Insight handbook of new testament backgrounds

Paul knew that conversion is nothing to trifle with, but that it should be honored and fostered. So Paul made a request. This was not some kind of cheap grace that Paul asked Philemon to offer. No, there was sacrifice required in this request, and because of that, Paul approached the topic with gentleness and care His letter to Philemon presents in full color the beautiful and majestic transition from slavery to kinship that comes as a result of Christian love and forgiveness.

Live long enough, and you will understand the difficulty of offering forgiveness when you have been wronged. Because of that fact, forgiveness serves as a determining factor in who we say we are and how we hope to live our lives.

When we do not forgive, bitterness takes root in our hearts and chokes the vitality out of us. View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Philemon , which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses.

Who wrote the book? In his bold call to purity within the Corinthian church, Paul made it clear that he was willing to risk the good opinion of some in order to help cleanse the sin that tainted the church.

Corinth was a large, international metropolis, filled with people from different backgrounds. Idol worship to gods such as Aphrodite was particularly prominent in the city, though Corinth contained numerous temptations far beyond her temples.

In this sense, Corinth was very much like a modern urban area, containing unending opportunities to engage in sinful behavior without any apparent consequences. Such a community clearly had a negative influence on the Corinthian church. Instead, he directed us to live out our commitment to Christ ever more faithfully in the midst of nonbelievers.

Paul expected that we Christians would shine our light into the dark places of their world by worshiping in a unified community that was accountable to one another. He expected that we would settle our problems internally, that we would encourage one another in the pursuit of purity, and that we would strive together by holding tightly to the hope of our bodily resurrection to come.

View Chuck Swindoll's chart of First Corinthians , which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses. First Corinthians. Some in the church had apparently taken his meekness among them to be a sign of moral weakness or lack of authority 2 Corinthians —2. These accusations led Paul to defend himself by arguing that he was on the same level of importance as the other apostles, that he had deep knowledge of the Christian faith, that he had suffered profound physical punishment in the name of Christ, and that he had received visions and revelations from God — Just as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in the wake of their repentance from divisions and quarrels, the message for today is clear: living in unity requires us to humbly forgive one another and to follow our leaders.

Second Corinthians reminds us that even as Christians, we hurt each other and need to forgive those who wrong us 2 Corinthians An overinflated sense of ourselves often leads us to strike out on our own or hold on to our frustration and anger regarding the choices of others. Look out for the pitfall of disunity with leaders and other believers in your own life while striving to live among all people in humility. View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Second Corinthians , which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses.

Second Corinthians. Who wrote the book? Where are we? Why is Second Corinthians so important?