Read Bible for Yourself

The Necessity of Shedding the Outmoded and Wrong Conceptions of Prayer MAIN READING: 1 Timothy 2:1-7 INTRODUCTION Prayer was crudely started by human beings in an attempt to seek spiritual intervention in the difficulties of natural life, but God has responded through the imagery of the Law of Moses and the sending of the Messiah to fully grant a permanent way out of sin and its consequences. It is however not strange to find people still stuck in the old crude ways of prayer rather than the perfect way provided in the Messiah. This essay identifies the three stages of the ‘evolution’ of prayer to demonstrate the worthlessness of sticking to the first two and why the third is the only acceptable way. A. BEFORE AND OUTSIDE THE LAW People have always prayed, figuring out how to reach God (and other spirits or deities) through a variety of means. Before God gave Israel the Law through Moses, a major means presumed to achieve this was making sacrifices....

My Colossians A.       Opening: Testimony to the Power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Paul is writing from prison to one of the churches he was yet to meet, and was probably started or pastored by Epaphras (or Epaphroditus). They are regarded as a testimony to the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ works everywhere in the world, turning lives around in love and by the hope that is promised. He prays for their patient endurance that is necessary for all who will inherit the immeasurable blessings that come through Christ (who alone is the image and fullness of God, superior to all created authority by being first to taste creation , the Head of the Church, and the one in whom all things will eventually come together, 1: 17). It is important that saints join together in love in order to experience the fullness of what Christ has done, rather than be divided over traditions and ascetic practices. B.       The Uselessness o...

My Philippians Gist Paul’s imprisonment experience in Rome is giving him a clearer view of the convicting power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he is writing to urge the church in Philippi, who have been partners with him since “the early days of the Gospel” (1:7; 4:15), to imitate the way his salvation was working out: As he walks in righteousness under involuntary restriction, the evidence of his salvation is becoming clearer both to himself and to others. Though imprisoned under false charges, his grateful joyfulness and upright conduct has convinced everyone that he is a good man put in chains not for a bad cause, but for a different cause, which must certainly be good. He is shining in the dark imprisonment environment. A Desire to Depart He is so peaceful with the Lord that he yearned to depart from the body, and therefore had no fear of the worst possible outcome that awaits prisoners. Indeed he would welcome death as a crown for his faithful service (2:17)...

Freed to Serve God When God is your Shield, you are set absolutely free to do God’s will alone. Within His protection, you only fight when and how He asks you to. Under the New Covenant He does not allow us to attack even those who attack us. In the most difficult situations, we are under obligation to affirm our faith in God as the Saviour of the world, of all people, of all nations. Abraham and His Offspring Insured Survival warfare was the order of the day when God called Abram to make him a blessing to all nations. Fundamental to the assurance that made Abraham move out of safety zone was God’s assurance of his safety, that “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse” (Gen 12:3 ESV). The Lord reiterated this assurance after Lot left Abraham for Sodom, saying, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." (Gen 15:1 ESV) For Abraham to fulfill God’s mission, he had to leave his own mission of eking out su...

My Ephesians God’s grand plan is to bring all things together in Christ, whether things in Heaven or on earth, whether Jews or Gentiles. It was Paul’s prayer therefore that those who were already in Christ, believers,  would appreciate that they have the greatest estate through time and eternity, and realize what great calling they have received to be early partakers with God in the unfolding Divine scheme. The revelation of God’s grand plan (mystery) was hidden from previous generations and even the “authorities in heaven” (2:5, 10), and is now being made manifest through the church. In view of the above, believers are to walk in compassion (not condemnation) towards unbelievers, working to bring them in, seeing that they were themselves unbelievers a short while ago. Also, believing Gentiles should not consider themselves different from or opposed to believing Jews, since Christ preached peace to either group (2:17), and both have received the same Holy Spirit. F...

My Galatians The letter is a kind of apogee of Paul’s gospel, when he could not refer to Peter and co. for authority to back his teaching that the gospel excels the law, and that it is self-defeating to hold the law as the standard when one comes to Christ. He traces the origin of his message to only his personal interaction with Christ, though at a point he returned to Jerusalem to present his message for verification (2:1-2).  He repudiated Peter’s ceremonial separation as contradictory to the gospel of Christ who embraces all nations without discrimination (2:18). Paul asserts that those to whom the law was given could not uphold it perfectly and are therefore under the “curse of the law” (3:10). Salvation has therefore always been by faith, and not by the law which came several years after God’s covenant promise to Abraham. The purpose of the law was therefore as caretaker until the empowerer came (3:18,21). If righteousness by the law could give life, there wo...