An attempt to
conduct the affairs of a free government with wisdom and impartiality, and to
preserve the just rights of all classes of citizens, without the guidance of
Divine precepts, will certainly end in disappointment.
Showing posts sorted by date for query divine. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query divine. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Epistles
Most of the New Testament
is epistles,
or letters,
sent from church
leaders
to the churches. Most of these letters
were written by Paul,
which are collectively known as the Pauline
Letters. The other epistle writers
are James, Peter, John, and Jude.
*
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:
Monday, October 22, 2012
Hebrews
Hebrews. The Holy Bible. New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson,
1982.
To my mind, Hebrews is one of the key books of the Bible. Like Paul’s letter to
the Romans,
it ties together and gives context to other scripture.
The audience and authorship of this book are not made clear as is
typical of most New Testament
epistles. Based on the subject and the many references
to Old
Testament scripture, it is clearly direct to an audience of Jewish Christians. Early church leaders
and scholars often attributed it to Paul.
Paul’s commission as apostle to the Gentiles might
suggest another author, but Paul’s passion for his native people and thorough education
in the Hebrew
Scriptures point toward him as a likely author.
I find three major themes in Hebrews.
These are: the centrality of Christ and his
fulfillment of the Mosaic
covenant,
how faith was
central to salvation
even before the Mosaic
Law, and encouragement in Christian living.
CENTRALITY OF CHRIST
The first section of Hebrews focuses on Jesus Christ. It makes the case for the divinity of Christ
and His complete humanity in the incarnation. As a perfect man, Jesus Christ fulfilled
every requirement of the Mosaic Law. This
made him the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man. In addition, because he is divine and
eternal, his atoning sacrifice is likewise eternal.
This is not the only role Jesus Christ fills eternally. He is the first and highest of mankind and
exercises the dominion over creation God gave to man, but
that we forfeited when we sinned (as God, He is lord of all also). As the son of God, Christ had priority over Moses, even though
as a man He submitted Himself to the law in loving
obedience to the Father. Christ is a priest of a
higher order than the Levitical priesthood,
namely a priest like Melchidezek
to whom Abraham
paid tithes and through him all his descendants including the Hebrew priests.
The law and sacrifices of earlier times were signs pointed to the
Christ to come. All of these things are
fulfilled and completed in Him forever.
Where many sacrifices were made to temporarily cover ever mounting sins,
Christ’s sacrifice suffices forever to remove all of our sins. Where the priests entered the presence of God
once a year, Christ is constantly in the presence of God making intercession
for His people.
CENTRALITY OF FAITH
If Christ does all for our salvation and when no longer need to make
sacrifices and observe the Mosaic Law, how do we realize this reconciliation
through Christ and live morally? The
answer is faith in Christ. Hebrews makes
the argument that the answer has always
been faith in God.
Hebrews makes the argument, drawing on many examples from the Old Testament,
that God has forgiven the sins of and imputed righteousness to those who had
faith in Him. This predates Abraham,
though for an audience of his descendants it is important in Abraham. It predates Moses, though for an audience
born into a religion
base on Mosaic Law it is important in Moses.
Even after the law was given, it is faith that God rewarded because no
one could live up to God’s perfect law.
The faithful people of the Old Testament looked forward by faith to a
day when God would cleanse their sins, make them righteous, and completely
restore their relationship to him. Even
in the time of the law, the sacrifices and observances were signs of the things
God was going to do. God’s provision for
the cleansing of sin and the raising us to righteousness were completed in
Christ, so we place our faith in Him.
They had faith what was to come, even if they didn’t fully understand
it, and we have faith in what Christ has accomplished.
CHRISTIAN LIVING
To wrap up, Hebrews includes encouragement for the faithful. We’ll face troubles just as those in the Old
Testament did, but by faith we can overcome and see the day when God will make
us perfect and bring us into His eternal kingdom. In the meantime, the temporary troubles of
this world are opportunities to imitate Christ and become more like Him, more
holy in practice. God is working through
these troubles to help and purify us.
As a result of Christ’s work in us, we should love one
another. This should be practical love,
taking care of each other’s needs. Instead of trying to live up to a law our
sinful nature wars against, we put our faith in Christ and walk in humility and
love.
If you’re interested in this book, you may be interested in the Old
Testament, especially Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Second Samuel,
First and
Second Kings,
Second
Chronicles, Jeremiah,
and Daniel. You may also be interested in other New
Testament books, particularly the Pauline
Letters and especially Romans.
Google
Monday, June 4, 2012
Second Thessalonians
Second Thessalonians. The
Holy Bible. New King James
Version. Nashville
Paul’s second letter to the
church at Thessalonica continues the themes of the first, especially topics
related to the second coming of Christ.
When Christ comes again, it will be with judgment. Those who do not know God will be
destroyed. Those who know Him will live
with Him and glorify Him forever.
It is tempting to say He
will destroy the wicked. However, all of
us are wicked. We’ve all sinned. Some
know God. They have faith in Christ. God rescues these people, gives them a new
life and transforms their character. It
is good to remember that if there is any good is us, it is the work of God, and
if we have any real hope, it is in the mercy of God.
Paul also teaches about the
antichrist in this book, though use the terms “man of sin,” “son of perdition”
and “lawless” one. This person will
claim to be divine and call people to worship him. He will deceive people with displays of
power. People who do not know God will
believe him.
These teachings aren’t
intended to scare Christians or make them obsess about end times. God is in control of when and how Jesus
Christ will return and His judgment on the world.
Instead, we should live
gratefully because we are saved. We
should hold tight to the truth we received and not let ourselves be deceived by
all kinds of teachers who want to draw followers to themselves instead of
glorifying God. We should work
productively, live peaceably, and do good works until Christ returns or as long
as we live. We honor God who loves us,
our rescuer, with such a life of gratitude and trust.
Paul also wrote
Google
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Colossians
Colossians. The Holy Bible.
New King James Version. Nashville:
Thomas
Nelson, 1982.
Paul
wrote to the church at Colossae about the centrality of Christ
in Christian
faith and living. This letter is a
defense of the Gospel
against other teachings, particularly Gnosticism.
In a few sentences, Paul
reminds his readers of the who Christ is.
He is divine (1:15). He is the
creator (1:16-17). He is the head of the
church
(1:18). He reconciled us to God,
atoning for our sins
through his suffering and death on the cross (1:19-20).
As Christians, we have
assurance of these beliefs from God by His Word, the Holy
Spirit indwelling us, and the evidence of history. Our salvation is a work of God, not of men or
philosophies.
After recapitulating the
Gospel and what it means for Christians, Paul moves on to warn against false
teachers. He describes those who would
impose another system of philosophy or tradition as someone cheating Christians
out of the fullness of what God has provided for them.
One of these philosophies is
legalism. Our nature makes us incapable of living up to
a ethical standard imposed from the outside.
We cannot pretend our way to righteousness when our hearts rebel against
it and God can see our hearts.
Similarly, not system of thought or philosophy or practice can make us
right.
God takes another approach,
making us anew and changing us from the inside.
He gives us a new heart. It isn’t
an instant change, as a brief observation of any Christian will attest. What is instant is that the atoning work of
Christ erases the indictments against our sin and His perfect rightness is
attributed to us in God’s eyes, even if it is not worked out in practice yet.
Christianity is not a system
of philosophy or practice, though there are beliefs common to all
Christians. Christianity is a new life
in which God works in us to change our hearts and empower us to live in a new
way. Our new heart loves God and loves
to do what is right, so as we grow we put away our old wicked habits (though it
can seem painfully slow), and begin to do more and more what our new heart
wants, live like Christ.
In Chapter 3 of his letter,
Paul contrasts the old life with new life.
He encourages believers to embrace their new life even as they embraced
the Gospel. Both accomplished by the
same faith (and both are ultimately the work of God, though we are by His grace
participants in that work).
Paul also wrote
Google
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Majestie by David Teems
Teems, David. Majestie: The King Behind the King James Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010.
In Majestie, David Teems presents King James VI of Scotland and I of England, authorizer of the King James Version of the Bible, as a man of great ability and many quirks. You might expect the quirks given that his father was killed, likely assassinated, under unusual circumstances. His mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was separated from him most his childhood and was eventually executed for treason by the government of her sister, Elizabeth I. James had little affection for his mother (the clerics and aristocrats who oversaw his education hated her) and much need for his powerful aunt’s support and wealth.
James chafed under the harsh tutelage of the Scottish nobles and clergy who took over his upbringing. They wanted to raise for themselves a king who would serve the interests of the Kirk and the Scottish peerage. James saw himself, and monarchs as class, as an agent of God to govern a nation and not answerable to any other authority but God. In Scotland he was browbeaten as a boy, kidnapped a as a king, and harassed by conniving powers and intrigues at every turn. It took him years to come into his own as king and become more or less the equal of his country’s nobles and church.
England, in contrast, knew how to do monarchy in the “divine right” style that James thought was suitable. From a distance, he wooed his aunt and lobbied to succeed her. Elizabeth I was an incredible conniver and welded power skillfully. She kept James and Scotland under her sway through the careful application of her wealth and the subtle promise of her throne. She came through on that promise and, at the end of her life when a named heir would not be more hazardous to her health than the imminent death she faced, she named he nephew as her heir.
England had its own contentious elements, namely Puritans. James had little use for them. He wasn’t especially fond of the Anglican bishops either, but as head of the Church of England, he found an alliance with them, leading to minimal reform, provided him with influential supporters of the type of powerful monarchy he wanted to exercise. The new English king brought with him from the Scottish throne he still held a wit an education to browbeat reformers and reactionaries alike. James liked one proposal the Puritans offered almost as an afterthought: a new translation of the Bible.
As you might imagine, Teems devotes a fair amount of space to the Bible translation that popularly bears King James’ name. It’s an interesting subject in itself. These chapters describe the how the idea came to be, how the work of translation was done, and some of the known translators. In the old-fashioned sense, James was the “author,” initiator and motivator, of the project. He was anxious to see it accomplished.
Teems has little to say about James’ life in the years following the translation. He believes the king peeked in the translation years and was never quite as majestic in the last 14 years of his life. The loss of a child, and later wife, can take some of the life out of a person. And we are all sometimes overcome by our own weaknesses. Teems seems to give the king a break in his earlier years, not avoiding but not overemphasizing the monarch’s many foibles, and maybe he should have carried that into James’ sunset years.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
God’s Secretaries by Adam Nicolson
In the Beginning by Alister McGrath
King James Bible
Wide as the Waters by Benson Bobrick
In Majestie, David Teems presents King James VI of Scotland and I of England, authorizer of the King James Version of the Bible, as a man of great ability and many quirks. You might expect the quirks given that his father was killed, likely assassinated, under unusual circumstances. His mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was separated from him most his childhood and was eventually executed for treason by the government of her sister, Elizabeth I. James had little affection for his mother (the clerics and aristocrats who oversaw his education hated her) and much need for his powerful aunt’s support and wealth.
James chafed under the harsh tutelage of the Scottish nobles and clergy who took over his upbringing. They wanted to raise for themselves a king who would serve the interests of the Kirk and the Scottish peerage. James saw himself, and monarchs as class, as an agent of God to govern a nation and not answerable to any other authority but God. In Scotland he was browbeaten as a boy, kidnapped a as a king, and harassed by conniving powers and intrigues at every turn. It took him years to come into his own as king and become more or less the equal of his country’s nobles and church.
England, in contrast, knew how to do monarchy in the “divine right” style that James thought was suitable. From a distance, he wooed his aunt and lobbied to succeed her. Elizabeth I was an incredible conniver and welded power skillfully. She kept James and Scotland under her sway through the careful application of her wealth and the subtle promise of her throne. She came through on that promise and, at the end of her life when a named heir would not be more hazardous to her health than the imminent death she faced, she named he nephew as her heir.
England had its own contentious elements, namely Puritans. James had little use for them. He wasn’t especially fond of the Anglican bishops either, but as head of the Church of England, he found an alliance with them, leading to minimal reform, provided him with influential supporters of the type of powerful monarchy he wanted to exercise. The new English king brought with him from the Scottish throne he still held a wit an education to browbeat reformers and reactionaries alike. James liked one proposal the Puritans offered almost as an afterthought: a new translation of the Bible.
As you might imagine, Teems devotes a fair amount of space to the Bible translation that popularly bears King James’ name. It’s an interesting subject in itself. These chapters describe the how the idea came to be, how the work of translation was done, and some of the known translators. In the old-fashioned sense, James was the “author,” initiator and motivator, of the project. He was anxious to see it accomplished.
Teems has little to say about James’ life in the years following the translation. He believes the king peeked in the translation years and was never quite as majestic in the last 14 years of his life. The loss of a child, and later wife, can take some of the life out of a person. And we are all sometimes overcome by our own weaknesses. Teems seems to give the king a break in his earlier years, not avoiding but not overemphasizing the monarch’s many foibles, and maybe he should have carried that into James’ sunset years.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
God’s Secretaries by Adam Nicolson
In the Beginning by Alister McGrath
King James Bible
Wide as the Waters by Benson Bobrick
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Genesis
Genesis. The Holy Bible. New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
It’s hard to even begin to discuss Genesis in just a page or two. It covers a great patch of history from the creation of the world to the death of Joseph, who brought Israel and his descendants to Egypt, where he was a high official, to save them from a famine. A lot happens in between.
A lot happens in Genesis, but three major thematic events occur: the creation, the fall of man and the God’s initiation of a plan to redeem people. The creation is described in a chapter. Man’s wonderful life with God before the fall takes up another chapter. These are important issues, but since they occurred before the problem of sin became the central problem of human life, they are presented as establishing scenes.
The fall takes up a chapter, too. Eve is deceived and believes ill of God. Adam stands by passively letting it happening and following her into sin. They broke there relationship with God and since then humanity has been a slave to sin and a victim of sin’s consequences, ultimately death.
God immediately steps in to begin to repair the relationship with man. Yes, in His justice He judges man, as in the flood of Noah’s time and other times in Genesis and since. However, Genesis also establishes God as the hero of the story who rescues people from sin and reconciles them to himself. He provides a sacrifice for Adam and Eve and covers them. This pattern repeats throughout Genesis and the Bible until it finds its ultimate expression in Jesus Christ.
In its major themes, Genesis is the establishing chapter in our enslavement to sin and God’s heroic action to free us, love us and make us part of His family. In its details, Genesis is full of interesting stories. We are introduced to several of the major people of Biblical times: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and Joseph. One can get the impression that the Bible is all about these people.
The things God did in their lives reverberate through the Bible. God revealed his plan of salvation step-by-step, each time making a connection to the past as He opened up something about the future. In this way, Genesis isn’t tossed aside with the coming of Christ, but becomes part of the background and evidence for our faith in the One who completed the divine work of salvation that began as soon as we needed saving.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Matthew
Proverbs
It’s hard to even begin to discuss Genesis in just a page or two. It covers a great patch of history from the creation of the world to the death of Joseph, who brought Israel and his descendants to Egypt, where he was a high official, to save them from a famine. A lot happens in between.
A lot happens in Genesis, but three major thematic events occur: the creation, the fall of man and the God’s initiation of a plan to redeem people. The creation is described in a chapter. Man’s wonderful life with God before the fall takes up another chapter. These are important issues, but since they occurred before the problem of sin became the central problem of human life, they are presented as establishing scenes.
The fall takes up a chapter, too. Eve is deceived and believes ill of God. Adam stands by passively letting it happening and following her into sin. They broke there relationship with God and since then humanity has been a slave to sin and a victim of sin’s consequences, ultimately death.
God immediately steps in to begin to repair the relationship with man. Yes, in His justice He judges man, as in the flood of Noah’s time and other times in Genesis and since. However, Genesis also establishes God as the hero of the story who rescues people from sin and reconciles them to himself. He provides a sacrifice for Adam and Eve and covers them. This pattern repeats throughout Genesis and the Bible until it finds its ultimate expression in Jesus Christ.
In its major themes, Genesis is the establishing chapter in our enslavement to sin and God’s heroic action to free us, love us and make us part of His family. In its details, Genesis is full of interesting stories. We are introduced to several of the major people of Biblical times: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and Joseph. One can get the impression that the Bible is all about these people.
The things God did in their lives reverberate through the Bible. God revealed his plan of salvation step-by-step, each time making a connection to the past as He opened up something about the future. In this way, Genesis isn’t tossed aside with the coming of Christ, but becomes part of the background and evidence for our faith in the One who completed the divine work of salvation that began as soon as we needed saving.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Matthew
Proverbs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)