Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 204

INTRODUCTION TO EPHESIANS (Part 2):

So, John pastored there. And like I said, Paul was there for about three years. Timothy took over after him for a year and a half, and the letters and the missionary efforts coming out from here went all the way through and the seven churches in Revelation had actually started from out of Ephesus, one of the capitals and the main encampment of Christianity.

Right outside of Ephesus is where the tomb of Mary is supposed to be, as history tells us that Mary actually wound up in Ephesus and spent her last days there. Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia. Ephesus was known for having one of the seven wonders of the world - the temple of Artemis (or Diana).

Ephesus is believed to be evangelized by Priscilla and Aquila. ( Acts 18:18-19). The church in Ephesus was later established by Paul during his third missionary journey. ( Acts 19). Paul ministered there for three years. After Paul left, Timothy pastored the church for about 1 1/2 years.

Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus to counter false teaching by two leaders in the church in Ephesus - Hymenaeus and Alexander ( I Timothy 1:3 and I Timothy 1:20).

Thirty years later, Christ gave the message to Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7. So, thirty years later, the Lord said that you have left your first love. And that was Christ's message to them!

IV. THE THEME OF EPHESIANS:

It presents the believer's position in Christ. The term "in Christ" is the key phrase in the letter to the Ephesians.

INTRODUCTION TO EPHESIANS (Part 1):

I. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The author is Paul. His inscription is on all thirteen of his letters.

II. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN

It was written to the church in Ephesus. Ephesians is believed to be a circulation letter distributed throughout Asia. The reason: Because many older manuscripts do not contain the words "in Ephesus" as in Verse 1. And so, in Ephesians 1:1, Paul writes and says to the believers who are in Ephesus. And the older manuscripts don't have the words "in Ephesus."

And that causes us to believe that once the church in Ephesus received this letter, they wrote their name in the copy of it, and then sent it to the other churches where other churches could copy it and put their name on it. It's not addressed to specific individuals, nor is it to correct a specific problem in a certain church. The whole presentation of the letter was as if it was distributed to the whole body of Christ, which indeed it is.

III. THE HISTORY OF EPHESUS:

Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia. Paul, during his third missionary journey came all the way over to Ephesus and he ministered there for about three years. He went up the coast over into Philippi, and down the coast through Macedonia and Achaia, and then came back over to Miletus, and then went back to Jerusalem.

He actually started his missionary journey out of Antioch of Assyria, where all of the believers had gone after the persecutions began in Jerusalem.

Ephesus is the hub of Asia as far as the missionary work goes. The apostle John himself pastored here right before he died. He came back either before or after his time on the island of Patmos.

INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS (Part 2):

III. THE HISTORY OF GALATIA:

The Celtics migrated from Gaul in Modern France around the 3rd century B.C.

The Romans conquered the Gauls in 189 B.C.

Galatia became a Roman Province in 25 B.C.

The name Galatia came to describe the entire Roman province.

The churches in southern Galatia were established during Paul's 1st missionary journey ( Acts 13:14-23). After Paul's 1st missionary journey, the Jerusalem Council met around 49 A.D. to discuss the problem of the Gentiles and the Law.

After Paul's 1st missionary journey and after the decision of the Jerusalem Council, false teachers (Judaizers) came into Galatia and infiltrated the churches with their false teaching. Shortly after the Jerusalem Council, Paul wrote his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia.

IV. THE THEME OF GALATIANS:

Salvation is by grace through faith alone.

V. WHY IT WAS WRITTEN:

False teachers attacked Paul's ministry and message. The Judaizers professed to be believers in Jesus as Messiah. Their doctrinal approach was the Gentiles are not in a position of Sons of the Covenant to receive the promises of God until they became Jews, and they follow the Law.

VI. HOW IT WAS WRITTEN:

The form of the letter of Galatians is different from all of the other letters written by Paul. Galatians is the only letter not containing a commendation. It is the only letter written by Paul that is addressed to more than one church.

VII. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BOOK OF GALATIANS:

Galatians is a shorter version of Romans. Romans is considered the "Constitution of the Christian Faith." Galatians is considered to be the Declaration of Independence of the Christian Faith.

VIII. SECTION OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF GALATIANS:

GALATIANS CHAPTERS 1-2 - The Defense of Paul's Ministry and Message

GALATIANS CHAPTERS 3-4 - The Doctrine of Justification

GALATIANS CHAPTERS 5-6 - The Doctrine of Sanctification

I will post Ephesians tonight also. Blessings!

INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS (Part 1):

Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9 that if anybody preaches a gospel that is different than Paul's, let them be accursed. And we're going to see that applied to some false teachers that came into the area of Galatia.

So, he sets himself up. Everyone is going to be judged according to Paul's gospel. It sounds rather arrogant. But at the same time, he has been chosen by God to reveal the mysteries of the church of Christ to the church.

He's also connected to the Lord in that in Galatians 1:11-18, he said he did not receive his gospel through the teachings of man, but rather directly through Jesus Christ, as Christ revealed Himself to Paul as he was out in the Arabian Desert and back into Damascus which was right on the edge of what was called the Arabian Desert at that time.

So, the Lord gave Paul the gospel. Therefore, the teachings of the Lord and the teachings of Paul should be the same. In fact, not only are they the same, but Paul's teachings amplify and explain and go into more detail than some of the teachings that Jesus gave in the gospels. And many times, that Jesus taught in the gospels, He didn't give the answer. He didn't tell what it means.

So, we have to take it in context. And we have that safety valve because whatever conclusions we come up with as far as what Jesus is teaching in the gospels, we have about 63 years of teaching from Romans through Revelation of what they taught in the early church. And so, we can check our understanding to see if we understand that particular issue or teaching correctly. We just put it together.

I. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Paul - Again, his inscription is on all thirteen of his letters.

II. TO WHOM IT WAS WRITTEN:

To several churches in Asia Minor in the region of Galatia.

Hi CJF,

Godhead is a word that is in 3 verses in the KJV. Acts 17:29 Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9. Godhead comes from an Old English word godhede in 1200 AD. In Acts it is the Greek word theios that means divine, manifesting the characteristics of God's nature. In Romans, it is the Greek word theiots that means divinity, divine nature. In Colossians, it is the Greek word theots that mean deity, fulness of deity.

These are three different Greek words that the translators chose to translate Godhead. You ask is the Godhead one God or three persons? Some use this word to refer to the doctrine of the Trinity but in the context of the chapters this word is used, does not refer to that.

Godhead is God the Father himself, it pleased him to have all His divine fullness to dwell in His only begotten Son. The meaning for the word Godhead is the divine nature of God that was manifested in His only begotten Son, John 10:38 John 14:10.

Your question is more about the doctrine of the Trinity I am sure others would reply on that.

I hope this helps,

God bless,

RLW

Thank you , yes , we are all of us ' works in progress' and brothers and sisters in Christ . I try to remember that every Christian I meet has their own personal relationship with God through Christ and we are all at different stages on our journey towards His Kingdom . We must not discourage each other along the way , I'm not the same Christian that I was even two years ago and I'm guessing that's true for most of us . We are learning and growing all the time and must respect each others journey and remember that others may be a bit behind us or a bit ahead of us . We are not in competition with each other and we should be uplifting encouraging and supporting each other along the way . This world is full of awful people who will drag us down and cause us all kinds of pain and sufferings , that shouldn't be how it is between fellow Christians . Jesus died for me , but not just for me , for you and you and you also , I must keep this in mind when posting to people on here . Jesus loves you and even if you get on my nerves sometimes I must must must love you also :) ! You are my brother or my sister , you belong to Christ and he wants you in his Father's Kingdom , so I must treat you with affection and kindness . For his sake we must be patient and kind to each other even if we believe that others are in some way in the wrong we must still be kind . As I said , we are all works in progress , none more than me :) .

Good day, S. Spencer.

Please go back and read my original reply to Jema. In it I said that he received these revelations straight from

Christ when he was 3 years in the desert. This agrees with what you said in this reply.

I said that Paul was intellectually gifted. You said he was brilliant. We agree on this.

The difference here is that I believe that God used the natural talents He had created in Paul in His ministry once he was converted.

You say that God used none of these natural talents after conversion.

So, we disagree on this matter. That's o.k.

The rest of what you posted about me was unnecessary and demeaning of my character. You do not know my mind or heart when I was replying to you. Only God does. I submit to the Holy Spirit as you do. So, I take offense at you presuming to know my mind and heart and for slandering me on this forum.

But I do forgive you and love you in Christ. We both know that love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

Let's move on from this thread. It would be best to do so.

Hi Gigi.

Where we had differences is when you said you disagree with me and said, Paul was a very intelligent man prior to his conversion with many skills and abilities THAT GOD USED AFTER HIS CONVERSION.

We both agree he was an intelligent man.

But my original answer to Gema Question "where did Paul get this specific information from at that time ? I guess Paul was wise for his time.

My answer was he Got it from Christ, But would only understand the things of God by the Holyspirit.

His Wordly wisdom that he possessed knew not the things of God.

God set aside his intellect and spoke plainly so it wouldn't affect the work of God.

Paul said let him that Glory Glory in the Lord.

"The minute we put our eyes on the minister we take our eyes off the Lord.

This is a big deal in the Church today.

God bless.

Amen Jema.

We make up ONE body, and correction is supposed to be for help. God administered "the gift" to the Church.

We had nothing to bring to it!

We need to understand what Lord means to us.

What is he Lord over? Our lives, We live for him as he lives IN US.

And how do he Lord over our lives?

By his Spirit!

We're not ready for ministry until we receive Jesus.

God stands outside of time and he knows who will come to him.

God's preparation for that person may start early.

But once that preparation is displayed where the rubber meets the road, It will glorify God, Not that Person/Vessel.

By the way;

I made a few mistakes in my last post!

Where I said "I consider myself to be a very smart man but that didn't but sickness did.

Somehow I left out a word or two and never proof read this and went right on to bed.

I meant to say, I consider myself to be a very smart man but that didn't cause any Spitual growth in my life.

but sickness did.

When I got sick I got serious and Christ strengthened me!

When I was made weak, I became strong! It's a testimony hard to believe but I believe it was just for me and me only. Not one to share.

When I retired my two small businesses, I began to grow spiritually and like most of us, I have a long way to go.

Before then I got in the way of myself.

We start out as empty vessels!

We need the filling of the Holyspirit and The word of God every step of the way.

When one emphasize in their doctrine there is no need for the Holyspirit as if they have already been supernaturally gifted with worldly wisdom, they're actually saying there is no need for God!!

And next you will see glory seeking and pride in their walk.

We're sowing to the flesh!

our ability to do good in our own power with our bodies, is poisoned with sin. It can't grow the good crop of righteousness and eternal life.

We've all been guilty of this I sure.

It's a life time struggle to get rid of pride.

This is a very important topic.

Back to work.

GB

Texsis,

Oh, thanks for the info..I was not implying that you drink alcohol. I was meaning that sometimes our minds get clouded with the circumstances of the present that we need to have it cleared up to make a reasonable and thoghtful (soberminded) decision.

I will continue to pray for you. I appreciate the new info you have given me. Thanks. I know better how to pray for you. Hope you have a good day.

I would encourage you to watch good live streams on YouTube or Facebook from Harvest Baptist Church or Sheridan Road Baptist Church. They both preach the Word of God in truth. You can find them on both platforms. Harvest Baptist Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa and Sheridan Road Baptist Church in Saginaw, Michigan.

I should have specified, if I stay hear w/the way I'm being treated & seems Im not to think for myself (by son) plus get disrespected daily (by grandson). Can't even (biblically)! spank anymore & his dad don't correct him. Tho I'm truly thankful he isn't a satanist anymore, he needs much prayer cuz refuses to listen to me on Gods word, thinking reading the bible once, he knows all now.

Utah was great.! Ppl aren't as nice & polite as ppl in Texas but it's tolerable if they don't know yur from the 'other side' of the white gate.! I worked for the County & the City plus, already have confirmation to return once Im in town. An extra plus is, I won't get a single Mosquitos bite. I don't drink so I am sober minded just need to wait on Gods confirmation & definitly leave on a good note not in haste.

I so appreciate you GiGi, truly & the prayer was beautiful. Its after 6a, I need a few hrs sleep. Blessing coming yur way. Ooops, almost signed w/my real name..lol.. gnyt...good morning. :)

Wait a minute..I resemble those remarks.! Lol.. I don't know what it is about your prayers for me but you always bring a few glistening tears to my eyes.! Thank you GiGi, as always you are a blessing & my sister in Christ. I always need direction tho I'm not a ppl pleaser anymore, finding myself was hard. Thank God I had a roof over my head when I spent the last 18 yrs being a single mom.

I feel closer to you & ppl on here then most of my own family. Tho my fault for slidding back & my attitude on life. But No more. I will NEVER turn me from Jesus again. Nor will I take a V muchless the mark of the beast, God forbid I'm left behind come rapture.

Till then I will only do what Gods wants of me in all I do (including moving) till He says 'Run' Then (if its not West) it will be straight to the front of gavels line, come time.! With a huge smile on my face :) My kids think I'm crazy cuz I'm not scared of anyone/thing. I pray for the day they too have Gods peace that passes understanding even tho Im still learning His word. Not a perfect soul on earth yet He loves us all. Merely waiting for unbelivers to believe & receive Him.!

How truly awesome is He?? Took me yrs to realize "All I had to do was 'let go & let God" because not paying attention to the footprints on my path, it took me longer.! All is in His time for His glory.! Thnx for the ear GiGi & being a friend.! God bless 'Texsis'.

Is the Godhead one God or 3 persons

What is advantage of the blood of Jesus.

No, Im good. Wasn't raised Penticostal but a friend insisted I wasn't truly saved unless I spoke in tongues & was baptised. Being a believer all my life yet only by hearing pastors speak cuz didn't start reading & studying for myself till I found this app & not being electronically savvy till last few yrs. So basically what I've always believed is true & like I responded to Gianna (spelling of name may be off), a bit ago, pretty much somes up everything you just mentioned. What a sigh of relief this is. Thank you so very much. Thank the Lord I have smart biblically educated ppl to help. Now, I'm going to reach out to my Penicostal friends (may even copy & paste your words cuz I learned to do that recently..lol), for I'm wanting to help as many ppl as possible know the true Jesus before my times up. I truly enjoy it & the more I learn the more excited I am about, some day, going on a mission. No, Im not Lds either. Do you have a sermon app to listen to on Sundays? I listen to Voddie now tho I'm rightly divide, he is great.! God bless 'Texsis'

I asked, is it possible to live in the next life and have no remembrance of this life?

Jesus said" Behold I make all things new".

Again He says "Old things are passed away and all things are new"!

Thinking on these things, the believer will look back if for a moment, while living in the moment.

This life tho constantly changing, the heart of the disciple is focused on the things that do not change.

The love of Christ and His words.

"Tho heaven and earth pass away ,my word shall remain forever!"

So, yes we can.

We dye daily unto Him, who's promise will not fail, even unto eternal life!

Tho we are dying everyday, the life of a Christian is renewed day by day!

The revelation that Christ word is alive and renewing us everyday, is the revelation of the power of God, who is always working in and through us! Thanks be to God!

Repent and be Baptized

34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

What exactly is Jesus saying? Luke 12; 51 Jesus said He came to cause division!

If we live according to the Spirit of God ,it is no longer us but Him that is in us. Also, that offences will come,that we who stand for the truth shall be brought before those who deny Him. Remember what He said, when that day comes, worry not about what to say , that the Holy Spirit will give you the words!

Are we entering into the tribulation? I think not, for we have not resisted unto the shedding of blood!

Never before, even so now, we should be in the paraclete, the comforter. What did Jesus say over and over again? Fear not, for I am with you until the end of time!

The media is satan's tool, otherwise He has no power other than that given to Him by God! We are ambassadors for Christ, and should remember we have power in and through His promises! Repent and be Baptized

So appreciated. So if I understood correctly, speaking in tongues (if not translated) only edifies one self. Yet if someone hears & interprets, it edifies the church because it is of God. Qs: Isn't edifing one self like boasting, for we are not to boast? & it is Not nessesary to speak in tongues to get to heaven (which was my other Qs) because "our believing in Jesus DBR & that HE is the Only way, the Only truth & the Only life that that gets us there", correct? I always believed the last "last part" yet when I was asked if I was sure I was going to heaven, cuz I have never spoke in tongues, I thought I'd ask. Now it make sense. Thnx, God bless 'Texsis'

Yes , thankyou to everyone who has replied to me on this thread . You are correct , the best any Christian can be is a vessel , a vessel of God's love and mercy , may we all be blessed by God to be a vessel for Him to use for whatever purpose He pleases , He is righteous and we are just clay pots :) may He fill us with His Truth and may He send Christ back to us ever so soon . Thy Kingdom Come ! I knew a lady at church , older than me , who would never talk about the Truth . She would talk about only light things , the weather , her holidays , her grandchildren etc . It kind of got on my nerves a bit but I tried not to show it . Evidently I wasn't successful , one day , after she had been waffling on to me about something that was not even vaguely interesting to me , she took a deep breath , looked me straight in the eye and said : I'm sorry I talk too much and never about the things that really matter . The Truth overwhelms me and if I try to talk about it I always start to cry and I make a fool of myself . Please forgive me . I did instantly and realised that we are not all the same :) . It's easy for some of us to speak from our hearts , I always do , which is why I don't always say the right thing :) . Some of us guard our hearts more than others and tend to stick to scripture or a script because we like to keep our hearts under control . God knows us all and loves us all and accepts us all because He can use all of us in His own ways , He makes use of our own personalities , strengths and weaknesses to fulfill His purpose . I think we all have to recognise that we are not all the same and we don't have to be , we are all members of the Body of Christ but we are different members , some of us are hands , some of us are feet etc , we are all needed for the Body to fit together . This is why we have to accept that someone is Christian even if they are a bit different to us , they are still Christians and we need to treat each other with compassion and respect .

Well said, Fred,

And the desire of my heart is to glorify God in my life.

S. Spencer

I am going to overlook most of what you posted her concerning me.

But I do want to point out that you here admit that you think Paul was a brilliant man. That is what I said in my original response to the lead of this thread. And when I said it, you began debating me. We both agree that our own abilities mean nothing if not brought under the authority and work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I conclude that this whole debate is needless. You did not need to go down this road with me. I don't know why you did. But as it is, I am done with this discussion with you. I will consider what you have said of me. I am certainly open for criticism, but I was not in any way was speaking from a carnal position nor praising man rather than God.

His love reigns! Good night brother Spencer.

Amen Carleton.

By the Spirit of truth that worked in him mighty.

Colossians 1:25-29.

Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

God bless you and Good night.

Hi Gigi,

I remember having this debate in the past.

You are twisting my words here.

And changing the narrative.

I didn't say Paul became intellectual when he received the Holyspirit.

I believe Paul was a brilliant man before he became a Christian.

I'm saying everything counted as worthy to him before, he now counts it as dung.

That's what he said!

And he didn't figure anything out of the things of God by his worldly, wisdom.

In fact his worldly wisdom thought that the preaching of the cross was foolishness to the point where he persecuted Christians.

This is why we glorify God because he can take murderers like Paul and King David and regenerate them to be a soldier for him.

I consider myself to be a very smart man but that didn't but sickness did.

When I was made weak, I became strong!

Before then I got in the way of myself.

That goes for all of us!

You have nothing to offer God but sacrifice.

You can be brilliant he can use you.

But he don't have to make you brilliant to do so.

God can get more Glory out of a rock than he can a rocket scientist.

God did not prepare Saul with the wisdom of the world that knew not God!!

Dear Gigi You are praising the vessel. This is a very carnal approach to scripture.

This type of thinking, to glorify Man of any sort is not of the Spirit.

It's a proud look.

Some things in scripture is written plainly.

I'm Sorry but I only can be truthful to you. I'm not partial or Passive but this is a reflection of most your discussions.

You have a exterior understanding but no debt.

I am not trying to insult you but you need to ask God to move you out of the way of yourself!

As Christians we can't claim we love one another and be Passive and partial.

And let's not lie to one another when we know constructive criticism may serve them well.

God bless you Gigi.

Way back when (probably 1986) I started seeking the "Pentecostal experience" As I read scripture, it is a separate and distinct experience over and above the indwelling we receive when we get saved. I could go through and give you all kinds of scripture references about it, but to me that's all dry and stuffy and would make me sound like a theolgian/pastor and all biblical and stuff - let's get real here - I received the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. When I began speaking in that beautiful, unknown language, my eyed popped open and all I could do was stare down at my mouth and watch. Yes, I was doing the speaking as the Spirit gave me the "words" to say. Ain't no way you can tell me tongues ain't real!!!! The Devil isn't going to give you something that will make you love Jesus more, make you want to devour God's Word and give you power to take His Word to others.

Don't be scared to seek to receive more of Him.

1 Corinthians 14

In this chapter the apostle directs them about the use of their spiritual gifts, preferring those that are best and fitted to do the greatest good. I. He begins with advising them of all spiritual gifts to prefer prophesying, and shows that this is much better than speaking with tongues, ver 1-5. II. He goes on to show them how unprofitable the speaking of foreign languages is, and useless to the church; it is like piping in one tone, like sounding a trumpet without any certain note, like talking gibberish; whereas gifts should be used for the good of the church, ver 6-14. III. He advises that worship should be celebrated so that the most ignorant might understand, and join in prayer and praise, and presses the advice by his own example, ver 15-20. IV. He informs them that tongues were a sign for unbelievers rather than those that believe; and represents the advantage of prophecy above speaking with tongues, from the different suggestions they would give to the mind of an unbeliever coming into their assemblies, ver 21-25.

Paul was a chosen vessel. As you have said before His nature was inbred in the things of the law, a Pharisee of Pharisee, from the tribe of Benjamin. With this knowledge why didn't He recognize the truth of Christ ,through the prophets words. Was it because it wasn't accepted as the truth by the Jews? Peer pressure to go ahead ,killing those who were believers?

That in itself would be enough to convert anyone that Jesus is the Son of God.

Imagine, even so today the prominent Jews reject Christ, they say He made Himself equal unto God. What is it the Jew fears in the knowledge of Christ! What is it they deny even today? Perhaps the truth is what they hate! The truth that their sins are revealed, that they cannot go about doing what they will and when they will! Not only the Jew but the Gentile.

Have you experienced the hate that flows toward a believer , even within the church today! A true Christian will be subject even as Paul was! I posted on the church's facebook recently, and was brought before an elder because of where I made my post! Even tho it was clearly from the holy Spirit, it offended some, or maybe just Him.

Even as Paul was put in jail, they wanted Him silenced. You shall find this to be the truth as more and more are being deceived everyday.

There is envy, backbiting, even hate in a congregation that is not centered in the Gospel! Hold fast therefore unto the things we have been taught. Not giving into fables, but glorifying your God in heaven!

Likely too, Saul before conversion knew the Books of Moses well.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 KJV

The LORD God spoke this to the serpent with Adam and Eve able to hear and believe before they were removed from the Garden.

Good afternoon Friends, I would believe that Paul understood what he spoke and wrote by his own experience in being washed by regeneration and renewed by the Holy Ghost. With this being true, Paul understood the Promise was from the beginning.