Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter

1 Timothy
Part of 3 Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus).

Why are they called this?

What is useful about this label, and what is unhelpful about it

When it talks about leaders

Leadership is empowered by grace, but has qualifications (1 Tim 3:1-13)

Character first, then skills.

Its surprising teaching about riches and material support: If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim 5:8) 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim 6:610)

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter

Hebrews
Start of the final 9 books of the New Testament.

Why they sometimes get neglected

The unique features of the book of Hebrews

Who are the audience?

The audience appears to be one that knows well the stories and institutions of the Old Testament, and they are considering whether or not to continue those practices.

Jewish Christians thinking about going back to living Old Testament style.

What such a move would mean

Why the book is called Hebrews

Is Hebrews a letter or a sermon?

The value of Hebrews for reading the whole of the Bible

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter The crucial place of words like better, greater, or superior.

Christ is Gods Last Word

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (Heb 1:1-2) If Jesus is who he said he was God has held nothing back about himself.

There are no new revelations to come after the time of the New Testament anything new necessarily would demote Jesus.

The Christian claim is if you want to know what God is really like look at Jesus.

Christ is Superior to Angels

3 The Son radiates Gods own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Christ is Superior to Moses

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all Gods house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. (3:1-3)

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter

Christ is Greater than Joshua

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; (4:8-9) Israels experience of the promised land is partial and incomplete we need another Joshua to take us fully into the real promised land.

The link between Jesus and Joshua

Christ is the Best High Priest

26 Such a high priest meets our needone who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. (Heb 7:2628). 6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washingsexternal regulations applying until the time of the new order. (9:6-10) The law is only a shadow of the good things that are comingnot the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (10:1-4) 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (10:11-12)

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter

How do we know the OT sacrifices were incomplete?

What happens when Christ dies for our sins?

Christ brings a better covenant

By calling this covenant new, he has made the first one obsolete (8:13)

Christ offers his own life as a sacrifice which really deals with sin

Therefore how does one live the argument?

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Heb 2:1. Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Heb 3:1. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. Heb 4:14.

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one anotherand all the more as you see the Day approaching.

A word of encouragement to modern worship leaders

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter

The General Letters

Why are they called General Letters?

James
Probably written by Jesus brother, who appears as a key leader of the Jerusalem Church (in Acts 15 and other places)

If written by this James, it is likely to be early, as James died in 62 AD. Probably that this is a very early letter written in the 40s. May precede all of Pauls letters. Likely also written to Jewish Christians, living outside of Palestine given that they are referred to as the twelve tribes scattered among the nations the ways Jews described themselves in the Dispersion. The primary them is living out ones faith. James is eminently practical about being a doer rather than just a hearer of the word.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing ithe will be blessed in what he does. (1:22-25)

James attacks cheap grace

A detour with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship) Cheap grace means justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works The Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world and as the world, in being no different from the world, in fact, in being prohibited from being different from the world for the sake of grace. The upshot of it all is that my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven. I need no longer try to follow Christ, for cheap grace, the bitterest foe of discipleship, which true discipleship must loathe and detest, has freed me from that...It is terrifying to realize what use can be made of a genuine evangelical doctrine Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ Unless a man obeys, he cannot believe

What James thinks makes a Christian: 26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world

Wealth and Poverty

2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, Heres a good seat for you, but say to the poor man, You stand there or Sit on the floor by my feet, 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (2:2-4)

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. (5:16)

Taming the Tongue

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in Gods likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (3:7-12)

11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But youwho are you to judge your neighbor? (4:11-12)

James and Paul in agreement

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast aboutbut not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works (Romans 4:1-6) 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:8-10)

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (James 2:14-18)

Our changed life is not the basis of our relationship with God, but the necessary consequence.

1 Peter
The author of this letter is the apostle Peter (1:1)

General assumption is that the letter dates to the early to mid sixties A.D., most likely before Neros savage persecution in 64 A.D.

Addressed to a predominantly Gentile audience, who live in various regions of Asia Minor. We know this because of references to:

The futile lifestyle of the readers ancestors and peers (1:18; 4:3) and the language of becoming a people found in 1 Peter 2.10.

Of even greater importance is the peculiar historical and social situation of the letters audience. The readers are clearly a people in need of encouragement in the face of considerable distress, a distress which probably derives from a multiplicity of causes (1:6; 3:13-17; 4:12-19; 5:9).

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials (1 Pet 1:6) It is better, if it is Gods will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Pet 3:17)

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you (1 Pet 4:12) Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Pet 5:9)

What do you do when people think Christians are different? Do you try and minimise the differences? Do you try and maximise the differences?

Suffering at the hands of a hostile world is a normal part of Christian experience

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
21

Not just applause imitation

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.

What is the narrative arc of a Christian in the New Testament?

And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every dayI mean that, brothersjust as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink,

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter for tomorrow we die. (1 Cor 15:30-32)

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Rom 8:18)

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter 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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fadekept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by Gods power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (1 Pet 1:3) Our lives should be lived in such a way that they would not make sense unless the resurrection were true.

The Future of our Salvation

1:3, 13, 21; 3:5, 15

Does not deny that salvation is already, in some sense, a present possession (1:22-23), 1 Peter speaks in terms of Christs return as the time when Christians will fully experience their salvation (1:5, 13; 5:1). Salvation is as much (or more) the end of Christian experience as the beginning (J. Ramsey Michaels) The three tenses of salvation saved, being saved, and will be saved.

We dont have it all right now and you shouldnt expect to get it all right now. We dont belong (1:1, 17; 2:11), but why

Holiness (2:9-11).

Our quest for relevance should never be at the expense of our holiness.

Lecture 11 - 1 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter How do we respond to a hostile world?

The difference between the OT and the NT

Joshua was not called to submit to the rulers of Canaan, but to conquer them (e.g. see Jos 5:13 6:5; 8:1).

1 Peter says that political and military power has now been turned over to the pagan state, and Christians should openly submit themselves to its rule (2:13-17). Why? Israel had its task we have ours. Ours is to witness to Jesus by our lives and our lips.

The link between living and speaking the gospel

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 It is better, if it is Gods will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. You only get asked questions when your life demands answers.