Welcome to the Study of God Podcast. This is episode #73
I am your host, Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. This podcast is designed to give you a basic understanding of God, the Bible, and Christian beliefs. J. Dwight Pentecost said, “There is no higher activity in which the mind may be engaged than the pursuit of the knowledge of God.”
Let’s start out reading the Word of God Itself. Today’s passage of Scripture is Psalm 119:9-10 which reads: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.”
Today’s words from a theologian are from Brother Lawrence. He said: “Let all our employment be to know God: the more one knows Him, the more one desires to know Him.”
Our topic for today is titled “Theology of Paul (Part 9)” from “The Moody Handbook of Theology” by Dr. Paul Enns.
Dr. Paul Enns writes…
Church
Definition. The word church (Gk. ekklesia) simply means “a called out group.” It is most often used in a technical sense of believers whom God has called out of the world as a special group of His own. It is, however, occasionally used in a nontechnical sense to refer, for example, to a mob (translated “assembly”), as in Acts 19:32. Church is used in two primary ways in the New Testament — the “universal” church and the local church. Paul uses the term to refer to the wide company of believers transcending a single congregation. When the term is referring to the body of Christ the universal sense is intended. Church refers to the local church when a particular assembly of believers in a given location at a given time is intended. Thus Paul refers to the individual churches at Corinth, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica.
The church as a union of Jews and Gentiles on equal footing as fellow heirs in Christ is a distinctly New Testament entity. The church was unknown in the Old Testament; the knowledge about the church was given to Paul through revelation.
Explanation. Paul depicts the church as an organism making up the “complex structure of the Body of Christ which carries on living activities by meanings of the individual believers, who are distinct in function but mutually dependent on and governed by their relation to Christ, the Head.
Entrance into the church is through the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit Who places believers into union with Christ and with other believers. The baptizing work of the Spirit occurs simultaneously with saving faith, is non-experiential, and includes all believers, regardless of class or social position. As a head gives direction to a human body, so Christ, as head of the church, gives direction to the church, having authority over it. It is through union with Christ that the church grows to maturity as it subjects itself to the authority of Christ.
Paul teaches that God has given spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ. The doctrine of spiritual gifts is almost exclusively Pauline; the only reference apart from Paul is a brief statement in 1 Peter 4:10. Spiritual gifts is the translation of one Greek word charisma, literally, “grace gift.” A concise definition is “a God-given ability for service.” Paul describes the gifts in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4.
Let’s Pray —
Before we close, dear friend, I want to remind you that while it is important to engage in the study of God, it is far more important that you have a relationship with God. I fear that there are a lot of people who will die knowing a lot about God, but not really knowing God. You don’t want to be one of those people.
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you want to get to know Him today here’s how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Pray and ask Him to come into your heart and He will.
May God bless you and keep you until we meet again.
BCNN1 WP 