TODAY’S VERSE:

1 Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”

Last month we started the New Testament section called the Epistles, specifically those written by the Apostle Paul or The Pauline Epistles. This month we will finish this section with the General Epistles.

Hebrews (another name for the Jewish people)
-We are not certain who wrote this wonderful book, but it was written to Jewish Christians who were being persecuted. This was causing many of them to consider returning to the Jewish custom of ritual sacrifice.
-Reminded them of the importance of Jesus Christ as our High Priest, His Ultimate Sacrifice, and its superiority to the daily sacrifices made by the Jewish priests.
-Encouraged the Jews to keep having faith in Jesus.
-The famous “Hall of Fame” chapter lists people who had faith in God’s promises before seeing them fulfilled in order to encourage believers to have the same faith.

James
- Written by James, one of Jesus’ brothers, who became the leader of the church in Jerusalem after Peter went out to spread the Gospel.
-Referred to as the “Proverbs of the New Testament”.
-Much written about “holding our tongues”, as our words should be used to encourage and express love, not to hurt or deceive.
-We are to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.
-When you walk with Jesus, you will become more and more like Him (sanctification)!

1st Peter
-Written by the Apostle Peter, referred to as the “Epistle of Courage”
-Encouraged early Christians who were suffering for their faith and reminded them of how Jesus suffered for us.
-If we focus on His promises vs. our suffering we will have peace, blessing, and spiritual growth.

2nd Peter
-Written to clear up the confusion caused by the false gospel being taught and a reminder to live like Jesus did.

1st John
-Written by the Apostle John to clear up confusion regarding the Gospel, specifically whether or not Jesus Christ was really human (vs spirit).

2nd John
-Instructions to be hospitable to godly travelers, but not to false teachers.

3rd John
-Reminder to be hospitable to Christian missionaries.

Jude
-Written by Jude, another of Jesus’ brothers, instructing them to ignore bad teaching and stick to the true Gospel.

God blessed us with His Word so we would have answers to our questions regarding God and how He expects us to live. We must actually read the Bible to get those answers and their promised peace. So, as always… READ YOUR BIBLES!