Background to the Book of Acts – The book of Acts has traditionally been called the Acts of the Apostles and this can be a bit confusing because the contents is not about all the apostles, but primarily on the life of Peter (Chapters 1-12) and Paul (Chapters 13-28) – Rather than a history book…
The Books of Romans, Galatians and Hebrews are being grouped together and presented as a Trilogy of Systematic Theology by the Apostle Paul The three books were written by the Apostle Paul with the primary audiences being the Roman Empire, the remaining Gentile world and all Hebrew/Jewish Christians. — Romans –> Roman Empire, Galatians –>…
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS: Introduction – AUTHOR: PAUL, the Apostle (1:1; 16:21) – PLACE OF WRITING: EPHESUS (16:8) – TIME OF WRITING: Probably in the spring of 57 A.D., shortly before the Jewish feast of Pentecost (16:8), *during his third missionary journey [while in Ephesus] (Ac 19:1-41) – What is the purpose of…
Second Corinthians “A Ministry of Reconciliation” – This is a unique letter with a writing style that is very personal, bold, at times sarcastic, and very defensive – It shares the concern, passion, intimate feelings and thoughts of an Apostle [Paul] who is defending his own apostleship and ministry in a church which he founded…
Introduction: Part 2 of the Apostle Paul’s Trilogy [Romans, Galatians, Hebrews] of Systematic Theology – The Book of Galatians The book of Romans was written to Rome a Gentile Nation that was used to being in charge and used to having their own rights, power, authority and privileges to the extent that the Roman people…
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians – Colossians 4:16 mentions an epistle to the Laodiceans – It has been conjectured that the letter known to us as Ephesians is really the Laodicean letter [retitled] – Probably it was sent to Ephesus and Laodicea without being addressed to any church – The letter…
Philippians: [Apostle] Paul’s Joy in Christ – Philippi was Paul’s pride and joy – Arms of friendship extended between Paul and the believers at Philippi that didn’t exist in the other churches – None of his other letters has such abundant expressions of tender personal dedication and benevolence as this letter – Luke seems to…
Background on Colossians: As far as we know Paul never visited Colossae, at least not at the time he wrote this epistle; he had only “heard” about the church at Colossae (1:4, 9; 2:1) – {Note: The book of Colossians is an extraordinary book of the Bible often the favorite book of the Bible for…
1 Thessalonians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary – The Thessalonian epistles were written to the church at Thessalonica – It was a church under persecution, but also a church that had a dynamic testimony and that had grown through the persecution – Significantly, in every chapter of 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle sought to comfort and…
2 Thessalonians – They thought that they were already in ‘the day of the Lord’ just preceding Christ’s [2nd Coming] return – This doctrinal problem caused a practical issue – Some of the members, *convinced that the end was near, had given up their jobs, and were living in idleness waiting for the Lord –…