The Apostle Paul is seriously upset. Churches in the Roman province of Galatia that he had worked very hard and even risked his life to plant were now falling for a false gospel – one that required them to keep Jewish customs and rituals. He is writing to them to set the record straight. They need to stick to the truth of the gospel and not let anything, not even these seemingly biblical elements, cause them to depart from it, add to it, or modify it in any way.
Dan Petersen was here today visiting from Glasgow, Scotland. As always, it was great to have the Petersens around. Please listen to this thoughtful and well-spoken message from Dan, talking about what God has planned for His people.
You might say the church in Corinth had a very impractical faith. They had trouble connecting reality with spirituality. As Paul ends his first letter to the church in Corinth he brings up a bunch of very practical stuff. Paul’s spirituality was firmly planted in the real world.
Listen: 1 Cor 16.mp3
Read Notes: Cor 16.pdf
What are we to make of the kind, benevolent person, virtuous in every way, who has no faith in Jesus? Often it is put to us very pointedly: “My grandmother is a wonderful woman. She is kind to strangers, generous to charity, loved and admired by all who know her.. But my grandmother is Jewish – or Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Secular Humanist – you fill in the blank. Are you telling me that she is on her way to hell just because she doesn’t believe in Jesus? What kind of cruel, unreasonable god do you serve, anyway?”
In Romans 10 Paul can help us see this conundrum from God’s perspective.
Listen: Romans10.mp3
Read Notes: Rom10.pdf
Central Reflections 