EXPOSITION: Chapter 7:1-25 Before he can unpack the full cosmic purpose of the Gospel in ch. 8, Paul continues his solution to the dual problem of sin and the law. Having addressed sin in ch. 6, he now focusses on the law, although, he has already introduced its solution in 6:14, sowing the seed that we are no longer “under law but under grace”, before diverting to his … [Read more...]
The Pauline Correspondence: Its Mode & Message
Part 3 of 3 In Parts 1 & 2 we discovered that Paul's call and commission, as the pioneer apostle to the Gentiles, was unique and normative for the church universally. We will now explore these implications for the apostolic mode and message. Mode As the pioneer – and thus proto-type – apostle to the Gentiles Paul modelled God's strategy for the expansion of the Gospel … [Read more...]
Meet the Creator
The Areopagus Address, Acts 17. Two thousand years ago a short, bald, and beetle-browed rabbi addressed the famed Athenian Areopagus on Mars Hill. With a tradition going back to pre-Classical times, the Areopagus presided as the governing council for the city-state of Athens and as a marketplace of new ideas, the Athenians given to the endless debate of every new … [Read more...]
An Open Heaven
You shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man John 1:50, 51 At particular turning points of history a window opens and heaven is poured out. God localises his presence over the life of an individual, a church, a city, or nation in outpoured blessing and power, in what we often call revival. They are special moments of time when … [Read more...]
A Famine for Hearing
“Behold the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD." Amos 8:11 Is it possible to attend church week by week, listen to sermons, engage in all the activities of church life, perhaps even read this article, but never really hear the voice of God? … [Read more...]
