Paul gives a mandate by way of example in today’s Bible reading. After discussing the fact that he has not lorded his apostleship over anyone, Paul tells us about his methodology for reaching people with the Gospel Message: Think outside the box to reach people. Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I…
I want to point out an important point from today’s Bible reading, in Acts 17. In Acts 17:2-3, we see that As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the…
Well, things finally come to a head in today’s Bible reading. The Judaizers have raised such a ruckus that the church has its first council, the Jerusalem Council, to codify how the church should handle their first major problem. The problem: Does a new convert to Christianity have to be a good Jew in order to…
In today’s Bible reading, Paul brings out the fact that believers are not servants; they are sons. There is a tremendous difference between the responsibilities of a servant and the privileges of a son. Several years ago, some friends of ours adopted a baby girl from an unwed teen. It was a win-win-win and to…
Today’s Bible reading is Galatians 1. Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to counter a dangerous theology that added to Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. They began to believe a different gospel. A group of Judaizers (not just “Jews”) said that Jesus’ death was sufficient for our forgiveness, but in order to be a good Christian,…
In today’s Bible reading from Acts 11, we read that several people call into question Peter’s wisdom of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. Peter did something that ran contrary to everything he has known about Jew and Gentile relations. And now, he has to give an account to the Circumcision Party (also called Judaizers) for why…
