Epistles
{STUDIES FROM THE EPISTLES}
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{THESSALONIANS}
- This Evil Age - {PDF Copy} - (The death of Jesus inaugurated the messianic age with consequent changes in the status of the Law and God’s people)
- Times, Signs and Seasons - {PDF Copy} - (Paul does not detail the times and seasons since the Thessalonians understand that the Lord will come like a thief in the night – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
- Comfort One Another - {PDF Copy} - (Foundational to the church’s future hope is the bodily resurrection of believers when Jesus arrives in glory)
- The Just Judgment of God - {PDF Copy} - (The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked)
{GALATIANS}
- From This Evil Age - {PDF Copy} - (Paul anchors all that God has done in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the event that inaugurated the messianic age – Galatians 1:1-5)
- Controversy in Galatia - {PDF Copy} - (The dispute at Galatia was whether Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the required deeds of the Torah)
- Even an Angel - {PDF Copy} - (Paul warned the Galatians not to heed any gospel that deviated from the one preached by him - even if it came from an angel)
- Justified From Faith - {PDF Copy} - (Paul presents the points of agreement and disagreement with his opponents in the assemblies of Galatia – Galatians 2:15-21)
- The Limits of the Law - {PDF Copy} - (The jurisdiction of the Mosaic regulations over the covenant community reached its limit with the arrival of Jesus, the true seed of Abraham)
- Rudimentary Things - {PDF Copy} - (The Messianic Age dawned in Jesus, therefore calendrical rituals and other Levitical regulations belong to a now obsolete order)
- The Spirit of Life - {PDF Copy} - (It is the Spirit of God that imparts all life, especially the everlasting life in Jesus of which the gift of the Spirit is a foretaste and guarantee)
- Having Started in the Spirit - {PDF Copy} - (The receipt of the Spirit while in an uncircumcised state is irrefutable proof that Gentiles are accepted by God AS GENTILES)
- The Promised Spirit - {PDF Copy} - (The promise of the Spirit is part of the Blessings of Abraham for the nations and the children of Abraham)
- Redemption & Adoption - {PDF Copy} - (The Law was an interim stage with a termination point. Disciples are no longer under its jurisdiction, but now, are in Christ)
- Dividing the Church - {PDF Copy} - (For the church to insist on a Torah-observant lifestyle means the restoration of the old social barriers between Jew and Gentile)
- Neither Jew Nor Greek - {PDF Copy} - (Galatians 3:20.29 - To return to the custodianship of the Law would mean to erect again the divisions between Jewish and Gentile believers)
- Circumcision - Cutting Issue - {PDF Copy} - (With the new era inaugurated by Jesus, circumcision is no longer the sign of membership in the covenant community)
- Proclaiming Another Jesus - {PDF Copy} - (Is Jesus still the slain Lamb, or has he become the roaring Lion of Judah hellbent on exacting payback from his enemies and those of the church?)
- Seed of Abraham - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus is the true “seed” of Abraham, the heir of the covenant promises, and receipt of the inheritance is based on faith in Him)
{CORINTH}
- Yea and Amen -{PDF Copy} - (The types and “shadows” of the Hebrew Bible find their substance in the Son of God, Christ Jesus)
- True Power and Wisdom - {PDF Copy} - (The power and wisdom of God are revealed in the proclamation of a Messiah who was crucified on Calvary)
- The Last Enemy - {PDF Copy} - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the termination of the Last Enemy, Death itself)
- The Day of Jesus Christ - (Jesus will arrive on the Day of the Lord when the dead are raised, the wicked are judged, and death will cease forevermore) - {PDF Copy}
- Ekklésia - The Assembly of God - (The New Testament usage of the term “assembly” is based on the image of Israel assembled before Yahweh for worship in the Hebrew Bible) - {PDF Copy}
- The Fullness of Time - {PDF Copy} - (The Last Days, the time of fulfillment, began with the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth)
{ROMANS}
- The Obedience of Faith - (Paul introduces his ministry to the church in Rome and begins his exposition of the Gospel by identifying Christ’s qualifications as Messiah) - {PDF Copy}
- From Faith - For Faith - (Men are not set right before God from the works of the law but from the faith of Jesus Christ) - {PDF Copy}
- The Message - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus is summoning his disciples to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God in every inhabited corner of the Earth – Romans 3:22-30)
- Both Jews and Greeks - (The equality of Jew and Gentile before God is a pivotal theme in Romans. Members of either group stand or fall before Him on the same basis) - {PDF Copy}
- His Covenant Faithfulness - (The righteousness of God refers to His faithfulness to His promises, and this is demonstrated in the salvation He has provided in Jesus) - {PDF Copy}
- The Faith of Abraham - {PDF Copy} - (The faith of uncircumcised Abraham provides an example for Jewish and Gentile believers who live from the faith of Jesus – Romans 4:11-17)
- Seed of Abraham - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus is the true “seed” of Abraham, the heir of the covenant promises, and receipt of the inheritance is based on faith in Him)
- Works of the Law - {PDF Copy} - (In Romans, discussions about justification by “works” has a specific category of works in view – the “works of the law”)
- Plight to Solution - {PDF Copy} - (In Romans, Paul argues from plight to solution as he presents his gospel to the churches of Rome, a message for both Jews and Greeks)
- Coheirs with Jesus - {PDF Copy} - (The covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus, his seed and heir, including the promise of land – Romans 8:1-23)
- Food and Calendars - {PDF Copy} - (Paul argues for tolerance in the church on food regulations and the observation of holy days – The shadows now find their fulfillment in Jesus)
- The Inheritance - {PDF Copy} - (In Jesus, the original limited promise of territory to Abraham is transformed to encompass the entire creation)
- Spirit and Resurrection - {PDF Copy} - (The Gift of the Spirit is the foretaste and guarantee of the bodily resurrection and of the coming New Creation)
- Life from the Dead - {PDF Copy} - (Paul presents his gospel from humanity's plight due to sin to the resurrection of the dead and the New Creation)
- The Redemption of Our Body - {PDF Copy} - (Paul links the bodily resurrection of believers to the New Creation, and both events are part of the promised redemption – Romans 8:1-23)
{PRISON LETTERS}
- One Covenant People - {PDF Copy} - (By his death, Jesus formed one covenant community - One New Man - based on faith in him, not ethnicity or nationality – Ephesians 2:11-22)
- Emulating Jesus - {PDF Copy} - (The submission of Jesus to an unjust death becomes the paradigm for the love and service to others that disciples are summoned to manifest - Philippians 2:5-11)
{PASTORALS}
- He Abolished Death - {PDF Copy} - (Paul reminds Timothy of Christ’s resurrection. False teachers were denying the resurrection or claiming that it was in the past and not applicable to believers)
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{HEBREWS}
- God Has Spoken! - {PDF Copy} - (God spoke His SUPERIOR word in His Son, Jesus of Nazareth. All previous words spoken in the prophets were preparatory, promissory, and partial)
- Upon These Last Days - {PDF Copy} - (The era of the Aaronic priesthood terminated with the arrival of the word of salvation in God’s Son, our High Priest of a new order)
- His Supremacy - {PDF Copy} - (Through a series of comparisons, Hebrews demonstrates the supremacy of the Son over his predecessors)
- The Purification of Sins - {PDF Copy} - (Having achieved the purification of sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God where he now intercedes for his people as their High Priest)
- His Most Excellent Name - {PDF Copy} - (Having achieved the purification of sins, Jesus inherited a more distinguished name than the angels; namely, that of Son)
- Do Not Drift Away - {PDF Copy} - (The Letter gives a dire warning of the consequences for failing to heed the superior word spoken by God in His Son – Hebrews 1:4-2:7)
- Merciful High Priest - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus is well-equipped to be our faithful and sympathetic high priest, having participated fully in humanity’s plight)
- Superior to Moses - {PDF Copy} - (The word of the Son is superior even to the word of Moses, the servant and Great Lawgiver in the house of Yahweh)
- Priest Forever - {PDF Copy} - (The priesthood of Jesus is superior because it rests on his endless resurrection life, the priest after the order of Melchizedek)
- From Shadow to Substance - {PDF Copy} - (The types and shadows of the old covenant find their substance in the Son of God, Jesus Christ - in his priesthood and New Covenant – Hebrews 8:1-5)
- His Incomparable New Covenant - {PDF Copy} - (In his death, Jesus inaugurated the promised and vastly superior new covenant, rendering the old one obsolete)
- His Exaltation - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus is the Son whom God exalted after his suffering and death to be our merciful and faithful High Priest)
- The Tent Pitched by God - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus intercedes without ceasing for his people in the true heavenly Tabernacle, one not made with human hands but pitched by God)
- New Priesthood - Change of Law - {PDF Copy} - (The new priesthood after the order of Melchizedek inaugurated in Jesus also means a change in the Law)
- His Present Reign - (The PRESENT reign of Jesus began with his exaltation to the messianic Throne following his death and resurrection – Psalms 110:1) - {PDF Copy}