Paul Did

~ What Did the Apostle Paul Do? ~

A Key Passage  ~  “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Comment  ~  Activity and works are meaningless unless they are a result of faith in God.  “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

The Key (not to be missed)  ~  The obvious question arises: How does one obtain a meaningful faith?  “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).  Time in the Word of God and honest searching before Him develops our faith. 

This post is in the same format as the previous ALN post “Christ Did” (What Has Christ Done?) posted on June 11, 2017.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

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(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

The Law: Questions, 21of25

~ Did Paul Declare That The Law Was Done Away With? ~

Scripture  ~  The Apostle Paul wrote, “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?  For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.  For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.  For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious” (2 Corinthians 3:7-11). 

Additional Scripture  ~  “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.  For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.  But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:4-6). 

Reference  ~  You may be interested in a previous “Abundant Life Now” 14 post series entitled “10 Commandments Today” (from March 1 to June 28, 2018).  The Key Passage in this series is: “Do not think that I [Jesus Christ] came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

O.T. Shepherds, 3of6

~ Joseph: An Exalted Shepherd ~

Series Prologue  ~  There are at least five Old Testament shepherds who were clear “types” of Jesus Christ—our shepherd.  A type is like a faint image or shadow of the true item.  In each of these cases we can see parallels to our Great Shepherd. 

Sample Scripture  ~  “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers.  And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age.  Also he made him a tunic of many colors.  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.  Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more” (Genesis 37:2-5).

“So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.  …  And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”  Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.  And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem?  Come, I will send you to them.’  So he said to him, ‘Here I am.’  Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’  So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.  Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field.  And the man asked him, saying, ‘What are you seeking?’  So he said, ‘I am seeking my brothers.  Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.’  And the man said, ‘They have departed from here, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.”’  So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.  Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.  Then they said to one another, ‘Look, this dreamer is coming!  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, “Some wild beast has devoured him.”  We shall see what will become of his dreams!’  But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, ‘Let us not kill him.’  And Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him’ — that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.  So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.  Then they took him and cast him into a pit.  And the pit was empty; there was no water in it” (Genesis 37:8b, 11-24).

“Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.  And they took Joseph to Egypt” (Genesis 37:28).         

“So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread.  Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.’  The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians.  And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.  So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands” (Genesis 41:55-57). 

Hints Of The Coming Messiah  ~  Joseph is the exalted shepherd who in spite of being rejected by his own brethren would become the savior of all mankind. 

Joseph was hated by his own brethren.

Joseph was thought to have been killed.

Joseph was banished to a far country.

Joseph was eventually exalted to the throne.

He obtained a Gentile bride.
Joseph redeemed his own brethren who had betrayed him. 

Comment  ~  It is an rewarding effort to read the story of Joseph (Genesis 30:24—50:26) and make a list of parallels between Joseph and Jesus Christ. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .