Galatians 5
Freedom In Christ, Live by the Spirit...
Keep ReadingJames 2
This chapter at first glance seems like it will contradict the teaching of justification in faith alone because of what James says in verses 14-26. James is not teaching something contrary to scripture, but I think what can be summed up is the commandment to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Taking the chapter as a whole, I think that loving your neighbor as yourself will help with both the sin of partiality and showing works that derive from our faith. Let’s dissect this....
Philemon
Philemon is the third shortest book in the New Testament and being that we are covering the entire book in one shot I will write a little longer than usual. Philemon is probably a man that is wealthy, first because only wealthy people had enough room in their houses to gather multiple people, secondly because he owned a slave. I think it is important to keep in mind that slavery back then was very different to what it used to be as we know it now. According to Benjamin Gladd “In the Greco-Roman world, slaves were granted many rights, such as worshiping, marrying, and making money.” I think it is also worth noting that this book does not condone slavery as we have seen in the very early stages of this country. What we have in this book is a runaway slave and a master who have both been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and what we will see is how the gospel plays a part in that relationship. Some scholars think that Onesimus was either in charge of finances or stole something from Philemon according to (v.18). Onesimus must have done something which caused him to run away from Philemon and he fled to Rome where he came in contact with Paul providentially. It is very possible that Onesimus knew who Paul was and sought him out or Paul knew of Onesimus and called for him. It is not sure but one thing we know is that when Onesimus came to Paul somewhere down the line he got saved (v.10). It seems like once Onesimus was saved he grew immensely very quickly by the way Paul speaks of him. So, what can we glean from this book? Two things....
Hebrews 12
I think there are very few people who would say that they enjoy it when they are disciplined. I remember being disciplined as a child and it was not fun. That is because being disciplined is uncomfortable and it hurts. Even though it is an uncomfortable thing, we see in this chapter how good it can be through the eyes of God. Here are three things that discipline does....
Galatians 6
One of the things I have been encouraged by is seeing time and time again how Paul roots all of his theology back to the gospel. Chapter 6 is a practical picture of someone who is living by the Spirit and not the flesh, which was rooted in the gospel (vs) 5:24 says “and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The way th...
Keep ReadingGalatians 3
Christ became a curse for us...
Keep ReadingGalatians 4
If you notice in this chapter Paul takes a very parental approach when addressing the Galatian church. That is because he deeply cares for their soul, and he sees the dangers of turning to legalism. We will divide this into two parts....
Keep ReadingGalatians 1
Paul the true apostle and the one true gospel...
Keep ReadingGalatians 2
The integrity of the Gospel...
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