Chronological Life Application Study Bible 2nd Edition - Flipbook - Page 18
IN THE BEGINNING
undated–2100 BC
GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE
2100–1800 BC
BIRTH OF ISRAEL
1800–1406 BC
THE PROMISED LAND
1406–1050 BC
f JAMES 5:13-18 (cont.)
Restore Wandering Believers
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer
of a righteous person has great power and produces
wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are,
and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would
fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when
he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth
began to yield its crops.
JAMES 5:19-20
16
UNITED KINGDOM
1050–930 BC
My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you
wanders away from the truth and is brought back,
20 you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back
from wandering will save that person from death and
bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
E. Controversy over Circumcision:
Galatians and the Jerusalem Council
Paul’s mission among the Gentiles began to raise some serious questions about the relationship between
faith in Jesus and the religious practices of Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, and the early Jesus movement
sprang out of Judaism and was centered in Jerusalem. For some early believers, this seemed to indicate that Gentiles should become Jewish for full membership in the body of believers. Some went so
far as to send out missionaries to speak against Paul and to claim that the Good News he was sharing
was incomplete; they claimed people needed to become circumcised and follow aspects of the Jewish
Law in order to truly follow Jesus. Paul reacted strongly against this idea, and the book of Galatians
is one such response. This was such an important issue that many key leaders of the community of
faith, including Paul, James, John, and Peter, gathered in Jerusalem to discuss and decide on what
God wanted the Messiah’s people to look like.
1. AUTHENTICITY OF THE GOSPEL
In response to attacks from false teachers, Paul wrote to defend his apostleship and the authority of the
gospel that he preached among the Gentiles. Some people from Jerusalem were claiming to have a more
complete version of the gospel, and that Paul was not really a reliable apostle. Paul gives an impassioned
account of his call from God and evidence that he is just as much an apostle as Peter or anyone else. God had
given Paul his stamp of approval, and anyone who preached a different gospel was teaching a false gospel.
Greetings from Paul
GALATIANS 1:1-5
This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed
by any group of people or any human authority, but by
Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised
Jesus from the dead.
2 All the brothers and sisters* here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.
Gal 1:2 Greek brothers; also in 1:11.
The earnest prayer of a righteous
person has great power and
produces wonderful results.
James 5:16
1588
Jas 5:16 Messiah Jesus has made it
possible for us to go directly to God for
forgiveness. But confessing our sins to each
other still has an important place in the
life of our faith communities. (1) If we have
sinned against an individual, we must ask
that person to forgive us. (2) If our sin has
affected our congregation, we must confess
it publicly. (3) If we need loving support as
we struggle with a sin, we should confess
that sin to those who are able to provide that
support. (4) If we doubt God’s forgiveness,
after confessing a sin to him, we may wish to
confess that sin to a fellow believer for assurance of God’s pardon. In Jesus’ Kingdom,
every believer is a priest to other believers
(1 Pet 2:9).
Jas 5:16-18 The believer’s most powerful
resource is communion with God through
prayer. The results are often greater than
we thought were possible. Some people see
prayer as a last resort to be tried when all
else fails. This approach is backward. Prayer
