Interpreting The Pauline Letters

An Exegetical Handbook by John D. Harvey

Published by Kregel Academic

One of my mentors Dr. Thomas F. Harrison made a profound statement concerning Hermeneutics and Exegesis. “He who seeks wisdom not just a knowledge of how to exegete but discovers how to make the text useful to others has discovered both the Art and Science of Exegesis.”

This book is a valuable demonstration of Dr. Harrison’s statement. Building on the foundation of the authority of God’s Word Dr. Harvey wisely explains and then uses the elements of exegesis, which are then demonstrated by useable examples.

I was delighted with his section, “The Great Transfer” in the chapter on the Theology of Paul’s letters. The transfer from the Sphere of Adam to that of ‘in Christ’ is the best I have seen in detailing what is meant and how it is realized starting with 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Colossians 1:13-14 and then throughout Paul’s letters.

As a semi-retired NT Greek, Hermeneutics and Homiletics teacher I highly recommend this excellent work to anyone seeking to understand and make the meat of the Word available to all who follow or seek Jesus the Messiah. I received a copy of this book from Kregel Academic for an honest review.

The inaugural volume in the Handbooks for New Testament Exegesis series, Interpreting the Pauline Letters begins by exploring the components of narrative--setting, characterization, and plot--and then develops the foremost theological themes in each of the books traditionally ascribed to Paul. The method sets the task of exegesis within the literary context of first-century letters as well as the theological context of major themes present in Paul's letters. The book goes beyond exegesis to discuss strategies for communicating the central truthesof Paul's first-century messages to a twenty-first-century audience. Each chapter includes a list of helpful resources to the step of interpretation discussed. A glossary defining technical words and samples of moving from exegesis to proclamation make this guide practical and user-friendly. Designed as a handbook for seminary and graduate students, the book provides a go-to guide that will also serve seminary-trained pastors, upper-level college students, and well-motivated lay people. As readers work through this handbook, they will begin to see and interpret the narrative writings as Paul intended them to be understood.

Strange Fire?

Proclaiming the Good News or Complaining about Fellow Servants

I weary when Christian leaders are so busy being critical of others in God's household. A Critical attitude toward others who serve Christ is directly rebuked in the Bible. 

If we are busy proclaiming truth and living a life that pleases God we will have very Little time to do other things and worry about what others are teaching.
One of the latest example is John MacArthur in His book 'Strange Fire'.

Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

I have no doubt that a good and sincere teacher can write a book whose PR says the following. 

"In ancient Israel there lived two priests who approached God without the reverence He deserves. They disregarded God’s instructions and burned incense in His Tabernacle with “strange fire . . . which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (Lev. 10:2). Scripture calls us to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Anything unholy — including false prophecy, phony miracles, religious hypocrisy, self-willed worship, or anything else of the sort — is a kind of “strange fire,” deserving of the most severe judgment. That is why pastor-teacher John MacArthur has written this treatise on a movement whose foundation and direction have betrayed the God they claim to represent. Laced with historical research, biblical support, and quotes from scholars across the spectrum, Strange Fire is a rigorous evaluation of the fastest growing segment of the American Christian church. And it is an important warning . . . • For those who want the church to be more inclusive, • For those on the lookout for miracles today, • For those who think “charismatic” refers more to worship style than substance, • For those who don’t understand why celebrity preachers are constantly falling from grace, • For those who believe religious experience is more important than biblical fact, • For those who don’t want to “limit God” or “put Him in a box.” Strange Fire is powerful, disturbing, and imminently necessary."

What really irks me is how much attention this book brings and how it divides the Kingdom of God when He could use the time and resources to expand the Kingdom instead of bring division and an opportunity for the World to not see what Jesus wants which is that we love one another as followers of Jesus our Saviour and Lord. God's grace toward us is needed when we deal with others who serve God differently than the way we understand.

We have not run out of sinners who need the good news so let us stop wasting God's time and resources on these fruitless attacks.

Living as a Christian

We will start a new Bible Study on March 1st on 1 Peter using our Bibles and Teachings from First Peter by A W Tozer. 
 Many modern Christians are familiar with the name, and perhaps even some of the writings of, A. W. Tozer, but few living today were blessed to sit under his weekly teaching from the pulpit. In this never-before published collection of teachings on 1 Peter, adapted from sermons given to his parishioners, Tozer examines what it means to call oneself a Christian. In his view, to be a recipient of God's salvation is to become "the pride of all heaven," indestructible and able to withstand anything and everything that seeks to undermine one's faith. 
The epistle of 1 Peter was written to a group of just such Christians, to encourage them to live in the center of God's redeeming love. Through Tozer's incomparable teaching and commentary, this ancient letter becomes a fresh and life-infusing admonition for today's Christian!  
A.W. Tozer embarked upon a lifelong pursuit of God at the age of 17 after hearing a street preacher in Akron, Ohio. He was a self-taught pastor, writer and editor whose powerful messages continue to grip the hearts and stir the souls of today's believers. 
Following his quotes athttp://twitter.com/tozeraw.

Audio messages at http://www.sg-audiotreasures.org/awt_index.htm

Paperback at http://www.gospellight.com/product_details.aspx?id=11847

Receive from God

John 3:27

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has

 Been given him from heaven.”     NASB

     Basically, there are two ways of getting things: One is receiving and

one is grabbing. A lot of people get things by grabbing, but the trouble

with grabbing is what you get is not permanent. You can have it for a

while, but ultimately it will not be yours. The other way to get things

is to receive. To receive what God has for you. And in the long run,

you are not going to have more than you receive from God.

     The only thing that’s permanent in your life or in mine is that

which we receive from God. So why don’t you stop grabbing for a

while. Stop grasping, stop trying to get, and just turn to God and

 say, “God, whatever You want me to have, that’s what I want.

I’ll be satisfied. I will not go after that big position or that large

sum of money or that particular form of pleasure unless, God,

 I can receive it from You.” Because what you receive from God

will bless you. It will be truly yours. It will be permanent. It will

not do you harm in the end. Whereas the things you get by

grasping often, in the long run, you’ll be sorry you ever reached

for them and grasped them. So remember the secure things,

the things that bring peace and real blessings, are the things

that you received from heaven and from God.

—Derek Prince

To listen to Derek's original audio on our website click here.

 

Passionate Participation in God 2014

God created us to be in an active participatory relationship with Him. He has an Enoch promise of Relationship with Him through Jesus for each of us. He has sent His Spirit to help us and His Word to build guide and instruct our relationship with Him.

Genesis 5:22-25 Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].

Hebrews. 11:5 (AMP) Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God.† 6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

Acts 17:28 (AMP) For in Him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your [own] poets have said, For we are also His offspring.

John 14:26 (AMP) But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.

2 Tim. 3:15 (AMP) you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus [through the leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness]. 16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action),

Ask God to give you the full measure of the relationship with Him that He has for you as you pursue Him passionately!

The Pursuit of God

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord:

his going forth is prepared as the morning."

Hosea 6:3”

“In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct "interpretations" of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.

This is the only real harbinger of revival which I have been able to detect anywhere on the religious horizon. It may be the cloud the size of a man's hand for which a few saints here and there have been looking. It can result in a resurrection of life for many souls and a recapture of that radiant wonder which should accompany faith in Christ, that ” “wonder which has all but fled the Church of God in our day.

But this hunger must be recognized by our religious leaders. Current evangelicalism has (to change the figure) laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel. But God be thanked that there are a few who care. They are those who, while they love the altar and delight in the sacrifice, are yet unable to reconcile themselves to the continued absence of fire. They desire God above all. They are athirst to taste for themselves the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ about Whom all the holy prophets did write and the psalmists did sing.

There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. “Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy.”

“I trust I speak in charity, but the lack in our pulpits is real. Milton's terrible sentence applies to our day as accurately as it did to his: "The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God's children starving while actually seated at the Father's table. The truth of Wesley's words is established before our eyes: "Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this."

Thanks to our splendid Bible societies and to other effective agencies for the dissemination of the Word, there are today many millions of people who ” “hold "right opinions," probably more than ever before in the history of the Church. Yet I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb. To great sections of the Church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the "program." This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the type of public service which now passes for worship among us.

Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

This book is a modest attempt to aid God's hungry children so to find Him. Nothing here is new except in the sense that it is a discovery, which my own heart has made of spiritual realities most delightful and wonderful to me. Others before me have gone much farther into these holy mysteries than I have done, but if my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame."

A. W. Tozer

Chicago, Ill.

June 16, 1948”

Excerpt From: A. W. Tozer. “The Pursuit of God.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/_gPDE.l

How December 25 Became Christmas

Andrew McGowan   •  12/07/2012

A blanket of snow covers the little town of Bethlehem, in Pieter Bruegel’s oil painting from 1566. Although Jesus’ birth is celebrated every year on December 25, Luke and the other gospel writers offer no hint about the specific time of year he was born. Scala/Art Resource, NY

On December 25, Christians around the world will gather to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly wrapped gifts, festive foods—these all characterize the feast today, at least in the northern hemisphere. But just how did the Christmas festival originate? How did December 25 come to be associated with Jesus’ birthday?

The Bible offers few clues: Celebrations of Jesus’ Nativity are not mentioned in the Gospels or Acts; the date is not given, not even the time of year. The biblical reference to shepherds tending their flocks at night when they hear the news of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8) might suggest the spring lambing season; in the cold month of December, on the other hand, sheep might well have been corralled. Yet most scholars would urge caution about extracting such a precise but incidental detail from a narrative whose focus is theological rather than calendrical.

The extrabiblical evidence from the first and second century is equally spare: There is no mention of birth celebrations in the writings of early Christian writers such as Irenaeus (c. 130–200) or Tertullian (c. 160–225). Origen of Alexandria (c. 165–264) goes so far as to mock Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices—a strong indication that Jesus’ birth was not marked with similar festivities at that place and time.1 As far as we can tell, Christmas was not celebrated at all at this point.

This stands in sharp contrast to the very early traditions surrounding Jesus’ last days. Each of the Four Gospels provides detailed information about the time of Jesus’ death. According to John, Jesus is crucified just as the Passover lambs are being sacrificed. This would have occurred on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan, just before the Jewish holiday began at sundown (considered the beginning of the 15th day because in the Hebrew calendar, days begin at sundown). In Matthew, Mark and Luke, however, the Last Supper is held after sundown, on the beginning of the 15th. Jesus is crucified the next morning—still, the 15th.

Biblical Archeology Review 

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Learn more about the history of Christmas and the date of Jesus’ birth in the free e-book The First Christmas: The Story of Jesus’ Birth in History and Tradition.

Recovering What Was Lost In The Garden

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." NASB. Luke 19:10 




What was lost when Adam and Eve sinned? To start we must realize that sin separated us from God. This means the relationship we were created to have with God was cut off (spiritual death which released death into all of creation). 




So Jesus came to recover all that was lost and to restore our relationship with God. He paid the price of redeeming that relationship with his death and resurrection. Once again we have the opportunity to have spiritual life, which is the beginning of having the full measure of Life we were created to have.


Relationship with God is our Created purpose and it is what was lost in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rebelled and disobeyed God.

But God....

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14. 



Now we can, even as Enoch did live a life that is pleasing to God. This life is marked by Faith and Habitual fellowship with God.



Genesis 5:24 24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].



Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.



Diligently build a relationship with God as you walk [in habitual fellowship] with God; For he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and respond in faith to His Word.

Copyright (C) Wayne Newcomb 2013