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3:4 TITU S 370

Practical recommendations, farewells and good wishesAs soon as , have sent Artemas or Tychicu s to you, lose no t ime in jo ining 12meat Nicopolis, where I have decided to spend the winter. See to a ll the travelling 13

arr angements for Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, and make sure they have everything they need. AIl our people are to learn to occupy themselves in doing good 14works for their practical needs as well,' and not to be entirely unpr oductive .All tho se who arc with me send their greetings . Gree tings to those who love 15us in the faith . Grace" be with you all.

ignorant, disobedient and misled and enslaved by different passions and luxuries;we lived then in wickedness and ill-will, hating each other and hateful ourse lves.But when the kindness and loveo fGodour saviour for mankind were revealed, 4it was not because he was concerned with any r ighteous actions we might havedone ourselves; it was for no reaso n except his own compassion that he saved us,by means of the cleansingwater of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spiritwhich he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our saviour.He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs lookingforward to inheriting eternal life. -This is doctrine that you can rely on.Personal advice to Titus

I want you to be quite uncompromising in teaching all this, so that those whonow believe in God may keep their minds constantly occupied in doing goodworks. All this is good. and will do no thing but good to everybody . But avoidpointless speculat ions, an d those genealogies, and the quibbles and disput es abo utthe Law-these are useless and can do no good to an yone. -I f a man disputes 10what you teach, then after a first and a second warning, have no more to do withhim: b -you willknow that any man of that sor t has already lapsed and condemned 11himself as a sinner.

iiiIt

IIEp 1:15-16IIColl:3f

Ac I 6:1+Col 4:172 Tm2:3Rm 16:5+

Rm l: 1 +

I Co 13:13 +Ac 9:13+Ph 1:9-11Col 1:9-112 I n 4-6

:;;:r:11.Ep 3:1: 4:1Co1 4:18I Co4 :16 OJGa 4:19 WCol 4:9 :rI Th 2:11

.,Rm6:15-+Ep 6:5-9 11.Col 3:22-4:

Tt 2:10CoI4 :18+ '7 z"I "

::J.,cr, I Co 4 :1 5; Ga 4:19.

d. A pu n: 'Onesimus' mea ns 'usefu l" c r, Ph 4:3.e . 'And wi th h im . . . ": var . (V ut g. ) 'an d I ask YOUt o w elcome hima s tho ugh he were myself' , cr. v, 17.I, ' Deprived' of h im by God who allowed the sla veto es ca pe o nly so that everyone might subsequentlybenefit .g . Lit . ' as a brother both in the flesh and in th e

Lo rd' .h, It seems that Onesi mu s had no t on ly run awaybut had stolen somet hing from Phil emon us wel l.

a . VaT. 'ou r bel o-ed Apphi a ', o r 'o ur belovedsister Apphia ',b. Lit. ' that the fellowship of your fa i th may becomeeffec tual in a full knowledge of eve ry good th in g in usfor Christ ' ; t .e . faith un ites a per son not only to Christbut to a ll who are his bro the rs thro ugh the ir unionwit h Christ. Fa ith and lo ve g o toge the r , v. 5. a nd Pa ul

expects tha t faith will p roduce practica l res ults .'effectua l': var . (Yulg.) 'ma nifest ' . 'we are ab le';va r. (Vulg.) 'YOUare ab le' .e, He became h is 'fa ther' by conver ting him .

PHILEMON

Thanksgiving and prayerI always mention you in my prayers and thank God for you, -because I hearof the love and the faith which you have for the LordJesus and for all the saints.

I pray that this faith will give rise to a sense of fellowship that will show you allthe good things that weare able to do for Christ. b - I am so delighted, and comforted, to know of your love; they tell me, brother, how you have put new heartinto the saints.

THE LETTER FROM PAUL TO PHILEMONAddress

From Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and from our brother Timothy; to ourdear fellow worker Philemon, ' our sister - Apphia , our fellow soldier Archippusand the church tha t meets in your house; -wishing you the grace and the peaceof God our Fat her and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The request about OnesimusNow, a lthough in Chr is t I can have no diff idence about tel ling you to dowhatever isyour duty, . , am appeali ng to your love instead, reminding you thatth is is Paul writing, an old man now and , what is more, sti ll a prisoner of Christ

10 Jesus. 1 am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became- while11 wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. He was ofno l ise to you before, but he12 will be useful" to you now, as he has been to me. 1 am sending him back to you,13 and with him- I cou ld say-a par t of my own self. ' . 1 should have liked to keephim with me; he cou ld have beena substit ute for you, to help mewhile I am in the14 chains tha t the Good News has broug ht me. -However, I did not want to do

anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness,15 which should be spontaneous. 1 know you have been deprived of Onesimus for16 a time,! but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, -not as a slaveany more, but some thing much better than a sl ave, a dear bro ther; especiallydear to me, but how much more to you, as a b lood-brother as well as a bro ther17 in the Lord. -So ifa ll that wehave incommon means anyth ingto you, welcome18 him as you would me ; -but if he has wronged you in any way or owes19 you anyth ing,' then let me pay for i t. 1am wri ting this in my own handwriting:

beli eve: group s of peo ple who ag ree o n the sam e choiceare ' sec ts ' (offshoo t sof pa ren t bodie s).c. Li t. ' for urgen t nee ds ' o r ' fo r t he necessities oflife' . T his is pe rh ap s a p os tscript to 3:8: th ey mu stlea rn to do goo d wo rks not o nly for the Rood o f th eirso u ls bu t a lso f or a l iv ing: they a re not to be parasi teso n s oc iety .d. Ad d . 'o f t he Lord ', o r (Yula .) 'of God ' . v uta.add s 'Amen' a t the end.

3 a . T he ef fe c ts of bunt ism are: rebi rt h . free forgiveness by Christ, recep tion o f his Hol y Spi rit,d . Rm 5:5 -l-, a nd the immed ia teen joyment of a ll righ tsas heir to e te rnal life (the presence of the Ho ly Sp iritbei ng a p le dge of t his. cr. 2 Co 1:22).b. Lit. ' A vo id any hereti cal man af ter one or twowarnings' : Pau l uses a co ntemporary ph ilosop hica l

term : c tvmologtcally a 'he ret ic' is someone who instea dof be ing open to a ll truth chooses what tru ths he will

2: 11L'Trn I t l -l2 Tm 1:10 +Rm6:12T m 1:9I n 3:5Rm 5:5:6:4 +2 Co 13:13+Ep 5:26I Tm l :l +Rm 3:24:8:17.24

Ac 18:24 +

1Tm 1:4 +

1 Tm 1:15+

M118:15-17p

Ac 20:4 +2 T m 4 :12

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20 P HIL E MON 372I, Paul, shall pay it back- I wil l not add any mention of your own debt to me,which is yourself.' -Wel l t hen, brother, I am counting on you, in the Lord ; put 20new heart into me, in Christ. I am writing with complete confidence in your 2 1compliance, sure that you will do even more than I ask.

Heb 13:19Co14:10+2 Tm 4:10

A personal request. Good wishesThere is ano ther thing: will you get a place ready for me to stay in? I am hoping 22through your prayers to be restored to you.Epaphras, a prisoner wi th me in Christ Jesus, sends his greetings; ' so do my Ucolleagues Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke.May the grace of our Lord Jesus Chri st be with your spirit.' 25

THE LETTER TOHEBREWS

THE

A LETTER ADDRESSEDTO A JEWISH-CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

PROLOGUE

I. TH E SON IS GREATER TH AN THE ANGELS

The greatness of the incarnate Son of God.1At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to ourancestors through the prophets; but -in our own time, the last days, he hasspoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything>

3 and through whom he made everything there is.b He is the radiant light ofGod'sglory and the perfect copy of his nature,"sustaining the universe by his powerfulcommand; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to4 take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. -So he is now as farabove the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.

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2 Ch 36:15I n 1:3Ga 4:4+] Tm 4:1+MI 4:3+In 1:18+ :10:34Ws 7:22+2 Co 4:6,18Col 1:15+ ,17Ep 1:7Col 1:14Ac 2:33+Ph 2:9-11+

Ps 2:7Ac 13:33+2 S 7:14Col 1:15+Dt 32:43Ps 97:7Ps104:4Ps 45:6-7

Ps 102:25-27

a seal on clay or wax, cf. In 14:9.d . Either at t he parousla or: more probably, a t theincarnation.e. The author . thinkJng pe rh aps of the theophanyon Sin ai, 2:2+, ta ke s this LXX te xt as a descriptionof the na ture of angels. subtle and changeable andtherefore inferior to t hat of t he Son reigning fr om hiseschatological throne.t. Var . 'your ' , cf. Ps 45 LXX .g . Following Midd le Eas tern custom the psa lmatt ributes divinity to the King-Messiah by hyperbole:here it is attributed liter ally, cr. v, 3. The d ivine Messiahis to reign for ever.b. VUIR.omit s 'li ke a garment' ,

1 a . To be a son imp lies having the righ t to inherit.cr. Mt 21:38. Ga 4:7. Here . however. God is creditedwith the handing over of the whole creation becausethe inher itance in Question is messianic and eschatolog ica l.b. Lit. the 'aeons'. hebra ism for the whole ofcreatio n.c. These two met aphors are borrowed from t "esophia and logos theologies o f Alexandria . Ws 7:25-26:the y express bot h the identity of nature between Fat herand Son. an d t he distinction o f per son . The Son is thebr ightness . the light shining f rom its source, which isthe bright glory . cf. Ex 24:16 +, of the Fa ther ('Ughtfrom Light' ). He is also thereplica, cr. Co l 1:15+ . of theFat her' s substance. like an exact impression ma de by

Proof from the scriptures5 God has never said to any angel: You are my Son, today I have become your6 f ather; or: I willbe a fathe r to him and he a s on to me. 'A gain, when he brings theFirst-born into the world ," he says: Let all the angels of God worship him. -About8 the angels, he says: He makes his angels windsand his servantsflames offire, e butto hi s Son he says:God, your throne shall last fo r ever and ever; and: his! royalsceptre is t he sceptre of virtue; virtue you love as much as you hate wickedness.This is why God,your God, has anointed youwith the oil of gladness, above all your

10 rivals.v -And again: It is you, Lord, who laid earth's foundations in the beginning,II the heavens are the work of your hands ; ' all will vanish, thoU/{h you remain, all12 wear out /ike a garment; . you willroll them up /ike a cloak, and like a garment-they will be changed. But yourself, you never change and your years are unending.

i. Add. 'Amen', cf. Ph 4:23.. Philemon must havebeen one of Paul's convert s.