Good morning. Peter’s response: I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality. As I said before, sadly people do not understand that in the modern world. They seem to think that their group is preferred over another group. Applying Paul’s comments to the church at Corinth to the church universal, there are not many rich, wise, etc. among you. That’s because they tend to think that they’re better than others. It’s hard to trust in God when you trust in yourself. Peter: but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ – He is Lord of all – you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Peter is setting the stage for his salvation message. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem (they didn’t just read it in some book). They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. There’s some preachers who leave out preaching about the cross (because it is so horrible); but that is the very reason we have salvation. God raised Him up on the third day – praise God the tomb is empty! – and granted that He become visible to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God; to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. In other words, we know for certain that He is alive! Father go with the reader and help him/her to have a great week. Give him/her strength and energy to do his/her job well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Merry Christmas!

   Good morning, and Merry Christmas! We are going to digress and look at the first Christmas. This was something that had been foretold centuries before; and yet people still did not understand what was going to happen. They were thinking that the Messiah was going to come as an adult and was going to re-establish the nation of Israel above all other nations. They were not expecting Him to come as a baby, supposedly born to a carpenter and placed in a manger. Many things had to happen at precisely the right time. You had to have the right person to be His mother and the right person to be His supposed father. You had to have a reason for them to be in Bethlehem on the night He was born – the census. It had to be when shepherds would be in the field near Bethlehem watching their flocks. And just at the right time – an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them...
Read more

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

  Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
Read more
  Good morning. So Peter just told them that basically they were responsible for the death of Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As we will see much later, it seems that at this point in time they believed that you could not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit without first being baptized in water. It appears that that idea did not change until chapter 10 after God baptized Cornelius and his family in the Holy Spirit before they were water baptized. Now lest someone think that this was just for the people in the first century Peter then says, for the promise (of the Father - baptism in the Holy Spirit) is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself. That means us! And...
Read more