New Testament Challenge

The Challenge

2011-04-04T07:00:00.006-05:00

You have finally reached the finished line. You've accomplished something noteworthy. You have read the entire New Testament. Perhaps for the first time.

Can't you just hear our heavenly father cheering. That's my kid. I'm so proud.

The next challenge is to use what you have read to continue to craft a Godly life of service, study and prayer. Jews believe that all of life is a conversation with God. We speak in the form of prayer. God speaks to us in the form of the Torah or the Scriptures. Then we speak together through serving our world. Helping the hurting. Feeding the hungry. Ministering to the sick. Spreading the Good News to a hurting world.

I hope you continue the conversation.

Diane Young Myers

Director of Discipleship

Asbury United Methodist Church

Revelation 21 & 22

2011-04-04T07:00:00.005-05:00

The last chapters of Revelation describe the City of God. The New Jerusalem.

Some interesting things to note:

There are no temples. The entire city is a temple. It's built in the shape of a perfect cube, indicating that it replaces the Holy of Holies in the temple. The presence of God is continually there.

There is no night. Ancient people were afraid of the dark. The presence of God will bring eternal light.

There isn't much of a wall. The wall is described as 144 cubits high, or just 266 feet. The wall of Babylon was 300 feet high, and the walls of Solomon's porch in the temple were180 feet high. But this wall doesn't have to be very big. There is nothing hostile. All the evil things have been obliterated or cast into the lake of fire. God is much more eager to bring men in than to shut them out.

Revelation 19 & 20

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John paints a picture of the conquering Christ. Jewish dreams were full of this image of the warrior Messiah, who would lead God's people to victory and smash their enemies. This image is of Jewish expectation and really has little resemblance to the Christ of the Gospels who was more meek and lowly.

Christ is seen riding a white horse, which is what Roman generals rode when the celebrated a triumph. On his head are many crowns. It was not uncommon for a monarch to wear more than one crown in order to show he was the king of more than one country. And he is wearing a robe dipped in the blood of his enemies.

Surrounding Him are the armies of heaven. Remember at His arrest Jesus says that He could have had twelve legions of angels to fight for Him. Here we see the angel army.

Revelation 16, 17 & 18

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He may have called the woman Babylon but John is writing about Rome. At some point you might ask if John's indictment of Rome is really justified.

The world was pouring it's riches into Rome. Merchandise was brought from all over. Money was spent with extravagance. Nero once declared that the only use of money was to squander it. Caligula himself once spent the revenues of three providences in a single year. They drank expensive pearls dissolved in vinegar. Fished with golden nets drawn with the most expensive of fabrics. Never wore the same clothes twice. Had mules shod with silver.

It was an age of extraordinary gluttony. Amazing amounts of money were spent on food. They feasted on peacock's brains and the tongues of nightingales and flamingos. They frequently engaged in elaborate and expensive banquets. History had never seen such a period of wanton extravagance.

Revelation 13, 14 & 15

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The seven headed dragon represents the seven Roman emperors. (Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian) The ten horns were Rome's ten rulers. Why ten? After the death of Nero there was a period of 18 months in which 3 different men briefly held the seat of power. (Galba, Otho and Vitellis) They were not included in John's list of the seven heads but are thought to have been included in the list of the ten horns.

The one wounded and restored to life is thought to have been Nero. Nero was a vicious dictator known for murder, immorality and crime. He killed his own mother, kicked to death his lover while she was pregnant with their child, and basically murdered anyone who stood in his way. He enjoyed burning Christians in his garden at night as a source of light. Many believed that the current evil ruler Domitian was the reincarnation of Nero.

John tells us that the number of the beast is six hundred and sixty six. Revelation is written in code. And nowhere is the code more closely guarded than in regard to this number which stands for the arch-enemy of the church. The key was evidently lost very early for even the earliest Christian scholars did not know what the number stood for. Everyone had a theory. The Pope. John Knox. Martin Luther. Napoleon. Hitler. Maybe something to do with Nero or Domitian. No one knows. But it's interesting to note that many ancient manuscripts give the number as 616 not 666.

Revelation 10, 11 & 12

2011-03-31T07:00:00.002-05:00

The Antichrist stands for the universal power which is against God. This idea of a force opposed to God was not new. It's seen all over the Old Testament. Belial is one such reference that became synonymous for evil. An evil man or woman was called a son or daughter of Belial. Eli's wicked sons are called sons of Belial in the book of Samuel. Hannah was accused of being a daughter of Belial when they thought she was drunk in the temple. One of the insults hurled at King David was that he was a son of Belial.

Another evil force recognized in the Old Testament is the dragon of chaos that came to be known as Rahab. Isaiah says "Was it not you that cut Rahab in pieces, that did pierce the dragon." But as far as the Jews were concerned the peak of the manifestation of evil was the dictator Antiochus Ephipanes of Syria who was represented as the 'little horn' in the book of Daniel.

Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Palestine and captured Jerusalem. Eighty thousand Jews were either slaughtered or sold into slavery. To circumscribe a child or to have a copy of the Jewish scriptures was punishable by death. History had, at that point, never seen such an deliberate attempt to wipe out the religion of a whole people. Antiochus desecrated the temple and erected an alter to Zeus in the most holy place in the temple. And to make it even worse, he sacrificed pigs on it. The rooms of the temple were also turned into brothels. Jews today celebrate Hanukkah to honor the Maccabees who conquered Antiochus and restored the temple. (and to not rub it in the Roman empire's face they softened the holiday to honor the oil used to rededicate the temple)

Revelation 7, 8 & 9

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During the time that John wrote this book people believed that the earth was flat. (and it was generally accepted belief until about the 1800's - mainly because anyone who spoke up about the shape of the earth was killed) At each of the four corners of earth there was an angel waiting to unleash the winds of destruction. Isaiah speaks of gathering the outcasts of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Ezekiel describes how the end will come upon the four corners of the earth.

Ancient people believed that the winds which came from the north, south, east and west were all favourable winds; but the winds which blew diagonally across the earth were harmful. That is why the angels stood at the corners of the earth ready to unleash the diagonal winds. It was also common belief that all the forces of nature were under the control of angels.

The Old Testament is full of interesting accounts of the winds. Especially, the Sirocco, the dreaded wind that blew from the southeast. The Old Testament prophet Nahum speaks of the Lord who has way in the whirlwind of Sirocco and the storm. So terrible was the effect of the Sirocco that it gained a place in the events of the last days. God would destroy His enemies as stubble before this wind.

Revelation 4, 5, and 6.

2011-03-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

In the early chapters of Revelation John shows us the Risen Christ walking amidst His churches upon earth. Now the scene changes to the court of heaven.

Many of John's mysterious and awe-inspiring pictures of heaven come from the Old Testament. The throne of God is one such Old Testament image. It's mentioned in a variety of Old Testament books including 1 Kings, Psalms and Isaiah. The Throne of God, standing for the majesty of God, is mentioned in every chapter of Revelation except for 2, 8 and 9.

John describes voices that sound like thunder. Thunder and lightening were often connected with the manifestation of God. In Ezekiel's vision lightening comes out of the fiery haze around the throne. The Psalmist tells how the voice of the thunder of God was heard in the heavens. In Job, God sent His lightening to the ends of the earth, and Exodus describes the thunder and lightening that formed a thick cloud upon the mountains.

John uses imagery which was regularly connected with the presence of God.

Revelations 1, 2 & 3

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John writes this book after he has been banished to Patmos, a barren rocky island ten miles long by five miles wide located forty miles off the coast of Asia Minor. Banishment to a remote island was a common form of Roman punishment especially for political prisoners. Such punishment involved the loss of civil rights and the loss of property. But prisoners were not mistreated and were free to move around within the island. The island of Patmos obviously left its mark on John's writing. Patmos is noted for it's breathtaking scenery and magnificent sunrises and sunsets. The word for sea occurs more than twenty-five times in the book of Revelation.

The book of Revelation is also full of symbolism. The number seven occurs fifty-four times. There are seven candlesticks, stars, lamps, seals, horns, eyes, thunders, angels, plagues and bowls. The ancient people regarded the number seven as the perfect number, representing completeness, and it runs all through Revelation.

The Book of Revelation

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The Jews divided all time into ages- this present age, wholly given over to evil; and the age to come, the age of God. Between the two there was to be a time of terrible trial. Between the Old and the New Testaments the Jews wrote many books which were visions of the dreadful time before the end of time and the time of blessedness to come. These books were call Apokalypses or Revelations. Although there is nothing like it in the New Testament, it belongs to a class of literature that was common between the two testaments.

Revelation brings together the worlds of heaven, earth, and hell in a final confrontation between the forces of good and evil. Its characters and images are both real and symbolic, spiritual and material. Revelation's cryptic nature makes the book a source of controversy among scholars who try to interpret its meaning and its message.

Tradition says the book was written by John the apostle, although its authorship has been debated for centuries. It is believed to have been written during the rein of Domitian, a particularly blood thirsty Roman ruler, in about 95 AD. Domitian began a campaign of bitter persecution against anyone who would not worship the ancient gods. In particular he leveled his hatred against the Jews and the Christians. Revelation was written to encourage Christians during this difficult time and to show that Jesus Christ controls the course and climax of history.

1 John - 3 John & Jude

2011-03-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

John
John, whom Jesus called His beloved disciple, writes to the church in Asia Minor in what is now modern day Turkey sometime around 90 AD.

He wrote to address several particular types of false teachings.

Gnosticism was a teaching that blended Eastern mysticism with Greek dualism (the spirit is completely good, but matter is completely evil). Some Gnostics believed that if God was truly good he could not have created the material universe. Another lesser god- the god of the Old Testament- created the earth.

Another false teaching was that Jesus was not fully human but only appeared to have a human body and never actually suffered pain and death on the cross. Yet another heresy that John addresses was the belief that Jesus was just a man upon whom the "Christ" descended at His baptism and that "the Christ" departed from Jesus just before His crucifixion.

Jude
The little 25 verse epistle of Jude was written around 60-64 AD to address false teaching in the early church. It is commonly believed to have been written by Jude, the brother of James and the half brother of Jesus.

1 Peter & 2 Peter

2011-03-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

In most every listing of Jesus' disciples, Peter's name is first. His influence in the early church was enormous and universally acknowledged. By virtue of his position, he was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community.

The first epistle of Peter was written to a group of Christians living in Asia Minor near modern day Turkey. It was written to encourage them during a period of great religious persecution.

Christians were targets of attack mainly because they did not participate in pagan religious practices. Since they were the ones who abandoned the so-called gods of the people, Christians were blamed for everything from natural disasters to economic downturns. They were even more vulnerable because they were often strangers in a city, having been driven out of other cities by persecution. These early Christians often had little security, low social status (some were even slaves) and had little recourse to government protection.

There is a lot of debate about who wrote these books. Early church tradition affirms that the apostle Peter wrote these letters sometime after 67 AD. Critics argue that the vocabulary and literary style could not have been Peter's.

James

2011-03-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

The book of James is a "how-to" book on living a Christian life. It offers practical instructions and encouragement to Christians experiencing problems.

It is believed to have been written by James the brother of Jesus. Although James was a very common name and there are a few other James who may have authored it. It is also believed to be one of the oldest books in the New Testament although it was one of the last books added to the collection of books that make up the bible. The letter was not written to one particular church but was a circular letter that was passed along from church to church.

One of the central themes is that doing good works is a natural result of faith. That when a person truly believes in something they act upon it. James uses this letter as a walk up call to Christians to start putting your life in line with what you believe.

Hebrews 10-13

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Jewish Christians to whom the Epistle to the Hebrews is addressed were demoralized and discouraged. Christianity had proven difficult. It was radical. It set aside centuries of tradition. It emphasized a new but troubling kind of spiritual freedom.

Many converts were ready to turn back and leave the uneasy, uncharted waters of faith for the comfortable, familiar life of works and moral effort.

After reminding the immature believers of the superiority of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews demonstrates for them the superiority of the faith. Faith means we cannot see the outcome, and we are not sure what lies ahead. But we are convinced of the reality of God. In other words, "We're not sure what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future." Faith means clinging to the hope that God will eventually triumph.

Hebrews 6-9

2011-03-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

One of the mysteries of the bible is the identity of Melchizedek. In the story from Genesis, Melchizedek is the strange and eery figure that arrives out of the blue to offer blessings to Abraham. He gives Abraham wine and bread (sounds a little sacramental huh?) blesses him and accepts a tithe of his war time plunder.

Under Jewish law, priest were required to come from the bloodline of Aaron. Genesis is all about the genealogies. Long list of ancestors are cited. In fact the whole Jewish priesthood was founded on genealogy. But none are written for Melchizedek. Then he accepts tithes from Abraham the founder of the Jewish race which would signify Melchizedek's higher position.

Various theories grew around the mysterious figure of Melchizedek. A Jewish madrish or interpretation says that the word Melchizedek is not a name but rather a position. And that it was the position given to Noah's righteous son Shem. Some Evangelical Christan denominations teach that Melchizedek was actually a pre-incarnate Christ. A premonition or earlier manifestation of Christ before the virgin birth. Others teach that he was an Angel sent by God as a representative.

The writer of Hebrews describes Jesus as a priest after the order of Melchizedek. He argues the superiority of the Melchizedek priesthood over the Levitical priest descending from Aaron. He says that the system of Levitical sacrifices had proved ineffective to restore the lost fellowship between God and man. So then a new priesthood was necessary, the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus offers a new and better covenant, a new kind of relationship between man and God. While the old covenant was based on law, the new covenant is based on love and on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The old covenant was based on man's achievement, while the new covenant is based on God's love.

Hebrews 1-5

2011-03-19T07:05:00.000-05:00

Angels are mentioned throughout the Bible. The writer of Hebrews wants to prove that Jesus is superior to angels.

It was common Jewish belief at the time that angels acted as intermediaries between God and man. That God spoke to man through the angels and that the angels carried the prayers of man into the presence of God.

Other basic Jewish beliefs were that God lived surrounded by angelic hosts, that they did not eat or drink and didn't have children, and that they were immortal but could be annihilated by God. Some of them like the seraphim, the cherubim and the ofanim were always around the throne of God kind of like a holy entourage.

There were millions and millions of angels. Some were assigned names. Raphael, Uriel, Gabriel and Michael. There was the angel of death. Every person had a guardian angel. Every nation had a special angel. Satan was even seen as the prosecuting angel who on every day, except the Day of Atonement, continuously brought charges against men before God.

This vast angelology, the beliefs around angels, introduced a series of beings other than Jesus through whom man could approach God. The writer of Hebrews argues that Christians have direct access to God through Jesus. That Jesus broke down every barrier and opened a direct way for us to approach God.

Hebrews

2011-03-19T07:00:00.003-05:00

The book of Hebrews is a mystery. Bible scholars are really uncertain about who wrote it, to whom it was written or even when it was written. The first listing of New Testament books, the Muratorian Canon which was compiled in about 170 AD, does not even include the book of Hebrews. But sometime in the fourth century Hebrews became accepted as part of the New Testament.

Origen, an early church philosopher, summed up the authorship of the book by stating that "only God knows who wrote Hebrews." Possible writers include Barnabus, who had accompanied Paul in his missionary journeys; Apollos, another early church leader, or even the husband -wife team of Aquila and Priscilla. The letter was probably not written by Paul because the vocabulary, style and theology differ from his other letters.

It may have been written to believers in Italy. So we could say that Hebrews was written by a great teacher to a little group of Christians in Rome.

It was written to address the doubts of those who were second-guessing their conversion to Christianity. Christianity was first thought of as a new Jewish sect. Jesus was a Jew. His disciples were Jews. The first meetings were held in synagogues and the first controversies concerned adherence to Jewish laws. This book was written to help answer those issues and to show that Christianity is the true successor to Judaism.

Philemon

2011-03-18T07:05:00.000-05:00

Slavery was an integral part of the ancient world. There were 60 million slaves in the Roman empire and the owners worked hard to make sure there wasn't a revolt. A master had absolute power over his slaves. In their eyes a slave was not a person but rather a living tool. Rebellious slaves were promptly eliminated. And runaway slaves were sometimes branded with a big letter F on their forehead which stood for fugitivus runaway.

Onesimus was a slave who had run away and found his way to Rome to hide himself among the crowded streets of the big city. He became a Christian and began working with Paul. Somehow this fact was discovered and Paul could no longer harbour a runaway slave. So he sends Onesimus back to his owner Philemon with this personal letter asking that Philemon take him back without recourse and that he should view him not as a slave but as a Christian brother.

Why did Christianity seem to condone slavery? People of the ancient world commonly held the belief that it was simply the nature of things that certain men would be slaves to serve the needs of higher classes of men. It would have been nearly impossible to imagine their society without it. But more importantly if the young Christian church would have encouraged a slave revolt, Christianity itself would have been branded as revolutionary and subversive. The movement could have been completely crushed.

The New Testament does not directly tell us what happened to Onesimus. But fifty years later a church leader named Ignatius writes about the bishop of Ephesus whose name is Onesimus. Onesimus was a common slave name so we will never know for sure if this is the same man. But another clue might be in the very inclusion of this book in the New Testament. Why would this little slip of a letter survive and become a part of the collection of Paul letters? It doesn't really deal with doctrine or heresy, and surely Paul wrote many many personal letters.

They first began collecting Paul's letters at Ephesus, just when a man named Onesimus was bishop there. Perhaps he insisted that it be included so that everyone would know what the grace of God had done for him. We will never know. But if it is true~ it's a great story of the power of God's grace and the hope we can find in His love.

Titus

2011-03-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Titus

Titus was one of Paul's most trusted and valuable helpers. He is mentioned several times in the New Testament as the man Paul went to when he needed assistance. There is also a hint that Titus might be Luke's brother. (2 Corinthians 8:18 say that when Titus was sent to Corinth a brother was sent with him- and that this brother was described as 'the brother who is famous among all the churches')

Titus was sent to Crete to be a pattern to the Christians there. To model for them a Christian life. The believers in Crete lacked leadership and were suffering as a result.

Although it contains only forty-six verses, the little book of Titus covers a wide range of topics. It provides information about church organization and a succint overview of how to lead a church.

2 Timothy

2011-03-17T07:00:00.002-05:00

An older Paul writes this final letter to Timothy from a Roman prison. Paul knew that this letter might be his final contact with Timothy. His execution was most likely imminent. He implored Timothy to come quickly to his side. But in case he didn't make it, Paul writes these "last words" of encouragement to his proclaimed son in the faith.

Second Timothy is an intensely personal letter both in it's nature and in it's tone. He writes to strengthen Timothy's loyalty to Christ in the face of the suffering and persecution that would come.

Paul had been imprisoned at a time when Christians were being persecuted. Christians were being blamed for having started a tragic fire that decimated most of Rome in July of 64 AD. Called 'the great fire' it burned for six days and seven nights and destroyed famous buildings and sacred shrines as well as many homes. People were killed and injured. Left homeless and destitute.

Some believe that the emperor Nero himself started the fire so that he could build a new and nobler Rome. Some say he watched the fire from the Tower of Maecenas. Others that he played the fiddle or a lyre while Rome burned. (unfortunately the fiddle had not been created yet) Some historians believe that he was out of town when the fire started but that he had rushed back to Rome to lead the relief efforts even funding repairs with his own money and opening his own palaces for the displaced. Regardless of his role in the fire, Nero had a solution. Blame the Christians. And it was from this event that a great persecution of Christians sprang.

1 Timothy

2011-03-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

The letters to Timothy and Titus are different from Paul's other letters. These letters were written not to a church but to a person. They were personal.

Timothy was Paul's young assistant who had accompanied him for years and acted as his liaison to a number of churches. This letter was written to instruct Timothy on how the church should function and how mature men and women of God should behave in it. It also provided Timothy with a list of extremely practical advice for leading a church.

One of the most famous and many times misquoted verses from Timothy is that 'money is the root of all evil.' The bible doesn't really say that money is the root of all evil, it says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money is itself neither good nor bad; but the love of it may lead to evil. It seems to agree with a Roman saying of the time that wealth was like sea water; so far from quenching a man's thirst, it only intensified it. The more he gets, the more he wants.

2 Thessalonians

2011-03-15T07:00:00.002-05:00

A simple phone call could have cleared up some of the problems encountered by believers in the early church. But of course there were no phones in the ancient world. Paul had to be personally tracked down wherever he was and be given a letter with questions. He then had to dictate his response and have someone hand-deliver the letter in return. Because of the distances and slow modes of transportation, the process could take weeks or even months. This time gap sometimes allowed false beliefs to spread or to become a part of the beliefs of new churches. This is the case in Second Thessalonians.

Reports had come to Paul of continued progress in the Thessalonian church and their faithfulness to the gospel. But some doctrinal problems had also arisen. False teachers had begun to tell the believers that the day of the Lord was already at hand. They misunderstood Paul's words that the day of the Lord would come suddenly.

Some believers had even stopped working and were just waiting for the Lord. They were losing hope. In this letter Paul reminded them that they had been called by God and saved through Christ's work. He exhorted them to stand firm in Christ and to work hard waiting for Jesus' return.

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1 Thessalonians

2011-03-14T07:00:00.002-05:00

Thessalonica was a port city and commercial center located a hundred miles from Philippi. The Egnatian Way linking Rome to Byzantium passed through the city making it one of the wealthiest trade centers in the Roman Empire. Because of this strategic location, Thessalonica became a base for the spread of the gospel in Macadonia and Greece.

The city of Thessalonica was a hostile environment to preach the gospel. Not only did Paul and Silas have to leave the city prematurely under the cover of night but their opponents followed them to Berea, and created problems for them there as well.

Evidently the return of Christ was central to Paul's message here because he answers many questions about the second coming of Christ. He also addresses sexual purity which was an ongoing problem for the early church. Pagan religions often condoned sexual encounters as part of their rites, and ancient Roman culture itself had few sexual boundaries. Paul urges the Thessalonians not to participate in sexual activity outside of marriage. Reminding them that the body was God's temple and should be kept holy.

Philippians & Colossians

2011-03-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

Philippians
Although this letter was written while Paul was in prison, it is one of the most joyful books in the whole Bible. It's most prominent theme is joy, specifically the joy of serving Jesus.

Philippi was a culturally diverse Roman city on the main highway from the eastern provinces to Rome, and the church at Philippi had a very diverse group of believers.

Women played important leadership roles in the churches that Paul founded. He mentions two in chapter four, Euodia and Syntyche. The exact nature of their leadership is not known, but the authority of both women was sufficient that Paul encouraged them to seek harmony with one another. Paul was concerned that they "be of the same mind in the Lord."

Colossians
The city of Colosse was about a hundred miles east of Ephesus. At one time it was a large and strategic city but by the time of this writing it had declined into the shadows of nearby cities.

Theologians debate about the authorship of this letter. Most agree that it was not written by Paul but rather by one of his followers. Ancient writers had different views about plagerism and it would have been out of honor that they wrote this letter in their mentors name.

The Colossian church was experiencing the same sorts of problems that other early churches had encountered. Certain members were teaching that the observance of Jewish rulers about food, the Sabbath, and special festivals would help believers earn their salvation.

Ephesisians

2011-03-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Paul's letter to the Ephesians is controversial on several accounts. First of all it may not have been written by Paul. Some theologians believe it was written by one of Paul's followers using his style of writing and thinking. Secondly, it may not have been written exclusively to the Ephesians but rather as a more general letter that would have been circulated among several congregations. There are no personal references, none of those shot outs to Paul's friends that are found in the other letters.

This is what we do know. The city of Ephesus was the capitol of the Roman province of Asia which is modern day Turkey. Located at the intersection of several major trade routes, it was a major commercial center in the Roman empire. Paul used the city as a center for his missionary work in the region.

This letter underscores that salvation is by faith alone and not through works or human action. It also addresses how spiritual truths should be reflected in Christian behavior.