Understanding Paul’s Message to the Colossians

There is a great deal of confusion in the minds of many Christians when it comes to God’s expectations and the role of the law in the life of the Christian. Perhaps, you have wrestled with some of these questions:

• Was the law “nailed to the cross?”
• Does “grace” eliminate the need for the law?
• Are there different standards for Jew and Gentile?
• Are the ten commandments still valid, but the statutes are not?
• Was Paul’s attitude in opposition to the teachings of James and other new covenant writers in regards to the law?
• What is the unified message that the scriptures present concerning the law of God?
• How should we understand the concepts of torah in the Hebrew scriptures and nomos in the Greek scriptures?
• And how will this vital knowledge transform our hearts and minds?
  Let the scriptures speak for themselves, so you can know God’s mind on these matters!

Mystery of Lawlessness: Understanding Colossians

When the apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that “the mystery of lawlessness was already at work,” he was confirming that the things Jesus had prophesied were already coming to pass within decades after Christ’s death. Later, John’s writings confirm that John also had to confront the false teachers who were preaching a gospel of “anomia/lawlessness” and leading many away from the truth. And what of our time? What is the reality in most of the Christian world, when it comes to teaching about God’s law; must we be aware and wary of the anti-nomians, those who teach, “anomia?” More

Pentecost/Feast of Weeks:

Pentecost celebrates the awesome power of the voice of the Eternal delivering the covenant from Mt. Sinai amidst the thunder and lightning. It also commemorates the giving of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the Church of God, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Messiah. Pentecost, Shavuot, Feast of Weeks is an annual Sabbath rich in meaning for all those who believe in the hope of the resurrection.

And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD…And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. Leviticus 23:15-21

Pentecost: Ruth and the Tale of Two Covenants

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  Christians are called to fight an ongoing battle against a spiritual adversary. But this is only possible if we are being transformed by the Spirit of God. Peter encourages believers to stay alert and watch out, so we can successfully conquer and be victorious in our struggles. We win this spiritual warfare by becoming holy as God is holy. It is only the spirit of God that will give us the courage of our convictions, and the godly character that will set us apart from this world. How does this happen?

• Road to Pentecost — What Spirit Motivates You?

  

  A Lesson from James and John

  What kind of spirit motivates people to do what they do? To answer that question, Luke, wrote of Jesus’ journey with this disciples to Jerusalem. Along the road the weary travellers asked to stay in a Samaritan village, but they were rebuffed. Why? Because the Samaritans saw that the group was on their way to Jerusalem. Now, there had been 500 years of contention between Jews and Samaritans over where one should worship. It had begun long before in the time of Zerubbabel when the Samaritans had tried to undermine the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. So there was a long-standing ethnic feud that prompted the Samaritan’s reaction to Jesus and his disciples. Their sin was a mere lack of hospitality to travel worn strangers. What would you have done if you walked in their sandals?

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