Teleios

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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Walk the Walk

Welcome again to my blog. I am delighted you have taken the time to visit.

Teleios and other authors have shown Christian belief actually can improve personal wellbeing! Therefore, we are examining the Christian life in more detail to uncover some of the potential underlying causes of the improved wellbeing. We have spent the past few weeks discussing the convincing biblical truths which explain why your salvation is forever secure. Today we begin to discuss what scripture teaches about our Christian lifestyle.

As a biblical basis for the Christian life we are using 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7.

Let’s now consider verse 6:

1Th 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

Let’s take the 2^nd half of the verse first, the importance of accepting God's word in our lives.

In Paul's informative prayer in Colossians1:9-14, he indicates the importance of approaching our Christian walk in a knowledgeable way (verse 9). Accordingly, to act correctly (verse 10) we first must know how to think. We do this first by knowing God's Word, especially the Epistles in the New Testament (Romans to Revelation 3). This is the section meant specifically to provide directions for the church age.

How do we come to understand the importance of the New Testament epistles in our lives? There is a process by which it develops:

· Jesus Christ - He came and spoke to us in the Gospels so people would believe in Him as Messiah. Upon the rejection of His message (Matthew 12), He taught the disciples about the coming age (Matthew 13-18, Matthew24-25, John 14-17) and later the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

· The Apostles – To the apostles it was given to teach God's truth to the church (Matthew 28:19-20, apostolic authority). It was the listener's duty to obey what they heard from the apostles, not yet having the written Scriptures. Importantly, the authority of the Scriptures themselves are established not by just direct statements that they are Scripture (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Peter 3:16, 2Timothy 3:16) but also by verses that indicate the authority of the apostles (2Thessalonians 3:4-6, Colossians 1:25). To them God gave the charge to teach His truth and later to write the epistles, because they were taught by Christ Himself.

· Second generation Christians - These received the Word from the apostles and taught new believers under their authority (e.g., Timothy in the Pastoral Epistles).

· The Biblical canon - The true Word of God was written down as Epistles with guidance by the Holy Spirit. These letters were circulated probably in the early church period when apparently an informal canon of Scriptures was formed. A generally accepted canon existed in the 2^nd century. The New Testament in its current form was finalized at the Synod of Hippo in 393 AD. The late finalization occurred probably due to Christians could not openly meet until Constantine legalized Christianity after he became the Roman emperor in 313 AD.

· Biblical authority for the Christian walk - The Bible speaks of accepting God's Word and using it as a basis for how we live our lives. Consequently, we receive not only the will of God and the benefits of the Spirit but also a healthy mind and good wellbeing through the Christian life as outlined in the Bible.

Far from being restrictive, the Bible liberates us by teaching us wisdom and what is true … with very few commands! It allows us to live a life of faith without being deceived by damaging practices in the world.

That's all for today; thank you for joining me. Next week we'll begin a series of blogs on how to apply this Word to our lives to receive its benefits.

The following site contributed to this blog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity

WC Stewart

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Yes, we are secure! The Bible says it, believe it! (Part 5)

Welcome to my blog. I am so glad you have taken the time to read it.

Teleios and other authors have shown Christian belief actually can improve personal wellbeing! Therefore, we are examining the Christian life to uncover potential underlying reasons of this improved wellbeing.

As a biblical basis for the Christian life we are using 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7. We are discussing currently our blessed eternal security. Here is Verse 5:

1Th 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

The fifth point (please see prior 4 blogs for the others) regarding the security of our great salvation is God’s unhappy attitude to those who do not believe in eternal security!

So yes, God not only endorses eternal security with wonderful promises, as we've discussed in the last four blogs, but also express His displeasure to those who do not believe it. This statement is supported by two main passages in Hebrews Chapters 6 and 10. Let's examine briefly the main passage in Hebrews 6, which although it can be controversial, is an exciting statement to our eternal security.

Here are the main points:

· The author tells the young Hebrew believers that they should be mature by now; being teachers and able to judge quickly between right and wrong (Hebrews 5:12-14).

· He urges them to leave the rudimentary principles of the faith dealing with issues related to their salvation (Hebrews6:1-3).

· He inquired how could those who were saved (have known God’s gift and enlightenment and receive the spirit [all words or events consistent with salvation]) and have believed their sins were forgiven, could have another means to salvation apart from Christ. Indeed, their insistence that some sin was not forgiven indicated they would want Jesus to return to the cross and submit to public humiliation again. This is not viewed favorably by God (Hebrews 6:4-7).

· The Hebrew Christians should recognize their salvation as evidenced by the acts that they have already done (Hebrews 6:9-10)

· Certainly, the wonderful security we have based in Abraham; God’s promises to him and His confirmation by an oath are two things that provide a sure anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:13-20).

Hebrews 10 also indicates that for those who are unsure of forgiveness there is no other means for salvation except by Christ. The author urges those who doubt their forgiveness to progress in their faith (Hebrews 10:19, Hebrews 10:26-39).

Certainly, we have a wonderful salvation by which Christ is sufficient to cover each and every one of our sins, past, present future. For us to say that somehow His painful, long, suffering, humiliating and unjust death is not enough to cover even one of our sins is an offense to God.

To review, to date we have covered now five spectacular scriptural proofs of our internal security:

Direct statements (e.g., 1 Peter 1:4-5)
Unchangeable positions in Christ noted in our recent blogs especially our: spiritual baptism, justification, sealing by the Spirit and adoption.
Perseverance (2 Peter 1:12)
God chose us to salvation (Romans 8:28-20)
God’s critique of those not believing in the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice once for all to salvation (Hebrews 6:1-10)

Well, that is my blog for today. Thank you for visiting. Join me next week when we begin 1 Thessalonians 1:6 and discuss the Christian walk! Please join me again then.

WC Stewart

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Yes, we are secure! The Bible says it, believe it! (Part 4)

Welcome again to my blog. I am delighted you have taken the time to visit.

Here is verse 5:

1Th 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Based on the list of Biblical reasons noted in our prior blog about our eternal security, this week we are examining Biblical statements to those who do not believe in eternal security.

The fourth point of our wonderful salvation is that God chose us for himself. Again, this was all God's doing and not from our own efforts and work. Although some think this doctrine is controversial, let's look at the scriptures and you can decide for yourself.

· God chose us - God elected us for salvation before all time to come to faith (Ephesians 1:4-5, Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28-30).

· The Choice was individual - God did not choose a group, such as the church, but each of us distinctively (John 6:37,44,65; John 10:28-29; 2 John 1:1).

· God’s character - Choosing is consistent with God's character and past actions. To accomplish His magnificent work on earth He has always had to choose those that would serve Him (e.g., Noah, Abraham, Moses and Israel).

· God dragging and convicting - After choosing God had to convict and drag us to Himself or we would not have come (John 6:44, John 16:8). The Bible uses the imagery here of having to ‘drag’ fish into a boat by use of a net. The fish, like us, do not come willingly!

By our very nature we never would have chosen God, understood Him or desired Him because of our fallen nature into sin (Romans3:10-18, Ephesians 2:1-3). As you know from last week he causes us to persevere. He alone keeps us in His hand and brings us to our eternal glory (John10:28-30, Romans 8:28-30).

Although some think that God's choosing is unfair there was no other way and scripture says it was done out of love and knowledge (Ephesians 1:4-7). If God had not intervened all would have perished!

God's glorious salvation accomplished by first free gift on the cross that we can be saved by faith alone not our own work. Every aspect of salvation is God's, and all to His glory.

To review, to date we have covered now four spectacular Scriptural proofs of our eternal security:

Direct statements (e.g., 1 Peter 1:4-5)
Unchangeable positions in Christ noted in our recent blogs especially our: spiritual baptism, justification, sealing by the Spirit and adoption (Romans 6:2-9, Romans 3:21-26, Ephesians 1:5, Ephesians 1:13-14)
Perseverance (2 Peter 1:12)
God chose us to salvation (noted above)

Well, that is my blog for today. Thank you for visiting. Join me next week when we discuss our Christian walk.

WC Stewart

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Yes, we are secure! The Bible says it, believe it! Part 2

Welcome again to my blog. I am delighted you have taken the time to read it.

Here is Verse 5:

1 Th 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Based on the list of Biblical reasons noted in our prior blog about our eternal security, this week we are examining Biblical statements regarding our ‘perseverance’ to our everlasting home with God.

Perseverance is vital because it indicates that God alone, and not us, who causes us to endure to our salvation. Even if we wanted to change our position in Christ, or if we make mistakes, He causes us to persist to eternal life. Thanks be to God - it's all based on Him not us!

Here are some key verses (all KJV):

2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

1 Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Further, Hebrews 10:13-18 reminds us there is no other sacrifice for those who have been saved in Christ Jesus. That is it! We are forgiven! Deal with it! Certainly, what great promises we have in Scripture.

To review, we have covered 3 important Scriptural proofs of our eternal security:

· Direct statements (e.g., 1 Peter 1:4-5)

· Unchangeable positions in Christ as noted in our recent blogs especially: our spiritual baptism, justification, sealing by the Spirit and adoption.

· Perseverance – as noted above

Well that’s it for today. Thank you for visiting. Join me next week when we consider God’s statements to those who do not believe in eternal security.

WC Stewart