He encouraged them to continue living a life that pleased God , continue to love each other, live a quiet life, work hard, and encourage each other. He was aware of the hardships they suffered and in the letter, he encouraged them to trust in God to deliver them from persecution. Paul assured them that Christ would return, but no one really knew when and where it would be.
He ended the letter with a request for prayers, an exhortation for them to work hard, and not to waste their time with idleness. In the first few chapters of this letter, Paul reminded the Corinthians that God is the source of all comfort and encouraged them to rely on Him during moments of weakness and conflicts.
Paul wrote the last chapters to defend his authority as an apostle of Christ, cautioned the Corinthians against false prophets, and reminded them of his many trials while he served as an apostle. He was in Corinth when he wrote the letter and was making plans to sail to Rome and see the new converts in the city. God, however, provided a way for a man to be redeemed from the yoke of the law and the punishment for the sins committed through the death of Jesus Christ.
The last few chapters were peppered with exhortations on how to live properly, as well as a promise to visit them very soon. However, it was unique as its intended audience was not only the members of the church in Ephesus but also to churches in other areas in Asia Minor.
It was dispatched to Ephesus through his co-worker Tychicus, along with the letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Despite his circumstances, the letter brimmed with joy, contentment, and encouragement. The second chapter contained a commendation of Timothy and Epaphroditus. While the third chapter echoed his earlier teachings against legalism. The letters to the Colossians and to the Ephesians were divided into their doctrinal parts and their practical parts.
Just like in the letter to the Ephesians, he opened the letter to the Colossians with thanksgiving and prayer. He then cut immediately to the heart of the matter and addressed the gradual mix of pagan teachings and philosophies with Christian beliefs. Just like in other epistles, he had to address the issue of legalism and reiterated that Christ had died to set them free.
He ended the epistle with reminders on how to live properly and how to deal with other people. Paul met and converted a servant named Onesimus to Christianity after he escaped from his master Philemon who was a member of the church in Colosse. Paul sent Onesimus back to his master with a letter asking him to forgive his servant, take him back, and consider him as a brother in Christ. The letter contained his instructions to Titus on how to properly lead a church and reminded him to promote the right teachings.
He encouraged Titus to remind the members of the church to submit to the authorities and to refrain from quarrelling with or slandering each other. Paul also repeatedly cautioned Timothy against false teachers in his first letter. It was obvious from the start that the apostle was suffering in prison. It was penned before his execution in Rome around 66 or 67 AD, which made this letter more poignant.
He knew that his end was near, and the letter contained additional teachings to the man he treated as his own son and an urgent request for Timothy to come as quickly as he could. Although Luke was with him, it was at this time in his life that Paul felt the acute sense of being alone. However, he assured the recipient that he did not feel any grudge against his friends who had abandoned him.
Many scholars would contest this, suggesting strongly that they were written by others in his name. How would you respond to this please? It depends on the scholar you ask of course, but we would certainly be open to discussion and adding additional information or even changing items in the article due to new information. Some of them like Tertius even proclaim themselves in the letter.
Paul was beheaded under orders of Caesar Nero in 64AD. All letter were written before that. John is believed to also have written Revelation.
Others have suggested it was written by James son of Alpheus, mentioned as one of the original disciples. For various reasons, scholars debate whether Paul wrote the other seven epistles. Hebrews is perhaps the most hotly debated. There is also an argument by early church historian Eusebius that Clement of Rome, an early Christian bishop ordained by Peter, translated Hebrews into the version we have today. In other words, Clement took an original version of Hebrews written in, well, Hebrew , and created the stylized Greek version that scholars have today.
As a Zondervan Academic article noted , that would actually mean Clement reworked Hebrews, changing the structure to get the particular Greek style we have today. Therefore, if Eusebius was right, we would consider Clement a co-writer of Hebrews. From a content perspective, they provide an interesting look at what the first generation of Christians looked like.
Many of the debates described in these epistles still continue today, under different labels. The epistles advising on how to run churches provide much-needed advice on how to select elders, pastors, and so forth.
Epistles like Romans help us to know not only the basic content of the Gospel message but its implications for our lives. Share this. What Is an Epistle? What Are the Epistles in the Bible? Previous Post. Next Post. These nuts claim that God They knew very little back Browse Our Archives. Also, send me special offers. Meet the World's Confessional Lutherans.
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