Philippians, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 The book of Philippians, written by the Apostle Paul, to the church in Philippi. Chapter 3 beginning verse7:

But everything that was a gain to meI have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of  the surpassing value  of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ---the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

Paul, being a Pharisee of the Pharisees, expert knowledge of the Torah, of the Law, followed it to the letter, but following the law did not save him. He came to understand, through Divine revelation, that it was the Messiah Jesus who brought salvation. Following every detail of the law could never save him, could never make him truly righteous. Salvation comes by grace through faith, not of works, ever.

Ephesians, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 Chapter 2:4-9 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!...You are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift---not from works, so that no one can boast. "

The Apostle Paul emphasizes through his epistles that salvation is through grace. It is a gift of God through Christ Jesus. Our works cannot ever save us, even if we obey the letter of the law, it isn't enough to save us, only trusting in what Jesus did, trusting that He is the way to salvation. Jesus is the ONLY way to eternal life.

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1 Corinthians, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 There is so much packed into this epistle written by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian Church. There are many sermons that have been preached out of here, on love, spiritual gifts, roles of men and women in marriage and the church, doing things that might cause weaker believers to stumble. There is a long discussion about eating food offered to idols, and I think a lot of the meaning of that is lost on modern-day Christians. I think there was more to it than just eating food that was set before idols, then given to others to eat, but I am going to have to research it. We know that in many Greco-Roman temples, not only were there animal sacrifices, but also sexual offerings as well, and demonic activity. But like I said, I think this needs some in depth study before I comment any more on it.

I am going to share one little part of this book from chapter 10, verses 6-13. In context, Paul is speaking about the Israelites during the time of Moses in Exodus, how they constantly turned back to idolatry and sinful acts, and is applying it to believers: 

"Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did. Don't become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play.' Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day 23,000 people fell dead. Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. Nor should we complain as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it. "

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Romans, Holman Christian Standard Bible

 Ah, the book of Romans, written by the Apostle Paul, to the Christians in Rome. There is so much good stuff in this book I don't think one can retain it all in one time through it. In the first chapter, Paul tells us that the depravity in the world comes from seeing evidence of God in this world and rejecting him, causing hearts to be hardened, thinking becomes nonsense, and their senseless minds become darkened. Claiming to be wise, they become fools, exchanging God's glory for cheap counterfeits.  And it is for this reason that God turned them over to depraved minds including homosexuality, envy, murder, pride, boasting, inventing evil, parental disobedience, undiscerning minds, untrustworthy behavior, being unloving and unmerciful (paraphrased). Paul lays it all out from the get go and he's pretty blunt. He was speaking to the early church in Rome, a center for immoral behavior, and I am sure that many new converts came from that culture where immorality was just an acceptable part of daily life. He had to make sure they understood that this was not acceptable, especially as followers of Christ. He then proceeds to make sure they know that ALL have sinned and need Christ, from the decadent Roman citizen to the Pharisee in the synagogue, and that true righteousness comes through faith in Christ.

I will probably hit other areas of Romans the next time I read it, I just wanted to share this opening part of it. Note that nowhere does it say that because Jesus loves them, that sinners can stay in their sinful lifestyles and still be part of the body of Christ. We all must turn away from our sin  and not pick it up again. We can't turn away from it if we don't recognize it as sin. And we can't do that without God showing it to us.

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