Whisper Of God Ministries

I must admit to really enjoying Ephesians. As one of my favorite books, it is well marked in my Bible. Take your time in reading these six chapters. There are blessings to be found in every verse.

Paul is the author of this letter as well. This fact has been held throughout church history. Only in recent times have critics begun to argue against a Pauline authorship mainly based on the lack of personal greetings that are so often found in his letters. A close reading however reveals his steady hand and thought process. This is the book of a seasoned Christian who has deeply probed the theology of the Gospel.

Ephesus was a very important city in Paul’s day. It was the connection between the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire. The harbor there, as well as the several land trade routes that went through the city, made Ephesus one of the main hubs for the spread of the Gospel. Most of the early and best manuscripts do not have the phrase “in Ephesus” in 1:1. This fact causes many scholars to believe that this book was written more as a circular letter meant to be shared by several of the churches in western Asia Minor. This idea is supported by the lack of personal greetings to individuals that Paul so often mentions in other writings. Since Paul spent almost 3 years in Ephesus, it would seem unusual for there to not be any specific reference to his friends there, so I believe that it was, in fact, a circular letter for many churches. Paul does talk about his imprisonment in the book. Since the book was written while he was in prison, it probably dates to his house arrest imprisonment in Rome around A.D. 60-62. The book has many parallels with Colossians and may have been written around the same time.

Unlike many of the other Pauline books, Ephesians does not address any specific problem in a church. Paul instead opens his readers up to a great work on the Gospel itself. This fact makes it a great book for everyone today as well. This is Paul’s theology on the Gospel. The book divides into two halves with the first three chapters being mainly theology and the last three chapters comprising a practical section for living out the blessings of the church. It would be impossible to point out the most important part of this book, but the most well known section perhaps is the Amour of God section in Chapter 6.

Galatians begins the series of New Testament letters that are shorter epistles that can and are read in one day. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians are books I often get out of order when trying to find them in my New Testament. A little memory deal I learned long ago – General Electric Power Company helps me to keep these books in order by assigning the first letter of each order to correspond to the Biblical book!

Galatians is a wonderful book. The Apostle Paul wrote the book. This fact is almost universally accepted. It is interesting to note that Paul probably used an amanuensis or secretary to actually write the letter. We think this because it appears that Paul’s actual writing begins in 6:11 in the book. Paul may have suffered from a sort of eye condition, which caused him to write in large letters – but that is just a theory. Paul’s stamp is on the entire book.

Dating the book is a challenge because of two theories proposed over the exact audience of the book. The historical view until about the nineteenth century was the Northern Galatians Theory, which states that this letter is written to church in ethnic Galatia or northern Asia Minor, what we call Turkey today. Paul established these churches probably on his second missionary journey. If this is the case, then he probably wrote the book sometime around A.D. 57. The other view on the date comes from the more recent Southern Galatians Theory that the letter was written to the Roman political area called Galatia. This view would have the epistle being written to four churches that Paul established on his first missionary trip. If this theory is correct, the book dates to as early as A.D. 49 and makes Galatians perhaps the earliest New Testament letter that Paul wrote.

Whatever the date is, the book is very important from a high Christology standpoint. The letter was written to combat the problem of Judaizers, who had followed Paul into these churches and were teaching a different Gospel than what Paul had preached. They were accusing Paul of softening the Gospel to make it appeal to the Gentiles. These Judaizers believed that certain Old Testament rituals were essential to salvation – especially circumcision. They argued that Paul was not a true apostle and that his message was corrupt. Paul is writing to set the record straight that salvation is a gift of grace by God alone by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Ritualistic and ceremonial works have nothing to do with salvation. Salvation does not come by obedience to the law.

Galatians is an important book for the Reformation. Luther depended on it a great deal and wrote his famous commentary on it. Galatians simply outlines the Gospel message in bold truth. We are saved by the grace of faith in Jesus Christ alone.

If you are at this point in your reading – well done. There are only a few days left to reach the goal of finishing the year well. If you have fallen behind, pick up here and finish up the New Testament through the end of this year. You will be blessed by God as you read his Word.

1st and 2nd Corinthians follow Romans. Again Paul is the acknowledged author of these books or letters and there has been very little debate on that question. Paul probably writes this first letter around A.D. 55 near the end of his time in Ephesus during his third missionary journey. Paul had lived in Ephesus for over two years as he worked and ministered in that church. Paul had founded the church at Corinth during his second missionary journey. After he left, serious problems arose in that church revolving around a number of different problems. Divisions formed in the church, problems with immorality within the church, lawsuits, and issues surrounding the sacraments all developed. Corinth was a large corrupt and sinful city, and the culture had invaded the church in many ways. We can see from 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 that Paul probably had already written a previous letter to the church about some of these issues and to ask for an offering.

The issues in 1st Corinthians revolve around the problems in the church. The Apostle had received reports of the continued trouble there and sets out to write a letter to deal with them. This letter is very timely even for the church today. So many Christians are satisfied with just being a believer and not growing in their faith. The call to become more Christ-like is the high calling for all believers. This immaturity of faith leads to many of the same problems that we see in the church at Corinth – jealousy, divisions, marital problems and the misuse of spiritual gifts.

1st Corinthians contains perhaps the most popular chapter in the entire Bible – chapter 13 on love. It is a book for all generations in the church.

2nd Corinthians was written by Paul later in the year A.D. 55. While 1st Corinthians was written in Ephesus before Pentecost, this letter was probably penned in Macedonia in the late fall of that same year. Evidently Paul had paid a quick visit to Corinth sometime during his stay in Ephesus and that visit did not go well. The church by this time had been corrupted by false teaching about Paul himself. He had changed his travel plans and now these people were saying that Paul’s word could not be trusted.

This letter is a very personal one in which we get a look at Paul’s heart. He reveals the great suffering he has endured for the cause of Christ. He teaches about the comfort and support that God brings to those who love him even in times of great suffering. We have in this book the revelation about his “thorn in the flesh” and God’s grace that is sufficient for him. There is some scholarly debate over the unity of 2nd Corinthians. However, as you read through this letter, you will see with the early church that it stands as a unified work in encouraging the body of Christ in the midst of difficulties.

As we finish up the book of Acts, we come now to a group of letters that make up a large section of the New Testament. While several authors write these letters, the Apostle Paul writes the majority of them. You will remember from Acts that Paul – or Saul – was a persecutor of the church. He was present at the stoning of Steven and was on his way to Damascus to arrest other Christians when he had an encounter with the living Lord that changed him. After that time, Paul dominates most of the rest of the New Testament in terms of writings. It is important to note that the letters of Paul in the New Testament are not arranged in chronological order. Romans is not his first letter. For the most part, the Epistles of the New Testament are arranged by length with a few exceptions. An interesting study is to look at the progression of Paul and his faith through a chronological survey of his books. You can trace the work of the Holy Spirit even in his own life through such a study. Finally, remember as we read these letters in the New Testament, most of these letters were written to address specific problems. However, they were written to be read aloud and most were then passed around.

The authorship of Romans has never really been an issue. Most have always believed that Paul was the author of the book. He probably wrote the book from Corinth or that area during his third missionary journey. Paul longed to minister in this congregation. The church at Rome was made up of mostly Gentiles with a group of Jews participating with them in worshipping the Risen Christ. The book dates to around A.D. 57.

Much debate has arisen in recent years in scholarly circles over the exact nature of Romans. Some have called it the “Constitution of the Christian Church” in that it is a very systematic explanation of the Gospel while others see it as a letter written perhaps mainly to the Jews in Rome to explain to them that there is no favoritism in the Gospel. We all are saved by faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone. Personally, I believe that Paul had several things in mind as the Spirit directed him to write this letter. The foundational purpose was to prepare the church for his arrival. His message is to tell Jew and Gentile alike that we all are sinners and in need of Christ’s forgiveness and salvation by faith in the living Word. We are then freed from the law to live in Christ. Only with the freedom that comes in salvation by grace alone can we truly follow the law and grow in Christ.

In the next several weeks, we will read all of Paul’s New Testament books. Much has been written about Paul and “Paulism” has become a study within itself. As we read Paul, I want us to remember that he loved the Lord more than anything else. As James Stewart has said in his book, A Man in Christ, “how much this great lover of Christ has suffered by the elaborate speculative systems into which his successors have forced his glowing message, how much his influence has been harmed and his popular appeal reduced by the forbidding structure of theory and dogma beneath which his interpreters have so often buried his words of flame…” Read Paul for his love of God. Yes, Paul brings light to the doctrines of Christ, but read him with a sense of his depth of love for God and his willingness to sacrifice all for the cause of Christ