Acts
The Book of Acts is part of the The Gospel of Luke but separated to keep 4 Gospels together. "Acts" means "actions" (history). At first, they have to replace Judas with another apostle, to make 12: 1
24: And [in the upper room] they prayed and said, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen 25: to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place."
26: And they cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.
Casting lots was an acceptable means of finding out God's choice. The Jewish priesthood did this too.
2
1: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were together in one place.
2: And a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.
The 50th day after Jesus' resurrection occurs the outpouring of the Holy Spirit predicted by Joel:
3: And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, resting on each of them.
4: And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
14: Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said,
16: "[T]his is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17: `And in the last days it shall be, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18: and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.'
44: And all who believed were together and had all things in common;
Early Christians were communistic. Prophetic anger was directed at social inequality: "You sell the poor for a pair of shoes" (Amos).
45: and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.
6
7: And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem, and many priests were obedient to the faith.
This tells us that even Jewish priests of the Temple were following Jesus at the time.
8: And Stephen, full of grace and power, did wonders and signs among the people.
12: And [other Jews] stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they brought him before the council,
13: and set up false witnesses who said,
14: "we have heard him say Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us."
7
1: And the high priest said, "Is this so?"
2: And Stephen said: "Hear me.
48: The Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands; as the prophet says,
49: `Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?
50: Did not my hand make all these things?'
57: But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed upon him.
58: Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
This is the first appearance in the Bible of a man named Saul, a Jew who hated Christians and tried to kill them. Later Saul sees a vision of Jesus, changes his name to Paul, and, as "Apostle to the Gentiles," turns a Jewish religion into a world religion. The influence of Paul is beyond measure.
8
1: And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Luke refers to one of many persecutions against Christians.
9
1: Saul, breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2: and asked for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3: Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.
4: And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5: And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;
6: but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do."
7: The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
8: Saul arose from the ground; and he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
9: And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
17: Then Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
20: And in the synagogues immediately Paul proclaimed Jesus, saying, "He is the Son of God."
23: When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
25: but his disciples took him by night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.
From a Jewish sect, the Jesus movement is becoming its own religion.
13
46: And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly [in a synagogue at Antioch], saying, "It was necessary the word of God be spoken first to you [the Jews]. Since you turn from it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
47: For the Lord has commanded us, saying, `I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the far parts of the earth.'"
Isaiah 49:6
15
4: When they came to Jerusalem,
5: the Pharisees said, "It is necessary to circumcise [the Gentiles], and to charge them to keep the law of Moses."
At issue is whether the Jewish Law has value after Jesus. One group of Jewish Christians wishes to follow both Jesus and the Jewish Law (the Torah) (including circumcision).
7: Peter said,
10: "Why do you try God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
11: But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will."
The Grace of Jesus replaces the Law.
20: We should write to them only to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood.
These "laws" come from the more universal Noachide Covenant. God tells Noah: "You must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting" GENESIS 9:4-5). Idolatry is also forbidden by the nature of monotheism (one god).
20
35: Paul said, "In all things I have shown you that by toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of Jesus, `It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
This is an interesting verse; a quote of Jesus not in the canonic Gospels! YWe must assume Paul is quoting correctly. So this is another Beatitude from Jesus.
28
The Jews arrest Paul, but Paul appeals for justice as a Roman citizen.16: And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him [until his defense. And the local leader of the Jews said,]
22: "We desire to hear your views."
23: And Paul testified to the kingdom of God, trying to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets.
30: And he lived there two years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,
31: preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ openly.
This is the last we hear of Paul, as he waits to defend himself before the Emperor. Not a wise choice, since the Emperor was the madman, Nero! It's assumed Paul died a martyr shortly afterwards.
The rest of the New Testament contains 21 Letters and the Book of Revelation. The Letters are classified as Pauline Letters (named after Paul); Johannine Letters (named after John); the Deutero-Pauline Letters (once attributed to Paul but doubted by scholars for biographical or textual reasons); Catholic Letters (that is, "general" letters, with no specific church addressed); and Pastoral letters (concerned about church leadership). The Catholic (General) letters are seven, including Peter (2), John (3), James, and Jude. The Pastoral letters are to Timothy (2) and Titus. The Pauline letters are from Romans to Hebrews, but some are considered "deutero-Pauline" (that is, only doubtfully by Paul, such as Hebrews, placed last among the Pauline letters). Others are debated, such as the Pastoral letters and 2 Thessalonians. The letters, written mainly for private or circular (circulated among churches) reasons, have had great influence on Christian thought.
1
A key motif in Paul is the Cross (called the Theology of the Cross). The Cross represents the death of both the Flesh and the Law for Paul, compared to Life in Jesus, with whom the Christian dies to have life. 16: I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17: For in it the righteousness of God is revealed; as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live."
Paul uses Habakuk 2:4 in a text that influenced Martin Luther and the German Reformation, which broke away from the Catholic Church based on this Pauline text, simplified as "by faith alone." However, Paul means "faith" compared to the Jewish Law, not faith as compared to Works. This issue is revived in the Letter of James, which preaches Works and Faith. Paul tries to keep a balance between Jew and Greek (non-Jew) as both heirs of the "promise." For the Promise is by Faith, not Law.
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13: For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
Paul never opposes faith to works, but faith to the Law. Works (doing good) must follow faith. By "hearers of the Law," Paul means the Jews. The later argument (below) is close to Jeremiah 31:31:
14: When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15: They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts,
27: Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
29: Real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God.
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28: For we hold a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.
Paul says "works of law," not "works of faith." James will emphasize this point (one of the Catholic letters).
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13: The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
14: If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
17: as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations."
Since the Promise (to Abraham) came before the Law, and since God's Promise cannot be canceled, the Promise is above the Law; moreover the Promise is to "many nations" (not only Jews).
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14: Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Here we get a typology: Adam was a type of Jesus: but Adam (the first man) brought sin, while Jesus (the second man) brought freedom from sin.
19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.
We saw this in the Gospels: Jesus, unlike the Jews, is tempted but obedient.
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3: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4: We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Baptism is a type of death from which the sinner is raised to new life. In following Jesus, the sinner's body is crucified with Jesus, freeing the Spirit, like Jesus did. This is Paul's Theology of the Cross, which is repeated in the Christian, who dies to the flesh to live in the spirit, with Jesus:
6: We know our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
7: For he who has died is freed from sin.
8: But if we have died with Christ, we believe we shall live with him.
11: So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
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14: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Just like Jesus, Son of God, was led by the Spirit, so the sinner, led by Jesus, can become a son of God.
15: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"
Jesus set the model for this relationship with the Father (God), though Isaiah calls God "Father" too [64:8]. The next verse has also had great influence, since it argues for predestination, such as influenced some Protestant sects (Calvinism, for example). But the main point is that, in following Jesus, each person can be taken under the special protection of God as Father the same way Jesus was.
29: For those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
31: What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?
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Paul now has a problem: For God called the Jews as his Chosen People (Israel) and God's Word cannot fail; Paul gets out of this problem by saying that "Israel" is an idea (Faith), not of the Flesh. Therefore the "Promise" made to Israel still stands, since all who have Faith are part of Israel and will be saved. 6: But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
7: and not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named."
8: This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.
9: For this is what the promise said, "About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son."
11: [Thus] God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call. . . .
Paul's clever argument is that the Promise to Israel was fulfilled in Sarah, not through "children of the flesh" (through natural birth). Again he emphasizes that the Promise is fulfilled through no human effort ("works") but by faith alone. In the same way, in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus that only those "born again" will be saved (that is, not those born Jews, of the Law, but those born of Faith).
1 Corinthians
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27: God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong,
28: God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29: so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
This is typical Pauline style: the Theology of the Cross is "foolish" compared to Greek Wisdom or Jewish Law (with its hope for a Messiah of power). Again, his goal is to free the Promise to all (not only to Jews) and at the same time to prevent "boasting" because the Gift is Free: apart from Works or human effort.
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One of the most famous texts in the Bible, in praise of Love. This shows that Faith, though free, must bear fruit in Love (charity, works). Faith in itself is "noisy" (screaming in church, for example) or mere prophecy or knowledge (such as Gnostics valued).1: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2: And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8: Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
9: For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;
10: but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
11: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
12: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
13: So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Verse 13 is where the church got the three "Theological Virtues": faith, hope, and love. These virtues are called "theological" since they come from Grace, or God. We hope when there is no reason to; we love the unlovable; we have faith in what we don't see. The tricolor Italian flag honors these virtues: Red=love, white=faith, green=hope.
15
Here Paul explains the difficult idea of resurrection, using typology at the beginning: if Adam represents death, Christ represents Life. But no-one knows what that Life will be except it will not be corruptible, like the human body, but incorruptible.
20: But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
22: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
35: But some one will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"
36: You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
38: But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
47: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
49: Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50: I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
53: For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.
54: When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
55: "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"
2 Corinthians
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The reader can see some Gnostic ideas here (the body as a trap of our divine potential); but for Paul the earthly body is real as is the hope of the Resurrection in a Heavenly Body:1: For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2: Here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling.
17: Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.
21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Under the Jewish Law, no-one could be "justified," or "right" before God, no matter how many animal sacrifices were made. Only the perfect sacrifice of one without sin (God's Son) could make man righteous and sons of God with hope of a Resurrection like the Son of God (verse 21).
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Scholars have guessed what was Paul's "thorn in the flesh." The best guess is epilepsy. It's ironic that the two most famous prayers in the New Testament were unanswered: Jesus prayed to God to have his cup of suffering removed and Paul prayed three times to have his problem removed, but both were denied. Paul again preaches his Theology of the Cross (here, "weakness" perfecting power).7: To keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.
8: Three times I prayed the Lord about this, that it should leave me;
9: but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
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More Theology of the Cross: only by dying in Jesus can the Christian live to God; and this is by Faith, not Law. Or Jesus died in vain. 20: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
21: for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.
3
If the Promise was given to Abraham, before the Law was given to Moses, it follows the Promise is fulfilled in Faith, not Law. Since the Promise cannot be taken back, the Promise replaces the Law! Since Abraham was not circumcised before the Promise, Faith replaces Circumcision as guarantee of the Promise.1: O foolish Galatians!
2: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by faith?
3: Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?
6: Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
7: So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8: And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed."
9: So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.
10: For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them."
The second part of Paul's argument is that the Law can never justify: for who can fulfill the Law? By Faith alone will they live, not Works of the Law:
11: It is evident no man is justified before God by the law; for "He who through faith is righteous shall live";
12: but the law does not rest on faith, for "He who does them shall live by them."
13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree" --
14: that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
16: Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many; but, referring to one, "And to your offspring," which is Christ.
Paul picks at words: Scripture says "Seed" (Offspring) not "Seeds." Paul reads this to mean Jesus.
17: The law, which came 430 years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God.
18: If the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
19: Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made.
If the Law has value, God's Promise is void: then God is not God! So the Promise voids the Law. But why the Law at all? Because the Law was needed until Jesus (the Seed of Abraham) came. Note: "sons of God."
24: So the law was our custodian until Christ came,
26: for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
All are one in Christ:
28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29: And if Christ's, you are Abraham's offspring, heirs to promise.
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22: Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman.
23: But the son of the slave was according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise.
24: Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
30: But what does the scripture say? "Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman."
31: So we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
5
Faith is not an end in itself, but must bear fruit (love, joy, peace, etc.). Faith in Christ means to be crucified with/in Christ, hence without worldly desires:6: For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision helps, but faith working through love.
18: But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.
22: [For] the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23: gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.
24: And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
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14: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
15: For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
Ephesians
2
8: [B]y grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, but the gift of God --
9: not because of works, lest any man should boast.
13: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.
Paul is addressing Gentiles, "saved through faith" as a free gift of God (not through the Law or circumcision). The Gentiles ("far off" from the Jewish Promise), are saved "in the blood of Christ" (not the Jewish Law), breaking down the wall that separated Jew and Gentile. For Jesus ended the Law in his flesh (the Crucified Jesus making flesh the means of Spirit):
14: For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility,
15: by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace. . . .
2
Jesus, though God, became nothing ("emptied himself") in order to be a model of obedience.5: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8: And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
Colossians
Only by dying with Christ can the person live in Christ, not following human laws which are of no use; because the Law, being of the world, can not overcome the world. The Law reminds us of the World, only the Cross overcomes the World:
11: In Christ you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ;
12: and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
20: If with Christ you died, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations? . . .
Paul tries comforts the church in Thessalonica by preaching Resurrection:
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16: And the dead in Christ will rise first;
17: then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
18: Therefore comfort one another with these words.
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1: As to times and seasons, you have no need to have anything written to you.
2: For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
4: But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
5: For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
2 Thessalonians
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The idea of predestination is an insurance of God's salvation, not condemnation, in the same way that Jesus was predestined to come in the flesh and have his prayer to be spared unanswered: 13: But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
14: To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15: So then stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.
The early church had problems with different "gospels" and Paul wished to preach only the Gospel of the Cross: the Christ who really suffered, died, and returned to life.
One of the three Pastoral Letters (advising church conduct), though Paul probably did not write it. The warning to Timothy is against Gnostic ideas, which forbade marriage and certain foods. Paul is consistent: the Flesh cannot save, only God's grace. To give up marriage or foods is to depend on our will (the flesh) and to be under the Law, which only adds to our offenses. The Law creates Sin by temptation; so the end of the Law, in Christ, is the end of Temptation.
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1: Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
3: who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4: For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving;
5: for then it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
2 Timothy
More of Paul's Theology of the Cross and the "power" that comes from it.1
6: I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;
7: for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.
8: Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God. . . .
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16: All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
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3: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings,
The early church had to fight "false teachings" for centuries; in fact, these "false teachings" continue to this day, since each has their own "interpretations" of what Jesus said. One of the main "false" teachings was Gnosticism, such as John mentions too. The main Gnostic idea was "Docetism," which preached that Jesus only "seemed" to have a real body, but really didn't. But the "two-nature" theology Paul preached (Jesus as Man and God) was the belief the church accepted.
4: and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.
7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Titus
In this Pastoral letter, "Paul" (a "deutero-Pauline" letter) preaches agaisnt the Law that prevents certain foods being eaten: "to the pure all things are pure." "Knowing God" means having faith in God, not following dietary laws.1
16: They claim to know God, but they deny him by their deeds; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good deed.
Philemon
This Pauline letter pleads with a man named Philemon on behalf of a runaway slave, deserving of death under Roman law. But Paul argues the slave (Onesimus) should be treated as a fellow Christian:1
1: Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved and fellow worker,
10: I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment.
12: I am sending him back to you,
16: no longer a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17: So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
18: If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
25: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Once a "Pauline" letter, now called deutero-Pauline. It's placed last among Paul's letters, right before the Catholic (General) letters. The appeal to Scriptures is Pauline, though Paul would have known the sources!
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The writer refers to Psalm 8, but Paul would have known which Psalm. In John, Jesus' cloak is seamless, suggesting Jesus as High Priest: 6: It has been testified somewhere, "What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou carest for him?
17: Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to atone for the sins of the people.
18: For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
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5: Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee";
The Messianic Psalm 2:7.
8: Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;
9: and being made perfect he became the source of salvation to all who obey him. . . .
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Based on the meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18ff. "Paul" argues Melchizedek is a type of Jesus, above Moses and therefore above the Mosaic Law:1: Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him;
2: and to him Abraham gave a tenth of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
3: He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he's a priest for ever.
11: Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what need would there have been for another priest after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?
27: [Jesus] has no need, like those priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
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This is a typical argument "to the stronger": If a animal can purify from sin, how much more so can the perfect Son of God:13: For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,
14: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15: Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the offenses under the first covenant.
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3: Consider him who endured hostility against himself, so you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
11: All discipline seems painful; later it yields the fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
15: See to it
16: that no one be immoral or irreligious like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
17: For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, though he sought it with tears.
This Catholic letter seems to have been written to answer a misreading of Paul as preaching faith without works; James preaches that faith without works is dead. The reference to the "12 tribes" of the "Dispersion" may be a Christian code:
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1: To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
22: Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
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14: What does it profit if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?
15: If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food,
16: and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?
17: So faith by itself is dead.
21: Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
22: You see that faith was completed by works,
26: For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
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13: Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain";
14: whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
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1: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries coming upon you.
4: Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5: You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
7: Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain.
8: You also be patient, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
11: Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord. . . .
1 Peter
Attributed to Peter, a Pastoral Letter. Refers to the "useless" Jewish law compared to the "blood of Christ," which ended sacrifices:1
18: You know you were ransomed from the useless ways of your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
19: but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
20: He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.
23: You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
24: for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,
25: but the word of the Lord abides for ever." That word is the good news which was preached to you.
Peter uses Isaiah 40:6-8 typologically to refer to Jesus.
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The Gentiles (not the Jews) have become the "chosen race" and "God's own people":9: [Y]ou are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
16: Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God.
24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Refers to the "Suffering Servant" song of Isaiah. Verse 16 addressed the problem of what "freedom" in Christ means: not freedom to do evil, but freedom from evil.
20: God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
21: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22: who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
This is a typological reading of the Flood in Genesis. Chapter 5:10 encourages Christians who suffered under Roman rule:
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10: After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.
2 Peter
As a hope in the end of the world faded, Christians began to doubt the Word of God, so Peter tries to explain the situation. 2 Peter is considered the latest document in the New Testament:3
4: saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation."
7: But . . . the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8: But do not forget that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9: The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
10: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the earth will be burned up.
13: But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14: Therefore, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish.
Attributed to John, called Johannine. They share motifs with John's Gospel (light vs. darkness, and emphasis on "love"); it's believed a "school" sharing John's ideas wrote the letters, part of the Catholic Letters:
1 John
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John fighta false doctrines, probably Gnostic ideas ("walk in darkness"):5: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
6: If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth. . . .
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9: He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still.
12: I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake.
13: I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
These ideas are similar to John's Gospel: overcoming the world, the identify of Jesus and the Father, and love. The doctrine of Docetism is opposed as the "antichrist," or "he who denies the Father and the Son." Docetism would argue that Jesus only "seemed" to be the Son (person).
15: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.
22: Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
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17: But if any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
18: Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.
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4: Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5: They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them.
8: He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
10: In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.
18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
19: We love, because he first loved us.
20: If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
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4: For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.
5: Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Note above the sense of a realized eschatology in John (regardless who wrote the texts): the world has already been overcome; hence God's kingdom is here. Below is another attempt to combat Docetism, as if Jesus merely appeared to suffer and die: Thus Jesus came not only by water, but by blood (the purpose of the scene of Jesus' piercing in John's Gospel. Note also, once again, as in the Synoptics, the world belongs to Satan; but the community of Christians, in perfect love, belong to God's kingdom and cannot be harmed by Satan. This is John's "realized eschatology":
6: This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood.
19: We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one.
2 John
The opening is Christian code: the "elect lady" is the Church, while "her children" are the Christians. Verse 7 refers to the Gnostic heresy called Docetism, that Jesus did not really come in the flesh and suffer:1
1: The elder to the elect lady and her children:
4: I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children following the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.
7: For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
3 John
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11: Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.
Jude
A Gnostic "heresy" argued that since the Flesh was of no account, sins of the Flesh were of no account either; the Spirit only mattered. Enjoy the vivid imagery in the final verses:3: Beloved, being eager to write to you of our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to fight for the faith.
4: For admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were destined for condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
12: These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
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1: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2: who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all he saw.
"Seven" is a symbolic complete number: the "seven churches" are all Christian churches:
4: John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
5: and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
6: and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7: Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him;
8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Jesus is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Suffering inspiresApocalypse, as people lose patience. John was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel ("the word"). The "Lord's Day" is Sunday, which replaced the Saturday Sabbath:
9: I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
11: saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches."
17: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,
18: and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
19: Now write what you see, what is and what is to take place hereafter.
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2: At once I was in the Spirit, and a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne!
3: And round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.
The rainbow is the Noachide Covenant of peace. 24 refers to the combined 12 Jewish tribes and 12 Christian apostles, joining Old and New Testaments:
4: Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.
6: and before the throne there is like a sea of glass, like crystal. On each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:
7: the first living creature like a lion, the second like an ox, the third with the face of a man, and the fourth like a flying eagle.
This refers to Ezekiel. In Christian tradition, the lion=Mark, the ox=Luke, the eagle=John, and the man=Matthew.
8: The four living creatures, each with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"
From Isaiah, 6.
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1: And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals;
2: and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"
4: And I wept that no one was worthy to open the scroll.
5: Then one of the elders said to me, "Weep not; the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so he can open the scroll and its seven seals."
Only Jesus (the Root of David) can fulfill Justice.
6: And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth;
7: and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
It's the sacrificed Jesus (the slain Lamb) that saves.
8: And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls of incense, the prayers of the saints;
9: and they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood ransomed men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10: and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth."
Because of this text and a later one (below), harps are identified with Heaven. Note that prayers are saved in Heaven, thus encouraging believers to continue in their hope.
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These are the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, conquest, war, famine, and death.1: Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say, as with a voice of thunder, "Come!"
2: And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
3: When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
4: And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword.
5: When he opened the third seal, behold, a black horse, and its rider had scales in his hand;
7: When he opened the fourth seal,
8: I saw a pale horse, and its rider's name was Death.
9: When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God;
11: Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
In other words, suffering is part of God's bigger plan, giving those who suffer for the church hope.
12: When he opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
17: for the great day of wrath has come, and who can stand before it?"
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1: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
2: Then I saw another angel
3: saying, "Do no harm till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads."
God protects his elect from harm.
4: And I heard the number of the sealed, 144 thousand sealed.
That is, 12,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel.
9: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10: and crying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!"
13: Then one of the elders addressed me,
14: And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15: and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16: They shall hunger no more,
17: and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
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The Ark was hidden under the Jewish Law, and then lost. Now it is restored and visible to all:19: Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. . . .
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1: And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
2: she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
The Church and the 12 apostles.
3: And another sign appeared in heaven; a red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads.
4: His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth;
5: she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne. . . .
An image of the Devil, probably with reference to Rome's seven hills.
7: Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8: but they were defeated and there was no place for them in heaven.
17: Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and testify to Jesus.
The Devil instead causes mischief on earth, murdering the "saints" of the church (followers of Jesus).
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2: And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing their harps,
3: and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders.
13: And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"
Apocalypse gives hope to the hopeless (the Romans persecuted Christians).
14: Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Jesus as Judge.
15: And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe."
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1: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters,
5: and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations."
This is Rome, which persecuted Christians; the "seven mountains" are the seven hills of Rome.
6: And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
9: This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.
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21: Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and shall be found no more. . . .
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1: After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah!
11: Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
This became the source of the cowboy hero riding a white horse (the bad cowboy rode a black horse).
16: On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.
19: And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse and against his army.
20: And the beast was captured, and thrown alive into the lake of fire.
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This is the Book of Life that Moses mentioned ("blot me from the Book of Life"), as well as Daniel:12: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
15: and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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1: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;
3: and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them;
4: he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
Refers to Isaiah; the Promise made to Abraham is now fulfilled, since God and his people are One.
5: And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
6: And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
7: He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son."
9: Then came one of the seven angels and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."
10: And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
12: It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed;
13: on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
14: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
16: The city lies foursquare.
21: And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
22: And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
23: And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
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13: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
16: "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star."
20: He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.
"Come, Lord Jesus" echoes the name Emmanuel (Immanuel) from both Isaiah and Matthew: "God is with us," and the need, from the beginning, to restore God's presence in the world since Adam and Eve's disobedience. So the Bible comes full circle, from the "Beginning" to the "End" back to the Beginning again and a Creation that God made "good."
