1 Peter has great insight for contemporary Christians today. The sufferings and lifestyles encountered by Christians and for Christians are readily observed throughout history. 1 Peter was written by the apostle Peter during troublesome times for the church outside of Rome and Judea. Peter is in the process of instructing fellow believers how they should conduct themselves in a holy and righteous manner during times of hardship and suffering; Peter is qualified through personal experience as the church would be knowledgeable. We must clarify being holy or holiness for this paper is defined as “a state or quality of being morally pure and separate from evil.” Peter was attempting to lay out simplistic but necessary instructions for being a …show more content…
The biblical audience aspired to be Pharisees and prominent members within the government and the church. They wanted to be noticed for their accomplishments and thus build their self-esteem through earthly acknowledgements. Contemporary Christians are seen repeating the same errors as our early brothers in Christ. The race for promotions, recognition and advancements whether private, public, career-oriented or church related consume us. The same tendencies manifest themselves, regardless of time and place, we are all still human and we like people to pat us on the back. Furthermore, the ability to give these stresses of life to Christ and allow him to lead us through his plan for us is an everyday …show more content…
God is not a passive supernatural being, expecting us to walk this life alone, on the contrary the circumstances that arise are his way of showing he truly cares for us. In Matthew 11:28 God directly tells us to give him the weight of our burdens including suffering. Isaiah 40:31 again states by giving our burdens and struggles to him allows God to refresh us and renews our strength, whether emotional or physical. Fully casting our anxiety on Christ shows we trust him fully and acknowledging he is able and willing because of his love for us. James 4:10 reiterates 1 Peter 5:6 in that as we humble ourselves, God lifts us
... The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Revised Standard Version.(1977). New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Nyberg, Nancy.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Pastor of 1st Congregational Church of Dundee. Poole, W. Michael, D.Min., Th.D.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with pastor of Calvary Church of God. Strong, James.(1996). The New STRONG'S Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Tierney, Michael J.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Priest from Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Parish. Unger, Merrill F.(1967). Unger's Bible handbook. Chicago: Moody Press. Weizsacker, H.I(1958). The Apostolic Age. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. White, R.E.O.(1960). The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation: A Theology of Baptism and Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
...style, names, words but the way to church renewal in world-wide discipleship. What is really needed in this secular society and church is a “discovering again of Jesus,” explaining it as “a thicker Jesus.” Therefore, one last insight the book taught me was to think about discipleship interactively. It is not a passive but an active message. It is by going into the flied of spiritual battle that true discipleship follow the ways of Jesus. It is not a commitment one but of many who shares and advocate for the same rights and duties to exercise what was recommended by their Leader. What the book implies as the main theme is that discipleship must be active and incarnational meaning that all believers should feel anxious to support the cause of Jesus in a world that although dead in their sins is safe under the divine umbrella of the power of incarnational discipleship.
In The Pursuit of Holiness, the author, Jerry Bridges, shows the Christian what it looks like to be truly holy. Holiness is to live a life of conformity to God’s will. Holiness is a joint effort between God and his people, it is not something God just gives us when we accept Him into our lives. Many times Christians neglect the responsibility we have of moving towards God and pursuing holiness. Holiness is not something that is fully attainable, it is a constant pursuit to be like God.
...rom His love (Isa 59:2) and forgo His command to turn, repent and be saved (Rom 10:9). However, when the power of the word of God is presented to lost and willing lives, their eyes and ears are opened to a new life in Christ (Isa 29:18-19). Revealed through the Holy Spirit and expounded by Holy Scripture, the modern pastor is furnished and called to carry out the work of Christ (2 Tim. 1:6-11).
As we have looked in to the Christian worldview of God, our humanity, the Son of God, and the restoration of our lives back into God’s purpose. Now we have a better understanding of what it means to be a member of the Christian community. God wants believers to dwell in union and in community having the same mind that is in Jesus Christ (Phil 2:1-11). This paper showed how God and Jesus Christ are at the fundamental core of all Christian beliefs regardless of the countless differences many Christians may
Over the course of this class I feel like I have become a much better writer. When I go back and look at some of my Journal entries and assignments that I did at the beginning of the semester, I can’t help but tense up at some of the things I wrote. Sometimes the things I was writing didn’t flow well, or I might have even have missed glaring grammar mistakes.
N.T. Wright’s book, Following Jesus, is a collection of biblical reflections on discipleship which includes many of his sermons he made as Dean of Lichfield during Lent 1994 among others. The first six chapters provide Wright’s insights into major books of the New Testament highlighting key themes and connecting passages indicating the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The remaining six chapters focus on discipleship and actions we can take in the present day with an emphasis on living without fear in light of Christ’s resurrection, renewing our minds, recognizing love as the chief weapon against temptation, acknowledging misconceptions about heaven and hell, and being present as “resurrection people.” Wright’s thesis is described as the “so what?” in the preface. His reflections pick up where the New Testament writers left off. In his words, “…the ball is now in your court; the true Jesus is summoning you to follow him, to a life of discipleship.” This review will show Wright’s idea of who the true Jesus is and what it means to follow Jesus.
As a second language learner I have never expected myself to be a perfect writer throughout the semester. Even If English was my first language still, I would not be a perfect writer. It is not about first or second language, it is about how well I understand the learning objectives. Then organizing and writing with my own ideas and putting them in my paper. I am going to be honest, I am not good at English subject and English subject is my strongest weakness than the other subjects. In this paper I will discuss and analyze my own writing, reflecting on the ways that my writing has improved throughout the semester.
God’s mission has always been to reach the world with the Gospel, to save and redeem the lost, the broken, the hurting, and to bring them to repentance. This theme can be clearly seen not only throughout the New Testament, but the Old Testament and even Church History.The goal of this paper is to explore what the “Missio Dei” means, and its implications for Christians today.
Unfortunately, sometimes it can be challenging to understand what God means by the word ‘holy.’ Christians are not called to be like those around them, but instead, they are called to be holy like God. At times, people have trouble deciphering right from wrong. However, with God’s help, knowing the right thing to do is uncomplicated. Frequently, when hard times come, people blame God and begin to believe that he is not holy. Obviously, God is always holy, and he has a reason behind everything he does. Bridges also explains that unholy acts and thoughts do not go unseen and are not ignored by God. Therefore, it is important for Christians to be holy in all they
He can reduce stress in our lives daily. For this reason, we can pray and call upon his name if we believe in him and his words. According to the Gospel of John, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This scripture warns us about tribulation in our lives, but we can find inner peace if we serve him truly. As the scripture stated that he has overcome the world. It could possibly mean that we can overcome if we pursue him. For example, fasting is a good source of meditation to give us inner peace, and we will be able to live better in our external life if our soul is right with God. We all need external peace in our surroundings because now and again trouble move towards us. If we formulate our inner peace, it will comfort us through hard times and we can become more resilient individuals on earth. Inner Peace with God help us to deal with our external peace, and our deepest despair if we have assurance in
Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen is associate professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and holds a teaching post at the University of Helsinki and Iso Kirja College in Finland. He is the author of Christology: A Global introduction, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical, and Global Perspectives (Back Cover). Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen presents the latest, comprehensive introduction to the various opinions about Christology from around the world. His book presents three main perspectives on Christology (biblical, historical, and contemporary).
For example, almost all the Christians who work at their workplace have to face spiritual worldliness. It is common to socialize with other coworkers. However, when they meet each other outside of their workplace, they tend to go to a bar or somewhere they can drink alcohol. Christians might be tempted to drink alcohol, because they have strong desires of flesh. However, if they set apart from the worldliness, they may banish their desires of the flesh and follow the Word of God. Furthermore, holiness helps Christians to warn or flee from disobedient Christians (2. Thess. 3:6, 14-15; 1 Cor. 5:9-13). In other words, holiness helps the Christian to see himself, whether he is obeying God or not, and helps him to distinguish whether his bretheren obeys the Word of God or not.
One can not grow into holiness, but he can only grow in it. Holiness consists of taking out the old and adding the new. “It will take a second work of grace, preceded by a whole-hearted consecration and as definite an act of faith as that which preceded [ones] conversion.”1
My parents arrived in the United States hoping for a better future not for themselves, but for the baby they carried in their arms. We would often move from relatives ' houses since my parents couldn’t afford renting an apartment themselves. We were fortunate enough to have caring relatives who didn 't mind us living with them since they knew the hardships we were going through. I grew up in a household where only Spanish was spoken given that both my parents didn’t speak any English at all. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher was afraid that I would be behind the rest of my classmates, given that I only spoke Spanish fluently. I was fortunate to receive free tutoring from my kindergarten teacher. We would often read books together until