Justification before God
Notes
Transcript
1 From Paul, who by God’s will is an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy-
2 To God’s people in Colossae, who are our faithful brothers and sisters in union with Christ: May God our Father give you grace and peace.
3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God’s people.
5 When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven.
6 The gospel keeps bringing blessings and is spreading throughout the world, just as it has among you ever since the day you first heard about the grace of God and came to know it as it really is.
7 You learnt of God’s grace from Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is Christ’s faithful worker on our behalf.
8 He has told us of the love that the Spirit has given you.
9 For this reason we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives.
10 Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God.
11 May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light.
13 He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son,
14 by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.
1 I had a vision from the Sovereign Lord. In it I saw him create a swarm of locusts just after the king’s share of the hay had been cut and the grass was starting to grow again.
2 In my vision I saw the locusts eat up every green thing in the land, and then I said, “Sovereign Lord, forgive your people! How can they survive? They are so small and weak!”
3 The Lord changed his mind and said, “What you saw will not take place.”
4 I had another vision from the Sovereign Lord. In it I saw him preparing to punish his people with fire. The fire burnt up the great ocean under the earth, and started to burn up the land.
5 Then I said, “Stop, Sovereign Lord! How can your people survive? They are so small and weak!”
6 The Lord changed his mind again and said, “This will not take place either.”
7 I had another vision from the Lord. In it I saw him standing beside a wall that had been built with the help of a plumb line, and there was a plumb line in his hand.
8 He asked me, “Amos, what do you see?” “A plumb line,” I answered. Then he said, “I am using it to show that my people are like a wall that is out of line. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.
9 The places where Isaac’s descendants worship will be destroyed. The holy places of Israel will be left in ruins. I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to an end.”
10 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, then sent a report to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is plotting against you among the people. His speeches will destroy the country.
11 This is what he says: ‘Jeroboam will die in battle, and the people of Israel will be taken away from their land into exile.’ ”
12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “That’s enough, prophet! Go on back to Judah and do your preaching there. Let them pay you for it.
13 Don’t prophesy here at Bethel any more. This is the king’s place of worship, the national temple.”
14 Amos answered, “I am not the kind of prophet who prophesies for pay. I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees.
15 But the Lord took me from my work as a shepherd and ordered me to come and prophesy to his people Israel.
16 So now listen to what the Lord says. You tell me to stop prophesying, to stop raving against the people of Israel.
17 And so, Amaziah, the Lord says to you, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute on the streets, and your children will be killed in war. Your land will be divided up and given to others, and you yourself will die in a heathen country. And the people of Israel will certainly be taken away from their own land into exile.’ ”
25 A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”
26 Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”
27 The man answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ ”
28 “You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.”
29 But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”
30 Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.
31 It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by, on the other side.
32 In the same way a Levite also came along, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by, on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan who was travelling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.
34 He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’ ”
36 And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbour towards the man attacked by the robbers?”
37 The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.” Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”