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Answering your questions in the light of God's word. "So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him." Acts 8:30-31 Knowing GOD Daily Devotional October 2nd, 2024 “'For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.’” Romans 16:19 We live in a world that is becoming increasingly more and more evil or rather wicked. Many people in our society have learned to devise evil or hurt other people in ways that are unimaginable. I have heard stories in the news of people who killed another and not to be discovered shredded the body into pieces and made it disappear. This is just one example. There are people that cannot sleep without shedding blood, hurting others, or doing evil in a day. Proverbs 24:2 puts this way, “For their heart devises violence, And their lips talk of troublemaking.” However such shall not be the case of the believer. Therefore Paul exports us with the words above, reminding us that the believer should be known by his obedience to God and His word, it says “For your obedience has become known to all.” Moreover, Paul also says that the believer, “should be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.” In other words, Paul is saying that we should increase in doing good, have our minds full with goodness, things of good report and pleasing to God (Philippians 4:8), instead of growing in doing evil, planning schemes against our neighbors, or be so wise in how to hurt others. This cannot be the case of the believer. The believer should be ignorant or innocent when it comes to doing evil or even being so much aware of it, including being so informed of news of such sort. This is not to say that we should be ignorant of the devil's devices (2 Corinthians 2:11) or unaware of the things happening around us, yet we cannot become more aware of them than God’s will, ways, or on the weapons of our warfare and one of them is goodness. Evil has a way of desensitizing us the more we behold it. Hence, we ought not to be wise on it, rather be wise in what is God. Paul in another letter said, “'Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.’” I Corinthians 14:20. When it comes to evil or malice we ought to be babies and mature in understanding pertaining those things that glorify God. After all, Christ came to set us free from this present evil age (Galatians 1:3-4), making us like Him in nature, new creation, giving us a new heart who beats for goodness and not evil. It’s written, “'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’” II Corinthians 5:17 May you become a baby when it comes to evil, and be mature or wise in what is good, Be pleasing to God, let your mind be transformed, “'Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'” Romans 12:17-21 God bless you. Have a good day. Peace and Grace be with you.

Our mission is to fulfill the commandment of our Lord as underlined in Mathew 28:18-20, Mark 16:14-18 by diffusing the knowledge of God through the preaching of the gospel, so that unbelievers can become believers, believers become disciples, and encourage the disciples to make other disciples and live faithfully each day by growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ and in intimacy with God. Para ti, mulher, Que mesmo amando a Deus, às vezes esquece como éandar lado a lado com Ele. Que sente saudades de algo quenem sabe nomear, mas que no fundo é só isso: intimidade.Este eBook é para ti que já fez muito,mas agora quer apenas ser. Ser encontrada. Ser curada.Ser cheia da Presença. Que cada página te reconecte aosom da graça, e te leve de volta ao lugar onde tudo começou: o jardim, o sopro, o caminhar. Com todo o meu coração, Rebeca Alexandre Download Book Club Contacto

The Gospel is the Power of God to Salvation​. Paul said, " [...] for it [The Gospel] is the power of God to salvation to salvation [...] " The word translated power is the Greek word, dunamis, and means: (a) physical power, force, might, ability, efficacy, energy, meaning, (b) plur: powerful deeds, deeds showing (physical) power, marvelous works. This word dunamis is the root of the word dynamite. Third, The Gospel is the Power of God to Salvation Paul said, " [...] for it [The Gospel] is the power of God to salvation to salvation [...] " The word translated power is the Greek word, dunamis, and means: (a) physical power, force, might, ability, efficacy, energy, meaning, (b) plur: powerful deeds, deeds showing (physical) power, marvelous works. This word dunamis is the root of the word dynamite. The word translated salvation is the is the Greek word, sōtēría (from 4982 /sṓzō, "to save, rescue") – salvation, i.e. God's rescue which delivers believers out of destruction and into His safety. This word sōtēría in the "technical" biblical sense means the Messianic salvation or rescue from eternal death [condemnation] to eternal life that God offers through Christ sacrifice. Thus, connecting the two words, the bottom line is that takes strength, might, power, energy, marvelous work to get someone saved, and such power only comes from God. The bible says, "Salvation belongs to the Lord . Your blessing is upon Your people." Psalms 3:8. Note that Paul doesn't says the gospel is one of the aspects of the power of God, and neither says the gospel is how the power of God is released; instead, he says "It is the power of God". We ought to understand that the gospel itself is the power of God, with a specific goal in mind: salvation of anyone who believes. Thus, we can clearly see that if anyone doesn't believe the gospel he cannot be saved because God has already committed Himself in eternity past to allocate the power to save in a message - the gospel, committed to save sinners only through the preaching of the gospel and nothing else. The bible says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." I Corinthians 1:18-25. The gospel message may seem too simple - we are sinners, Christ died for us, so if we repent and believe Him we can be saved - yet it is the only way sinners can be saved for it is the truth. Therefore, the bible says. "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3. The gospel message is simple and may seem seems foolish, but those who believed can testify that it is the power of God, the only message that got them saved. Some people like the Jews preferred that the gospel was based on sings, something miraculous, mystic, and etc. However, this is not how God in His wisdom decided to save sinners. God decided to save sinners by the preaching of a simple message. As far signs are concern, God already gave the Jews and everyone else the sign they would need, so the gospel would be so simple and accessible to all. The bible tells us, "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:38-40. This is the sign, that Christ died for sinners and stayed three days and three nights in the grave and God raised Him up from the dead by His great power defeating death and showing man He has authority over it and can likewise save anyone who is dead in his sins if he believes. This is the sign and only sign that anyone needs to believe to be saved. Romans 10, 9-11 says "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”. God has already given us a sign, raising Christ from the dead, the question is: do you believe? As far other signs, wonders and miracles like healings, raising the dead, and etc., God did through Christ, did through the apostles, and still does through His servants today, but they are meant to bear witness of Jesus' resurrections and point people to the gospel, which is the power of God for their salvation. Because the truth is that someone can experience miracles, be healed, contemplate wonders from God and yet not be saved because salvation is only through the gospel. For instance, in Matthew 11, 21-24 Jesus said “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” These people saw might works Jesus did yet they did not believe Him as the son of God who came down to save them from their sins, therefore they would be subject of the stricter judgment because the might works Jesus did testified the truthfulness of the gospel yet they did not believe. Thus, one can experience the power of God in other ways - healing, provision, and etc., yet if they don't believe the gospel they will not experience the saving power of God. However, maybe you are not like the Jews but more like the Greeks who sought for wisdom, you don't care about signs, you dwell more in the helm of the abstract, for you things have to make logical sense and be presented in a philosophical manner. This was the case of the Greeks that Paul found in Athens, the bible says "Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Acts 17:18,20-21. These people were philosophers, liked to reason and occupied themselves in hearing new things, but when heard the gospel the greatest news of all, they didn't respond accordingly because hearing that God ressurected Jesus from the dead seamed too absurd from them, irrational, unreasonable, unsophisticated, overall unwise. However, God in His wisdom decided to save sinners through the preaching of a simple message yet with the power to save. Chapter 1 3 of 6 Chapter 2

The Gospel Reveals the Righteousness of God​. It is written, "in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." According to Strong's concordance, the word translated righteousness in Romans 1:17 is the Greek word, "dikaiosuné" which means justice. It comes from the root word, "díkē, "a judicial verdict" – properly, judicial approval (the verdict of approval); in the NT, it indicates the approval of God ("divine approval"). Fifth, The Gospel Reveals the Righteousness of God It is written, "in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." According to Strong's concordance, the word translated righteousness in Romans 1:17 is the Greek word, "dikaiosuné" which means justice. It comes from the root word, "díkē, "a judicial verdict" – properly, judicial approval (the verdict of approval); in the NT, it indicates the approval of God ("divine approval"). refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes. In the old testament, the Hebrew word for righteousness is "tsedeq", and according to strong's concordance, it means that what is right, just, normal; rightness or justness of weights and measures. It's important to know one thing about God. Being the One who examines people and determine whether they are guilty or innocent, righteous or unrighteous, just or unjust, blame or blameless, God Himself ought to be perfectly righteous, free of guilty, just; otherwise, how can He judge or examine others? Indeed, God is righteous, there is no injustice in Him. The bible says, "Psalm 11, 7 says "For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright." As the passage says "The Lord is righteous, and He loves righteousness" meaning He loves that which has His nature. Therefore, The Lord beholds the upright, the righteous, the just. However, as far unrighteousness or injustice, God will naturally hate. Sin is unrighteousness (1 John 4, 3), disobedience to God's law, therefore it cannot be tolerated by a righteous God. The bible declares, "God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day." Psalm 7, 11. Moreover, Psalm 19, 9 says "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." God is righteous or just, therefore He judges everyone fairly, justly, or righteously, with Him there is no partiality; meaning, He does not show favoritism to one over another, neither deprives one of justice to grant to another (Proverbs 18, 5). God's judgements are righteous altogether. To put things in perspective, Let's look a story. In Daniel 5 the bible talks about a king called Belshazzar that when submitted to God's examination was found wanting, disapproved, guilty because he misused the holy utensils from God's temple in his pagan and carnal feast. The bible says "Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone." Daniel 5:1-4. This king sinned against God and was found guilty after God's examination. The bible says "In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." Daniel 5:5. The king was troubled to know what the hand had written, thus brought all the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and etc., but none could read the had writing. Then, Daniel was called and he told the king, "And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25-28. The king was weighed in the balances, and found wanting, guilty, far from pleasing God. The question is, like God did with that king, if God was to weigh all our actions based on His standards, who would be innocent? Who can say, He never sinned or never did wrong in this life? Not only we will be judged according to our actions but Jesus says "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37. Moreover, the bible also says that God sees our hearts; thus. besides our words and actions, God also takes into account the motivations of our hearts, the reason behind our actions. We can certainly do the right thing with wrong motivations. Think of the people that help those in need to be praised by friends or to receive tax deductions, or even the person that prays to be seen and recognized by people. They did good things indeed but with wrong motivates, and it counts as wrong. God sees it all, even our hearts. Therefore, "[…] there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13. Again, having in mind that God sees our actions, our words, and the intentions of our hearts, if we are to be judged, examined by God according to His standards, would we be innocent or guilty? The honest answer is guilty. No one, not a single human being on this planet would be found innocent or blameless if examined according to God's standards. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23. As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:10-18. If all have sinned, the wages of sin is death, and God does not overlook sin, therefore, all deserve to die indeed. Death is the fate of all human being who do not recognize his sins. Every person that does not recognize his state is already dead. Perhaps you might say, "I am a good person I do good things." Yes, it might be true, but it does not mean you have done enough goods to outweigh your bads when God weighs you in the balance. If you want to be right before God through your own actions, then you must obey everything God said and not fail in a single one. This is the condition to be justified by your actions. James 2:10 says "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." You can see that no one can be good or just by God's standard if they rely on their "good actions" because of their nature they will inevitably do something wrong. Thus, it's written, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20. No one can be justified by the law or through the keeping of all the commandments because the law. No one. If such is the fate of all human beings who then can be just before God? The answer is, “Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. Blessed is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty." Romans 4:7-8. The bible is saying that we can only be considered righteous if we are forgiven by God. If one is pardon by God of his wrongdoings then he can be considered righteous. However, forgiveness of sins is only possible on the basis of the sacrifice Jesus made. The bible says, "For He [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." II Corinthians 5:21. In another words, only those whose sins have been paid by Jesus sacrifice can be forgiven, made righteous or be found guilty free. Because God is a righteous judge, He must not overlook sin but give to each their rightful wage: death (Romans 6:23). But if God gives to each according to their deeds, we have already seen that no one will be exempted, all have sinned. Therefore, in order to save sinners and yet punish sin, Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice: with the sacrifice of His blood, we received forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:14) and with the sacrifice of His life by dying on the cross, we received His life: eternal and righteous. Therefore, we can be be forgiven and righteous through the sacrifice of Jesus. The full text of Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It was an exchange, Jesus took our death so we could be forgiven and take His life. Just it's more than what the old testament offered through the sacrifice of lambs, people only received forgiveness of sin but never a new life. Hebrews 10:1-2 says "For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins." But, Jesus is the perfect Lamb. John the Baptist said, " [..] “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29. Paul said, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time," I Timothy 2:5-6. Jesus with His death on the cross and the sacrifice of His blood, paid for the sins of all humanity, He became the ransom for all. Like John the apostle said, "And He [Jesus] Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." I John 2:2. Thus, the gospel reveals the righteousness of God because the gospel shows how God punished all unrighteousness with the death and sacrifice of His Son to satisfy the righteous requirement of His law. So, that those who believe in His Son are made righteous. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:1-4. If God so did with His Son in order to forgive sinners, you can be assured that anyone who does not have the Son will be severely punished on that day. Chapter 1 5 of 6 Chapter 2

The Gospel is to be Received by Faith​ ​ It is written, For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” As we saw before, sinners can be forgiven by God because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Such perfect sacrifice fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law of God. It means that Christ with His sacrifice provided all that is necessary for sinners to be saved, and God confirmed it by accepting Christ sacrifice. Knowing God reveals our origin, identity and purpose My friend you are not a product of a random, unguided, mindless process. Not at all! your life has not begun merely at your birth. Nope! Your life began in the mind of God. You have been wonderfully and carefully fashioned by your maker. It’s written, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!'.” Psalms 139:13-17. You have been a marvelous work of God and your soul knows it very well. You are not an accident, even if you came to this world through incest, rape, or unplanned by your parents, as painful and difficult these situations are, and I sympathize with you; these are simply means and circumstances by which you came to this world; however, you had already been planned by God. God did not make a mistake. Paraphrasing the verse, it says, “He formed your inward parts, covered you in your mother’s womb, made you fearfully and wonderfully; you are one of His marvelous works and your soul knows very well. Your structure was not covered by him. His eyes saw your unformed body, your fetus, and wrote all your days, the days He appointed for you in His Book. Your Maker is mindful of you, He has precious thoughts about you, the sum of such thoughts are great, awesome.” Do you realize the magnitude of these truths?! You matter to God. You are not the product of evolution or simply a ball of cells. God fashioned you in the womb. He loved you before you knew Him and wrote good plans for you in His book. You have an eternal origin in your creator, you are more than American, African, European, or etc. You are more than White, Black, Yellow, Red, or else, you are God’s marvelous work. You are God’s creation, and yet He calls you to become more than it, God wants you to be a son or daughter of His, and He wants to be your Father, for this reason He sent Jesus, as the only begotten to become the firstborn of many brethren. It’s written, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29. In Christ, God wants to be your Father. Jesus came to make us children of God, and He becomes our big brother. John 1:12-13 says, “'But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” What a privilege! You don’t have to be an orphan, neither be brotherless. Jesus is not ashamed to call you brother or sister. It’s written, “'saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” Hebrews 2:11-14 Moreover, God said, “'Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.” II Corinthians 6:17-18. Beside knowing your origins, that you have been planned and created by God, you can also have identity when you come to truly know Him. In Christ, you come son or daughter of the Most High God. However, it does not end there, remember what Psalm 139:16-17 said, “And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!'.” Before you were born, God wrote the plans He had for you in His book, meaning He wrote your life story and future even before you were; thus, seeking to know what He wrote about you should be your purpose in life. Yet, it’s only possible through the knowledge of Him. By encountering God, you encounter yourself, meaning your purpose, your life assignment, and you have your identity cemented. It’s written in Jeremiah 1:4-10, “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then said I: “Ah, Lord God ! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord . Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.” Note the key phrase again, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” God’s plan for Jeremiah preceded His conception in the womb, and even before Jeremiah was born, God had already sanctified, meaning set him apart, and ordained him to be a prophet. The same happens to every man. Although the details might be different, God never improvises, our lives’ purpose is set before we are born like it was with David, Jeremiah, Jesus and others.. It takes knowing God for us to know our purpose. The more you approach God, the more He approaches you, and the more He reveals about you. This is what happened to Peter. It’s written, “'When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:13-19. You can know your origin, your identity, and your purpose. You can become a son or daughter of the Most High God in this life, and be much more in the life to come. In the new earth your relationship with God will be upgraded, you will enter in the fullness of that by which you have been created because you "shall know Him as you are known by Him” (1 Corinthians 13:12), remember your being is proportional to the knowledge you have of Him. The more you know Him, the more you become. Apostle John said, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” I John 3:1-3. Chapter 1 5 of 6 Chapter 3

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Romans 1:16-17 says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” The Gospel is the Good News. It says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ". According to Strong's Greek concordance, the word gospel comes from the Greek word euaggelion which means good news. What is the Gospel Romans 1:16-17 says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” From the first part of the verse above, we can learn the biblical definition of the gospel, "it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Then, from the second part, we learn that the gospel makes the righteousness of God known to us from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” However, what does all of these mean? Glad you asked the question. Let's examined it together. First, The Gospel is the Good News It says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ". According to Strong's Greek concordance, the word gospel comes from the Greek word euaggelion which means good news or glad tidings, thus, Paul was not ashamed of it, instead he celebrated it. The gospel is a message of hope, restoration, and as the text says "salvation for everyone who believes." The good news is that God is able to save sinners through His power if they believe. It is written, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8. It is also written, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," Ephesians 2:1-5. This is great news, people that are full of sin, living lives that don't reflect God's character, or even serving satan can be saved if they repent of their sins and believe the gospel. "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." I Timothy 1:15. Jesus did not come to the righteous but to call sinners to repentance. Therefore He intentionally sought to talk to them and allow them to come to Him, whether Zacchaeus, Mary the prostitute, Matthew the tax collector, Peter or Paul, all of them were met by Jesus Christ. For instance, the bible gives us the following account regarding the salvation of Matthew, "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:9-13. Jesus came to save sinners. It is only sin that separates us from God, nothing else. God is love, yet people don't experience it because of their sins - the breaking of God's commandments. It's written, "Behold, the Lord ’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:1-2. Sins causes sinners to be automatically separated from God and not have fellowship with him, because it is also written, "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:5-9. God is not only love, He is also light, and in Him is no darkness; therefore, He will not have fellowship with sinners, they would be consumed. There is no one righteousness, not even one, all have sinned: some commit murder, some gossiping, some lying, some laziness, some pride, some jealousy, and others commit other types of sin, but all have sinned. Isaiah 53:6 says "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Every human being prefers his own way over another's. Everybody prefers to go his own way even over God's, who gave them life. Hence, everybody is guilty. As it is written, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23. Rebellion, pride and selfishness are the root of all sins. These sinful behaviors started with satan himself in heaven when he rebelled against God and were extended to all human beings through Adam's and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. They were enticed by satan, and in spite of God's command, Adam and Eve chose their own ways instead of God's. How many times we acted in the same way? Concerning them, the bible says, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Adam and Eve disobeyed God and as a consequence sin entered and all their descendants became sinful. Romans 5:12 says "..., just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—" Adam and Even started to beget children only after they became sinners; therefore, all their descendants received of their sinful nature. Look around you, is there someone that never sinned? David summarized in the following way, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me." Psalms 51:5. The sinfulness of human beings is not only in their wrong actions, but in the very nature they are born with: it is sinful. God said, "... the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth;..." Genesis 8:21. Jesus said, "... out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, ….” Matthew 15:19-20. You see, your problem with sin as well anyone else's starts within, it is not so much the external behavior. Our external behavior is simply a reflection of the sinful nature within. However, God did not create human beings to live in sin, neither the earth to be filled with sin and all sort of wrongs. All that God created was good, and by the time He created man, it was very God. The bible records, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Genesis 1:31. God did not make human beings to kill one another, neither earth to be destroyed by tsunamis, wars, earthquakes, or pollutions. All of these came because of sin... but there is hope in Jesus through the good news, the gospel. God did not give up on His creation, neither on His plan to have earth as a proper habitable place for human beings to live in perfect harmony with one another and with Him. "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:1-8. This is the gospel, the good news; therefore, Paul was not ashamed of it instead he eagerly proclaimed it (I Timothy 1:18). You can appropriate this message and receive the power to be saved if you repent of yours sins and believe Jesus (Acts 16:29-31). 1 of 6 Chapter 1

The Gospel is for Everyone not only Some​ ​ Paul said, "[...] for it [The Gospel] is the power of God to salvation to salvation for anyone who believes. For the Jew first and also for the Greek." Salvation is not a privilege for certain people only, such considered wise or for people of one nation only. Although God decided to bring this message through the Jews, the smallest nation on earth then; therefore, Paul said, "for the Jew first." However, the plan of God was and had always for all. Fourth, The Gospel is for Everyone not only Some Paul said, "[...] for it [The Gospel] is the power of God to salvation for anyone who believes. For the Jew first and also for the Greek." Salvation is not a privilege for certain people only, such considered wise or for people of one nation only. Although God decided to bring this message through the Jews, the smallest nation on earth then; therefore, Paul said, "for the Jew first." However, the plan of God was and had always been to bless all the nations of the earth; thus, Paul said, "also for the Greek" because the Greco-Roman empire in the time of Paul dominated and represented the whole world. Thus, "Jew first but also the Greek." God initiated His redemptive plan through the Jews; therefore, Jesus came in the flesh as a Jew but the plan was never to save the Jews only; rather to use the smallest nation to save every other nation. When God first appeared to Abram, who was to become the father of all Jews, He told him, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3. Years after, God appeared to Abraham again and tested him by asking to offer his son as a sacrifice. In spite of the request, obeyed God and was about to sacrifice Isaac, but then God Himself intervene calling Abraham to stop, and God provided a ham as substitute for the sacrifice. After all of these things, God told Abraham, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:16-18. In saying "in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed", God meant salvation to every person through Christ. Paul makes it clear to us in Galatians 3:15-16 when he says, "Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ." Do you see the wisdom?! The good news of the gospel is for every single human being, not only for some select group of people, with God there is no partiality. Hence, Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," Matthew 28:19. As Peter, who was a Jew, went about obeying the words of Jesus, he then concluded, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." Acts 10:34. Peter uttered these words when God tasked him to take salvation for the first time to a Greek centurion. Peter, a Jew who first believed, was sharing the gospel with a Greek person. Glories to God! The gospel is for anyone who is willing to repent and believe. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, hence, all need a savior and salvation. Do you see the wisdom! Everyone has the opportunity to be saved! God intentionally decided to break the wisdom of the wise, the dispute of the disputers, and the rational of the rationalists like the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of the time of Paul and certainly of our time also. God declared, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." I Corinthians 1:19-21. God decided to destroy the wisdom of the wise of this age through the preaching of a simple message. After all salvation is not only for the "wise" or "learned" of this age but as it is written, "for anyone who believes". The gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. It's a simple message but certainly is not void of wisdom. The gospel if full of wisdom but not the wisdom of man but a more superior wisdom, the wisdom of God which is Christ. Paul said, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." I Corinthians 2:1-8. The gospel reveals a most superior wisdom, not the wisdom of man; therefore, it is simple yet logical and available to anyone who believes, not just to a select few who consider themselves wise. Most importantly, this superior wisdom of the gospel reveals the love of God for all His creation, not only human beings. oh what love! The bible says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. God, who made the world and everything in it, did not give up on His creation but made a way for their restoration through the saving power of the gospel. "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17, 24-31. The gospel, which is the power of God for salvation of anyone who believes, so “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31. Chapter 1 4 of 6 Chapter 2