FROM PAUL. It was the custom to state the writer's name at the beginning of a letter. Note that Paul stresses the fact that he is an apostle by God's will! Compare note on Galatians 1:1. TO GOD'S PEOPLE. The CHURCH of Christ is uniquely _God's people!!!_ [_Saints:_ see note on 1 Corinthians 6:11,]... [ Continue Reading ]
MAY GOD. See note on Romans 1:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US GIVE THANKS! "God has blessed not only the Jews but also you Gentiles, with all the riches of heaven!!! And he has done this without making the Law of Moses a condition to salvation!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE. "What God did in Christ was not an _afterthought_ or an act of desperation on his part. Salvation comes to you Gentiles because God planned it that way even before the world was made." GOD HAD ALREADY CHOSEN US. "Before there was Jew or Gentile, God chose to have a people for himself, the wh... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD HAD ALREADY DECIDED. "God had already decided that we, the church of Christ, should be adopted as his children!" _Johnson_ says: "The whole line of argument is general instead of particular. God foreordained a church which should be composed of those adopted as his children.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HIS GLORIOUS GRACE! "We praise God for his goodness which he displayed to us in the free gift of life which he gave us in his dear son!... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST. Death and blood cannot be separated! Death = blood = Christ-on-the-cross!!! "In the church of Christ you Gentiles have the promise of being put right with God through the death of Christ as our sin-offering!!! Our sins are forgiven and we are set free!!!" See notes on Act... [ Continue Reading ]
IN SUCH LARGE MEASURE! "Rather than only revealing his secret to a very few, God gave us his grace in a measure beyond our imagination!!!" Compare 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; 1 Peter 4:18 and notes.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MADE KNOWN TO US. "God made this VISION OF THE AGES known to us apostles by his Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10), and through us to you! God's secret is known by all who have been made God's children through their faith!" Some may have said that the GOSPEL was a "modern thing" and not to be trusted.... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD'S PLAN. "God's plan is to bring everything in all of creation into a UNITY with Jesus Christ as head!" Compare Colossians 1:15-20 and notes. WHICH HE WILL COMPLETE. God's act in Christ is complete!!! But the effects of it will not have all taken place until death is destroyed in the Resurrection... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO. God rules over history. In the message of the Good News, God's plan and decision, which he had already decided from the beginning of the world, was revealed to the entire world! Christ is the sole means or agent through whom God's predetermined (foreordained) purpose of putting men rig... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO WERE THE FIRST TO HOPE. "We Jews waited many centuries for the Messiah to come, and we who were the first to believe in Christ have this hope, not through the Law of Moses, but through the free gift of Jesus Christ! We praise God's glory in what he has done!!!" Compare Hebrews 12:23 and note.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH YOU ALSO. "When you heard the Good News, you reached out through faith to seize Christ and make yourself part of Him!" HIS STAMP OF OWNERSHIP. The Jew viewed circumcision as God's stamp of ownership on him. Here Paul identifies the _Holy Spirit_ received in baptism (Acts 2:38) with _circumcisio... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SPIRIT IS THE GUARANTEE. "What God has promised his people is not complete until our bodies are changed (Philippians 3:20-21). The (indwelling) Spirit that each Christian receives (John 7:37-39; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:32) is our guarantee that this will take place!!!" COMPLETE FREEDOM = the redemptio... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS REASON. "Because the Spirit is the guarantee of our complete freedom." EVER SINCE. He says this to show that he is _aware_ of their faith and love.... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVING THANKS. Paul always praises God for the faith of sincere Christians!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
TO GIVE YOU THE SPIRIT. "I continually ask God who is the source of our eternal hope to give you the supernormal gifts from the Spirit. He will make you wise (1 Corinthians 12:8) and reveal God to you as you understand the truth we have preached to you.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO SEE HIS LIGHT. We cooperate with God in our salvation, and as we reach out to him through faith, he also reaches out to us. As we make ourselves receptive to his truth, he opens our minds. It is a paradox that the more we learn about God, the more we are able to learn (1 Corinthians 2:14). His li... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH HE USED. See Romans 8:11 and note. AND SEATED HIM. To show that Christ is King and rules the universe, God seated him at his right side, the place of honor! Compare 1 Corinthians 15:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
ABOVE ALL. Both Judaism and the mystery religions viewed God as unapproachable with angels arranged in layers as go-betweens. Heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords were names they gave to different ranks in the angelic world. Paul shows Jesus Christ, the God/Man sitting not only in God's p... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD PUT ALL THINGS. See 1 Corinthians 15:27_. Gave him to the church._ Paul usually means _local congregation_ when he says _church,_ but here he means the universal church which is composed of all the saved - the messianic community in its widest sense. This church is Christ's _body_ and Christ him... [ Continue Reading ]
THE COMPLETION. The church _completes_ Christ in the sense that the church is the visible declaration that Christ is Lord!!! Paul stresses the close connection between Christ and his Church!!! See note on Acts 9:5. This also can be translated _fullness_ as the NIV has done. _Lipscomb_ says: "Jesus f... [ Continue Reading ]