October 16, 2005 8:27 PM Paul, perhaps, wanted in his church all who sincerely wanted to live like Jesus lived, abstracted of Jewish materialism and presented in spirit alone, and encourage them to believe in the resurrection as the proof of their victory. The victory was gained in his resurrection and by virtue of that we (those who believe this story) have confidence before God and are given the spirit that enables us to call out sincerely: Abba/Father. This is the experience promised by Paul, the Abba/Father experience, of being able to think of God with awesome love, just like Jesus’ own father Joseph.

Paul had the experience and knew that it was a product of the risen Lord. His change was testified of by countless independent people. He know that Jesus had changed him, his enemy, and thus was so eager to change those who are not his enemies, but merely strangers.

Jesus then transforms Paul into a friend and Paul tells the gentiles about this transformation and how it can be attained.

Others may be touched by God and made perfect, as for example the naturally good gentiles of Romans 2, but this is guaranteed for those who trust in Christ. By virtue of a person’s determination to follow Jesus as Lord a person is counted righteous before God and this fact is given then credence in the experience of the new birth, where one is conscious of loving others as self (and fellow Christians more than self) and where God is called Abba/Father.

The believer then has reason to be assured of his salvation, at least to the extent he is also dedicated to Jesus as Lord. the nonbeliever has no such reason but bases his hope entirely on his own worthiness before the divine, moral court of God.

the trick is to keep the order of “Jesus as Lord and Savior” and not transpose it to “Jesus as Savior and Lord.”

You accept Jesus as Lord and he becomes your Savior. You don’t accept Jesus as Savior and he becomes your Lord.

He died for all men, but it only works with those who claim it through their acceptance of Jesus as Lord.

OK. the believer has Jesus dying for his sins, etc., but in the church including the nonbelievers congregation (usually not organized in a visible congregation), the believer and the unbeliever alike are justified in forgiveness by their readiness to take on the new ills attendant to the new birth. And so this is the place for the moral justification. In the believers congregations Jesus will have died for their sins himself and personally and proved it and the guarantee of the new birth in his resurrection. Hence to the hope of all (believers and unbelievers alike) in the church is added the peace and joy that come from confidence within the congregation of the believers.

And so actually the Jewish congregation in Jerusalem was not ever the church itself, but only a visible congregation of that church. another congregation (not well organized) was that of the disbelievers who sought to be Christian in their hearts, the random miracles of God.