Author: Chiasochris

We start the Gospels, with
Matthew who presents Jesus as
the Christ, Israel’s messianic King.
Mark presents Jesus as the Servant
who gave his life for mankind.
Luke presents Him as the perfect
Son of Man saving the lost.
And John presents Jesus as
Son of God offering eternal life.
In essence, Mark records what
Jesus did, Matthew and Luke
records what Jesus said while John
shares Who Jesus was. And Acts
chronicles Growth of the church.

Turning to the Pauline epistles:
In Romans, Paul gives a sample of his
message before he arrives in Rome.
And First and Second Corinthians,
Living for Christ in corrupt society.
In Galatians, Paul calls Christians
to faith and freedom in Christ.
In Eph,Paul strengthens believers by
explaining the purpose of the church.
In Philippians, Paul shows true joy
comes from Jesus Christ alone.
In Colossians, Paul shows believers
have everything they need in Christ.
In Thess, Paul encourages the church to persevere in midst of trials.
Paul’s two letters to Timothy give
advice for building strong leadership
and offer principles for discipleship.
In Titus, Paul gives pointers on
church supervision; while in Philemon, he urges forgiveness
and acceptance of erring brother.
Next, non Pauline epistles: Hebrews,
James, 1&2 Peter, 1-3 John & Jude.

Hebrews: Many Jewish believers
were tempted to renounce their
newfound faith and return to
Judaism to escape persecution.
The anonymous writer of Hebrews
appeals to them to pursue maturity
based on Christ’s superiority
to the Jewish religious system.
More is to be gained by suffering
for Christ than by reverting
to a system He came to fulfill.

James: In this epistle to Jewish
believers, the apostle James shows
how faith integrates with everyday
practical experience by stressing
that true faith produces doers
of the Word. For James, a faith
that produces no change in a
person’s life is really no faith at all.
True faith will bear fruit in deeds.
It endures trials, obeys the Word,
controls the tongue, separates
from the world and resists the devil.

In 1 Peter, Apostle Paul offers
encouragement to suffering
Christians. He begins by stressing
the riches of their salvation and
their need for holy lives. Then
he encourages them to develop
an attitude of submission and
humble dependence on God.
And in 2 Peter, Paul warns
Christians about false teachers
and to exhort them to grow in their
faith in and knowledge of Christ

In 1 John, the apostle writes to
help his spiritual brothers in their
walk with the God who is light,
love and life. He is a God of light
and believers must walk in integrity.
He is a God of love and believers
must manifest love for one another.
And He is a God of life and believers
are assured of eternal life in Christ.
In 2 John, the apostle emphasises
the basics of following Christ,
namely truth and love as well as
warns them against false teachers.
And in 3 John, the apostle commends Gaius for hospitality & encourages
him in his Christian life.

Jude: Alarmed by the presence
of false teachers in the church,
Jude is compelled to unmask
their deadly ways and to exhort
believers to stand firm for truth.
Jude who was the brother of James,
ends this short but powerful epistle
with a series of urgent commands:
Remember Christ’s words,
remain in God’s love and seek
to remove erring brothers from
the fiery danger of their ways.

We start the Gospels, with
Matthew who presents Jesus as
the Christ, Israel’s messianic King.
Mark presents Jesus as the Servant
who gave his life for mankind.
Luke presents Him as the perfect
Son of Man saving the lost.
And John presents Jesus as
Son of God offering eternal life.
We have also covered Acts which
chronicles Growth of the church.

Turning to the Pauline epistles:
In Romans, Paul gives a sample of his
message before he arrives in Rome.
And First and Second Corinthians,
Living for Christ in corrupt society.
In Galatians, Paul calls Christians
to faith and freedom in Christ.
In Eph,Paul strengthens believers by
explaining the purpose of the church.
In Philippians, Paul shows true joy
comes from Jesus Christ alone.
In Colossians, Paul shows believers
have everything they need in Christ.
In Thessalonians, Paul encourages
the church to persevere in midst
of persecutions; and not be weary
in doing good before Christ returns.
Next, we will meditate on Pauline
pastoral epistles over 3 weekends.

ITimothy: Timothy a young disciple
discovered by Paul on his second
missionary journey (Acts 16:1),
enjoyed a unique relationship with
the apostle. Referred to as his
‘own son’ in the faith, Timothy
ministered side by side with Paul
as a missionary and later received
the challenging assignment of
pastoring the church in Ephesus.
Paul’s first letter to him resembles
a manual for building church
leadership. More generally, it is
a rich mine of principles for anyone
who wishes to have a spiritual
impact in the lives of others.

2Timothy: Paul’s life is drawn to
a lonely close in a Roman prison
as he writes to encourage Timothy,
whom he refers to as his ‘own son’
in the faith. Timothy has ministered
side by side in mission endeavors
with the apostle, but now he faces
new challenges as pastor of the
church at Ephesus. Paul’s first
letter offers instruction and advice
for building strong leadership
within the congregation and lays
down principles for those who
want a ministry of discipleship.
Underlying each theme is the
importance of God’s Word
as the foundation for living.

Titus lived on Crete, the largest
island in the Mediterranean
and worked among a people
who collectively had one of the
worst reputations in the world.
Paul had left Titus to oversee the
growth of the church there and
now writes to encourage him in
that difficult task. In order to promote
sound teaching and offset false
doctrines that were in the rise,
Titus is told to appoint and
train spiritual leaders as elders.
Paul’s short letter is a summary of
Christian doctrine that emphasises
holy living and encourages all
to live worthy of the gospel.

Philemon: On the run after committing a wrong against his master, Onesimus the slave sought
refuge among the masses in the city
of Rome. There he crosses Paul’s
path and converts to faith in Christ.
Though he shows his gratitude by
serving Paul, he still must reconcile
with his master Philemon. Paul writes
this letter to Philemon asking him
to forgive Onesimus, the bearer
of the letter, and to accept him as
a brother in Christ.This short epistle
reminds believers of our heavenly
Father’s love and forgiveness.

We start the Gospels, with
Matthew who presents Jesus as
the Christ, Israel’s messianic King.
Mark presents Jesus as the Servant
who gave his life for mankind.
Luke presents Him as the perfect
Son of Man saving the lost.
And John presents Jesus as
Son of God offering eternal life.
We have also covered Acts which
chronicles Growth of the church.

Turning to the Pauline epistles:
In Romans, Paul gives a sample of his
message before he arrives in Rome.
And First and Second Corinthians,
Living for Christ in corrupt society.
In Galatians, Paul calls Christians
to faith and freedom in Christ.
In Ephesians, Paul strengthens
the believers in their faith by
explaining the purpose of the church.
In Philippians, strengthens believers
by showing that true joy comes
from Jesus Christ alone. And in
Colossians, Paul shows believers
have everything they need in Christ.

And Paul writes 1 Thessalonians
to encourage them. They were
being persecuted and he urges
them to persevere. Their city is
full of sensual temptation and
he exhorts them to hold to
Christian standards. Finally he
corrects some misunderstanding
about the return of Christ.

As the believers face growing
persecution, Paul writes 2 Thess to
encourage them God’s judgment
will eventually bring about justice.
He dispels the rumour that the
Day of the Lord has already come.
They had concluded they were living in the tribulation and quit their jobs.
Paul exhorts them to return to work
& stop burdening the body of Christ.
Instead they are to use the time
they have and not be weary in
well doing before Christ returns.

We will cover the two letters
to the Thessalonians in two weekends over four sessions:
1Ths 1-3: Faithfulness to the Lord
1Ths 4-5: Watchfulness for the Lord
2Ths 1-2: Hope in Christ’s Return
2Ths 3: Living in Light of His Return
Lord as we meditate, help us
be strengthened in our faith,
be remain faithful to the Lord;
be Prepared for Your Return.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

To enhance understanding biblical
context we had been meditating
scripture by time sequence:
OT1: Five Books of Laws & Job
OT2: Conquest to United Kingdom,
including Psalms & Wisdom Poetry.
OT3: Divided Kingdom, Exile, plus
Post-Exilic period & the Prophets.
Then gospels ending John where
we learnt Jesus Christ as Son of God
& believing we have life in His name.
Acts records fulfilment of Jesus’
Commission as Spirit-transformed
disciples spread the gospel. In
Romans, Paul gives a sample of his
message before he arrives in Rome.
And First and Second Corinthians,
Living for Christ in corrupt society.

Next, Paul’s letter to the Galatians
doesn’t open with his usual greeting
of praise and prayer for the saints.
There is an emergency at hand!
The Galatians have listened to
false teachers who have come into
the church teaching that salvation
in a mixture of works and grace.
Paul warns the believers about
the bondage this type of deception
brings and exhorts them to return
to the freedom that is theirs in Christ.
He goes on to show that it is in
the Spirit, not the flesh, that the
Christian life is successfully lived.

The Ephesians had unlimited
spiritual wealth at their disposal,
yet they lived as spiritual paupers.
So Paul wrote to encourage them
to understand and claim their
heavenly resources. Only then
could they draw on them for their
early walk. In the first half of
his letter, the apostle outlines
the heavenly wealth – adoption,
redemption, inheritance & power.
In the second half he shows the
practical application of those
doctrines. Paul made it clear –
believers are not to have merely
an earthly viewpoint. For God
has given to us His riches.

In Philippians, Paul is a prisoner
in Rome. In spite of his difficult
circumstances, he remains joyful
and writes to commend the
Philippians for their faithfulness
and to challenge them to make
Christ the center of their experience.
Jesus’ life and ministry, described
in 2:6-11, is the life pattern all
believers must follow so that
their faith might become evident
to others. Paul acknowledges
that divisions sometimes exist
among believers but is confident
that unity will be restored as they
imitate the servanthood of Christ.

Paul is imprisoned in Rome when
he receives word that heretical
doctrines are threatening the
church at Colosse. To refute
the spiritually lethal combination
of eastern mysticism and Jewish legalism, Paul reestablishes
the truth of the gospel and demonstrates the supremacy
of Christ. As Lord of all, Jesus
Christ is the giver of salvation and
sufficient for every need. No rituals
or legalistic practices are needed.
Since Christ is all in all, Paul
encourages the Colossians
to pursue a godly lifestyle befitting
those who are risen with Christ.