Apostle Paul – R Jackson Painter, PhD

Faith and Works

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. James 2:18 (NRSV) Every year on this past Monday, our church small group gathers at one of our homes to watch the College Football National ChampionshipContinue reading “Faith and Works”

Christmas Stories in the Bible, Part 2

Paul has the clearest “Christmas story” in Galatians 4:4-5, but he mentions snippets of the story in six other letters, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, and 2 Timothy. In this post I’ll cover all of these together topically. Messiah. Paul’s most common addition to the name Jesus is “Christ,” the Greek version ofContinue reading “Christmas Stories in the Bible, Part 2”

Christmas Stories in the Bible, Part 1

Every Christmas growing up, the only two stories I normally heard during Christmas were the accounts of Jesus’s birth in Matthew 1 and Luke 2. Sometimes Luke 1 was included with Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary. That was it, unless we heard Handel’s Messiah. Over the years I have discovered that the story of the Messiah’sContinue reading “Christmas Stories in the Bible, Part 1”