Text: Philippians 1:1-18Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Philippian Christians with a very encouraging thought: the work God began in them will be brought to completion by Him. One of the main reasons Paul writes to them is to thank them for their financial assistance to his ministry (4:14). That kind of support is[…]
Text: Ephesians 5:1-21At the end of the previous chapter Apostle Paul was being very practical with his readers, encouraging them to be kind, tender-hearted, and forgive, even as God forgave them. That explains why Paul begins chapter five by saying, be imitators of God. The way to live the transformed life is to live the[…]
Text: Galatians 5:22-26As we continue our studies about the transformed life, we return, again, to Galatians and read about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul begins his exhortation by mentioning the works of the flesh. The “flesh” means the anti-God nature of all human beings (but not Jesus), and “the works of the[…]
Text: Galatians 5:16-21Again we look at Paul’s letter to the disciples in Galatia. Today’s passage is very practical, where we read of the familiar struggle in the Christian’s life – the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh is our original anti-God nature, and the Spirit is the Holy Spirit who dwells within[…]
Text: Galatians 2:19-21The church in Galatia was started by Apostle Paul, but shortly after he left their city, teachers of a false Christianity arrived and confused the believers. The people were being taught that a person had to become a Jew first (get circumcised, observe purification laws, etc.) before coming to Christ. But that is[…]
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:1-21In today’s passage we read again about the principle of being a new creature (v.18). But it’s more than a principle, it is a reality. We are new. However, one of the difficulties about this is that everything seems the same: we look and feel the same, our circumstances are the same,[…]
Text: 2 Corinthians 3:1-18In this passage Apostle Paul refers to Exodus 34 and the appearance of Moses’ face. Whenever Moses communicated with Yahweh, he would go inside the Tabernacle and speak with God face to face. As a result, Moses’ face would shine. When Moses gave God’s message to the people, they would see the[…]
Text: Romans 12:2-8Today’s meditation is a continuation from yesterday’s. In verse 1 Apostle Paul tells us that we must be living sacrifices, which is our proper worship.Then verse 2 continues that exhortation, “do not be conformed to this world …”. When Paul speaks of “this world”, he means anything that is anti-God. We are called[…]
Text: Romans 12:1The sacrificial system from Moses is what we should have in mind here, especially the sacrifices that involved the killing of an animal. A person who was under the guilt of sin would bring a perfect animal to the priest, who would kill the animal as a substitute for the person, who should[…]
Text: Romans 8:1-11In the passage before this chapter (7:7-23), we read of the person who tries to obey God’s law for the purpose of making himself acceptable to God (cf., Rom.10:2-4). Then verses 7:25 and 8:1 are a word of joyful, grateful praise for God’s salvation through Christ, not through self. Now that we are[…]