Jude’s Law

to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.  Jude 1:25  NIV Only – Jude wrote this letter toward the end of the first century CE.  By then Messianic assemblies were established in many cities of the Mediterranean world.  Jude’s language shows…

Leader and Followers

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, 1 Timothy 1:1  NASB Our hope– We tend to pass over opening verses like this one because we have been trained to look for the theologically important applications in Paul’s letters.  So we jump fairly quickly to verses like 1:8 and 1:15…

Theological Punctuation

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Peter 1:1 NASB Our God and Savior, – Peter, actually Shim’on called Kepha (i.e. Petros in Greek), is a Jew. Yes, he…

Whom Does God Save?

“I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me.  Isaiah 43:11  NASB No savior – Isaiah’s proclamations concerning the Servant of the Lord are favorite verses among believers.  But the context makes these cherished statements much more difficult.  YHWH isn’t speaking to the Church.  He quite clearly states that His audience…