CHAPTER 9 READING SOMEONE ELSE S LETTERS

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 9 READING SOMEONE ELSE S LETTERS

2 New Testament documents wri1en over a 50 year period. Paul s le1ers from 50-65AD Mark 65-70AD Ma1hew, Luke around 80AD John around 90AD RevelaJon around 9AD Jerusalem and Temple destroyed 70AD

3 We begin aner the ascension of Jesus with a small Jewish sect of about 120 people. Most Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Saul was part of this group and was given authority to arrest and persecute the leaders of this new Jewish sect. Why did the Jewish hierarchy do this?

4 Saul was from Tarsus.

5 How did Paul become a Roman cigzen? During this Jme of Pompey (67 BC), Tarsus was made capital over the Roman province of Cilicia, and Jews began to receive Roman cijzenship. So probably Saul s father was made a Roman cijzen.

6 How did being from Tarsus influence Paul s ministry. Tarsus grew into a cultural and intellectual center. So Paul experienced a lot of Roman and Greek culture.

7 Why did Saul change from being a persecutor? He met Jesus on the road to Damascus around 33AD.

8 Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, but was Paul ever filled with the Holy Spirit? Read Acts 9:17 Throughout the NT we see people change aner an encounter with the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Saul, the disciples. Can you say that you have encountered the Holy Spirit, and if so, what changes have you seen in your own life?

9 Somewhere between 44-48AD (10-15 years aner his conversion), Paul felt called to take the Gospel to the non-jewish world. Why did it take Paul years to begin taking the Gospel to non-jews? Why in the world would Paul, who was not just a Jew, but a Pharisee even want to take the Gospel to non-jews? Read Acts 13:44-49 V. 47 from Isaiah 49:6

10 Paul takes his first journey.

11 When Paul enters a town, he would first preach to the Jews in the synagogue. When he was asked to leave the synagogue, he would preach to the genjles. Paul preaches death, resurrecjon, forgiveness of sins, and everlasjng life.

12 The fledgling churches would have quesjons and encounter challenges, so they would send messages to Paul. Paul would respond to their le1ers offering encouragement, answers, and somejmes correcjon. Is it OK to draw generalizagons from the specific issues in these le^ers? For example 1 Cor. 14: Timothy 2:11-12

13 Since this is a big issue within the UMC, what does Paul say about homosexuality? Read 1 Corinthians 6:9 Read 1 Timothy 1:8-11

14 There are two Greek words he used, arsenokoitai and malakos, that are used today to condemn homosexuals in the Bible. Most of the English translajons describe malakos as "weak" or "effeminate" - neither of which mean homosexual. arsenokoitai is typically translated as "abusers of themselves" or "sodomites", both of which are vague. The Hebrew word for Sodomite is Qadesh and is never used in the Bible to mean homosexual.

15 So what does Paul say about homosexuality - actually nothing. The word homosexual did not appear unjl Up unjl then we were dealing with an act, not a sexual preference as we know it today.

16 The best way to understand Paul s le1ers is to understand the context in which they were wri1en. What was going on in that parjcular church? What was society like at that Jme? ANer his death, many le1ers were collected and circulated among the churches. When reading the le1ers of Paul, you need to ask yourself how does this message speak to my life today. Have you spent any Gme doing this or do you just take them literally?

17 For Paul Jesus revealed God to us Fulfilled the requirements of the Law of Moses Moses covenant was now set aside New covenant with Jesus Law no longer binding Circumcision and conversion to Judaism no longer necessary for GenJles to receive salvajon Faith in Christ all that is needed

18 Many Jewish ChrisJans believe The Law was sjll binding Circumcision sjll required Must convert to Judaism What are your thoughts on this division between the two groups?

19 The Judaizing ChrisJans would follow behind Paul into the cijes to correct Paul s inadequate theology and lead the new ChrisJans to become Jews. We see this in the book of GalaJans.

20 Paul believed that salvajon was a gin from God made possible by the death and resurrecjon of Jesus. It is accepted by faith, not earned by works. How do you feel about this theology?

21 Some early ChrisJans did not agree with Paul and his group includes some who had actually known Jesus. How do you feel knowing that some of Jesus original 12 disciples did not agree with Paul? How does Paul s teaching differ from that of Jesus?

22 Here are some verses in the Gospels Read Ma^hew 19:16-21 Read Ma^hew 25:40-46 Read Luke 10:25-28 Read John 3:16 Read John 5:24

23 Here are some verses in Paul s le1ers Read Romans 10:9 Read Romans 6:21-23 Read Romans 5:6-10 Read Romans 3:23 Read Ephesians 2:1-10 So if someone asks you how to gain eternal life, what would you answer?

24 Paul recognized that the emphasis on grace alone is that some might interpret it to mean that so long as you had faith in Christ you can do whatever you want. These people were called liberjnes. Do you believe that if you have confessed your sins and accepted Jesus, and been bapgzed by watrer then you are good to go to get ito heaven?

25 At the other end of the spectrum is legalism. What is legalism? Legalism - dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith. ChrisJan churches and individuals must carefully navigate between legalism and libertarianism. How do you do that in your own life?

26 In GalaJans we see one of the first theological conflicts in the early church. We see tension and disagreements between leaders of the two groups Peter and Paul. Who do you tend to side with Peter and the teachings of Jesus or Paul?

27 Consider how America has changed since What has changed? Separate but equal was the law of the land. Discriminatory laws and cultural pracjces were developed in a najon where over 90% of the people who made the laws claimed to be followers of Jesus yet they saw no problems with colored drinking fountains, pools, schools.

28 How do you feel about laws in the country or in the UMC Discipline that discriminate? The author says that we have to understand the original intenjon of the books, their historical and cultural context. How much Gme do you spend doing this?

29 The author says that we need to discern how these books apply to us today. How much Gme do you spend doing this?

30 Paul speaks strongly against circumcision. Yet many parents choose to ignore this. How do you decide which parts of the Bible are OK to ignore?

31 The author says that there is room to quesjon the Bible in terms of the circumstances and cultural assumpjons that led the writers to write as they did and ask if the writers would have wri1en the same thing to you if they were wrijng today. Name one way you quesgon the Bible?