Quote:
Originally Posted by esostaks
The biggest part of the NT is letters to different churches. It is strange that in these letters it is rarely mentioned about preaching Christ to others. These letter mostly talk about church life, growing in Christ, expressing Christ and of course it will also naturally lead to the salvation of unbeliever who will see this expression of church. Many churches make mistake when they only focus on spreading the gospel to unbeliever but forget that they must grow and become mature in Christ as a church and express Him. When someone is saved it is only the first step (though the most important) in his/her life, but there are more things to follow. Unfortunately most of the believers are very willing to remain in this state of childhood and immaturity for the rest of their lives. I pray not to end up like that and not to waste all of my lifetime which could be used by Christ to express Himself through me.
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Brother esostaks ( I suspect you are a man right?)
The Lord Jesus told his disciples who became apostles after He ascended to
"Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He commanded (instructed) them; and lo, He would be with you always, even to the end of the age.” (
Matthew 28:18-20)
What I have come to realize in the last several years is that most believers reading the NT came from a 'gentile' background...not a Jewish background!
The apostles especially Paul and Peter had a huge task because they were preaching/teaching the converted Jews as well as the converted gentiles. The converted Jews struggled to shed the old wine skin (the OT LAW) and struggled to follow/abide and walk IN Spirit! (Much like most of us struggle today!)
The converted gentiles on the other hand probably worshiped pagan gods if they worshiped at all. They were not versed in the OT, in the law of Moses. I think that's why the Corinthians struggled with sin so much!
The converted Jews had always worshiped in the Temple or synagogues. They were religious people. Remember Nicodemus ? In fact to my knowledge, all of Christ's disciples were Jews.
If you re-read Hebrews, perhaps the Holy Spirit will show you as He showed me the danger the converted Jews were in. The author (probably Paul) warned them not to go back to the Old Covenant because if they did, they would go back to the animal sacrifices making a mockery of the Blood of Jesus! See. They did not understand the Power of the Blood of Jesus, nor did they know how to walk in Spirit.
So if you ask me, Paul in particular is attempting to teach the converted Jews how to walk by the Spirit, how to live sanctified lives, how to exhort one another. Remember as well, they only had the OT, the TANACH. They were not reading the NT like we do today. They did not have phones, TVs or internet. But they had 2 things that we have today: The Spirit of Life and the Spirit of death. Christ vs Satan. S/spirit vs flesh.
Also very few Jews (Israelites) in the OT spoke to God directly. They went through the prophets to ask God what to do. The converted Jews in Acts experienced an outpouring and anointing of the Holy Spirit that gave them great power and joy. But little by little, they lost that power & joy. Just like so many new believers do. Satan really attacked the church in Acts. By the end of the book, much of the church was in sad shape compared to the beginning of the book. Although the book of Acts has no end like the other books of the bible do.
I hope this helped you some.
Blessings and Shalom,
Carol G