All public posts
6In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”b 7The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
8What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All …
The Law and Faith in Christ
1Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the …
The Apostles Accept Paul
1Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make …
Paul’s Message Comes from Christ
11Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.d
13You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s …
Paul’s letter to the Galatians is one of the earliest written books in the Bible, likely written between 15 and 20 years after Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. The Galatians were a small, obviously you church made up of primarily Gentiles. It seems that after Paul left the church to continue his preaching some Jewish converts arrived and tried to convince the Galatians that they needed to follow the old Jewish …
![empty-tomb-3[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.astoneintheshoe.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/empty-tomb-31.jpg)
Paul on the Island of Malta
1Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. 2The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.
3As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out …
Paul Sails for Rome
1When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officera named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. 2Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia;b it was scheduled …
9“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.a 10Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believersb there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. 11Many times I had them punished in the synagogues …
1Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”
So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: 2“I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, 3for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!
4“As the Jewish leaders …
I’ve always thought I was really good at forgiveness. I’ve thanked God often for giving me a gift for forgiving. But I’m starting to think I’m only good at forgiving the little things If it really hurt and it was from someone I have strong feelings about, I might not be so good.
I was pondering this during my morning prayers and was reminded about something I read the book …