The purpose of tonights (Wednesday February 2nd) class is to continue our tour through the New Testament and our journey of Salvation History that began in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. A look at the Letter of Paul & the Hebrew Letters is part of the story of God’s saving power and the GRACE of Jesus Christ. Below are some comments from the class for specific selections the Letters that hold significant meaning for the class.
The Book of Romans
This is a favorite book of Martin Luther that explains Paul’s beliefs the best. Romans 5:5, “and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” This means to us that God has filled our hearts with love through the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and death spread to all because all have sinned –“, and Romans 5:15, “but the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.” This means that Adam brought sin into this world and God gave us Jesus to forgive it and us.
Romans chapter 6 – it talks about the significance of baptism. One of our favorite verses is Romans 6:7, “For whoever has died is free from sin.” For us this means we are free from sin in death because Jesus died before us and he ser us free. We also become free in our baptism as we are born into a new life.
The Book of Philippians
This letter was written by Paul to probably his favorite church. Philippians chapeter 2 – this may have been the first Christian hymn. One of our favorite verses in Philippians 2:6, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,”. We think that this means that even tough Jesus was God, he didn’t feel the need to gloat.
The Book of I Corinthians
The church in Corinth was one of the most troubled and Paul spent a lot of time with them and writing to them. This gives us hope too. I Corinthians 12:13, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” This means that we were all baptized by the same Spirit, we have all been given the same Spirit.
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