The book of Colossians is a letter to the church of Colossae, encouraging them to continue their walk in the faith, of which Paul has ascribed to, and resist the philosophy and empty deceit of human tradition. This passage specifically, Colossians 1:15-23, is meant to establish the supremacy Christ and the sufficiency of his sacrifice on the cross. From this passage, a rather simple truth is found: do not attempt to add on to what is already complete and sufficient. Christ came to this earth fully God and fully man – he was perfect. Through his perfection, he was able to make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Christ was then able to present man “holy and blameless and irreproachable” before God. Man does not need to do anything else to gain that gift of salvation except to continue in the faith and hold steadfast to the hope of the gospel. This principle is validated by the historical context of this passage, as seen by the archeological finds in the Lycus Valley, in which Colossae was located. In that area, archeologists found amulets inscribed with prayers to angels, asking for protection against evil spirits. It is reasonable to conclude that the people had called upon these angels for protection rather than completely relying on God. However, the greatest fault of the people of Colossae was not in seeking protection against evil spirits but in whom they sought that protection from. All things were created through Christ – it is he who has ultimate power over all things in heaven and earth, whether visible or invisible, thrones or dominions, rulers or powers. Anything that detracts from his supremacy over all things does not hold true to the gospel in which all men are to affirm. This principle is also upheld thr... ... middle of paper ... ...is simple truth we learn that man must acknowledge when his work is complete and then chose to focus on that which is better and cannot be taken away from us – time spent in communion with the Lord, memories shared with loved ones, and rest. But, most importantly, from this passage we learn that man must not put his faith in anyone or anything else but the Lord, for he is sufficient to provide for our needs and desires. He knows each person before their birth, he gives each of them a purpose in life, salvation from their sins, a place to dwell God’s presence after death, and selfless love. Man’s only true need is salvation from the sins that have condemned him. The only way to receive that salvation is through faith in God. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has allowed man to do that, anything more is futile for he alone is sufficient and his work is complete.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you… so that he many give eternal life to all you gave him” (John 17:1-2). He continues, “I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth,” (John 17:19). Jesus’ prayer is to bring us into perfection with God, for us to know him, and understand his love for us. This is achieved through God’s loving sacrifice as evidenced in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”. Opposite from the notion that we must sacrifice our first born sons for God, God sacrifices his son for us. This is made reality in the passion and suffering of
Covenant according in bible's point of view is a promise made by God to man. According to the book of Genesis, Chapter 6 Verse 13, as a result of human's disobedient and evil ways on earth, God had planned to put an end to humanity with flood. The covenants between God and Noah was established in Genesis Chapter 9 Verse 11. God promised Noah and his descendants, never again would he destroy the earth by flood of water because of the pleasant sacrifice offered to God by Noah. God also confirmed his covenant by putting up signs in the sky in the form of a rainbow. The reason Noah and his family weren’t destroyed in the flood was because Noah found grace in God's sight. What this means is that God do not establish any kind of covenant with just anyone. Clearly Abel, Noah and Abraham were unshakable, upright and obedient towards God’s command.
“To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teaching of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life, I like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.”
The next item up for discussion is salvation and how it can be achieved. Mr. Williams believes that Christ died for all sinners. He believes salvation is achieved by believing in and following Christ. He writes in his letter to the town of Providence, “All are equal in Christ.” (Williams) We are all God’s children and stand equal in the eyes of Christ. On the other hand...
Believing and having faith over sickness, suffering, and rejection formed a close relationship with Christ while enduring the suffering and victory over Christ being crucified. Because of this, Christians didn’t live a life of chaos but in a life that constantly reflected a love and understanding for them and...
That we are all descendants of the first human being, which God created, Adam. And that we all live through Adam’s sin; therefore, we all live with his guilt (Enns, P., 2012). Thus, we as humans were born into sin and slavery, but Got sent his only son, Jesus Christ who saved us and set us free from that misery. So we are now set free from God 's condemnation of his law and no longer have to fear death anymore (Scott, J., 2001). I perceive that since Jesus died on the cross for us in a sense, we died with him too, and were risen as brand new from death just as he was. So now we are to live our life to resemble the kind of person Jesus was that is the ultimate fight we have in this world as human beings (Mills, A. M., 2010). "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless the death [principle] reined from Ada until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam 's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come" (Rom. 5:13,
James S. Jeffers wrote The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era. Jeffers intent in writing this book was to give the readers in insight into what early Christianity looked like. The book aligns what readers may have learned in their high school history class with what was written in the Bible. In summary, this book gave information about Greek and Roman life and history into early Christianity.
The books of I and II Thessalonians, which are in the New Testament, are both letters to a church that Paul the apostle helped establish in the city of Thessalonica. First Thessalonians is agreed by biblical scholars to be written by Paul. The author of II Thessalonians, however, is still being debated about.
“In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall
1 Corinthians 5 - A "brother" (v. 11) in the church at Corinth was having sexual relations with his father's wife. Paul described the unusual nature of this sin when he said that it was "not so much as named among the gentiles, that one should have his father's wife" (v. 1). This man's behavior was wrong, but also wrong was the tolerance of his behavior by the Corinthian church. Paul condemned these sins, and the necessary corrections were subsequently made (2 Cor. 2:6; 7:11). But what was the spiritual condition of the fornicator before his repentance? If he remained saved, why did Paul command the Corinthians to withdraw their association from him (vs. 4, 5, 9, 11, 13)? Did the fornicator remain saved while engaging in sin? The "once-saved-always-saved" proponent will have to say yes. However, the Bible says differently. By comparing the list of sins in 1 Corinthians 5:11 with the list in chapter 6:9, 10, we learn that a Christian can commit the same sins that can be committed by a non-Christian. We also learn the consequence of these sins. Paul said that those who do such things "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9, 10). This means that before his repentance and forgiveness, the Corinthian fornicator had lost his access to heaven - he had fallen from grace.
The Book of Hosea is one among the several books of the Hebrew scripture and appears as the first in the order of the twelve Minor Prophets. The term ‘minor’ refers to the length and not the importance of the books when compared to the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah. All the twelve minor books are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai & Malachi (Feinberg, 1990). Hosea was instructed by God to marry a prostitute, by the name of Gomer, who symbolized covenantal relationship between Israel and him (God). Hosea’s prophesies were unique in the sense that they were relayed through the names given to his children. This paper seeks to give an illustrative description on the first chapter of the book of Hosea.
“First, there is the call to be a Christian. Second, for each individual there is a specific call—a defining purpose or mission, a reason for being. Every individual is called of God to respond through service in the world. Third, there is the call that we face each day in response to the multiple demands on our lives—our immediate duties and responsibilities” (Smith, ...
This shows that each and every person is given a choice of which path to choose. The path of righteousness or the path of blasphemy. Righteous would bring you the joy of God and He would reward you in the afterlife, but in this world, you would have to sacrifice. You would have to live according to the will of God and forsake the pleasures of this world. While on the other hand if you do not believe in God you could have all the pleasures of this world, but condemned for the next life. This is a simple test, whether you want the pleasures and joys of this temporary world right now or the permanent pleasures of the next life?
Because Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit, sin and all kinds of evil were unleashed into the world. This sin is what separates men and women from the relationships that God intended them to have, not only with him, but all those around us (Jenson, 2016, p. 75). Even at birth, babies are born with this nature of selfishness, and this could carry on through the person’s whole adult life (Jenson, 2016, p. 76). However, we are given something we will never be deserve: salvation. This salvation is granted to us through the death of Jesus Christ, although, that is not the end to this story. Jesus was not subject to death. God raised his Son from the realm of death in order that this broken relationship between Himself and humanity may be restored in a way that death cannot overcome (Jenson, 2016, p. 79). In this event, humanity was buried with Christ so that each person could live a new life that is radically different from their old self (Romans 6:4). That is to say, though each person is born into sin, they have the opportunity to live a life free from sin through believing in this story, that Jesus was crucified, yet was raised from the dead in order that humanity can live a new life in honor of Him. This community of believers is known as the church. The church is considered to be one group whose common goal is to reach out to the rest of the world through the use of the gospel, which can
It says: “For us men and for our salvation [Christ] came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of he Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontious Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”. Notice how it uses the phrases for us and for our sake. Christ’s death and resurrection was not for himself, so he could feel like he had done something worthwhile. It was not for the Father, so he could have a relationship with us. Christ’s death and resurrection was for humanity, so that we may have a loving and passionate relationship with God. The crucifixion was completely selfless, and selfless acts can only be done out of love. Notice also how the Creed does not use phrases like for the elect few or for just a small proportion of humanity, but rather, for us and for our sake; for all of us, and for all of our sakes. God’s love, exhibited through the crucifixion, restored the relationship between God and all of humanity, so everyone may have eternal life with