Bible Study - Happy New Year - Discover as we Journey - January 4, 2026

  

Bible Study – Happy New Year – 2026 - Blessings - January 4, 2026

We considered “New Beginnings” in last week’s study.

What better time to ask GOD to reveal truth than over this coming year. We seek to know and discover truth as we walk with GOD through our faith in JESUS. Let’s explore!!!

We look around at planet earth. Humans and earth are unique, as we live upon earth that contains all we need to survive as humans. GOD has provided all the human, animal, and vegetative worlds needed for all to exist.

We live in an age of the dawning of AI (artificial intelligence) and self-driving autos.

Our last week’s study was entitled “New Beginnings.”

JESUS led a lady, caught committing adultery, to express her faith in HIM by calling JESUS “LORD.” When we read John 8:10-11:

¹⁰ When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, Lord,”^[a] she answered.

“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]

¹¹ “No one, Lord,”^[a] she answered.

WOW!!! Notice what this dear lady said, “No one LORD!!!”

What do we read in 1 Corinthians 12:3

Therefore, I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

This lady caught committing a sin which would, by the Law, mean her death, yet JESUS told her to go and sin no more.

JESUS gave this lady a new beginning.

Salvation is not complicated. It is all about a person’s heart or the core of a person’s being, where truth lives and resides.

GOD knows a person’s heart or the very core of his/her being.

There are many who have just uttered “LORD, I give up!!!” and became Spirit Born Christians. Notice: “LORD, I give up.”

Salvation is personal. It is not the words you say or how you say them that makes you a Spirit born Christian. It is all about your heart. You must acknowledge that you are a sinner and ask JESUS to forgive you and ask HIM to come into your heart.  

It is all about a person’s innermost being or his/her heart, the core where truth resides.

The instant the lady in our scripture uttered the words “¹¹ “No one, Lord,”^[a] she answered”, JESUS saw her innermost being/her heart. There was no deceit, she did not try to explain away her sin or sins. She stood in the presence of JESUS WHO knew her true heart and when she expressed “No one, Lord,” it was her expression of faith in JESUS.

So, what took place in this lady’s life, was quicker than the twinkle of the eye?

 2 Corinthians 5:17 (Christian Standard Bible) 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (or she) is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

All who place their faith in JESUS begin immediately to build upon the solid foundation or the cornerstone laid by GOD’S only SON, JESUS. JESUS willingly came to earth to live a 100% human, sinless life, yet tempted as all humans are tempted. JESUS willingly gave HIS sinless human life upon the cross, by shedding HIS sinless blood, trusting HIS FATHER, GOD, to raise HIM from the physically dead to eternal life. JESUS revealed himself to many upon earth and bodily ascended into Heaven and took HIS seat at the right hand of GOD, HIS FATHER, to be the advocate for all who place their faith in JESUS.

Why do we as Spirit-born Christians need an advocate?

Simply, we as Spirit-born children of GOD, will sin and we need an advocate. Why? Satan watches all Christians’ every move. The instant any Spirit born Christian sins, Satan accuses him or her before GOD.

JESUS steps in as the “born-again” person’s advocate/Lawyer and defends that person in the Heavenly court.

How can that be? It is the sinless life of JESUS, HIS shed blood, physical death, HIS bodily resurrection, bodily ascension into Heaven and took HIS seat at the right-hand of GOD to be the counselor or advocate for all “Born-again”/” Spirit-born” Christians.

Does this mean that “Spirit-born” Christians are free to sin? NO!!!

But all “Spirit-born” Christians sin and Satan is their accuser, but JESUS intercedes in a Christian’s behalf as we read in 1 John 2:1 ---

1 John 2:1 Christian Standard Bible

2 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one.

For JESUS to be a person’s advocate, a person must place his/her faith in JESUS and HIS physical life upon earth through HIS physical birth by HIS mother, Mary, and HIS life upon earth before HIS physical death upon the cross, HIS burial, resurrection from physical death by GOD, HIS walk upon earth for 40 days after HIS resurrection, witnessed by

1 Corinthians 15: 1-58:

15 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. ³ For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,^[a] he also appeared to me (Saul/Paul).

(Saul/Paul’s conversion is recorded in Acts 9)

Continue reading 1 Corinthains 15:9-58:

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Resurrection Essential to the Faith.

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.^[b] 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. ¹⁹ If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours

²⁰ But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. ²² For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

²³ But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be abolished is death. ²⁷ For God has put everything under his feet.^[c] Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. ²⁸ When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience

²⁹ Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead?^[d] If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?^[e] 30 Why are we in danger every hour? ³¹ I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers, and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.^[f] 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” ³⁴ Come to your senses^[g] and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” ³⁶ You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. ⁴¹ There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. ⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; ⁴³ sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; ⁴⁴ sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being;^[h] the last Adam (JESUS) became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man (JESUS) is^[i] from heaven. ⁴⁸ Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven (JESUS), so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven (JESUS).

Victorious Resurrection

⁵⁰ What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. ⁵⁴ When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

Death has been swallowed up in victory.^[j]
55 Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?^[k]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Trust and obey in JESUS THE CHRIST!!! Victory over death is faith in JESUS. Ask Jesus to forgive you for all of your sins and ask JESUS to come into your heart and experience the miracle of Spiritual Birth or being Born-again Spiritually – Blessings!!!

Footnotes

1. 15:8 Or one whose birth was unusual
2. 15:14 Or proclamation is useless, and your faith also is useless, or proclamation is empty, and your faith also is empty
3. 15:27 Ps 8:6; 110:1
4. 15:29 Or baptized on account of the dead
5. 15:29 Other mss read for the dead
6. 15:32 Is 22:13
7. 15:34 Lit Sober up
8. 15:45 Gn 2:7
9. 15:47 Other mss add the Lord
10. 15:54 Is 25:8
11. 15:55 Hs 13:14

Addendum for those who want to consider the chronology of the Apostle Paul’s writings.

As we live, study and experience Christ and GOD in our lives, we learn and discover – dynamic

Continue: Copied from BibleGateway.

Paul, Apostle of Christ, Chronological Order of the Letters, Who Was Paul?, The Letter to the Romans

Paul, Apostle of Christ

The Gospel of the Gentiles

The Gospels are certainly the most important of the New Testament writings, but they were not the first to be composed. As early as the year A.D. 50, some young communities of former Gentiles were receiving Letters from an “apostle,” namely, Paul, who had not belonged to the Twelve or to the circle around Jesus. Of the great figures of newborn Christianity, this “first Christian author” is the most remarkable one known to us, and he remains such through the testimony he has left us in his writings.

Chronological Order of the Letters

Modern criticism has come to the following conclusions in this area.

A first series of Letters was written at intervals during the fifties and sixties; there is practically no one who doubts that Paul was their author.

—1 and 2 Thessalonians: The first two Christian writings that have come down to us. They were surely written in Corinth between A.D. 50 and 52, in order to encourage a recently founded community and to clarify some points of doctrine (although some scholars have questioned the authorship of 2 Thessalonians).

—1 and 2 Corinthians: Two Letters written in A.D. 56, during Paul’s time in Ephesus. They contain rather spirited interventions occasioned by disorders and divisions in the community.

—Philippians: A Letter that is especially cordial in tone. It is the first Letter that Paul wrote from prison and can be dated to A.D. 56, although others place it with the Letters of Paul’s Roman captivity between A.D. 61 and 63. We know that Paul was imprisoned more than once.

—Galatians: A fiery Letter to a Church in full crisis; probably written in A.D. 56 or 57.

—Romans: A lengthy theological writing, covering at greater length, and in a more serene tone, the same themes the writer had dealt with in the Letter to the Galatians. It may date from A.D. 57 or 58.

A second and later series of texts is known as the Captivity Letters (which may include the Letter to the Philippians, as noted a moment ago). They can be attributed to Paul, although a bit tentatively, and dated from A.D. 61 to 63, the period of his imprisonment in Rome.

—Colossians: A Letter that encourages authentic faith and authentic Christian life in face of the commingling of religions and new ideas.

—Philemon: A short note of recommendation for a fugitive slave.

—Ephesians: A circular Letter inspired by a profound theology and mysticism.

A third series of Letters is addressed no longer to communities but to individuals, pastors of souls, and is lavish with recommendations and guidelines for the exercise of their responsibilities. These are known as the Pastoral Letters and must be dated to A.D. 66 or 67 at the latest, if they are to be attributed to Paul. Some exegetes think the Letters may be the work of disciples and written around the eighties.

—1 and 2 Timothy: Two Letters.

—Titus: One Letter.

Toward the end of the 1st century a final writing supposedly by Paul was in circulation, but the attribution is most uncertain. It was written by someone else who remains anonymous.

—Hebrews: A lengthy piece of theology and exhortation, written either just before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or much later, between A.D. 80 and 90.

Who Was Paul?

Until His Conversion

Saul was born around the beginning of the century, in Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia in Asia Minor, a little city but open to cultural influences and commercial exchanges between East and West. He was from a family of Diaspora Jews who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and were intent on a strict observance of the religion of their forebears. They did not, however, reject all contact with the life and culture of the Empire; in fact, they had acquired Roman citizenship and thereby become the Paulus family.

In about A.D 36/37 a mysterious event changed the course of Saul’s life in an instant. The persecutor of Christians became the most ardent missionary of the Gospel.

On the road to Damascus, he had a vision that changed his life. He saw Christ, who revealed that he was totally one with all who believed in him: “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).

After His Conversion

Paul underwent a radical turnaround. From then on, he did nothing but put into practice the unshakable certitude that he received on that day. His Letters set forth this conviction: Christ is living and reconciles human beings in his Spirit; salvation is given by him to the Gentile world and indeed to all peoples. His entire existence was henceforth seized by this mission. His life and thought were animated by an unconquerable love for Jesus.

Allowing Gentiles to become part of the Christian communities posed theoretical problems. Paul was present at the Council of Jerusalem in A.D. 48/49, which rendered liberating decisions on this point (Acts 15; Gal 2:1-10).

Thereupon Paul traveled to the great urban centers of the Mediterranean world, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and establishing churches, i.e., small groups of men and women, free people and slaves, Jews and Greeks, who believed in Christ. His plan was to go to the ends of the known world, possibly as far as the Spanish coast, by way of Rome. All the while, he nurtured the young Churches by his Letters and delegates, recalling the main lines of the Gospel—Jesus Christ is the only Savior.

We have no sure information on the subsequent course and end of Paul’s life. He would be executed at Rome on the Ostia Road (Via Ostiensis), probably in A.D. 66/67. Many, especially those who defend the attribution of the Captivity Letters to Paul, think that he had once again regained his freedom, had visited the Churches of Greece and Asia Minor, and perhaps had even gone to Spain. Arrested once again, he endured a harsh imprisonment.

Writings

The traditional order of the Letters, as seen in any Bible, is not based on chronology. Their order is primarily one of length, longest to shortest. In reading them, however, it is advantageous to follow the chronological order.

The Letter to the Romans

Human Beings Are Justified through Faith

Paul wanted to visit Rome—the center of the universe in his day—on more than one occasion, but he was prevented from doing so (see Rom 1:13). Now, in the winter of A.D. 56–57, his third missionary journey has been completed and he has established the Church in the principal Mediterranean urban centers, from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Rom 15:19). In addition, the great crises in Corinth and Galatia seem to have subsided.

Hence, Paul seeks new fields. The West calls to him, and he projects a missionary journey that will take him to the cities along the Spanish coastline. To get there he must pass through Rome (see Rom 15:22-23), and he looks for the welcome and assistance of the Christian community established in the capital. He will not be a stranger there. The Jewish community at Rome has more than 40,000 members and some fifteen synagogues. Moreover, the seed of the Gospel has already taken root in its midst. We will probably never know who were the first missionaries of Christ there. It may be that pilgrims from Rome were among the witnesses and converts on the day of Pentecost in the year A.D. 30.

In any case, merchants and travelers could surely have encountered the Gospel and the Church on their travels and in their business dealings and could then have become the promoters of a new community at Rome. St. Peter himself was there for a time and eventually suffered martyrdom under the infamous Emperor Nero, but doubtless his coming took place later than the date of this Letter.

The Church of Rome seems to have developed rapidly. In the year A.D. 49 an edict of Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews. Jewish Christians like Priscilla and Aquila were also affected; they found refuge and work in Greece and Asia (see Acts 18:2, 18, 26; 1 Cor 16:19). As a result, converts from paganism became the majority of Christians in Rome. This brought new problems and some difficulties, especially when the exiles returned after two or three years.

In order to announce his coming, Paul dictated a Letter to his secretary, Tertius (Rom 16:22), and entrusted it, apparently, to Phoebe, “a deaconess of the Church at Cenchreae” (Rom 16:1), who was about to travel to Rome. But if he wanted simply to announce his arrival, why did he send so lengthy a Letter? It is probable that his person and ideas were sufficiently well known in Rome and that there was debate over the positions he had taken. Writing thus to a community, Paul gave free expression to the main concerns that preoccupied him concerning the life of the Church and, above all, concerning faith. To facilitate the reading we can group its themes around three main centers: the necessity of faith, the riches of the faith, the demands of the faith.

We shall discover, contained in these central ideas, the most profound intuitions regarding the realism of the incarnation (Rom 1:3-4), justification and redemption (Rom 3:21-26; 8:2-4), the universality of sin and salvation (Rom 5:12-19), the Paschal Mystery present in Baptism (Rom 6:2-5), the hope of Christians and the future of the universe (Rom 8:19-23), the divine sonship (Rom 8:14-17), the certainty of salvation (Rom 8:28-39), the mystery of Israel and the theology of history (Rom 9–11), spiritual worship (Rom 12:12), and the new priesthood (Rom 15:15-16).

Paul sets forth on a theological level what Jesus himself signified and practiced when he mingled with tax collectors and sinners; he did not condone what they did, but he affirmed that justice is a grace of the Father and that it is not acquired by a person’s moral, legal, or cultural effort—no matter how scrupulous that might be. God’s love is offered to everyone by God; it is he who sets free, and it is up to each person to embrace this liberation as a source of life. The redemption and salvation of human beings is of another order than that of social, personal, and historical situations. It pertains to a human transformation inaugurated in Jesus.

Hence, if such liberation is given in the mystery of Christ, in Baptism that enables one to participate in it, and in faith in his Gospel, what is the value of the Law and the whole Old Testament and what is the destiny of Israel? This is a question that needs an answer to show the fundamental unity of revelation, of the promise of fulfillment in Christ. Such an answer is even more necessary since non-Jewish Christians ran the risk of ignoring the plan of God inaugurated in Creation and the time of preparation that constitutes the Old Testament and even looking down on Jewish Christians. It is an answer that Paul carefully provides in this Letter (Rom 9:1—11:36).

The Letter presents the essence of Paul’s message and his mission. It is regarded as the first formulation of Christian theology. Yet its tranquil tone is far different from the stormy character of the Letter to the Galatians whose themes it amplifies. Nonetheless, we sense herein the stirrings of an impassioned soul, for example beneath some uncalled-for blow (Rom 2:17ff), in the trust of being in God’s grace (ch. 8), in the convert’s compassion for those of his race (Rom 9:1-15; 10:1; 11:14-16), and in the enthusiasm of the Apostle of Christ (Rom 11:33-36). The Letter to the Romans also distinguishes itself by its literary variety. In its construction, Paul makes use of liturgical pieces and hymns; he follows the expository style of the rabbis or employs the methods of orators of his day. All of this adds up to an exceptional example of Paul’s work.

Did Paul really reach Rome? Yes, but later than he had hoped. In the spring of A.D. 58, he arrived at Jerusalem with the funds collected for the poor Christians of the Mother Church (2 Cor 8–9). He was arrested in the temple and spent two years in custody at Caesarea before appealing to Caesar as a Roman citizen. In the spring of the year A.D. 60, Paul, apostle and prisoner of Jesus Christ, entered Rome (Acts 28:16) and was welcomed by the Christian community there.

The Letter to the Romans may be divided as follows:

Prologue (1:1-17)

I: Justification through Faith in Jesus (1:18—4:25)

II: Faith, the Riches of Life (5:1—11:36)

III: The Need for Faith in Daily Life (12:1—15:13)

Epilogue: (15:14—16:27)