All Things Seen & Unseen

We should remind ourselves that our title text comes from the 'letter-essay' written by the apostle Paul to the Roman church around AD 55-57 from Corinth.  This consideration needs to be emphasised; we too quickly imagine that Paul was writing to us when it is more accurate to say that Paul was writing to his contemporaries in the first century AD in the capital city of the Roman Empire. He was not writing to 1 21st century disciples.

Gal 3.16 In the above verse, the apostle Paul says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He [God] saith not, And to 'seeds', as of many; but as of one, 'And to thy seed', which is Christ. The verse is crucial because it clearly shows that Jesus Christ is the Seed of Abraham. Paul points out that the promises were made to Abraham and to a single offspring or descendant or 'seed' (the Christ). Importantly for those who believe in Christ, they are said to be 'the children of Abraham' (Gal 3.7, 9, 26, 27, 29): through their faith in Christ, they are the 'seed' or descendants of Abraham. And Abraham, as we know, was not considered righteous ('rightwised') because of anything he did; he was 'rightwised' (=made right) because he believed God's promises 1 (Rom 4.22; Gen 15.6).  Romans also says that God is God of both Jew and Gentile on the basis of faith (Rom 3.29-30). That is, not on the basis of religion, culture...

I've just come across an excerpt from a wonderful book I have, The Divine Forbearance or The Dynamics of Forgiveness (2001) by Paul T. Harrison 1 . I want to focus on some points he makes from Rom 5.1-11 concerning the love of God. In Romans ch 4, the subject is faith: 'the means by which we are rightwised 2 to God' (Harrison, p. 52). But what, Harrison asks, arouses faith; what 'has Christ revealed about God that makes us able to trust Him?' Fire of God Ministries International Church-see http://fireofgodservants.blogspot.com.au And to that question he answers, God's forgiving love . God's love is so faithful and true that we may depend on it absolutely. Why is that so? That is explored in Rom 5.6-11. Our status before God as ungodly sinners (Rom 5.6, 8) in the past meant that we were the 'enemies of God' (Rom 5.10). Think of that! Being an enemy of God means to be subject to his wrath (Rom 5.9) and displeasure. People don't give their live...

Christians tend not to reflect on the significance of the New Testament scriptures that deal directly with the issue of the 'land of promise'. Moreover, we tend not to think about the nature of the NT's way of dealing with such 'land' issues. John 4 One reference I find highly instructive comes from John's gospel account where, in a well-known example, Jesus a Jew talks with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Jesus progressively reveals himself to her until he describes himself as the Giver of 'life-giving' water (Jn 4.14). But he later provokes her even more when he undercuts both Jewish and Samaritan worship ideas (Jn 4.21-24).  'Neither in this mountain [Gerazim] nor in Jerusalem' is worship to be conducted (Jn 4.21) in the future. Jesus knows that with his death something fundamental is going to change re the temple sacrifices; he also knows that the Romans are going to destroy Jerusalem in AD68-70 (Matt 23.37-39) and finally again in AD...