INTRODUCTION With my last blog, I entered the general area of healing! We looked at Isa. 61,1-3, and the role of the Messiah. Today I want to continue, by looking at Luke 4,18. And I will end with a later blog on Acts 10,38. I am thus holding these three scriptures together as summarising the ministry of Jesus: Isaiah 61,1-3, Lk. 4,18 and Acts 10,38. But before I get onto Luke 4,18, I need to clear the way for some…
In this blog, I want to pick up the story again from my blogpost called ‘The People of the Messiah’. I explained there why Paul chose that word εκκλησία/ekklesia, and what it means. Before we discuss the term “body of Christ”, I need first to mention two ways in which εκκλησία is used: The εκκλησία is both the universal church, as in Eph. 3,10, and the local church as in 1 Cor. 1,2 – where the local church in Corinth…
DURHAM UNIVERSITY UK, AUTUMN 1974 Before I went to Durham to study in the autumn of 1974, I can with hindsight see that God had started to speak to me. I was in search of answers. I was filled with the desire to find compassion for other people in my own heart. I said to myself, “When I get to Durham I’m going to attempt to find out if God is real or not.“ I got installed in Grey College,…
I cited Romans 11, 32 in my last blogpost: “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” Rom. 11,32 That he may have mercy on all, means that ALL may be elected in Christ – for salvation on the basis of grace. God wants ALL to be saved (1Tim. 2,4), and his mercy extends to ALL. That does not mean that all will be saved – each of us must respond with faith…
My blog up until this point, has predominantly been about the Christian´s relationship with God. As I recently stated, I want now in a few blogposts to look at the Christian fellowship; the fellowship of believers, the church. It is the church as a theological entity in the New Testament which interests me, not church buildings or denominations (e.g. the Lutheran Church) To a degree several New Testament writers have thought about this question, but it is Paul and John,…
In my recent blog posts, I have been approaching the subject of sanctification by an indirect route. This was certainly true with 1 Corinthians, and to a lesser extent with Romans chapter 8. I know that the words ‘law’ and ‘obedience’ can evoke sometimes traumatic emotions in people; often dictated by the kind of atmosphere in the home we grew up in – by the relationship we had with our father, or our parents. Such traumatic emotions can become effective…
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12,2 is an important verse which I intend to come back to. I want merely here to draw attention to it. Our minds matter so very much! I want to start this time by telling a funny story: I was talking to a great…
In the last blog post, we talked about sanctification as being a) a consecration – a setting apart – a separation; for the purpose and the service of God (see 1 Cor. 1,30; 6,11; Rom. 1,7; Phil. 1,1 etc.), and b) a process, whereby we are being conformed to the image of his Son. In the mind of Paul, it was unthinkable, but that the latter should be the outcome of the former; that we are set apart for him…
The publication of my next blog post on Romans 8, is due to be published later this week. It would be good if you could read through Romans ch. 1-3, in the meantime. I read through them over the weekend, because I am working on Romans 8. It did me the world of good! Such mighty doctrine – up to the climax of ch. 3,23-25! And great background when looking at ch. 8,3-4. K😊
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”Eph. 2,8-9 Having been saved by grace, we are now not made perfect (or holy) through works of the law. I have described the Christian life as a continuous motion towards the Father; a motion in and by the power of the Spirit! I called this «sanctification»,…
We have established then, that the Christian life is not a matter of law-keeping, of trying our best to lead as good a life as possible, in order to please God; holy and righteous though he certainly is. Such an endeavour may seem admirable at first sight. Then when we see this for what it really is, an attempt to establish our own righteousness over against God – to establish some credit with him – we understand that this is…
Reading through my last blog: “The Law and the Christian”, I have chosen this week to make 3 comments on points I made – points which I felt needed further comment, to avoid misunderstanding. 1. To the statement that Christians have never believed they had to keep the whole Torah: This is true after the final break with Judaism. However, the first Christians did not think they had started a new religion, separate from their ancestral faith, Judaism. They believed…