Your life as a believer is both now and not yet. You can see what is “now”; you experience that every day. What you can’t see is the “not yet,” what awaits you in eternity. And, in this duality, you live in faith, believing to be true what you cannot see. For, as Scripture says, […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 10: Be Separate from what is False and Unclean!
November 1, 2015 by
Paul and Timothy had just commanded the Corinthians for their hearts to “be opened” (2 Corinthians 6:13). Although a command, they used a passive voice, showing that the Corinthian Christians didn’t have the power to open their hearts—that was something that was done to them. But the Corinthians did have the ability “restrict” their hearts […]
Titus, Lesson 3: Confront the Wrong, Speak the Right
November 1, 2015 by
Paul told Titus “to… appoint elders in every town [in Crete]” (Titus 1:6). Paul then described whom Titus should appoint: Men with specific character traits who were “holding firmly according to the Teaching [that Jesus gave to his Apostles], a word that is faithful, so he [the overseer] can comfort someone in the life-giving Teaching […]
Matthew 11:12-19: Reformation Sermon
October 25, 2015 by
It’s damned if you and damned if you don’t. That’s our Lord’s lament for today. God had sent John the Baptizer to prepare the way for Jesus. He preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John came, singing a funeral dirge: “Die to yourself. It’s in the water where you find life […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 9: God Opens the Heart
October 25, 2015 by
Paul and Timothy just appealed to the Corinthian congregation, quoting Isaiah 49:8. They then say, “Now is a [not “the”] favorable time, now is a [not “the”] day of salvation.” Every time God’s grace comes to someone, that day, that time, is one of salvation. This shows the continuing nature of God coming to us […]
Titus, Lesson 2: Whom Titus is to Appoint
October 25, 2015 by
Paul told Titus “to… appoint elders in every town [in Crete] as I directed you” (Titus 1:6). But this appointing of elders wasn’t based on whom Titus happened to like or want, nor even that of the congregations where those elders would serve. Instead, Paul will specify who may or may not be an “elder” […]
St. Luke, Evangelist: Luke 10:1-9
October 19, 2015 by
The Apostle Paul called Luke a “dear friend, the doctor” (Colossians 4:14). He was one of the four Gospel writers, whom we remember today. But who was he? He was a Gentile, well-schooled, having the training and skill to be a medical doctor in his day. But, most of all, we remember Luke because he […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 8: Being Reconciled with God
October 19, 2015 by
Having just said that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,” Paul and Timothy now point to God’s solution for that coming Day: “Being reconciled with God” on “a day of salvation.” The Law: Fearing the Lord Read 2 Corinthians 5:11 Excursus: Fear of the Lord: The Old-Testament Background God’s […]
Titus, Lesson 1: Introduction
October 19, 2015 by
Titus is one of, what we call, the “pastoral epistles.” They were letters from the Apostle Paul to pastors Timothy and Titus, who were under his charge. Authorship In the early 1800s, some began to challenge Paul’s authorship of the Pastoral Epistles. Why? First, the rest of the New Testament does not confirm Paul’s […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 7: The Resurrection Encourages Us, even in Our Suffering
October 19, 2015 by
Paul and Timothy said that what was happening to them, their suffering and being brought closer to death, made them outwardly seem fragile, like jars of clay. People considered such earthen containers of little value because they held garbage or excrement. Although Paul and Timothy looked like they were of little value, what they brought […]
