Judeo-Christian Clarion — Teaching Letters

We as Christians speak about holiness, and yet many of us do not know what holiness is. We do not know what it looks like. I think that without an understanding of what true holiness is it is hard to understand that it has disappeared. So we are going to do some detective work to find clues that will lead us to true holiness.

In our December 2017 newsletter, “A Fall from Righteousness” we looked at what Paul had to say about the end times. We saw that people will become lawless against God's commandments and the laws of the land. We want to continue with that thought and take a closer look at the man who is called the man of lawlessness.

Ask any believer and he will tell you that he is saved by grace through faith; and that not of himself, it is a free gift of God; and not as a result of works, that he should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Though this may be true, I ask, what happened to the blood and the cross and sin? Should this not be our first response?

Paul paints a picture of the last days. Our question is this: are we in the last days? In the last days, there will be difficulty. It seems as though all throughout history there has been difficulty of all sort, but Paul mentions some things in 2 Timothy as proof of the end times.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 tells us, "In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." We want to take a look at what it takes to be vessels of honor.

In our last newsletter we saw that the Tabernacle represents the abundant life in God. We are going to continue our journey where we left off in the Holy Place and continue on into the Holy of Holies. We want to remember that even though the Tabernacle does not exist any longer, the heavenly Tabernacle does.

This month we want to look at the Abundant Life. Many TV Pastors and Evangelists speak of the abundant life as financial prosperity. In some small way this could be true, but when Yeshua (Jesus) said "I have come to give life, and that life abundantly" (John 10:10), I don't think He was thinking in a financial way, for He also speaks of how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23). So what was the Messiah speaking about? Let's take a closer look because I think we all want life abundantly: or do we?

We have been studying, the last several newsletters, at 1 Corinthians 3. Now that we have laid that foundation, we want to build upon it and continue looking at this chapter in 1 Corinthians on foundational living.

Last month we started looking at 1 Corinthians 3. We began laying a foundation by looking at the elementary principles of Hebrews 6:1-2. We looked at repentance from dead works, faith toward God, and instructions about washings. Now we want to begin by looking at the laying on of hands.

In this newsletter we want to take a closer look at 1 Corinthians 3. Paul addresses several important issues in the congregation at that time, and I think that they are still important issues today.