Old Jerry

Paul knew that the calling that he had was not of himself but of God. We are also not called from ourselves but of God.

The “mystery” that Paul is talking about is that the Jews and the Gentiles are one in Him. In Paul’s day the Gentile Christians were out casts because they weren’t Jews.

God’s revelation to “his holy apostles and prophets” is our authority for faith and practice because they are from God. God is teaching us how to be good citizens while we are on earth. If we minimize or stray from that revelation then we are going against God will and we will probably end up in hell. To supersede that revelation is the same as minimizing or straying from it. If we deny that God revealed himself to us and to his church then I don’t think that we are Christians.

The significance that our congregation was made to be “a dwelling place for God in Spirit” is that we can get together and know that the Spirit of God is with us in all that we do in the Church. I think that the thing that hinders us from being fully experience is that we don’t expect the Spirit to be with us during those times. We can get together and expect the Holy Spirit to be among us.

The meaning of having “access to the Father” is too able to go to Him at any time and in any place. We can petition Him at any time and in any place. If we don’t know what to pray for then the Holy Spirit will do it for us with moans and grunts. Jesus enabled this access by sending down the Holy Spirit and we can tell God that it was in Jesus’ name that we are praying to Him.

Jesus fulfilled the law by being sacrificed on the cross. We don’t have to make animal sacrifices any more, and God tore down the barrier between Him and us when he rent the curtain. We can now got directly to Him. He has included us all in His sacrifice.

We would be unwilling to witness because and are not able to understand what Jesus is doing in our lives. So we can’t witness to something we don’t understand. The spiritual condition of a person who doesn’t know Christ is that they are usually lonely. They have nothing to look forward to after they leave this life.

Faith is believing in something that we can’t see. We cannot take credit for our having it. I don’t know if they can be condemned for lacking it. Jesus is trying to draw us all into his saving grace so if somebody decides not to be included then I think they can be condemned for lacking faith.

We were created in Jesus for good works. God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. The difference between works that Paul discredits is we need to do good works in order to be saved instead of being saved and then doing good works because we want to.

“Saved” means that Jesus has rescued you from the Devil and hell if you will believe in Him.

Grace is hard to understand because as a rule nobody has ever given us something out of the clear blue sky. We think that we have to earn everything and grace is just the opposite of that. Grace is something that you didn’t earn, it was just given to you because somebody loves you.

The meaning that we are seated with Christ in “the heavenly realms” is that we can have the same spiritual authority that Jesus has if we would just use it. The means that God has given us his grace because we are still sinner and didn’t earn it. This means that we can ask for anything in our prayers.

It is by grace that we have been saved are the words that describe God’s motivation. Mercy, made alive, and grace are the verbs that describe what is happening to us in Christ.

People can unwittingly follow Satan because he is the one that had the power to give Jesus the world. Jesus of course rejected Satan’s temptation but he still had that power. The sense that we unwittingly rebel against God is that we let the things of this world control us sometimes. We are still responsible for our actions.

The sense that our non-believing friends, neighbors, and relatives are “dead” is they have no hope in the eternal life. The eternal life for them will be hell. The difference between us and them is that we have the hope of life with our Father. They are “dead” and subject to God’s “wrath” but there isn’t much I can do about it because it is a choice they have made, I can inform them of Jesus Christ our savior but the rest is up to them.

When we neglect to be an active part of a local congregation we are missing out on the blessings that God has for us. By out absence we are withholding this blessing from others because it is great to be with other believers. We can relax and just take in the love.

Sometimes we take a “pass” when it comes to spiritual warfare because we just want to get along. Paul mentions Christ’s exaltation, demonstration of complete victory, and superior rank over all spiritual powers because we need to be assured that Jesus is the true ruler of the world.

I think that we are powerless sometimes is because we don’t always go to God to resolve some of our problems. It is an inadequacy with my faith. Some congregations and movements produce some pretty powerful faith believers. I don’t know why that is true.

I don’t know how that would affect my life. I am quite satisfied with what I have and I don’t dream of having more or wanting anything fancy. Knowing that I will inherent God’s presence I should be doing everything that I think of to please Him. Knowing that I am going to be sharing this inheritance with my fellow Christian family I try to stay in touch them whenever I can.

The thing that I look forward to is being with Jesus in heaven and the peace that will be there. This hope can be a major motivation in my present-day live knowing that everything that is happen right now will be going away. This hope affects my decisions and lifestyle by making decisions based on God’s truth. The non-believers don’t have anything to look forward to when they depart from this earth.

I think that the “end of the term” means when this body I have finally wears out and I am called to the Lord. The analogies help by insuring me that I am destined to be with the Lord for eternity.

God’s purpose for our lives is to praise Him. We need to believe in Jesus Christ and follow his will. The way that this purpose relates to Matthew is that we are to be a light to the world. We people see us they should see Jesus.

The significance of everything being brought under one head is that those who believe will be saved and others will be done away with. The Creator created all thing so then he can do away with it. We will be united under on head. I Corinthians is more explicit about the end times.

Jesus died on the cross for me and redeemed me from the slavery of sim. It would be quite different if I hadn’t been redeemed. I now have somebody with me that can understand me. I think that my future would be eternal hell.

When we are adopted in God’s family we will be watched after like a father watches our for his kids.