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1:1-2:15
‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’. Paul has something special to say about this statement. This is what he says - ‘Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance’(1:15). This is Paul’s message, the message of the Gospel: ‘Christ Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all’(2:5-6). Paul speaks of ‘the glorious Gospel of the blessed God’(1:11). He speaks as a man with a testimony: ‘I received mercy... the grace of our Lord overflowed for me’(1:13-14). God is still looking for people who will say, with Paul, ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith’, ‘God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’(Romans 1:16; Galatians 6:14). May God help us, in our generation, to be ‘eager to preach the Gospel’(Romans 1:15).
3:1-4:16
Beliefand Behaviour- Both are important. We are ‘nourished in the words of the faith’ so that we ‘may know how one ought to behave in the household of God’(4:6; 3:15). We are not only to believe the right things. We are to behave the right way. To each of us, God says, ‘Watch your life and doctrine closely’(4:16). What we believe is important. How we live is also important. If our faith is real, it will lead to a change in our way of life. The whole of life is to be ‘consecrated by the Word of God and prayer’(4:5). Our God is ‘the living God’(3:15; 4:10). He wants to be real to us in every part of our life. ‘Fill Thou our life, O Lord our God, in every part with praise... Not for the lip of praise alone nor even the praising heart, we ask, but for a life made up of praise in every part’(Church Hymnary, 457).