jesus.

Therefore if anyone claims to be a modern day prophet of God- don’t believe it!

Jesus, reflective of God, is the creator:

Jesus is the rightful heir of everything in this world- seen and unseen; visible and

invisible; physical and spiritual. The universe was created through Jesus. Jesus made the

universe! Jesus sustains the world! Furthermore, Jesus is the expression and radiance of

God’s glory and nature. This means that Jesus is the perfect reflection of God.

After Jesus died for our sins, He sat down at the right hand of God in glory and honor.

Jesus is worthy of worship. In fact God commanded that we as well as all the angels

worship Jesus! God said these things concerning Jesus: Jesus is referred to as God. (In

fact, when speaking to Jesus, God calls him God by using Old Testament references in

application to Jesus.) Jesus’ throne is everlasting for all eternity. Jesus’ Kingdom reflects

justice. In other words all the attributes which describe God are used to describe Jesus!

The significance is this: Jesus is not simply another angel, but considered to be equal with

God and one with God!

Chapter 2:

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Do Not Reject the Gospel Message:

The gospel message is very important. Do not take it lightly. Do not dismiss it an

unimportant. Be careful not to drift from the message of salvation. Remember the angels

that rebelled in heaven? Remember the rebellion led by Satan? Is it not true that God

swiftly handled their punishment, banishing them forever from heaven? Consider that to

be a warning for us. If the angels weren’t spared, neither will we be spared if we turn

away the salvation of God.

The Significance and Benefits of Jesus and His Humanity:

Despite the true identity of Jesus that was discussed in the first chapter: the fact that Jesus

is the expression and fullness of God, and that honor and glory rightfully belongs to Jesus

- for a short time, Jesus was reduced to a lower level of subordination, beneath the angels,

in order that He could die and fully bear our sins. Because we are made of flesh and

blood (because we are human beings with human bodies), Jesus therefore had to put on a

body just like us as well. Through Jesus we receive salvation. This makes perfect sensethat

this very Jesus who was responsible for creating the world, should also be

responsible for its salvation as well. Through Jesus’ death, and his sacrifice for our sins,

he destroyed both the Devil and the power of death as well. Just like the high priests in

the Old Testament, and much more so- he was merciful and faithful in the role he took

on: to make amends for the sins of the people in this world!

Chapter 3:

Comparisons to the Old Testament:

As mentioned earlier, to aid as a help in understanding the role of Jesus; Jesus is

compared to the role of the high priest of the Old Testament. Keep in mind that this

letter was written to the Hebrews, hence its title. The term Hebrews is another name for

the Jewish people, and they would have been very familiar with the Old Testament

prophets and especially the role of the high priest. Therefore familiar positions and

heroes to the Hebrew people of the ancient church were used as comparisons in the letter

to aid in its understanding. Furthermore, Jesus was not only compared to well known

heroes of the Old Testament such as Moses, but he was considered to worthy of more

honor and glory. Old Testament passages and stories were used to emphasis the points

that this writer wanted to make. Just as the Israelites were hardened in their hearts and

full of disbelief despite God’s miracles, we are as well hardened in heart. During the

time of Exodus, when Moses and the Jews were in the desert, the continued to complain

despite the miracles they witnessed. We are warned as well, not to toughen up our hearts.

And just as the Jews who wandered in the desert in disbelief and rebellion for 40 years

never saw the promised land, nor will we if we if we disobey God and reject the gospel

message of salvation. This should serve as a warning for us.

Chapters 4 and 5: Importance of Accepting the Message and Our Advocate, Jesus

Basically we should maintain our faith in the hope of God’s promise, yet not disregard

God’s warning about rejecting the message of salvation. What good will it be for us to

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hear the message yet not accept it and follow it? Then we are no better off than those

Israelites in the time of Exodus that wandered for years and yet never reached the

promised land.

“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two edged sword,

penetrating as far as to divide the soul… it is the judge of ideas and thoughts of the heart.

No creature is hidden from Him.” Hebrews 4:12,13 We must remember this, Jesus is our

advocate, our very own high priest, yet without sin, who can sympathize with us

perfectly. In obedience he suffered for our sake. Therefore through Jesus we may be bold

and confident when we approach the throne of God- we will receive mercy and grace. In

gentleness and mercy, he deals with us. Jesus is the source of eternal salvation,

Chapter 6: Keep the Pace With Your Faith & Education!

It is apparent, after listening to this gospel message, and the teachings of Paul, as well as

the other apostles, that many are still ignorant and have even misunderstood the message

of the gospel. There really is no excuse for this, but obviously many progress in the faith

and in their obedience at a slow rate. It is if they have a lot of maturing to do. They are

not yet ready for more intense doctrines, and still must be taught the basics. In other

words, they need a remedial course in the basics of the faith and are not yet ready for

more advanced teachings. Remember the foundation of your faith must be correct in the

first place: the foundation must be based on faith and not worthless works. And keep in

mind another important point, as we progress in our faith, try not to backslide. Move

forward in your faith! Be diligent! “For it is impossible to renew repentance those who

were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions of the Holy

Spirit…. And who have fallen away, because to their own harm, they are recrucifying the

Son of God and holding him up to contempt.” Hebrews 6:5,6 What good does it do if

you turn your back on the gospel message and of salvation? Don’t be lazy, don’t forget

your faith, and most of all don’t turn your back on the hope and the message of

salvation- persevere to the end! God’s promise is true and we can depend on it. Once

again, Jesus is our hope and guarantee!

Chapters 7 and 8: A Priest & Covenant Like No Other!

Melchizedek was a high priest of the Old Testament. He was not just any, ordinary high

priest- he was the most important one. He had a special place of honor. Because of this,

comparisons are made with Jesus and the priesthood of Melchizedek. And the covenant

that Jesus reflects, exceeds by far the covenant of Melchizedek. To the Hebrews of the

first century, this was a powerful comparison. And unlike a human priest who will

eventually die, Jesus holds his place forever! And furthermore, Jesus is holy, sinless and

perfect.

Earthly priests serve a purpose, but they pale in comparison to the perfection and

significance of Jesus. And just as the first covenant, also served its purpose, it was

flawed in its ability to provide for our eternal salvation. Therefore, God made a new

covenant, known as a superior covenant. In the Old Testament, which was available to

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the Jews even before the time of Jesus, it was prophesized that God would institute a new

covenant to replace the old covenant. Under the new promised covenant, God promised

mercy and forgiveness of sins.

Chapter 9: The New Covenant Replaces the Old

The first Covenant was based on rules and regulations. Its home base was an earthly

sanctuary and an earthly tabernacle. The sacrifices offered by the priest were imperfect.

But with Jesus, that all changed. God set into place a new covenant with Jesus as the high

priest, the mediator. This new covenant was not based on rules and regulations or a

physical tabernacle. Through Jesus we have a better hope than what the first covenant

offered. Through Jesus we can have the hope of eternal life—a promise of eternal

inheritance. More specifically, Jesus died for our sins- and after his death, the new

covenant came into effect- much like a will that goes in effect only after its owner has

died. And, when this new covenant came into effect, all the blessings, promises and hope

came into effect as well! No longer are imperfect animal sacrifices used to imperfectly

atone for sins; but a perfect sacrifice- Jesus is the atonement. Think about how much

greater this perfect sacrifice is, for our sakes, than the imperfect method of sacrifice

instituted by the old obsolete covenant of the Old Testament. The man made tabernacle

has been replaced with the hope of heaven. Imperfect remission of sin has been replaced

by mercy and forgiveness. Jesus’ death once and for all is the atonement for sincontinuous

sacrifice is no longer needed. For those who accept the sacrifice, the reward

of salvation- eternal life- awaits.

Chapter 10

The Limits of the Old Covenant:

The law, as the first covenant, is imperfect and limited. It was simply a foreshadowing of

what was to come. The animal sacrifices of the priest were not sufficient- they were never

good enough, and they had to be continuously repeated! They were ineffective in

removing sin completely and effectively! It is impossible for the blood of an animal to

take away sin. Therefore, the body of Jesus was offered as the perfect sacrifice to take

away sins once and for all. And those he has sanctified through his death, are in fact

perfected! That means their sins have been removed and completely forgotten by God.

Furthermore, after Jesus was sacrificed for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Our Life Must Reflect Our Assurance:

We must live a life to reflect our faith in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. We should

encourage and love each other and not neglect meting together. We should act as if we

have confidence and assurances because God is faithful, and we can depend on the

promise of eternal salvation. “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of

the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” Hebrews 10: 26 Therefore if we

reject the sacrifice of Jesus, then how can we expect to be saved by the very sacrifice of

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Jesus that we rejected? Obviously we can not expect to be saved by Jesus if we reject

Jesus. It is simply like throwing the gift of God’s mercy back into the face of God. It is

the same as insulting and profaning the Holy Spirit, God and Jesus. And we already

know we can never be saved by the works of the law. Therefore, we may as well be

cursed and subjected to God’s judgment as payment for our own sins. And be assured of

this, if Jesus’ sacrifice has not covered your sins, then you will be subjected to the

punishment of God as a consequence of your sins which have not been otherwise atoned

for. The righteous live by faith, but as for those who reject the mercy of God and His

atonement of sins, for those who reject faith, they must pay for their own sin and suffer

the consequence entailed. Such people will not have eternal life.

Chapter 11: Approved By Faith

What exactly is faith? “Faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not

seen”. Hebrews 11:1. And what does having faith do for us? With faith we are

“approved” by God, just as the ancient prophets were. Ancient prophets and believers of

the Old Testament that displayed faith included: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah,

Moses as well as others. These people serve as great examples of this. Through faith,

these believers were approved as righteous! It was not through works, but faith. Their

actions simply were reflections of their faith, but they were approved by God as a result

of their faith and not their works. “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for

the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek

Him” Hebrews 11:6. What this means is this, we must believe in the reality of what we

actually hope for even if we do not see it! Even if we do not see God, we must believe in

the reality of God’s existence. And not only that we must firmly believe that God will

reward us who seek Him out. All of these Old Testament characters mentioned displayed

this kind of faith. It was a result of their faith that they were accepted by God. As a result

of their faith, they were rewarded by God. If you need to refresh your memory as to the

authenticity of these claims just read the Old Testament stories them selves! “All these

were approved through their faith” Hebrews 11:30

Chapters 12 and 13: Discipline and Persistence in the Faith

Knowing all this, we should keep our focus on Jesus and do our best to avoid sins.

Remember, Jesus died for us, enduring a shameful death in order that we may have

eternal life. If Jesus could do this for us, we should at least persist in our endurance and

our faith. Think about it in this way: Jesus shed His blood for our sins so that we would

not have to. Therefore, if Jesus died for us, our trials and suffering pale in comparison to

the ordeal Jesus went through. Foregoing our wants is a small price to pay when we

consider the goal ahead of us. And just as an earthly father disciplines his children that

he loves, our Heavenly Father disciplines us as well. This should not discourage us, but

rather encourage us in knowing that we are God’s children. This discipline is for our

good- we need to remember that.

Keep your eye on what is important and don’t be consumed by petty or sinful desires.

For example, remember the story of Esau, consumed with greed, he exchanged his

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birthright for a meal! How ridiculous this sounds to us, but anytime we pursue a selfish

fleshly or material desire in rebellion of God’s will, then we essentially are doing

something just as stupid as Esau! When we act immorally or sin then essentially we are

throwing away the glories of God for a temporary, passing pleasure. How stupid and

blinded we must actually be to throw away our reward for a fleshly desire! Do you want

to be just like Esau neglecting salvation for a petty pleasure? Remember that we seek

something greater and more permanent than what this material world has to offer.

Remember the punishments of those who ignored the prophets who delivered God’s

messages in the times of the Old Testaments? If those people that rejected the prophets

were punished, then imagine how we will be punished, all the more for rejecting the

message and salvation of God Himself!

In closing, remember what is right and live in a way consistent with your faith. Show

love and hospitality. Pray and obey those in authority and leadership. Avoid immorality

and the love of money. Make your priorities straight. Be satisfied with what you have.

Do not deviate from the gospel message and watch out for false teachings! Jesus always

remains the same and does not change. The message of salvation that you have heard

and accepted will not change! Remember that God is always with you and you have

nothing to fear.

JAMES:

Chapter 1:

Going Through Tough Times

“Consider it a great joy my brothers whenever you experience various trials, knowing

that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2 The byproduct of going

through a trial is an increase in endurance and personal strength. That does not mean that

it is right to say that God creates trials for this purpose- it simply is a statement that when

we go through difficult times, then we grow in strength. Remember, just as God cannot

be tempted or lured by sin and evil, he does not willingly tempt us. It is our own evil

desires which lead to our downfall. So, don’t accuse God or hold Him responsible! It is

our own weakness and tendency to sin that is the cause of our temptation and subsequent

downfall. And remember this, don’t be puffed out with self praise just because you think

you are better than anyone else. If obeying the Lord naturally comes easy for you, good

for you! Keep your boasting to yourself, because remember, one day your life will end

just as the autumn leaves which dry up al fall off the trees. And if you struggle daily to

obey the word of God, don’t beat yourself up over it, praise God, because you are aware

of your spiritual need. No matter what, keep this one thing in mind, when you do have

the strength to endure hardships and tests in life, remember you will be blessed all the

more when it is finally over! The message we have heard makes us a new life in Christ,

we are totally different! If there is something we do not understand, or something we

really feel that we need or that is important to us, we should ask God about it. And not

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only this, we should be confident in God’s willingness and ability to meet all of our

needs!

Your Behavior

Keep a reign on your temper! If you have a short fuse, watch your mouth- and keep it

shut. Put a muzzle on your mouth. If you want to hit someone, go lock yourself in a

closet- restrain yourself! If you know you have a problem in this department, some anger

management skills cannot hurt. Anger does nothing to help others come to God! And

remember, don’t use “righteous anger” as an excuse to do or say whatever you want

either. So think about it, your anger accomplishes nothing to promote the message of

God. In fact it hinders others from understanding and accepting the good news of

salvation. Do you think you are religious? Do you feel you have a gift? Well think

twice- if you are consumed with anger, all the preaching in the world will not help your

listeners or draw them closer to God. “Rid yourselves of all moral filth and evil excess.”

James 1:21 Don’t just read the bible and listen to sermons. Do something about it! Put

what you read and learn into practice as well. Remember to help one another in need.

Chapter 2:

Playing Favorites

Don’t play favorites! How unfair! Don’t be quick to judge others by their clothing and

wealth. Remember that in God’s eyes, those who wear designer clothing, handbags &

jewelry and who drive expensive have no advantage! Do you think they are better people

because they have money? Then why do you act as if they are better by giving them

preferential treatment and by acting nicer to them! What an injustice! Don’t you know

that when you do that you are guilty of discrimination? Don’t you know that you are

taking the liberty of being a judge! How dare you! And what good do the wealthy do

anyway, but to flaunt their riches as if they are better, and to use their so called power for

selfish ambition? Remember that God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith. His

message was delivered to the poor as well as the wealthy. God considers all to be equal

and commands us all to love our neighbors- whether they are poor or rich! So stop being

a stuck up snob- treat everyone with fairness.

Doing the Word; Bringing Your Faith to Life!

Bring your faith to life, by putting into practice what you read and what you learn. If you

see someone in need, don’t just feel pity; don’t simply offer words of encouragement.

Sure those are good things, but how much better is it, to actually go out of your way and

help your brother or sister or neighbor who is in need. Empty words with no action is

useless! What good is it to encourage a starving man, yet not even offer him a piece of

bread? Go the extra step, don’t be lazy. Remember faith comes first and we cannot merit

salvation based on works. But keep this in mind, faith without action is essentially

useless- or dead. We need to put into practice what we learn in order to show love for

one another and to carry out the purpose of why we believe. What good is it to retain all

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the knowledge of God, and to have faith but do nothing about it? Faith comes first of

course. Secondly, live the word, and act! Sure this teaching is more advanced, than faith

alone… but when we receive the good news, we should have in us a desire, or at least a

responsibility to be doers of the word as well.

Chapter 3: Responsibility & Words

“Not many should become teachers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment”

James 3:1 In other words, don’t be too hasty in rushing into a position of responsibility

or leadership. Sure it is an ego booster to be a teacher over a class, or a leader or pastor.

But with that role comes a grave responsibility before God. When you teach others, you

are essentially taking into your own hands, the salvation of your hearers! What you teach

affects not only yourself but others as well. Also be careful of what you say. Words can

be very powerful; more so than you realize. What we say can have the power to harm

others or to help, so take great care. “No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,

full of deadly poison”. James 3: 7,8 And finally, keep this in mind, if you really think

you are wise, the you should really show it by your actions. If you are envious and

ambitious, then don’t pretend you are wise, and certainly don’t go around bragging that

you are wise- because you are not! You are just lying to yourself, because there is no

way you can fool God. He knows what is inside. Envy and ambition, though they are

very common qualities and even praised by so many in society, are really evil and terrible

qualities. Seek after humility, peace and fairness and reject favoritism, ambition and

envy!

Chapter 4: Reject Selfishness and Greed

This world and the people in it care so much about wealth, favoritism, pleasure, selfish

ambition and other greedy desires! These are the sick and useless things that cause so

much distress, and make this world evil in the first place! We need to reject these things

not embrace them! Don’t pursue your selfish ambitions or wealth! We must choose

friendship with God or the world- we cannot choose both because they are in direct

opposition to one another. This world, with its selfish evil priorities and desires- is really

the enemy of God. Selfishness, ambition and the pursuit of pleasure pleases the Devil!

Remember that! So you need to reject these things, even though you may not want to.

Sure you may feel left out or deprived without worldly things. Maybe you will feel like a

second class citizen. But, you need to overcome self pity and greed. You cannot make

your Coach purse, your career, your technological gadgets, your Mustang or your bank

account your priority. You can if you really want to, I suppose, but don’t deceive

yourself into thinking that you are doing the will of God if you do. And on top of that,

you presume to judge others who don’t have the same material possessions as you to be

inferior? You think that you are luckier or better off because of your wealth or

possessions! Then you are delusional! You place a lot of reliance of your bank accounts,

your homes, cars and material possessions. Remember you are on shaky ground with

God if you do. You boast in your travels, your vacation getaways, your cruises and your

parties. You talk about your 401k plans and your stocks and your plans to retire early!

Perhaps you plan your agenda months in advance. But remember this humbling fact- you

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do not even know you have a tomorrow, there are no guarantees in life. Instead you

should say “If the Lord wills, we will do this or that. But as it is you boast in your

arrogance. All such boasting is evil”. James 4:15-17 “Cleanse your hands, sinners and

purify your hearts, double minded people! Be miserable and mourn and weep…..

Humble yourselves before the lord and He will exalt you.” James 4: 8-10 “Come now,

you rich people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. Your wealth is

ruined: your clothes are moth-eaten; your silver and gold are corrupted, and their

corrosion will be a witness against you… You stored up treasure.. you have lived

luxuriously… and have indulged yourselves… you have fattened your hearts for the day

of slaughter”. James 5:1-6 Don’t misplace your faith and happiness on wealth and

worldly possessions.

Chapter 5: Persist in Prayer and Encouragement

Remember that Jesus will return. You can be assured of it, but be patient as well. We

ready and be faithful. Keep your encouragement up as well. Remember what Job, of the

Old Testament, went through? Who can say they went through the tough times he

endured, yet he persevered in his faith and was blessed by God in the end. That should

serve as an example to us all. Remember to be honest, and confess our sins and our

troubles to one another. Pray if you suffer and praise God when you prosper as well.

Prayers of a righteous faithful person, is especially powerful so remember to pray for one

another. Remember to call upon the elders in the church as well as each other when you

are in need. And if one of you should stray from the truth, that man who helps him in the

right path will have saved him from so many sins!

1PETER:

This letter was written from the apostle Peter to the believers of the early Christian

church. Obviously this letter applies just as much to the believers of toady as in the

ancient times 2000 years ago.

Chapter 1: Faith and its Reward

As believers we have much to look forward to! We have a hope in Heaven for

everlasting life. And for this we have to thank God, who in his mercy and grace gave us

this gift through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. This hope we have is eternal lifeit

will last forever: it won’t fade away or disappear- our faith is not misplaced when we

depend on this. We have God’s guarantee. Therefore, rather than being discouraged, we

have great reason to rejoice and be happy. Our hardships pale in comparison to what

great things are in store for us. We are talking about something more important than

wealth or money or gold- we are talking about eternal life! Even though we cannot see

these things we can be assured that they are true. The goal; the result of our faith is

eternal salvation! Even the old testament prophets which you do trust believed these

things which you are learning now. Keep your eyes and your lives focused on your hope

in heaven. When you live your life, in whatever you do and say, keep this in mind.

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Remember to consider God’s will in your life- you are called for holiness. Do not follow

selfish ambitions and worldly desires. Treat life in this world as temporary. Our physical

bodies and our lives on earth will not last forever. Get your priorities straight! You were

redeemed by the blood of Christ, don’t waste it; live it as if you believe it! You have

been born again so act in a way consistent with your rebirth.

Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5: Christian Behavior

Put your former life behind you. Remove the wickedness, deceit, envy, hypocrisy and

slander that you used to do! Remember the analogy of the stone in the Old Testament

scriptures? The seemingly plain and simple stone, that was rejected by the construction

worker, was chosen by God as the foundation for His Church. Consider yourselves to be

these stones! You are the living stones, to boot. And as a stone causes some to stumble,

the irony of your election, may cause others to stumble as well. Pay no attention to those

who are acting like sour grapes and hecklers. They are just jealous. You are the

beneficiaries of God’s mercy, rejoice and live as though you are! Avoid selfish and

fleshly desires. Remember you should be an example not just to other believers but

unbelievers as well! Don’t be hypocrites either, disguising your evil deeds beneath a

cloak of “religion”. Even though obeying God comes first, that is no excuse to break the

laws and disobey the authority of the government. If you are a slave or if you are an

employee, obey your master, and obey your employer. Remember the suffering of Jesus.

He did not deserve to suffer, yet he did- and so much more- for our sakes. So if Jesuswho

did not deserve to suffer willingly did- then we must keep this in mind when we

must suffer. He suffered for our sins. Therefore if we have consequences as a result of

our sins, shouldn’t we just accept it? Husbands and wives should respect and love each

other. Beauty is within- it has nothing to do with your physical appearance or your

clothes or your jewelry! Everyone should have compassion and love for one another.

Don’t be too hasty to get angry and seek revenge when others insult you or offend you.

Do what you can in your power to seek peace at all costs. And if by chance your

suffering is undeserved and you are persecuted for your faith, then consider yourselves

blessed for you are in good company. It is better to suffer for what is right than to suffer

the consequences for doing what is bad. Remember Jesus’ sacrifice. A clear conscious

before the Lord is the best that you can strive for. Those who live their evil lives,

rejecting the gospel will be judged by God. Don’t envy them for they will get what is

coming; pay no attention when those evil doers make fun of you. No matter what

continue in your faith and continue to please God. If you are an elder of your

congregation or church, you are entrusted with a greater responsibility to oversee your

congregation with willingness and humility, and without expectation of worldly

recognition.

Chapter 6: Remain Alert

“Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary, the Devil is prowling around like a roaring

lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him!” 1Peter5: 8,9 We are called to

eternal glory with Jesus. But remain on the watch, don’t become lazy or complacent with

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the evil ways of this world or you will be caught off guard and become an easy target for

the devil’s schemes.

2PETER

Chapter 1:

Grow in Faith

Through God’s divine power, we have everything we need in line and everything there is

to know in order to live a life of goodness. God has promised to us eternal life and a hope

to look forward to so that may need not despair in the evils and corruption of the world

that is around us. We need to “supplement” our faith with goodness, knowledge,

endurance and self control. Not only that, we need to strengthen and train ourselves to

increase in these good qualities. This will help us avoid stumbling when we are face to

face with the temptations and evils of this world. We should not be stagnate, we need to

continue to grow and learn! Remember that we want to enter into the kingdom of

heaven. These words of Peter will remain true, long after his death because they reflect

the eternal message and truth of God.

God’s Word is Truth!

Remember that the apostles delivering the message of the gospel: James, Peter and Paul

as well as the others were eyewitnesses to these things. This isn’t a fairy tale. It is true

beyond a doubt and it is proven by the testimony and witnesses of countless numbers of

people. Consider the life of Jesus, and how many people that witnessed his teachings

and miracles and resurrection! It is not made up. Pay attention to this gospel message. It

is like a flashlight that shines brightly in the darkness. These messages are not derived

from human minds and imaginations, but from the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 2:

False Teachers, Beware!

Be aware of false teachers as well as false prophets, who will subtly and secretly spread

lies about God. Many people will be suckered into believing those lies, and countless

others will simply condemn Christianity as a whole. These false leaders will use clever

deception to exploit naïve people and believers! Don’t worry, their certain condemnation

awaits. Think about this: If God did not even spare his beloved angels when they

rebelled, or the wicked men in the time of Noah, or the ancient cities of Sodom and

Gomorrah, then be assured the Lord will punish those false teachers as well. But don’t

worry about yourselves- if God kept his faithful safe, such as Noah and Lot, he will keep

his believers safe from judgment as well. God is an expert and is faithful in rescuing his

faithful people from trails. He will not let his believers suffer the same fate as the

deceivers and unbelievers.

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Corrupt Evil Doers, Beware!

What nerve these arrogant unbelievers have! Who do they think they are? “Bold,

arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones: however

angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against the

Lord. But these people, like irrational animals- creatures of instinct…. speak

blasphemies about the things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will

be destroyed, suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness”. 2Peter 2” 10-13 They

critique and condemn God and the message of salvation. They throw it away in

exchange for their own lies and deceptions. Anything that is filthy and evil, they not only

do but approve of as well. They seek out sin. They see adultery as fun! They specialize

in deception and lies, seducing the weak and the naïve. They may as well consider

themselves cursed because they will be under the judgment of God. Their reward will be

the eternal gloom of darkness which is well deserved. They go out of their way to tempt

believers as well, trying with all their might to turn people away from the Lord. They

claim to be open minded; they claim to offer freedom- but what they really peddle is

death and destruction! Don’t be fooled! Don’t get caught up with these evil people.

Don’t turn back from your faith. “For it would have been better for them not to have

known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back.” 2Peter 2:21.

Remember this, “a dog returns to its own vomit and a sow after washing itself wallows in

the mud”. 2Peter2 :22 Those who are filthy and depraved, have a way of returning back

to their filthy depravity.

Chapter 3: Jesus’ Return A.K.A the Lord’s Day

This is your reminder, recall everything you have been taught thus far. In the end days

before Jesus returns, be aware that doubters and evil doers will increase in their number

as well as in their depravities. Don’t be shocked or surprised. Ignore them when they

make fun and place doubt in the fact that Jesus is returning. Don’t let their ignorant

words and heckling discourage you. And as for yourselves, don’t get discouraged or

impatient. The second coming of Jesus will come- but on God’s own time. To God there

is no difference between a thousand years or one day. Sure, to us, even 100 years may as

well seem like forever to us, but in God’s eyes, 1000 years is simply like a day. Its just

that God’s conception of time, is not like our limited ideas about time. God does not

back down on his promise but is patient knowing in His wisdom, that by allowing more

time, he allows more people to come to salvation. The Day of the Lord, which is the

second coming of Jesus, will come when we least expect it to come. It will “come like a

thief” 2Peter3:10. When that happens, it will be obvious. With a loud noise, Heaven

will pass away, and the earth will be consumed with fire. There will be a new heaven and

a new earth! Not only that, just as miraculous, what we should be more concerned about

is this: the works and motives of all men will be revealed. What has been hidden for

ages, will be revealed to all! Therefore we should await this day in faith and confidence if

we are believers.

Don’t forget that God’s patience provides an opportunity for salvation. Put it this way,

what if the second coming happened 10 years before you accepted the message of

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salvation? Where would you be then? So just as you came to salvation, others who are

not saved now, may come to salvation as well. Don’t be deceived or tempted by evil and

be on guard always.

1JOHN

Chapter 1: The Purpose of the Message

The apostles, are unified in their purpose: to testify to the truthfulness of the gospel

message which they have observed first hand. The invitation of eternal life offered by the

gospel message is extended to believers everywhere so that in believing, they too may

have fellowship with the Father, Son and each other as well. God represents goodness.

There is no evil to be found within God, so if we claim we walk in fellowship with God,

yet still behave as if we are evil, then we are lying and deceiving ourselves. The blood of

Jesus has the power to cleanse us from our sin. If we confess our sins, God who is

faithful and just will forgive us. But if we try to make the claim that we do not sin, then

we may as well call God a liar. Be assured, that those who say they have no sin, and are

not in need of forgiveness, are not in fellowship with God, but rather they are simply

living in denial.

Chapter 2: A Faithful Life

God wants us to live a life consistent with our faith. If we have total disregard for God’s

commands, then how can we claim we are in fellowship with God? We are nothing but

liars. Remember the greatest commandment? That is to love one another; to love your

neighbor as yourself? If we love, then we are in the light and living in fellowship with

God and His commands. But if we hate our neighbor, or our fellow brother, then we live

in darkness. We are forgiven and justified through Jesus. Through Jesus we can have

fellowship with God. We can overcome the Devil which is the Evil One. Remember the

best way to beat the Devil is to make sure God’s word remains within. Do not pursue

worldly goals which include pride, selfish ambition and fleshly lust.

According to prophecy, the antichrist is supposed to come. But keep this in mind, anyone

who opposes God can be considered an anti Christ, and we have already had many false

teachers and false prophets who claim to be representing God’s message. Simply put,

anyone who denies that Jesus is the Messiah, is the antichrist. Whoever denies the Son,

Jesus, denies the Father as well. God’s promise to us is eternal life- a gift beyond

comprehension. The least we can do is remain loyal.

Chapter 3: Gods Command- Belief in Jesus and to Love One Another

God has loved us so much that we can be called God’s children. We should have

confidence and not shame. Consider that the world doesn’t know us, because we are no

longer part of this world but part of God. Maybe we have some questions as to the

particular details and that is okay as well. The future in its entirety has not yet been

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revealed. All we know is this: when Jesus returns, we will somehow be like Him and

with Him. That is our hope. There is no sin in God. Remember that sin is associated

with the Devil! It is God’s intent to eventually destroy sin. As children of God, we are

no longer under the curse of sin, because the penalty for our sin has been paid. But that

does not mean we should sin. After all, to sin is to break the law. Remember what God’s

greatest commandment is: to love one another and to love our neighbor as our self? We

have no excuse to not follow this commandment. The world does not follow this

commandment and that is why the world is in opposition with God’s children.

Remember Cain hated his brother and murdered him. Therefore if we hate our brother

we are no better than Cain who was a murderer! Murderers will not inherit eternal life.

Just as Jesus sacrificed his life for us, we should learn from the example of Jesus and

show love for one another. We should act on our faith and live our faith! To emphasis it

again, this is the command of God: to believe in the name of Jesus and to love one

another. If we do this our hearts and conscious will be clear. But if we don’t do this, our

hearts and conscious will condemn us. When we keep this command, we remain in God

and God will remain in us. Love is considered to be the ultimate test of our faith and of

our sincerity in the truth. The reason is this: it is not always to love our brother or our

neighbor as we love ourselves. We tend to be greedy, selfish, envious and competitive.

Oftentimes to truly love our brother, neighbor and especially our enemies, we have to

overcome our natural inclinations of selfishness.

Chapter 4: The Truth Vs Lies about Jesus

“Dear friends do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from

God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know

the Spirit of God: Every Spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is

from God. But every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit

of the antichrist; you have heard he is coming and he is already in the world now.” 1John

4: 1-3 What this means is this: when you hear a new teaching, pay attention to what is

said about Jesus. If it is not consistent with what you have learned, then it is not from the

Holy Spirit at all, but from the devil. In fact, even now, many are deceived into believing

lies about Jesus. Countless people are drawn into false religions and false teachings that

distort who Jesus really is. Don’t be just another statistic. Make sure what you hear is

consistent with the bible message! Don’t be discouraged, we who are from God, have no

part in this world. We can discern the true spirit of truth from the spirit of lies.

The testimony of God

Repeating what we have taught so far: If we truly love God, we will love one another as

well. God remains in us when we love one another and when we testify that the Father

sent the son to be our savior and that Jesus is the Son of God. God’s love has the power

to conquer the evil of this world. God testifies on behalf of Jesus. The Spirit of God, The

blood of Jesus and the water, testify in unison to the truth about Jesus Christ. They are all

in agreement that God has given us eternal life through His Son. Now that is assurance.

Anyone who denies this, essentially calls God a liar. Without the Son, you will not have

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eternal life! If you deny this truth that God Himself testifies to, then you are calling God a

liar.

Prayer

Prayer is not just a waste of time. We can have the utmost confidence that our prayers

will be heard by God. And even greater is that God will provide whatever we ask for in

accordance with His will. Also remember to pray for one another including sins. Keep as

far away as you can from idols, idol worship or any worldly thing that comes in between

you and your faith in God. When we place our faith in God, we are under God’s

protection- safe from the Evil One. Through Jesus we may have eternal life. “We are in

the true One- that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 1John

5:20

2JOHN

The apostle John follows up with the theme of his first letter: the command to love one

another. Although this letter is mainly addressed to a specific woman, in John’s own

words, it may be applied to all believers as well.

The Command to Love:

Remember to follow the command to love one another. When you do this, you affirm

your faith in God. Remember in all areas of your life and your actions to so this.

The Antichrist:

Thos who do not teach that Jesus came to this world as a man of flesh in order to die for

our sins is an anti- Christ. He is a false teacher who is deceiving others. Don’t believe

these false teachers! You know better by now. And furthermore, if anyone adds to the

teachings of God, he does not have God either. God does not approve of adding to the

message. Do not aid in the dissemination of lies. If a false teacher asks you for your

support in delivering and promoting his phony message, do not give him a donation and

do not provide for him any other aid otherwise you are helping him to spread his lies

about Jesus! Hold fast to your truth, don’t risk everything all the efforts you have made

so far!

3JOHN

The Apostle John wrote this letter to Gaius, to encourage and commend him for his faith.

Whatever you do for your fellow believer, testifies on behalf of your faith and love for

God. Think about the self sufficiency of our teachers in the faith- they do not taint

themselves or compromise themselves by accepting support from heathens and pagans.

Therefore we should do what we can to help them out and to support each other so that

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we too may be co-workers in the truth. If any of you are simply out for glory and

recognition, then forget it! Your priorities could not be further from the will of God. Do

not hinder those who are actually spreading the message of the Lord. Remember do not

imitate evil. Rather, you should imitate what is good.

JUDE

Jude wrote this letter as a warning about false teachers and their deceptions.

There are some men, false teachers who are distorting the truth and teaching lies. They

advocate promiscuity and deny Jesus! Don’t worry, they will receive the judgment and

punishment that is in store for them. Remember the examples of how God has handled

other evil people in the past. Remember how the Egyptians were destroyed and how

Sodom and Gomorah were destroyed because of their evil perversions. Consider the

angels who were expelled from heaven and to this very day await their eternal

punishment for having disobeyed God. They will all suffer eternal punishment in eternal

fire! How dare these sick and depraved people who commit sexual immorality dare to

presume they have any knowledge. They are like stupid animals, blaspheming anything

that their puny little minds can’t understand. How dare they reject God’s authority and

dismiss his gospel message. “Woe to them” Jude 1: 11 Even the angels themselves know

better than to question God’s authority.

Remember these filthy perverted people are not far from you at all. Keep an eye out for

them! You will even find them at church, sitting in the pews next to you, muttering

hymns and maybe even partaking in the ceremony of the Lord’s supper! They are

hypocrites. Don’t be fooled by their outwardly religious façade. They are counterfeit

Christians. They are unholy and perverted, driven by selfish desire and ambition. They

will flatter people just to exploit them and use them and take advantage. These people

are spiritually dead! Remember what you were told countless times by the other apostles

as well. In the end times, these filthy people, these hypocrites and false teachers will

increase in number. They will have their evil influences within churches even to the

point of creating divisions and dissention! Keep your hopes and faith in God, and do not

waiver. Remember love your enemies: hate the sin but love the sinner, but be careful that

you too do not get caught up in or tempted by the sins of others.

Remember that God has the power to protect you . through Jesus you are made

blameless. “To the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,

majesty, power and authority before all time, now and forever”. Jude 1:25

Revelation

John, being filled with the Spirit of God, on a Sunday, on the island of Patmos,

received the Revelation of Jesus Christ from an angel in order to write what he saw so it

would be available to all.

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the

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prophesy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revelation

1:3

In the letters to the seven churches, Jesus urges all people to trust in the Good News and

to live by their faith in Jesus. In general, do we ever find it easy to worship the Lord?

We are in the end times right now! We should not be paranoid, of course, but setting

aside ridiculous and outrageous conspiracy theories, we can tell by the signs that the Day

of the Lord is drawing near. Countless phony Christians and hypocrites succumb to

worldly pressures and temptations. Think about how many people profess to be believers

but their actions tell another story. Countless numbers claim to be Christians, but in

actuality, they are ashamed of the gospel message of Christ. False teachers and phony

prophets are everywhere, teaching a phony Christ and spreading lies to the naïve. These

anti-Christs and anti churches are reaping in hoards of new members, even stealing from

Jesus’ own flock. To these counterfeit Christians and false churches, Jesus himself will

tell them “depart… for I never knew you.”

Memos to Seven Ancient Christian Churches: John begins with a series of memos,

directed to specific ancient churches addressing specific issues. Keep in mind that these

words are as applicable today as they were in ancient times.

Memo #1 To Ephesus: You were once courageous and strong in your love & faith, but

what happened? You have fallen- turn back to your former dedication! Its not too late

now, but if you wait forever, you never know. It could be worse- at least you don’t

tolerate the evils of the Nicolaitions.

Memo #2 To Smyrna: Persevere during the tough times and don’t give up. Don’t let the

poverty and hardships get you discouraged. The most important thing is this: built up

your treasures in Heaven. Your spiritual wealth is greater than you think, and when the

Devil tempts you and tests you, keep up your faith and don’t succumb. Keep your eyes on

heaven!

Memo #3 To Pergamum: You are right in the midst of Satan’s dominion- you are

surrounded by false religion- specifically Balaam worship. God is well aware of this, and

you have done well in standing your ground and maintaining your faith. But that is still

not an excuse, you can do better. Don’t put up with any false worship or false teachers or

idols whatsoever. Don’t compromise or taint your faith just to please others!

Memo #4 To Thyatria: Keep up the good work, God is very pleased with your faith, and

service. But watch out for false teachers and prophets that teach lies and lead others

astray. Specifically, you need to stop tolerating the false prophet Jezebel. She is

destroying the church and faith of many with her lies and immoral ways. To the rest of

you, who are aware and discouraged, maintain your faith and hope because false prophets

and teachers will get what is coming to them. Those who remain faithful will have their

reward in heaven.

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Memo #5 To Sardis: You are nothing but hypocrites, and while you may fool men, you

are not fooling God. Your phony works won’t save you. Watch out, because if you don’t

return to the original message of faith you will be caught off guard when the Lord

returns. To any of you who do believe and are faithful, do not fear, your faith will save

you.

Memo #6 To Philadelphia: You are spiritually weak, that is true. But you aren’t lost

altogether. Though it would be better for you to work on your faith and strength, at least

during difficult times, you did not out right deny the Lord. But to those of you who are

hypocrites and phonies, you are not fooling the Lord! For the rest of you, hold on to your

faith no matter what. Don’t waiver or let fear get the better of you. The Lord will be

patient with you.

Memo #7 To Ladocia: There is nothing special about you. You are not pure evil but you

really aren’t faithful either. It is as if you couldn’t care less. You are indifferent. You are

basically stagnant. You are simply lukewarm. You brag about your material wealth and

ignore those who are impoverished and ill. Do you think the Lord is pleased? Not at all.

You are sickening in the eyes of the Lord. Its not too late to change your ways. If you do,

the Lord will welcome you. In fact, the Lord invites you.

The following description include a lot of symbolism that may have been understood by

the contemporary people of 2000 years ago.

A Brief Outline Of What Is To Come

(This commentary on Revelation is older than my other writings. But I have included it here in

order to complete my NT letter commentary)

***************

The Seven Seals of the Scroll opened by the lamb

The first seal


: Horsemen on white horse sent to conquer man

The second seal


: Horsemen on fiery red horse sent to take away peace by causing

men to kill each other.

The third seal


: Horsemen on black horse holding scales in his hand which stand

for the greed of man.

The fourth seal


: Horsemen called Death on pale horse followed by Hades and

given the power to kill 1/4 human population by hunger, swords, and beasts.

The fifth seal:


Martyrs told they must wait until their number is completed.

The sixth seal


: Earthquake occurs, sun becomes black, moon becomes like blood,

stars fall from heavy winds, sky recedes, mountains and islands moved .

pre-seventh: Four angels waiting at the four corners of the earth are told not to do

anything until God’s people are sealed.. God’s people receive God’s seal on their

foreheads. (144,000 people from the 12 tribes of Judah presently at that time alive on

earth.).

The seventh seal:


Silence in heaven for 1/2 hour. An angel throws a bowl

(Censer) filled with fire to the earth causing thunder and lightening and an

earthquake.

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The Seven Angels With Seven Trumpets

The first trumpet


: Hail, fire, blood and the burning of 1/3 grass and 1/3 of the

trees.

The second trumpet


: Great burning mountain thrown into the sea, 1/3 sea

becomes blood, killing 1/3 sea creatures and destroying 1/3 ships.

The third trumpet


: Star called Wormwood falls onto 1/3 rivers and springs

turning 1/3 of water into wormwood causing the deaths of men

The fourth trumpet


: 1/3 sun struck, 1/3 moon struck and 1/3 stars struck causing

1/3 day and 1/3 night not to shine.

The fifth trumpet


: Star, with the key to the bottomless pit, thrown down from

heaven. Bottomless pit opened, blackening the earth with smoke, and

releasing locusts (whose king in Hebrew is Abado, and Apolyon in

Greek), tormented those without God’s seal for 5 months.

The sixth trumpet:


The four angels from the Euphrates river areunbound. With

an army of 200 million horsemen, they kill 1/3 of the population. Those not killed did

not repent to God but continued to sin by the worship idols, stealing, lying, immorality,

and others...

Pre-seventh: Angel with a little book spoke with a voice of seven thunders

which John was told he could not write down since it contained the mystery of God and

how the mystery would be completed. John was told to eat the book which tasted sweet

in his mouth and bitter in his stomach. He was then told to measure the temple of

God, not including the court where the gentiles (those not of God)will be.

God’s two witnesses and the Three Woes

God sends two witnesses of his Word, and gives them great authority and power

to preach the Good News. Man does not accept them, and hates them. As a result they

endure the wrath of God they deserve. The Beast, arises from the Bottomless Pit, kills the

two witnesses and leaves their bodies to decay in full view for 3 1/2 days in Sodom and

Egypt (the spot where Jesus was crucified). Everyone regards the Beast as a hero, and

they are joyful. After the 3 1/2 days, the two witnesses are resurrected and they ascend

into heaven. An earthquake then occurs causing 1/10 of the city to fall, and killing 7,000

people. The rest give glory to God.

The Seventh trumpet or the third woe


: The nations of nonbelievers of the earth

are enraged at God’s wrath. It is time for the (first) Judgment. God’s temple is opened

and the ark of the covenant is revealed. There is hail thunder lightening and earthquake.

The Dragon

A woman has a male child. The Dragon wants to eat the child who is to rule all

the nations. God takes the child to his throne and prepares a place of safer for the woman

from the Dragon for 1,260 days in the desert. Michael fights the dragon sending the

Devil and his agents to torment the people of earth for a short time. Dragon continues to

pursue the woman. The woman is given wings to escape. The Dragon becomes very

angry and decides to torment the God’s people who are on earth.

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The Beast

A Beast (with seven horns, seven crowns and blasphemous name) is given

authority and power by the Dragon. The Beast who had a mortally wounded, but healed

head amazed and received praise from the people. People followed and worshipped the

Dragon who gave authority to the Beast, because the Beast seemed to be so great. Many

began to blaspheme God. This Beast ruled for 42 months waging war with those few

who still followed God, who were written in the Book Of Life, while the others

worshipped the Beast.

The Second Beast

Then there came a second Beast who exercised the authority of the first Beast in

the presence of the first Beast. The second Beast made people worship the first Beast,

while performing many miracles ignored to deceive many people. Then an image is

made of the first beast, and the second Beast tells people to worship the image. The

second Beast gives life to the image of the first Beast, and the image kills those who do

not worship the first Beast. The second Beast gives the mark 666, on the forehead of all

who worship the first beast. Unless one has this mark, he can not buy or sell anything.

Jesus Reaps the Harvest

On Mount Zion, the 144,000, given God’s seal, are told to preach the news of

God to all. A second angel proclaims that Babylon has fallen and a third angel declares

that anyone who worships the beast, who has the 666 mark will suffer the same torment

as that of the Beast/Devil. The harvest is ready for Jesus to reap. With the help of

angels, the people of God will be separated from the people who are not of God. The

temple of the tabernacle of God is opened. Those who have not believed and accepted

Jesus, those who do not have the Word of Jesus in their hearts, will suffer God’s just

wrath.

The seven Bowls of the seven plagues

“Behold, I come as a thief!” Revelation 16:15

The people of God are prepared, yet,

those not of God are not.

The first bowl


: All who have the mark of the Beast will become covered with

sores.

The second bowl


: The sea becomes blood; all sea creatures die.

The third bowl


: Springs of water become blood.

The fourth bowl


: Men are scorched with fire; still they do not repent and they

continue to blaspheme God.

The fifth bowl


: The Beast, its kingdom and its worshippers exposed to

darkness and pain, still do not repent

The sixth bowl


: Euphrates, the river, is dried up in order to prepare way for

three kings. Three bad spirits come forth from the mouths of the False Profit,

the Dragon and the Beast (the evil trinity).

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The seventh bowl


: God’s people are rewarded while the Beast’s follower are

punished. “It is done”, declares a loud voice from the temple’s throne. There is

lightening, thunder, Earthquakes the great city is split into three parts, mountains and

islands fall and men blaspheme God.

Babylon Falls

Babylon destroys and overcome by God. The followers of evil are punished.

People lose their riches and the economic markets are destroyed. Many lament the loss

of their wealth due to their greed. The city of great importance to material wealth is

destroyed.

Victory

Praise is given to God. The Blessed are rewarded. Jesus is exalted. Those who

follow God are part of the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride. The Beast is punished and

so are all whom have received his mark. They are killed or thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Satan/devil/dragon is bound for 1,000 years in the abyss.

The first resurrection and the 1,000 year reign of Christ

Martyrs and those of God are the first to be resurrected and they reign with Christ

for 1,000 years. These are the blessed in which the Second Death has no power.

The second Resurrection

After being bound Saran is released to deceive the nations. Then he is thrown

into the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the false profit forever! The rest of the dead, after

the 1,000 year reign of Christ is resurrected. All the dead stand before God, books are

opened, one book is the Book of Life. Those whose names are written in the book of life

are not judged. Those not in the book of life are judged according to their deeds. Anyone

not in the book of life is thrown with death and Hades into the Lake of Fire, and this is

called the Second Death.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is

among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God

Himself shall be among them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:3

Then there is a new heaven and a new earth. All of the old things have passed away.

God will be with his people. There will be no more sadness or death.

Patricia Janes July 4, 2009