Acts 18:24–28

I have been on a trip to Paris and Amsterdam to visit my granddaughter who is studying French in Nantes, France. Her mother, my daughter, and two of my sisters traveled with me. What an amazing trip. My passport arrived 2 days prior to our departure…what a crazy way to start a trip!! 

Jesus is the Christ, the hope of mankind, given to all who will accept and believe in Him. Holy Spirit is God’s gift to believers, to teach them the way of truth, in Jesus. He will get us safely home!

The Gospel of Grace seems too simple to most.  But God so loved the world that He wrapped the salvation of the world in the birth, death and resurrection, in the form of a man but in the power of God.

The simplicity of the Gospel of Grace saves all who accept it!

Acts 18:24–28

24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. The New King James Version

Although he was Jewish, Apollos was probably knowledgeable in other customs since he came from a major Roman city where Jews were more influenced by Graeco-Roman culture than they were in Judaea and the nearby regions. This Roman province, across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus, includes Corinth and Athens. Faithlife Study Bible

Apollos, was born at Alexandria. This Jew with a Greek name was from the second largest city in the Roman Empire. Alexandria was a seaport on the northern coast of Egypt. Founded by Alexander the Great, the city was very cosmopolitan. Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks all lived there; over a quarter of the population was Jewish. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures had been produced in that city about 150 years before the birth of Jesus. The city was famous for its great library and was considered the cultural and educational center of the world. 

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. John’s followers had scattered throughout Asia Minor and into Egypt. Apollos was a disciple of John the Baptist. Apparently he did not know about the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the sending of the Holy Spirit.   

Many of the believers in Corinth were Gentiles and were easy targets for opponents who knew the Hebrew Scriptures. However, the arguments of these Jews did not stand up against the brilliance of Apollos, the new Jewish Christian apologist. The NKJV Study Bible

Apollos taught in the gospel of Christ, as far as John’s ministry would carry him, and no further. We cannot but think he had heard of Christ’s death and resurrection, but he was not informed as to the mystery of them. Though he had not the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, as the apostles, he made use of the gifts he had. The dispensation of the Spirit, whatever the measure of it may be, is given to every man to profit withal. He was a lively, affectionate preacher; fervent in spirit. He was full of zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of precious souls. Here was a complete man of God, thoroughly furnished for his work. Aquila and Priscilla encouraged his ministry, by attendance upon it. They did not despise Apollos themselves, or undervalue him to others; but considered the disadvantages he had laboured under. And having themselves got knowledge in the truths of the gospel by their long intercourse with Paul, they told what they knew to him. Young scholars may gain a great deal by converse with old Christians. Those who do believe through grace, yet still need help. As long as they are in this world, there are remainders of unbelief, and something lacking in their faith to be perfected, and the work of faith to be fulfilled. If the Jews were convinced that Jesus is Christ, even their own law would teach them to hear him. The business of ministers is to preach Christ. Not only to preach the truth, but to prove and defend it, with meekness, yet with power.  Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Acts 18:5 Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

1 Corinthians 15:3-11

The wisdom of God is foolishness to our flesh. The Spirit within us tells us the truth!

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures.

He died in our place, for our sins, and the sins of the world. Only His death and resurrection saves us. BELIEVE!

The Risen Christ, Our Hope!

The apostle Paul shaped history, yet Paul would die in the jail of a despot. No headlines announced his execution. No observer recorded the events. Doesn’t look like a hero. The fellow who changes the oil in your car could be a hero. Maybe as he works he prays, asking God to do with the heart of the driver what he does with the engine. I know, I know, it doesn’t fit our image of a hero. Max Lucado

This hope we have in Christ is both present and future. Right now, we live in light of what He's done to redeem us, justify us and sanctify us (1 Corinthians 6:11). We know His promises are sure (2 Corinthians 1:20-22).

We also look forward to the fulfillment of God's promises regarding our eternal future with Him. We feel the sting of death now, but we know Christ has won the victory over the grave (Corinthians 15:54-55). We look forward to the day when we will be with the Lord forever (2 Corinthians 5:1;  2 Corinthians 5:6-7). First5

1 Corinthians 15:3-11

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. The New King James

Paul did not originate the proclamation of Jesus that he delivered to the Corinthians; he simply gave the Corinthians what he himself had received. He viewed himself as a link in a long chain of witnesses to the truth of the death and resurrection of Christ. 

Christ died for our sins. Christ’s death dealt decisively with our sins. He suffered in our place to endure the just wrath of God against us. Christ lived and died in accordance with the prophecies about Him in the OT. 

The Resurrection verifies the fact that Christ’s death paid the full price for sin. The Greek term translated rose here is in the perfect tense, emphasizing the ongoing effects of this historical event. Christ is a risen Savior today. 

At the time of Paul’s writing, a person could have verified the truthfulness of the apostle’s statements. The majority of the five hundred people who saw the risen Christ, as well as all the apostles and James (the half brother of Jesus), were still living. 

Born out of due time is probably Paul’s comment on the unique way he became an apostle. Unlike the other apostles, who had the benefit of an initial training period with Christ, Paul became an apostle abruptly, with no opportunity for earthly contact with Christ or His teaching. 

Paul considered himself the least of the apostles because at one time he had persecuted the church. Even though Paul got a late start and did not have the discipleship training that the other apostles did, he traveled further, established more churches, and wrote more Scripture than all of them. But Paul attributed his success to the grace of God. 

Paul did not care who got credit for the Corinthians’ faith. He cared only that the Corinthians believed. The NKJV Study Bible

Paul emphasizes the continuity of his message with the early church’s teaching. Burial signifies the confirmation and finality of death. He appeared refers to a physical sighting of Christ with his eyes—not merely a vision. The number of witnesses adds credibility to the claim. In the same way that a person sleeps and awakes, the Christian who dies will arise to life. All of these people saw the risen Christ. 

One born at the wrong time refers to the abnormal manner in which Paul became an apostle. The Greek word used by Paul here, ektrōma, sometimes translated as “abortion,” suggests that Paul considered himself different than the other apostles. For Paul, this “abnormality” serves as proof of his apostleship. Paul considers his apostleship to be a sign of God’s grace and mercy because he did not deserve it. 

Paul uses the Greek word ekklēsia here to refer to all Christians, especially those in Jerusalem. 

Paul acknowledges that he become an apostle through God’s grace. He recognizes that he does not deserve such a gift. Faithlife Study Bible

Isaiah 53:10 

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, 

He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Mark 16:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Luke 24:34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

Luke 24:36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.”

Acts 26:22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—

John 14:1-4 BELIEVE

Jesus prepares a place for us, within the Body of Christ, that only you can fill.

He is the only way home!

1 Corinthians 2:12 (ESV) "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God."

We are tempted to value the influential and powerful. We struggle with our inclination to exalt teachers who are compelling and persuasive over those who are humbly teaching the Word of God. We are lured by the lie of sexual freedom outside of marriage and the celebration of behavior that God calls sin. We sometimes misplace our hope and trust in the things of this world, which is idolatry. We act selfishly rather than humbly loving others with the spiritual and material gifts God has given us. The answer to these problems, both then and now, flows from the saving work of Jesus Christ. First5 

Philippians 1:6 says, “God began doing a good work in you, and he will continue until it is finished.” May I spell out the message? God isn’t finished with you yet! Max Lucado

John 14:1–4

14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” The New King James Version

Jesus is referring to the heavenly abode, where God the Father sits enthroned. Jesus had already declared God’s symbolic earthly dwelling, the temple, to be insignificant in comparison to God’s work through His new temple, Jesus. This and Jesus’ condemnation of the conduct of the earthly keepers of His “Father’s house” establish Jesus as a better, heavenly alternative. 

Heaven is depicted as God’s throne and the earth as God’s footstool. This is symbolically represented in the temple as the cherubim wings being God’s throne (heaven) and the ark of the covenant being His footstool (earth). 

There is room for many people in God’s kingdom and His heavenly abode, where those who accept Jesus dwell eternally. 

The person and work of Jesus serves as believers’ pathway to God the Father. Jesus is the source and power of believers’ resurrection to eternal life. Jesus denies there is any other method but belief in Him for receiving eternal life. 

In the first century, the Pharisees proposed that people could receive eternal life by obeying the law. The Sadducees didn’t believe in eternal life or the resurrection of the dead, so they would have seen this as a moot point. Most Jewish people followed the Pharisees’ beliefs, but they did not abide by all their rules. Doing so would have been virtually impossible, especially for anyone who wasn’t very wealthy, due to the requirements for labor, sacrifices, and giving. Jesus claims that these things are not the way to eternal life, which can be attained only through belief in Him 

This claim does not mean people are free to sin—rather they are called to love one another as Jesus has loved them. Salvation does not come through the law, sacrifices, religious practices, or the overthrow of foreign oppressors—all of which were beliefs held by Jews in the first century. Instead, Jesus Himself is the channel through which people can have relationship with God the Father and spend eternity with Him. Faithlife Study Bible

After announcing Judas’s betrayal, His own imminent departure, and Peter’s denial, Jesus told His disciples not to be troubled, but to trust Him. 

Mansions refers to dwelling places. Everybody has a longing for a permanent, secure place. Such places have already been set aside for all of God’s children.

I will come again and receive you: Peter may have failed Jesus, but Christ will not fail to return for Peter and for everyone else who has believed in Him. The NKJV Study Bible

believe (Gk. pisteuō) 

Strong’s #4100: The Greek word for believe literally means “to place one’s trust in another”; it occurs over 90 times in the Gospel of John alone. To believe in Jesus is to believe in His person and to trust in Him completely for salvation (3:15, 16). Many of Jesus’ contemporaries believed in Jesus’ miraculous powers, but they would not believe in Jesus Himself (6:23–26). Others wanted to believe in a political Messiah, but would not believe in the One who suffered for their sins (Mark 15:32). But we must be careful to believe and trust in the Jesus presented in the Scriptures, in the Son of God who sacrificed His life for our sins (Gal. 1:3, 4; Phil. 2:5–8).

1 John above all LOVE

Only by the precious blood of the Lamb are we saved. His spotless life given in exchange for ours. GOD IS LOVE…No greater love exists!

Let’s give Mark Hack the last word. "Let someone love you the way you are--as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you sometimes feel, and as unaccomplished as you think you are. To believe that you must hide all the parts of you that are broken, out of fear that someone else is incapable of loving what is less than perfect, is to believe that sunlight is incapable of entering a broken window and illuminating a dark room.” SabbathMoments 

Draw us forth, God of all creation.
Draw us forward and away from limited certainty
into the immense world of your love.
Give us the capacity to even for a moment
taste the richness of the feast you give us.
Give us the peace to live with uncertainty,
with questions,
with doubts.
Help us to experience the resurrection anew
with open wonder and an increasing ability
to see you in the people of Easter.
Amen. (Author Unknown)

John most likely wrote this letter with two purposes in mind—one pastoral and one polemical. John’s pastoral purpose was to promote fellowship. But for the believers to have true fellowship, they needed to understand the true nature of God. Thus the pastoral purpose naturally leads to the polemical purpose, which was to protect his readers against the deceptive ideas of false teachers. If the believers were deceived by false doctrine, they would eventually lose their unity, which is possible only in the love of Christ. Evidently some deceivers had arisen among the believers. If Christians could sort out truth from falsehood, they would be able to maintain their unity in the faith and have an opportunity to show love to their fellow believers. For John, a person’s behavior was naturally a result of that person’s belief. The NKJV Study Bible

1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.

2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.

3:11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,

The New King James Version

John is writing to address a division in the community of believers. This community might have been located in Ephesus, where the Apostle John resided near the end of his life.

God is light is a  common metaphor in the old testament and Jewish literature for God’s perfection God’s light serves as a beacon for the righteous and leads others to Him. Darkness serves as a metaphor for sin, unrighteousness, and wickedness

Those who do wrong by others reveal themselves to not be in right relationship with God. A person’s actions should be the first measure of whether they are in relationship with God.

Those whom God has fathered spiritually (believers in Christ) enjoy a relationship with Him, they have been adopted as God’s children. As Father, God provides His children with guidance through the Spirit. John’s use of this language reflects God’s act of making people one with Him and restoring the image that God intended for humanity in the beginning.

Trying to deceive refers to the antichrists.

John may have inherited this language about the false-messiah from Jesus’ discussion of the end times. Jesus had noted that those who falsely claim authority—as anointed (messianic) leaders—would come. 

From the beginning loving one another has always been foundational for faith. Faithlife Study Bible

The primary reason John writes is to provide his readers with an understanding of what they must do to have fellowship with the apostles and God. Fellowship carries both the idea of a positive relationship that people share and participation in a common interest or goal.

God is light by nature, in His essential being, just as He is Spirit and love. Light refers to God’s moral character. God is holy, untouched by any evil or sin.

Since God is righteous, those who practice righteousness will be recognized as being born of God. This verse does not say that everyone who is born of God practices righteousness. Believers can walk in darkness and sin. The point here is that when a child exhibits the nature of his or her father, he or she is perceived as the child of the father.

Love for one another, which here means fellow Christians, proves our spiritual birth and our relationship with God. Born of God recalls Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.

John views the rise of those who deny the truth of Christ from within the Christian community as an indication of the beginning of the end of all things. Antichrists is a combination of two Greek words: anti, meaning “instead of” or “against,” and christos, meaning “anointed one.” Antichrists most likely means those who seek to take the place of Christ. The many antichrists are the false teachers John opposed in this letter. They are reminiscent of the false christs Jesus told the disciples about. They are forerunners of the future Antichrist, also known as the beast in the Book of Revelation, who will exalt himself above God. 

Those who try to deceive you refers to false teachers, or antichrists. You indicates that it is possible for believers to be deceived by false teaching.

John identifies loving one another as absolutely basic to living for Christ and advancing His kingdom. The NKJV Study Bible

When believers had confidence towards God, through the Spirit of adoption, and by faith in the great High Priest, they might ask what they would of their reconciled Father. They would receive it, if good for them. And as good-will to men was proclaimed from heaven, so good-will to men, particularly to the brethren, must be in the hearts of those who go to God and heaven. He who thus follows Christ, dwells in Him as his ark, refuge, and rest, and in the Father through him. This union between Christ and the souls of believers, is by the Spirit he has given them. A man may believe that God is gracious before he knows it; yet when faith has laid hold on the promises, it sets reason to work. This Spirit of God works a change; in all true Christians it changes from the power of Satan to the power of God. Consider, believer, how it changes thy heart. Dost not thou long for peace with God? Wouldst thou not forego all the world for it? No profit, pleasure, or preferment shall hinder thee from following Christ. This salvation is built upon Divine testimony, even the Spirit of God. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

2 John 5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.

Acts 8:18–25

The gift of Holy Spirit can never be purchased. 

God’s mercy and grace, this gift that cost so much to the the Father, was given to mankind, in the person of Jesus Christ. This gift of salvation is freely given to all who will, by faith, accept Jesus Christ. He did not leave us alone but we are sealed by Holy Spirit. He will reside in us and guide us in His will for our life. All for God’s glory.

God sees our faith in the salvation of Jesus when He sees us. In His grace our sins, though many, are forgiven.

1 Corinthians 1:2 (ESV) "To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours."

This from Nadia Bolz-Weber, “I thought of this all week when reading this story about Jesus appearing to his disciples. Because what I realized is I find it comforting that that his resurrection did not erase the marks of having lived his life or even having endured his death.

I find it comforting that when Jesus rose from the dead he was recognizable by his scars.

Jesus came and stood among his disciples and said peace be with you, then he didn’t try and hide the mark from the spear on his side. He didn’t wear gloves to conceal his scars.  Jesus came and stood among his disciples and said peace be with you then he showed them his hands and his side. He knew that he would be known by his wounds...

Our scars and our sorrow will always be part of our story but they will never be the conclusion of our story. Which means that even when you feel trapped in your pain, trapped in your past, trapped in your own story like it is itself a tomb, know this — that there is no stone that God cannot roll away.”Sabbath Moments

Mark it down. You will never go where God is not. You may be transferred, enlisted, commissioned, reassigned, hospitalized, but brand this truth on your heart: you can never go where God is not. “I am with you always,” Jesus promised (Matthew 28:20 NKJV). Fear visits everyone. But make your fear a visitor and not a resident. Meet your fears with faith. Max Lucado

Acts 8:18–25

18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” The New King James Version

Simon grossly misunderstands the Spirit’s power, the apostles’ ministry, and the character of Jesus and His kingdom. Simon shows he has not genuinely understood or submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ. He is interested in possessing the apostles’ power rather than embracing their message.

The gift of God of is the Holy Spirit. 

Peter excludes Simon from the Church and its ministry. Peter discerns Simon’s true motives through Simon’s actions. Even as Peter condemns Simon, he still holds out hope to him if he will genuinely turn from his sin and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Simon understands the gravity of Peter’s words, but Luke does not report whether Simon ever truly repented. Simon’s statement could be understood as him seeking to avoid the Holy Spirit being against him, not necessarily him seeking Christ. Faithlife Study Bible

Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given. 

Give me this power indicates that Simon was a believer. However, he confused the work of God with his previous magical practices. Because others had paid him for the secrets of his magic, he may have simply thought that this was the best way to approach Peter. He soon learned the error of his ways. The NKJV Study Bible

The Holy Ghost was as yet fallen upon none of these coverts, in the extraordinary powers conveyed by the descent of the Spirit upon the day of Pentecost. We may take encouragement from this example, in praying to God to give the renewing graces of the Holy Ghost to all for whose spiritual welfare we are concerned; for that includes all blessings. 

No man can give the Holy Spirit by the laying on of his hands; but we should use our best endeavours to instruct those for whom we pray. 

Simon Magus was ambitious to have the honour of an apostle, but cared not at all to have the spirit and disposition of a Christian. He was more desirous to gain honour to himself, than to do good to others. Peter shows him his crime. He esteemed the wealth of this world, as if it would answer for things relating to the other life, and would purchase the pardon of sin, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life. This was such a condemning error as could by no means consist with a state of grace. 

Our hearts are what they are in the sight of God, who cannot be deceived. And if they are not right in his sight, our religion is vain, and will stand us in no stead. A proud and covetous heart cannot be right with God. It is possible for a man to continue under the power of sin, yet to put on a form of godliness. When tempted with money to do evil, see what a perishing thing money is, and scorn it. 

Think not that Christianity is a trade to live by in this world. There is much wickedness in the thought of the heart, its false notions, and corrupt affections, and wicked projects, which must be repented of, or we are undone. But it shall be forgiven, upon our repentance. The doubt here is of the sincerity of Simon’s repentance, not of his pardon, if his repentance was sincere. 

Grant us, Lord, another sort of faith than that which made Simon wonder only, and did not sanctify his heart. May we abhor all thoughts of making religion serve the purposes of pride or ambition. And keep us from that subtle poison of spiritual pride, which seeks glory to itself even from humility. May we seek only the honour which cometh from God. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 1:19-23

In Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead. In Him, through God’s salvation gift, we live.

John 3:17 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Romans 5:10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Grace, blessed, grace the eternal gift that cannot be purchased by our works but only through the birth, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is up to us individually to accept this gift!

Recently I was listening to a popular Christian radio broadcast, and a caller phoned in and said that their biggest struggle to faith was believing they were worthy of God’s salvation. The radio DJ agreed with this plight and encouraged the caller they were worthy of it. I turned down the radio and told my daughter’s that’s not how the Gospel works, and there are many well-meaning Christians who struggle for failing to recognize this truth - None of us are worthy of God’s love and salvation, that’s what makes it “amazing grace.” 

God loves us simply because we are His. God is love, and so He loves us first. Only Jesus lived the perfect life that is worthy of God’s salvation. We receive this life through faith in Christ because of God’s grace. Jesus died in our place, receiving the punishment due for our sins, and Jesus rose from the dead, defeating the death our sins deserved. We now receive spiritual life through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. 

We celebrated Easter yesterday, but Easter is paramount to our Christian faith because it is the catalyst that brings people created in God’s image back to abundant life, every single day of the year. All glory be to God for raising unworthy sinners back to life, an abundant life, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Just a Navy Wife@first5

“Well, nobody else can live the life you live,” Mr. Rogers reminds us. “And even though no human being is perfect, we always have the chance to bring what's unique about us to live in a redeeming way.” SabbathMoments 

Colossians 1:19-23

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. The New King James Version

All the fullness to dwell in Him refers to God being fully present in Christ.

Consequently, Christ is sufficient for the Colossians’ salvation. This phrase echoes the glory of God filling of the tabernacle 

In the ancient world, people believed that deities lived on high places such as mountains. For example, when the Israelites entered the wilderness, God met them on a mountain in Exodus. But God did not stay on the mountain; He instructed the Israelites to build a tabernacle—a dwelling place for Him to live among His people. God came down and filled the tabernacle with His glory as a sign of His presence among them. 

The prophet Isaiah interpreted this cloud of glory as the Holy Spirit. This gracious act was God’s extension of friendship to the Israelites. The Gospel of John describes Christ as the tabernacle or the dwelling of God—an allusion that demonstrates the continuity between God’s presence among the Israelites and His presence in the person of Christ. 

The Greek word used here, apokatallassō, refers to the act of restoring a relationship to harmony. The purpose of Christ’s death on the cross was to bring all things created by Christ and for Christ  into harmonious relationship.

Christ was not an angel or a nonphysical being; He had a body, and He endured suffering and death in His body. By emphasizing Christ’s physical body, Paul may be combatting early gnostic-like influences that could have been at work in Colossae. Gnostics emphasized spiritual, nonmaterial reality over the material world, prompting some people to deny that Christ had a physical body. Gnostics wrongly considered material reality to be evil and sought to escape it through abstaining from worldly comforts and pleasures. While fully developed Gnosticism postdates the new testament, the beliefs Paul seems to be addressing here resemble later gnostic thought. 

Holy describes belonging to or being set apart for God. The Colossians cannot claim responsibility for their status before God; no human tradition or rule made them holy. Rather, Christ’s work of reconciliation brought them into relationship with God, making them holy. 

Since believers belong to God, they bear His image, which enables them to live out God’s command to holiness. Paul seems to be acknowledging that the Colossians are at a crossroads. He charges them to continue trusting in Christ and living out the gospel message. However, they must refuse to observe the rules and traditions of false teachings, which threaten to lead them in a different direction. They must remember that faith in Christ is not simply a way of entering God’s kingdom—it is the way of life within the kingdom. Faith Refers to living in union with Christ and sharing in Christ’s resurrection. Faithlife Study Bible

The opponents of Paul, and later the Greek Gnostics, seem to have used this word fullness as a technical term for the sphere between heaven and earth where a hierarchy of angels lived. The Gnostics viewed Christ as one of many spirits existing in this hierarchy between God and all people. 

However, Paul used the term fullness to refer to the complete embodiment of God. Christ is the only Intercessor for human beings and fully embodies all of God’s nature. No other intermediary, whether person or group, is able to stand in our place before the Father. Only Jesus can do this. 

He has reconciled: this phrase shows the significance of Christ’s work on the Cross. It does not mean that all people will be saved, since many passages clearly say that unbelievers will suffer eternal separation from God. The work of Christ will overthrow the damage effected by the Fall and change all of creation from a position of enmity to a relationship of peace and friendship.

The false teachers at Colosse were telling the believers that redemption could only be accomplished through a spiritual being. They rejected Christ’s incarnation. According to them, Jesus could not have had a physical body. Thus Paul uses two terms, body and flesh, to clearly state that Christ became man and experienced a physical death. 

We who were once enemies of God and alienated by our own wicked works will one day be presented as above reproach on account of Christ’s death for us.

 

The perseverance of the Colossians was proof of the reconciling work of Christ on their behalf The apostles are said to have turned the world upside down, even though their ministry up to that point had been limited to a small portion of the eastern Mediterranean region. The NKJV Study Bible

John 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

Ephesians 2:16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.