Revelation
Dec 20, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
.:mood:. Accomplished
.:podcast:. Mi Amigo Rudolpho by Voicedude
Well, with this post, I finally wrap up my quick summary of New Testament books.
Revelation
Author
The Apostle John
Intended Audience
To seven churches in Asia (modern day Turkey): Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea,
Theme
This book starts with the most popular portion of Revelation: the letters to the churches. These are a stunning warning to these churches, which all Chrsitians should take to heart. These letters spell out how important it is for Christians to live a godly life and it reminds us all that someday Jesus will come and deal with sin once and for all.
The rest of the book is written to reveal the events surrounding the second coming of Jesus (when he will deal with sin once and for all). It also talks about the thousand year reign of Jesus here on earth. This caused some (such as Martin Luther) to doubt that John was it’s author and that it was Scripture. The reason? It disagreed with his theology. That is part of the problem with letting our theology interpret scripture instead of the other way around.
Random Thoughts
It’s very appropriate that the New Testament ends with the book of Revelation. First of all, because it was the last written of all the books in the Bible. Secondly, it deals so clearly with Jesus’ return, which is something we should always keep at the forefront of our minds.
I end this brief New Testament Survey the same way John ends Revelation:
Revelation 22:20-21
He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.
Tags: new testament
1 Timothy
Nov 30, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
.:mood:. Amazing Amazing Amazing
.:itunes:. She Don’t Use Jelly by The Flaming Lips
1 Timothy
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
His protege Timothy
Theme
Timothy was a young pastor that Paul had mentored. He travelled a lot with Paul and was quite often Paul’s messenger, delivering letters for him and bringing news back.
After a visit to Ephesus, Paul left Timothy behind to give some extremely needed guidance to the church. This letter is Paul encouraging Timothy in this work.
Timothy was likely a kinda shy guy who was constantly looked down on because of his age. Paul, therefore, encourages him to step up to the plate and make stuff happen in the church. One of the key passages is this one:
1 Timothy 4:11-13
Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
Specifically, Paul addresses false teachers (are we catching that theme yet), how the church should behave on a whole and as different groups (olders, youngers, slaves, masters, men, women, etc), what a pastor/elder looks like in the church, and what deacons look like in the church.
Random Thoughts
This is a cool letter because it is a turn for Paul from church-wide letters. Here, he writes a personal letter to a young man he had mentored. Obviously, there is instruction here for the whole church, but he expects Timothy to teach the church these things.
Tags: new testament
2 Thessalonians
Nov 29, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
.:mood:. In Between
.:itunes:. Candy Guru by Chagall Guevara
2 Thessalonians
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
The Church in Thessalonica
Theme
Sometime after the writing of 1 Thessalonians, Paul got a report back about how things were going. There was good news and bad news. The good news was that they church continued to grow and stand up under the pressure of persecution. The bad news was that false teaching had crept in.
Again, just like the last letter, Paul spends some time talking about Jesus’ return. This is striking because there are so many Christians today who don’t believe in this central doctrine. These verses are particularly appropriate:
2 Thess 2:1-4 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
Paul also reminds them to live lives that were worthy of Jesus. In particular, he warns against laziness in the church.
Random Thoughts
It’s amazing to me how often the Bible warns about false teaching and how plain some teachings (such as the return of Jesus) are. And yet, we sometimes deny these teachings and are afraid to confront false teachings when they pop up.
Tags: new testament
1 Thessalonians
Nov 28, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
.:mood:. Good
.:itunes:. The Fine Line by Adam Again
1 Thessalonians
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
The Church in Thessalonica
Theme
Paul and Timothy had planted this church and after they left things seemed to be very difficult for the church. Paul sent Timothy back to care for them and when he returned, apparently he brought good news.
This letter is Paul’s response to the church following Timothy’s report. He encouraged them in their faith and ability to stand strong during times of persecution. He also addresses a few things these young Christians needed to be reminded of. Namely, the necessity of living a life that honors Jesus, the fact that Jesus is coming back, and the need to honor their spiritual leaders.
Random Thoughts
Thessalonica was named after Alexander the Great’s half-sister who was married to one of his generals (Cassander) who built the city.
Tags: new testament
Colossians
Nov 27, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
OK, so a long time ago I started a journey through the New Testament, detailing a quick summary of each of the books. In my busyness the last few months, I lost track of this journey. Now, I’m back. We’ll see if we can finish it this time. We pick up with Paul in prison…
Colossians
Author
Paul (while he was in jail)
Intended Audience
The Church in Colosse
Theme
This book was written, in part, to correct some false teaching in the church. This particular false teaching was a big deal, because over the centuries it gave birth to gnosticism.
Paul was combating several specific heresies in the church:
First, that the church had to continue to observe Old Testament laws. I’m blown away at the frequency Paul has to combat this particular line of thinking. You can look back on my notes on Galatians for another example. And even with the clear Scriptural teaching on this, it continues to be a problem in the church today (nearly 2000 years after Paul pens these words).
Second, these heresies were deeply philosophical. In other words, they elevated human logic over God’s word.
Third, there was an arogance that came with these teachings. Those that agreed with them saw themselves as the “elite.” Again, I’m amazed at how often I see this in the church today. I have heard Christians describe their little sect as “the remnant” or the “true church,” excluding all other believers.
Paul combatted these three things first by encouraging the believers to essentially grow up. Jesus is everything–we are secondary to him. That simple argument eventually dismantles all three of these false teachings.
Random Thoughts
Did I mention the Christians were worshipping angels?
Tags: new testament
Philippians
Aug 23, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
//MOOD: A Bit Tired
//ITUNES: Ammunition from the album “The Beautiful Letdown” by Switchfoot
Philippians
Author
Paul (while he was in jail)
Intended Audience
The Church in Phillipi
Theme
Paul wants the church to stand firm and unified in the face of persecution. He also wants them to face whatever they need to face with joy.
He uses Jesus as the ultimate example of someone who lays down his life joyfully for others and then he encourages us to follow his example.
Random Thoughts
Steve did a great series on this book. You can download his teachings here.
Tags: new testament
Ephesians
Aug 19, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
//MOOD: Ready to Go Home
//DVD: Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Ephesians
Author
Paul (while he was in jail)
Intended Audience
The Church in Ephesus
Theme
This book doesn’t address any specific problems in the Ephesian church, rather it deals with the fact that the church is the body of Christ, and that he is the head of the church.
Random Thoughts
In painting the picture of a body, with Christ as the head and believers as the rest of the body, Paul shows us how vital each one of us is in the work Jesus is doing on earth and why each of us should play that part to the best of our ability. Not so that we can become a part of the body, but precisely because we already are a part of the body.
Tags: new testament
Galatians
Aug 18, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
//MOOD: In Between, Really
//NOISE: Boys Playing Video Games
We have now officially hit my favorite book in the New Testament. In fact, I was going to tattoo my favorite word from this book on my body, but my jerk friend Dave stole the idea. Actually, he asked permission and I, being the loving friend I am said “OK.”
Galatians
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
The Churches in Galatia.
This is the only one of Paul’s letters written to a group of churches instead of one.
Theme
The theme of this book is found in my favorite word in this verse:
Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
In context, what Paul is teaching is that we have “freedom from extremes.” The beauty of this book is that Paul combats those that would apply Old Testament laws to New Testament believers. But, he doesn’t stop there. He also combats those that would use grace as a means to sin. In other words, those that keep sinning because they know they are forgiven and free.
We are free from extremes! We don’t have to sin and we don’t have to keep the law. It’s all about balance.
Random Thoughts
What the Galatian churches were encountering is the same thing we are in our culture. There are those that add to Christianity and try to get us to keep the law and there are those that flaunt their freedom and harm the message of Jesus in the process. We need to constantly live the life Paul calls us to in Galatians.
If “freedom from extremes” is a crazy concept for you to grasp, you should come to Riverview in 8 or 9 days (8/26 and 8/27). I am launching a new series going through Titus and this is a theme there, as well. I am hitting on it during the opening message.
Tags: new testament
The Corinthian Letters
Aug 16, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
//MOOD: Extremely Tired…I Didn’t Sleep Well
//NOISE: Boys Eating Honey Nut Cheerios
OK, here’s the Corinthian timeline, the best we have it:
- Paul visits Corinth
- Paul writes first letter to the church in Corinth (which we do not have)
- Paul writes second letter to the church in Corinth (1st Corinthians)
- Paul visits Corinth again (and calls it “painful” – 2nd Corinthians 2:1)
- Paul writes a third letter to the church in Corinth (which, again, we do not have)
- Paul writes a fourth letter to the church in Corinth (2nd Corinthians)
- Paul visits Corinth for a third time
1st Corinthians
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
The Church in Corinth.
Most of the Christians were Gentiles, although there was a Jewish population in the church, as well. Many of the Christians were very very poor (2/3 of the population of Corinth were slaves), while some of the believers were incredibly wealthy and had rooms in their houses that could seat hundreds of people (that is most likely where they held their church services).
Theme
Butt-whoopin’.
The church in Corinth was just as screwed up as the city itself. There were divisions in the church, there was disruptive and disorderly worship, there was even a guy sleeping with his step-mom. The church followed people’s personalities instead of God, creating a “celebrity pastor” mentality. It’s interesting to note that the church was fighting over which leader they liked better and there is not indication that the leaders themselves were causing that problem.
This book was Paul rebuking the church for all of its problems. He clears up doctrine on everything from marriage to worship services to spiritual gifts to the resurrection of Jesus.
Random Thoughts
Corinth was a freakin’ huge city. The population was 700,000 or so. For reference, if you add up Ingham, Clinton, and Eaton Counties, you get roughly 450,000 people. Corinth was more like Detroit (which has 900,000).
Corinth had the reputation of being a worldly / sinful city. In his work Republic, Plato’s description of a hooker was “a Corinthian girl.”
Paul repeatedly contrasts men’s wisdom with Gods. In fact, the word wisdom appears almost 30 times.
2nd Corinthians
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
The Church in Corinth.
Most of the Christians were Gentiles, although there was a Jewish population in the church, as well. Many of the Christians were very very poor (2/3 of the population of Corinth were slaves), while some of the believers were incredibly wealthy and had rooms in their houses that could seat hundreds of people (that is most likely where they held their church services).
Theme
This letter is the most personal of all of Paul’s letters. Even though they are a church filled with crazy people who are fickle and inconsistent, Paul loves them and you can see it big time in this letter.
Paul writes a letter that shows that he is encouraged big time because of how they have responded to his teaching. They have been a very teachable people.
But there is a new problem in the church: false teachers. And not just false teachers, but false teachers who were talking smack about Paul. So Paul writes this letter to remind them of his authority and after that is established, remind them of his message and the things he had already taught them.
Random Thoughts
It’s cool to see that this messed up church had really taken Paul’s rebuke in 1 Corinthians seriously. They were teachable and humble, which was so counter to their culture.
Unfortunately, their teachableness led to them being susceptible to false teachers. Paul, like any good pastor, defended good doctrine and opposed the false teachers in the church.
Tags: new testament
Romans
Aug 15, 2006 New Testament Book Summaries
//MOOD: Good
//NOISE: Korean TV Show About Synchronized Swimming
As we move onto Romans, we move away from the Historical part of the New Testament and onto the “Pauline Epistles.” While the first five books were all about the life and ministry of Jesus and the start of the church, the Pauline Epistles explain how the Christian life is played out in the life of a Christian.
Romans
Author
Paul
Intended Audience
Romans (both Jew and Gentile)
Theme
The theme of Romans is summarized in these verses:
Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Basically, in Romans, Paul clearly paints how God saves a sinner. He wanted them to know clearly how Jesus’ death and resurrection affects a believer’s past, present, and future.
He also had to deal with issues the church was encountering because their were both Jewish and Gentile believers in the church. So, in this book, he clearly explains how salvation is available to both the Jews and the Gentiles.
Random Thoughts
Ironically, Paul (the “Apostle to the Gentiles”) always wanted to go to Rome to work with the church there. Unfortunately, he only made it there as a prisoner and was never able to actually work in the church.
The words “righteousness” or “righteous” appear over 60 times in Romans.
The book is very logical and is each chapter builds on the last. This is not a book that can be read easily in a “point and read” fashion.
Tags: new testament
