The church was growing rapidly and dispersed through the nations around
the Mediterranean
Sea. Both in Jerusalem and
in the churches founded by missionaries
or Christians
fleeing persecution,
there was a need for sound teaching and a way to bind them together into the
larger body of Christ. The epistles served this purpose.
The epistles cover a lot of ground.
Some of them are fairly long and heavy on instruction. Others are short, more newsy and
encouraging. Themes that I find
recurring in the epistles are: a reiteration of the Gospel
emphasizing the centrality of Christ, living as a Christian with character and
good relationships,
and words of warning and encouragement.
Reiterating the Gospel: The
Centrality of Christ
The epistles repeatedly summarize the Gospel. We have all sinned. Christ came
to atone for
our sins through His death on the Cross.
His righteousness is imputed to those who receive Him. He was resurrected,
as foretold, as proof of that He was Christ and as evidence of the resurrection
we will experience.
The epistle-writers vigorously defended who they knew Christ to
be. He was God (he was divine, God-the-Son,
a person of the godhead). He was incarnated;
God became flesh and lived as a human being.
He died on the cross, physically dying as a man. He was resurrected, and that resurrection was
a bodily restoration and transformation, not merely a spiritual continuance.
Christian Living: Character and
Relationships
Now that these Christians were saved, what did it mean for the way they
lived? This is still an important
question for Christians. We are to
abandon sin and do what is right, exhibiting a Christ-like character. That character is typified by faith, self-control,
humility,
and especially love.
One of the toughest problems we face in life, and one of the most
important, is our relationships. The
epistle-writers address how we are to relate to each other in church, marriage,
family,
work,
and business.
Warning and Encouragement
The early church was beset by false teachers. These people twisted the scripture to suit
their own purposes. It has not
stopped. These letters warn us to look
out for falsehood and show us how to spot it.
Even more than this, though, these letters are full of
encouragement. We are not alone; God is
with us always as the Holy Spirit
indwells us. Whatever trials,
temptations, or opposition we face, we can live the life God has called us to
in Christ. Not only that, the difficulties
we face in ourselves and around us in this sinful world will pass, and we will
be resurrected to live forever in the perfect love and peace of God.
The epistles are:
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